Bubbles Up

To kick off the summer, here's a good book to read, especially if you're not going diving but want to experience getting wet. Paul Mila, who writes thriller and adventure novels, decided that his latest book would be about his world-wide thrilling dive adventures, so he teamed up with fellow diver Judy Hemenway to write Bubbles Up, a great collection of personal dive tales.

During their 2,000 collective dives, Hemenway and Mila have met plenty of colorful characters, both fish and people, in dive destinations all over. Their goal for this book was to write about "Planet Ocean," and the amazing creatures that live in it. Both writers tell their tales in an amiable, friendly first-person style that will make you feel like you're right there with them underwater -- trying to get close to humpbacks in Tonga and Silver Bank, hangin' with barracudas named Elvis and Hercules in the Yucatan, and having a face-off with a killer cone snail in Papua New Guinea. There are also personal essays about diving itself, such as the right way to enter the water, bonding with your kids through scuba, and the trials and tribulations of operating a nondigital camera underwater. Great photos accompany nearly every story (Kindle is the best format to see them in their full-color detail).

Whether you are a diver or a snorkeler, you'll enjoy immersing yourself in these fascinating stories. Mila and Hemenway tell them with humor, sensitivity and style. It'll be like sitting on the beach, listening to old friends spin their dive stories just for you.

Add Bubbles Up to your summer book-reading pile. Buy it through us at www.undercurrent.org -- you'll get Amazon's best rate, and a part of each book sale we'll be able to use for reef conservations efforts.