"Swimming Studies" — Leanne Shapton

What an interesting person is Leanne Shapton, now 38.

She grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, became a nationally-ranked swimmer who twice made Canada's Olympic trials (though she never made the team), then dropped swimming to pursue a career as an artist and illustrator which culminated in her becoming art director of the New York Times Op-Ed page from 2008 to 2009.

Her third book and first novel, "Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Dooley and Harold Morris," published in 2009, became a surprise best seller.

Her autobiographical "Swimming Studies" is sui generis.

It's the first book I bought (via the Kindle bookstore) to read on my Nexus 7 tablet, and I'm currently about a quarter of the way through, having slowed down my progress so as to have it last longer.

I only do this with books I like a lot.

Read a representative extract from "Swimming Studies" here.

Another here.