The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

This is probably the first adult book I ever read. I was really young when I did, like nine or ten. I found it completely mesmerizing. The stories in here are completely engrossing and occasionally unsettling. I appreciate that. But really, it’s hard not to make a book set in Florida boring.

I think my favorite digression might be the 19th Century orchid hunters, with the 20th Century American real estate scams a close second.