The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Thoroughly enjoyable book! Mma Ramotswe's detective cases are used to reveal her life story and her own dreams and sorrows. I loved how the author, Alexander McCall Smith, truly does make this an African story as he exposes us to the cultures of several African nations.

I will look forward to getting to know Mma Precious Ramotswe better as I read other books in this series.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Reading Lolita in Tehran is the fascinating memoir of a woman professor who lived and taught in Tehran during the time of the revolution and Iran-Iraqi war. Wonderful insight into what life is like for a woman under radical Islamic leadership. I learned a lot about what was going on inside Iran during the time of the Ayatollah Khomeni. I consider this book a "must read"--especially for women who want to understand more about the plight of women in other cultures.

The Plague by Albert Camus

Interesting, but strange. A clearly existential book in which the author seems to say that we really cannot control anything around us, so we just need to live with it. I understand that some feel it is actually a metaphorical work commenting on the response of various French people to the invasion of their country by the Germans in WWII.

I did appreciate the ending in which the main character, Dr. Rieux in reflecting upon the plague epidemic comes to the conclusion that there is more to admire than despise in people.

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I was mesmerized by the movie when I was younger and thought that the book would have the same effect. I often found myself having a hard time keeping track of who was who and found the ending so unsatisfying. Not the great romance novel I expected. Even the history of the Bolshevik Revolution was hard to follow. Disappointed.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah's Key is a fascinating historical novel that covers a little known part of the events leading up to World War II...the persecution of Jews in German-occupied France by the Vichy government. The story weaves the past and the present together as journalist Julia Jarmond investigates the 1942 Vel'd'Hiv' round up and the subsequent disappearance of a 10 year old girl and her family and discovers the connection that this disappearance has to her own family. I highly recommend this book to others who enjoy historical fiction!

Amos Fortune: Free Man

This was a very interesting read for me...discussing some different aspects of slavery that you do not often read about. It is interesting to read about the issues pre-Revolutionary War and occuring in the North. Even more interesting because the story is based upon a real person.

Wonderful discussion about what it truly means to be free and how we become free...when we truly are free. A great quote from the book: "It does a man no good to be free until he learns how to live." Highly recommended reading for all.

North Korea: Another Country by Bruce Cumings

Interesting inside view of what the root of the problems between America and North Korea actually is. Also, I believe people's perspective of North Korea as one of the "axis of evil" countries will be changed by reading this. It becomes discouraging to me as an American to learn more and more about how little we practice what we preach...it is not okay for Saddam Hussein to use chemical weapons upon people, but it okay for the U.S. It is okay for us to have nuclear weapons pointed at North Korea, but not okay for them to have the same. Of course, we believe that they have an insane person running their country...we certainly would never worry about that because we do not have those kind of eglomaniacs running our country....Eye-opening and told by an expert on Korea.