2 books to kick off 09

Welp, school started up Thursday... so my reading vacation is officially over. I'm quite happy w/ the amount I was able to cram in, and with any luck I'll be able to keep some of it up throughout the semester this year. Right now I'm reading The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman and it's really good, but almost too "like school" for me right now, so I think I might dive into a fiction book today. You know, while I still have free time and no homework.


The first of my 2009 reads is Black & White, by Lewis Shiner. I recommend this book for a bunch of reasons. Firstly because I feel cool bc I know the author, and worked with him at IBM this summer. He's a cool guy. And secondly, it takes place in Durham, and I would even call Durham a character in the book, as it plays a very key role in the plot. It's about some "urban renewal" that went on in the late 60's and early 70's in which a prosperous and vibrant black community in Durham, Hayti, was basically destroyed to build what is now the Durham Freeway. I found it interesting since I live so close to it, and most of those parts of the book were accurate. And it's pretty appalling what was allowed to go on in Durham, and in many cities across the country at that time. I didn't realize the building of the Durham freeway was so closely tied to the establishment of RTP and all the businesses that moved there, ultimately making this area grow and thrive.

Besides the historical aspect, the basic synopsis of the book is this: A guy (Michael) who grew up in Texas comes back to Durham as his father is dying. His father was a highway engineer in the late 60's and played a key role in the destruction of Hayti and never really talked about it. The book follows Michael's investigation and revelations as to what really went on. At times it read like a Dan Brown book, but so much more substantial! I'll loan it out to anyone who wants it.

If you're into multi-media - here's the audio of when Lew was on the local NPR show talking about the book.

And the second book I read this week (I'm a MACHINE!!) was also kind of depressing but SOOO good. It's called A Long Way Gone, a Memiors of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah. I gave it 5 stars on my shelfari shelf, it was an amazing book. I came close to putting it down bc I wasn't "in the mood" for a depressing read, but it kind of grabbed me by the brain and I couldn't put it down. The most poignant detail in my mind the whole time was that this isn't some ancient history - this boy is my age. MY AGE. (Well, actually he's a year older, but you know... close enough). And his life was so different - while I was at middle school dances he was trying not to get killed in the forests of Africa. While I was whining about one thing or another in high school he was a freaking boy soldier and addicted to drugs and brainwashed into indiscriminate killing and violence.

It's just an amazing story of redemption and (as corny as this sounds) triumph of the human spirit. I can't imagine going through what he went through... and it's sad to me to think that people ARE still going through what he went through. It definitely put some perspective on the life I live. It changes the way I look at news coming out of Africa. A GREAT book.