I've been reading

from the stack of books in my bedroom. The "buy 2, get one free at B&N" stack. The "I loved a book by this author and bought another" stack. The gift book stack. The "Clay read it and wants me to read it" stack. Yes, it's a very big stack.


In the past several years, I've read everything I could find about Haiti. Mountains Beyond Mountains is one I recommend for those wanting to know about the history, people and future of Haiti -- it has so much information, and is a great story of one man's efforts to make a better life for people there.

I finished Krik? Krak! this weekend, and I think now I've read all of Edwidge Danticat's fiction. This is a set of heart wrenching short stories, linked together by a Haitian village, aunt or friend. Just like the stories we have been hearing out of the earthquake -- someone knows someone whose uncle was at the place where someone from his cousin's village was visiting. The inter-connectedness between people there is astounding. Her books are so hard to read, emotionally, but you gain an understanding and love for the people and the culture, which is so different from our own.

And I read So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger (who wrote Peace Like A River, one of the best recommendations Pam has shared). It's a journey book that starts in the Midwest and ends up in the far west, complete with cowboys, murders and Pinkerton agents. I loved it, and through the book, kept wishing I could share this one with my western-loving Grandma H., fan of Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour.


My current upstairs book is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which I purchased not only because of its great reviews, but also because the author shares a name with my future brother-in-law. I'll let you know how they both work out . . .

Peace.