What I'm READING
Olive, Again
When I read Pulitzer Prize winner Olive Kittredge a few years ago, I was astounded at the depth emotion and meaning author Elizabeth Strout brings to the characters that populate the small town of Crosby, Maine, in this novel of powerful, evocative linked stories. After having recently read Olive, Again I am astounded, again.
Friendly Fire: How Israel Became Its Own Worst Enemy and The Hope for Its Future
If you want to know what it would be like to be an Israeli trained killer who went from being a staunch Zionist and the head of Shin Bet—Israel’s internal Secret Service—to peace activist, you have to read this memoir: Friendly Fire: How Israel Became Its Own Worst Enemy and The Hope for Its Future by Ami Ayalon. His harrowing experiences in the field, struggles as a negotiator with the Palestinians and his commitment to peace makes for fascinating reading.
Little Bee
Little Bee, by Chris Cleave, is an extraordinarily sensitive account of how the fates of two women—one a poor teenage girl from a village in Africa, the other, a glamorous fashion magazine editor from London—become intertwined because of a horrible act on a beach in Nigeria. Despite the tragedies that befall both of them, the author has managed to create hope out chaos, love out of darkness.