Fiction and Non-Fiction

This weekend I read another James Patterson book, The Quickie.  Actually, it’s written by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, but only Patteson gets billing on the spine.  He’s been doing that a lot, huh?  Writing with other authors.  The book was okay; a quick read with some twists and turns.  I don’t think I’d buy the book, but it’d be worth checking out from the library (or taking it from the free book rack), if you have the time to read it. 

It always takes me much longer to read non-fiction versus fiction.  I suppose it is because I want to make sure I fully take in what I am reading since its real.  I don’t want to miss out on chunks of information and then not understand what is going on. This weekend, I finally finished reading The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn’t Working by Robert Calderisi.  He worked for the World Bank for quite a while in Africa.  I’d been reading the book for a while.  It gets kind of depressing, though.  However, if you're interested in learning more about the world, it's worth a read.  Plus Calderisi doesn't just complain, but explains what he thinks could be done differently.

One of my favorite classes while in college was Foreign Policies of African States with Professor Solomon Nkiwane (who is missed by many).  It was a political science class, but with a heavy emphasis on geography.  By the end of the 3.5-week course (I went to Colorado College where you take classes one “block” at a time), you had to be able to identify every African country on a map along with its capital, name the year it gained independence and from which country, and name the president.  There are 54 African countries (including the island countries off the coast).  It was a lot of work, but I am glad I did. 

I’m normally a pretty cheerful and optimistic person, but I got into a kind of funk here yesterday.  What made it worse is that I know I am a pretty blessed person, so then I got even more cranky.  Boo to me. Trouble with Africa brought back memories and discussions of Prof. Nkiwane’s class, as well as made me think.  It’s amazing to see the difference that one person can make.  I’ve seen that here in the Marshalls too.  It makes me wonder about what differences I’ve made, if any, and how I can do more for others.  It also reminds me that I’m one lucky lady and I need to re-adjust my attitude when necessary. 

This is me as I attempt to adjust my attitude by smiling.  Yay for books!  We have more in each ama.  

Plus, we are about to head out to Arno Atoll (we think, we hope, we pray).  A change of scenery should do me good, plus actually getting into the water.  I suppose we could get into the water here in our little harbor, but I am a little wary of it.  Other people do and are fine, maybe I am still a bit prissy.  :-)