Friday Finds 11/06/09

Two books to share with you this week ...

1. Surviving Paradise, by Peter Rudiak-Gould - publisher summary:"A cultural castaway writes winningly of life on a remote island in the Pacific that may be one of global warming’s first casualties. Just one month after his 21st birthday, Peter Rudiak-Gould moved to Ujae, a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands located 70 miles from the nearest telephone, car, store, or tourist, and 2,000 miles from the closest continent. He spent the next year there, living among its 450 inhabitants and teaching English to its schoolchildren." At Home With Books says: This is an enjoyable and educational memoir about The Marshall Islands, the Marshallese, and one man's attempt to learn about the people, try to fit in with them, and educate them all at the same time. It is filled entertaining stories, most of which are the kind that would make you thank God that you weren't the one in those situations, but others are filled with the beauty of the land and the people."
   
   
   
2. Into That Darkness, by Gitta Sereny - You've GOTTA Read This says: "After getting into an intense debate with my husband's company's chairman ... over capital punishment and abortion, he handed me this book and told me to be prepared to have it change my life. And it did. Journalist Gitta Sereny digs deep for answers to the Holocaust. She doesn't just stop at interviewing the commandant of Treblinka, Franz Stangl, she takes it further than you could ever imagine. At the end, we are left with our own conscience, and asks questions that aren't comfortable to address." Wow. This is definitely a book I need to find and read.

For more Friday Finds please visit Should Be Reading.