Little Bee

There are more than 16 million refugees worldwide, and about 8 million of those have had books written about them.  Okay, that's a callous exageration but when Little Bee by Chris Cleave was picked for my book club, I wasn't sure I could read another book about an elite white person helping a disenfranchised black person. Certainly there is hope in books like Strength in What Remains and What Is The What; the protagonists end up with a better quality life thanks to helpful strangers.  But I found these stories to be the exception, not the rule. When so many middle class Americans are struggling, I just found these one in a million (or, one in 16 million) cases of illegal immigrants getting college educations, etc. unbelievable.

So imagine my surprise when Little Bee turned out to exactly what I needed to wipe the cynical smirk off my face. First and foremost, it's the most compelling book I've read in a long while.  A real page turner. Cleave can craft a sentence that is humorous while maintaining humility. Second, his characters are flawed, which makes them overall more believable. Little Bee has serious flaws as do her white patrons, Andrew and Sarah.

This book is enough worth reading that I don't want to spoil it with many plot details.

5/5 netflix stars

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment and Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy

The past month has been harried and hectic for me-- two trips, a ballet and bookbinding class, friends in from out of town, work events.  Suddenly reading was not only not a priority, but was hardly even an option for relaxation.  After hosting book club yesterday, I settled on the couch to finish Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy by Lindsay Moran and thought about some of the techniques presented in that book as well as The Guinea Pig Diaries by AJ Jacobs that could help get my life under control.

The premise of Jacobs' book is to live his life according to such varied rules as George Washington's "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour" and cutting out multitasking.  For a series of months, he even outsources his life to India.  Moran, meanwhile acts on a dream and applies to the CIA, where she is trained as a case manager to serve overseas.  She learns how to use an alias, how to avoid being trailed and how to manipulate agents into committing treason and giving her info about their countries.

Was I able to outsource my life, for example, I could have forgone nights at home doing laundry and packing and instead gone to the gym or to the symphony with friends, while someone else prepared for my trips.  Were I a master of disguise, I could have traveled the Baltimore light rail without feeling completely out of place.  If I were a master of foreign language, I could have understood Turkish and better bargained at the Grand Bazaar.  Had I decided to abide by "decent behaviour" I might not have had too much to drink with my co-workers.

Both books were light and easy reads. 3/5 stars each.