This is how history should be taught....

I've been reading Nicholson Baker's Human Smoke, an insightful chronicle of events leading up to WWII (a Kindle book). This is how history should be taught. In school, you study American history and World history and very rarely do they mesh. In reading Human Smoke one gets a true sense of how the world fit together at that time and how what happens in one arena influences another. Maybe this is the luxury of reading as a grown up, but one has to wonder how the world would be if we studied on a more global basis throughout school.

In thinking about WWII, it always puzzles me how we, as human beings, could let things get so out of control. How could humans do such horrible things to one another? How can we let things like this continue today in places like Darfur? It is a mystery of the world that I'm sure will never be answered.

Kindle-ing

I talked my husband into getting me a Kindle for a graduation present.

I am loving it. Yes, there is a problem with the sensitivity of the page turning "buttons," but it is so easy to read and take anywhere. I find the gray screen easier to read than a regular white printed page. I can carry a whole totebag full of books and newspapers with me in just one little 10 oz. device. So far I've read "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks and "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer. (I may actually even go see the movie!). Right now I'm reading "Human Smoke" by Nicholson Baker and am just ready to start "Sleep Pale Sister" by Joanne Harris, a favorite author. I've been subscribing to the "Boston Globe" but I miss the comics, so it's back to the print edition. There is one major problem, though - the Kindle store is open 24/7 so it's very tempting to go download a book every time I come across something that tempts me which is quite often!! I could easily fill a Kindle to its capcity (about 200 books) in a very short time. Since most books are less than $10, I can buy twice the books I normally do. But, so far I've been good. I still have a lot of print books that I've amassed that need attention, not to mention book club selections, and interlibrary loans, and...........