“Blessed Unrest – How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming” by environmentalist and social activist Paul Hawken takes a look at the millions of folks around the planet who are “confronting issues like the destruction of the environment, the abuses of free-market fundamentalism, social justice, and the loss of indigenous cultures.” They are not part of one movement and much of what they do goes unnoticed by politicians and/or the media. But Hawken is convinced they are “bringing about what may one day be judged the single most profound transformation of human society.”
Thought-provoking and an antidote to the doom and gloomers. – Jan
Logan Thibault is an ex-Marine with several tours of duty in Iraq. While in Iraq he found a photograph of a woman in the dirt. After unsuccessfully trying to track down the owner of the photograph, he sticks it in his pocket. Soon he experiences an amazing lucky streak, even keeping him alive when many others are lost.
Masha Hamilton’s 2007 novel focuses on a young librarian who leaves her comfortable library job in the Bronx to help start a traveling library in northeastern Kenya. Books are transported by camel to semi-nomadic communities. Because there is a limited number of books and numerous settlements, a strict fine is imposed: if anyone fails to return a book, the bookmobile will stop coming.
I have to admit there were two reasons that I requested the new William Least Heat-Moon book. First, I love travel narratives and Heat-Moon’s first book “Blue Highways” is a classic and one of the first travel narratives that I read. Second, the title captured my attention and not just for the word “Quoz” but for the word “mosey,” a word you don’t hear much anymore, and one that was often used by my father.