The Jew Is Not My Enemy: Tarek Fatah

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I know I got some stares from coworkers while reading it, based on the title. Someone even told me I was being racist? I thought it was a great, informative read and especially appreciated that the author tried to remain neutral and stuck with his purpose of the book throughout (which was to inform) instead of some personal agenda. He made it obvious that instead of being offended by any questions toward religion we need to be realistic and admit that there may be problems. The part that stuck out the most was his comment on what the hadith has done to the Quran stating "One would expect Muslims to denounce the depiction of their Prophet as a mass murder" but instead it is viewed as noble. Fatah mentions a lot of people who are true to their faith, without being extremist, who are actually advocating to make things better and to get believers back on track. Sadly I had not heard of any of them, but of course I did some research. I also appreciated how honest he was when talking about Israel and Palestine as well as the confusion on why Muslims were not upset about Saudi Arabia's take over of Mecca and Medina. This book made me hopeful as well as felt sorry for those whose religion has been hijacked by extremist while live in fear.

Some Angry Angel: Richard Condon

I am not sure how to feel about this book. It is reminiscent of An American Tragedy with the fall of man. It was hard to predict what was going to happen, you know it will end tragically, but not the way it does. A man marries a big newspaper's heir, cheats on her, loses her, loses the use of his legs, becomes bitter and writes mean things in his advice column to the writers. At the end of the story he visits the first ten people he replied to with his advice column- a few were already dead- his fault or not, and finds out that he actually changed their lives for the better. Then he is murdered. Such an abrupt end, yet that is what the story was building up to.

Because They Hate: Brigitte Gabriel

An incredibly well written book that did disturb me. This writer is neither an extremist nor a hater, she shares her life with the reader and brings up very valid concerns comparing what is happening in the US to what happened to her home of Lebanon. I especially liked her saying after 9/11 -where were the Muslims in our country showing outrage? Where were the Muslims around the world who were upset? All I have seen on TV are the leaders claiming they are being stereotyped, I never see them condeming violence or the teaching of hatred. This book made me realise that the leaders of the Arab countries are responsible for creating violent extremist, they control what their people are allowed to see and think. Reading this book has made me look want to research and has maybe made me a little paranoid. ;p

The Burning: Jane Casey

I loved this book. It reminded me of J A Konrath a little bit and I think it was simply the sarcastic protagonist, evidently I like those characters. I was pretty sure I knew who the villain was, but I liked how the story didn't lose momentum and all of the stories were wrapped up in the end...well, accept the flirting with Rob. The story was based around a murderer in London who has killed 4 women and burned their bodies, then another body is found burnt that was vastly different from the others. Did I mention I really enjoyed this book? Currently checking to see if she has others.

The Amber Spyglass: Philip Pullman

Odd book, of course it is sci-fi, but the sexual undertone was disturbing if it is for young readers. The characters are 13 so the targeted readers would be younger than that. A lot of the occurances in this story were hard to believe, like how were the Harpies so easily presuaded to help Lyra and Will and the idea that Mr. Parry knew there was a hair lock bomb, etc. I was also hoping the reason for Mrs. Coulter having a golden monkey would be explained. I felt the author had too many ideas he wanted to inject into the story and they weren't linked very strongly.

The Subtle Knife: Philip Pullman

The second book of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Another cute book which doesn't end, but continues into The Amber Spyglass. So if you decide to read this book you may want to pick up the spyglass at the same time. The subtle knife was a short book and quick read, but I understand why these two books were split up since it would have made an 800 page book for young readers. In this one Lyra meets a young boy from our world and together they battle evil, yes, as cheesy as it sounds I still want to finish the series and can see how they would be appealing to young readers, boys and girls alike.