Book Review: What is the What

Any bored readers looking a great book to sink their teeth into?  I've just finished "What is the What" by author Dave Eggers.  It is classified as a novel, but is really the biography of Valentino Achak Deng, an inspirational young man who survived civil war in Sudan, then over 10 years in various concentration camps before being given the opportunity to make a new life in the USA.  The book is written with sensitivity, compassion, humour and humility.  It helped me to have a deeper appreciation for another country's history and a newfound gratitude for the freedom which I experience EVERY day and never question.  I also appreciated that the author did not shy away from reporting on what Valentino endured, but managed to do so without too much 'blood and gore'.

5 September 2011:  Spring is finally here.  With it comes the promise of warmer temperatures, enduring sunshine and little surprises... like wildflowers popping up in unexpected places.