It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I'm about four chapters into The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. Subtitled "One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places on Earth," this is Weiner's account of his journey throughout the world in search of the happiest countries.

So far I've traveled with Weiner to Holland, Switzerland, Bhutan, and Qatar, and I have to say that each one of these chapters has been fascinating, although at times a bit off topic. Weiner has a quirky sense of humor that I appreciate. I have skimmed sections to get to the meat of the story, but for the most part this is a great read so far.

Thus far I'm not about to move to any of these countries, but he sure does make Bhutan sound appealing. Switzerland, not so much. This is our book club's selection for the month, and I think we'll have some great discussion material at our next meeting.

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I'm about halfway through Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. It's the selection for this year's Life of the Mind freshman reading program at the University of Tennessee, where Dr. H. teaches. Faculty members in any department can volunteer to lead a discussion group, and Dr. H. always enjoys doing this. I like to read the selection, too, if I haven't already. I was terribly jealous last year. The book was The Glass Castle (my review here), one of my favorite books ever, and guess who got to attend a luncheon with Jeannette Walls? Really, I was happy for him.

Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003) is the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician who helped to revolutionize international health care. Kidder chronicles Farmer's drive to improve the health of the poorest of the poor in Haiti, particularly focusing on decreasing AIDS and TB cases.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the book, but I must say I'm surprised by the selection. It's tougher reading than the selections in previous years. I'll be curious to hear how the students react to it.

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