Say You're One of Them by http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1033445.Uwem_Akpan">Uwem Akpan

My'>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37649874?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I picked ths book up on a whim, as I am currently trying to factor at least one African author a month into my reading list. It was quite an incredible experience. 'Say You Are One of Them' is basically a collection of six short stories, some very short, some rather long (almost novellas) but they all feel just right.

Each story is set in a different African country and they are always told from the perspective of a child. It was sad, joyful, moving and exhilarating all at the same time. Uwem Akpan has such beatifully graceful prose that even reading about genocide and religious conflict can seem ordinary and extraordinary all at once. This book would be an excellent selection for a book club, marre only by the fact that each story in itself has more than enough juice to support hours and hours of lively discussion.

We Did It.

The champagne is flowing,
People are crying,
Singing, dancing in the streets,
President Elect Obama,
We can't quite wrap our heads around it.
We can't believe it has come to pass.
We need time to process it.
Barack Obama looked at us and said
"Yes We Can"
We took him at his word,
And yes, we did.

President Obama.
I cannot breathe.

Dixville Notch down, the rest of the country to go

So the first voting results have trickled in from the resort of Dixville Notch, a small resort in the north of New Hampshire with a tradition of voting first in the nation - at midnight to be precise - on election day. The number of people actually casting ballots there is tiny, but it remains a fascinating little bit of tradition. Just the sort of thing to titillate a political junkie like me.

And so of course I stayed up till midnight to see which way the wind would blow in Dixville Notch (it usually blows republican), but this time it was worth it.Obama-15, McCain-6. Bring on the rest of Election Day!

*NaNo update - 4,400 words out of a goal of 50,000.