Here are the extracurricular books that I’ve managed to read in the last 12 months:
A Thread of Grace
Mary Doria Russell
6/10 – I don’t delve too much into historical fiction. Though well written, I felt that Russell was trying to orchestrate too many characters simultaneously and failed to produce a coherent plot.
Tear Down This Wall: A City, a President, and the Speech that Ended the Cold War
Romesh Ratnesar
8/10 – Solid, well written piece on the fall of the Berlin Wall. As I was still in grade school when these events took place, it was refreshing to get a better (if one-sided) analysis of the events leading up to the fall of the USSR.
Zeitoun
Dave Eggers
8/10 – Having been first exposed to Egger’s writing in What Is The What, I found this novel based on the events that followed Hurricane Katrina to be an excellent insight into some of the biases and theories that were present in New Orleans following the disaster.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
William Kamkwamba
8/10 – The inspiring true story ofa young man who builds a wind turbine to help his family and community.
The Help
Kathryn Stockett
9/10 – Definitely the best book I read this year. A beautifully composed novel that illustrates the racial tensions in the South leading up to the civil rights movement while focusing on the compassion and strength of the average individual during this period.
I had originally intended to make this for Pie Day, but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to let it chill thoroughly beforehand, so my roommates and I had to enjoy it ourselves. The recipe is fairly simple, even if it is a bit time-consuming. It has a nice butterscotch flavor without being overly rich, and a hearty texture similar to that of pumpkin pie. Recipe adapted from 
… and it’s delicious. It also happens to work quite well for wrapping vegetables (sautéed asparagus tips, in my case) into neat little bundles. For those who aren’t familiar with 
