On My Nightstand

Aside from art, my other great love is reading. My husband will tell you I "eat books for breakfast" meaning I devour them quickly. Most books only last a day or two at the most.

I just finished reading "An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography" by Paul Rusesabagina. While his name might not be familiar to you, his story might be. Remember the movie "Hotel Rwanda" starring Don Cheatle? That film was inspired by Paul Rusesabagina's experience of the 1994 Rawandan genocide. Yes, I know it's not light reading, but I really have a thirst for knowledge and understanding about what goes on in the world. I think it's so important to be educated about even the darkest events in human history. I really do care what's happening in our world and this book helped me to understand how this particularily ugly period occured. He had a wonderful gift for conveying his experiences in such a way that you really understood how and why this happened and got just a small glimpse into what it must have been like to live through it.

If you haven't seen the movie, see it. If you are interested in knowing more, read the book. It's not just about a brutal genocide, but also about bravery, compassion, intelligence, overcoming insermountable odds and the undying glimmer of hope that burns in the human heart but most of all, it's about the incredible power of words.