The Burma Effect

Finished February 6
The Burma Effect by Michael E. Rose

This is the second book I've read by Rose. The first was The Tsunami File. This one is actually set earlier, in 2001. Frank Delaney, Canadian journalist and sometime CSIS spy is at home near Ottawa readying his boat for the water when he gets a call from CSIS asking him to go to Thailand to find out what happened to another Canadian journalist who seems to have gone missing, Nathan Kellner. Frank knows Kellner fairly well and tries to find out more about what he may have been working on by visiting Kellner's editor in London on his way to Bangkok. Once in Bangkok, he looks for more information again, but soon discovers himself in danger. Before he knows it, he is involved in dangerous events out of his control, and must try to survive and get help. Moving from Thailand to Burma and back again, this eventful thriller will keep you reading. A good plot and an interesting side of Frank.

Fascinating memoir

Finished February 24
Burmese Lessons by Karen Connolly
This memoir of the author's time visiting Burma and her relationship with a Burmese dissident is honest and emotional, but also touches on the idea of identity. She initially visits Burma to write about a writer who is being imprisoned, but ends up falling in love with Burma and its people. She meets many interesting people struggling to gain democracy for their country who are or have been imprisoned and tortured for their actions. When she meets and falls for a leader of the dissident movement, she is forced to face up to her own expectations of life and what she is willing to do for love.
Her writing gives a true feel to the situation in Burma at the time, and the lives the citizens of that country are forced to lead. You can also see that she doesn't hold anything back regarding her own reactions to it all, and that honesty is what really makes this book.
No wonder it was picked as one of the 2010 Evergreen finalists.