Mercedes Benz Commercial

You are probably thinking, “huh?”  Well it isn’t often you find commercials taking place inside a library, but this one does.  I want to apologize in advance to any blonde readers, since this commercial is not what you might refer to as politically correct.  The thing is it could have been just as funny if a teenager wearing a mohawk played the central role and the advertiser found another way to tie it to their product.

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell

Let me start by saying I loved this book.  Agnes Shanklin tells the story in the first person as a reflection from the grave. 

Agnes is a 38-year old spinster who has lost her entire family to the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918.  Because of this she also inherits a great deal of money, so against all the naysayers in her life, she decides to take an extended trip to Egypt alone.

Once Agnes lands in Egypt this book comes to life.  Here she meets T.E. Lawrence, an acquaintance of her deceased sister, who introduces her to Winston Churchill and Lady Gertrude Bell.  Before reading this book, I had never heard of Lady Bell, but she was a renowned world traveler and mover and shaker who was a major player in the political landscape of the Middle East after WWI.

For some time I have viewed myself as a wanderer and adventurer of sorts, so I could easily put myself in Agnes’s shoes as she walked the streets of Cairo and hobnobbed  with the figures who were in Cairo to attend the Cairo Peace Conference.

I was so fascinated by this story that I hope to read more about Lady Gertrude Bell and her influence on what is currently taking place in the Middle East.  If you like historical fiction, you’ll devour this book.