#4 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn 2005

9-11 was an awful, catastrophic event that changed all of our lives. We still hear and talk about it today after eight years. We can no longer even bring liquids onto planes. Anyone who looks fairly Middle Eastern gets treated with suspicion. Paranoia has become the norm in movies, books, and even everyday life. A few days after the attack on the Twin Towers, there was a group of three Americans, Israeli men, who came into a diner in Florida. While they ate, they spoke of the unfortunate loss. The attack was the top of gossip, and the first subject on nearly everybody's tongues. It was a perfectly natural topic. The waitress, of course, called the police after the men had left. They followed the Israelis in dozens of police cruisers. When they finally caught up with them, the took them into custody where they were interrogated for three days before they were realised. It is unfair and unjust, but can you really blame us? Thousands of people had just died and with the failed attack on the Pentagon who knew if they were going to try again? To this day I hold my breath on September eleventh, scared that someone might try and finish what they started.

I regret to say that I do not believe I will be finishing this book. It is a depressing and difficult read that I am not getting much out of. Even most of my blogs came out of my own thoughts and experiences rather than the reading. I feel awful, like I have given up, but reading is something special to me. When reading becomes a chore for me it is time to get a new book. I am happy to announce that I will now be reading East of Eden by John Stienbeck. I hope that this book will be better than the last.