On the Front Line | Marie Colvin

The minute I spotted this one on the shelf of my local library, I knew it has to be one of the books I read this year. Marie is a recent hero of mine – I didn’t know a thing about her until I read Under the Wire (a biography of her final assignment written by her photographer and friend, Paul) last year. Everything I’d read about her, up to this point, has been written by others. I hadn’t yet read any of the reporting she was praised so highly for.

I expected this book to be a lot of jumbo about places and people I’d maybe heard about but didn’t know details. The only thing that made me want to read it was Marie, herself. I wanted to get closer to her story via the words she wrote while staying in some of the most agitated regions in the world. It took a while for me to get invested, but slowly her writing began to seep in. I began to enjoy it. And it wasn’t because she wrote poetically about suffering in Kosovo. It was because she wrote so bluntly about it. Her essay, "Courage Knows no Gender" was one of my favorite chapters. (you can read it here)

I can’t say you’d love this book if you aren’t already invested in Colvin’s story. Everything she wrote about has already happened, so it’s not like we could change the outcomes now. But if you are interested in foreign events from the last 25 years – she certainly covered all the major ones – and even journalism itself, she’s one of the best. I’m really glad I read this one.




DEH wasn’t originally on my 12 book list, but when Little Brother hears that the only musical he’d ever listened to was also a book, he demanded to see if the library had it. He read it and then basically shoved it in my face, demanding that I, too, READ IT OR ELSE.

(and so, like a good Big Sister, I did)

The book written like a YA novel. I haven’t seen the musical, so I can’t say if all the scenes are there, or if the story had been otherwise adapted for fiction. Some of the song lyrics are there as dialogue (although phrased differently because it’s being read, not sung). It certainly answered many questions I had from listening to the Broadway recording, and filled in a lot of plot details. That was great. But, as a I’m not a big fan of YA, I didn’t find the writing to be anything memorable.

I think this book was written for fans to have a tangible representation to put on their shelf. Or, for people like me who have only listened to the music and need their questions answered. I did enjoy reading it though, and it had a few pause-worthy moments. But it’s not something I’d read again or buy for the bookshelf.



I started reading this right before the world got crazy and to be completely honest, I didn’t give it my full attention. But here it goes anyway.

One of the things I love about her novels, is that she’s not afraid to tackle the hard, complex topics. She writes with candor, warmth, and certainty. She writes conflicting opinions with startling accuracy. She’s true to each character, their voices are clear and defined. She’s got everything I admire in a writer. And she’s written so many books.

Scottish police officer, Cameron McDonald is stunned when his cousin, Jamie, appears and confesses that he killed his terminally ill wife, because she asked him to. Out of mercy. The question becomes: how far do you go for the person you love? Do you do the unthinkable? Do you cross the line of moral obligation?

Personally, I take great issue with euthanasia. I still enjoyed the story. If nothing it made me consider, however briefly, what kind of toil it is to care for a terminally ill loved one. To watch them suffer and watch…helpless. It raises questions about all kinds of things.

But there is always value in questions.

. . .

stay strong.
k.