Little Bee

by Chris Cleave. New York: Simon & Schuster, c. 2009. 271 pages. ISBN 9781416589631 Published as The Other Hand in the UK.

Little Bee is unable to flee the terror that has chased her from her small village (sitting atop newly discovered oil deposits) to a British immigrant detention center. A horrific encounter with Little Bee on a beach in Nigeria follows tourists Sarah and Andrew O’Rourke back home to England and forces them to remember choices they have tried to forget.

to hellholes and back

(bribes, lies, and the art of extreme tourism) by Chuck Thompson, Henry Holt and Comapny, c. 2009, 321 pages.

I was not very impressed with this book but I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys travel memoirs and especially for fans of (as Booklist describes), "unorthodox travel writing."

From my LibraryThing Early Reviewers:

Funny and witty at times, the book is somewhat enjoyable and good for a light read. Thompson's anecdotes may make you laugh or they may just grate on your nerves as his writing skills really are more suited for his former Maxim job.