Reading for 2010 and 2011

The best thing about the new year so far has been the Google Doodle on December 31st. I guess that's not this year. So I don't know what the best thing is. I have been reading a little this week, which is quite interesting. I read a fascinating book called "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm". While it may be sort of classified as a children's book, I found it in the 'Young Adult' section of the library. Those librarians. I picked it up because of the author, Nancy Farmer, who wrote other books that I likes, one of which was 'The Sea of Trolls' that I read a few years ago. Of course (and it hurts to say it) it was part of a series. Why does this happen to me! The strange thing is I had absolutely no idea that there was even a sequel to this book. So I took the sequel, too. Let me catch up with myself.
     'The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm' was interesting for me for multiple reasons. One of them happens to be that it takes place in ZIMBABWE! Let me just ask, has anyone else ever read a book that takes place in Zimbabwe? (Not including non-fiction books) It also turned out to be science fiction, which was hardly surprising since it says on the back it's in 2194 and Ear, Eye, and Arm got special powers from pollution. The cool thing about this book was that it took real things that happened in the twentieth century and farther back, and projected what it would be like, along with the author's own ideas. Basically three children, Tendai (13), Rita (11, I think) and Kuda (Maybe about 4) are kidnapped on a trip to the city and are going to be sold to the gang called the Masks. I takes traditional culture from tribes in Zimbabwe and uses words from their languages, which made it more interesting for me. The three siblings are the children of General Matsika, who is a very famous man who has worked to improve life in Zimbabwe (Like breaking up gangs) While the family is well off and able to hire detectives, it also makes them targets in the city. So the mother hires three detectives, Ear, Eye, and Arm to search for them. These men have powers that go with their names. Ear has exceptional hearing, Eye has exceptional eyesight, and Arm has the amazing ability to feel other people's feelings, which makes them ideal detectives. I was really amazed by this book, and it was thoughtfully printed in large print. (I don't know how I ended up with that copy.
     I now am reading a book called 'The Land of the Silver Apples' which is also a book by Nancy Farmer. It's about a boy named Jack and it takes place in the past in a magical world where there are giants and elves and magical creatures. This would be the sequel I was talking about. So far he has found out his sister is actually an elf, seen her taken away along with all the water,  explored differences between the old gods and Christianity, and with a slave and an ex-slave with him, he journeys to fix the problems of water and elves. Jack is trained in magic, by the Bard, and has experience with magic and magical creatures. He also is joined by a friend from the previous book, but it all makes much more sense if you've already read the first.
Sorry for the long ramble, but it was quite exciting for me. I can't believe anyone has the patience to read this, anyway. :)