That’s the Book!

I’ve been wanting to add some features to That’s the Book! for some time now and until recently I wasn’t sure how to go about it.  But things have already started to develope here.  If you look to the right of the page you can already see that I’ve added a list of book blogers under the heading Bibliophiles United the list is quite small because few blogers have left comments here and I haven’t had much of an opportunity to explore other blogs.  My internet use has been restricted since beginning this blog I’ve been without internet at the appartment so I’ve been using PC Bangs (pronounced bong) but now that the interweb has finally arrived I hope to read more blogs and thereby expanding the list of united bibliophiles.  Also just below Bibliophiles United you can see a list of the books I’ve read this year (with the exception of An Appointment with My Brother which for some reason blog.com isn’t allowing me to add that book - probably a small publisher).  
Things to look forward to in the next couple of days is a list of the books I’m currently reading [Books Read 2008 (this year I tend to have two books on the go at a time one fiction and one non-fiction)].  I’m also considering a change in the look of That’s the Book! so if it’s looking different during your visits I’m just trying to deside which I like best.  While making this decision I may leave options up for a short time to allow for imput from the reads of That’s the Book!
Not sure of the other changes that may come to That’s the Book! those are some that have happened and you can expect to see within the next couple of day. 

I posted a blog not that long ago entitled “Reading Korea” in which I discussed the books I have read dealing with the divided peninsula of Korea.  Just before posting that blog I began reading The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History by Don Oberdorfer and now I’m pleased to say that I’ve finished. 
Oberdorfer gives some historical background regarding the North and South but in this book he relates a relatively recent history of these two nations.  By recent I’m talking about what has been going on on this peninsula since the end of the second world war.  I chose The Two Koreas because I wanted to better understand the turmoil that seems to be present in Korea.  As a Westerner we only get brief snipets of information about what has been going on in the part of the world (more so about the North).  Kim Jong Il is continually in and out of the media spot light and there is some question as to his mental status (is he crazy or not). 
After reading The Two Koreas I don’t think I know that much more about the struggle where I’ve been living for almost a year now.  Don Oberdorfer presents the events that have been going on on the peninsula by talking about the political ranglings that keep giving hope not only to the Korean people but also the worlds populous.  The most interesting event he talks about is how close the two countries came to armoured conflict in 1994.  I thought that I was already very up-to-date in my current affairs but I don’t remember this being mentioned or taken as seriously as Oberdorfer tells us it was.
The book was difficult to read at times because it came across as a 449 page newpaper article.  It made for some forced reading at times but I’m glad I finished it.  I have come to understand the the primary objective of both Koreas is for reunification the problem really comes in with the two systems of government in place in both countries (I don’t think I need to go into detail about what they are).  With this understanding it is not difficult to appreciate the North reaction at times to situations that are happening just South of them and half way across the world inj the USA.  I don’t think that either of the Kims were/are as much to be feared as the media makes them out to be.  
The latest developments are perhaps the most intersting and not included in this book.  The six nation talks that were happening before I arrived in Seoul in February of last year.  I think the recent train crossing between the two countries was a direct result of these meets as well this helped with the Summit between Kim Jong Il and the current outgoing president Roh Moo-hyun the second only such meeting between the leaders of the separated country.
I cannot conclude this without saying I was wanting to find out more about the holidays and traditions found in this very old country.  So, I guess my search continues to find a book that can relay this information on to me.