I think the theme of this year’s Canada reads program must be: “Go Canada! – because the rest of the world is scary, dangerous and all-around unpleasant”. Initially I was not going to read “Prisoner of Teheran” because between having already read a political book this month, having previously read about situation in Iran and having had talked to a number of ex-pat Iranians I figured I already knew a lot and could live without it. It arrived from the library sooner than I though possible so I figured I would just read the first couple of pages to get the sense of the narrator’s voice. Well, the narrative was so interesting I finished the book in three days. It is a memoir of a woman who, at sixteen, is arrested and spends the next two years in a notorious political prison. Compared to “Something Fierce”, “Prisoner of Teheran” is surprisingly easy to read due to narrator not focusing too much on negative things which is a pretty big feat considering the circumstances. I am not sure which book I think would be better suited to win the Canada reads. They are both informative about the part of the world and they both discuss difficulties living in a particular kind of state. “Something Fierce” is more emotional while “Prisoner of Teheran” is more pragmatic and balanced.