Books I’m Reading…
“Papillon” by Henri Charrière
Friday, May 16th, 2008
A new book I bought for 50,000 dong on the beach in Nha Trang. About a French ex-con
“A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
A friend on the Cambodia ride was reading “The Power of Now” and I ran across this book at a used book store… Thought I’d check it out.
Just getting started… and these books take me a while. :)
“Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” by David Sedaris
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Light, quick, easy read (finished it in one day!). Laughed out loud a few times - always good. First book I’ve read by this popular author, who writes with a raw hilarious creative style and views the world from twisted angles, and would read more by him. Received the book at a gift exchange during Christmas in Cambodia, where I also learned about a pretty cool new website called Bookcrossing.com - you can register a book so that others may find it and search for free books that have been left around the globe. Very nice.
“Eat Love Pray” by Elizabeth Gilbert
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
What can I say?! Perfect, loved it! At least 3 people had recommended this book to me and one even offered to send it to me (though I never knew where’d I be but thanks Rebecca!). However, it took me quite some time to finally get my hands on it. Once I did, I was hooked. It’s simply an honest, often hillarious, well written account of the witty talented author’s journey out of misery and efforts to rebuild herself as a healty independent woman. Not to mention, she takes one year off for travel to visit Italy, India and Indonesia (so see - same, same, but different)! Anyway, it’s a bestseller and definitely worth a read! Great stuff.
“The Snow Leopard” by Peter Matthiessen
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
I feel like a read this one about two weeks too late, as I started the book while in Kathmandu after returning from my Annapurna trek. Matthiessen captures all the senses with a beautiful, often metaphorical, description of the landscape of the Dolpo region of the Himalayas in the 60s, at the time and still true today - a very remote and unexplored territory. However, it’s actually his deep knowledge and research of Buddhism and the various religions of the ancestral and current natives that delivers extraordinary insight and the spark that makes this book special.
“Forget Kathmandu” by Manjushree Thupa
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
An excellent book for getting a quick rundown on the past and present political problems of Nepal. Written from the author’s personal perspective, she gives a clear, fair and consise history of the country’s tumultuous governments - from the ancient grim monarchies to her personal experience and insight during the royal massacre of 2001. Though it took me a long time to get through the many pages of seemingly repetitive absurd gruesome history, I highly recommend it as a great resource if interested in Nepal.
“The Royal Ghosts: Stories” by Samrat Upadhyay
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
Great modern short stories that provide an insight into the changing times and modernization of Nepal. Set in urban modern-day Kathmandu, the delicate stories of ordinary life cover the trials and troubles of everyday people in a country struggling to overcome turmoil and move forward. It was a quick read and gave me a better idea as to where Nepal stands in it’s current attitudes and development. I also gave it to Suprabhat, my Nepalese HLF project contact, who read several of the stories and agreed with their accurate representation.
“Skeleton Coast” by Clive Cussler
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Okay, this is not really my genre but I had a very limited selection at our the small island in the Maldives. However, I had also heard about this author from a HFH team member in Bangalore and it piqued my curiosity. It was fun beach read - a bit like “The Fast and the Furious” meets “Die Hard”, not much depth but highly entertaining.
“A Princess Remembers” by Gayatri Devi
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
Loved this book! What’s funny is that I tried to start reading it several times in Dallas but never made it through. For one reason or another, I’d get bored and distracted. Being in India certainly brought it to life and her descriptions of Jaipur in it’s opulent days of splendor were exactly what I longed for - a descriptive picture to bring the ancient streets and buildings facades to life.