From the far

I love to read and think it is one of the great pleasures in life to read a good book.  Having the chance to read so much over the last year has been a great part of being away.

It has been good to try to read books set in or about the countries and cities we have visited.  Books like Shantaram and White Tiger in India, Spring Flowers in Albania, Guernica and Spain on the Camino, The Disappeared in Cambodia, Coroners Lunch in Laos, Bangkok Eight in Thailand and He Died with Felafel in His Hand in Australia have been made even better by reading them where they are set.

One of the differences of reading whilst travelling is that you haven’t always got the ready supply of books and choices that you would normally have.  There is nothing better than finding a hidden gem of a book on a dusty shelf at a street stall in Indonesia or a market stall in Albania.  However you often end up reading books you would never consider reading if you were at home sometimes for the good and sometimes not so good.

Currently reading – The End of Charity: Time for Social Enterprise, Nic frances

Recently Read:

The Way by Swann’s, Marcel Proust – A book I have been meaning to read for ages.  It was lovely to have the time to read it.   A beautiful indulgent book that was both hard work and utterly compelling at the same time.  You need to accept you aren’t going to rush it.  Sit back, relax and just enjoy it and let it take you away.
Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran-Foer – amazing book, well researched, well written and an impassioned plea for a more sane approach to how we think about food and what we eat.  Not just for veggies but for anyone who cares about what they eat, the world they live in and the choices they make.  One of the most memorable quotes from the book is “we all farm by proxy” make sure your vote counts.
Wine for Dummies, Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan- Does just what it says on the tin.  Learnt lots of good stuff.
The Whole Heart of Zen: The Complete Teachings from the Oral Tradition of Ta-Mo, Reverend John Bright-Fey – Interesting view on Chinese Zen Buddhism and the merging with Taoism.

Basho: The Complete Haiku, Jayne Reichhold - Beautiful book of his Haiku and a fascinating if rather brief biography.  Beautiful writing on is journeys around Japan.  Made me want to get on the plane to Japan right away.
Self, Yann Martel - For some reason I had been carrying this around for ages and putting off reading it but in the end it was really rather good.  Strange fictional autobiography that plays with gender and ideas.
My Uncle Oswald, Roald Dahl – Excellent book one of my recent favourites.  Lovely silly story about a highly likable cad and a bounder.
The Neon Rain, James Lee Burke – Since reading The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larson I have really got into the whole detective novel genre.  Loved this book and love the fact that there are more to follow.  Well written and Robicheaux is a great character.
The Hawkline monster, Richard Brautigan – I can’t tell you how much I love reading Richard Brautigan and thought I had read everything he had written so was really happy to find this in a bookshop in Bondi.  It has just been published for the first time to mark the 25th anniversary of his death.  Fantastic, whimsical, lyrical, crazy beautiful.  Read Brautigan now.

He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, John Birmingham -Very entertaining read about the joys and surreal experiences of living in shared houses.  Even better to read in Australia while travelling through the areas he was living, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.  Thanks Mr Humby.
Next 100 Years, The, George Friedman – Really interesting book exploring geopolitics and the possible scenarios and outcomes over the next 100 years.  Gets a bit silly towards the end and is very America centric but that is part of his argument that the world will continue to be US dominated.  Well worth reading.
Coyote Blue, Christopher Moore – Definite recommendation. Great read with quirky characters and plot. Reminded me a bit of Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas.Thank you Simon.
Secret Asset, Stella Rimington – a fun and simple quick read.  A perfect easy book for a longish train journey.
Travels, Michael Crichton – I loved this book it had a strange honesty throughout that was compelling.  The honesty of his travel experiences and his dissatisfaction with parts of his life and his exploration of inner travels as well as outer made it a great read.  I think its out of print but track down a copy.

Love Machine, Clinton Caward – I love reading books about the place I am staying and read this whilst staying in Kings Cross.  A good read and an insight into the seedier side of Sydney.
Between the Assassinations, Aravind Adiga – I didn’t enjoy this as much as White Tiger and was left wanting.  It was interesting but didn’t grab me.
Stirred But Not Shaken: The Autobiography, Keith Floyd – I loved this book.  Having been brought up on his TV shows it was great remembering back and getting to know the man behind the bow tie and the glass of red.  Thank you Mum.
Stones into Schools, Greg Mortenson – inspiring stuff that continues on from the last book.  Makes you believe in the goodness of Americans.
Gerald’s Game, Stephen King – I hated this book and found it a struggle to read every page.
Die Trying: One Man’s Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits, Bo Parfet – good inspirational stuff that makes you feel a bit lazy and plodding and makes you want to get off your arse and climb a mountain.  Thank you Mum.
One, Bob Moore – Didn’t enjoy this at all and was really disappointed.  A few interesting facts on NZ but overall not great.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn – An outstandingly good book.  Find it and read it.  It grabs your attention and holds you.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery – Excellent. I loved this book and cannot recommend it highly enough. Beautifully written, beautiful story, just beautiful.  Thank you Emma.
Saving Fish From Drowning, Amy Tan – very enjoyable story and lovelyreading about the strangeness of Burma and remembering our time there.  Thank you Naomi.
Generation A, Douglas Coupland – Just an amazing book.  I could read Coupland forever.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, Stieg Larson – the last in the series and kept me rapidly turning the pages until the very end.  So sad that there is no more and Stieg Larson didn’t get to see the success of his books.  The real life drama after his death is so sad as well.
Buddhism is Not What You Think, Steve Hagen – some interesting thoughts and models for thinking.  Buddha seems to sit at the heart of so much of Western philosophy.  Blank out the occasional waffle and it’s a good read.
Buddha or Bust: In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness and the Man Who Found Them All, Perry Garfinkel – I loved and hated this book at the same time. I loved the story but felt it was written incredibly badly.  I remain amazed that this guy is a journalist.  I was definitely moved by the book and it really opened my eyes up to so more Buddhist thought.  Overall the story overcame the style.
On Beauty, Zadie Smith - Excellent book capturing the strength of family for good and bad.
The History of Love, Nicole Krauss - Lovely story, complex and well written.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer - When you have such affection for a character you have known for only a couple of days that you cry your eyes out while sunbathing on the beach and accept all the strange stares without concern it has to be an amazing book. It is.  Read and enjoy.
The Disappeared, Kim Echelin – The horrors of the Khmer Rouge told through a beautiful love story
Anarchy and Old Dogs, Colin Cotterill - Another great read from Laos.
Beloved, Toni Morrison – This is Jo’s favourite book of all time so I thought I ought to read it.  Sadly I hated it, just didn’t get it really. Not my cup of tea at all.
Bangkok Haunts, John Burdett -  another good page turner that gives some insight into hidden Bangkok.
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Angela Carter - An enjoyable sort of a read I suppose.
Thirty-Three Teeth, Colin Cotterill – it really brings Laos alive and makes me yearn to be back there.
Bangkok Tattoo, John Burdett - Detective Sochai Jitlecheep continues to work his way through the underbelly of Bangkok crime.  Great to read when staying in Bangkok.
Odd Hours, Dean Koontz – what a strange book.  I didn’t know what to expect but this was just rather strange and not very good. I would give this book a wide berth.
Lemona’s Tale, Ken Saro-Wiwa - Saro-Wiwa seeing into his own future.  A well told story and captivating style.
The Bourne Sanction, Eric van Lustbader – good stuff continuing the Bourne saga.  A nice easy read.
The Longer Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand, Chris Anderson – interesting stuff, definitely worth a read.
The Abortion: a Historical Romance, Richard Brautigan - I think I would read anything by Brautigan.  Certainly in my top 10 authors of all time.  Every page feels like a newly discovered pleasure that you greedily consume.  I really love all his books and finding a book I hadn’t read of his in a second hand bookshop in Asia was amazing.
Four Blind Mice, James Patterson – the literary equivalent of a Burger King, quite nice at the time but no real sustenance.
The Coroner’s Lunch, Colin Cotterill – a geriatric doctor taking over as chief coroner in 1970’s Laos and solving crimes through his ability to chat to the dead in his dreams.  Doesn’t immediately sound like an obvious recipe for a great book but its superb.  A lovely read.
Bangkok Eight, John Burdett – good Crime Fiction that is easy to read and informative on Thailand and Bangkok and the Thai mindset.
Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson – A book that inspires you to do more and be more.  You just feel plain lazy after every chapter.  A truly inspiring story that gives real hope.  Made me want to travel through Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Road, Cormac McCarthy - dark and touching, harsh and brutal.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson - Ripped through every page staying up until 4am just to find out what was happening next and loving every character and twist.
The Successor, Ismail Kadare – an interesting story about succession of power in Albania.  Good read.
Down Under, Bill Bryson – you have to love Bill Bryson.  His stories and encounters bring a smile to my face with every page.
Get Shorty, Elmore Leonard – so good, style and swagger jump off every page.
Netherland, Joseph O’Neill – kind of left me disappointed and somewhat ambivalent to the book.
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, John Wood – Inspiring stuff that made an incredible journey seem both ordinary and magnificent at the same time.  Great example of the hard edged practices of business driving a charity to success.
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, Kate Summerscale - Enjoyable read that held my attention but didn’t really take me anywhere.
Time of Our Singing, Richard Powers - It was well written and undoubtedly amazingly clever but didn’t blow me away.  It may have been due to the hype from Jo but I was left wanting and was unhappy and unsatisfied at the end.
Kill Your Friends, John Niven - I loved this book so much.  Reminded me of so many people and so many things.  Amazing, amazing, amazing.  Buy it and enjoy the wrongness on every page.
The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson – unfortunately I read this book first.  It was excellent and I searched high and low through the secondhand bookshops of Bali to find the first one.  Excellent page turning book that I read too quickly and wanted to read all over again as soon as I finished.
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, Paul Krugman – interesting dissection of the forces that were driving the recession.
Spring Flowers, Spring Frost, Ismail Kadare – I loved the style of this book.  It was so different and reminded me of the first time I read Milan Kundera.  Great to read while travelling in Albania
Papillon, Henri Charriere – Great book.  Still haven’t seen the film everyone raves about.  Looking forward to reading Banco and hearing more of the extraordinary journey.  It doesn’t matter if its all true its just a great story.
Playing for Pizza, John Grisham – sort of interesting.  Easy to read and mildly distracting.
On the Road, Jack Kerouac – what can you say really.  I loved it and the love the way it makes me feel when I read it.
Prey, Michael Crichton – more page turning and thinking from Mr Crichton
Timeline, Michael Crichton – good page turning stuff that makes you think a bit as well.
Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend, Stephen Davis – full of great stories and explores the dynamics of the classic dysfunctional band falling apart.  The loss of innocence of the band and the loss of innocence of the whole movement they came to represent is pretty depressing though.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy – Amazing book that feels timeless.  A delight to lose yourself in.
Guernica, Dave Boling – Stopped talking to everyone while I read this and couldn’t put it down.  An amazing story that is beautifully told and opened my eyes to a chapter of Spanish history I knew nothing about.  Great read while wlaking the Camino de Santiago
Spain, Jan Morris – This was the first book I have read by Jan Morris and I loved it.  Helped me to understand so much more about Spain and the national character and culture.
The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen – Not the work of genius that everyone had told me it was.  I was left somewhat cold by it.  I just didn’t feel for the characters.
What’s it All About?, Michael Caine – An interesting life and worth a read.
The Outsider, Albert Camus – re-reading this again was as good as it always is.  This is one of my favourite books of all time.  It is a work of genius.  If you haven’t read this yet read it now.  If you have then re-read it.
A Happy Death, Albert Camus – Similar characters and theme to The Outsider but not quite so striking.
Crossfire, Andy Mcnab – sorry I don’t know why I read this.  It was just there.
Lucky Man: A Memoir, Michael J Fox – engaging read, honest and moving.
The Other Hand, Chris Cleave – Great book that captures the impact of seeing something that changes your life.  It captures the innocence of the traveler perfectly and the damage that innocence can do.
The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga - Great insight into modern India and the ambitions and people that are driving it forward.
The Quaker Book of Wisdom, Robert Lawrence Smith - beautiful book that gives religion a good name.  Quaker practice makes so much sense.  It still amazes me though that the only Quaker US president was Nixon.  Thank you Mum
Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts - I read this on the beaches of Goa and at least 50%of people around me at anytime were reading the same book.  I loved it and couldn’t put it down.  The first two thirds are the best but it is an excellent yarn.  Thank you Ian.