Nam Au Go Go, by
I bought this book off a little kid street vendor in Nhu Trang, Vietnam.  It a replacement for Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad, which I couldn't get into.  I wanted a book about the Vietnam War now that I was in the country.  This book is written by an American Veteran who got addicted to violence and darkness during his time 'in-country.'  His stories of death, rape and insanity make it is easy to understand how someone can end up embracing the darkside when that's all there is.

Voices of Islam, by Geraldine Brooks
An eye-opening book for me about Muslim Women.  Brooks is an American journalist who became fascinated by Islam and its treatment of women during her stints as a reporter in the Middle East.  She follows a number of women in the book, some who fight against their oppressors, and some who are happier to accept their subservient role.  Brooks explains how the words of the Koran have been twisted to fit the post-1979 strict Muslim world.  Prior to the fall of the Ayatollah, women's rights had been progressing.  But, with the resurgance of Islamic fundamentalism, women have been treated worse than before.  Brooks deftly shows how the Fundamentalists have interpreted Mohammed's words and life to fit their own needs.  I was given this book by my Tongan/US friends in Samoa, but didn't feel a desire to read it until I got to Malaysia where I quickly felt very aware of being female.  I knew I needed to read it when I saw women covered head to toe in black robes playing with their babies on the beach.

The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood
Another great Atwood.  I tried to read this one a few years ago and couldn't get into it. This time I had no choice as there was nothing else to read, I found this amongst mostly German books on the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia.  Great plot, great characters (Laura, Iris, Winnifred, Richard) and a mystery to keep you guessing till the end.  I will read anything Atwood writes.  Plus, at this point in my travels, it felt really good to read a story based in Canada - full of Canadian inter-war history and famous Canadian families like the Eatons.

The Pest House, by Jim Crace
A "The Road" wanna-be. Something terrible has happened in the US and all remaining Americans must get off the continent via the Eastern seaboard.  The story follows a small group of people on a quest to leave the country - Margaret, a plague-victim (who magically shakes off the disease through the kindness of strangers in the form of a foot rub), a baby and xxx, who is captured and enslaved along the way, but meets up with his beloved at the end of the book.  I'm not doing this book justice, because it is well-written, but it has nothing on McCarthy's The Road.

William's Gould's Fish
I really wanted to like this book as it takes place in a Tasmanian prison (of which I have read and seen much) and the main characters are fish (or, people who look like fish.)  William Gould has been sentenced to life and is forced to live in a cell on the seashore.  As the tides comes in, he rises to the top of the cell and is only able to breathe in a few feet of space.  All characters in this book are horrible creatures and come to resemble fish.  Indeed, fish become Gould's passion and he spends hours on end painting sea creatures.  I was with the author up to here, but then he starts to become a fish (figuratively) and I lost interest.  I tried to skim the last few chapters but couldn't be bothered. 

The Snow Geese, by William Fiennes
An interesting find, from a bookstore in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.  To overcome his post-illness depression, the author (a bird lover) follows Snow Geese from their summer area in Texas through to their winter home in northern Canada.  He stops in places which are close to me personally - Fargo, Winnipeg, Churchill, Iqualit (where my sister currently lives) all the way up to Cape Dorset in Hudson's Bay.  This book was gorgeously written and the author does an amazing job of describing the everyday characters that he meets on his journey.  He has a gift for minutae which was the best part of the book (he describes everything from meals, to clothing to curling rinks.)  Background on bird migrations (how and why) and homesickness (as a medical illness) were, for me, secondary, but interesting. 

Hotel Du Lac, by Anita Brookner
An excellent book by an author I have always wanted to read.  It is easy to see why it won the 1984 Booker, though there was controversy over it at the time.  Edith is sent away to Switzerland in penance for screwing up a marriage she didn't want in the first place.  She has a lover (a married man) but her life, according to her friends, is going nowhere.  Her time at the small Swiss hotel and the ridiculously dramatic characters she meets and gets to know very well makes her realize that she is happiest by herself in her little flat with her garden and her books.  Brookner's brilliance is in her descriptions of the guests and of course their secret lives.  Nothing goes unnoticed or unturned in this book, every word has a purpose, and one realizes yet again, how complex (but empty) people can be.

History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, by Julian Barnes
Barnes claims this is a novel, but to me it came across as a series of short-stories.  Some are very good (terrorists boarding a history cruise) but some are just plain boring (his discourse on love.)  There are some good ties between the stories (woodworm, Noah's Ark etc.) but I didn't get much out of this book.

Black Dogs, by Ian McEwan
The second time I've read this book and better this time around.  McEwan seems to have a thing for honeymoon couples (On Chesil Beach) and the seemingly small things that can happen that set people on different paths.  Bernard revels in Science whereas Jean beleives there must be more.  During their honeymoon, while almost attacked by 2 black dogs, Jean has a revelation that God does exist.  This moment and its aftermath is all it takes to tear this couple apart over the next 50 years.  These two can't live with each other (and their sickness over each other's principals) but they can't live without each other. Their story is written by Jeremy, their son-in-law, who lost his parents when he was 8.  While writing Jean's memoirs and re-tracing their honeymoon in France, Jeremy is forced to face his own assumptions and emotions about his own history.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote
A short novella to fill in a gap between books.  Katie gave me this one in KK.  It was okay.

Surgeon of Crowthorne, by Simon Winchester
The first Winchester book I've read, possibly the last. While the story itself was good, he dumbs everything down.  More than I ever wanted to know about the creation of the dictionary, but interesting to think about the scope of the project. The fact that thousands of entries came from an inmate from an asylum didn't seem like such a big deal.

Amsterdam, by Ian McEwan
I think this is only book I've ever read three times.  It gets better with every reading.  In fact, I think this one is an almost perfect book. McEwan intertwines the ups and downs of Vernon Halliday (a newspaper editor and his decision to publish photos of the Foreign Secretary in drag) and his best friend Clive (the composer of the 'Millenium Symphony' who, while hiking in the Lake District, ignores a rape in order to write down an elusive melody, claiming artistic genius.)  This McKewan (the 1998 Booker) seems more humourous than his other books, there is something Amis-like about it, particularly the shocking (but oh-so-fitting) ending. 

Success, by Martin Amis
My least favorite Amis.  His stock story of two characters who hate each other.  In this case, Gregory (the richy-rich vain and flamboyant brother) and Terence Service (the abused orphan who can't get laid.)  In a Prince and Pauper turn, they end up on opposite ends of the spectrum by the end of the book.  Still lots of funny, typical-Amis scenes.

Dead Babies, by Martin Amis
One of my favorite Amis books!  This was the second time I read it and I got much more out of it this time.  A weekend in the country with as much sex, drugs and drink as Amis can possibly fit in.  The description of Little Keith's boots are worth reading the book for alone. Not only do we get absoloute debauchery with this book, we get a mystery too.  Who is Johnny?!

Private Dancer, by Stephen Leather
British writer meets Joy, a Thai bargirl.  Falls in love with bargirl.  Rest of book is Pete knowing he is being lied to, but he can't give her up.  She strings him along getting him to give her hundreds of thousands of baht.  Story got boring, but a good read now that I know this stuff happens all the time in Thailand. 

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, by Barbara Kingsolver 
An excellent book about eating locally. As I get older, this issue becomes more and more interesting to me and Kingsolver's lifestyle is one I'd love to emulate.  She and her family commit to growing as much of their own food as possible and supplementing their diet with dairy and meat from within their local community.  The book follows the trials and tribulations of gardening (including explanations of several vegetables and their growing seasons) and also provides tips and recipies for creating your own food.  Kingsolver also shines light on the American food culture (the fact that there isn't one, unless you count our preoccupation with binging and food deprivation). Alsoc covered is the plight of the local farmer who cannot compete with the huge multinational corn and soybean growers, responisble for the high fructose corn syrup that has led to an obesity epidemic.  From making her own cheese to canning tomatoes, relying on farmers markets and baking one's own daily bread, I have a lot of respect for Kingsolver's commitment and I think her book is an important one.  I am making Chris read it.

Mr.Pip, by Lloyd Jones
A retelling, in several ways, of Dicken's Great Expectations. The story takes place on a small island off of Papua New Guinea, and I loved being able to relate to the descriptions of weather, scenery and food (based on my Samoa travels.)  The school children are taught by Mr.Watts, the only white on the island.  He has nothing to teach them but Great Expectations.  The children love being able to escape, through literature, into another world.  This ability to live in a different world takes on new meaning when rebels invade the island and do some very nasty things.  A decent read.

Almost French, by Sarah Turnbull
A great read to start my stint in France.  "Almost French" is a biography of an Australian women who marries a  Frenchman.  In her late 20s, she ends her travels and moves to Paris.  The book chronicles her observations on living in France - feeling like an outsider, making friends, learning French customs (the code of conduct around food, social occasions and fashion.)  A good writer with a nice sense of humor, she provided me with a good introduction on French society. Her book made me happy that we are living in a small town where it is ok to wear your outdoor gear anywhere as opposed to the very French, correct and high-style city that is Paris.

This year's Booker Prize winner - The White Tiger is the best book I've read in the last few months.  Usually Bookers are pretty meaty; this isn't to say this one isn't, but it is written in a way that you can't put it down and plow through it in a day or so.  I read this book just after seeing Slumdog Millionaire and it makes for a good companion piece.  I actually enjoyed it far more than Slumdog.  A great description of the rich vs poor in India with excellent plot twists, humor and pretty nasty violence.  How the entire country of India isn't plunged into perpetual warfare, I don't know.  Actually, I do know, after reading this book.  I loved The White Tiger as much as I loved " A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry, which is saying alot.

Inconceivable, by Ben Elton

With nothing else to read, I had no choice on this one.  A story about trying to get pregnant, fertility treatments and marital strife.  A stupid book that tries too hard to be hilarious, and only got the occasional somewhat forced grin from me.

Engleby, by Sebastian Falks

A great read, this was my second book by Faulks.  He chronicles the story of Engleby, a bullied kid who grows up to be pretty mentally unstable - a pathological liar and quite violent.  Murder(s?) take place and the book is a "how done it" while still being good literature.  You feel for the character, especially in his psycho ward days, but he is a pretty awful human being.

A Short History of Tractors in the Ukraine, by Marina Lewycka

I kept seeing this book on best seller shelves and was intrigued by the title.  It was a terrible book.  I don't understand why the Wanaka hostel employee told me this was one of her favorite books.  It is supposed to be "very funny" and I barely cracked a smile, except when I finished the book.  The book is about 2 daughters dealing with their newly widowed father trying to marry a much-younger, illegal Russian immigrant.  Hijinx ensue.  Borrrring....

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