#01 Sahara by Michael Palin

#02 Inside Sahara by Basil Pao

#03 The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx

Message edited by its author, Jan 26, 2009, 10:21pm.

Welcome and good luck with your challenge this year!

Welcome!

Thanks! Good luck to you guys as well!

#04 The Daodejing of Laozi by Laozi

Message edited by its author, Jan 26, 2009, 10:26pm.

What did you think about Sahara? I'm planning on reading The Python Years, Michael Palin's diaries from 1969-1979.

>6: LisaMorr, I read the diaries last year and really enjoyed them - although it did take me about a month to finish them! Really interesting reading (although he lost a lot of brownie points with me when he admitted to forgetting his tenth wedding anniversary...)

>7 Good to know you enjoyed them Flossie! I'll try to overlook the missed anniversary...

I really enjoyed Sahara! The pictures of the desert are breath-taking, and the ethnic diversity in the Sahara is incredible. Palin treats his subject with healthy doses of both humor and sobriety. It was rather enjoyable for a travel journal.

#05 The Ramayana by Valmiki

#06 Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72 by Hunter S. Thompson

#07 Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman

#08 Samskara: Rite for a Dead Man by U.R. Anantha Murthy

Books 5 & 8 sounds very interesting to me. Did you like them?

Yes, I did enjoy both of them. The Ramayana is a very involved tale, as epic stories usually are. It is also rather predictable, but I encourage the reader to look more at the ideas behind the content than at the plot itself. Karma, Dharma, loyalty, and a whole bunch of other cultural mores from the subcontinent dominate the tale. I'd say that also, if one cuts out the rape and the killings, it'd make for a good kid's story. I'm really shocked that no one has adapted this for a major blockbuster movie, it could be a hit.

Samskara was really cool...basically, it focuses on a dying Brahmin village in the 1930s or '40s, and has to do with the old ways clashing with the new. You can learn a lot about India through reading this, and it's less than 160 pages. Short read packed with good stuff.

Thanks for the additional info. I will add them both to my Continent TBR.

Just finished #09 As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams by Lady Sarashina.

Had to read this for a class, it has lots of good Japanese poetry, and it gives a pretty interesting view of Japanese court life in the Heian period. Less of a historical text than a memoir and travelogue.

Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2009, 12:59pm.

#18: I will look into that one for my oldest daughter, who is fascinated by all things Japanese. Thanks for the recommendation.

#10 The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

#20: What did you think of that one? I have it home from the library to read.