Ruby Ramblings

One of my favorite blogs is my monthly books read column. Here are all the books I read this month (which happens to be thirteen) in the order I read them. Here are my January Reads and February Reads.

1. SEEING VIETNAM ENCOUNTERS OF THE ROAD AND HEART by Susan Brownmiller

2. High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver It’s good for me to read a book about my own country now and again (although several of the passages in this book are of Kingsovers’s travels). Fantastic collection of essays. Interview with the author.

3. The Life of Milarepa Translated by Lobsang Lhalungpa For a book that is a translation of an ancient text, I couldn’t believe how it is so full of humor that is still relevant. This is a great introduction to the story of Milarepa, the classic folk hero of Tibet. He was able to reach enlightenment after one lifetime, even after killing thirty people in his village by completely dedicating himself to repenting his actions. (It’s like My Name is Earl in orange robes on the Tibetan plain. 😉 )

4. This is Paradise! My North Korean Childhood by Hyok Kang
Kang grew up in North Korea where he and his family nearly starved to death. They believed the propaganda the NK was the most prosperous country on earth and thought if they left they would surely starve and be even worse off. Eventually his father, being tried for crimes against the state, decides they need to flee, where they discover the world is not as they’ve been told.

5. The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (Revised Edition) by Fareed Zakaria I thought this was a great account of how not all democracies around the world work the same. He looks at the success of several, both in terms of political success, and in how their populace is thriving. He makes some pretty scathing remarks about the Arab world and how their wealth is based on selling resources and if they do not make moves to build infrastructure and society, when those resources are gone so will be their tenuous success.

6. The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom by Simon Winchester Interview with the author.

7. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner Besides the fact that I’m a fool for any book with Geography in the title, I loved this book. Full review here.

8. Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby Okay, I didn’t actually read this book. I loved High Fidelity, and wanted to try another of Hornby’s, but I have no, and I mean no, interest in books about sports. Even though the back jacket said I would like it even if I wasn’t a sports fan. It’s not true.

9. Even After All This Time: A Story of Love, Revolution, and Leaving Iran by Aschinef Latifi

10. Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
Probably the best book I read this month. A classic travel narrative following the footsteps of George Orwell’s time in Burma and how his travels affecting his writing. Larkin’s vivid descriptions of Burma really make this book.

11. Literature from the “Axis of Evil”: Writing from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Other Enemy Nations Published by Words Without Borders

12. The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks
Hicks was working on restoring the old Carnton Plantation, a house that had been taken over by Confederate soldiers and made into a makeshift hospital during the Civil War. He got so wrapped up in the history that this book is the fictionalized account of what he learned about the house. It is a fantastic story about Carrie McGavock, the lady of the house, and a soldier she becomes partial to. One of the interesting things for me about this book is that I live in Nashville, and Franklin, the location of this plot, is very close to here. Interview with the author.

13. Big Boy Rules: America’s Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq by Steve Fainaru My review here.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

That’s some pretty heavy reading. I haven’t read any of them lol sorry.
Happy T13!

Comment by Adelle Laudan April 2, 2009 @ 12:40 am

I haven’t read any of those, though I do have the Hornby book in my TBR pile.

Comment by Nicholas April 2, 2009 @ 12:44 am

I’m a lightweight reader. None of those would’ve caught my attention.

Comment by Ann Bruce April 2, 2009 @ 12:48 am

I’ve never even heard of any of these books.

Comment by jenn April 2, 2009 @ 12:59 am

Kingsolver came to our small town in Southwest Virginia and read from her next book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” which she was writing at the time. It was about her family’s year of eating only locally food. She lives nearby now.

Comment by colleen April 2, 2009 @ 1:32 am

gosh, I’ve never seen these books before. Thanks for highlighting them in your blog.

Comment by On a limb with Claudia April 2, 2009 @ 2:22 am

I just finished ONE book that took me all month. Nearly 800 pages tho. does that count for anything? LOL

My 13 is all about ‘icky’ foods. Won’t you join me for a bite?!!!

Comment by Hootin' Anni April 2, 2009 @ 4:43 am

Wow, 13 books this month? I barely made it to 9, and that’s only because I reread a lot of old favorites this month!

Comment by Betty April 2, 2009 @ 9:04 am

I thought I’d read all of Barbara Kingsolver’s books, but I haven’t. Thanks. I’ll be checking out “High Tide in Tucson”.

Comment by Brenda ND April 2, 2009 @ 12:50 pm

That’s a great list. I’ve heard a lot of good things about #7 and #8.

Comment by Angeleque Ford April 2, 2009 @ 3:10 pm

was the movie fever pitch based on hornby’s book? the story sounds similar.

Comment by jehara April 2, 2009 @ 3:12 pm

Always appreciate a good book! Now if I could just get you to add mine to your list. 😉 ha.

Comment by carmen April 2, 2009 @ 3:23 pm

I don’t know any of these authors. Maybe they haven’t been translated and it’s not so easy to find English books in Belgium.

Comment by Gattina April 2, 2009 @ 3:44 pm

Wow, these sound really interesting. I’ve been branching out in my reading lately, and some of these fit right in with my newer reading interests. I’m putting #5, #6, #7, and #10 on my to-look-for list, and possibly #1, #4, #9, and #12 as well.

Thanks for introducing me to books I might never have heard of otherwise!

Comment by Darla April 2, 2009 @ 4:07 pm

Very interesting books. I love to read but don’t have the time. Thanks for sharing.
http://www.ageorgiaangel.com/blog/?p=541

Comment by ageorgiaangel April 2, 2009 @ 4:38 pm

Look like interesting books – thanks for sharing and adding to my list… 🙂

Comment by Mozi Esme's Mommy April 2, 2009 @ 5:47 pm

Interesting reading list! I have met Barbara Kingsolver. Her husband, Steve Hopp, was/is a professor at my alma mater. Very nice people!

Comment by Christi April 2, 2009 @ 6:16 pm

I sense travel in your theme. I’ve jotted down a couple for checking out later. Thanks for sharing.

Comment by Shelley Munro April 2, 2009 @ 6:21 pm

Interesting list. I’ve never heard of any of these books. #12 sounds particularly interesting.

Comment by Clara April 2, 2009 @ 7:42 pm

I’ve had the grumpy travel guy book on my list for a while now – got to get to that one soon. I would have skipped Fever Pitch myself and I love sports – I hated the movie which was a very loose adaption as I understood – but I did enjoy the High Fidelity movie so I wonder if I would enjoy that book. Seems like he writes “Dude” Lit huh?

Comment by Molly April 3, 2009 @ 1:47 am

You have Susan on your bloglist. I had brunch with her today. 🙂

Comment by Talya April 4, 2009 @ 12:04 pm

[…] Thursday Thirteen – March Reads […]

Pingback by Machetes to Mosaics - April Reads « Ruby Ramblings May 2, 2009 @ 5:32 pm

[…] February, March, and April Reads Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Premio Dardos AwardFebruary […]

Pingback by May Reads « Ruby Ramblings May 30, 2009 @ 3:37 am

[…] February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, […]

Pingback by 2010 – Well, Who Knew and December Reads « Ruby Ramblings January 6, 2010 @ 12:36 pm

Leave a Reply

Enter your comment here...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Email (required) (Address never made public)

Name (required)

Website

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Notify me of new comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.

Δ