10 new - Books read during Peace Corps Service and BOOKS and AUTHORS

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Books read during Peace Corps service:

SEPT 2008 - DEC 2009
1. Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho
2. PS Your Cat is Dead by James Kirkwood
3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
4. The Alchemist / English Version by Paulo Coelho
5. Caramba! By Nina Marie Martinez
6 The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
7 The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
8 The Handbook of Homemade Power by the Mother Earth News
9 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
10 The Coronor's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
11 Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
12 Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
13 Homeland and Other Stories by Barbara Kingsolver
14 Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
15 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
16 Trespassing: My Sojourn Through the Halls of Priveledge by Gwendolyn Parker
17 Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende
18 The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
19 The Firm by John Grisham
20 The Alchemist / Spanish Version by Paulo Coelho
21 Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua by Stephen Kinzer
22 Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
23 This One and Magic Life by Anne Carrol George
24 The Witch of Portabello by Paulo Coelho
25 Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
26 Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
27 The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
28 Best American Travel Writing by Anthony Bourdain
29 Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
30 Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
31 Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
32 The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman
33 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
34 Animal Factory by Edward Bunker
35 Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
36 The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough
37 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

JAN 2010 - PRESENT

38 Chocolat by Joann Harris
39 The Flawless Skin of Ugly People by Doug Cantrell
40 The Gift of Travel: Best of Traveller's Tales edited by Larry Habegger
41 The Bone People by Keri Hulme
42 Omnivore's Delimma by Michael Pollan
43 Two In the Far North by Margaret Murie
44 History of the Millenium by Dave Barry
45 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
46 River Town by Peter Hessler
47 Tales from Watership Down by Richard Adams
48 A Year of Full Moons by Madalyn Arnold
49 Tangerine by Edward Bloor
50. Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui
51. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
52. Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdich
53. The Liars Club by Mary Karr
54. Beyond the Blonde by Kathleen Flyn-Hui
55. The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen
56. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
57. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
58. The Guardians by Ana Castillo
59. The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay
60. Measure of a Lady by Deanne Gist
61. Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt
62. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
63. If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern
64. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
65. The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck
66. The Dogs of Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz






This is my personal list of books I think everyone should read.

BOOKS:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: This is my favorite book of all time. "It is a fable about following your dreams." It's short and quick, but everytime you read it you'll find something new. I quote it...
often. ... ps I am now reading it in Spanish.

"What's the world's greatest lie?... It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie." -pcoelho

Life of Pi by Yann Martel: My 2nd favorite book. The ultimate survival-at-sea-story, with an awesome twist. Starts in India, ends in Canada. Love the writing style. Short and quick and really fun! "A story that will make you believe in God". Also a book I often quote.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: A story of a girl who goes in search for her past... and finds a house of eccentric women, learns to be a beekeeper, and finds family and a power in herself she never knew existed.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert: A memoir of a year of soul searching. She goes to Rome for four months in order to seek beauty - by learning Italian and eating the best food. She goes to India the next four months to cleanse her soul, learn to be still, and study at an Ashram. She ends her year with four months in Bali, Indonesia, learning how to be happy and find balance in her life.

Watership Down by Richard Adams: A favorite book from growing up. Also a survival story, told from the perspective of a bunch of rabbits... sounds hokey, I know, but it's awesome!

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: If you want to know what it's like to live in the Ozarks and you like books about boys and dogs and growing up, this is the book. THE book.

Caramba! by Nina Maria Martinez: Anyone who has every spoken Spanglish or been to Mexico should read this outrageous book that I keep picturing like Tarentino´s Deathproof.

Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua by Stephen Kinzer: A must read for anyone wishing to understand the contra wars in the 80´s, the Sandanista Front, and why Ortega is back in office.


AWESOME AUTHORS:

JK Rowling: Hello! HARRY POTTER!

Barbara Kingsover: Animal Dreams. The Bean Trees. The Poisonwood Bible. Prodigal Summer.

Bryce Courtenay: The Power of One. The Potato Factory. Matthew Flinders' Cat.

Brian Jacques: The Redwood novels.

DJ MacHale: The Pendragon novels.

Anne Rice: Interview with a Vampire. The Witching Hour.

John Steinbeck: East of Eden. Cannery Row.

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Comments

[aart]

Hello! I'm a big fan of Paulo Coelho! You will love this! He's the first best-selling author to be distributing for free his works on his blog: www.paulocoelhoblog.com Have a nice day! Aart

[Mom]

OK.....
Found your DEATHPROOF MONK, finally. Was with 'another pile' of your brother's "stuff that is totally where I mean for it to be and no one - NO ONE, MOM! - should ever even think of moving even one single piece of it or you'll mess me up for life" piles. Will be in the mail heading for Nicaragua tomorrow AM! NICE NICE NICE to have the 4th of July on a Saturday and have 2 whole days (CLOUDY DAYS, oh YES!!!!) to be in the garden and the yard! Ahhhh

[Ben]

Deep
Wow, your books seem so deep compared to mine. And I can't really say that everybody should read my list of favorite books, because my favorite book is Men > Women. =P I will read The Life of Pi and The Alchemist sometime, I plomise. :)

[Mom]

si !!!!
You....reading THE ALCHEMIST in Spanish!!!! GOOD FOR YOU! Who'da ever thunk it, huh??!! ps How's Arielle?

[Shannon]

I'm so glad you liked Shantaram; it reminded me of you in a real but totally non-literal way. If that makes sense. And it is just a very popular book down here. The author is an Aussie, and so this book is a bestseller on his home turf, but I've never seen it in the Northern Hemisphere. (Not that I've looked.) And thanks for posting your reading list! I'm looking for a few ideas to get me through the rest of this winter, and many of these look wonderful.

[Jay Cahail]

Reading...a lost art!
I was always a Steinbeck fan and JeriAnn an Anne Rice fan. Am currently looking for Blood of Brothers (from your list). I firmly believe that all gringos (and most especially those involved in Latin America in any way) should read OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA by Eduardo Galeano. Hugo Chavez gave Pres. Obama a copy - shame he didn't read it! Se buena! Jay

[jeri]

reading!
it{s neat to be able to read again. when i was working I didnt have time, so now Im orgying out!!! a big 10-4 on barbara kingsolver and amy tan. also i just read 11 minutes too. too cool. i intend to read more of him. if you want to read a great travel book read Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan. Also Zorro by Isabel Allende.

[jeri]

I have just read a couple of books that are really good... borrowed them from a neighbor at her suggestion....by Pat Conroy... Prince of Tides and Beach Music. I highly recommend... takes you from laughing to crying in one paragraph!