Bloghound

I find that my marketing and communications friends are voracious readers. So here’s a list of some  non-business books that I had the pleasure of reading on vacation.  Great stories, wonderful characters, and fascinating insights into parts of the world we Westerners tend to know little about. (And, yes, there’s plenty to talk about after reading them!)

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.  A remarkably frank and insightful look into Islam in Somalia and Holland, particularly its implications on women.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Set in Eastern Nigeria during  during crippling three-year civil war  in effort to  form the independent nation of Biafra.

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh.  Set in Sundarbans, a vast archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, this page turner is rich in history, culture, marine science and rich characters.

Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje.  Such a beautifully written novel that I am lost for words to how to even big to describe this riveting story, set in Northern California and Southern France.  (A line from the book that I keep thinking about:  "We have art," Nietzsche says, "so that we shall not be destroyed by the truth."   His previous novel, Anil’s Ghost, set in Sri Lanka during tits civil war in 19080s and 90s, is also an amazing read.

Eat. Pray. Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert. Eating her way through Italy, praying on an ashram in India, and finding love in Indonesia.  My kind of woman! The writing is hilarious, reflective, honest and irrisistable. The line I can’t get our of my head, "I realized that praying is talking to God, and meditating is listening to God."

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