Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[Jessica_CDN]

At the moment, I'm re-reading Sophie's World. Very cool - for those of you who don'tknow, it's basically a novel about philosophy. I like books where you learn stuff.

[wakingdream]

I just starting re-reading Henry David Thoreau's 'Walden' and Romeo Dallaire's 'Shake Hands with the Devil" kind of simultaneously. Both excellent and highly recommended. I like books where you can learn stuff too.
I also like the lesson Thoreau teaches about 'stuff' and how we don't need it. So true.

[mancunian]

Hi Jessica i'm reading The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett , set in medieval times telling the story of the life and times of a family of master stonemasons in england,yes i know it sounds boring lol but it's got everything just a great story i'm two thirds of the way through. big read over 950 pages long but i know it's going to end up in the top five books i'v read highly recomended end of rather ameturish review

[exploreamerica]

The French & Indian War written by Walter Borneman

[ramblinggal]

I'm reading Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows. Finally the end of this series has arrived!

[thellie]

i bought three books at the weekend and finished the first two in just under two days:

the secret supper by javier sierra (a 'name of the rose' type book set in renaissance milan. good read)

tokyo by mo hayder (obsessed ex-student goes to japan to find out more details about the 1937 'rape of nanking', and gets embroiled in modern day yakuza...etc... very good as well)

and i'm now reading the user guide to life... (vol 2) - the law of karma

...and just to say that possibly my all time fave read is 'instance of the fingerpost' by iain pears. another historical whodunnit, but delivered from four different perspectives... shame the rest of his work is so hackneyed...

[introducinlyric]

Im re-reading Kira Salak's "Four Corners" . its my favourite book of all time and anyone who has done or is interested in adventure travel, self discovery and self limitations should pick themselves up a copy, as Kira's real life adventure travels are a profound powerful read.

Kira Salak recently became the first person to successfully canoe 600 miles down the river Niger to Timbuktu and i need to get my hands on her second book "The cruellest Journey" which tells of that journey
I highly recommend people get to know Kira and her travels

[Jessica_CDN]

Wow! Lots of books!

Waking, I read Dallaire's Shake Hands with the Devil...and I really disliked it. I thought that it was excessively appologetic....like he was making excuses for why he wasn't able to do anything about the genocide...He's good at pointing the finger, but maybe not so good at recognizing his own responsibility.

Mancunian, I started reading Pillars of the Earth, but couldn't get through it. I think it's Ken Follet...what do you think of his writing style?

thellie, I've read the Secret Supper...pretty interesting read!

[mancunian]

Jessica i'm sorry that you gave up on the "pillars" book trust me it's a good read! The way Ken Follett brings into play another character along with his/hers story at random stages of the book and then brings them all together towards the end is not for everyone i admit,but he does sell books and maybe a book like "pillars"would not have seen the light of day without having a best selling authors name on the cover i don't know.Having said that for my two year trip i'm going down the audio book road my latest additions to the mobile library are The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni these are his first two books.

[findingnine]

Angels and Demons....great action and short chapters. Minty!

[Jessica_CDN]

Man, I did try to read it when I was about 15 I think, so perhaps it was just too much for me at the time. I'll have to add it to my list of books to read.

Yeah - Angels and Demons is tons of fun!! All of his books are extremely entertaining - nothing challenging,but certainly good to help pass the time on a bus or something!

I think my next read will be Love in the TIme of Cholera....I'd love to read it in Spanish, but I think that's a tad ambitious for my beginner Span! haha.

[Paul]

Hmmm, interesting thread - I may use it to recommend books for me to read i I ever get time to read all the books I already want to read.

Thellie - I still reckon you should get hold of "Thailand Fever" and have a read of that.

What books am I reading at the moment - nothing very inspiring, but they are OK - good:

"Thailand Life" by Panrit "Gor" Daoruang - written by a young Thai kid in jail. Hmmm, interesting and tells you a lot about life in modern city Thailand for some young kids. He is very honest and up front. He is very clever in some ways and despite all his stupid mistakes I think he is a good boy. But I also find reading the book so frustrating, as Gor does stupid things, is selfish and thoughtless at times and eventually gets involved in drugs and f..ks up his life, his parent's, his wife's, his baby daughter's and girlfriend's life. Hmmm, you can have a glimpse of the changing Thailand (or Thailand being ruined?) by reading this book. Arrghhh!! So good and bad - but honest and eye opening. Oh and scary because he could easily be my young son.


"Life Among the Aborigines" by Bill Harney - written in 1957 long before political correctness, so it is another very honest book about a guy who was witnessing the destruction and disappearance of aboriginal life and culture, but was lucky enough to also live amongst the aboriginals before their lifestyle was destroyed. Only got a bit into it so far, but he has some good insights.


"Development or Domestication? Indigenous Peoples of South-east Asia" by Don McCaskill and Ken Kampe - I am not currently attempting to read this book from cover to cover but instead read sections every now and then. It is dry and academic, but very well researched and with some very good information and insights into the lives and problems of some of the various small ethnic groups in S.E.Asia. All the writers seem to have a very good understanding of their topics and a good understanding of the life and cultures here.

[introducinlyric]

im about to start reading Kiwi Tracks by Andrew Stevenson which is a lonely planet publication. Its obviously about New Zealand which will be my first stop on my travels so i feel its appropriate hehe.
i like lonely planet books especially loved Lonely Planet's Rite of Passage: Tales of Backpacking Round Europe edited by Lisa Johnson and i like On the Edge.....Adventurous Escapades from Around the World

i wana get my hands on Lonely Planet Unpacked about travel disaster stories

[thellie]

yep, i'd recommend the kite runner. i read it just before i left on my travels and really enjoyed it. i've still got thailand fever on my list, and will grab it when i see it.

the secret supper was good - i love historical mysteries like that. in fact, i love any historical fiction as i'm a history nut. there is a fantastic book out there, fictional, which is all about the life of elizabeth I and her loves etc. a great read, but i'll be damned if i can remember or find the title...

and also historical fact/theory books like:
holy blood & the holy grail - baigent, leigh & lincoln (the one that whatshisface who wrote the da vinci code allegedly ripped off). interesting read, but demands leaps of faith beyond belief to fit their square peg into the round hole of historical conventional 'fact';
the messianic legacy (same authors as the previous book);
sacred virgin & the holy whore - anthony harris (this is an extremely interesting book which appears more convincing than the blood/grail shennanigans, although at least as farfetched when stood against conventional 'fact')

[surftraveler]

'The Search for Captain Zero' - Surf based solo roadtrip from Montauk, New York to Costa Rica. This book has it all, and the sequel is great as well, 'Cosmic Banditos'.

'The Sex life of Cannibals' & 'Getting Stoned with Savages' - Personal account by a guy from the states who moves to Kiribati, back to the states, then to Vanuatu & Fiji.

'The End of Poverty' by Jeffery Sachs - Not a novel type book but offers plenty of eye-opening statistics and answers to some of the economic and social problems around the world. Sachs was a special adivsor to Kofi Annan when he was Secretary-General of the UN and is director of the Earth Institute (if you don't already know). I would read the rebuttles and critics to his publications also.

If I finish a book while on the road, I like to write my name on it somewhere and where I'm at and pass it on. Ask the next person to do the same. It's a good way to trade as well, and it might make it back to you some day after seeing more of the world than you have.

[Jessica_CDN]

What a fun idea! I'll look for you when I'm on the road

[q09elle]

Compelling Evidence by Steve Martini. His court novel series are really gooddd!

[findingnine]

All of his books are extremely entertaining - nothing challenging,but certainly good to help pass the time on a bus or something!

Pretty much just read on breaks at work or if I have to wait, so easy is good.

yep, i'd recommend the kite runner. i read it just before i left on my travels and really enjoyed it.

A friend just recommended that! I only recently began reading recreationally, so am having a good time trying different things. This thread is great!

[introducinlyric]

just started reading "Burning The Map" by Laura Caldwell

[flewthecoop]

Finished Harry Potter 7. Great way to tie up all the loose ends. It wasn't as gorey as I expected, which is good!

Read a spectacular book by Francine Rivers: Redeeming Love. It is set in the California Gold Rush days. It might be more of a chic-flick book, but maybe some guys out there would get into it too. Harsh reality of life in that era with a love story woven in.