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.

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.

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

The French & Indian War written by Walter Borneman

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

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...

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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')

'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.

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

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

Pretty much just read on breaks at work or if I have to wait, so easy is good.
A friend just recommended that! I only recently began reading recreationally, so am having a good time trying different things. This thread is great!

just started reading "Burning The Map" by Laura Caldwell

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.

i'm now reading "Dispatches from the Edge" by Anderson Cooper

'The Way of the Peaceful Warrior' by Dan Millman. Awesome..

Okay I finally finished Sophie's World...and now I"m reading Love in the TIme of Cholera.

I'm reading "Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures): True Stories from a War Zone" by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait andAndrew Thomson.

It is about U.N. workers and what they get up to. Very interesting and easy to read

Hmmm, that sounds good!

Ha - that does sound interesting! Any tidbits you can share with us?

I've just started The Hallowed Hunt by Lois MacMaster Bujold. It's a little hard to get into cause the world she has created in very complex. But she's so good I know it will be worth it.

I love her Miles Vorkosigan series. Sci-Fi, and fantastic -- if you love a deformed character who rises above the physical and gets himself and others into and out of trouble all over the universe. I reread one or two of those books a few times a year!

Ok, because of various recomendations, I am reading the Kite Runner. I was warned that it would be a tear jerker, but past the half way point, and no such response. Is the worst to come or do I lack a soul? Great read either way! Rough start, but quickly involving and refreshing character development.

Just that it is well worth a read. The title is slightly misleading... it is quite eye opening abut the life and experiences of UN workers though if you are at all interested by what they do. The three writers are a doctor, a lawyer and a secretary who have been to Cambodia, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Rwanda with the UN

I am reading The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain. I love his off-color humor and the fact that he tells it like it is. He also writes very eloquently about travel and food, two things I enjoy very much.

I have bought the last Harry Potter book, but haven't started reading it yet...still sitting next to my bed. I guess I'll get to it one of these days.

Angels and Demons was great.

Try the Emily Barr books..all set in different places..good reads for travel folks

I've just finished reading "The God Delusion", by Prof. Richard Dawkins.
- This would have to be one of my favourite books I've read.
- Professor Dawkins also has a few really good documentaries I'd recommend viewing also....

But now I'm currently reading "The World from Islam", by George Negus.
- Only one chapter in, but its looking to be a really good book.
- He has his own weekly hard hitting television show in Australia, where he deals with global issues.

That's one of the few books I snatched from my husband's pile. It was great.

I read the God Delusion as well. I thought it was good,but it wasn't earth-shattering. I also think that the first few chapters are very poorly written - to the point where I almost put thebook down.

Each to their own I guess :-)

Apart from me obviously loving the content. I think it was very well due and in need for highly educated authors such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, etc to bring this subject to the forefront of our society, in a format that general public can follow.

I absolutely agree. I think we've excused things far too long in the name of religion and there needs to be a serious and prolonged debate about the value of organized religion....amongst other things.

However, I think the way that Dawkins wrote the book, particularly the first few chapters, precluded anyone from reading it (or rather, continuing to read it) if they weren't already pre-disposed to liking his thesis. I can't imagine any Christian Fundamentalists making it through the first few chapters to the root of his argument, given his mocking and derogatory writing style,.

I would definitely agree with that.



but I don't really think many Christian Fundamentalists would read the book if they knew what it was about. I think it's more for people who are open to discussion on the topic of religion, not for those who stand strongly by their own religious beliefs.

Just finished 'Vaclav Havel : A Political Tragedy In Six Acts', an amazing docu-biography of Vaclav Havel and his involvements in the Czech government, his poetry and writings, as well as his plays. It was a really inspiring book, yet shows the tarnished side of his life. Now I want to see some of his plays performed.

Another good couple are by Milan Kundera (I'm on a Czech kick) 'The Unbearable Lightness Of Being', and 'Life is Elsewhere'. Pretty challenging life-view novels fictionally based in a the non-fictional background of eastern european turmoil in the last century.

God Delusion seemed faddish at the time of publishing, but it held on well - thanks for the recommend!

Yeah, I'm sure the chance of any extremely (or moderately) religious person picking it up is pretty slim, but even if they did, I can't imagine not finding the first few chapters insufferable. So it pretty much goes against the main thrust of his argument, that people need to discuss this and challenge their beliefs.

I LOVE Kundera. His writing is sublime

RE: The God Delusion ;
- haha, very true. Prof. Dawkins has undergone many television and radio interviews from his views and books written. Many have actually asked him the question, that due to his more 'aggressive' approach towards religion, this could actually turn religious readers away from reading it. He admits that yes it might infact do this, but this is the style in which he wanted to do it, because when religion is the cause of so much problems in the world, the subject of 'religion' deserves to be criticized just like any other ethical, moral, political subject.

He's also stated that his book probably wont change the minds of strong minded religious people, but he hopes to change the minds of the people who havn't really given it any serious thought and only attend church once every now and then.

In my opinion though, I am a huge fan of the way people like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris & Christopher Hitchens voice their educated & intellectual criticism against religion and think more people in society need to be be made publically aware and educated of the harm religious dogma is doing to this world.

By the way, if you wanted any further reading on these topics other than "The God Delusion", the following are available in similar style:-
Sam Haris - "The End of Faith", and a short 28 page "Letter to a Christian Nation" book.
Christopher Hitchens - "God is not Great".

His Karma hit my Dogma...

I completely agree that it deserves to be criticized as much (if not more so) that other moral or political views. However, I much prefer a more subtle style of argumentation rather that his abrassive, in-your-face statement of facts. In fact, he employs amuch more reasonable approach later in his book - I find it unfortunate that he had to be so sensational at the beginning - a real detraction from a synopsis of really excellent arguments.

Yeah, I also think you have a good and equally valid point as well :-)

I've been studying & researching the Abrahamic Religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam, along with the Old/New Testament and Qur'an) for hours on end, every day for a couple of years now. I spose I've become less tolerant of religion, the more truth's I've uncovered. Which leads me to adobt the more 'agressive' approach. Which is why I'm in favour of it :-) But I definitely do agree as to where your coming from. I think both our approaches have a valid point of view...

If you want short video's of these brilliant people, do a quick YouTube search of those 3 names I stated earlier :-) - Chuck me an email too if you want some good research articles & sources on this subject, or to have a chat!

Above all, HAPPY READING and (ofcourse) HAPPY TRAVELS!!

Interesting above conversation.


I am now reading 50 facts that should change the world - so far very good and would recommend it, but I am only onto the 2nd fact.

The 1st one was that whilst currently the average Japanese woman will live to age 84 and life spans throughout the developed world have been increasing for quite a while now (during the Roman empire the life span of an Englishman was about 22) - the average life span of someone in Botswana is 39. AIDS, lack of clean water and poverty (and other things) ensures that for many people in the world life expectancy is still short

Paul - shocking statistics. What are some of the other facts that should change the world?

Clinton, I agree...I study conflict, and it never ceases to frustrate me the number o ftimes religion is cited for a war. It's ugly, and it's frustrating.

Ha ha - you will have to read the book to find out.

OK, not really maybe after tonight's read (if that happens) I will tell you more stuff.


Studying conflict? Why? In what context? I have a history degree that is mainly to do with military history too.
And Clinton spending so long studying Middle Eastern religions - very interesting. Why?

Hmmm, interesting interesting interesting.

Well, I think conflict is super interesting - I have an M.A in War Studies So basically I study the how and why of war.

I think between the three of us we could have some very interesting conversations! haha.

From the youngest of age that I can remember, I've always been an atheist & never understood why people believed in a supernatural deity. As I got older, I started becoming a very inquisative person, (which I'm gathering most of us on this forum are, as we all have the urge to travel and seek truths in this world). I'm now 24, and the last 7 or so years, I've read Physics articles, Biology articles, Astronomy articles on a daily basis as I find them extremely interesting. I've become very inspired as to what science is now capable of in the 21st century with the truth's its revealed, and the all inspiring beautiful discoveries of our world and the cosmo's that thanks to workings of science it has uncovered these, which is absolutely endless and is occuring as we speak. The last 2 or 3 years, because I love this world, and I love learning about it. With my critical thinking mind I continued that research, turning towards Religion. Since religion undeniably, would have to be the biggest topic in the world as we know it, also being the largest destructive human induced force in human history. In my honest opinion, it has undermined everything I've researched all these years. And more than that - it undermines the very fundamentals of science, inhibiting the beautiful potential discoveries science can deliver. All due to the belief system of dogmatic scriptures and a supernatural deity, that has not one shred of evidence to support it. Its the biggest divisve and most dangerous force to human kind we know to this date...

Dont get me wrong, I have nothing personal against anyone that believe in things. I think that people should be free to believe in what ever they like, (within reason) but kept to themselves. However, when its imposed like it is on young children & bigoted through scripture as a truth ...this is where the problem is and where I have an issue.


Haha, I very much think so. I'm always up for it!! Just let me know the link :-)

Also, seeming though this topic is "books", has anyone read "The Wrong Way Home", by Peter Moore? (He travels from London to Sydney overland, with only AUD$5,000 in his pocket! - GREAT BOOK!

That book's awesome, I absolutely love it!

I love the way she refers to notes from earlier explorers who travelled the down the river, and just imagining her seeing the exact same thing in front her, and having a complete feeling of timelessness.

I think I prefer 4 Corners though, the imagery it conjures up is amazing.

I'm reading Half of a Purple Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, its about life in the Nigerian civil war in the 60s.

I'm reading "Learning to Love the Bomb" - it's about Canadian foreign & defense (nuclear) policy during the cold war.

Haha. It's a bit dry, but it's a friend's dissertation and I'm reviewing it for a journal.