thanks - will have to start after I finish Jasper Fforde's latest (ok light reading) and A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian (recommended to me).

Then there's the rest of the stack of currently unread books to tackle one day when I have the time....

Theories of communication, it is interesting.

I just finished "have a little faith" by Mitch Albom, a great book. You might like it. It's not entertaining, but could be interesting mind food for a bourgeois middle-class reactionary..etc.

Yes MC, it is a book that touches you. I read it a year ago.
I would also suggest by the same author:
-The Five People You Meet In Heaven
-Tuesdays With Morrie
-For One More Day

"Each affects the other, and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one."
— Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet In Heaven

It's good, eh? The sorrow poem knocked me off my feet.

Are his other books ecumenical, too? And how much of Jewish religion is explained in them?

His other books are about life, why we live, and about the love that is shared and given.

Beautiful without being overly sentimental, spiritual without being pedantic.

"I think what you notice most when you haven’t been home in a while is how much the trees have grown around your memories."
- Mitch Albom, For One More Day

I am currently reading "Quo Vadis" - this is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. It tells of a love that develops between a young Christian woman, Ligia and Marcus Vinicius, a Roman patrician. I found it very interesting

I dont know if anyone here is into trading of any kind but im reading "Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis: How to Profit from the Shifting Markets in Global Markets" by Ashraf Laidi....It is probably one of the best books of its kind which I have read and really puts the cooperation of global markets into perspective. One should certainly know a little about economics before reading this but all the concepts are very well explained

By far, I think the relationship between the USD and commodities are amazing and worth reading in this book. For example, the weakeing dollar means opec countries get paid dollars worth less for the same amount of oil, so they increase the price to make of the dollar devaluation. Nyway, just my 2 cents for any traders out there.

I just read a travel journal of an Englishman from the early 1800s. He heads through France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands..but the Swiss portions are fascinating, if not for the arrogant comments of the writer.

He speaks of price gouging, independence, strength of democracy...it is really a nice glimpse back, especially comments of old Bonaparte.

Free at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13377...-h/13377-h.htm

"The Pont de Thiel divides the territories of Rome and Neufchâtel; and it is also the limit of the French language, none of the peasants beyond the bridge being able to answer any questions but in German. However, at all the chief inns, in both Switzerland and Germany, some of the waiters speak French. It is difficult to suppose a more sudden change than presents itself to the traveller on his passing this bridge."

Or

"On entering Zurich, it is impossible not to feel a sensation of disappointment, as its internal appearance by no means corresponds with the beauty of the distant scene. Its streets are narrow and winding, and the houses are mostly of mean architecture, but there are few places where I observed more of the activity of commerce."

I just finished our book club's Extremely loud + incredibly close by Foer, very cool. Dense. Makes me love kids even more.

He's definitely on my list. He read at Kaufleuten a while back and I missed it.

I've recently finished a few I'd certainly recommend:

Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick (amazing insight into North Korea and makes you feel grateful every time you cook rice)
The Zookeeper's War, by Steven Conte (set in Berlin during WWII, an unusual angle and one of the most shocking endings I've read)
Bossypants, by Tina Fey (My favourite line, while reminiscing about being a ‘little bit fat’: Once, while ironing in my underwear, I grazed my protruding belly with the hot iron. The Fey way is wry)
Scratch, by Danny Gillan (Glaswegian male take on mid-life crisis. One reviewer admits 'I laughed so hard I let out a little bit of wee'. Says it all.)

I've just finished "I'll never be French" by Mark Greenside, great book for every expat! It's not easy to create a new life in a distant country, not knowing the language/culture/people etc... but once you fall in love in this place, everything is possible! Delightfull and funny story, hope to read one like this about Switzerland one day

I'm reading Jodi Picoult - Sing You Home I'm only half way through but it's a great read so far!!

this also

Black Knights; On The Bloody Road To Baghdad by Oliver Poole

The riveting 'Band of Brothers' tale of a young British journalist embedded in a US tank corps known as the Black Knights as they spearheaded the push into Baghdad in spring 2003.

Black Knights is an extraordinarily vivid, gripping and moving fly-on-the-wall account of what frontline combat action meant in the first major war of the twenty-first century. Written by a young journalist who was the only British daily newspaper reporter to be embedded with the US military during the operation in Iraq, this book unflinchingly describes the modern face of battle, and the young soldiers who fought in it.

The tank and infantry company known as the 'Black Knights' was the first unit in the US Third Infantry Division to engage in combat. By the time the first statues of Saddam were toppled in Baghdad, the soldiers had been through a terrifying baptism of fire - and had inflicted terrible casualties on the Iraqis. How did the troops - many of them under the age of twenty, some of whom had only recently acquired US citizenship - cope with fear and injury? How did they react to the killing? How were they changed by war? What, finally, was the impact on the people of Baghdad?

Oliver Poole shared the soldiers' food, living space and dangers, becoming their confidant and a sounding-board for all their hopes and fears. He has written a remarkably frank and revealing narrative - testimony as much to his own courage and writing skills as to the bravery and professionalism of the combatants.

Pretty good so far, one hillarious part is when an 18 year old M88 driver asks the author to say "No, this is a knife" because he thought the British journo was an Aussie

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, I've only just started this, so far so good. I'm from Brighton so I recognize most of the streets and look forward to seeing the movie

Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian. the author is Jewish-Iranian. It was given to my daugter by a part Jewish-American friend. as something to read on her trip to Iran. It is about the Jewish experience dung the Shah's time, revolution and aftermath. I didn't know what the book was about and was rather surprised that it made it through Iranian customs. It is a quick-read, writing not Dosteovsky level but OK. I decided to check it for content so ended up reading it on the way back. I don't agree with her views (which are filed with bitterness), but parts are an accurate reflection of Iran-which she obviously misses to some extent.
To me, where I am when I read a book, both geographical and mental state, are just as important as the book itself; to me a book tastes different in different countries. Reading Philip Roth's books when I first came to the US was so different to reading them in Switzerland.
I will re-read the Shahmameh having just returned from Persepolis. I hope to eventually read the Shahnameh and Hafez in Farsi. I believe that the Shahnameh should be on school reading lists.

I have renamed my visit to Iran as a Trip to the Land of Nod, which is both geographically and mentally accurate! Roya Hakakain can keep her 'Land of No'

Poems by Charles Bukowski - You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense

I love Bukowski.

Annie Proulx's 'That Old Ace in the Hole' - riveting!

'In Siberia' by Colin Thubron; fascinating. Now I want to go to Russia

'the lucky one' by Nicholas Sparks......sooooo romantic

The Psychopath Test by the excellent Jon Ronson. Absolutely fascinating & hilarious.