Two for the Dough- Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, is once again on a mission to bring someone in. Only this time she gets a side-job hunting down a bunch of missing caskets for a funeral director. Much like the first in the series, this book was another easy beach read....perfect for the sort of days when you just want to be entertained. I started it ages ago back in August. With the move and new job I sort of neglected it for almost 3-weeks and had no problem picking up the story right where I had left off.

Farewell, My Subaru- Doug Fine

Doug Fine finds a way to go green without give up his iPod and laptop. In this book he tells all about moving to New Mexico and retro-fitting his house for green living. His writing is witty and entertaining, and I am definitely inspired to take up the challenge of green living when I make it back that side of the Atlantic. As a side note Doug keeps up a blog about his ongoing green living (http://www.dougfine.com/farewell-my-subaru), and when I emailed him about a broken link he sent a personal email response. Now that's service with a smile. :)

Into The Wild- Jon Krakauer

This is one of the few books I've actually read before seeing the movie. The story of Chris McCandless giving up his life of privilege to become a hobo is fascinating. In some ways I'd like to think I've done the same by coming here, but the life I gave up wasn't quite as privileged and my experience here is not quite as isolated. While I think the author had enough of his own interesting stories and perspectives to share, I was kind of annoyed with all of his interjections. He warns the reader of this in the Author's Note, but still, I would have been perfectly content with Chris's story by itself.

My So-called Life- Catherine Clark

Every bit as good as the tv series, the book is just a written version of original season. There was only one right? I remember when the series was on-air and how much it resonated with me during my teenage years. Then when it got cancelled for being "too realistic" how devastated my best friend, Michelle Winther, and I were. Reading the stories transported me right back to those passionate, youthful years when everything always seemed like a big deal. It was a nice little trip down memory lane.

Eat Pray Love- Elizabeth Gilbert

I had seen this book floating around the hostel for a while, but the cover and name just looked and sounded too cheesy for me to even pick it up. Then my cousin Monica sent me a copy along with a rave review and I decided to give it a shot. Basically the author went through a messy divorce, followed it up with a less than perfect relationship and decided she needed to get some perspective in her life. She took a year off (of life) to essentially eat, pray and love by spending 4 months each in Italy, India and Indonesia respectively. This book is her story. I salivated when I read about her experiences in Italy. I thought a lot about religion reading her experiences in India. And Indonesia sounded a lot like my experience here in Burkina. I'm not sure how much guys would love this book (although I know at least one Peace Corps guy has read it), but I think all of my girls and fam would probably really enjoy it.

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

This was definitely one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read. The story is about a shepherd boy who has a chance encounter with a king that tells the boy about a treasure in Egypt. The boy sells his sheep, essentially giving up life as he knew it, to go in search of this treasure. Throughout his experiences and journey on the way to find this treasure the boy is constantly questioning whether or not he made the right decision. It always go back to the original idea the king shared with him about following his "personal legend" (i.e., life path / destiny). Cover to cover the book is 167 pages, an easy weekend read, and definitely worth the time.

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix- J.K. Rowling

By far the longest book in the series so far with 800 plus pages. The storyline is decent, but it gets totally dragged out. I felt like a million things were brought to my attention more than once. I mean, I guess if J.K. Rowling is writing for kids with the attention span of a fly then it makes sense to reiterate things. It was just a little overkill for me. The storyline was more of the same with Voldemort still in the picture and the need for Harry to step in and save the day. Still, I look forward to book six in the series (hopefully I can find a paperback in the hostel).

Three Cups of Tea- Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

If you think you know where the war on terrorism started and the driving force behind it maybe you should think again. This is the remarkable true story of a mountain climber turned philanthropist. Greg Mortenson lost his route during his descent from an unsuccessful ascent of K2 and found himself in a remote village where he fell in love with the people’s warmth and hospitality. This chance happening led to a dialogue where Greg discovered the need for a school. He went to work procuring funds to build this first school which eventually led to more schools in other places. During 9/11 and the surrounding aftermath Greg was actually in Pakistan and Afghanistan working on building schools and shares his account of what was really going on. This is an incredible and inspiring story of the difference one person can make.

The Only Road North- Erik Mirandette

This is a true story about a Michigander who interrupts his college education to volunteer in Africa. After completing his volunteer work, Erik organizes a motorbike trip beginning in South Africa and ending in Egypt. The book chronicles the journey of Erik, his brother and two friends as they make their way north through war-torn countries, border crossings, jungles and countless breakdowns. I believe their trip took place in 2004, and while you may be tempted to assume this is the African version of The Motorcycle Diaries, the stories are not at all alike. This book really resonated with me. Maybe it’s because it didn’t happen that long ago. Maybe it’s because Erik is in his 20’s and from Michigan. Regardless, it is a great story worth reading.

Black and Blue- Anna Quindlen

An Oprah's book club book that I definitely do not recommend. This book is a fictional story about a woman that left her abusive husband by taking her son into hiding. The book tells the story of her transition to her new identity and life while flashing back to life with her husband. It clearly explains the vicious cycle of love and forgiveness that the main character experienced during her marriage and that happens all to often in abusive relationships. I found the bookto be sort of textbook in it's description of spousal abuse and it didn't really bring anything new to the table. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't anything to write home about either.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven- Mitch Albom

Everybody talks about this book and on the recommendation of a friend I read it. It was cute, but it really wasn't worth all the talk. I guess the idea is to maybe give people a different perspective of what death is all about. I think I've had enough time here in Burkina to think about a number of topics including death to the point of exhaustion so I didn't really get too much out of it. To sum it up I'd say the main point is that everything in life is not always about you and sometimes you need to consider how your actions and inactions affect others. It's too short of a book not to read so you might as well get this one out of the way just to say you read it.

One For The Money- Janet Evanovich

The first book in a series about a laid-off lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter. The lead character is strapped for cash and reluctantly contacts her (yes HER) bondsman cousin (or maybe it's uncle) to do a few jobs for some quick money. Turns out the target is a childhood friend/ex that was involved in a shooting and skipped bail. Generally, the book is witty and story entertaining and it was a quick read. I look forward to the second.

Citizen Coors- Dan Baum

This book documents the Coors legacy in Golden, Colorado. To think it all started with the German immigrant who wanted to start a brewery. The Coors family diversified to also open a malt house, grow their own barley, create a ceramics plant and are the inventors of the modern day aluminum can (steel was used before). Believe it or not, most of these spin-offs were in an effort to exercise complete control of the quality and flavor of the beer. They even went as far as changing the weather (spraying the air with salt to induce rain) on their barley fields during times of drought and bending a river to divert floodwaters from drowning their brewery. I was recently in Golden and the Coor's property is sprawling. The book is longish and took me forever, but I definitely recommend it to the curious types who like to know a little bit about everything like me.

We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families- Philip Gourevitch

It's hard to believe that something as terrible as the Holocaust happened within the past century, but what's worse is that it happened again less than 30 years ago in a little country called Rwanda. This book is Gourevitch's un-biased attempt to shed light on the mass extermination/ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi people. The movie Hotel Rwanda was based on facts contained in this book. It reads more as a record of accounts/interviews that the author had than an actual story. Everyone has a responsibility to know the story of Rwanda and this book is one way to do that.

A Pirate Looks at Fifty- Jimmy Buffett

I’m not quite the parrothead I one day aspire to be, but even so, I still couldn’t help thinking how full of himself Jimmy Buffet is. The entire book is like a tribute to himself and all of the things he’s been privilege to (almost all material things). He talked way too much about all of the planes he’s purchased and went on to describe minute details of his flights (i.e., I did a safety check before taking my seat in the pilot’s chair). This was another case where I just couldn’t relate to anything I was reading. I think only the die-hard fan could appreciate this book and that’s just because he’s crazed in his obsession of Mr.Buffett.

Dispatches From A Not-So-Perfect Life- Faulkner Fox

Yawn….It’s not to say that life for a woman with a husband, child and house isn’t interesting because I’m sure it is, but this woman’s story was booooring. She talked about how she and her feminist husband had made a plan where they would equally share childcare and household responsibilities, but the reality was actually quite different. She was still doing the lion’s share of the house cleaning and childcare (to the point that she started making a miles plan for all the work she did to earn herself a break). She goes back and forth a million times trying to figure out why and how this happened. I think she determined that it was mostly her fault for not being more greedy with her time because she was a freelance writer who worked from home and felt guilty choosing her work over her family. Even though I couldn’t relate to this woman’s story on any level, I do think I gained insight into the lives of some of my friends and understand a little more what they’re going through. Now if they could only understand what it’s like to be a single, dating woman in her late 20’s we might just have something to talk about.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood- Rebecca Wells

Let’s here it for the girls! This is the sequel to Little Altars Everywhere (the book most of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood movie was based on). This story focuses more on Vivi and her life growing up and how the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was formed. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of reading and definitely recommend to all of my girlfriends.

Let my people go surfing (the education of a reluctant business man)- Yvon Chouinard

I’m sold. Where do I sign? In this book, the founder and owner of Patagonia Inc., details the history of the company and it’s philosophies (from production to human resources). He is fiercely passionate about environmental activism to the point that it seems to have shaped his religious and political views, and he shares it all in the book.

An active outdoorsman, Chouinard founded Patagonia accidentally when he started developing climbing gear for his own personal use before it even existed anywhere else. As climber friends started requesting his gear the demand mandated a more formal operation which evolved into the Patagonia you know today (well….for climbing equipment it‘s Black Diamond Ltd.).

I happened across this book after a segment on NPR about the corporate culture at Patagonia piqued my interest in working for the company. After reading it I am more determined than ever to land a job there. Contacts anyone?

Marching Powder- Rusty Young and Thomas McFadden

An amazing true story of a British drug trafficker arrested in Bolivia. He was assigned to San Pedro prison in La Paz where inmates lead nearly normal lives. Wives and children are allowed to stay the night with their husbands/fathers and leave the prison at will. Inmates are required to buy their own prison cells which more resemble apartments.

San Pedro prison is also where some of the best cocaine is manufactured. The narrator, Thomas, describes it all in detail. He also talks about how he fell into becoming a tour guide for the prison which was listed in Lonely Planet as a place to see. It was an absolutely fascinating book and a quick read. Definitely something I wasn’t ashamed to be caught reading at the airport.

Whiteman- Tony D’Souza

Another out of Africa book and typical Peace Corps read. This book is a fictional story about an NGO worker in Cote d’Ivore during tribal conflict. Most of the story the narrator recounts his village life and the goings-on there. Like many of the other books I read I felt as though I was reading about my life here….only this was written from a guy’s perspective and their lives are a little more….how would I describe it? “Colorful” than the lives of us gals. In any case it was a decent story and a I’d recommend it to guys and girls alike.