Book recommendations?

The Long Way Round - travel book by Ewen McGregor

Wild Swans by Jung Chan

The Bone People by Keri Hulme

Whale Rider (can't remember author - read the book or see the film)

They may not be your kind of books but they're interesting ones.

Terry Pratchett should be read just for fun as his books are laugh out loud - good for you when you need a lift.

Reading Lolita in Tehran is a great book about life for a group of Muslim women studing literature and living their (often oppressed) lives in Iran.

You also might want to check out An Ordinary Man, the memoir by the man that Hotel Rwanda was based on, Paul Rusesabagina. It is an amazing story and will give you insight into Rwandan culture and history, not to mention a first hand look at surviving genocide.

I know someone recommended the Good Earth but I have to add in my two sense, I hated that book!! Every time one man spoke it started with "Well and then". It drove my crazy. However, the idea of the book is good, if you can suffer through the filler and get to the substance.

One cultural book I have read recently that I did enjoy was Like Water for Chocolate. It was written by Laura Esquivel and has hit the bestseller list in both Mexico and the US. It tells the story of a Mexican woman during the time of the Revolution. Her family has a tradition that the youngest daughter should not marry but stay to take care of the current matriarch of the family. Yet, the woman, Tita, falls in love. Her mother refuses to allow her to marry, so her suitor marries her sister instead to stay close by. The book explores the role of women in Mexican society. It includes romance, action, and an odd element of humor with a splash of magical realism. A good read!

technology FICTION actually everyone ignores sci-fi however the fact is that some books are almost 0.5 philosophy. study Stranger in an peculiar Land via Robert A. Heinlein, Prey via Michael Crichton, and 2001: an area Odyssey or Rendevous With Rama via Arthur C. Clarke. Plus, I agree that Agatha Christie is a would desire to-study. After Shakespeare and the Bible, she has bought the main type of books international ever. Her terrific are and then there have been None, The homicide of Roger Ackroyd, homicide on the Orient convey

Try books by Rohinton Mistry, a Canadian-Indo author who wrote A Fine Balance and Family Matters. Particularly loved A Fine Balance.

Wonderful insight into India and Indian culture, great stories about families and generations, and extremely well-written.

Also try The Cuba Diaries : An American Housewife in Havana

by Isadora Tattlin. It's about her four years in Cuba as a wife and mother, and the daily life she led. Very interesting.

Try 'The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea' by Mishima. Its not specifically a travel book but a very interesting study of Japanese culture from an excellent Japanese writer.

Also 'From the Japanese' is a book written by the wife of the ambassador to Japan from Canada. She explores 'the nail that sticks out' (from the famous proverb: the nail that sticks out gets hammered down) Anyway these characters are the ones that stick out and are not easily hammered down. Work the search. Sorry I forgot the author's name.

These are fiction, but they are both very good.

East of the Sun by Barbara Bickmore (takes place in Africa between 1926 and 1981)

Children of the River by Linda Crew (teen fiction, is about a family that immigrated to the US from Cambodia during the Vietnam war)

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, a spectacular story

THE POWER OF ONE -- Bryce Courtaney

It's based on the conflicts in South Africa back then and it's about overcoming hardships and lots of determination. It's the best book I've ever read and I read it every summer vacation.

'Homesick' by Jean Fritz. It's about how she, an American, lived in China from 1925-1927. Very interesting.

Also try 'Shogun' by James Clavell. It's a massive book, but you learn so much about Japan.