Book Recommendations

This list may make it seem that I read nothing but high quality literature, but actually I read a lot of junk when I am traveling.  There just is not much to say about it after you read it.  I do try to read a combination of fiction and non-fiction.

This is what I have been reading the last few months.

• Just started Midnights Children, by Salman Rushdie.  I really enjoyed The Satanic Verses and have been hoping for another book by Rushdie that was as good.  I have heard that this is it.  I also just started
• A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani.  I bought this book a couple of years ago and never got around to reading it but it seems relevant now.

I have been on a history binge lately. 

• I just finished India, A History by John Keay.  I am planning a trip to India and read many reviews for history books of the area.  This one had several positive reviews and a couple of real negative write-ups.  As it turned out I enjoyed it immensely.  It is well written and covers a lot of ground in a few hundred pages.  After reading it I am not an Indian scholar but I do have a much better understanding of the country than when I started. 
• The other history book I recently read is A History of Language, by Steven Fischer.  This book disappointed me.  I had hoped for a book that would give a good overview of how different languages are connected, maybe a map or tree that showed how languages were connected.  I did not get what I was looking for from this book.

On the travel side I have read 3 books in the last couple of months.

•   First was the Valley of the Assassins by Freya Stark.  This odd book about a woman traveling in the Middle East in the 1930s was interesting as was...
• The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron.  Byron also traveled around the Middle East.  I enjoy these tales of travel from a different time and I enjoy learning more about the Middle East. 
• A more recent book was The Ultimate Journey by Richard Bernstein.  This is the story of a man who follows the path of a 7th century Chinese monk from China to India.  This book worked for me a couple of ways.  He is a good writer and very open in the way he shares his thoughts.  Plus I admire (am even a bit envious) of the actual journey he took.

Another book with a Buddhist theme was What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula.  I have been to so many Buddhist places and I wanted to learn more about the Buddha.  It was not easy reading but worthwhile.

On the fiction side:

• I read Little Boys Come from the Stars by Emmanuel Dongola.  This is a book by an African Author and I was only somewhat interested in it. 
• I also read The Constant Gardener by John Lecarre.  I have always enjoyed his books and this one is very good.