the past 11 months

On Dec 20th I landed in NY after almost exactly 9 months abroad. While traveling, I kept track of what I was reading. Even though it is kind of cheating, I thought it would be nice to paste here my 'reading lists' from the trip. Here's the first one. Looks like I read these between April 21st when I landed in Seoul and July 1st when we were in Singapore. Above is a shot from Cambodia.

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
The beginning of my addiction to this trilogy. Great suggestion Dad!

2. A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz
Picked it up at the Wildlife Center. Okay read, good story but long. Was fun that it was set partly in Thailand.

3. The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
Addiction continues. Least fav of the 3.

4. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Berniers
Fun read also from the Wildlife Center. Great romance - need to see the movie now!

5. The French Lieutenant’s Woman, John Fowles
Got this one on Koh Phi Phi. My Nana was after it for xmas last year, and since she is pretty much the highest authority I know on literature, I thought I would give it a try. Very interesting. Loved it, hated it, not sure how I feel about it now.

6. The Red Pony, John Steinbeck
Beautiful. Need to read more Steinbeck.

7. The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks
Oh boy, embarrassed to admit that I read this one, but it was the only English language book I could find on Tanote Bay and I needed somettthing to read. Not nearly as good as the movie; whoever adapted that novel into a screenplay was a genius.

8. A Passage to India, E.M. Forster
Beautifully written but long and drawn out. Did not love it when I was reading, but I’ve found myself thinking about it a lot since I finished it. The idea of searching for the ‘real’ India has really stayed with me because it seems that every place we go, there is a line drawn between the tourist Bali (for example) and the real Bali.

9. The Girl Who Stepped on the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson
Fav of the 3. Could hardly put it down. Ayesh is racing through it right now. Sad the author never got a chance to write more.

10. My Antonia, Willa Cather
Pretty to read. Willa Cather is such an interesting character, need to know more about her.

11. All the President’s Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Picked this up on our way down to Padang-Padang on Bali. Was desperate for something to read, and had actually been thinking about Watergate for some reason the night before. Because it is written by journalists, it is definitely a different kind of read. Am glad I read it, but it was a toughie. Somehow, I managed to pick up another book written by a Washington Post report (Steve Coll, ‘Ghost Wars’) and am struggling through that one page by page.