Note to self - books to read...
I constantly have to keep lists of books I want to read. Of course I hardly ever remember to take them when I am at the library, which makes me look like a completely lost person, blankly looking at the rows and rows of books, hoping that they'll talk to me: "here I am, I'm the one you were looking for". Yep, that's me, crazy lady.
Here's the list:
Dharma Bums, Jack Kirouac
Two ebullient young men search for Truth the Zen way: from marathon wine-drinking bouts, poetry jam sessions, and "yabyum" in San Francisco's Bohemia to solitude in the high Sierras and a vigil atop Desolation Peak in Washington State. Published just a year after On the Road put the Beat Generation on the map, The Dharma Bums is sparked by Kerouac's expansiveness, humor, and a contagious zest for life.
Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse
In the novel, Siddhartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, Siddhartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life -- the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom.
A classic of 20th-century fiction, Hesse's most celebrated work reflects his lifelong studies of Oriental myth and religion.
Buddha Da, Anne Donovan
Anne Marie's dad, a Glaswegian painter and decorator, has always been game for a laugh. So when he first takes up meditation at the Buddhist Center, no one takes him seriously. But as Jimmy becomes more involved in a search for the spiritual, his beliefs start to come into conflict with the needs of his wife, Liz. Cracks appear in their apparently happy family life, and the ensuing events change the lives of each family member. Donovan completely captures these lives in her clear-eyed, evocative prose, rendered alternately in the voices of each of the main characters. With seamless grace and astonishing veracity, Buddha Da treats serious themes with humor and its characters with humanity. From prize-winning writer Anne Donovan, this stunning debut novel - shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Whitbread First Novel Award - will appeal to readers of Roddy Doyle.
Laughing Sutra, Mark Salzman
Iron & Silk, Mark Salzman's bestselling account of his adventures as an English teacher and martial arts student in China, introduced a writer of enormous charm and keen insight into the cultural chasm between East and West. Now Salzman returns to China in his first novel, which follows the adventures of Hsun-ching, a naive but courageous orphan, and the formidable and mysterious Colonel Sun, who together travel from mainland China to San Francisco, risking everything to track down an elusive Buddhist scripture called The Laughing Sutra. Part Tom Sawyer, part Tom Jones, The Laughing Sutra draws us into an irresistible narrative of danger and comedy that speaks volumes about the nature of freedom and the meaning of loyalty.
Hungry Ghost, Keith Kachtick
Carter Cox is thirty-eight, a talented but dissipated freelance photographer living in New York's East Village with his sad dog and his bad habits. Though he travels to exotic places taking pictures of models and celebrities, he yearns to do more meaningful artistic work and to mend his womanizing, substance-abusing ways. He also tries to practice what he learns from his Buddhist betters but continues to carry with him his "seduction kit" -- a chessboard, cigarettes, a deck of cards, and a Cormac McCarthy novel -- along with a plentiful supply of rationalizations for his caddish behavior.
At a Buddhist retreat in upstate New York, Carter meets Mia Malone, twenty-six, beautiful, smart, and serious -- a devout Catholic interested in other religions and determined to remain a virgin until she is married. Carter falls hard, and Mia -- attracted by Carter's struggle with Buddhism, his passion for photography, and his knowledge of the world -- nervously agrees to join him on a five-night, beachfront photo shoot in Morocco. With both of their souls hanging in the balance, they quickly go from the ocean to hot water. During their romantic standoff, Carter and Mia crash their rental car, get arrested, run afoul of a sadistic gendarme, and try to flee the country -- an adventure that leads to the discovery that karma and the human heart work in very mysterious ways. With its sure pace and narrative surprises, Hungry Ghost is a serious, sexy novel about chastity and salvation, and will satisfy any reader's appetite for entertainment and literary excellence.
Good in Bed, Jennifer Weiner
When plus-sized Philadelphia Examiner columnist Cannie Shapiro decides to take a break from her boyfriend of three years, she has no idea just how drastically her life is about to change. While she's used to exposing the inner secrets of others' lives in her column, she isn't prepared for what happens when the tables are turned on her. Not only does Bruce extol her sexual prowess in the article, he also discusses her size-related insecurities and how he never thought of himself as a "chubbie chaser." Fallout from the piece launches Cannie into an emotional whirlwind of anger, embarrassment, desperation, and depression. It also triggers a year's worth of events that will have an astounding impact on her life, taking readers along on a journey that is poignant, comical, and utterly unforgettable.
Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction
Pico Iyer, Victor Pelevin, Doris Dorrie and other renowned contributors join young award-winners in what National Book Award-winner Charles Johnson calls an embarrassment of literary riches, sure to please fiction lovers of every stripe. From the O. Henry Award-winning title story, to visionary short-shorts and barely fictionalized personal memoirs, Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree is inventive, exciting, and unlike any collection before it.
Where Do We Go from Here? Doris Dorrie [translator]
Fred Kaufmann, world-weary, disillusioned husband of tidy-minded, thoroughly competent Claudia, is bang in the middle of a classic midlife crisis. Long ago abandoning his dreams of being a celebrated film director - even he could see he didn't have what it takes - he settled for marriage to Claudia, the owner of a successful vegetarian take-away. But Claudia has sold out to a fast-food chain and now Fred finds himself adrift - materially successful, but spiritually dissatisfied." "Claudia gets into Buddhism in a big way and finds a young guru, and the guru finds Franka - Fred and Claudia's teenage daughter - irresistible. So Fred sets out on a disastrous journey to the meditation centre in the South of France in a misguided attempt to wean Franka of her infatuation. His method? Exposing her and himself, of course, to large quantities of brown rice and some very serious meditation. It is a journey only a very special kind of hero could survive.
Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella
25-year-old Rebecca Bloomwood, the protagonist in Confessions of a Shopaholic, is every responsible woman's worst nightmare. A smart woman with a quick wit, she lets her insecurities run amok, only feeling in charge with her credit card in hand and a date lined up. Her career as a financial journalist feels like a sham, so she glams herself up with the latest find from the fashionistas and is momentarily diverted from taking action. As she dreams of the perfect scarf in the middle of meetings and steals away to buy trinkets in pricey boutiques, Rebecca's high-living lifestyle eventually catches up with her, when the dreaded letters arrive from creditors demanding payment on her delinquent accounts. We won't spoil the surprise ending (think romance, not drudgery!), but Sophie Kinsella is sure to delight Americans with her savvy debut novel, a main line into the heartbeat of consumerism today.
The Night-Coloured Pearl: A Taoist Adventure, Tzunami Renivaro
Probably a lill too sappy but we'll try anyway.
Here's the list:
Dharma Bums, Jack Kirouac
Two ebullient young men search for Truth the Zen way: from marathon wine-drinking bouts, poetry jam sessions, and "yabyum" in San Francisco's Bohemia to solitude in the high Sierras and a vigil atop Desolation Peak in Washington State. Published just a year after On the Road put the Beat Generation on the map, The Dharma Bums is sparked by Kerouac's expansiveness, humor, and a contagious zest for life.
Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse
In the novel, Siddhartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, Siddhartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life -- the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom.
A classic of 20th-century fiction, Hesse's most celebrated work reflects his lifelong studies of Oriental myth and religion.
Buddha Da, Anne Donovan
Anne Marie's dad, a Glaswegian painter and decorator, has always been game for a laugh. So when he first takes up meditation at the Buddhist Center, no one takes him seriously. But as Jimmy becomes more involved in a search for the spiritual, his beliefs start to come into conflict with the needs of his wife, Liz. Cracks appear in their apparently happy family life, and the ensuing events change the lives of each family member. Donovan completely captures these lives in her clear-eyed, evocative prose, rendered alternately in the voices of each of the main characters. With seamless grace and astonishing veracity, Buddha Da treats serious themes with humor and its characters with humanity. From prize-winning writer Anne Donovan, this stunning debut novel - shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Whitbread First Novel Award - will appeal to readers of Roddy Doyle.
Laughing Sutra, Mark Salzman
Iron & Silk, Mark Salzman's bestselling account of his adventures as an English teacher and martial arts student in China, introduced a writer of enormous charm and keen insight into the cultural chasm between East and West. Now Salzman returns to China in his first novel, which follows the adventures of Hsun-ching, a naive but courageous orphan, and the formidable and mysterious Colonel Sun, who together travel from mainland China to San Francisco, risking everything to track down an elusive Buddhist scripture called The Laughing Sutra. Part Tom Sawyer, part Tom Jones, The Laughing Sutra draws us into an irresistible narrative of danger and comedy that speaks volumes about the nature of freedom and the meaning of loyalty.
Hungry Ghost, Keith Kachtick
Carter Cox is thirty-eight, a talented but dissipated freelance photographer living in New York's East Village with his sad dog and his bad habits. Though he travels to exotic places taking pictures of models and celebrities, he yearns to do more meaningful artistic work and to mend his womanizing, substance-abusing ways. He also tries to practice what he learns from his Buddhist betters but continues to carry with him his "seduction kit" -- a chessboard, cigarettes, a deck of cards, and a Cormac McCarthy novel -- along with a plentiful supply of rationalizations for his caddish behavior.
At a Buddhist retreat in upstate New York, Carter meets Mia Malone, twenty-six, beautiful, smart, and serious -- a devout Catholic interested in other religions and determined to remain a virgin until she is married. Carter falls hard, and Mia -- attracted by Carter's struggle with Buddhism, his passion for photography, and his knowledge of the world -- nervously agrees to join him on a five-night, beachfront photo shoot in Morocco. With both of their souls hanging in the balance, they quickly go from the ocean to hot water. During their romantic standoff, Carter and Mia crash their rental car, get arrested, run afoul of a sadistic gendarme, and try to flee the country -- an adventure that leads to the discovery that karma and the human heart work in very mysterious ways. With its sure pace and narrative surprises, Hungry Ghost is a serious, sexy novel about chastity and salvation, and will satisfy any reader's appetite for entertainment and literary excellence.
Good in Bed, Jennifer Weiner
When plus-sized Philadelphia Examiner columnist Cannie Shapiro decides to take a break from her boyfriend of three years, she has no idea just how drastically her life is about to change. While she's used to exposing the inner secrets of others' lives in her column, she isn't prepared for what happens when the tables are turned on her. Not only does Bruce extol her sexual prowess in the article, he also discusses her size-related insecurities and how he never thought of himself as a "chubbie chaser." Fallout from the piece launches Cannie into an emotional whirlwind of anger, embarrassment, desperation, and depression. It also triggers a year's worth of events that will have an astounding impact on her life, taking readers along on a journey that is poignant, comical, and utterly unforgettable.
Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction
Pico Iyer, Victor Pelevin, Doris Dorrie and other renowned contributors join young award-winners in what National Book Award-winner Charles Johnson calls an embarrassment of literary riches, sure to please fiction lovers of every stripe. From the O. Henry Award-winning title story, to visionary short-shorts and barely fictionalized personal memoirs, Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree is inventive, exciting, and unlike any collection before it.
Where Do We Go from Here? Doris Dorrie [translator]
Fred Kaufmann, world-weary, disillusioned husband of tidy-minded, thoroughly competent Claudia, is bang in the middle of a classic midlife crisis. Long ago abandoning his dreams of being a celebrated film director - even he could see he didn't have what it takes - he settled for marriage to Claudia, the owner of a successful vegetarian take-away. But Claudia has sold out to a fast-food chain and now Fred finds himself adrift - materially successful, but spiritually dissatisfied." "Claudia gets into Buddhism in a big way and finds a young guru, and the guru finds Franka - Fred and Claudia's teenage daughter - irresistible. So Fred sets out on a disastrous journey to the meditation centre in the South of France in a misguided attempt to wean Franka of her infatuation. His method? Exposing her and himself, of course, to large quantities of brown rice and some very serious meditation. It is a journey only a very special kind of hero could survive.
Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella
25-year-old Rebecca Bloomwood, the protagonist in Confessions of a Shopaholic, is every responsible woman's worst nightmare. A smart woman with a quick wit, she lets her insecurities run amok, only feeling in charge with her credit card in hand and a date lined up. Her career as a financial journalist feels like a sham, so she glams herself up with the latest find from the fashionistas and is momentarily diverted from taking action. As she dreams of the perfect scarf in the middle of meetings and steals away to buy trinkets in pricey boutiques, Rebecca's high-living lifestyle eventually catches up with her, when the dreaded letters arrive from creditors demanding payment on her delinquent accounts. We won't spoil the surprise ending (think romance, not drudgery!), but Sophie Kinsella is sure to delight Americans with her savvy debut novel, a main line into the heartbeat of consumerism today.
The Night-Coloured Pearl: A Taoist Adventure, Tzunami Renivaro
Probably a lill too sappy but we'll try anyway.
posted by minetto at 12:38 PM
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