Books

I’d like to recommend some excellent books that I read recently:

* The Inheritance of Loss (Kiran Desai) – winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize – an AWESOME book. It’s all about what it means to fit in, to be in a new culture, and it examines what home looks like, and what love looks like. It’s so well written, and real and honest.

* The Moonlit Cage (Linda Holeman) – my mom sent me this book. It’s a Canadian authour, but it’s set in Afghanistan/Pakistan in the 1800s. This book made me think a lot about the difference between being happy, having joy and being content. It made me realize that even though I always seek to have joy, it’s difficult for me to be content – because I’m always seeking out new adventures and new thoughts and new ways. It also made me think about my identity as a woman.

*Beginning to Pray (Anthony Bloom) – this is an easy read, but wow – it has some really good and profound ideas – some of which I was initially angry about, but then realized are true - like, the fact that God can absent himself from us (a reminder that there is no way we can control God – God is God!)

*Status Anxiety (Alain de Boton) – he’s a philosopher, but his writing is very readable. This book talks about the history of envy, jealousy, relations between the rich and poor, etc. I read this in Mozambique, and John made fun of me for taking notes on vacation, but I couldn’t help it – there were too many good ideas.