Book Reviews (Including one MUST read)

After reading possibly one of the best books ever, I thought I'd give a list of the ones I've read down here so far. Starting from the beginning...


'The Bean Trees' by Barbara Kingsolver
This was a very cute book and a great way to start the trip. It is probably a chick book because there are a lot of feelings involved in the book. Not the best book I've ever read or even the best book by Kingsolver, but an enjoyment still.

'Hiroshima' by John Hershey
I knew almost nothing about the Hiroshima bombing before this book and it was a great representation of how the bomb affected the city and individual people's lives during, right after and many years after the bomb. I was not overly impressed with the writing style, but I really enjoyed becoming educated on this piece of history.

'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac
I had always heard about Kerouac and knew that this was a bit of a classic, so decided it might be a good book to read. It was enjoyable, but did not hold my attention as well as I would have liked. His style of writing is very much like he is just writing thoughts flowing from his mind and as his thought flow moves much differently from mine, this could be the reason. I definitely had feelings towards the characters including an intense dislike towards Dean Moriarty. It's funny because Scott liked the book a lot, including that character that I disliked.

'Honeymoon with my Brother' by Frank Wisner
This was a great book and one that I read at a perfect time because of my travels. It is about a guy who was dumped just a few days before his wedding, but who decided to have the 'wedding' anyway as a party with his friends. He went on the 'honeymoon' trip to Costa Rica with his brother and it turned into a two year trip around the world. It was very well-written, an easy read, gave great information about travels, and told a lot about healing from relationships. I definitely recommend this book to both men and women - Scott liked it too.

'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' by John Perkins
This is a book that I think everyone should read, particularly all Americans. I have known for a long time that we do not hear everything in our news reports in the US, but this book gives you an image that you may have never imagined about US politics and corporations. This book is a memoir of a guy who worked as an 'economic hit man'. He worked for a corporation that was very tightly associated with the US government. His job was to go into countries and convince their leaders to take out exhorbitant loans with his company and the US government to basically Westernize their lands, bringing in better electrical, water, etc. systems. This would completely change the countries, usually helping only the most wealthy. The countries would end up defaulting on their loans and becoming indebted to the US forever. The book gives so much history that most Americans have probably never heard, but all should hear. I´m not usually big into politics or anything like this, but the book is so well written, easy to understand, and will likely change your views of things forever. It also tells a lot about cultures in other lands, which you can probably tell from my blog, I am very interested in. If you at all enjoy reading, please pick up a copy of this book and read it. I would love to hear your views as well once you´ve read it!