I picked this up in India. Well, you can't miss it once you're there. Every little souvenir shop is selling it. It's the story of a woman travelling to India to stay with her fiance, who's been offered a permanent assignment in the region. She gives up her old job, tries to cope with an Indian life and, as a result of a number of incidents, attempts to explore the richness in spirituality that India has to offer. Extremely funny, good insight into life in India, and definitely recommended.I'm not sure of it's a book you should read before going to India or rather during your stay there. I loved the fact that when she (the author) was describing some sort of cultural element or custom in her book, I could go like "hm, yeah, just saw that yesterday" or "so that is what it means...". Anyway, if you're thinking about a trip to India, buy it.
I saw the movie on one of my flights. I think that everybody in the world and then some, must have already seen it,or read the book for that matter. But ok, I hadn't. I liked the film quite a lot actually, the camera work is fantastic. So, noticing the book one of the bookshelves in Hong Kong whilst trying to get hold of a China travelguide, I decided to buy it. I was really surprised. Apparently this is a debut work, the writting is amazing. It just transports you to another world, and you don't want to stop reading. The description of 1930s Japan is fascinating, and the struggle of the young girl is very believable. I found the ending to be a bit of an anti-climax, but it makes me wonder whether the author didn't have this in mind all along. Hm, I should really put Japan on my list of must-see destinations once this trip is over. 
Think travelling, think Marco Polo. I picked this up (the Travels of Marco Polo) and, to be honest, am rather disappointed. It's not so much a travel diary, but rather a journal of the places visited with a brief description of trade goods, number of people, beliefs, etc. I was expecting more, a lot more. The travels were written when Marco Polo was in prison. Most likely, he wanted to use them to impress the Pope and the Venetians and hasten his release.And in a bit sadder news, I learned that Arthur C. Clarke, one of my fav. sci-fi authors, has passed away yesterday. I really liked his work, especially 2001, the creation of HAL is brilliant in my opinion.
