Just a little light reading while I'm home sick from work 😳😞

Brushing up on a few things before I move to Ukraine in September 🇺🇦😎

There are no wrong books. What's wrong is the fear of them.

A young Canadian female chronicles her accidental journey as a reporter throughout the former Soviet Union from 1989 to 2004. Well written, revealing of the times and well suited for anyone with an interest in politics and a touch of wanderlust.

Upside is that it gives a lighthearted, humorous peek into modern life in Ukraine, but the downside is that the author is a bumbling American doofus. His lack of cultural sensitivity given he's trying to marry a Ukrainian makes the book a bit naive & distances the reader.

Leaving this at my hotel in Hue, Vietnam where the majority of fighting occurred during the American War couldn't be more perfect. Philosophical, existential and fast paced this is pretty much the perfect spy novel. The Pulitzer is rightly awarded, read this book now!

The language is way easier to follow than expected. Enjoying this on all my Vietnamese bus rides.

"We now know OF many things, when we once knew about them." - Largely contextualizing Huxley's theories in the Age of Television, this book has some sober points about the current state of public discourse.

First trip to Southeast Asia tomorrow. Scouring the guidebook to remind myself how awesome it's going to be! 🇻🇳

First time listening to an audio book. This one is intensely academic, making every mile of my commute an education. 📚🤓

He was an epicurean and a Christian, in that order, a man of faith who believed in gastronomy and God; his wife and his children; the French and the Americans.

Picked this up at the airport today after seeing @KateTheBookworm mention it. Spies + Vietnam will be the perfect novel to read before my trip starts on Thursday.

This book was so painfully true at many points it was hard to believe it is a work of fiction. Brilliant observations on foreign policy and the effectiveness of grass roots diplomacy. Great if you're interested in learning how to be a better volunteer or world traveler.

...and they have learned nothing."

A clever medium for such a sensitive subject, this book is a beautiful and insightful look into the delicate history between three countries and the way it has touched lives of more people than we could have imagined. Good if you like Persepolis.

You don't need publicity if the results of what you are doing are visible and are valuable to the people. The steam from a pot of good soup is its best advertisement.

Picked Vietnamerica up on @seekingthespheres recommendation. Excited to get started on my plane ride this morning! 🇻🇳📚🛩

All time favorite Bond film, strong contender for favorite Fleming Bond book as well.

Perhaps Steinbeck's lightest book, it follows his travels across the USA in his rickety truck with his dog Charlie. Full of humorous character studies, this is both insightful and hilarious. A great portrait of the colorful spectrum that is America.

A book about baseball, Melville and emotional exploration set at a small liberal arts college. Brilliant throughout all of the interweaving story lines and plot progression, but I was disappointed with the twist. Seemed trite, although he does well to make it as redeeming as possible by the end.

A powerful story about running from desperation & finding a way to live above fear. Remains painfully relevant in today's social landscape.

He was so horribly bored by existing circumstances that he forgot to go in for boredom in the manner prescribed by the authorities.

Suggested to me by someone I later found out never read it, this is the story of an older man restraining his love for a young boy. Well written, emotional & philosophically bent, this book focuses on divinity & restraint, but I prefer Lolita for the emotional complexity around forbidden love.

A surrealist love story about an older man pining after his aloof muse in 1920s Paris. Attempting to seduce her with his knowledge & contacts in the art world, we get to follow his emotions as well as important pieces of surrealist art history. Read it in one day. BONUS: Artwork photos included!

Included in this collection are the majority of stories that make up The Christmas Story movie, but there are plenty of other great stories here that are not in the movie. Classic piece of Americana humor from the 1960s, originally published as a series of articles in Playboy Magazine.

Saw this coincidental arrangement on the shelves in the basement of the Harvard Bookstore. I couldn't pass up capturing the juxtaposition.

I collect vintage cocktail recipes. This is my favorite recipe book because it includes short stories around the history of each cocktails creation, but still includes tons of recipes.

A few gems mixed in, but overall not Bukowski's most compelling collection of poems. From his later work, I prefer Betting on the Muse.

Read this in preparation for a trip to Amsterdam to visit my best friend. Comprehensive, clever, informative and easy reading. Recommend for anyone planning to visit.

A down and dirty chef's memoir about high times, humble beginnings, cooking and hard work. Also gives a peak into high rolling NYC in the late 1980s & commercial catering kitchens. Great way to remind home cooks that we aren't all cut out to become chefs.

Watching this adaptation as a part of NT Live reminded me of all the moments that make this story heart wrenchingly perfect. It also inspired to me read East of Eden which blew my mind 10x more than this high school classic.

I reread this last year before gifting it to my little sister for her graduation. It reminded me that the times we teach are often when we learn the most. Still brilliant after all these years!

Probably the best used bookstore I've ever seen. Well organized, helpful & HUGE! Lots of old paper backs of once popular fiction like The Fixer which was a best selling crime story from the 1960s

The head of our media department recommended this book, but I found it much more political assertion than social commentary. I was looking for the latter.

Went to a bar tonight that places their checks in French literature. Seems like a cocktail made with 1 part clever & 1 part totally pretentious.

Airplane supplies: 1 part interesting social history, 1 part heavier statistics than I'd hope for & 1 part heart wrenching commentary on the American social landscape, just when I get bored this book finds a way to get profound again.

On one vacation, reading for the next. So far this story is wild and gritty even for Mailer. Excited to see where it heads, if anywhere at all.

Picked up Mosquitoes today at Faulkner House Books in NOLA. It was his second novel & one of the 4 he wrote while living in this house. Pumped to read it on a future trip!

And DJ says in answer: ever read The Concept of Dread by Fyodor Kierkegaard? No, well neither has DJ but now he wants to know how many of you assholes even knew, forgive me, Good Lord, that Fyodor Kierkegaard has a real name, Soren Kierkegaard. Contemplate that. You ass.