Admittedly, I’m not a person who likes to read fiction in general so most of the these books are probably not choices people would generally make:
1) A General’s Life: An Autobiography by Omar Bradley I’m a military history buff so I enjoy reading about people involved in the wars and also it is my belief that in order to understand the present I need to read about the past. This is the autobiography of America’s last five star general from his early life to the end of his official career in the army though officers who attain the five star rank never actually formally ‘retire.’ I admit that this is not everyone’s cup of tea in terms of a good read, but for me this is the kind of book I enjoy reading because sometimes even the best fiction writers can’t come up with the kind of things that happen in a person’s life
2) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari I won’t get into a debate over the theory of human evolution as that isn’t really what this book is about. It’s more about how we as Homo sapiens overran the planet. Not a bad book, but I’ll admit that I didn’t necessarily agree with some of the ideas that he put forward
3) Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation by Leo T.S. Ching Colonialism and Imperialism are ugly terms when we consider a national identity. I was born in Taiwan and although I thoroughly identify as an Australian, my ancestral roots are tied to this period of time through my mother. Identity is a tough thing to consider when you have ties ethnically to one place and yet at the same time have differing ideals (not the least of which is that mainland China is communist and Taiwan or more officially The Republic of China is democratic), but also trying to meld that with the influence of a former colonial ruler
4) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Have had this novel on my to read list for years, but never got around to reading it. Don’t think this book needs much rehashing, but I will add that I thoroughly enjoyed it
5) Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee The sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout is now all grown up and is forced to confront the same issues addressed in To Kill a Mockingbird, but also the realisation that everything she thought she knew about the father she idolised wasn’t exactly the truth. Though less enjoyable and confronting as it’s predecessor I still would recommend reading it
6) How to Hide an Empire: A Short History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr Given that this book is of my usual taste I admit I had high expectations for it especially after reading the blurb (I admit to never judging a book by its cover. If the title is interesting then I read the blurb. If the blurb seems interesting enough I may decide to read it) in the end I was disappointed as it was not anywhere near my expectations and didn’t tell me anything beyond what I knew about empire and the collapse of British and French colonialism in Asia
Last edited by Crazy_Babe; 02/11/2006:37 AM.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched they must be felt with the heart
