aka Bookworm's List
Sharing some books I really enjoyed. I've included the Amazon links.

9. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson

This book follows the author's journey of returning to America after a prolonged period living in the UK and making a grand road trip through small rural towns in the US. He writes with a sharp and sarcastic style that is hilarious but observant. Very fun read, especially great book to bring along on your own travels/vacations.
Click here for more.


8. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by In America by Barbara Ehrenreich

The author takes a direct approach to trying to understand the lives of millions of Americans who are living in poverty or surviving on minimum wage positions throughout the country. She leaves her home and moves to several other towns/cities and states including Florida, Minnesota, and Maine while taking on minimum wage jobs and trying to pay rent and meet necessities. A very concrete and eye-opening read.
Click here for more.

7. Zohra's Ladder by Pamela Windo

This book is my favourite travel-related literature. The author's scenes and stories bring images to life in your mind with a very reflective and whimsical perspective. She provides an in-depth description of her time living in Morocco.
Click here for more.

6. Kiss the Sunset Pig by Laurie Gough

This book cheers me up on a stressful day. It evokes honest, beautiful, and sometimes hilarious images from around the globe. The author's down-to-earth stories are my temporary fix for my craving to explore this earth corner to corner.
Click here for more. I am also adding her other books to my reading list!


5. Say You're One of Them by Uwen Akpan

There's a total of 5 stories in here, all told through the perspective of children. The stories are set in various countries in Africa and they are not happy stories. Each depicts children trying to survive through horrifying experiences such as extreme poverty, human trafficking and other ugly circumstances that we would rather pretend didn't exist. Makes you think and makes you desperate to help.
Click here for more.


4. Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers, The Tipping Point, Blink

Gladwell discusses everything from Gottman's Love Lab (a psychologist who could make highly accurate predictions on the outcome of a marriage based on less than 15 minutes observation of each couple) in Blink, to the overlooked factors of achieving success in Outliers. Because psychology can so often become buried in research and theory, I like how Gladwell has focused on concrete real life examples.
Click here for more.



3. Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian by John Elder Robison

I can't say enough about the sheer honesty and natural humour in this book. It's an eye-opener on the often bizarre and arbitrary social rules we take for granted. Definitely check this out if you have a penchant for anything psychology.
Click here for more.


2. The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz, Versions by Daniel Ladinsky

I'm usually not much of a poetry person but these poems have stolen my heart. Lighthearted, effortless playfulness with words.
Click here for more.

1. The Invisible String by Patrice Karst, illustrated by Geoff Stevenson

So this first one here is somewhat unexpected compared to the others. It's an illustrated children's book. I noticed it at work and could not resist pulling it off the shelf and spending 5 minutes flipping through it. I've decided that not only will this be one of the first books I read to my (not-yet existent, somewhere out in limbo) kids, the message of this book is also a great reminder and comfort for adults. Simply put, the story teaches that those who love each other are connected by an invisible string. This string endures across all distances, time, and even stretches into heaven. Now that's gotta brighten your day up at least a little bit.
Click here for more.