Friday, December 7, 2007

This Week in Books

Or perhaps I should call it "weeks" since I missed last week's installment as I lay on the couch feeling like I'd been hit by a bus.

I don't really feel like writing up some of the books I finished, so I'll just highlight my favorite one of the past couple of weeks.

Polly Evans
Fried Eggs with Chopsticks: One Woman’s Hilarious Adventure into a Country and a Culture Not Her Own.
I've read two others by Evans', It’s Not About the Tapas: Around Spain on Two Wheels and Kiwis Might Fly: A New Zealand Adventure. I love her tone and personality that comes through her writing. I think I am still a little horrified by some of the experiences as she traveled around China (especially one bathroom in particular) but it was such a fascinating account of what she saw, smelled, ate, and did over many weeks in a wide variety of circumstances. I would not ever want to duplicate the trip she took (the New Zealand one, possible; this one, never) but I'm so glad she wrote about it so I could travel vicariously.

2 comments:

Edi said...

sounds like my kind of book - I just put it on hold at my library - look forward to reading it.

Renee said...

Thanks for commenting & I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I think you might especially enjoy her method of ordering food in restaurants when her limited Chinese and phrasebook didn't help her - she would walk around the room and point to dishes she wanted. :)