*And no-one is surprised.
"You call me wetback because I crossed a river, so what can I call you? You crossed an ocean."
Carlos Loya, a Latino resident of Colorado, as quoted in The Slums of Aspen
Reached my Peace Corps goal of reading 100 books, a little bit prematurely. I guess I need a new hobby for next year. Or not. In honor my trip back to the homeland and the fast paced North American lifestyle, I'm keeping these to 140 characters or less, Twitter style. Bam.
88. Kitchen Confidential- Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain is a total tool, but oddly loveable. Totally accurate depiction of kitchen culture.
89. A Sea in Flames- Carl Safina
Trenchant commentary on the BP disaster. An extremely necessary moral voice.
90. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001-Steven Coll
Good primer on Afghanistan from POV of US agencies. A bit Bin Laden centric though.
91. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity- Katherine Boo
Not sure if her methods were ethical, but a hell of a book.
92. The Forever War- Dexter Filkins
Iraq War reporting that is simultaneously funny, depressing and honest.
93. Wonder- R.J. Palacio
Beautiful story of a child with a deformity who finds belonging at school. I cried at the end cuz I doubt it would happen in real life.
92. El Ruido de las Cosas al Caer (The Sound of Things Falling)- Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Never has a book made Peace Corps look so bad. The real mysteries never get solved in this book: unsatisfying.
93. I, Rigoberto Menchu- Rigobertu Menchu and Elisabeth Burgos-Debray
Wowza.
94. De Amor y De Sombra (Of Love and Shadows)- Isabel Allende
Never has political persecution sounded so sexy. Chilean revolutionary lover with horseback escape? Yes please.
95. In Patagonia- Bruce Chatwin
Weird book with great storytelling but conspicuous absence of the Mapuche.
96. La Conjura contra America (The Plot Against America)- Philip Roth
A real thinker of a book.
97. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
Stop haunting my dreams with your terrifying creation Suzanne Collins!!
98. Cosmapa- Jose Roman (en espanol)
Banana farm owner knocks up his own daughter but then she's not actually his daughter? Also World War 2 happened? WHAT DERANGEMENT
99. Cronica de una muerte anunciada (Chronicle of a Death Foretold)- Gabriel Garcia Marquez (RR, but in a new language this time)
Don't obsess about virginity or people die! Fantastically masterful book.
100. Sloppy Firsts- Meghan MacCafferty (RR)
Protagonist Jess Darling is basically me in High School with slightly more drama.
101. Second Helpings- Meghan MacCafferty (RR)
Jess Darling continues to be like me from high school until she gets romanced.
102. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins
Saw Hunger Games 2 but I think the book was better. Basically the same actually.
103. The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America's Eden- Lisa Sun-Hee Park and David Naguib Pellow
Spot on about need to study inequality from the top down. Gets a little preachy and then doesn't propose much, because its a sociology study.
