I visited an English Conversation Circle this week for the first time since they started in 2008. They were started at the Weekes branch of the Hayward Public Library. Librarian Melesha Owens has been leading them since then. Now they have expanded. We have them at a variety of times and a variety of locations. In addition to the Main Library’s Monday session which meets from 11:30-12:30, we have Tuesdays 6:00pm – 7:00pm as well as Weekes Branch Saturdays from 10:00am-12:00noon and the Day Labor Center( at 680- Tennyson) Thursdays 6:00pm-7:00pm.

We are always looking for volunteers who want to help us help people who want to improve their English Language skills. When the groups started and I helped out with a few, they had a bit of the feel of a free lunch offered to very hungry people. There was a hunger for knowledge that was responded to in an immediate, straight forward,if not necessarily, pedagogically, organized way. Now I am pleased to see a great overall organization. We talked about idioms while answering simple straight forward questions. The session dealt with health questions. Do you have allergies? Do you catch more than one cold in a year? They also taught some health related idioms; clean bill of health, right as rain,  alive and kicking. It was great fun as well as instructive.

Seeing adults learning a language is always inspirational. People don’t stop to think how complicated a trial it is. So many idioms make no sense when they are considered out of context. Raining cats and dogs; dressed to the nines, we use these expressions without thinking about what exactly they mean.

Join us, volunteer, help people learn English.

By Trudy Toll

On January 29, 2009 I wrote about the volunteer opportunities for people to help the Hayward Public Library.

Here is the paragraph on the Friends:

The Friends of the Hayward Public Library group exists simply to support the Hayward Public Library. They raise money which helps to further the library staff’s professional development, buy supplies and prizes for programs held at the library, and for many other special projects outside the library’s normal operating budget.

The Friends hold book sales every two weeks, and “Bigger than Usual” sales several times a year, as well as selling some of the more valuable books on the Internet. In preparation for the  book sales, dedicated Friends sort through donated books & other materials. There is a history of devoted Friends who have worked tirelessly for tens of hours a week, week after week, year after year. Some of them spend as much time and energy as they did on their regular jobs, because they enjoy the work so much. They also find the rewards gratifying, they can see what their efforts accomplish in the library. Other Friends only volunteer a few hours a week, or help at a book sale once or twice a year. They are looking for a range of volunteers, from people to simply help with the Saturday book sales to someone who loves to sell online and looks for the challenge involved with that. If interested in volunteering for the Friends, contact:

Friends of the Hayward Public Library

510-293-3328

admin@friendsofthehaywardcapubliclibrary.org

The opportunities have increased. The books sales for the Friends held at the Farmers Market have been going very well. The good news is that the Friends need more volunteers. If they had more volunteers, they would be able to have more books sales, maybe even every weekend. The Friends would love to have volunteers who love books, and who would like to help sell the donated books at the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. These volunteers would be friendly, outgoing and would enjoy standing at the Library’s tent at the Farmer’s Market. There are also opportunities for people who would like to assist in selling the donated books online, the Friends would love to talk to you.

Many of you have heard me talk about the importance of the Friends to our events and other programs here. The Friends supply us with the additional funds we need in these lean economic times. The friends organization is always crucial to a public libraries well being. If you can’t volunteer, remember they do take cash donations as well. I thank you in advance for any assistance you can and will give the wonderful FRIENDS OF THE HAYWARD PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Trudy Toll

Adult Services Librarian at the Hayward Public Library

Are you reading something great? How did you find it? Working in a public LIbrary, of course, I have an advantage. Many people come in and recommend great books. I also have friends who are always asking me if I have read x or y.

How do you choose?  Sometimes I choose it by the cover, or the blurb, sometimes by the author, but sometimes it is by the person who recommends the book.

I love it when someone recommends a book to me and I read it because of my friendship but then end up enjoying the book because of its content.

A friends of mine and I enjoy J.D.Robb books. She read them first and then insisted that I read one. Insisted. I obeyed. Wow! Now I have 30+ good memories because we share this enjoyment of this one author. I even found a friend at work who has read all of J.D. Robb so I can bask in a JDRobb fest whenever a new book by her comes out. We can ask each other; “Have you read her latest? Did you see where it was going?”

 This same friend also enjoys the Elizabeth Peters novels about Amelia Peabody. That one I told her about. I didn’t insist, but I did suggest that I thought she’d enjoy them. She did.

This friend loves Ancient Rome. I don’t. I havent’ read her favorites about Rome simply because I am never that desperate for books. I love India. She ignores my recommendations about books about India because she is never without reading material. It works out as reading friendships go.

I find it awkward when someone new in my life says,”You have to read X! You will love it!” I always wonder what makes that person omniscent, how they will know with such certainty that I will love this X.  Recommending a book is more complex than some people lead you to believe.

There are the beach reads. Grafton, Patterson(before his plots and charcaters got too sociopathic to read) you know novels that you don’t expect to remember, that you will enjoy for the moments you are reading them but they will not change your life, you will probably not comment to yourself about the skill of the writing, you will not copy any phrases out to remember and you probably will prefer to borrow them from the library versus fork over the  full list price of the hardcover. These are easy to recommend with the comment that they are popular and so they are probably a fun read.

Then there are the books which are more customized. These are not for everyone. They have some specialized content. They might be about a particular era or certain area. They might involve some life based drama. They might be an Oprah book club choice, they might be some book that your best friend is pleading with you to read and she has taken into consideration your personal history, your  attention span, your language useage, and what you usually like. These books are the bigger risk and often the bigger reward.

Then there are the books you find on your own and even when you love them, you can’t recommend them to anyone because they are so tricky. The book A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is one of those books for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it but I would not recommend it to anyone unless I knew they liked long, India and real human misery. I thought it was amaing. I believed almost every word of it but I know very few people would go through the whole book.

Do you have books that you loved but you can’t recommend to anyone? What are they? I do think it’s interesting what we read, why do we enjoy it and who we share these tastes with.

Let me know what books you are enjoying and why.

Good Reading…

Trudy

I am interested in hearing from the people who would like to be part of a group focusing on these forms of writing.

Contact me by email at :

trudy.toll@hayward-ca.gov

or you can sign in and comment on this blog.

I look forward to hearing from you.

By Trudy Toll

By Trudy Toll, Adult Services Librarian at Hayward Public Library, Hayward,CA

Once again I am going to talk about being touched by the intersection of people and history. I have mentioned more than once the Digital Story Project I am working on here in Hayward. Sunday May 23, the city of San Leandro held a great event. They presented 19 digital stories on the Nisei internment. There was a power to having all the stories around not only one theme but also such an incredibly, egregious period of our history. To make the afternoon more amazing still, the storytellers were there, alive and in person.

We here at Hayward, are going to have an afternoon where we show many of our movies made in the last two years. I can only hope that ours will be nearly as powerful. We have not limited ourselves to one topic so there will be diversity where they had depth. We have people speaking about many aspects of the past, their own and this city’s.

Do join us on Saturday, June 12, 2010, here at the Hayward Main Library. The screening will start at 12:00 Noon. The storytellers when possible will be attending. Come see history, be a part of history.

Call me at (510) 881-7974 for more information. Remember it is never too late to come forward and have us record your Digital story.

By Trudy Toll, Adult Services Librarian at Hayward Public Library, Hayward,CA

Someone was talking about quotes the other day. Quotes and poetry. It got me thinking.
We used to say that greeting cards,( Hallmark etc) could say for us what we ourselves couldn’t say.
I think books of poetry used to fulfill that function as well as Bartlett’s Book of Quotations. Let’s say I admired someone greatly, but I felt awkward going up to a co-worker and saying that I thought they were super great. I would feel awkward if it were Trudy speaking but if it were a poet or a quote from someone of note, then the sentiment would be received but it would be less personally delivered. It wouldn’t be Trudy speaking, it would be Plato, or Mark Twain or whomever.
These last two weeks a co-worker helped me repeatedly with a computer problem. I say, “ Thank you Cornelio, you really helped me. I appreciate it.”

But if I felt awkward, or didn’t know him I might chose that other method. I might use other people’s words not my own.
I would say to him;
“A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) from Essays, ‘Friendship’
“A friend in need is a friend in deed” a Proverb.
These are from The Macmillan Dictionary of Quotations, Edison, NJ: Chartwell Books.(2000)
A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.
Elbert Hubbard
A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.
Leo Buscaglia
A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.
Arnold H. Glasow
From http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_friendship.html
Be A Friend
by Edgar A Guest
This is just an excerpt taken from http://www.famous-poems.biz/friendship_poems/Be-A-Friend-new-friendship-poem-by-Edgar-A-Guest.html
Be a friend. The pay is bigger
(Though not written by a figure)
Than is earned by people clever
In what’s merely self-endeavor.
You’ll have friends instead of neighbors
For the profits of your labors;
You’ll be richer in the end
Than a prince, if you’re a friend

I think that these were devices used by our predecessors to say what they couldn’t say to their friends, colleagues and countrymen.  I think we still do that by using the internet and clicking and dragging.
We can now send a whole page listing songs about friendship
http://www.friendship.com.au/media/songs/
movies about friendship
http://www.friendship.com.au/media/movies.html

This is all from the Friendship webpage!
http://www.friendship.com.au/index.html
�
So we’re still saying things using other people’s words instead of our own. Use your own or other people’s words  but just always say thank you to those who help you.
Thank you again Cornelio. I appreciate your help.

Trudy

By Trudy Toll, Adult Services Librarian at Hayward Public Library, Hayward, CA

There used to be a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) show that asked the special celebrity guests if they were going to be stranded on a desert island; what four books or music albums they would want to have with them.

I heard about this again recently and it got me thinking. I am so spoiled having the resources available to me by working in the Hayward Public Library and on the internet it would be tough to be limited to four books.

I guess one title would be the complete Encyclopedia Britannica.

For the second, I know I‘m supposed to pick a work of fiction and maybe a selection of poetry but that wouldn’t work for me. I might take Halliwell’s Film, Video and Dvd reference book so I could slowly go through all the various movies and think about how to rewrite them myself.

For my third title, I might take some encyclopedia of crafts (not Martha Stewart but doable ones; maybe Michaels maybe someone elses) but who knows what materials I would have on this desert island.

For my fourth book, I am torn. I can’t stand the idea of being fiction-less. I don’t know if I would be able to take paper and pen with me. If I couldn’t take an inexhaustible amount of paper and ink(in pens) with me then my fourth choice would have to be a blank book. A big blank book so I could write down all the stories that would be my companions throughout the years.

If I could have all my stationery needs met and I still had a fourth title, then if pressed right now to choose something, I would choose Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts because it’s big, complex and about India. Of course there’s the question of whether it’s any good but if you’re on a desert island, then you can’t be too choosy. I’ve heard good things about it so that’s my fourth.

What about your choices? What four books would you take? Let me know your reasons as well.

Here’s to good reading.

By Trudy Toll, Adult Services Librarian at Hayward Public Library, Hayward, CA

This week I have been working on the Digital Stories Project. One of my colleagues here at the Library was telling me his stories of working with Cesar Chavez. He mentioned a couple of marches and demonstrations in which he had participated. It was wonderful to be able to go online and find through Calisophere and other digital photographic archives, photos of these marches, images that brought his stories alive to me. I think that we all listen to history in different ways. I love hearing the stories even when there are no photos, but then to be able to see images of the places he discussed, the riots he remembered was incredibly powerful.

I think it’s a wonderful thing that now there will be more and more images to choose from when we discuss any aspect of our recent history. We need to worry about how these images will be stored, archived and catalogued so we can access them when we need to.

Remember you are history. Think about documenting your own life. All too often we do not take photos of those nearest and dearest to us. Take some photos of the people in your daily life. Your co-workers, your family, your neighbors, your pets.

Save them in a place where they can be labelled by you( for accuracy) and build your history day by day, week by week, year by year.

History is fascinating - it’s people like you and me living day to day. It’s just their days were documented and ours are less documented so far.

Enjoy their history, make yours….

A little add on; I went a walk in a cemetery in Oakland to learn about history. At one point in the tour one of the docents said, “Now I was told by my mentor, that a student of his, claimed that he had walked from here to Lake Merritt underground” The disbelief in his tone was loud and clear. From the back of the crowd listening to this man, came the shout;”I did that!”

Everyone turned around. There was a man in his seventies, smiling at his memory. He explained, he had been about twelve and he and a friend had entered a pipe and walked in the dark until they got to Lake  Merritt. He acknowledged that it was a stupid thing to do. To me it was yet another proof the importance of each of us documenting our own personal history. Here was a docent telling what he thought of as a tall tale and yet here was all the proof any of us needed that it was possible to do and it had been done and specifically done by this very elderly man. History lives!

By Trudy Toll, Adult Services Librarian at Hayward Public Library, Hayward, CA

I feel as if I have written this advice before but I’ll say it again, do something you love every week and it will help cope with stress. I know that time is never in abundance. I know that one has to do something that does not involve money. That being said, do something you love, no matter how silly, no matter how disconnected from your work. Do something you love. I remember a friend who colored in coloring books. She found it calmed her immeasurably. She was an adult and she chose complicated coloring books. I have friends who play Word Find or Suduko or Crosswords. They say that the world narrows down, focuses down to this alledgedly solvable problem. The friends say that makes all the difference.

I always bring up reading books from the Public library because that is free and gives you whatever content you want.

Others walk their dogs, take long walks in the parks around the Bay area. I have one friend who cooks for friends as her de-stressor. The friends pitch in to help off set the cost of the food.

I know of one woman who makes designs in her journal and then colors them in. Every day a different pattern.

Think about washing your car, something that is do-able, that you can feel good about and that you don’t need any special talent to accomplish.

Weeding can be the same satisfying mindless repetative work. Sometimes repetative work is just what you want to clear your mind of troubles, clear your mind of stress, think of nothing but the clover in front of you. It’s something that is concrete. You can see the difference when and where you have weeded.

I can’t eliminate stress for you but I hope that I have reminded you that some of the things that can help(maybe not cure but help) are in your hands and you can affect a positive change in your own life.

Do what you love. Enjoy what you’re doing.

By Trudy Toll, Adult Services Librarian at Hayward Public Library, Hayward, CA

We’ve talked about how wonderful books can be, so I thought I’d share with you some of the books I’ve enjoyed these last few years. There are fiction books, non fiction books, and graphic novels. There are singles titles, and entire series. There is high brow and beach reads. There are all types of wonderful and meaningful in here. Some of them if I re-read them now might disappoint me but I’m not re-reading them there are too many new things to read. I hope you enjoy them.
Updated 4.11.2010
FICTION

AUTHOR               TITLE (publication date) (General Subject Matter)
Adiga, Arvind    White Tiger(2007) (India)
Alsanea, Fajaa     Girls of Ridyah(2007)(Saudi Arabia)
Barbery, Muriel       Elegance of the Hedgehog(2008)(Paris/Life/People)
Becker, Stephen    Blue-Eyed Shan(1983)(China)
Chinese Bandit(1977)(China)
Dog Tags(1987)
Last Mandarin(1979)(China)
Belfer, Lauren        City of Light(2002)(Buffalo, NY around 1900)
Berry, Steve     Entire Cotton Malone Series(Adventure,espionage)
Bosse, M.   WarLord(1984)
Fire in Heaven(1985)
Bradby, Thomas       Master of Rain(2003)
Bradley, Alan        Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie(2009)
Brooks, Geraldine        People of the Book (2001)
Brown, Rita Mae         Rubyfruit Jungle (1988)
Buck, Pearl        The Good Earth (1931, Pulitzer Prize)(China)
Bull, Bartle          White Rhino Hotel(1992)
Cisneros, Sandra       The House on Mango Street (1991)
Clavel. James     Shogun(1975)(Japan)
Whirlwind(1987)
Taipan(1966)(Hong Kong)
King Rat(1962)
Cleary, John      High Road to China( 1983)(China)
Coetzee, J.M.        Disgrace (1999, Booker Prize)
Conroy, Pat     Prince of Tides (1986)
Courter, Gay         Flowers in the Blood(1991)(India)
Cunningham, Michael         The Hours (1998)
Desai Hidier, Tanjua         Born Confused (2002)(India)
Desai, Kiran       The Inheritance of Loss (2006, Man Booker Prize)(India)
Drummond, Emma      Beyond All Frontiers (1985)(India)
Forget the Glory (1987)(India)
Fast, Howard   Immigrants(1977)
Second Generation(1978)
Follett, Ken   Eye of the Needle (1978)
The Key to Rebecca (1980)
Funke, Cornelia    Dragon Rider(2004)
InkHeart(2003)
Thief Lord(2005)
Gaan, M     Blue Mountain(1987)(China)
Red Barbarian(1984)(China)
Little Sister(1983)(China)
White Poppy(1985)(China)
Gaines, Earnest J.   A Lesson Before Dying (1993, National Book Critics Circle Award)
Godshalk, C. S.    Kalimantaan (1998)
Goldberg, Myla     Bee Season (2000)
Golden, Arthur      Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel (1997)(Japan)
Haddon, Mark    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003)
Haji, Nafisa          Writing on My Forehead (2009)(Pakistan/USA)
Harter, Evelyn       Bosom of the Family (1985)(India)
The Wink  (1986)(India)
Hill, Lawrence     Someone Knows My Name
Hosseini, Khaled         The Kite Runner (2003)
Hunter, Stephen     All the Bobby Lee Swagger book
Irving, John     Cider House Rules (1985)
Ishiguro, Kazuo        An Artist of the Floating World (1986)
Kaye, M.M.   Far Pavillions (1978)(India)
Shadow of the Moon ( 1957)(India)
Kingsolver, Barbara   Animal Dreams (1990)
Poisonwood Bible (1998)
Lahiri, Jhumpa        The Namesake (2003)(India/USA)
Li, Nam    The Boat (2008)
Lord, Betty Bao      Spring Moon: A Novel of China (1981)
Markandaya, Kamala       Nectar in a Sieve (1995)(India)
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia     One Hundred Years of Solitude (1970)
Martel, Yann    Life of Pi (2004)
Mason, Daniel      The Piano Tuner (2002)(Thailand)
Masters, John  Bhowani Junction(1954)(India)
Deceivers (1952)(India)
Far, Far the Mountain Peak (1966)(India)Himalayan Concerto (1976)(India)
Lotus and the Wind (1953)(India)
Nightrunners of Bengal (1951)(India)
To the Coral Strand (1962)(India)
Venus of Konpara (1960)(India)
Coromandel  (1955)(India)
Mathers, Berkely     Midnight Gun (1981)
Snowline (1973)
White Dacoit (1974)
Matsuoka, Takashi        Cloud of Sparrows (2002)(Japan)
McCarry, Charles       All the Paul Christopher Novels
McCullough, Colleen       The Thorn Birds (1977)(Australia)
Michner, James      Caravans (1963)(Afghanistan)
Mistry, Rohinton     A Fine Balance (2006)(India)
Mitchell, David    Black Swan Green (2008)
Murari, T.N.        Field of Honor (1981)(India)
Imperial Agent (1989)(India)
Last Victory (1990)(India)
Nahai, Gina       Cry of the Peacock ( 1991)(Iran)
Olden, Marc      Dai-Sho (1983)(Japan)
Gaijin (1986)(Japan)
Giri (1982)(Japan)
Kisaeng ( 1991)(Japan)
Ozeki, Ruth L.      My Year of Meats (1998)
Pasternak, Boris     Doctor Zhivago (1958)
Patchett, Ann     The Magician’s Assistant (1997)
Perry, Anne     No Graves As Yet (2003)(World War 1)
Angels in the Gloom (2005)(World War 1)
Shoulder the Sky (2004)(World War 1)
At Some Disputed Barricade ( 2007)(World War 1)
We Will Not Sleep (2007)(World War 1)
Price, Eugenia    Lighthouse (1971)(Sea Islands Georgia)
New Moon Rising (1969)(Sea Islands Georgia)
Renault, Mary      Bull from the Sea (1962)
King Must Die (1958)
Last of the Wine (1956)
Mask of Apollo (1966)
Robb, J.D.  Naked in Death (1955)
Entire Eve Dallas Series
Roy, Arundhati    The God of Small Things (1997)(India)
Scott, Paul    The Raj Quartet(India)
See, Lisa     Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005)(China)
Peony in Love (2007)(China)
Shanghai Girls (2009)(China)
Selvadurai, Shyam     Cinnamon Gardens (1999)(Sri Lanka)
Funny Boy (1994)(Sri Lanka)
Sidhwa, Bapsi   The Bride (1983)(India)
Crow Eaters (1992)(India)
Ice Candy Man (1988)(India)
Singh, K     Train to Pakistan (1956)(India)
Slaughter, Carolyn         Black Englishman (2004)(India)
Smedley, Agnes    Daughter of Earth: A Novel (1929)(China)
Smith, Zadie    White Teeth: A Novel (2000)
Staples, Suzanne Fisher     Haveli (1995)(India)
Shabanu (1991)(India)
Steinbeck, John      The Grapes of Wrath (1939, Pulitzer Prize)
East of Eden (1952)
Styron, William    Sophie’s Choice (1979?)
Sundaresan, Indu   Splendor of Silence (2006)(India)
Suri, Manil       The Death of Vishnu (2001)(India)
Swarup, Vikas   Q & A (2005)(India)
Tan, Amy         Joy Luck Club (1989)(China)
The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991)(China)
Thomas, Ross     Yellow-Dog Contract (1976)(China)
Chinamen’s Chance (1978)(China)
Brass Go Between (1969)(China)
Thomas, Will       Limehouse Text (2006)
Trevanian       Shibumi (2005)
Uris, Leon      Exodus(1958)(Israel)
Topaz (1967)
Verghese, Abraham         Cuting for Stone (2009)(Ethiopia)
Waldari, M.      The Egyptian (1949)(Egypt)
Wouk, Herman         Winds of War (1971)(World War 2)
War and Rememberance (1978)(World War 2)
Wynd, Oswald     The Ginger Tree (1977)(China)

MYSTERIES
AUTHOR       TITLE
Ball, J      Eyes of the Buddha
Cool Cottontail
Five Pieces of Jade
Winds of Mitamure
In the Heat of the Night
Barr, Nevada      Blind Descent
Block, Lawrence         Burglars series
Tanner series
Bradby, Tom         Master of Rain
Chesbro, George        Mongo Mysteries
Cleverly, Barbara     Last Kashmiri Rose(India)
Craig, A         Mysteries
Leon, Donna     Any of the Guido Brunetti Mysteries(Venice, Italy)
Doyle, Arthur Conan        The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes �
Dunlap, Susan      Any of hers about Berkeley
Dunning, John   The Bookman’s Promise— And all the  Cliff Janeway Mysteries
Follett, Ken     Eye of the Needle
Key to Rebecca
Francis, Dick        Any of his mysteries
Gilman, Dorothy      All Mysteries
Hillerman, Tony   All Mysteries
Kellerman, Faye        Peter & Reena Decker series
Kellerman, Johnathan     Alex Delaware Series
Kijewski, Karen    All the Sacramento series
King, Laurie R        Beekeeper’s Apprentice
All Mary Russell Series
Larsson, Stieg     Girl who Playedwith Fire
MacLeod, Charlotte      Mysteries
Mann, Paul        Ganja Coast(India)
Season of the Monsoon(India)
Massey, Sujata     Salaryman’s Wife(Japan)
Entire Rei Series
McCall Smith, Alexander  No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency  The entire series(Botswana)
Melville, James       A Haiku for Hanae(Japan)
Bride Wore Brocade(Japan)
Chrysanthemum Chain(Japan)
Death Ceremony(Japan)
Death of a Daimyo(Japan)
Go Gently Gaijin(Japan)
Kimono for a Corpse(Japan)
Ninth Netsuke(Japan)
Reluctant Ronin(Japan)
Sayonara Sweet Amaryllis(Japan)
Sort of Samurai(Japan)
Wages of Sin(Japan)
Peters, Elizabeth        All Amelia Peabody Books(Ancient Egypt)
Thomas, Will    Limehouse Text
Van De Wetering     Mysteries
Van Gulik, Robert      All Judge Dee Mysteries(China)
Winspear, Jacqueline       Maisie Dobbs  -  The entire series (World War 1)
�
GRAPHIC NOVELS
AUTHOR           TITLE
Bechdel, Alison       Fun House
Marchetto, Marisa      Cancer Vixen
Satrapi, Marjane    Chicken with Plums (2006)(Iran)
Persepolis I (2003)(Iran)
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return ( 2004)(Iran)
Thompson, Craig        Blankets: An Illustrated Novel
Vaughan, Brian K.       Pride of Baghdad: Inspired by a True Story
Willingham, Bill et al.      Fables – Entire Series
Yang, Gene Yuen    American Born Chinese
NONFICTION
AUTHOR     TITLE
Ali, Ayaan Hirsi     Infidel(Somalia/Autobiography)

Angelou, Maya      I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings(Autobiography)

Arana, Marie      American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood (2001)(Autobiography)
Ashe, Arthur and Arnold Rampersad       Days of Grace: A Memoir (1993)(Autobiography)
Ashton-Warner, Sylvia       Spinster(Autobiography)
Bahrampour,Tara        To See and See again(Iran)(Autobiography)
Baker, Nicholson       Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper (2001)
Baldwin, S.S.   What the Body Remembers(India)(Autobiography)
Beach, Sylvia         Shakespeare and Co.(Books)
Blanch, Leslie       Wilder Shores of Love(Travel)
Beah, Ismael        Long Way Gone(Autobiography)
Bourdain, Anthony       Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly(Autobiography)
Bradley, James        Fly Boys: A True Story Of Courage (2003)(World War 2)
Brooks, Geraldine   Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women (1995)
Bryson, Bill        A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998)(Autobiography)
All of his travel books
Buzbee, Lewis      The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, a History (2006)
Cahill, Susan (editor) Desiring Italy (1997)
Chalon, F     Portrait of a Seductress(Natalie Clifford Barney)
Child, Julia       My Life in France(Autobiography)
Collins & LaPierre    Freedom at Midnight(India)
Is Paris Burning
Conway, Jill Ker      The Road from Coorain (1990)(Autobiography)
Copeland, Brian          Not a Genuine Black Man: Or, How I Claimed My Piece Of Ground In The Lily-White Suburbs (2006)(Autobiography)
Davidson, Cathy  36 Views of Mount Fuji(Japan)
Devi, G      A Princess Remembers((India)
Didion, Joan      The Year of Magical Thinking (2005)(Autobiography)
Douglas, Scott       Quiet Please(Public Libraries)(Autobiography)
Dumas, Firoozeh     Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America(Autobiography)
Eire, Carlos  Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy (2003, National Book Award)(Autobiography)
Fadiman, Anne     The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures (1998)
Fisher, M.F.K.   Long ago in France(Autobiography)
Two Towns in Provence(Autobiography)
Fox, J.    White Mischief(Kenya)
Fraser, Keith        Bad Trips(Travel)
Freire, Paolo     Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Fussel, Paul       Abroad(Travel)
Gawande, Atul     Complications
Gilbert, Elizabeth    Eat Pray Love(Travel/India/Italy/Indonesia/Autobiography)

Godden, Rumer     A Time to Dance No Time to Weep(India/Autobiography)
A House with Four Rooms(India/Autobiography)
Grealy, Lucy     Autobiography of a Face (1994)
Hochschild, Adam      King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (1998)(Congo)
Jaffrey, Madhur     Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India (2006)(Autobiography)
Johnson, Marilyn    The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (2006)
Kamdar, Mira      Motiba’s Tattoo: A Granddaughter’s Journey into her Indian Family’s Past (2000)(Autobiography)
Karr, Mary     The Liar’s Club: A Memoir (1995)(Autobiography)
Kaysen, Suzanna     Girl, Interrupted (1994)(Autobiography)
Kidder, Tracy     Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003)(Paul Farmer)
Krakauer, Jon    Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (1997)
Kutherton, B    No One Said Not to Go(Travel/China)
Lagnado, Lucette      Man in the White Sharkskin Suit(Autobiography/Egypt))
Lamott, Anne    Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year (1993)(Autobiography)
Lansing, Alfred     Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (1959)
Lord, Betty Bao     Spring Moon(Autobiography)(China)
Maathai, Wangari    Unbowed (2006)(Kenya/Autobiography)
Macfarlane, Alan and Iris Macfarlane           Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant that Took over the World (2004)(Tea)
Mar, M. Elaine      Paper Daughter(Autobiography)
Markham, Beryl      West with the Night (Aviation/Kenya/Autobiography, 1942)
McBride, James      The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother (1996)
McCourt, Frank     Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir (1996)(Autobiography)
Morris, Mary     Maiden Voyage(Travel)
Mortenson, Greg        Three Cups of Tea(Afghanistan, Pakistan)
Murphy, Dervla         Full Tilt(Autobiography/Travel/Bicycling from Ireland to India)
Tibetan Foothold (Travel/India/Autobiography)
Where the Indus was Young(Travel/India/Autobiography)
The Waiting Land(Travel/India/Autobiography)
All of her Travel books
Nafisi, Azar      Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (2003)(Iran/Autobiography)
Namu, Gene Yuen and Christine Mathieu        Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World (2003)(China/Autobiography)
Nazeer, Kamran     Send in the Idiots       (Autism)
Obama, Barack      Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (2004)(Autobiography)
Orlean, Susan      The Orchid Thief (1998)(Orchids)
Pollan, Michael     The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World
Raban, Johnathan         Arabia ( Saudi Arabia/Travel/Autobiography)
Rappaport, Roger      I Should have Stayed Home(Travel)
Rau, D. Rama      An Inheritance(India/Autobiography)
Reichl, Ruth       Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table (1999)(Food/Autobiography)
Roach, Mary       Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003)
Sacks, Oliver       Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (2001)(Autobiography)
Sarton, May     Journal of a Solitude(Autobiography)
Her journals
Seal, Jeremy      Snakebite Survivors Club(Snakes)
Seth, Vikram   From Heaven Lake(Travel/China/India/Autobiography)
Smedley, Agnes     Daughter of Earth(China/Autobiography)
Smith, Huston      Religions of Man(Religion)
Tales of Wonder (2009)(Autobiography)
Stewart, Rory      Places In Between(Afghanistan/Travel/Autobiography)
Suyin, Han      Mountain is Young(Autobiography)
Till Morning Comes(Autobiography)
Destination Chungking(Autobiography)
Crippled Tree(Autobiography)
Phoenix Harvest(Autobiography)
Birdless Summer(Autobiography)
Mortal Flower(Autobiography)
My House has Two Doors(Autobiography)
Theroux, Paul         Great Railway Bazaar(Travel/India/Autobiography)
Dark Star Safari(Travel/Africa/Autobiography)
Twigger, Robert      Big Snake(Snakes)
Walker, Rebecca     Black, White and Jewish (Autobiography)
Walls, Jeannette       The Glass Castle: A Memoir (2005)(Autobiography)
Warren, Frank      PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives (2005)
My Secret: A PostSecret Book (2006)
Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book (2007)
Wheeler, Sara       Terra Incognita : Antartica(Travel/AntarticaAutobiography)
Travels in a Thin County(Travel/Chile/Autobiography)
Wickes, George       The Amazon of Letters: The Life and Loves of Natalie Barney (1976)
Winchester, Simon      The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary – (Biography) (1998)
X, Malcolm      The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)(Biography)
Yung, Judy      Adventures of Eddie Fung(Autobiography)
Zeppa, Jamie   Beyond the Sky and Earth(Travel)

If there are books by the same author that I have not mentioned, it might mean I have not read them versus I did not recommend them. I would be interested in your book recommendations, let me know what you have read that you’ve enjoyed.

I do apologize if I have remember the subject matter incorrectly.

Reading is Fundamental… at least to some of us.