Tag

Locations

22 reviews

Books

A Fine Balance

Rohinton Mistry

Read while traveling in India. Depressing, but well-written.
The Swamp

Michael Grunwald

A detailed history of the settlement and development of south Florida, focusing on the environment impact on the Everglades. Before this book, I didn’t have a great notion of just how young most of Florida is, it was a sparsely populated backwater up until recently (now it’s a highly-populous backwater).
Breakneck

Dan Wang

Great overview of China's engineering-driven approach in contrast to the US legalistic approach, and why both countries need to learn from each other.
Read more: Breakneck
Endurance

Alfred Lansing

Intense story of Shackleton’s 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica.
Another Day of Life

Ryszard Kapuscinski

A history of Angola’s civil war as seen through the eyes of a Polish journalist.
A Primate's Memoir

Robert M. Sapolsky

Part African travelogue, part baboon behavioral study. The travelogue parts are interesting since traveling in Africa, especially in the 1980s, is always an adventure. But the stories of the baboons, and how similar they are to humans, are the highlight for me.
Conquerors

Roger Crowley

The history of Portugal’s colonization in the Indian Ocean. Does a really good job of showing how out of their element the Portuguese were, how they got incredibly lucky to be able to establish a multi-century foothold in Asia.
Collapse

Jared Diamond
Snowing in Bali

Kathryn Bonella
The Mosquito Coast

Paul Theroux
Futebol

Alex Bellos
Brazil's Dance with the Devil

Dave Zirin

A bit dated now, but covers the blatant corruption in the lead up to Brazil’s hosting of the World Cup and Olympics.
Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer
The Fort Bragg Cartel

Seth Harp

Well-written investigation into the many, many scandals surrounding Fort Bragg and the US Special Forces. The book does a good job of detailing the abhorrent behavior of some of these soldiers, both abroad and domestically, and the depressingly consistent lack of consequences.
The Warmth of Other Suns

Isabel Wilkerson
Born a Crime

Trevor Noah
Congo

Michael Crichton
Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver
The Wayfinder

Adam Johnson

Epic set in pre-European-contact Tonga and surrounding islands. Takes a little while to get going, but then captivating.
Sea People

Christina Thompson

Polynesian history, with a focus on ocean navigation
Red Notice

Bill Browder
Number One Ladies' Detective Agency

Alexander McCall Smith