I have to pack up my life and move again 500 miles north to Shaky Town. I’m trying to ease into getting everything sorted and thought I’d start off with my books, followed closely by clothes, spices for my curries and umm….an industrial size alcohol collection including a few dozen bottles of Lion beer. So here goes with the books I’m taking, some like Reef I’ve read plenty a time but could always read a few more times, while others I’ve had for awhile and never gotten around to reading.

  • Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (C.K. Prahalad) – a business book dealing with poverty alleviation by incorporating the poor into global markets and building institutions.
  • Live Well on Less Than You Think (Fred Brock) – hehe…I’m definitely going to need this book working for a non-profit in one of the most expensive cities in the US!
  • What the Buddha Taught (Walpola Rahula) – read once before, part of my attempt to become more spiritual.  
  • The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need (Andrew Tobias) – lots of cost cutting exercises in this book as well. 
  • Greetings Carbon-Based Bipeds (Arthur C. Clarke) – interesting collection of non-fiction essays, read a looong time ago.
  • The Blank Slate (Steven Pinker) – picked this up at a Waterstones in Heathrow, read a quarter before the sleeping tablets took me, about the nature-nurture debate. 
  • Reef (Romesh Gunasekera) – my favourite comfort read.
  • Assignment Colombo (J.N. Dixit) – a conspiracy about India taking over Sri Lanka! 
  • The Earth (Richard Fortey) – Short listed for the 2005 Aventis Prize
  • Richest Man in Babylon (George Clason) – Small gem about the benefits of saving, also the title of an excellent Thievery Corporation album which I sadly seem to have misplaced. 
  • Broken Palmyra (Rajan Hoole, etc) – Read the first few chapters on the internet, finally found a copy at Barefoot and been waiting to read this.
  • Think Rich (Napoleon Hill) – still have plans for world domination! 
  • An Equal Music (Vikram Seth) – one of the most moving books I’ve read, very depressing though.
  • Various photography books including National Geographic Field Guide, Understanding Exposure (Bryan Peterson) and Nature Photography Field Guide (John Shaw).