What I'm Reading This Month

As always with the first of the month, I do a quick update of books on tap. For October, the unofficial theme is travel. In recent years, I've grown more and more interested in traveling the world and seeing different places (this despite being the pickiest eater I know). Travel makes us understand the world at large and how ideas and cultures converge, especially in a global economy. Here's a quick look at what I'll be reading through October...

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (Random House): India is rapidly changing as a result of globalization and residents in a Mumbai slum are getting left out, but hopeful they will eventually reach the middle class. Boo's book won tons of accolades when it was first published, including the National Book Award for nonfiction and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (Broadway): Bryson and Paul Theroux have long been named the best travel writers around, so before I delve into Bryson's more recent fare like One Summer, I wanted to read one of his earlier books. After living in Britain for 20 years, Bryson and a friend attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in a more comedic take on the usual travelogue. Rumor has it that a film version will be released next year.

Travels with Casey by Benoit Denizet-Lewis (Simon & Schuster): When I first saw the trailer for Denizet-Lewis' book earlier this spring, I immediately added it to my TBR list. He travels all over the country with his nine-year old Labrador mix Casey and visit everyone from a stray dog rescuer in the Midwest to famed dog whisperer Cesar Milan in Southern California to a beagle-shaped bed and breakfast in Idaho. As a former dog owner myself, I'm especially looking forward to this one. Below is the book's trailer:

Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (Vintage/Knopf): This book is a bit outside my usual fare, but the book has received universal praise for its highlighting of women's issues around the world. At times, reading should challenge us and our world view. Kristof and WuDunn just released their newest book, A Path Appears, but I opted to read this one first. Half the Sky was made into a PBS miniseries as well.