Shantaram, GREGORY DAVID ROBERTS (2005)
This epic tale, based on the author’s life, serves more as a revelation of spiritual seeking and conquest than a piece of fiction.  With beautiful insights on the human experience, Lin, who is an excaped convict from an Australian prison, weaves a tale of adventure, survival, the generosity of the human spirit, and the complexities of love and friendship in the harsh slums of Bombay.  An inspiring and uplifting work, gripping from the start. 

Click on the book cover to enter Shantaram and Gregory David Roberts’ website where you can learn more about the author’s quest for truth and meaning, and read his tips for writers everywhere.

From Shantaram:

It’s forgiveness that makes us what we are. Without forgiveness, our species would’ve annhilated itself in endless retributions. Without forgiveness, there would be no history. Without that hope, there would be no art, for every work of art is in some way an act of forgiveness. Without that dream, there would be no love, for every act of love is in some way a promise to forgive. We live on because we can love, and we love because we can forgive.

Atonement, IAN MCEWAN (2001)
A beautifully-crafted novel about a love made forbidden by a child’s imaginative lies. Through McEwan’s simple storytelling reveals the complexities of love and war, and how quickly one’s life can change with merely a few words. A final truth revealed at the end of a lifelong pursuit for forgiveness transforms the meaning of “atonement,” which should satisfy book lovers worldwide.

Click on the book cover to visit Ian McEwan’s website.

The Kite Runner, KHALED HOSSEINI (2005)
From Synopsis from Khaled Hosseini’s website:

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies…Khaled Hosseini gives us hope: through the novel’s faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption.

There Is No Me Without You: One Woman’s Odyssey to Rescue Africa’s Children, MELISSA FAY GREENE (2007)
A tender and inspiring story about one woman’s heroism and compassion for the children of Ethiopia orphaned by HIV/AIDS.  Today Mrs. Haregewoin provides two houses to about 40 orphaned children, half of them HIV positive…Mrs. Haregewoin gets no government help to care for these children;  she relies on the generosity of friends, neighbors, and outsiders (from There Is No Me Without You website).  A story about the generous human spirit with very happy endings for some of Mrs. Haregewoin’s children, it will compel you to do something.  You can help, too, here.

Click on the book cover to learn more about Haregewoin, the author, and Ethiopian adoption.

They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky, BENSON DENG, ALEPHONSION DENG, BENJAMIN AJAK, with JUDY BERNSTEIN (2006)
They were all under the age of seven when they were driven from a war-ravaged country. In this deceptively understated memoir, three boys recall in their own words their harrowing journey to safety.  (from They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky website) 

Click on the book cover for more about the story, the history of the Lost Boys of Sudan, the authors, and links on how you can help others like Benson, Alepho and Benjamin. 

Acts of Faith, PHILIP CAPUTO (2005)
An epic tale of greed, survival, idealism-gone-awry and love, set against an arid landscape of wartime Sudan.  Caputo describes his characters and their experiences with seeming crudeness while mastering graceful lyricism.  Beautiful and compelling, sad and shocking.  Click here to read The New York Times’ review.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, MALCOLM GLADWELL (2005)
Gladwell offers another insightful analysis of human psychology – this time, on how people think and why first impressions are more powerful than they appear.  Introduced to the philosophy of thin-slicing, we are privy to the mechanisms of spontaneous thinking and how they direct our decision making and cultivate our understanding of the people and objects in our world.  Click on the book cover to access Malcolm Gladwell’s website, where you can read excerpts from the book, his contributions in The New Yorker, or find a link to his blog.

 
The Alchemist (“Plus” reissue), PAULO COELHO (2006)
A fable about a boy seeking to fulfill his destiny.  Coelho’s prose is beautiful in its simplicity and inspires readers to listen to our own quiet voices that compel us to dream.  Click on the book cover to access Paul Coelho’s official website.

From Paulo Coelho’s blog:

I do believe that a person has a personal legend to fulfill, and his/her attitude will either help or destroy his/her neighborhood. What is a personal legend? It is the reason why we are alive. We have dreams, that are not necessarily the dreams that our parents, or society has for us. So, we must get rid of the idea of fulfilling what people expect us to do, and start to do what we expect from our lives.

 
The Essential Dalai Lama: His Important Teachings, Edited by RAJIV MEHROTRA (2006)
A collection of the Dalai Lama’s insights on compassion, serenity, and world harmony.   Eloquent and simple and much needed in our overly-busy lives.  Click on the book cover to visit the official website of the 14th Dalai Lama.

 
Kafka on the Shore, HARUKI MURAKAMI (2004)
An enthralling story hinged by metaphysical beams of reality.  Two narratives – one of 15-year-old Kafka Tamura and the other of an elderly, Nakata – parallel until both are drawn to each other for inexplicable reasons.  Kafka runs away from home in fear of his father’s oedipal curse, determined to find his mother and sister.  Nakata, forever childlike due to the effects of wartime, talks to cats and tries to solve a cat-murder mystery.  A surreal masterpiece that touches and excites at once. Click on the book cover to enter Haruki Murakami’s beautiful website.

 
What is the What, DAVE EGGERS (2007) 
Alarming.  This is the novelized survival story of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who fled his home village Marial Bai amidst violent militia attacks.  A triumphant story of himself, representative of thousands of boys and girls, who walked for months in hope of safety and any good news of family left behind, enduring life’s harshest tests:  savage encounters with the murahaleen (men on horseback), lions, crocodiles, countless deaths – only to discover more “tests” in the United States.  Click on the book cover to visit McSweeney’s Store for more information and to read the many stellar reviews. 

All proceeds from the novel go to aid the Sudanese in America and Sudan through the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation.   For more about Valentino, the foundation and/or the conflict between Southern Sudan and Darfur,  visit http://www.valentinoachakdeng.org/. 

 
On Beauty, ZADIE SMITH (2006) 
A story of two families intersected by the cornerstones of family life – marriage, culture and racial identity, young love and middle-aged lust, academic politics, intellectual pursuit, and everything in between.  Zadie Smith offers (yet) another sharp and witty look at contemporary family life and the details within.   Click on the book cover to visit NPR’s program on Zadie Smith, and to read an excerpt from the novel.

The Handmaid’s Tale, MARGARET ATWOOD (1985) 
A gripping tale of a totalitarian society, set in the not-so-distant future, where sexuality becomes none other than a form of political power.  Due to a rareness in fertility, women are subjects of a puritan-like rule that is unafraid to punish the independent.  Frighteningly believable.  Click on the book cover to visit Margaret Atwood’s official website.

 
The Celestine Prophecy, JAMES REDFIELD (1993)
A stimulating work that highlights the divinity of day-to-day coincidences otherwise called synchronicity.  A timeless parable for those actively searching for inner spirituality and a way to build a unified, positive world vision.   Click on the book cover to visit James Redfield’s website.

(Since I’ve finished this work, I’ve experienced synchronicity on a daily basis.

What Should I Do With My Life?, PO BRONSON (2002, 2003)
True stories of the people who tackled the very question, and found inspiration within their own personal lifelines. A powerful and comforting book in which the narratives prove how simple coincidences are often the most direct guides in uncovering one’s self awareness and sense of purpose.

From “The Brain Candy Generation”:

The traditional search for a career begins with the question “What am I good at?” But that’s often not the right starting point for finding a calling. You can get good at what you need to serve what you believe in. You can learn Spanish, you can learn budgets, you can learn to listen. The true search is for what you believe in. When your heart’s engaged, the inevitable headaches and daily annoyances become tolerable and don’t derail your commitment. Let you brain be your heart’s soldier.

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, DANIEL H. PINK (2005)
A thought-provoking and convincing analysis of how global economics demands more painters and composers in its conference rooms than 3-piece-suit CEOs with MBAs. The causes: Abundance, Asia, and Automation.

From Chapter 5 “Story”:

We are our stories. We compress years of experience, thought, and emotion into a few compact narratives that we convey to others and tell to ourselves…What these efforts reveal is a hunger for what stories can provide–context enriched by emotion, a deeper understanding of how we fit in and why that matters. The Conceptual Age can remind us what has always been true but rarely been acted upon–that we must listen to each other’s stories and that we are each the authors of our own lives.

Yes Yes Y’all: The Experience Music Project, Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade, JIM FRICKE & CHARLIE AHEARN (2002)
A physical representation of hip-hop — the words and experiences of the legends who took the party to the streets. Verbal polaroids of how hip-hop came to be by forefathers Afrika Bambaataa, DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Crazy Legs, Jazzy Jeff, Kool DJ Herc, Russell Simmons, and many others with funky fingers and quick feet.

Grandmaster Caz:

I would play whatever I felt like playin’. I didn’t play what you wanted me to play because I’m goin’ to play that, my man, goin’ to play that in a minute. In between, I’m gonna open your eyes to some stuff, you know what I mean? I’m gonna play some joints that you might not ordinarily listen to.

Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, JEFF CHANG(2005)
A comprehensive cultural study of the hip-hop generation from its birth in Kingston, Jamaica, its development in South Bronx, its transformations, and finally, its infiltration into suburban culture today. A history of youth finding a voice, and in so doing, forcing the world to address the effects of globalization, multiracial politics, and deindustrialization. Winner of the American Book Award.

From Introduction, DJ Kool Herc:

Hip-hop has always been about having fun, but it’s also about taking responsibility. And now we have a platform to speak our minds. Millions of people are watching us. Let’s hear something powerful. Tell people what they need to hear. How will we help the community? What do we stand for?

Mindfulness in Plain English (updated and expanded edition), BHANTE HENEPOLA GUNARATANA (2002)
A great step-by-step introduction to meditation for newcomers. A straightforward tool on how to cultivate a more mindful, productive, and peaceful life.

From Chapter 1 “Meditation: Why Bother?”:

The purpose of meditation is personal transformation. The “you” that goes in one side of the meditation experience is not the same “you” that comes out the other side. Meditation changes your character by a process of sensitization, by making you deeply aware of your own thoughts, words, and deeds. Your arrogance evaporates, and your antagonism dries up. Your mind becomes still and calm. And your life smooths out…All of this happens through understanding.