One of the things I always try to do when traveling, is to spend some time in a bookstore. In Hong Kong last weekend my wife and I spent about an hour at Dymocks. Some of the books that I bought there include:
China Cuckooo – Mark Kitto
I know Mark (I even blogged about his 40th birthday party) and therefore the story about how he built and lost his Chinese media ’empire’ and how he ended up at Moganshan is one that interests me a lot. I already started reading the book and it’s written in a very humorous style. I look forward to continue to read it tonight.
King Hui, the man who owned all the opium in Hong Kong – Jonathan Chamberlain
Not sure how real the story is, but it seems like an extraordinary tale about life in Hong Kong in the early and middle of the 20th Century.
Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile – Geraint Anderson
I expect this to be a modern day version of Liar’s Poker, set in London. Bought it based on the title, without knowing anything about the book itself.
The Accidental Billonaires – Ben Mezrich
A book about the founding of Facebook must be an interesting read for me, even though I know the book had mixed reviews. The book will be made into a film as well.
What the Dog Saw – Malcolm Gladwell
I like to read Malcolm Gladwell’s books, not necessarily because all the information is correct, but they are highly entertaining and some of the anecdotes make for good dinner discussions with friends (who have normally also read all his books). The NYTimes review wasn’t too positive, but I bought the book anway because of the author.
If one of them is particularly good I might review it here. Work is quite busy these days, so likely it will be a few weeks before I can finish them all.
Hi Marc,
Cityboy was great and I'd heard Gertaint Anderson speak during his BBC Interview with Owen Bennett-Jones | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002h45x. He talks silver-tongue convincingly and one can readily see how he succeeded in becoming The City mover and shaker that he was. At least Anderson seems to be turning the corner with his African philanthropic projects…or at least this makes for good PR. 😉
I was going to pick up the Gladwell book, too, on my last trip to Toronto, (got to support my fellow Canadians!) but I thought it'd be more of a gimmicky read and an effort on the part of his publishers to get Gladwell some midstream buzz while he continues research on his next book. The over looked great though. I'd be curious to know what your thoughts are about it (incidentally, I know so many people who are afraid to go on the record as saying that Gladwell's theories hold water…why is that? 🙂 )
wow.. so many books and finish them in just a few weeks even you're busy? quick reader 😉
marc
if you like china cuckoo (which is terrific), you should read Mark Kitto's monthly column, China Cafe, in UK magazine, Prospect. here is the link
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/11/china-cafe-4/
regards
Kerry Ritz