Have you ever had one of those dates where someone comes over and spends the first 20 minutes perusing your music and book spines? It can be a nail biting experience. So I’ll confess, I get shifty about sharing my bookshelf. And yet, I love gifting someone a good story—whether that story comes as a book, a CD, or a film. And so (deep breath), here goes:

A Bit of Whimsical Reading

The Shadow Catcher, by Marianne Wiggins
Where auto-biography meets fiction. The Shadow Catcher tells the twin stories of real-life photographer Edward Curtis (who chronicled the disappearing faces of Native America) and a re-imagined version of the author herself.

The Floating Opera and The End of the Road, by John Barth
I’ve only read the first of these two novelettes, packaged together in one book. The meta-obsessed narrator takes you back and forth between his “last day on earth” and all the myriad days that came before.

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

This could be a simple story about a guy running off and joining the circus. But instead, it’s a complex story of grief and growth, of  love and violence, and of the strangest of fringe communities scraping by in Depression-era America. It’s a stay-up-in-bed-reading-until-the-wee-hours book.

Food for the Brain and Heart

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
Pollan tracks four meals backwards from his plate to the field. I’m reading this slowly, picking it up to imbibe a chapter at a time. I can say it’s already affecting the way I make my dinner.

The Transition Handbook: From oil dependency to local resilience, by Rob Hopkins
My neighbor passed me this as a must read for anyone thinking about sustainability at the community level. It’s a model, a guide book–and all with a hopeful, not desperate perspective.

Cortés by Christian Durveger
Hernán Cortés has taken on such mythic proportions here in Oaxaca. It’s hard to distinguish the man from the history he shaped. Cortés relays history and fact with narrative flare. Let’s see if my grammar holds up as I chug through.

Meg’s picks for June 2009:

I read so many books and used to keep a list to refer to when friends would ask if I’ve read anything good lately…..that habit died some time ago along with other good intentions, so this part of the blog not only helps me remember, but will also provide suggestions to you as well!  You’ll generally find a stack of 10 or so books on my nightstand – @ 8 are generally fiction set in another country (outside the U.S.) since I am interested in other cultures, but find regular historical non-fiction books a bit too dry for my taste  (we’ll have other contributors who can assist if that’s your area of interest)…There’s usually 1 business related book and if I’m lucky, 1 that is a good compilation of short stories.

Let us know what’s on your nightstand as well.  What books have inspired you lately? We want to hear what you are excited about reading!

So, here we go – here’s a peek at what’s currently in the stack…

The Blue Sweater ~ by Jacqueline Novogratz ~ memoir by the founder of the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture capital firm for the poor that invests in sustainable enterprises involving healthcare, alternative energy, safe water, low income housing.

English ~ by Wang Gang ~ novel set in Northwest China during the Cultural Revolution

The Writing on My Forehead ~ by Nafisa Haji ~ novel whose main character is a Muslim American girl of Indo-Pakistani descent.  When she visits Karachi for a wedding she learns many of her family’s secrets

A Good Indian Wife ~ by Anne Cherian ~ novel set in San Francisco ~ a doctor goes home to India and comes back with a bride from an arranged marriage

Music Through the Floor ~ by Eric Puchner ~ short stories ~ a friend recommended this book some time ago and I loved it ~ am re-reading for the sheer pleasure