You get another one of my quotes this week, from The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner:

Travel, at its best, transforms us in ways that aren’t always apparent until we’re back home. Sometimes we do leave our baggage behind, or, even better, it’s misrouted to Cleveland and is never heard from again.

Oh — the one thing that stood out this week was that no one “visited” China. 🙂

On to the reviews:

Cafeshree read Buttertea at Sunrise by Britta Das, about the author’s experiences in Bhutan. She writes, “Britta loves the beauty of the country, and the friendliness of the people, yet she is miserable with the rain, the fleas, the unreliable electricity and lack of facilities to help the locals. I enjoyed Britta’s descriptions, though sometimes felt she was a bit simplistic in her view of the people, but it’s a nice introduction.” She also read Into a Paris Quartier, by Diane Johnson, and caputred what good travel book should do with this sentence: “I enjoyed this book, a bit of history, culture and now I want to pack my bags and go explore St.-Germain.”

Kristina read La Cucina by Lily Prior, about which she writes, “Lily Prior really does a great job in this novel. Although romance is not for me, this had some elements of mystery and surprise and shock even.”

Veronica read another chick-litty/romance book, The Teahouse on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens, although she didn’t like it, commenting: “At least FIVE different story lines centered around people committing or seriously contemplating adultery. And that just seems like too much. Is no one in Belfast, Ireland happily married?”

Becky read Beneath My Mother’s Feet, by Amjed Qamar, about a girl in Pakistan who’s father is injured and she and her mother are forced to take over earning money for the family. Becky writes, “The world we see in the novel is one where women work–slave over their work even–to provide for the lazy men in their lives. It’s an unpleasant world, one where happiness isn’t even considered possible in marriage.”

And Amira‘s contributions were Foreign Correspondence, by Geraldine Brooks and Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichel. Amira describes Foreign Correspondence: “This one is a memoir of her growing up in Australia and especially her pen pals. Like all of Brooks’ writing, this book is interesting and well written, which I really think is a unique combination in a journalist.”