"swiss watching " is about the history of switzerland and why the swiss are the way they are , or assumptions built upon facts ..

"The alchemist" has been recommended by many people 

it is supposed to be paulo cohelos best and i have read almost everything 

he has written 

I have been slow to read it as it has some of cohelo's ideas about life

what it means and what to do on this amazing voyage called life 

I just bought :

dispatches by michael herr

father meme by gerald vizenor 

re-reading the chomsky reader... :o)

(also waiting with baited breath for amazon.de deliveries of bruce franklin and a biography of the Irish artist Paul Henry. yummy)

All of Wikipedia.

very brainy folk 

sorry to have criticised noam chomsky so much i am open to learn more actually , all i know is that he criticises israel in an extreme way and that he is jewish, two things i find disturbing though i am for freedom of speech , i just find it in poor taste. not saying we all have to agree but when so many are against us it seems a bit cruel 

anyway, what is the story with the daughter of le pen, know the enemy ah ?

do reveal juicy details, what motivates those morons?

manics, i apologize for attacking your beloved chomsky can you elaborate 

on those books 

i dont know them and have not heard of them 

do you read in french ? 

freney L ,me too, when i cant sleep which is most of the time ...

am now reading the suite francaise, it is so interesting , 

i wonder if the people living today whose parents were alive then 

had learned anything about being a decent human being 

having had their neighbors sent to their deaths in cattle trains

it must have  influenced the european psyche somehow 

if one can generalize a psyche..the collective subconscious and all that ..

would that explain the cowardly pollitics of bowing down to oil producing countries these days?

Where is the 2nd-hand book shop???? Would love to find one:-)

Hi Natalie 

i dont know where you live 

but in zurich there is one or two places i could recommend

one is caritas in schmiede wiedikon that has a good selection of second 

hand books and the money goes to charity 

another place is the broci house in zurich main station that has a large 

selection 

another is book broci in zurich enge train station across from the post office

which is a paradise on earth 

if i leave that shop without two bags of books it is a miracle

The books cost very little but what is special is that you never know what 

you find and i also love books with a history , they have a certain smell

and feel to them 

i dont like the commercial book store chains they seem so impersonal 

and the cost of new books is far too high for a book worm who devours 

books by the weight like me 

enjoy 

Natalie - there is a great second hand bookshop/cafe calle Les Recyclables in Plainpalais.  http://www.recyclables.ch/

They also have a search function if you are looking for a specific book.  http://www.recyclables.ch/je_cherche.php

I keep hearing The Alchemist is a great book - I guess it is a sign I should pick it up.  I'm reading Principles of Neurotheology (Andrew Newberg),  War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells), and Ulysses (James Joyce). 

Thanks, ladies. I am in the Geneva area, so I will def check out recyclables!

Reading 2 books right now.

The sword of truth: Faith of the fallen (Terry Goodkind). Its the sixth book in a 12 part saga. It's a more mature kind of fantasy book. Not all dragons and a magic. Sure it is in there but the characters are alive and have a deep personality.

And

Yes man (Danny Wallace). A book about a man becoming a recluse, but then he meets a guy in the bus. This guy gives him the advice to say Yes more. Danny starts to say Yes to everything. Very funny and one can learn something from this book.

I'm also looking for some easy to read books in french. I a beginner at french but it is a great way to learn to read french with some easy books and a French -> Dutch dictonary next to it.

I started to read the second book, because the first one is just unbearable !

I absolutely love Irene Nemirovsky's books!  I first read "Suite française" and found absolutely brilliant, the way she was able to capture and express the sould of French people under Nazi occupation.  After that I have read most of her books including a biography. An amazing woman to say the least and a fantastic writer. And yes, she was murdered in Auschwitz and her books are a gift to all of us. 

I have just finished reading Le dérèglement du monde by Amin Malouf.

Also reading a biography of Baltasar Garzón (the Spanish judge) by Loretta Napoleoni.

And next on the agenda Resilience by Boris Cyrulnic http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5361000/Resilience-by-Boris-Cyrulnik-review.html

Star, I do not know if you are familiar with the story and writings of Boris Cyrulnic.  Both his parents were murdered by the Nazis and not only did he survived through this horror but he's spending his life healing others.

There are lots of places selling second-hand books in English in Geneva.  Caritas has a basement in the passage adjoining ‘Les Réecyclabes’ in rue de Carouge.

The Centre social protestant has a book outlet in Meyrin.  Sorry not to have the address to hand, but you can google it.

The Library in English (rue de Monthoux) has twice-yearly sales of books.  They also have a smaller selection on offer in between times.

Look out for the ‘fairs’ or sales of work advertised by the churches, even the French-speaking ones, because you can sometimes find real bargains there.

The Anglican Church in rue du Mont-Blanc and my own Church of Scotland have Christmas Fairs where there’s always a great choice of books.

 In addition, I run a second-hand bookstall at the Church of Scotland (1 place de la Taconnerie, next to the Cathedral in the Old Town) every Sunday from ca 12:30.  If you want to come and see, let me know and I’ll send you directions.

Lastly, there’s always the flea market every Wednesday and Saturday on Plainpalais, but the dealers’ prices are much higher than the benevolent organizations.

Happy browsing, Ritchie

I just finished "Predictible Irrational" by Dan Ariely, enjoyed it a lot.

'For anyone interested in marketing - either as a practioner or victim - this is unmissable reading. If only more researchers could write like this, the world would be a better place.' Financial Times 'A marvelous book that is both thought provoking and highly entertaining, ranging from the power of placebos to the pleasures of Pepsi. Ariely unmasks the subtle but powerful tricks that our minds play on us, and shows us how we can prevent being fooled.'

Another book I can recommend is Influence by Robert Cialdini. It's about tricks that can be used to persuade people. This may sound scary but it isn't written for sales people or marketers; it's more like a self-defense strategy book for consumers.

"Influence", the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes" - and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book. You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader - and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of "Influence" will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.

I liked that one, it's just as you said, you can learn some ju-jitsu techniques against salesmen. As far as social engineering books go, along with that one, one should mention the classic "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. Together, these books are sure to give you a boost in your social circles.

Well, I still don't have any friends, but if I did, I'm sure I would be able to handle the social aspects better after reading those books.

HBR and Grazia, hahahaha! Before that, dictionnary in order to prepare my exam.

For say the truth, I would love to have more time for reading. It looks like I need to wait for holiday/ accident leave to finally do that, heh??

Cheers!

I just read "All my Friends are Superheroes" by Andrew Kaufman. It didn't meet my expectations; I was told it was hilarious but I think I only laughed out loud twice and smiled a few times. Still, it took only 2 hours to read so it wasn't a real waste.

Started reading "Fashion Babylon" by Imogen Edwards-Jones.

Part of her Babylon series where she goes behind the scenes of different service industries. This is my fourth Babylon book, and so far the least interesting, or maybe I just don´t have the same relations with the fashion business as i did with the others.

The concept of the books is that an insider in the business has revealed anonymously to the author, what really goes on behind the glamour. All the different stories that have taken place over years, have then been compressed into six months or a week or even just 24 hours in the life of a fictional character, but all events and anecdotes are real.

The first one I read was "Beach Babylon" and is was a great read and very entertaining. I read "Air Babylon" on a plane and it makes you wonder if you should really be flying. The best two so far. Fashion Babylon is so...so.

They are available in most airports and are an easy read that can be broken into several bits without losing suspense or the flow of the story. Not the worst you can pick up for a long train or plane journey

I have just finished 'The Partner by John Grisham' . Like other JG books its a gripping story which takes you to deep corners of the world and decribe the places.

Its a nice book and once you are half way thourgh the excitements build so much that you are tempted to read and finish it the same day :).

I have finished reading it so if somebody wants to exchange with other book let me know.

Cheers!!

Manu