Rodie

When the United States was recovering from the War for Independence, trade was the answer and China was where the money lay. The U.S. had ginseng, furs, silver, and sandalwood; China had porcelain ware, silk, and tea, to which the new country was addicted. China was a sophisticated country of 300 million people with a rich history of discovery and invention. The U.S. was an agrarian society of two million. The voyage between them was long and dangerous, and there was no shortage of competition. This entertaining book follows the adventures of the brave people who set sail, first in small slow boats and later in the swift clippers. It is a highly informative and well written look at how the first millionaires made their fortunes. ~ Rodie

The Sex Lives of Cannibals follows Troost to Tarawa, a remote island in the Kiribati Republic. Expecting a tropical Eden, the author finds himself in what looks like a pilot for Survivor. After battling intense heat, polluted water, unusual sanitation practices, toxic fish, crazy natives and non-natives alike, and corrupt government officials, Troost returns to the States-and to his beloved coffee and beer-only to find life in the U.S. a bit stifling.

Fadiman's first essay collection is one of my all-time favorite books. This, in itself, is amazing because in high school I found essay-reading to be, in Ms. Fadiman's words, a complete snore. I avoided essays like the plague. Then I caught the Fadiman bug: I discovered Ex Libris and now, to my great delight, her latest, At Large and At Small.