The problem that I have these days with books is that I have too many. Way too many unread books wait for me on the shelves of my library in Bangkok. (It’s the same back home in Romania, but that’s a totally different story.) I probably have enough books to keep me busy for a year, but I still purchase books. It is true, I’ve slowed down and I only buy titles that I really need or want to read asap. Also, I think it is now time for me to get an e-reader too, but I can’t decide on the brand. Should I get a Kindle or an iPad? Both would be nice…
Apart from that, from time to time, I also accept review copies from authors and publishing houses. I like to meet (even if virtually, via the Internet) Thailand-based writers and I’m interested in what they have to say in their books. It is through this website that I got “to meet” Erich R. Sysak, Paul Garrigan and Nicholas Johnstone. And I do not regret the time I put into reading their work, reviewing it, and interviewing the authors.
Last week I entered in the possession of two books written by Steve Rosse, an American journalist and short story writer based in Phuket, in the south of Thailand. They are Thai Vignettes: Phuket and Beyond (2005) and Expat Days: Making a Life in Thailand (2006). Both of them were published by Bangkok Book House.
According to the publisher’s website, Thai Vignettes is “poignant, ironic, heartbreakingly sad, savagely funny. Brims with a host of keenly-observed characters cast adrift on Phuket’s sunny shores and beyond,” while Expat Days presents “A perceptive insight of expat life in Thailand, with a pleasing blend of humour and shrewd comment. Read stories that shed light on a place that millions of tourists every year find fascinating, puzzling, and infuriating.”
Steve Rosse’s latest book, She Kept the Bar Between Them (2011), was published in e-book format by Bangkok Books. It is a collection of short stories from Thailand.
