I'm reading two books at the moment:
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins - According to his book, Perkins' function was to convince the political and financial leadership of underdeveloped countries to accept enormous development loans from institutions like the World Bank and USAID. Saddled with huge debts they could not hope to pay, these countries were forced to acquiesce to political pressure from the United States on a variety of issues. Perkins argues in his book that developing nations were effectively neutralized politically, had their wealth gaps driven wider and economies crippled in the long run. In this capacity Perkins recounts his meetings with some prominent individuals, including Graham Greene and Omar Torrijos. Perkins describes the role of an EHM as follows:
"Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization."
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin - This is the autobiography of Li Cunxin, who spent the first part of his childhood in rural China, near to Qingdao. At 11, although having never danced before, he was selected to enter the Beijing Dance Academy, paid for entirely by Madame Mao, Chairman Mao's wife. He then spent the next 7 years learning ballet from China's greatest artists. At 18, he was selected to spend a summer with the Houston ballet and the company was so impressed with his work ethic and talent that upon his return to China, he was given the opportunity to go back to Houston; this time for a whole year. After this year was up he defected to the west, and developed his art outside China.
It is an incredible story of extreme poverty, and how with the combination of luck, hard work, talent, and some incredibly magnanimous, influential people, Cunxin was able to escape the poverty that seemed inevitable. What also struck me about the book was the impression it gave of Cunxin's parents, and how they managed to raise 6 children so competently with their sparse material resources and lack of food. That is probably the greatest lesson for us in the west, with our materialistic excesses and demanding children.
Then I would like to Read Memoirs of a geisha and would someday LOVE to read the Vampire chronicles as they interest me so much 
