Friday Favourites - Your Favourite Biography

Friday Favourites - a chance to rave about a favourite reading/book related topic each week.

Sometimes you just want a chance to rave about some favourite aspect of reading that doesn't really come up during regular blogging posts - that's what this is about. I'm willing to bet that at least some of those will come up one week or another.

This week I'm asking what your favourite biography is.

My answer:

Little Princes: One Man's Promise To Bring Home The Lost Children Of Nepal 
Conor Grennan

The amazon.com product description:

In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations.

I first wrote about this book back at the beginning of 2011. That review is here. Since then, it's stayed as my favourite biography read to date. In fact I rather want to read it again. I haven't been able to stop talking about and recommending Little Princes either.

The biggest thing about Conor Grennan's book and why it's stayed in my head so long I think is the way it reminds me that we ordinary people can do something good in the world if we set our minds to it. Essentially, that's what he does in the events that became the book Little Princes.

I also loved the kids we meet throughout the story, even though over the course of the last year and a bit since I read Little Princes, I find that I can't remember their names anymore. Despite that, I remember reading about them and the way they were reunited with their families.

Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home The Lost Children of Nepal is possibly my favourite biography. What's your favourite?

Friday Favourites: Your Favourite Non-Fiction Book?

Friday Favourites - a chance to rave about a favourite reading/book related topic each week.

Sometimes you just want a chance to rave about some favourite aspect of reading that doesn't really come up during regular blogging posts - that's what this is about. I'm willing to bet that at least some of those will come up one week or another.

This week I'm asking what your favourite non-fiction book is.

Please leave either your response in the comments or a link to your response.

My answer is:

Little Princes: One Man's Promise To Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan.

I first read and reviewed the book back in February of 2011, and I haven't been able to stop raving about it ever since.

The amazon.com product description:

In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations.

Even though I read this book over a year ago, I really want to read it again at some point. I remember wanting to know what happened to each of the kids, and overall, that I couldn't put the book down. As much as this is the story of Conor, it's also the story of each of the kids he met at the Little Princes Children's Home, and they really are sweet kids.

I'd like to think that I got an idea of what it's like in Nepal, or at least what it was like a few years ago from reading this book. All I can say is that it's well-written, vivid and descriptive. I can't stop raving about the book either. It's one of my favourites to recommend at work too.

What's your all-time favourite non-fiction book (or at least, favourite non-fiction book to date)?

Friday Favourites - Your Favourite Book from 2011?

Friday Favourites - a chance to rave about a favourite reading/book related topic each week.

Sometimes you just want a chance to rave about some favourite aspect of reading that doesn't really come up during regular blogging posts - that's what this is about. I'm willing to bet that at least some of those will come up one week or another.

This week I'm wondering what your favourite book from 2011 was, and why you'd pick it as a favourite.

Please leave either a link to your response or your response itself in the comments.

Trying to figure out my response leaves me with a bit of a dilemma: I can't narrow down my favourite book beyond two.

The first was Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, an opinion which was only reinforced when I saw the movie (which I've watched a second time since Christmas). There's just something about the book where I can read it and re-read it.

Lisa See has a knack for description that's vivid but not overdone. Snow Flower and The Secret Fan is a shorter book, but not lacking in anything for all that, and the characters feel real.

What made it one of my favourites is the way that Lisa See has illuminated aspects of Chinese culture and made it something I'd rather like to learn more about. I understand that the book is very carefully researched.

The other book is one that I read back in February of 2011: Little Princes: One Man's Promise To Bring Home The Lost Children Of Nepal by Conor Grennan.

For all that it's been a year since I read this book, it really stuck in my head. I think it was the idea that an ordinary person could do so much to help without being some kind of celebrity or millionaire first. Honestly, the cover was what caught my attention first, with that vivid blue colour.

Even now, a year later, I'm still raving about Little Princes. In fact, I'd rather like to re-read the book and refresh my memory as to the details. Not to mention buying my own copy of it, especially given that part of the proceeds from the book go to help fund the children's home that Conor Grennan opened.

Little Princes - Conor Grennan

Little Princes: One Man's Promise To Bring Home The Lost Children Of Nepal
Conor Grennan
William Morrow Publishing
Copyright: January 2011
978-0061930058

The amazon.com product description:

In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations. 

I picked this book up initially because I was intrigued by the cover, and also because Nepal sounded interesting. Was it ever! The description above sums Little Princes up very well, without giving away too much detail.

Although the beginning of the book had me wondering a bit, once Conor met up with the children at the orphanage, the whole thing took off. I ended up racing through it in two days, unable to put it down. Each one of the children was so incredibly strong given what they'd been through.

And watching the author change from being a guy who's not sure what he's doing to the man he is at the end of the book is a wonderful process as well. At the beginning it sounds as though he's using the time volunteering to justify his later travels, but by the end of the period described in the book, the author has started a non-profit organization of his own: Next Generation Nepal to do what he can for these kids, including where possible, reuniting them with their families.

There's plenty of tension and excitement in the book too, as well as the "awww" moments where Conor is trekking through remote regions of Nepal as winter was setting in. Is he going to make it back to the city in time?

The varying happy endings really make the book - but although these kids have a happy ending in the book, with the author able to find their families, there are evidently many others still living at risk in Nepal, though thanks to Conor, it's at least twenty six fewer than there were (that being the number that the children's home he opened is able to house).

Finally, a note at the end of Little Princes states that part of the proceeds from the sale of this book go to support Next Generation Nepal.

I honestly can't recommend this book enough. It's an absolutely incredible read, tied to a good cause.

Little Princes and Three Cups Of Tea

I just finished reading Little Princes by Conor Grennan last night, and loved it. I haven't read Three Cups Of Tea yet, but I've been comparing the two books at work, based on the description for the latter book. The amazon.com blurb for Little Princes is:

In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations. 

The description for Three Cups of Tea is: 

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard
Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit. 

 I really do think that, based on the descriptions, anyone who liked Three Cups of Tea might really enjoy reading Little Princes and vice versa. I know I'm going to have to read this book sooner or later.

But, anyway, would anyone who's read both books be willing to tell me if I'm completely off base in my thought that they are similar and would appeal to anyone who's liked one or the other of the two?