i am the beggar of the world: landays from contemporary afghanistan

A collection of landays, a traditional form of poetry written or recited by Pashtun women. They're always two lines long and have a specific syllabic structure, although it's basically impossible for that to be translated. The editor's commentary was usually interesting and non-invasive, and some of the poems were really thought-provoking and occasionally beautiful. The book is divided into thematic sections, and by far the biggest one is "Love" -- although that often seems to mean sex! Because the poems are by women and for women only, they're often incredibly frank about, say, masturbation. Really cool to get that small peek into a world that is very, very closed off to a Western man.

shadow and claw

The first two volumes of The Book of the New Sun are The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator. Gene Wolfe came highly recommended by my old friend Josh. I'd never heard of him but I enjoyed these books a lot. Wickedly imaginative world, good writing. Not going in the pantheon for me but very enjoyable, well, summer reading. I bought the third and fourth volumes (they're bound in sets of two) for the beach.