Reading On A Desert Island

In Baghdad I get a lot of time to read, and I was thinking the other day that I if were stranded on the proverbial desert island what six books would I want to have with me. Below are my selections; books that I have read numerous times and have had a great and wonderful effect on my life.


Awakening the Buddha Within. This book was originally recommended to me by a friend while I was going through a troubled period in my life. I’ve written about it before on this blog and cannot recommend it enough to those that are searching for greater spirituality in their lives.



The Alchemist. Recommended to me a number of years ago by a dear friend. The work is a fable about a young boy on a spiritual journey and his quest for wisdom and self-understanding. Aside from all of that, it’s also a great bedtime story.


The Way Of The Peaceful Warrior. Another spiritual quest and discovery book. This was the first of it’s kind that I ever read, and opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a lot more to life than meets the young, adolescent eye.


Shobogenzo. Gudo Nishijimi’s rendering 13th century’s Zen Master Dogen’s seminal work. I struggle with this book as it’s filled with lessons that are too often beyond my current level of understanding. Nonetheless, it’s a great book and one that is capable of touching the reader on a myriad of levels.


The Kilberry Book of Ceol Mor. Archibald Campbell’s collection of over 100 ancient and classical tunes (piobaireachd) written for the highland bagpipe. All of this is assuming that I’ll have a set of pipes with me on the island.


The Dogs of War. This is my favorite fiction work and what originally attracted me to the spy thriller genre. Since then, I’ve read many of Forsyth's other works, Clancy, Ludlum, Van Lustbader, and a slew of others. All great fun.