What I've been reading...

I found a small library where I was staying overseas, and had some time to explore it. Below are some good titles I found and enjoyed: 

1.) Maarten Prak, The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century (2005), trans. Diane Webb: Highly readable translation of a thorough and well-organized history of the Dutch "Golden Age." Interesting throughout, and worth the read.

2.) Nick Middleton, Rivers: A Very Brief Introduction (2012): Concise overview of the geography of rivers, and the role they've played in human civilization. I liked this book for its wide view and eye for interesting details.

3.) Mike Dash, Tulipmania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused (2001): An engrossing history of one of the modern world's great speculative bubbles: the great Dutch tulip mania of 1636-1637. Dash's examination is rich with detail, and highly relevant to experience modern asset speculators in stocks, commodities, futures, etc.. Also of interest is the brief history toward the end of the book of the Ottoman Empire's own tulip bubble. Tulipmania  is certainly one of the best books I've read this year.

For more on the boom and bust of tulips in the Netherlands, see here.

What I've been watching...

I watched two really enjoyable Japanese films on the plane-ride home,  and recommend both. They include:

"Midnight Diner," (2014), directed by: Joji Masuoka

"The Furthest End Awaits," (2014), directed by: Chiang Hsiu-chiung

Arrived on my pile:

Fred Kaplan, The Singular Mark Twain, (2003).

John W. Dowen, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (1999).

Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (2001)