Heating Help

I'm a fan of travel writing (love Bill Bryson!) and I thought this book would be strictly about driving in China, but it was so much more than that. Peter Hessler went to China with the Peace Corp and then spent the next decade living in Beijing and its surroundings. This book begins with him renting a car and setting off to follow the Great Wall west. Along the way he has some adventures, which he describes in a wonderful way. But then the book takes a turn away from humor and this is where it gets even better. He describes life in a small village, where he rented a tiny house, and then he spends the last third of the book telling about the rise of a small factory, and all the people involved in that. If you are doing business in China, or if you use any product made in China, you will get so much out of this book. It's amazing. And after you're done, see Factory Girls, which you'll find a bit further down the list. Mr. Hessler's wife, Leslie, wrote that one, and it's every bit as good.