Which books?

Dear Kate,

I'm off to Kelapa Gading today. The Gramedia there runs a handsome price discount. Any suggestion on books?

Thank,
Bookbuff @ Karet

Dear Bookbuff,

First, forgive me that I doubt you're a book buff. Book buffs don't ask suggestion on books. They know what they want.

But I'd tell you anyway what I just did in my latest shopping spree. I bought SuperFreakonomics (Levitt-Dubner), Nudge (Thaler-Sunstein), Animal Spirits (Akerlof-Shiller), The Return of the Great Depression (Krugman), and The White Tiger (Adiga). All but Tiger are with econophone, but Tiger is equally entertaining - it's the winner of 2008 Man Booker Prize. My usual formula in bookshopping is 4:1, four econ and one literary work.

Oh, while we're at it, why don't I share with you what I would not buy? Here goes. I don't buy books of authors who put their academic titles on the front cover. They're usually bad bad bad. I don't trust self-help books. And I don't like books with dry title.

Finally, I also judge books by their cover. And sometimes I buy books just for the sake of ridiculing them: John Perkins, Naomi Klein to name two.

Happy shopping,
Kate