GUIDEBOOKS
We mainly travel with Lonely Planet guidebooks, although they are good and usually reliable, they are also the most used book in most countries and you'll often find yourself at "that cheap little local restaurant" surrounded by other travelers and paying 3 times the price listed in the guestbook. As a rule we use the hotel and restaurant listings to lead us to the right neighborhood, then we choose something that is not in the book. The book selections are usually good, but invariably more expensive than non listed places.
FICTION AND NON-FICTION (By Country/Region)
A wide range of fiction and non-fiction books are available in Asia, especially in South East Asia. For the cheapest books, stock up in Vietnam where they have a great selection of bootlegs in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Below is a list of books that we have read related to the countries that we have visited.
China:
Lost Horizon by James Hilton
South East Asia:
At War with Asia by Noam Chomsky
Sex Slaves by Louise Brown
Vietnam:
The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Cambodia:
First they Killed my Father by Loung Ung
India:
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry