Feeling a bit intellectual

I guess it really has been years, in all likelyhood pre-kids, so that would be almost 6 years, that I really read book after book after book. But the bug has bit and I'm going through at leat one a week. Subject matter- China, non fiction. I'm in the mood to learn as much as I can about this complex and fascinating country; it's history, it's people, it's culture- and it's future. The last time I felt this way was in college when I took an intro to Russian Political Systems course, fell in love with the subject and was in awe of the professor so took every course she taught and 4 years later ended up with a degree in Government with a concentration in Russian Politics. Now the China bug has bit, so to speak, and I can't learn enough. In the past two months I have read the following:

The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans
~moving adoption journey

China Road: A journey into the future of a rising power by Rob Gifford

~adventures following the "Silk Road" - great writing and much insight

The Last Days of Old Beijing by Michael Meyer

~really interesting look at life living in a hutong in Beijing

Where the Pavement Ends by Erika Warmbrunn
~not as much on China as I'd have liked, but great stories of her time in Mongolia

Silent Tears: A journey of hope in a Chinese orphanage by Kay Bratt

~couldn't put it down, literally read it cover to cover

Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost

~hilarious writing on his months of travel through China

Mr. China by Tim Clissold

~a memoir of a foreign investor in China in the early 90s, witty and insightful

I'm working on these right now:

The rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

The Long March: The true story of communist China's founding myth by Sun Shuyun

Mao, the unknown story by Jung Chang


I'll be busy for a while- do you see the size of the bottom two in the picture!! But do you have
any suggestions for further reading?