Bookstack: The most interesting books of the week

From the Hippie Trail of the 1960s and '70s, that saw thousands of young Westerners head east to Afghanistan, India and Nepal, to the story of Rajneesh's controversial Rajneeshpuram in rural Oregon, the monsoon in South Asia and the poetry and sentiments it provokes, and the fringes of China, this week's Bookstack features some varied and thought-provoking reads. While the first two read together give you an idea of a certain time and the ways in which the east-west encounter both enriched and depleted, the book on a season that brings much joy and the very well produced one on life on China's fringes are both intellectually stimulating and a visual delight.