Three of my favourite things come together in the book, Kiva lending, Bookcrossing and Better World Books.
Bookcrossing intorduced me to Kiva lending throughthe posts on FB of wonderful bookcrossers like Pete and Megan.
I purchased this book from my fave bookstore Better World Books which donates to literacy projects throughout the world.
The book is great, Bob has an epiphany about the obscenity of greed and excess and donates a good amount via Kiva, then off he goes to meet ( while keeping quiet his donor status) some of the recipients. Saving this to give to Megan at the Queenstown Uncon

Promised this to Meganh and then.... I misplaced it. Home unwell today and attending to that mysterious pile in the corner of my bedroom and there it is with several other books all sorted out for the Queenstown Uncon. Grrrrr.
I was not functioning very well at the time.

Hope you enjy this Megan, I found it very reassuring and inspiring as I continue my Kiva lending whenever I have some spare cash that I have not put aside for travel to Conventions!

Amazon Editorial Review

Hired by ForbesTraveler.com to review some of the most luxurious accommodations on Earth, and then inspired by a chance encounter in Dubai with the impoverished workers whose backbreaking jobs create such opulence, Bob Harris had an epiphany: He would turn his own good fortune into an effort to make lives like theirs better. Bob found his way to Kiva.org, the leading portal through which individuals make microloans all over the world: for as little as $25-50, businesses are financed and people are uplifted. Astonishingly, the repayment rate was nearly 99%, so he re-loaned the money to others over and over again.

After making hundreds of microloans online, Bob wanted to see the results first-hand, and in The International Bank of Bob he travels from Peru and Bosnia to Rwanda and Cambodia, introducing us to some of the most inspiring and enterprising people we've ever met, while illuminating day-to-day life-political and emotional-in much of the world that Americans never see. Told with humor and compassion, The International Bank of Bob brings the world to our doorstep, and makes clear that each of us can, actually, make it better.

How exciting! A late Christmas/early New Year parcel - a long time since I've had a book in the mail. Thanks so much Anne, I'm sure I will enjoy this and Andrew can read it too as he is a Kiva lender as well.
Happy New Year to you and I hope Kiva and Bookcrossing continues to give us as much joy in the new year.

I enjoyed reading about Bob Harris and his desire to change the status of the very poor. He certainly "put his money where his mouth is" when he invested all the money he had earned as a high end travel reviewer into something which he thought could make a difference.
I was interested to read the Indian perspective; I have not made any loans to India so far as they are all for over 3 years - I will review that now that I know the money is being used to re-lend and educate and train after the initial Kiva loan has been repaid by the borrower.
I did get a bit tired of reading all the postscripts even though they were interesting and backed up his anecdotal evidence, and it has influenced me to add a little more capital to my lending pool.
Andrew decided not to read the book, so I will hold onto it for the Convention as I think we have a few Kiva members attending. Thanks for sharing it with me Anne.

Hoping this finds a Kiva lender at the convention.
To the finder of this book -
Lucky You! You have found a travelling book.
If you're new to Bookcrossing, I hope you will take some time to browse through the site as there is plenty to discover in this free and anonymous community.
The idea is to connect people through books and I assure you, it can be fun.

Couldn't resist this one on the 'table of temptation' at the International Convention... I've been a Kiva member for many years so look forward to checking this one out!

Have enjoyed dipping into and out of this book - though will confess to making judicious choices about whether I was going to read some sections more thoroughly than others.
With the current state of the world, it's reassuring to remind myself that good folks like Bob are out there acting with integrity and generosity.....

Thanks for sharing this one Anne - I will pass this one onto another bookcrosser who is also a Kiva supporter...

To the finder of this book:
Hello and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!) And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me, lmn60, as your referring member. Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!

The book is now with me! On My TBR it goes...