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Armchair Travel August 2017
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| Love, Africa: A Memoir of Romance, Love, and Survival by Jeffrey GettlemanBefore he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Jeffrey Gettleman was a 19-year-old who fell in love with Africa. In his adventure-laden (hanging out in war zones, being kidnapped, etc.) memoir, he explores his undying affection for this complex continent, documents his career (including local reporting in Florida and war reporting in various countries), and traces his relationship with a fellow student who becomes his coworker and wife (though there were most definitely bumps along the way). If you want to understand either Africa or journalism better, this engrossing book is a must-read. |
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Havana : a subtropical delirium
by Mark Kurlansky
Award-winning author Mark Kurlansky presents an insider's view of Havana: the elegant, tattered city he has come to know over more than thirty years. Part cultural history, part travelogue, with recipes, historic engravings, photographs, and Kurlansky'sown pen-and-ink drawings throughout, Havana celebrates the city's singular music, literature, baseball, and food; its five centuries of outstanding, neglected architecture; and its extraordinary blend of cultures. Like all great cities, Havana has a rich history that informs the vibrant place it is today--from the native Taino to Columbus's landing, from Cuba's status as a U.S. protectorate to Batista's dictatorship and Castro's revolution, from Soviet presence to the welcoming of capitalist tourism. Havana is a place of extremes: a beautifully restored colonial city whose cobblestone streets pass through areas that have not been painted or repaired since the revolution. Kurlansky shows Havana through the eyes of Cuban writers, such as Alejo Carpentierand José MartÃ, and foreigners, including Graham Greene and Hemingway. He introduces us to Cuban baseball and its highly opinionated fans; the city's music scene, alive with the rhythm of Son; its culinary legacy. Once the only country Americans couldn't visit, Cuba is now opening to us, as is Havana, not only by plane or boat but also through Mark Kurlansky's multilayered and electrifying portrait of the long-elusive city.
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| A Paris Year: My Day-to-Day Adventures in the Most Romantic City in the World by Janice MacLeodBeautifully illustrated with paintings, drawings, and photos, this jewel box of a travel journal by Canadian artist and author Janice MacLeod traces a year in Paris. Sharing her experiences getting to know and make a home in the City of Light via diary entries (starting with January 1st), MacLeod combines artwork with a newcomer's observation of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes as well as liberal splashes of anecdotes, quotes, and history. Those who appreciate Paris and beautiful things will find this memoir a sensory delight. |
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The Alps : a human history from Hannibal to Heidi and beyond
by Stephen O'Shea
A thrilling blend of contemporary travelogue and historical narrative about the Alps from 'a graceful and passionate writer' (Washington Post). For centuries the Alps have seen the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers and the dreams of engineers--and some 14 million people live among their peaks today. In The Alps, Stephen O'Shea takes readers up and down these majestic mountains, journeying through their 500-mile arc across France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia. Along the way, he explores the reality behind Hannibal and his elephants' famous crossing in 218 BCE; he reveals how the Alps have profoundly influenced culture from Frankenstein to Heidi to The Sound of Music; and he visits the spot where Arthur Conan Doyle staged Sherlock Holmes's death scene, the bloody site of the Italians' retreat in World War I, and Hitler's notorious vacation house, the Eagle's Nest. Throughout, O'Shea records his adventures with the watch makers, salt miners, cable-car operators, and yodelers who define the Alps today
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Living in Another Language |
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| When in French: Love in a Second Language by Lauren CollinsAn American in London fell in love with a Frenchman and moved to Geneva, Switzerland. Once there, she decided to learn French; not only did she want to be able to buy things on her own, but she wanted to become closer to her new husband and, when the time came, not be "a Borat of a mother." Chronicling her amusing adventures overseas and her attempts to communicate in a new tongue, talented New Yorker writer Lauren Collins serves up a funny, romantic, intelligent memoir, which provides "a thoughtful, beautifully written meditation on the art of language and intimacy" (The New York Times). |
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| All Strangers Are Kin: Adventures in Arabic and the Arab World by Zora O'NeillHaving studied Arabic as a college student, personable travel and food writer Zora O'Neill decided at age 39 to revisit the language, but this time, to focus on the colloquial instead of the formal version. Visiting Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Morocco, she studied and tested out her skills, but was hindered by different areas having different dialects. Nevertheless, she engaged with people she met -- eating, visiting, and sometimes staying with them -- as she pondered the complex language and the relationship between culture and communication. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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