|
Armchair TravelFebruary 2015
|
"The books were the background of my little world, and seeing them carted away by friends and relatives was like watching someone dismantle the sky." ~ from Lev Golinkin's A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka
|
|
New and Recently Released!
|
|
| A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir by Lev GolinkinIn this eye-opening and affecting debut, author Lev Golinkin recounts his Jewish family's desperate flight from Soviet Ukraine in the late 1980s, when he was only nine years old. He also explores what it was like growing up as a Jew in the Soviet Union (where religion was forbidden) and discusses his personal quest, years later, to retrace his family's journey from the Soviet Union through Austria and eventually to the United States, in order to thank the strangers who helped them -- and to come to terms with his past. This "hilarious and heartbreaking" (New York Times) memoir is one that readers won't soon forget. |
|
|
Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail
by Ben Montgomery
Though she had reached the age of 67 in 1955, the woman known as Grandma Gatewood was not content to rest on her (mountain) laurels. Not only did this mother of 11 and grandmother of 23 hike the Appalachian Trail solo once (the first woman to ever do so), she did it three times (becoming the first person, man or woman, to repeat and three-peat). Conducting interviews with those who knew Gatewood and drawing on her diaries and correspondence, journalist Ben Montgomery gives readers a "quiet delight of a book" (Kirkus Reviews) and shines a welcome light on the amazing Emma Gatewood's life, exploring why she did what she did and looking at her efforts to bring public attention to the poorly maintained 2,050 mile trail.
|
|
Books You May Have Missed
|
|
| Wish You Happy Forever: What China's Orphans Taught Me About... by Jenny BowenWhat could a Hollywood screenwriter/independent filmmaker who spoke no Mandarin possibly do to help China's thousands of orphans? Plenty, as it turned out. In 1997, Jenny Bowen and her husband had adopted a two-year-old Chinese daughter; sick and emotionally distant at first, the girl was the picture of health and happiness a year later. Seeing what love and attention did for her own child, Bowen immediately set out to transform China's entire orphanage system by starting the Half the Sky Foundation -- and she's succeeded. Detailing her perseverance and unwavering commitment to her cause, this emotional book, like Conor Grennan's Little Princes, shows that one person can make a difference in the lives of children, even if they live halfway around the world. |
|
|
As an English teacher living and working in Japan, Canadian-born Ferguson vows to his coworkers during a staff party that he will travel the length of the country, south to north, hitchhiking all the way. The goal would be to follow the Cherry Blossom Front, arriving at every location at the height of its cherry blossom season. He later has no memory of this vow due to his inebriated state at the time, but his coworkers, including his supervisor, hold him to it. They are enthusiastic in their support of what they perceive as his desire to experience the true Japan. This book is his account of his trip, which is both humorous and revealing. "When did you last read a book while grinning in anticipation of the next joke?" -The Observer (London)
|
|
| The Nile: A Journey Downriver Through Egypt's Past and Present by Toby WilkinsonRenowned Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson uses his travels in and around the Nile River to vividly describe Egypt's long history. The river has played a central and necessary role in Egyptian life for millennia, creating land fit for agriculture as well as moving goods and people. In following its path from Aswan to Cairo, Wilkinson shares fascinating histories and details about ancient life, historical peoples and their gods, and much more. And in addition to illuminating the past, he discusses contemporary Egypt, including the start of the Arab Spring in Cairo. This rich, engaging narrative will captivate anyone interested in the Nile or in understanding Egypt. |
|
| A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park by Edward O. Wilson; photographs by Piotr NaskreckiJoining forces with nature photographer Piotr Naskrecki, biologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Edward O. Wilson takes readers on a lavishly illustrated tour of Mozambique's 1,500 square mile Gorongosa National Park, documenting the region's natural history as well as the devastation wrought by a 16-year civil war that destroyed much of the park's biodiversity -- including 90 percent of its megafauna. Wilson also describes Gorongosa's gradual rebirth, a collaborative effort between scientists and philanthropists whose goal to restore the area to its former glory proceeds at a slow but steady pace. For a moving, yet ultimately hopeful story of conservation against the backdrop of one of the world's most beautiful and valuable ecological treasures, don't miss A Window on Eternity. |
|
Don't Forget Books on CD!
|
|
|
The City of Falling Angels [sound recording] by John BerendtTraces the aftermath of the 1996 Venice opera house fire, an event that devastated Venetian society and was investigated by the author, who through interviews with local figures learned about the region's rich cultural history. By the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
Forsyth County Public Library 201 North Chestnut Street Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101 336-703-2665www.forsythlibrary.org |
|
|
|