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Armchair TravelOctober 2014
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"People don't take trips -- trips take people." ~ John Steinbeck (1902-1968), American author, Travels with Charley
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New and Recently Released!
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| Travels with Casey by Benoit Denizet-LewisAuthor and professor Benoit Denizet-Lewis wasn't at all sure that his mixed-breed retriever Casey liked him...even though they'd been together for nearly a decade. Deciding to explore the world of dogs and the humans who love them (and to help him understand his relationship with Casey), the pair took a 13,000 mile cross-country RV trip. They visited farm dogs, racing dogs, wolf-dog hybrids, and various other dogs as well as talking with dog people, including dog trainer Cesar Millan, a stray rescuer, a K9 cop, a psychic who works with dogs, and many others. If you'd love to read an amusing travelogue that'll put a smile on your face, sit down with Travels with Casey. For other books featuring dogs in RVs traveling across America, pick up John Steinbeck's classic Travels with Charley or David Rosenfelt's more recent Dogtripping. |
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Stringer: A Reporter's Journey in the Congo
by Anjan Sundaram
Would you rather put your Yale mathematics degree to use working for Goldman Sachs or by following a new dream of being a journalist in a country few are interested in? Anjan Sundaram, who was born in India, chooses to go to the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo with pen in hand, but with no real job waiting There, he has a bit of a baptism by fire when his cell phone is stolen, he has a cultural misunderstanding with the family he's renting a room from, and he encounters dangerous, disturbing situations even as he finally gets paid for his stories. In Stringer, Sundaram offers a beautifully written account of his coming of age as a journalist in one of the most troubled countries in the world; "readers may be tempted to compare him to Conrad and Naipaul, but he has a strong, unique style all his own" (Kirkus Reviews).
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Life Is a Wheel: Love, Death, Etc., and a Bike Ride Across America
by Bruce Weber
After turning 57, entertaining author Bruce Weber decided to bike the United States from coast to coast...again. Having already made the journey back in 1993 when he was 39, he set out for the second time in 2011. Based on the author's popular New York Times series about his adventure, Life Is a Wheel chronicles Weber's ups and downs, both literal and figurative, as he discusses the physical path he is traveling as well as his thoughts and emotions about life. Anyone approaching late-middle age will certainly appreciate Weber's insights, and fans of Bill Bryson's books will appreciate Weber's witty way with words.
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| In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton SidesOn his first Polar voyage in 1873, nothing in the frigid north appealed to Lieutenant George De Long, but he soon became obsessed. A few years later, leading an 1879 Arctic expedition and tasked with finding a mythical open-sea passage, De Long and his crew faced deadly trouble when their ship became trapped in the ice. Using letters, diaries, expedition records, newspaper reports, and other documents, bestselling author Hampton Sides provides a dramatic account of what happened to De Long and his crew. If you'd like to embark on another gripping nautical tale but in warmer climes, try In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. For a compelling modern adventure around the various countries that make up the Arctic, pick up Sara Wheeler's eloquent The Magnetic North. |
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The sea inside
by Philip Hoare
Setting out to rediscover the sea, its islands, birds and beasts, the winner of the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize travels around the world, navigating between human and natural history, between science and myth, as he searches for encounters with animals and people.
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The priority list : a teacher's final quest to discover life's greatest lessons
by David Menasche
A beloved high-school teacher with terminal brain cancer undertakes a cross-country journey to reunite with former students and learn whether he made a difference in their lives, in a poignant account that explores an individual's end-of-life realization of the importance of such universal priorities as love, family and friendship.
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Sojourner in Islamic lands
by Russell A. Fraser
"Sojourner in Islamic Lands takes us on a journey from Kazakhstan in the far north of Central Asia, across the mountains to the former Soviet Union, then south to Iran just below the Caspian Sea. Russell Fraser follows the ancient Silk Road wherever possible. For centuries the Silk Road was the primary commercial link between Europe and Asia, with much of it over desert sands and accessible only by camel. Building on history and personal experience, Fraser's narrative describes this vast territory with an eye to geography, artistic culture, and religion over more than two thousand years. The book that he gives us depends first of all on travel, but the author's eye is on an interior landscape, and he focuses on the influence of religious ideology on the cultural landscape of Central Asia. Delving deeply into art and architecture, he takes them to be Islam's most significant creative expressions. Although Islam is currently the predominant religion in the region, the book also examines the two other belief systems with modern-day followers--Christianity and an antireligious sect Fraser calls secular progressivism. His aim is to present Islam to Western readers by describing its achievements during the High Middle Ages and comparing and contrasting them with those of modern Islam. The book offers insights into the history of a major world religion through the eyes of a well-known literary scholar on a journey through exotic parts of the world. He steeps us in the latter, inviting the reader to share the journey with him and participate in the sensations it gives rise to"
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A long way home
by Saroo Brierley
A full-length account of the author's inspirational effort to find his India birthplace describes how he was accidentally separated from his family in the mid-1980s, his survival on the streets of Calcutta, his adoption by an Australian family and his headline-making Google Earth search.
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| Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History by Robert D. KaplanThe countries that make up the Balkan Peninsula -- Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, the former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia), etc. -- haven't always gotten along, especially in the last century. If you've ever wondered just what is going on over there, but can't seem to get a grasp on the complexities of it all, Balkan Ghosts is a must-read. Not only does veteran foreign correspondent Robert D. Kaplan explore the region's political, social, religious, and economic past in order to understand the nature of the recently rekindled, centuries-old blood feuds, he draws on quotes from earlier travel writers to provide historic context in this "thoroughly captivating" (Library Journal) book. Originally published in 1993, several updated issues have been published over the years. |
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| Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul TherouxIn the 1970s, author Paul Theroux took a railroad trip through Eastern Europe, Asia, India, China, Japan, and Siberia, and wrote about his adventures in The Great Railway Bazaar, a book that became a modern travel classic. More than 30 years later, he revisited the past and recreated his journey, which revealed the dramatic changes that had occurred since the writing of his original travelogue. Publishers Weekly says, "no matter where his journey takes him, Theroux always sends back dazzling post cards." Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is a must-read for fans of Theroux, travel, and trains. |
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Ghosts in the fog : the untold story of Alaska's WWII invasion
by Samantha Seiple
A narrative account of the lesser-known World War II invasion of Alaska by the Japanese is presented from the viewpoints of American civilians who were captured on the Aleutian Islands and is complemented by more than 80 photographs.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Yolo County Library at
530-666-8085, 226 Buckeye St., Woodland, CA 95695
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