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Armchair Travel October 2017
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| To the New Owners: A Martha's Vineyard Memoir by Madeleine BlaisIn To the New Owners, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Madeleine Blais paints a wistful, wonderful portrait of summer vacations on Martha's Vineyard. Though Blais wasn't born to privilege, her husband was -- his father was U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's attorney general -- and it was his family's old-school vacation house (no climate control, no TV, no internet!) that the family gathered at for decades, before the beloved home was sold in 2014. Weaving memories of her visits with excerpts from the house's guest book, newspaper articles, etc., Blais highlights the quirky charm and natural beauty of the island. Celebrity watchers take note: famous faces appear, including Philip Caputo, Katherine Graham, and Carly Simon. |
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You & a Bike & a Road
by Eleanor Davis
Offers a graphic novel journal that chronicles the author's two-month bike tour from Tucson, Arizona to her home in Athens, Georgia.
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Canoeing with José
by Jon Lurie
The first time journalist Jon Lurie meets Jose Perez, the smart, angry, fifteen-year-old Lakota-Puerto Rican draws blood. Five years later, both men are floundering. Lurie, now in his thirties, is newly divorced, depressed, and self-medicating. Jose is embedded in a haze of women and street feuds. Both lack a meaningful connection to their cultural roots: Lurie feels an absence of identity as the son of a Holocaust survivor who is reluctant to talk about her experience, and for Jose, communal history has been obliterated by centuries of oppression. Then Lurie hits upon a plan to save them. After years of admiring the journey described in Eric Arnold Sevareid's 1935 classic account, Canoeing with the Cree, Lurie invites Jose to join him in retracing Sevareid's route and embarking on a mythic two thousand-mile paddle from Breckenridge, Minnesota, to the Hudson Bay. Faced with plagues of mosquitoes, extreme weather, suspicious law enforcement officers, tricky border crossings, and Jose's preference for Kanye West over the great outdoors, the journey becomes an odyssey of self-discovery. Acknowledging the erased native histories that Sevareid's prejudicial account could not perceive, and written in gritty, honest prose, Canoeing with Jose is a remarkable journey.
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The Sky Below
by Scott Parazynski
A man who was a NASA astronaut for 17 years discusses his amazing life, including a global ozone-mapping mission, serving as John Glenn's crewmate, a death-defying spacewalk, becoming the only astronaut to summit Mt. Everest and much more.
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Junk Raft: An Ocean Voyage and a RIsing Tide of Activism to Fight Plastic Pollution
by Marcus Eriksen
An exciting account of an activist scientist's unorthodox fight in the growing movement against plastic marine pollution and of his expedition across the Pacific on a home-made "junk raft" Far from being a gloomy treatise on an environmental catastrophe, though, Junk Raft tells the exciting story of Eriksen's fight to raise awareness and solve the problem of plastic pollution, contributing to a fast-growing movement to stem the tide of trash. Eriksen writes of his voyage from Los Angeles to Hawaii aboard his homemade "junk raft," and along the way he recounts the successful efforts to fight corporate influence and demand that plastics producers take responsibility for a problem they've created. Eriksen provides concrete, actionable solutions and an empowering message: it's up to bold, brash, unapologetically activist "citizen scientists" to challenge the status quo for the sake of the planet."
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Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China
by Xiaolu Guo
An acclaimed, Chinese-born, modern writer describes how she became a citizen of the world after being raised in a fishing village shack by her grandparents, moving into a thriving underground art scene in Beijing and finally winding up in Europe.
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| Empire Made: My Search for an Outlaw Uncle Who Vanished in British India by Kief HillsberyIn search of answers to family questions, Kief Hillsbery spent decades traveling to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal. He was following in the footsteps of a distant English uncle, who'd worked as an East India Company clerk in the 1840s and then "gone native." Presented from both Hillsbery's and his uncle's perspectives (using old letters and documents to inform), Empire Made illuminates the past and the present and offers intriguing findings in this combination travelogue and history, which includes a glimpse of Victorian-era gay life. |
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Love, Africa: A Memoir of Romance, Love, and Survival
by Jeffrey Gettleman
The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times East Africa bureau chief presents a memoir about finding love and purpose in one of the world's most violent and beautiful regions, tracing his life-long dream of living in Africa and his winding journey toward the personal and professional ambitions of his heart.
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Wanderful: The Modern Bohemian's Guide to Traveling in Style
by Andi Eaton
A stylish lookbook and travelogue for the adventurous and nomadic at heart features nine intimate and exciting road-trip routes that combine the very best sites to see along with a glimpse into the closets of area tastemakers and trendy destinations.
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An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic
by Daniel Adam Mendelsohn
Presents the story of a father and son's transformative shared journey in reading in the wake of the father's late-in-life enrollment in his son's undergraduate seminar, where the two engaged in debates over how to interpret Homer's classic masterpiece.
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| Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka KassabovaBulgarian-born poet and writer Kapka Kassabova lives in Scotland, but in Border she describes return visits to Eastern Europe between 2013-2015. In the complex, magical area where Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece meet, Kassabova traveled through mountains, villages, and forests and spoke with former border guards, people who tried to escape Communist Bulgaria, villagers who live near the countries' edges, and incoming refugees fleeing Syria. Clever, lyrical, and acutely observed, this book is a fascinating examination of Eastern European borderlands. For a penetrating look at U.S. borders, seek out Stephanie Elizondo Griest's All the Agents and Saints. |
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The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
by Michael Twitty
Food blogger (Afroculinaria), Judaic studies scholar, and Southerner Michael Twitty connects family history with food and culture in this wide-ranging -- and often mouth-watering -- study. Primarily a narrative cultural history that examines slavery, race relations, soul food, and even kosher cooking, The Cooking Gene includes recipes that Twitty extensively researched and personally tested. Fans of culinary history, African American studies, and multicultural memoirs will relish this richly descriptive survey. For additional exploration of some of Twitty's themes, try John Edge's The Potlikker Papers.
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| The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious... by David LebovitzOoh la la! In a humorous memoir that's "just as tart as it is sweet" (Publishers Weekly), American pastry chef David Lebovitz dishes about living in Paris and provides yummy recipes (Mocha–Crème Fraîche Cake, Dulce de Leche Brownies, etc.). Here's just a taste of Lebovitz's adaptations to his new life in the City of Light -- he begins to shave and dress before taking out the trash, deals with mind-boggling bureaucracy, and makes sure to always greet shopkeepers. Lebovitz's latest book, L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home, comes out in November. If you want another American's look at acclimating to life and cooking overseas, check out Julia Child's classic My Life in France. |
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Lisbon : Recipes from the Heart of Portugal
by Rebecca Seal
Full of history, great food, and bursting with character, Portugal's capital is one of Europe's most charming cities. In Lisbon, Rebecca Seal shares her favorite recipes, inspired by her travels. Set on seven hills, Lisbon features world-class beaches, city views, and wild forests. And the food is as diverse as the surroundings - there's so much more to it than just cod and custard tarts. Featuring over 80 accessible recipes based on traditional Portuguese cuisine, including Caldo Verde (kale soup), Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato clams in white wine and garlic), and pesticos (Portuguese tapas). From the bars of Bairro Alto to the cafes in Chiado, there's something for everyone. All set to the stunning backdrop of eighteenth century buildings, ornate churches, nostalgic trams, and pastel-colored houses, Lisbon is a stunning cookbook.
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| On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta by Jen Lin-LiuWhere did noodles originate and how did they spread? (Contrary to popular belief, Marco Polo had nothing to do with it.) In this "footloose, spontaneous, and appetite-whetting journal of culinary adventure" (Kirkus Reviews), Jen Lin-Liu, a recently married Chinese-American cooking instructor based in Beijing, travels the famed Silk Road in search of answers. Sampling regional dishes in the homes of generous local women in China, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Italy, and other locations, she savors the food and companionship and muses on noodles, love, and what being a wife means to her and to her hosts. Pasta-loving travelers will likely find this scrumptious book, which includes some recipes, mouthwatering. |
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| Driving Hungry: A Delicious Journey, from Buenos Aires to New York to Berlin by Layne MoslerLayne Mosler takes the idea of catching a cab to dinner to a charming new level. After a disappointing evening in Buenos Aires, she hailed a cab and asked the driver to take her to his favorite restaurant ...where she had one of the best steaks of her life. Building on this idea, she began asking cabbies everywhere where they liked to eat. Moving to New York City, she attended taxi school and began driving a cab herself. Heading to Berlin, she continued to drive and eat -- and eventually met the cabdriver of her dreams. Not just for foodies and fans of Mosler's Taxi Gourmet blog, this honest and lively literary ride around three vibrant cities will appeal to readers who've wondered what the taxi-driving life is like. |
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| The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest... by Michael PaternitiHaving once worked at Michigan's famous Zingerman's Delicatessen, Michael Paterniti never forgot a certain cave-aged sheep's milk cheese. Eventually, he traveled to Guzmán, a rural Spanish village, where he discovered that the amazing cheese said to be "made with love" was no longer being made. Charismatic, larger-than-life farmer/cheesemaker Ambrosio Molinos de las Hera tells him he was betrayed by his partner, ruining the business. Paterniti quickly becomes enmeshed in Ambrosio's world, visiting often in order to savor his stories and dig deeper; Paterniti even moves to Spain with his wife and kids for a time. Chock full of footnotes and digressive passages, this leisurely yet tasty tale will especially please those who enjoy the journey as much as the destination. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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