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Armchair Travel April 2021
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Recent Releases & Hidden Gems |
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Volcanic 7 Summits : Dreams of the Unknown
by Adrian Rohnfelder
Rohnfelder is the first travel and adventure photographer to climb the seven highest volcanoes across the Earth's seven continents. Since 2008, when the "firework virus" first struck him in Indonesia, he has remained mesmerised by these glowing giants. His goal is not the volcano summit itself, but the photographs that emerge all along the journey there. His images tell the full story of his spectacular trips, recording the unique splendor of each country he encounters.
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To shake the sleeping self : a journey from Oregon to Patagonia and a quest for a life with no regret
by Jedidiah Jenkins
On the eve of turning thirty, terrified of being sucked into a life he didn't choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent the next sixteen months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He narrates the adventure that started it all: the people and places he encountered on his way to the bottom of the world, and the internal journey that prompted it -- the question of what it means to be an adult; his struggle to reconcile his sexual identity with his conservative Christian upbringing; and his belief in travel as a way to "wake us up" to our lives back home. As he writes in this account of his search for wonder and a life he could believe in, 'It's not about the bike. It's about getting out of your routine -- and that could look like anything."
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| Ms. Adventure: My Wild Explorations in Science, Lava, and Life by Jess PhoenixStarring: Jess Phoenix, a geologist, volcanologist, Explorers Club Fellow, and co-founder of a nonprofit that produces research and works with students in hopes of bringing more diversity to scientific fields.
What it's about: Phoenix discusses her winding path to a science career, the barriers she's faced in a male-dominated field, her eye-opening time shooting a TV segment, and her adventures in California, Hawaii, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and New York City.
For fans of: Jill Heinerth's Into the Planet and other compelling memoirs by adventurous women; accessible books combining science and travel. |
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| We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles WheelanWhat it's about: In 2016, college professor Charles Wheelan, his math teacher wife, 18-year-old daughter, 16-year-old daughter, and 13-year-old son left their New Hampshire home to spend nine months visiting six continents on a budget.
What happened: They visited Colombia, Australia, the Republic of Georgia, India, and other locales while seeing amazing sights, large spiders, and not always getting along with each other.
Read this next: For other entertaining family travelogues, try Dan Kois' How to Be a Family or Bruce Kirkby's Blue Sky Kingdom. |
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| Walking With Abel: Journeys With the Nomads of the African Savannah by Anna BadkhenWhat happened: For a year, award-winning journalist Anna Badkhen traveled with a group of Fulani people, nomadic cattle herders who have traveled across the West African Savannah for generations.
What you might like it: In lyrical language, Badkhen describes how she slept on the ground, ate food cooked over dung fires, and learned about the Fulani's traditional lifestyle, which is under threat by climate change, urbanization, and Islamic militants.
Reviewers say: "The poetry in Badkhen's prose demands that readers slow down and savor her gentle, elegant story" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris by John BaxterWhat it is: a delightful, evocative memoir about expat life in the City of Light by Australian John Baxter, who's married to a French woman.
What's inside: recollections of Baxter's city walks and musings on Parisians' penchant for strolling; anecdotes about family life; fascinating history, including about other expat writers such as Ernest Hemingway.
Read this next: For other tours of Paris, try Baxter's A Year in Paris, Edmund White's The Flaneur, or Janice MacLeod's A Paris Year. |
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| The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert MacfarlaneWhat it is: a poetic meditation on walking by acclaimed British author Robert Macfarlane, who recounts his own journeys and ponders people (he meets a lot of them) and the paths they tread.
What it's about: Macfarlane explores ancient footpaths, roads, and sea paths across a variety of areas, including chalk downs in England, the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, occupied territory in Palestine, the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and sacred regions of the Himalayas.
Why you might like it: Using rich, readable prose, Macfarlane weaves together literature, natural history, cartography, and more. |
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Wanderlust : a history of walking
by Rebecca Solnit
A cultural history of walking explores the ancient practice, from ancient Greece to the present, delving into Wordsworth, Gary Snyder, Rousseau, Jane Austen, and other cultural and literary icons to show how this basic activity has been imagined throughout history. 17,500 first printing.
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| The Salt Path by Raynor WinnThe problems: A friend's betrayal found 50-somethings Raynor and Moth Winn kicked off the Welsh farm they'd fixed up over 20 years. That same week, Moth learned he had a terminal disease.
What happened: Homeless and at a loss, they set out to walk and wild camp along England's challenging 630-mile South West Coast Path.
Read this next: Winn's lovely follow-up book, The Wild Silence; Caroline Van Hemert's The Sun Is a Compass, another inspirational memoir about a couple at a crossroads and the redemptive power of nature. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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