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Armchair Travel February 2017
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Far afield : rare food encounters from around the world
by Shane Mitchell
A Saveur contributing editor presents a beautifully photographed culinary travel book that profiles the fascinating people who are keeping the world's oldest traditional foodways alive, such as sacred taro farmers in Hawaii, fishermen on the Swahili coast and Icelandic shepherds who still use the techniques of their Viking ancestors.
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| The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas PrestonThough he's probably better known as the co-author of the suspenseful Pendergast novels, Douglas Preston also writes thrilling nonfiction. In his latest real-life adventure tale, he gives us a high-octane account of his travels in Honduras' Mosquitia area, where he's part of a team looking for evidence of the fabled Ciudad Blanca (The White City) aka The Lost City of the Monkey God -- but the group has to deal with unfriendly soldiers, parasites, jaguars, snakes, insects, and more. |
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An Intimate Wilderness : Arctic Voices in a Land of Vast Horizons
by Norman Hallendy
Arctic researcher, author, and photographer Norman Hallendy's journey to the far north began in 1958, when many Inuit, who traditionally lived on the land, were moving to permanent settlements created by the Canadian government. In this unique memoir, Hallendy writes of his adventures, experiences with strange Arctic phenomena, encounters with wildlife, and deep friendships with Inuit elders. Very few have worked so closely with the Inuit to document their traditions, and, in this book, Hallendy preserves their voices and paints an incomparable portrait of a vibrant culture in a remote landscape.
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When in French: Love in a Second Language
by Lauren Collins
An Anglophone American in London falls in love with a Frenchman and moves to Francophone Geneva, Switzerland. Once there, she decides to learn French; not only does she want to be able to buy things, but she wants to become closer to her new husband and, when the time comes, 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".
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Heart and soul
by Maeve Binchy
Given the difficult task of building an underfunded clinic in an Irish community caught between the past and present, Dr. Clara Casey finds her task complicated by two difficult adult daughters, the unwanted attentions of her ex-husband, her colorful and diverse staff, and the demanding, often difficult patients they serve.
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The sandcastle girls : a novel
by Chris Bohjalian
A historical love story inspired by the author's Armenian heritage finds early 20th-century nurse Elizabeth Endicott arriving in Syria to help deliver food and medical aid to genocide refugees, a volunteer service during which she exchanges letters with an Armenian engineer and widower. By the best-selling author of Midwives.
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The dogs are eating them now : our war in Afghanistan
by Graeme Smith
The Dogs are Eating Them Now is a highly personal narrative of our war in Afghanistan and how it went dangerously wrong. Written by a respected and fearless former foreign correspondent who has won multiple awards for his journalism (including an Emmy for the video series "Talking with the Taliban") this is a gripping account of modern warfare that takes you into back alleys, cockpits and prisons--telling stories that would have endangered his life had he published this book while still working as a journalist.
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A thousand farewells : a reporter's journey from refugee camp to the Arab spring
by Nahlah Ayed
In 1976, Nahlah Ayed's family gave up their comfortable life in Winnipeg for the squalor of a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. The transition was jarring, but it was from this uncomfortable situation that Ayed first observed the people whose heritage she shared. The family returned to Canada when she was thirteen, and Ayed ignored the Middle East for many years. But the First Gulf War and the events of 9/11 reignited her interest. Soon she was reporting from the region full-time, trying to make sense of the wars and upheavals that have affected its people and sent so many of them seeking a better life elsewhere.
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When a crocodile eats the sun : a memoir of Africa
by Peter Godwin
Traces how the author routinely traveled between his Manhattan home to Zimbabwe to check on his aging parents, visits during which he witnessed the African region's dramatic descent into a social and political turmoil that eventually revealed to the author his parents' secret about their loyalty to the area.
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