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Armchair Travel February 2020
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| Wild Life: Dispatches From a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs by Keena RobertsWhat it's about: Keena Robert's funny, tender coming-of-age story vividly details life in two different worlds: wildlife research camps in Kenya and Botswana, where her primatologist parents worked part of the year, and an elite prep school in Philadelphia, where Keena struggled to fit in.
Chapters include: The First Three Times I Almost Died; High School Water Hole; There Are No Doctors Here; Goodbye, Narnia.
For fans of: the delightful Cathedral of the Wild by Boyd Varty, who grew up on a South African game preserve; Alexandra Fuller's moving Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood. |
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| Mud and Stars: Travels in Russia with Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Other Geniuses of the... by Sara WheelerWhat it is: an informative, lighthearted, and personal look at both contemporary Russia and some of the country's most famous writers.
What happened: Veteran British travel writer Sara Wheeler spent two years traveling in Russia, skipping hotels for homestays, learning the language and cooking traditions, and focusing on the country's Golden Age writers, like Pushkin, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Dostoyevsky.
Read this next: Ian Frazier's Travels in Siberia, Elif Batuman's The Possessed, or Rachel Polonsky Molotov's Magic Lantern. |
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| Around the World in 60 seconds: The Nas Daily Journey -- 1,000 Days. 64 Countries... by Nuseir (Nas) Yassin with Bruce KlugerWhat it is: an inspiring, beautifully photographed book by dynamic, personable video blogger Nuseir "Nas" Yassin about his multi-year, 64-country adventure, focusing on what he's learned along the way.
Author buzz: Yassin is a Palestinian-Israeli Harvard grad who left his Manhattan tech job to start Nas Daily, a hugely popular series of 1,000 one-minute travel videos shot all over the world. |
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See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in Italy
by Frances Mayes
What it is: an evocative, recipe-complemented travelogue through 13 regions of Italy by the bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, who's often joined by her husband and her teenage grandson as she eats sumptuous meals in lovely locales.
Read this next: for more books that detail the good eats and fascinating sights in the off-the-beaten-path parts of Italy, pick up Elizabeth Helman Minchilli's Eating My Way Through Italy (also with recipes) or Matt Goulding's Pasta, Pane, Vino (which includes many color photos).
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On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey
by Paul Theroux
What happened: Erudite 70-something travel writer Paul Theroux drove the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border alone, crossing over the border multiple times; he also visited Mexico City, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and other areas.
Why you should read it: Theroux saw the border situation up close, met locals, witnessed the monarch butterfly migration, visited historic locations, taught writing, and learned about drug cartels and corruption.
Read this next: Richard Grant's God's Middle Finger, about his trip through the Sierra Madres; or, for a penetrating look at both U.S. borders, try Stephanie Elizondo Griest's All the Agents and Saints.
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Underland : a deep time journey
by Robert Macfarlane
What it is: The award-winning author of The Old Ways presents an exploration of the planet's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory and geography, offering unsettling perspectives into whether or not humans are making the correct choices for Earth's future
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Wild Life: Dispatches From a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs
by Keena Roberts
What it's about: Keena Robert's funny, tender coming-of-age story vividly details life in two different worlds: wildlife research camps in Kenya and Botswana, where her primatologist parents worked part of the year, and an elite prep school in Philadelphia, where Keena struggled to fit in.
Chapters include: The First Three Times I Almost Died; High School Water Hole; There Are No Doctors Here; Goodbye, Narnia.
For fans of: the delightful Cathedral of the Wild by Boyd Varty, who grew up on a South African game preserve; Alexandra Fuller's moving Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood.
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A Beginner's Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations
by Pico Iyer
What it is: lyrical, thought-provoking snippets and essays that ponder life in Japan, covering such varied topics as silence, signage, emotion, clothing, anime, baseball and more.
About the author: British-born bestselling travel writer Pico Iyer is married to a Japanese woman and the country is his adopted home.
Want a taste? "Being in Japan has taught me to say, 'I wonder,' more often than 'I think.'"
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