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A Year in Paris: Season by Season in the City of Light
by John Baxter
What it is: a seasonal look at life in Paris along with a bit of history, by a prolific Australian author who's lived in the City of Light for decades.
Who it's for: those who want an insider's look at what the famed city is like each month of the year.
Reviewers say: "a quirky, affectionate portrait by an unabashed Francophile" (Kirkus Reviews).
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In Putin's Footsteps: Searching for the Soul of an Empire Across Russia's Eleven Time...
by Nina Khrushcheva and Jeffrey Tayler
What happened: Two writers traveled across Russia, visiting with locals and pondering how Russia's vastness and history has helped shape its national identity and culture.
Did you know? Russian American author Nina Khrushcheva is the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
For fans of: Lisa Dickey's Bears in the Streets, David Green's Midnight in Siberia, and other looks at lesser-known parts of Russia by astute travelers.
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From scratch : a memoir of love, Sicily, and finding home
by Tembi Locke
What happened: An African-American actress recounts her romance with a Sicilian chef whose traditional family disapproved of their marriage and how she sought solace in their close-knit community after his death
Reviewers say: Readers will not want to put Locke's memoir down, so compellingly does she describe her unique experiences and the universal ups and downs of life.-
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I'm writing you from Tehran : a granddaughter's search for her family's past and their country's future
by Delphine Minoui
What happened: A prize-winning French-Iranian journalist recounts how her first post-revolution visit home to 1998 Iran turned into a 10-year stay during which she witnessed remarkable political transformations and came to understand life under a volatile regime of suspicion and fear.
Reviewers say: A wonderful choice for readers of history, current events, and fans of Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoir Persepolis.
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D-Day girls : the spies who armed the resistance, sabotaged the Nazis, and helped win World War II
by Sarah Rose Crown
What happened: The award-winning author of For All the Tea in China documents the lesser-known story of the extraordinary women recruited by Britain's elite spy agency to sabotage the Nazis and help pave the way for Allied victory during World War II.
Reviewers say: This satisfying mix of social history and biography incorporates contemporary attitudes towards women, its subjects' personal quirks, and plenty of romance, and should engage a wide audience.
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| The City of Falling Angels by John BerendtWhat happened: The famed Fenice Opera House in Venice dramatically burned just days before author John Berendt's arrival in 1996. Wondering if it could have been arson, Berendt talked to a variety of Venetians.
Who it's for: those who love Venice or enjoy atmospheric travelogues with fascinating people, politics, and city lore.
About the author: John Berendt is the bestselling author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which examined a shocking murder in Savannah, Georgia. |
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| Notes From a Small Island by Bill BrysonWhat it is: a laugh-out-loud tour of the sceptred isle, led by witty American travel writer extraordinaire Bill Bryson.
What happened: In 1995, Bryson, who was planning on returning home to the United States, traveled by foot and public transport, over hill and dale, throughout his beloved adopted home of the last 20 years.
Read this next: For another American's amusing trip around England, check out Paul Theroux's The Kingdom by the Sea. |
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| The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten TroostWhat it's about: When 26-year-old J. Maarten Troost's girlfriend accepted a position in the tiny island nation of Kiribati, he decided to tag along, expecting to spend the next two years in a tropical paradise.
What actually happened: Troost quickly discovered the reality of life on the atoll: suffocating heat, polluted waters, tropical diseases, and a distinct lack of modern conveniences.
Reviewers say: "a comic masterwork of travel writing and a revealing look at a culture clash" (Publishers Weekly). |
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