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Armchair Travel October 2019
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Wanderlust : a history of walking
by Rebecca Solnit
What it's about: 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.
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A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson
What it's about: American travel writer Bill Bryson, who'd been living in England for years, set out to hike the Appalachian Trail with an old friend. The two out-of-shape 40-somethings thought they'd walk the entire 2,100 miles to Maine before winter -- but reality soon hit. Nature descriptions and a history of the storied trail combine with the pair's amusing experiences and their encounters with other hikers.
The movie: In 2015, Robert Redford and Nick Nolte dramatized the duo's nature adventure on the big screen.
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Walking the Bible : a journey by land through the five books of Moses
by Bruce S. Feiler
What it's about: From the mountain where Noah's ark landed to the site of the legendary burning bush, a ten-thousand-mile journey across the Middle East goes in search of the roots of the Bible to discover whether it was an abstraction or a living, breathing entity.
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| Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra FullerWhat it's about: In this evocative sequel to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, author Alexandra Fuller focuses on her parents, covering the deaths of three of their children, her mother's childhood in Kenya, her mother's mental illness, and more.
Why you might like it: Fuller movingly evokes the hardships of living in the beautiful and wild African countryside as well as her parents' personal flaws, including their racism.
Reviewers say: "beautifully wrought" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America by Joseph Kim with Stephan TaltyWhat it's about: Joseph Kim's family, like many others in North Korea, was devastated by the 1990s famine: his father died, his mother sold his sister...and he became a starving street child, who did what he had to do to survive before escaping to China and eventually the United States.
Read it for: the searing, matter-of-fact look at life in an authoritarian country.
Who it's for: readers moved by the depictions of North Korean life found in Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy, Suki Kim's Without You, There Is No Us, and Blaine Harden's Escape from Camp 14. |
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| Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances MayesWhat it's about: First published in 1986, this delightful book chronicles poet Frances Mayes' purchase of a Tuscan villa in need of refurbishing. Relating experiences from her Italian life, Mayes describes spending time with her neighbors, dealing with repairs, and dining on delicious foods (recipes included).
The movie: The 2003 Under the Tuscan Sun film is quite different from the book but features luminous scenery and a compelling Diane Lane as Mayes. |
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Under magnolia : a southern memoir
by Frances Mayes
What it's about: The best-selling author of Under the Tuscan Sun shares the story of her youth in the American South and her decision to return to the places that shaped her early ideals, a journey marked by her regional travels and growing appreciation for Southern writers.
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Madness under the royal palms : love and death behind the gates of Palm Beach
by Laurence Leamer
What it's about: An insider's account of Palm Beach's rich and eccentric culture traces the story of a socialite's determined pursuit of acceptance within the exclusive region's widow-dominated inner circle; an effort that was marked by two infamous murders, real and faux royalty, and flamboyant party planners.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100
http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us
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