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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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| The Seine: The River That Made Paris by Elaine SciolinoWhat it is: an entertaining, smart, and detail-rich look at the Seine River, from its modest Burgundy source to its end at the English Channel.
Don't miss: fascinating details about Paris and the Seine; stories about the ancient goddess Sequana; talks with locals, including a grape grower in Champagne, Paris booksellers, and River Brigade members.
About the author: Elaine Sciolino, a former New York Times Paris bureau chief and the bestselling author of The Only Street in Paris, has been based in France since 2002. |
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A Dog Named Beautiful: A Marine, a Dog, and a Long Road Trip Home
by Rob Kugler
Starring: Rob Kugler, a Marine veteran and photographer, and Bella, the sweet chocolate lab who was by his side when he returned home from war and dealt with the loss of his brother, who died fighting in Iraq.
What it's about: their poignant road trip around the U.S. after Bella was diagnosed with incurable cancer, as well as Rob's thoughts about purpose and life and his memories of the military and his family.
Will I need a hanky? Probably -- but you'll have some laughs too!
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Far and Away: Reporting from the Brink of Change; Seven Continents, Twenty-Five Years
by Andrew Solomon
What it is: a volume of intelligent, moving, and entertaining essays by a National Book Award winner that elegantly captures his time spent in places in transition (politically, culturally, etc).
Locations include: the U.S.S.R., Russia, China, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, Zambia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Greenland, Senegal, Afghanistan, Japan, the Solomon Islands, Libya, Brazil, Ghana.
Want a taste? "Change is often heady; change often goes horribly wrong; change often electrifies the air only to evanesce unrealized."
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Books You May Have Missed
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| Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony HorwitzWhat it's about: Going from West Virginia to Texas via car, barge, mule, and more, Confederates in the Attic author Tony Horwitz traveled through a sharply divided U.S. in 2016 to retrace the eye-opening 1850s journey of reporter (and future landscape architect) Frederick Law Olmstead.
About the author: A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Horwitz died in 2019 at the age of 60. He is survived by two sons and his wife, novelist Geraldine Brooks, who won a Pulitzer Prize herself in 2006 for March. |
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| Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam HoustonWhat it is: an evocative, lyrical essay collection that discusses life at a 120-acre Colorado Rockies homestead as well as the author's abusive childhood, self discovery, and many travels.
Reviewers say: "Always impressive, Houston is in striking form here" (Booklist); "profound and inspiring" (Kirkus Reviews).
For fans of: Cheryl Strayed's Wild, Terry Tempest Williams’ The Hour of Land, or Dean Kuipers' The Deer Camp. |
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Here, There, Elsewhere: Stories from the Road
by William Least Heat-Moon
What it is: Acclaimed travel writer William Least Heat-Moon, who's known for his lyrical writing and cross-country trips across the U.S., travels the world in this collection of 30 essays written over 30 years.
Locations include: Japan, England, Wales, Italy, New Zealand.
Read it for: Though many of the pieces were previously published in magazines, Heat-Moon took control of the editorial reins here, rearranging words and restoring deleted sections.
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| An Arabian Journey: One Man's Quest Through the Heart of the Middle East by Levison WoodWhat happened: From September 2017 through early 2018, Levison Wood circumnavigated the Arabian Peninsula, visiting 13 Middle Eastern countries, including Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, meeting fascinating people, visiting war zones, and celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem.
For fans of: insightful, clear-eyed looks at complex places; old-fashioned adventurers.
About the author: Explorer Levison Wood is a former British Army officer and an award-winning TV presenter and bestselling travel writer. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Daviess County Public Library 2020 Frederica Street Owensboro, Kentucky 42301 (270) 684-0211
www.dcplibrary.org
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