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Armchair Travel April 2020
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Enjoy these books from home! All of these titles are available from Hoopla and the Blue Ridge Download Consortium. |
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Walking to Samarkand : The Great Silk Road from Persia to Central Asia by Bernard OllivierWalking to Samarkand is journalist Bernard Ollivier's stunning account of the second part of his 7,200-mile walk from Istanbul, Turkey to Xi'an, China along the Silk Road--the longest and perhaps most mythical trade route of all time. Picking up where Out of Istanbul left off, Ollivier heads out of the Middle East and into Central Asia, grappling not only with his own will to continue but with new, unforeseen dangers. From the authoritarian mullahs of revolutionary Iran to the warm welcome of everyday Iranians-custodians of age-old, cordial Persian culture; from the stark realities of former Soviet republics to the region's legendary bazaars-veritable feasts for the senses-readers discover, through Ollivier's keen journalistic eyes, the rich history and contemporary culture of these amazing lands.
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Imperfect union : how Jessie and John Frémont mapped the West, invented celebrity, and helped cause the Civil War by Steve InskeepSteve Inskeep tells the riveting story of John and Jessie Frémont, the husband and wife team who in the 1800s were instrumental in the westward expansion of the United States, and thus became America's first great political couple John Frémont grew up amid family tragedy and shame. With rare detail and in consummate style, Steve Inskeep tells the story of a couple whose joint ambitions and talents intertwined with those of the nascent United States itself. Americans linked the Frémonts with not one but three great social movements of the time -- westward settlement, women's rights, and opposition to slavery. Theirs is a surprisingly modern story of ambition and fame; they lived in a time of globalization, technological disruption, and divisive politics that foreshadowed our own. The Frémonts' adventures amount to nothing less than a tour of the early American soul.
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A Trucker's Tale : Wit, Wisdom, and True Stories from 60 Years on the Road by Ed MillerThey say that only truck drivers experience the true grandeur and landscape of America. In A Trucker's Tale, Ed Miller gives an inside look at the allure of the work and the colorful characters who haul our goods on the open road. He shares what it was like to grow up in a trucking family, his experience as an equipment officer in Vietnam, and the trials and tribulations of life as a trucker. His tales are often funny, sometimes sad, cringeworthy, or unbelievable. Many are the results of what he calls, "just plain stupidity." Together they paint a compelling portrait of a vibrant but little-known industry, and reveal why he just kept on truckin'.
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Fifty Miles Wide by Julian SayarerTen years after breaking a world record for cycling around the world, award-winning travel writer Julian Sayarer returns to two wheels on the roads of Israel and occupied Palestine. Pedalling through a military occupation, in the chance encounters of the roadside, a bicycle becomes a vehicle of more than just travel, and cuts through the tension to find a few simple truths, and some hope. As the miles pass, the journey becomes a meditation on making change – how people in dark times keep their spirit, and go on believing that a different world is possible.
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Cross Country : A 3,700-mile Run to Explore Unseen America by Rickey GatesIn 2017, professional runner Rickey Gates ran 3,700 miles across the continental United States with just a small backpack and an anthropologist's curiosity to discover the divided America in which we live. In the book Cross Country, Gates documents this epic experience from South Carolina to San Francisco, sharing first-person essays, interviews, and over 200 photographs of the ordinary and extraordinary people and places he saw along the way. While Gates delivers unparalleled insight into the extreme athletic and mental challenge of this transcontinental run, running is not the core focus of Cross Country-it is a story of the remarkable people across the United States who we would otherwise never meet.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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