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| Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great... by Mark AdamsWhat it's about: Mark Adams, author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu, traveled via road, ferry, foot, and canoe around coastal Alaska, retracing the 1899 Harriman expedition (whose members included naturalist John Muir and photographer Edward Curtis). While doing so, he encountered a much-changed land, fascinating people, and wild animals.
Who it's for: fans of Bill Bryson, as well as anyone who likes personable tour guides and amusing, artful blends of history and travel. |
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Our Towns : a 100,000-mile journey into the heart of America
by James M Fallows
What it's about: A unique, revelatory portrait of small-town America: the activities, changes, and events that shape this mostly unseen part of our national landscape, and the issues and concerns that matter to the ordinary Americans who make these towns their home. For the last five years, James and Deborah Fallows have been traveling across America in a single-prop airplane, visiting small cities and meeting civic leaders, factory workers, recent immigrants, and young entrepreneurs, seeking to take the pulse and discern the outlook of an America that is unreported and unobserved by the national media.
Who it's for: Readers interested in an eye-opening, keenly optimistic reminder of the strength of America's vital center.
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The Art of the Wasted Day
by Patricia Hampl
What it's about: The very thought of a wasted day feels decadent, conditioned as we are to be perpetually busy, caffeinated, slashing our way through to-do lists, reacting to the online onslaught. Memoirist extraordinaire Hampl (The Florist's Daughter, 2007), a master of judiciously elegant vignettes and surprising, slowly unfurling connections, recalls her blissful childhood reveries beneath a grand beech tree in St. Paul, Minnesota. Embarking on a complexly metaphysical and artistic quest, Hampl makes pilgrimages to the homes of patron saints of cloistered serenity, including genre-defining essayist Montaigne, the abbot-scientist Gregor Mendel, and two eighteenth-century British rebels, Sarah Ponsonbyand Lady Eleanor Butler. This is an exquisite anatomy of mind and an incandescent reflection on nature, being, and rapture.
Who it's for: Those looking for a captivating and revelatory memoir
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God save Texas : A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State
by Lawrence Wright
What it's about: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower explores the history, culture and politics of Texas while challenging popular stereotypes, offering insight into how the state boasts some of the highest rates of diversity, technology exports and growth as well as the lowest tax models and government regulations.
Who it's for: Highly recommended for Texans and non-Texans alike, who are interested in works about the current zeitgeist.
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| Running With the Kenyans: Discovering the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth by Adharanand FinnWhat it is: a compelling memoir chronicling British journalist Adharanand Finn's attempt to be the best runner he could be. To that end, he moved with his wife and three young children to Kenya, where he trained with some of the world's best runners and his family adjusted to living where lions roam.
Who it's for: Runners will certainly find much to like here as will anyone intrigued by the rural areas of Kenya. |
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| Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William FinneganWhat it is: the richly detailed, Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir chronicling journalist William Finnegan's experiences as a lifelong surfer.
What it's about: Finnegan's childhood in Hawaii and California, his adult years surfing around the globe (the U.S., the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa), amazing waves, near-death experiences, and more.
Reviewers say: "a travelogue head-scratchingly rich in obscure, sharply observed destinations" (Wall Street Journal). |
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Unbroken : an Olympian's journey from airman to castaway to captive
by Laura Hillenbrand
What it is: A young adult edition of the bestseller documents the story of how Louis Zamperini, a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic athlete and World War II pilot, crashed into the ocean and survived for weeks on a life raft only to become a prisoner of war.
Who it's for: Those interested in a spellbinding celebration of resilience, forgiveness and the human capacity for finding beauty in the unlikeliest places.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Prince George's County Memorial Library System 9601 Capital Lane Largo, Maryland 20774 301-699-3500www.pgcmls.info/ |
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