Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/25/2013
ISBN-13: 9781594487262
ISBN-10: 159448726X

Where did noodles originate and how did they spread? (Contrary to popular belief, Marco Polo had nothing to do with it.) In this "footloose, spontaneous, and appetite-whetting journal of culinary adventure" (Kirkus Reviews), Jen Lin-Liu, a recently married Chinese-American cooking instructor based in Beijing, travels the famed Silk Road in search of answers. Sampling regional dishes in the homes of generous local women in China, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Italy, and other locations, she savors the food and companionship and muses on noodles, love, and what being a wife means to her and to her hosts. Pasta-loving travelers will likely find this scrumptious book, which includes some recipes, mouthwatering.

Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/30/2013
ISBN-13: 9780385337007
ISBN-10: 0385337000

Having once worked as a part-time proofreader at Michigan's famous Zingerman's Delicatessen, Michael Paterniti never forgot a deliciously described cave-aged sheep's milk cheese he'd read about then. Eventually, he traveled to Guzmán, a rural Spanish village, where he discovered the amazing cheese that was "made with love" was no longer being made. The charismatic, larger-than-life farmer/cheesemaker, Ambrosio Molinos de las Hera, tells him he was betrayed by his partner, ruining the business. Paterniti quickly becomes enmeshed in Ambrosio's fascinating world, visiting often in order to savor his stories and dig deeper into his life; Paterniti even moves to the village with his wife and kids for a time. Chock full of footnotes and digressive passages, this leisurely yet tasty tale will best please those who enjoy the journey.

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Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/23/2013
ISBN-13: 9781250014696
ISBN-10: 1250014697

Traveling goes to the dogs in this funny, heartwarming book. As if driving from California to Maine wasn't ambitious enough, crime novelist David Rosenfelt and his wife were also transporting 25 dogs (it could have been more -- they once owned over 40). The couple, who run a dog rescue foundation, together with volunteers (including fans of the author's Andy Carpenter mysteries) set off in three RVs. This charming though sometimes sad memoir narrated in the author's amusing, self-deprecating style traces the cross-country journey, describes how he got involved with dog rescue, and showcases some of the wonderful canines that he has known and loved over the years.

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Publisher: Gotham Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/20/2013
ISBN-13: 9781592407897
ISBN-10: 1592407897

Reading travelogues, it sometimes seems as if travel writers lead charmed lives. But "everyone has problems" as J. Maarten Troost points out, and then shares one of his: alcoholism. After a stint in rehab, the amiable and witty Troost once again makes his way to remote Pacific islands (read the delightful The Sex Lives of Cannibals and Getting Stoned with Savages for details of his earlier trips). Following in the footsteps of his newfound literary idol, Robert Louis Stevenson, Troost meanders around the South Pacific, describing his travels, encounters with locals and other travelers, and his efforts to pursue sobriety in the exotic locales of the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, Tahiti, Kiribati, and Samoa. "Simultaneously informative, funny, and introspective" (Library Journal), Troost's latest will surely resonate with readers who have an addiction of their own.

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Publisher: W.W. Norton
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/27/2011
ISBN-13: 9780393078947
ISBN-10: 0393078949

Paris isn't just a City of Light -- it's also a gateway to France's well-preserved and often colorful past. Thanks to various train trips (metro, high-speed TGV) that can be completed in less than one day, American-in-Paris Ina Caro (who explored French history via car in an earlier book) describes 25 well-researched outings that span 700 years of French history. Arranged chronologically, she visits everywhere from the Place de la Concorde and Saint-Denis to Chartres, Orléans, and Versailles and shares illuminating historical tidbits in this "charming" (Publishers Weekly) travelogue.

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Publisher: Yale University Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/31/2011
ISBN-13: 9780300154085
ISBN-10: 0300154089

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward J. Larson uses the lens of science to offer a fresh look at Antarctic exploration in this fascinating book. With chapters centered on various scientific disciplines (biology, geography, geology, meteorology, paleontology, etc.), he shows that while Norwegian Roald Amundsen may be the one who got to the South Pole first, it was because he wasn't interested in much more than that, while the expeditions led by Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton had scientific exploration at their core -- and what they found changed the way we look at the world. Though this story has been told before, "Larson provides enough fresh perspective that even devotees of polar literature will learn things" (The New York Times).

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Publisher: Vintage Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/10/2008
ISBN-13: 9780307280572
ISBN-10: 0307280578

Armchair travelers fascinated by modern European history would do well to pick up In Europe, an international bestseller. Translated from Dutch, this travelogue/history book chronicles journalist Geert Mak's adventure crisscrossing Europe in 1999 in order to discover the state of the continent at the end of the 20th century. Visiting such varied locales as London, Paris, Istanbul, Chernobyl, Budapest, and Sarajevo, he uses interviews as well as diaries, newspaper reports, and other sources to explore the events, people, and places that transformed the continent over the previous 100 years. Booklist says that "Mak moves thoroughly but nimbly through both time and location."

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Publisher: Harper Perennial
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/07/2010
ISBN-13: 9780061873478
ISBN-10: 0061873470

Talk about proving your love: in 1900, British explorer Ewart Grogan spent two years crossing Africa on foot, from Capetown to Cairo, in order to prove to his beloved's family that he was worthy of her. Over 100 years later, as his own wedding loomed and his mixed emotions about marriage roiled, travel writer Julian Smith attempted to retrace Grogan's journey (albeit using boats, taxis, buses, and such). This page-turner will interest readers of dual tales featuring explorers, such as David Grann's The Lost City of Z, as well as those who like intriguing tales about African quests, such as Tahir Shah's In Search of King Solomon's Mines.