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Armchair Travel December 2017 |
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| Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World by Noah StryckerNoah Strycker had a big 2015 goal: to travel the globe seeing as many bird species as possible (preferably over 5,000, which would break a world record). His delightful Birding without Borders chronicles his travels to over 40 countries on all seven continents, his encounters with interesting local birders and fellow travelers, how he came to love birds as a child, and the history and future of birding. This accessible book isn't just for the bird-obsessed, but for all fans of detail-rich, enlightening, and amusing journeys. |
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| Going into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz ChastIf you love Manhattan or just want to get to know it better, try the latest book by New Yorker cartoonist and bestselling author Roz Chast. Readers will find a quirky, fun illustrated tribute to the Big Apple that discusses everything from empty subway cars (avoid them) to the grid pattern that makes up most of the island. Written to help her suburban daughter, who was moving to Manhattan for college, Going into Town is a lighthearted, informative look at Chast's favorite city. |
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The Range Bucket List : The Golf Adventure of a Lifetime
by James Dodson
Many years ago, when James Dodson was thirteen years old, he wrote himself a list titled “Things to Do in Golf.” It included the golfing aspirations of a young boy who had no idea where life would take him. A few years ago, now in his sixties and one of the most respected golf writers of all time, Dodson rediscovered the piece of paper in an old trunk. Realizing that he had yet to achieve many of his thirteen-year-old dreams, and pondering the things he’d add to the list if he wrote it today, he expanded the list into a golfing “bucket list” of the people and places he had yet to meet and see in the golf world.
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| The Road to Sleeping Dragon: Learning China from the Ground Up by Michael MeyerAs one of China's first Peace Corps volunteers in 1995, Michael Meyer was there when the country was first opening itself to the west. He taught English in Sichuan to people who'd never seen a white person and who thought Americans were evil. Never really leaving China behind, he eventually falls in love with and marries a Chinese woman. Tracing the vast changes he's seen and sharing amusing anecdotes of what he's learned, Meyer provides a fascinating glimpse at his adopted country. Fans of Peter Hessler will want to check out Meyer's work; this is his third book about China. |
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| Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom... by Blaine HardenWith North Korea so much in the news of late, people may wonder what life is like in this closed-off, authoritarian country. You can read the bestselling Escape from Camp 14 for a glimpse. Telling the dramatic story of Shin Dong-hyuk, who was born in one of North Korea's infamous political prisons and is one of the very few people to have escaped, the book describes brutal conditions, where affection is virtually nonexistent and torture, beatings, and starvation are routine. Follow Shin Dong-hyuk as he makes it to South Korea, China, and the U.S. and deals with culture shock. |
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| Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara DemickExamining North Korea under the regime of "dear leader" Kim Jong-il (father of current leader Kim Jong-un), journalist Barbara Demick spent seven years extensively interviewing six North Koreans who had managed to escape from the repressive regime. She tells how the country's schoolchildren sang anthems praising their leader even as many of them suffered from malnutrition, some to the point of dying, and how everyone guarded their secrets and complaints lest the government put them in horrific labor camps. This grim though "strongly written and gracefully structured" (Wall Street Journal) book offers an eye-opening look at a land most of us will never set foot in. |
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A thousand miles to freedom : my escape from North Korea
by n-ju Kim
Eunsun Kim was born in North Korea, one of the most secretive and oppressive countries in the modern world. As a child Eunsun loved her country…despite her school field trips to public executions, daily self-criticism sessions, and the increasing gnaw of hunger as the country-wide famine escalated.
By the time she was eleven years old, Eunsun's father and grandparents had died of starvation, and Eunsun too was in danger of starving. Finally, her mother decided to escape North Korea with Eunsun and her sister, not knowing that they were embarking on a journey that would take them nine long years to complete. Before finally reaching South Korea and freedom, Eunsun and her family would live homeless, fall into the hands of Chinese human traffickers, survive a North Korean labor camp, and cross the deserts of Mongolia on foot.
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| Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki KimThis gripping book reads a bit like a dystopian novel as it vividly depicts life in North Korea. Suki Kim, an award-winning author who was born in South Korea but has lived in the United States since she was a teen, took a job teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class during what turned out to be the last six months of Kim Jong Il's reign. She watched every word she said, kept notes on a secret flash drive, and tried to connect with her students, young men who believed all the propaganda they'd been served and had little idea of what the rest of the world is like. Kim's well-written, thought-provoking examination of this closed-off land offers a rare look at the elite of the country. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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