Memorial Hall Library |
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Armchair Travel February 2017
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| Grape, Olive, Pig: Deep Travels through Spain's Food Culture by Matt GouldingMarried to a Spanish woman, American foodie (and friend to Anthony Bourdain) Matt Goulding has lived in Spain for over six years and knows a lot about the country and its gastronomic offerings. In this excellent book, he serves up personal stories of his life and travels, short biographies of fascinating Spanish people, tips of what to eat and drink (hint: forget Sangria), lovingly describes sensuous meals (some at famed restaurants), and presents a celebration of the culture and cuisine of every region of Spain. With mouth-watering descriptions of tapas, acorn-fed pig, paella, and more, readers are advised to have a delicious snack available to go with this evocative travelogue. Interested in Japan? He gives it a similar (though less intimate) treatment in Rice, Noodle, Fish. |
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| The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas PrestonThough he's probably better known as the co-author of the suspenseful Pendergast novels, Douglas Preston also writes thrilling nonfiction. In his latest real-life adventure tale, he gives us a high-octane account of his travels in Honduras' Mosquitia area, where he's part of a team looking for evidence of the fabled Ciudad Blanca (The White City) aka The Lost City of the Monkey God -- but the group has to deal with unfriendly soldiers, parasites, jaguars, snakes, insects, and more. Fans of David Grann's Lost City of Z will surely want to check out Preston's compelling latest; those who'd like more on Mosquitia can pick up William Carlsen's fascinating Jungle of Stone, where he traces the footsteps of two 19th-century explorers, who were the first Euro-Americans to find evidence of the sophisticated Mayan civilization. |
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| A Space Traveler's Guide to the Solar System by Mark ThompsonIf you want to travel to a really out-of-this-world locale, why not go, well, out of this world? Though we can't hop on a rocket to Mars (yet), this inviting book by Mark Thompson, a celebrated astronomer and presenter of the BBC's Stargazing Live, lets readers imagine that they are taking a galactic tour. After flight planning, travelers will move through our solar system, exploring the sun, planets, moons and asteroid belts and learning how humans might survive, navigate, and get fuel on such a trip. Fans of The Martian (Andy Weir's novel and/or the movie version of it) who want a factual, more wide-ranging look at humans in space will find this fantastic journey entertaining and enlightening. |
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| The World Is a Carpet: Four Seasons in an Afghan Village by Anna BadkhenEven in the midst of war and invasion, Turkoman weavers have created gorgeous carpets for centuries (Marco Polo loved them). In Oqa, Afghanistan, a tiny desert village so remote that it's not on the maps created by the regional government, award-winning journalist Anna Badkhen traces the path of one carpet, from beginning (the purchase of yarn) to its fruition (months of intricate weavings that reflect life and village events) to its journey to market. The resulting book provides a compelling portrait of a town where hunger is common, people believe the world is flat, and American fighter planes fly overhead. Like Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers, this elegantly written look at a group of neighbors in incredibly trying circumstances portrays fascinating people you won't soon forget. |
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| Champagne Baby: How One Parisian Learned to Love Wine -- and Life -- the American Way by Laure DugasThere are plenty of stories about Americans in Paris, but here's a delightful tale of a Parisian in America! In this charming version of the fish-out-of-water memoir, Laure Dugas -- a young French woman who has little interest in wine even though she hails from a family of winemakers -- is offered the chance to move to New York City to represent her uncle's company. She immediately accepts...even though she knows little English and little about wine. Learning as she goes, intrepid Laure gets acclimated (even working as a waitress for a month), explores Manhattan, travels across the United States for her job, misses her quintessentially French boyfriend, learns about herself, and develops a passion for the intricacies of wine. Open and enjoy -- santé! |
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Bad news : last journalists in a dictatorship
by Anjan Sundaram
Recounts the author's time running a journalist training program in Kigali, Rwanda, detailing the climate of fear in the nation springing from the government's brutal treatment of any voice of dissent
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Memorial Hall Library 2 North Main Street Andover, MA 01810 978-623-8400
www.mhl.org
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