Armchair Travel
August 2023
Please note: This is the final issue of Armchair Travel. Go to https://www.libraryaware.com/555/Subscribers/Subscribe to subscribe to
our other great newsletters!
 
Recent Releases
The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey Into the Old West
by Will Grant

Hi-yo, Chicken Fry and Badger! Away! With his two delightful horses, cowboy and journalist Will Grant left St. Joseph, Missouri, in 2019, heading for Sacramento, California. He followed the 1860s path that the Pony Express riders took and explored what the route is like today.

Reviewers say: "a paean to the horse and the American West, both of which Grant writes about with beauty and precision" (Washington Post). 

Read this next: For more evocative equine travelogues, pick up Elizabeth Letts' The Ride of Her Life or Rinker Buck's The Oregon Trail. 
Walking With Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain
by Andrew McCarthy

What it is: an intimate, amusing memoir chronicling the ups and downs (both literal and figurative) of actor Andrew McCarthy and his 19-year-old son Sam as they walked Spain's 500-mile Camino de Santiago in 2021.

Don't miss: the historical details, the musings on fatherhood, and the descriptions of the people and places they see.

Read this next: Andrew McCarthy's earlier books, or try Calvin Hennick's Once More to the Rodeo for another thoughtful look at fatherhood, though it's centered around a road trip with a five-year-old.
Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the...
by Melissa L. Sevigny

Branching out: In 1938, two women botanists, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, left the classroom to survey and catalog the plant life of the Grand Canyon...by taking a treacherous trip down the Colorado River.

Don't miss: details on the many barriers they faced, the plants they found, and the history of the area, as well as maps and photos.

Reviewers say: "A beautiful tribute" (Kirkus Reviews); "[Melissa] Sevigny recreates their expedition in novelistic detail" (Publishers Weekly). 
Focus on: Traveling Celebrities
Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other
by Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish

What happens: Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish, stars of the Outlander TV series, explore their Scottish homeland, visiting places like Glencoe, Inverness, and Culloden, using a camper van, boats, bicycles, and more.

Media buzz: Clanlands covers travels in the first season of the fun documentary TV series Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham. 

Be on the lookout for: the soon-to-be-released book sequel, Clanlands in New Zealand, as well as the second season of the TV show.
Greenlights
by Matthew McConaughey

Alright, Alright, Alright: Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey serves up a candid, conversational memoir. 

Why you might like it: While full of stories, advice, and insights, Greenlights is also something of a travelogue, chronicling growing up in Texas, a school year in Australia, life in Hollywood, a trip down the Amazon, visiting Africa, a road trip across America, and more.

Reviewers say: "both calming and laugh, laugh, laugh-out-loud funny" (Washington Post); "entertaining and full of good lessons" (Kirkus Reviews).
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant...
by Nick Offerman

What it is: actor Nick Offerman's memoir covering three trips he took and his thoughts on nature, history, politics, and more.

The trips: a hiking trip to Glacier National Park with two friends, musician Jeff Tweedy and novelist George Saunders; an extended visit to England, where he spent time with farmer and writer James Rebanks; and in 2020, as the pandemic was starting, a road trip around part of the U.S. in an Airstream trailer with his wife, actress Megan Mullally. 

Reviewers say: "At once a travelogue, a manifesto, and a rousing call to get outside" (Esquire).
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Michigan City Public Library
100 E. 4th Street
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
219-873-3044
mclib.org/