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Armchair Travel February 2020
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The Immeasurable World: Journeys in Desert Places
by William Atkins
What it is: a lyrical travelogue anchored by history and literature, which describes the British author's travels to eight deserts, where he lived in a straw hut, visited a shrine, and experienced Burning Man.
Deserts include: the United States' Sonoran, China's Gobi, Australia's Great Victoria, and the man-made(!) Aralkum in Kazakhstan.
Want a taste? "Waking in the night to the buzzing of cicadas or the yapping of coyotes, I experience a weight of tranquility that has the quality of a quilt."
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| Wild Life: Dispatches From a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs by Keena RobertsWhat it's about: Keena Robert's funny, tender coming-of-age story vividly details life in two different worlds: wildlife research camps in Kenya and Botswana, where her primatologist parents worked part of the year, and an elite prep school in Philadelphia, where Keena struggled to fit in.
Chapters include: The First Three Times I Almost Died; High School Water Hole; There Are No Doctors Here; Goodbye, Narnia.
For fans of: the delightful Cathedral of the Wild by Boyd Varty, who grew up on a South African game preserve; Alexandra Fuller's moving Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood. |
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| The Seine: The River That Made Paris by Elaine SciolinoWhat it is: an entertaining, smart, and detail-rich look at the Seine River, from its modest Burgundy source to its end at the English Channel.
Don't miss: fascinating details about Paris and the Seine; stories about the ancient goddess Sequana; talks with locals, including a grape grower in Champagne, Paris booksellers, and River Brigade members.
About the author: Elaine Sciolino, a former New York Times Paris bureau chief and the bestselling author of The Only Street in Paris, has been based in France since 2002. |
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Books You May Have Missed
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| Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam HoustonWhat it is: an evocative, lyrical essay collection that discusses life at a 120-acre Colorado Rockies homestead as well as the author's abusive childhood, self discovery, and many travels.
Reviewers say: "Always impressive, Houston is in striking form here" (Booklist); "profound and inspiring" (Kirkus Reviews).
For fans of: Cheryl Strayed's Wild, Terry Tempest Williams’ The Hour of Land, or Dean Kuipers' The Deer Camp. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Michigan City Public Library 100 E. 4th Street Michigan City, Indiana 46360 219-873-3044mclib.org/ |
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