| So Happiness to Meet You: Foolishly, Blissfully Stranded in Vietnam by Karin EsterhammerAfter the 2008 recession hit, L.A. journalist Karin Esterhammer and her husband had little money and lots of debt, so they did something drastic: they moved to Vietnam with their eight-year-old son. Living in a nine-foot-wide back-alley Ho Chi Minh City house, they met welcoming neighbors who helped them...and unabashedly stared into their windows. With quick humor, keen insight into an amazing country, and introductions to lots of fun folks, this delightful book is perfect for those who like family travelogues or fish-out-of-water tales. |
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| Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka KassabovaBulgarian-born poet and writer Kapka Kassabova lives in Scotland, but in Border she describes return visits to Eastern Europe between 2013-2015. In the complex, magical area where Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece meet, Kassabova traveled through mountains, villages, and forests and spoke with former border guards, people who tried to escape Communist Bulgaria, villagers who live near the countries' edges, and incoming refugees fleeing Syria. Clever, lyrical, and acutely observed, this book is a fascinating examination of Eastern European borderlands. For a penetrating look at U.S. borders, seek out Stephanie Elizondo Griest's All the Agents and Saints. |
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Where the Wild Winds Are : Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence
by Nick Hunt
Nick Hunt sets off on an unlikely quest: to follow four of Europe's winds across the continent...His wind-walks begin on Cross Fell, the highest point of the Pennines, as he chases the roaring Helm - the only named wind in Britain. In southern Europe he follows the Bora - a bitter northerly that blows from Trieste through Slovenia and down the Croatian coast. His hunt for the 'snow-eating' Foehn becomes a meandering journey of exhilaration and despair through the Alpine valleys of Switzerland, and his final walk traces an ancient pilgrims' path in the south of France on the trail of the Mistral - the 'wind of madness' which animated and tormented Vincent Van Gogh.
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The 50 Greatest Prehistoric Sites of the World
by Barry Stone
Humanity's written history stretches back only 5,000 years, a mere blip on the timeline of our existence. If you want to know what it really means to be fully human, to see the whole story, you need to go back. Way, way back.Prehistoric humans couldn't write, but they were adept at telling their own stories. On every continent and outpost where they gained a foothold, they left signs for modern man to decipher. From the Middle Bronze Age settlement of Arkaim on the Kazakh Steppes to the temples of the Olmec in Mexico; from one of the first European proto-cities at Nebelivka in Ukraine to the neolithic henges of Avebury and Stonehenge; from the dolmens of Antequera in the heart of Andaluc�a to the megalithic culture that thrived in isolation on Indonesia's tiny Nias Island.
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The Epic City : The World on the Streets of Calcutta
by Kushanava Choudhury
Everything that could possibly be wrong with a city was wrong with Calcutta. When Kushanava Choudhury arrived in New Jersey at the age of twelve, he had already migrated halfway around the world four times. After graduating from Princeton, he moved back to the world which his immigrant parents had abandoned, to a city built between a river and a swamp, where the moisture-drenched air swarms with mosquitos after sundown. Once the capital of the British Raj, and then India's industrial and cultural hub, by 2001 Calcutta was clearly past its prime. Why, his relatives beseeched him, had he returned?
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Ruthless River: Love and Survival by Raft on the Amazon's Relentless Madre de Dios
by Holly FitzGerald
An extended honeymoon traveling around the world is a dream that turns into a nightmare for Holly FitzGerald and her new husband when their plane crashes in a South American jungle in 1973. They survive, but are stuck in a remote town near a penal colony with no way out for months. Told they can easily float down the Madre de Dios river to civilization, they retrofit a raft and set out. All goes well...until a storm puts them off course, stalling the couple in swampy, piranha-infested waters. Peppered with hard-won insights about life and love, this harrowing survival tale is unputdownable.
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Wanderful : The Modern Bohemian's Guide to Traveling in Style by Andrea Lester EatonA stylish lookbook and travelogue for the adventurous and nomadic at heart features nine intimate and exciting road-trip routes that combine the very best sites to see along with a glimpse into the closets of area tastemakers and trendy destinations. Original. 20,000 first printing.
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From Here to Eternity : Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
by Caitlin Doughty
As a practising mortician, and bestselling author of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Caitlin Doughty has long been fascinated by our pervasive terror of dead bodies. In From Here to Eternity she sets out in search of cultures unburdened by such fears. In rural Indonesia, she observes a man clean and dress his grandfather's mummified body. She meets Bolivian natitas (cigarette-smoking, wish-granting human skulls), and introduces us to the Japanese ritual of kotsuage, in which relatives use chopsticks to pluck their loved-ones' bones from cremation ashes. With curiosity and morbid humour, Doughty introduces us to inspiring death-care innovators, participates in powerful death practices almost entirely unknown in the West and explores new spaces for mourning - including a futuristic glowing-Buddha columbarium in Japan, a candlelit Mexican cemetery, and America's only open-air pyre. In doing so she expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with 'dignity' and reveals unexpected possibilities for our own death rituals.
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Kingdoms in the air : dispatches from the far away
by Bob Shacochis
A collection of travel and adventure essays from a National Book Award-winning writer and former war journalist describes his experiences surfing, his obsession with fishing dorado in the rivers of South America and the time he went bushwhacking in Mozambique.
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| The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious... by David LebovitzOoh la la! In a humorous memoir that's "just as tart as it is sweet" (Publishers Weekly), American pastry chef David Lebovitz dishes about living in Paris and provides yummy recipes (Mocha–Crème Fraîche Cake, Dulce de Leche Brownies, etc.). Here's just a taste of Lebovitz's adaptations to his new life in the City of Light -- he begins to shave and dress before taking out the trash, deals with mind-boggling bureaucracy, and makes sure to always greet shopkeepers. Lebovitz's latest book, L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home, comes out in November. If you want another American's look at acclimating to life and cooking overseas, check out Julia Child's classic My Life in France. |
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| On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta by Jen Lin-LiuWhere 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. |
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| Driving Hungry: A Delicious Journey, from Buenos Aires to New York to Berlin by Layne MoslerLayne Mosler takes the idea of catching a cab to dinner to a charming new level. After a disappointing evening in Buenos Aires, she hailed a cab and asked the driver to take her to his favorite restaurant ...where she had one of the best steaks of her life. Building on this idea, she began asking cabbies everywhere where they liked to eat. Moving to New York City, she attended taxi school and began driving a cab herself. Heading to Berlin, she continued to drive and eat -- and eventually met the cabdriver of her dreams. Not just for foodies and fans of Mosler's Taxi Gourmet blog, this honest and lively literary ride around three vibrant cities will appeal to readers who've wondered what the taxi-driving life is like. |
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| The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest... by Michael PaternitiHaving once worked at Michigan's famous Zingerman's Delicatessen, Michael Paterniti never forgot a certain cave-aged sheep's milk cheese. Eventually, he traveled to Guzmán, a rural Spanish village, where he discovered that the amazing cheese said to be "made with love" was no longer being made. 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 world, visiting often in order to savor his stories and dig deeper; Paterniti even moves to Spain with his wife and kids for a time. Chock full of footnotes and digressive passages, this leisurely yet tasty tale will especially please those who enjoy the journey as much as the destination. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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