"I had known long before I rode a covered wagon to Oregon that naïveté was the mother of adventure. I just didn’t understand how much of that I really had." ~ from Rinker Buck's The Oregon Trail
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| The Oregon Trail: an American journey by Rinker BuckRoad trip, old-school style! Though the Oregon Trail fell out of favour with travellers after the transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869, it's still possible to travel the trail from Missouri to Oregon (though some parts are now paved roads). Over 100 years after the last known crossing, journalist Rinker Buck, his brother, and his brother's Jack Russell terrier set out in a covered wagon pulled by mules. Along with riveting details about their four-month, 2,000-mile trip (Terrible thunderstorms! Broken wagon wheels! Helpful strangers!), Buck describes the rich history of the trail and the pioneers who made the journey before him. Reviewers love this book - Kirkus Reviews calls it "frankly hilarious, historically elucidating, emotionally touching, and deeply informative." |
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| Under the same sky: from starvation in North Korea to salvation in America by Joseph Kim with Stephan TaltyIt's no secret that living in North Korea isn't as awesome as its Supreme Leader would have us believe. Providing a searing, matter-of-fact look at life there, Under the Same Sky tells how Joseph Kim's family, like many others, was devastated by the 1990s famine: his father died, his mother sold his sister, and he became a starving street child. Trying to survive, he fought, gambled, stole, and was eventually placed in a brutal detention center. Later, his escape to China by walking over a frozen river and subsequent aid by missionaries eventually led him to the United States. There have been several fascinating books about North Korea in the last few years; some to check out are Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy, Suki Kim's Without You, There Is No Us, and Blaine Harden's Escape from Camp 14. |
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| Pirate hunters: the search for the Golden Fleece by Robert KursonAhoy, there! Looking for adventure and swashbuckling tales of derring-do? Interested in pirates and the modern mateys who seek long-lost ships and loot buried under ocean waves? If the answer's yes, then take the gripping Pirate Hunters prisoner (for a week or so, anyway) and learn about dedicated treasure hunters John Mattera and John Chatterton as well as legendary, technology-eschewing hunter Tracy Bowden. Robert Kurson (author of Shadow Divers, which also features Chatterton) compellingly traces the men's high-stakes quest to find the Golden Fleece, "the greatest pirate ship that had ever sailed," which belonged to notorious English sea captain-turned-pirate Joseph Bannister. For another thrilling read about Caribbean pirates, try Stephan Talty's Empire of Blue Water. |
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Treasured island: a book lover's tour of Britain
by Frank Barrett
A book-lover's journey around the landscapes that shaped and are shaped by Britain's literature. In an unreliable GBP800 Saab with 120,000 miles on the clock, just like Ian Rankin's Edinburgh detective Inspector Rebus, Frank Barrett embarks on a literary quest around Britain in search of his favourite literary settings.
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See San Francisco: through the lens of SFGirlbyBay
by Victoria Smith
Presents the special colourfulness of San Francisco through a series of photographs, depicting shops, markets, flowers, street art, historical buildings, parkland, and the shore line.
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| Driving hungry: a memoir by Layne MoslerTaxi Gourmet blogger Layne 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 favourite restaurant... where she had one of the best steaks of her life. Building on this idea, she began asking cabbies everywhere she went where they liked to eat. Moving to New York City (where her quest did not go well at first), 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, 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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Harry Mount's Odyssey: ancient Greece in the footsteps of Odysseus
by Harry Mount
The powerful ghost of ancient Greece still lingers on in the popular mind as the first great civilisation and one of the most influential in the creation of modern thought. It is the starting block of Western European civilisation. In his new Odyssey, eminent writer Harry Mount tells the story of ancient Greece while on the trail of its greatest son, Odysseus. In the charming, anecdotal style of his bestselling Amo, Amas, Amat and All That, Harry visits Troy, still looming over the plain where Achilles dragged Hector's body through the dust, and attempts to swim the Hellespont, in emulation of Lord Byron and the doomed Greek lover, Leander. Whether in Odysseus's kingdom on Ithaca, Homer's birthplace of Chios or the Minotaur's lair on Crete, Mount brings the Odyssey and ancient Greece back to life.
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Known for his eclectic interests, depth of research, evocative descriptions of landscapes and ideas, and sometimes outrageous humour, Bill Bryson is a hugely popular author, whether his focus is on people and places, history, language, or the nature of the universe. Though Bryson has written other types of books in recent years, he earned his early reputation as a travel writer with his irresistible enthusiasm and ability to be both participant and observer. Those who've never read Bryson but are intrigued by the upcoming movie A Walk in the Woods (based on his book of the same name) can start with any of his travel books (for one that really showcases his talents, try In a Sunburned Country aka Down Under). But if you're eagerly anticipating his first travel book in 15 years, The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island, which is due in early 2016, try one of the humorous books below while you wait.
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| My family and other animals by Gerald DurrellIn this classic memoir (originally published in the 1950s), Gerald Durrell shares his experiences as an English boy and budding naturalist living on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s. Durrell recounts his adventures discovering - and often bringing home - all kinds of creatures (snakes, magpies, butterflies, scorpions, spiders). He also paints a picture of what life on Corfu was like at that time, shares tales of the locals, and describes living with his humorously eccentric family (including his brother, novelist Lawrence Durrell, who also wrote a memoir about life on the island, Prospero's Cell). If you enjoy Bill Bryson's humorous memoirs about ex-pats abroad, you should pick up this timeless book. |
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The geography of bliss: one grump's search for the happiest places in the world
by Eric Weiner
Part foreign affairs discourse, part humour, and part twisted self-help guide, this book takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author's case, moments of "un-unhappiness." The book uses a mixture of travel, psychology, science and humour to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Singapore benefit psychologically by having their options limited by the government? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina, so darn happy?
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| The sex lives of cannibals: adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten TroostWhen 26-year-old J. Maarten Troost's girlfriend accepted a temporary position in the tiny island nation of Kiribati, he decided to tag along, fully expecting to spend the next two years in a tropical paradise. Upon arrival, however, Troost quickly discovered the reality of life on the atoll: suffocating heat, polluted waters, exotic diseases, and a distinct lack of modern conveniences. As Troost entertainingly (some would say hilariously) recounts the difficulties of adjusting to life in Kiribati, he also reveals a growing appreciation for his new home and its people. Publishers Weekly calls The Sex Lives of Cannibals a "comic masterwork of travel writing." Readers of Bill Bryson or those who avidly watch TV's Globe Trekker will certainly want to check this out. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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