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Armchair Travel October 2022 |
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| Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure by Rinker BuckWhat it is: a fascinating combination of history and travelogue by Rinker Buck, who built a 19th-century-style wooden flatboat and sailed it from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, with the help a small, entertaining crew.
Want a taste? "The inland rivers -- not the wagon ruts crossing from Missouri to Oregon -- were American's first western frontier."
Read this next: the author's The Oregon Trail, Tony Horwitz's Spying on the South, Imani Perry's South to America, or Peter Fox's Northland. |
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A traveler's guide to the stars
by Les Johnson
"The discovery in the last few decades of thousands of exoplanets orbiting nearby stars has made the age-old dream of interstellar travel a newly urgent scientific question. Initiatives like NASA's 100-Year Starship and the billionaire-funded Breakthrough Starshot are now investigating and developing new technologies that could one day enable humans to explore, perhaps even colonize, distant solar systems. This short, accessible book brings readers to the forefront of this new frontier, laying out both the challenges to be navigated and the latest thinking and scientific developments that could allow us to overcome them. NASA scientist Les Johnson begins by surveying the vast, hostile landscape between stars we'll need to traverse: an extremely cold, mysterious expanse rife with harsh radiation and cosmic dust. He describes our first sallies into this sphere with forerunners like the Voyager craft, now well on their way into the interstellar medium, and new extrasolar probes currently being planned that will venture farther beyond our solar system and launch within our lifetimes. He next considers who our interstellar explorers will be-first robots, followed by humans-and what each will entail, before delving into the mind-boggling science of how one would actually propel an interstellar starship. Johnson explains the most promising approaches, from antimatter-powered rockets to the light-filled sails scientists like himself are piloting now, and discusses other design challenges to be overcome like power and communications. The book closes with a chapter exploring the real science of sci-fi and pop culture fixtures like warp drives and wormholes, and a conclusion that considers what it will take as a society to realize our interstellar future"
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Around the world in 80 birds
by Mike Unwin
"This beautiful and inspiring book tells the stories of eighty birds around the world: from the sociable weaver bird in Namibia which constructs huge, multi-nest 'apartment blocks' in the desert, to the bar-headed goose of China, one of the highest-flying migrants which crosses the Himalayas twice a year. Many birds come steeped in folklore and myth, some are national emblems and a few have inspired scientific revelation or daring conservation projects. Each has a story to tell that sheds a light on our relationship with the natural world and reveals just how deeply birds matter to us"
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The Green Planet by Simon BarnesPlants live secret, unseen lives - hidden in their magical world and on their timescale. From the richest jungles to the harshest deserts, from the snowiest alpine forest to the remotest steaming swamp, Green Planet travels from one great habitat to the next, showing us that plants are as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as the animals on our planet. You will discover agents of death, who ruthlessly engulf their host plant, but also those that form deep and complex relationships with other species, such as the desert cacti who use nectar-loving bats to pollinate. Although plants are undoubtedly the stars of the show, a fascinating new light will be shed on the animals that interact with them.
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| Driving Miss Norma: An Inspirational Story About What Really Matters at the End of Life by Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie LiddleStarring: charming nonagenarian Norma; her retired son, Tim; his personable wife, Ramie; and their standard poodle, Ringo.
What happened: After receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis the same week her husband died, Norma decided to forgo a nursing home and invasive chemotherapy to embark on a lively tour of the country with Tim, Ramie, and Ringo in their Airstream RV.
Adventures include: hot air balloon rides, NBA courtside seats, a fêted appearance at the Boston St. Patrick's Day parade, and more. |
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| Dirt: Adventures in Lyon, as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the... by Bill BufordWhat it's about: New Yorker writer Bill Buford worked in the kitchen at Washington, D.C.'s famed Citronelle restaurant to learn about French cooking before moving to Lyon in 2008 with his wife and three-year-old twins to really dig into the subject, and stayed for almost five years.
Who it's for: those who appreciate haute cuisine, stories of families abroad, or vibrant foodie travelogues with amiable guides.
About the author: Buford also wrote about living and cooking in Italy in 2006's Heat. |
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| Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya by Bruce KirkbyFeaturing: Canadian TV journalist Bruce Kirkby, his introverted wife Christine, their highly intelligent autistic seven-year-old son Bodi, and their free-spirited three-year-old son Taj.
What happened: From British Columbia, they slow traveled (no planes!) for three months, making their way to South Korea, India, China, and finally Nepal, staying at a Buddhist monastery for three months.
For fans of: rich, uplifting family travelogues; the Travel Channel's Big Crazy Family Adventure, which covers the first part of their trip. |
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| From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi LockeWhat it is: a poignant, heartfelt memoir by actress Tembi Locke, who fell in love with Saro, an Italian professional chef. Saro's Sicilian family wasn't sure about him marrying a Black American, but as he battled and then succumbed to cancer, Tembi grew closer to them and spent summers in Sicily with the couple's adopted daughter.
Media buzz: An eight-part Netflix series starring Zoe Saldaña arrives this month. Locke and her sister, bestselling crime writer Attica Locke, created, wrote, and produced the show. |
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| We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles WheelanWhat it's about: In 2016, college professor Charles Wheelan, his math teacher wife, 18-year-old daughter, 16-year-old daughter, and 13-year-old son left their New Hampshire home to spend nine months visiting six continents on a budget.
What happened: They visited Colombia, Australia, the Republic of Georgia, India, and other locales while seeing amazing sights, large spiders, and not always getting along with each other.
Read this next: For other entertaining family travelogues, try Dan Kois' How to Be a Family. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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