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Armchair Travel February 2022 |
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| A Thing of Beauty: Travels in Mythical & Modern Greece by Peter FiennesWhat it's about: During a break in the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter Fiennes traveled around Greece, going to places related to mythology and pondering what the ancient stories and sights say to us today.
What happened: Visiting beaches, rural areas, and cities, Fiennes spoke with those he encountered (including the Oracle at Delphi) about hope, beauty, and more.
Don't miss: the evocative descriptions; myth retellings; details about Lord Byron's love of Greece (and a visit to his English home); Fiennes' thoughts about climate change; and the helpful glossary. |
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| South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani PerryWhat it's about: Princeton professor Imani Perry, who was born in Alabama, traveled throughout the southern United States using the region's history and culture as a lens to view the country as a whole.
Why you might like it: Along with travel and history, South to America weaves together musings on race and place and details about Perry's family and life.
Reviewers say: a "saturated, gorgeously written, and keenly revelatory travelogue" (Booklist); "a rich and imaginative tour" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas by Harley RustadWhat it's about: the life and unsolved disappearance of 35-year-old American backpacker and Instagrammer Justin Alexander Shetler, who'd traveled the world and ended up on a spiritual quest in India's remote Parvati Valley, where dozens of tourists have gone missing in recent decades.
Read this next: For another moving book that's part travelogue and part mystery, read The Adventurer's Son by Roman Dial, which details an Alaskan professor's search for his missing son in Costa Rica. |
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| Every Day the River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena by Jordan SalamaWhat it is: the engaging debut of Jordan Salama, who, as part of his college thesis, traveled the 950-mile Magdalena River in Colombia in 2018 and explored the river and the lives of its residents, including a canoe builder, fishermen, a traveling librarian and his donkeys, and biologists studying invasive hippopotamuses.
Reviewers say: "Both complex and achingly beautiful, this outstanding account brims with humanity" (Publishers Weekly).
For fans of: Wade Davis' Magdalena: River of Dreams, another elegant, evocative look at this fascinating river and the people who live around it. |
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Books You May Have Missed
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| Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration by Sara DykmanWhat happened: Outdoor educator and researcher Sara Dykman took a solo bicycle journey (on a bike made from old and recycled parts), from Central Mexico, through the U.S., into Canada, and back to Mexico, following the monarch butterflies on their amazing annual migration.
For fans of: butterflies; cycling; adventuresome travelogues that cover nature and science topics.
Awards buzz: Bicycling with Butterflies recently won a 2021 National Outdoor Book Award. |
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| Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Andrea PitzerThe quest: In the 1590s, Dutch explorer Williams Barents attempted to find a northern route to China by sailing into uncharted Arctic waters.
The problem: The first two attempts didn't go well and the third was worse, leaving Barents and his crew icebound for months while fighting off scurvy, hunger, and polar bears.
Reviewers say: an "impressively researched history" (Publishers Weekly); "a masterful re-creation of a desperate fight for survival...a richly evocative story" (Booklist). |
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| The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert by Shugri Said SalhWhat it is: the evocative memoir of Shugri Said Salh, who was sent to live with her nomadic grandmother in the Somali desert for several years as a child, and who, after civil war broke out in her country, fled to Kenya as a refugee, before settling in Canada and later California.
Why you might like it: Salh movingly shares her memories of roaming the desert and acclimating to new places, and she looks at the power of poetry in nomadic culture and the treatment of girls and women in Somalia. |
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| How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint SmithWhat it is: an acclaimed, thoughtful travelogue detailing author Clint Smith's visits to places connected to slavery in the U.S. that includes discussions with tour guides and visitors as well as eye-opening history.
Locations include: Louisiana's Angola State Prison (including its gift shop), which is located on the site of a former plantation; Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia; Galveston, Texas, where Juneteenth began; various sites in New York City; the House of Slaves in Senegal.
About the author: Clint Smith, a staff writer for The Atlantic, is a New Orleans native, poet, and former high school teacher. |
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