New Armchair Travel Books

[Sarah Wild]

Armchair Travel

"People don't take trips -- trips take people." ~ John Steinbeck (1902-1968), American author, Travels with Charley Casting Off : How a City Girl Found Happiness on the High Seas  by Emma Bamford As a journalist for the Independent, Emma Bamford is swept along with the London rat race, lost amongst the egos of Fleet Street. Surrounded by budget cuts and bullies, the thrill of a breaking news story is no longer enough. And at 31, still struggling to get to a fourth date and surrounded by friends settling down to married life and babies, Emma decides to grasp her life by the roots and reclaim her freedom...by running away to sea and joining a complete stranger (and his cat) on a yacht in Borneo. She discovers the supreme awkwardness of sharing a tiny space with total strangers, the unimaginable beauty of paradise islands and secret jungle rivers, glimpses lost tribes, works all hours for demanding superyacht owners, and has a terrifyingly near miss with pirates.    The Emperor Far Away: Travels at the Edge of China by David Eimer China borders 14 countries, and its outer lands are home to many of its 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities. Numbering around 100 million, these people often face discrimination from the government and have fewer opportunities than the Han Chinese majority. British journalist David Eimer, who lived and worked in China for years, wanted to give a voice to some of these overlooked people, so he traveled around China's edges, visiting with them and even crossing borders to see how their ethnic brothers fared in other countries. Reporting from the Islamic area of Xinjiang province, the forbidden zone of Tibet, and other places like them, Eimer provides a unique view of an unfamiliar China in this "swift-moving, colorful account" (Kirkus Reviews).  101 places in Italy : a private grand tour  by Francis Russell This personal, and wonderfully well-informed, selection of the most rewarding towns, cities, villages, and individual monuments in Italy is the definitive guidebook for the discerning traveler. The author knows Italy intimately, has been studying and writing about Italian art all his life, and is the perfect companion for those who want to know about more than the obvious attractions. In a book that will educate and astonish the frequent traveller as surely as it will guide and inform the first-time visitor, the author chooses and explores palaces and gardens, city squares and lonely churches, frescoes and altarpieces, great museums and tiny ruins that together provide a richly textured portrait of a country where the history and patterns of civilization lie more thickly than anywhere else on earth. Berlin by Rory MacLean Chronicles Berlin's volatile history over 500 years through a series of intimate portraits of two dozen key residents, including the dictators who schemed to dominate Europe; iconic mythmakers like Christopher Isherwood, Leni Riefenstahl and David Bowie; and a fearful Communist Party functionary who helped to build the Berlin Wall. Exploring within the Genre - Focus on - "Ghosts" Headhunters on my doorstep : a true treasure island ghost story  by J. Maarten Troost  Recounts the author's misadventures following in the footsteps of idol Robert Louis Stevenson in the South Pacific, describing how his efforts to pursue sobriety in exotic locales enabled him to reconnect with family and the world's beauty Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart Readers may recognize Neil Peart's name -- after all, he's been the drummer and lyricist for the mega-popular Canadian rock band Rush for three decades. But even a rock star sometimes wants to give it all up, and Peart did (for a time). One rainy August morning in 1998, Peart left home because his "life depended on it." Grieving the deaths, over the course of a 10-month period, of his beloved 19-year-old daughter in a car accident and her mother from cancer, he set out on his motorcycle with no destination in mind. He ended up traveling more than 55,000 miles over the course of 14 months through various parts of North and Central America, including Quebec, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Mexico, and Belize.Library Journal says "Peart's writing is lyrical and his tale poignant."  Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux In the 1970s, author Paul Theroux took a railroad trip through Eastern Europe, Asia, India, China, Japan, and Siberia, and wrote about his adventures in The Great Railway Bazaar, a book that became a modern travel classic. More than 30 years later, he revisited the past and recreated his journey, which revealed the dramatic changes that had occurred since the writing of his original travelogue. Publishers Weekly says, "no matter where his journey takes him, Theroux always sends back dazzling post cards." Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is a must-read for fans of Theroux, travel, and trains.