Travel Recent Picks
November 2009
The title-underlined links will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.
One square inch of silence : one man's search for natural silence in a noisy world, by Gordon Hempton and John Grossmann.
"...One Square Inch of Silence alerts us to beauty that we take for granted and sounds an urgent environmental alarm. Natural silence is our nation's fastest-disappearing resource, warns Emmy-winning acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton, who has made it his mission to record and preserve it in all its variety -- before these soul-soothing terrestrial soundscapes vanish completely in the ever-rising din of man-made noise. Recalling the great works on nature written by John Muir, John McPhee, and Peter Matthiessen, this beautifully written narrative, co-authored with John Grossmann, is also a quintessentially American story -- a road trip across the continent from west to east in a 1964 VW bus. But no one has crossed America like this. Armed with his recording equipment and a decibel-measuring sound-level meter, Hempton bends an inquisitive and loving ear to the varied natural voices of the American landscape -- bugling elk, trilling thrushes, and drumming, endangered prairie chickens. He is an equally patient and perceptive listener when talking with people he meets on his journey about the importance of quiet in their lives. By the time he reaches his destination, Washington, D.C., where he meets with federal officials to press his case for natural silence preservation, Hempton has produced a historic and unforgettable sonic EKG of America." (Amazon)
Remarkable creatures : epic adventures in the search for the origins of species, by Sean B. Carroll. (2009)
"In 1809, when Darwin was born, much of the world was an unexplored wilderness. Our knowledge of the past was nonexistent, and our picture of our species' history little more than a set of fantastic myths and fairytales. But a new era was dawning. Five decades later, "On the Origin of the Species" was able to draw on the pioneering work of explorers and naturalists to produce a theory that revolutionized our conception of our world. And the revolution didn't stop with the publication of Darwin's masterwork.150 years later, his 'dangerous idea' is still headline news, denied by many, capable of enraging and dividing, even as biologists decipher the 3-billion-year history of life as written in our very DNA. This book tells the stories of the most dramatic adventures and important discoveries in two centuries of natural history - from Alexander von Humboldt's epic journeys in South America to the hi-tech genome-reading projects making headlines today - and how they gave birth to and have nourished the evolution revolution." (Amazon)
Eat my globe, by Simon Majumdar. (2009)
"Simon is obsessed with food. He is able to remember every meal he has ever eaten and comes from a family of food lovers whose relationships are all based around food. In the midst of a mid-life crisis, Simon Majumdar decided to pack in his 9 to 5 day job and embark on a trip of a lifetime: to go everywhere and eat everything.
Part travelogue, part memoir EAT MY GLOBE is a culinary tour of the world that Simon has always dreamed of making. From Philly Cheese steak in the US to mouldy shark in Iceland, he crosses the globe in search of variety and the ultimate taste experience. He also meets a fascinating array of peope, whose foodie passion impresses even Simon. Both witty and inspirational, EAT MY GLOBE is an eye-opening look at the world through food." (Amazon)
Rifling through my drawers, by Clarissa Dickson-Wright. (2009)
"With her inimitable wit and outspoken views, Clarissa Dickson Wright opens her diary and takes us on a journey around Britain with this unrivalled collection of stories and anecdotes from her ever-eventful life. As celebrated cook and champion of the countryside, Clarissa's year includes being propositioned by a burly greyhound courser, meeting the Chairman of the Sandringham branch of the WI, a fishing terrier called Kipper and taking on the Health & Safety officials at a rain-drenched County Show. Criss-crossing the country she introduces us to long-forgotten traditions and colourful local festivals as she meets up with extraordinary characters and friends old and new. Entertaining, poignant, but never politically correct, Rifling Through My Drawers is a breath of fresh air and proves once again why Clarissa is one of the nation's true treasures." (Amazon)
DVD
Stephen Fry in America [videorecording], a West Park Pictures Production with BBC Wales. (2009)
"Britain's comic genius, Stephen Fry travels around each of America's states in a black cab in order to discover, in his own inimitable style, what makes the country unique and to get under the skin of American life. His journey across the vast country takes him to a whiskey distillery in Kentucky, lava fields in Hawaii, an Amish community in Wisconsin and a brothel in Nevada, as well as hunting in New York State, sailing on an America's Cup boat in Rhode Island, basket weaving with Navajo Indians and meeting environmental activists in Oregon. Stephen is shown the country by its proud citizens as he drives across the continent uncovering the idiosyncrasies that makes each state individual and the similarities that make America distinct" - Container.
Sea of dangers : Captain Cook and his rivals, by Geoffrey Blainey. (2009)
"Renowned Australian historian Blainey (A Short History of the World) homes in on a detailed account of the 1768–1771 exploratory voyage of English navigator Capt. James Cook and the contemporaneous voyage of the rival French captain Jean de Surville through the same previously uncharted waters." (Amazon)
Along the enchanted way : a Romanian story, by William Blacker. (2009)
Off the tourist trail : 1,000 unexpected travel alternatives, foreword by Bill Bryson.
Travel with children, Lonely Planet Publications. (2009)
Down, across & up : an epic kiwi adventure around New Zealand on horseback, by Genevieve and Kerrin Revell ; with proceeds to CanTeen.
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