Travel Recent Picks

March 2011

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.

To a mountain in Tibet / Colin Thubron.
"Mount Kailas is the most sacred of the world’s mountains – holy to one fifth of humanity. Isolated beyond the central Himalayas, it is claimed by myth to be the source of the universe created from cosmic waters and the mind of Brahma. Its summit has never been scaled, but for centuries the mountain has been ritually circled by Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. Colin Thubron joins these pilgrims, after an arduous trek from Nepal, through the high passes of Tibet, to the magical lakes beneath the slopes of Kailas itself. This haunting and beautiful travel book links Colin Thubron’s sympathetic intuition with the force and poetry of his descriptive writing. He talks to secluded villagers and to monks in their decaying monasteries; he tells the stories of exiles and of eccentric explorers from the West. Yet there is another dimension in To A Mountain in Tibet. Colin Thubron recently witnessed the death of the last of his family. He is walking on a pilgrimage of his own. His trek around the great mountain, revered by multitudinous others, awakes an inner landscape of solitude, love, grief, restoring precious fragments of his own origins. This is travel writing at its consummate best from an author of unsurpassable experience, sensitivity, and sheer lyrical power." (Amazon)

A dip in the ocean : rowing solo across the Indian / Sarah Outen ; foreword by Ellen Macarthur.
"4,000 miles of unpredictable ocean; 500 Mars bars; 124 days of physical exertion; 3 Guinness World Records set; 1 incredible journey. On 1 April 2009, twenty-three-year-old Sarah Outen embarked on an ambitious solo voyage across the Indian Ocean in her rowing boat, Dippers. Powered by the grief of the sudden loss of her father and the determination to live life to the full, Sarah and her tiny boat successfully negotiated wild ocean storms, unexpected encounters with whales and the continuous threat of being capsized by passing container ships. Along the way she broke two oars and lost 20 kg of bodyweight before arriving in Mauritius. She became the first woman and the youngest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean. Life-affirming, funny and poignant, Sarah’s salty tale of courage and endurance will inspire the taste of adventure in everyone." (Amazon)

Just sea and sky : England to New Zealand the hard way / Ben Pester.
"This charming account of the voyage of two men in a small boat half way round the world from Plymouth to New Zealand in 1955 is a rare insight into a time, not long ago, when sailors had no GPS, electronics, radio or any of the mod cons that we take for granted today. Without lifejacket or a liferaft, they 'just took what came along', hand steering all the way, navigating by sextant, hand-cranking their engine and using oil lamps for light at night and for navigation. Sailors will be staggered how primitive conditions were only a few decades ago, even though it was the norm at the time.
Part travelogue and part adventure story, the two friends encountered drunken harbourmasters, the mafia, the legacy of slavery and lost civilisations in the Pacific. Beautifully written, vivid in its descriptions of the two men's exploits ashore and on board, this quirky and entertaining book will be a fascinating read for sailors and non-sailors alike." (Amazon)

India calling : an intimate portrait of a nation's remaking / Anand Giridharadas.
"Reversing his parents' immigrant path, a young American-born writer returns to India and discovers an old country making itself new. Giridharadas brings to life the people and the dilemmas of India today." (Syndetics summary)
"In India Calling, Giridharadas brings to life the people and the dilemmas of India today, through the prism of his émigré family history and his childhood memories of India. He introduces us to entrepreneurs, radicals, industrialists, and religious seekers, but, most of all, to Indian families. He shows how parents and children, husbands and wives, cousins and siblings are reinventing relationships, bending the meaning of Indianness, and enduring the pangs of the old birthing the new. Through their stories, and his own, he paints an intimate portrait of a country becoming modern while striving to remain itself." (Amazon)

Unholy pilgrims : how one man thought walking 800 kilometres across Spain would sort out his life / Tom Trumble.
Tom Trumble and his friend Dave flee the unmade decisions and looming responsibilities of everyday life to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a well-known and well-populated pilgrimage from France into the mountains of Spain.

100 countries, 5000 ideas : where to go - when to go - what to see - what to do / [prepared by the Book Division, National Geographic Society] ; foreword by Rudy Maxa.
"National Geographic has recently produced several themed travel books (e.g., Drives of a Lifetime; Food Journeys of a Lifetime). Although not a coffee-table volume like the previous titles, this guide continues the publisher's efforts to help travelers decide where to go-a difficult topic here made somewhat manageable. The book is divided into three sections: one covering themed destinations, such as cruising, spa vacations, and cultural trips; a portion of alphabetical country overview pages; and an appendix with tables organized by interests, lifestyle, and other considerations like cost, health, and safety. The 100 country overviews make up the bulk of the book and highlight what to see and do, with accompanying lovely photographs. Not all countries are covered; Honduras and Nicaragua are notably missing. Verdict Great for getting a feel for a country and its merits. Recommended for travelers and armchair travelers alike. It should be noted that security advice is a bit dated given recent events in the Middle East and Mexico.-Louise Feldmann, Colorado State Univ. Lib., Fort Collins (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted." (Library Journal)

Great gardens of Italy / Monty Don & Derry Moore..
"...Monty and Derry invite the reader to accompany them on their tour around Italy. Their underlying message is that to appreciate a garden fully you must also know something of the food grown and eaten in the area, of the politics, religion and weather of the region, and of the dreams for the garden's future as well as the glories of its past." (Amazon)

Devon, Cornwall & Southwest England / Oliver Berry ; Belinda Dixon..
Lonely Planet guidebooks.

Fodor's 535 best beaches / [editor, Douglas Stallings]..
535 best beaches in the U.S., Caribbean, and Mexico.
Fodor's travel guides.

Hide & seek. Melbourne. Feeling peckish / [editor, Michelle Bennett]..
Hide & seek Melbourne. This series features four separate books on hidden experiences, shopping, food and nightlife. None of these places will burn a hole in your wallet.

Madrid / Christopher & Melanie Rice..
Eyewitness top 10 travel guides.

Wild Coast : travels on South America's untamed edge / John Gimlette.

Washington, DC / main contributors, Susan Burke and Alice L. Powers..
Eyewitness travel guides.

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