July - Travel

Summer brings to mind long lazy days and travel near and far. Travel is our theme for the month, either travel in historic times or time travel would fit the bill as we read through time.

Well, I don't have anything that fits the bill on my shelves for either time travel or travel in historic times. I think I'm going to read The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time which is the story of 2 friends traveling across the U.S. in search of typos on signs, menus, etc. I've had this book since 2010 and I'm going to squeeze it in this category. I'm on a no-buy book diet!

>2 Tess_W: Good luck with your no-buy book diet, Tess. That sounds like an interesting one.

>2 Tess_W: >3 Familyhistorian: I'll second that thought and wish you good luck, Tess. I have also been trying the same book diet this year. :-)

Since I own the book, I am considering reading Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper for the travel theme. It is set during 1973 which is long enough in the past to loosely qualify as historical.

I will probably read The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson since I don't expect to get it read for the TBRCAT or the SFFkit this month.

>5 This-n-That: The '70s is definitely historical. You only have to look at the clothes to realize that! Really anything before cell phones qualifies, IMO.

>6 sallylou61: Best of luck with your classical read.

>3 Familyhistorian:
>4 This-n-That:

I was actually on a book diet for about 2-3 years in a row and lowered my TBR from 1000 to less than 600. However, earlier this year I found 15 books on my ereader that I had not added to to my library. So......I'm now sitting at 602 and really need to get that number down before the end of the year. I only wish I could go on a food diet that was as successful!

>2 Tess_W: What the heck? I say this as someone who has sat in a restaurant and “settled”(as we legislative counsel say) the menu. I cannot imagine doing it for real for fear of getting my lights punched out.

>10 haydninvienna: I've not yet read the book, but I believe that did happen a few times!

I have a few books that I am hoping to get to next month that will fit this theme starting with a re-read of an old favorite, The Way West by A.B. Guthrie. I also am hoping to get to Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon and Walkabout by James Vance Marshall.

>9 Tess_W: I don't know that I could do that but sounds like you were very successful at it, Tess.

>12 DeltaQueen50: Those all sound like good choices, Judy. Maybe I should figure out what I am going to read, hmm.

I think I'm going to reread Travels With Charlie by John Steinbeck its been a long time since I read it the first time.

>2 Tess_W: I enjoyed that one when I read it - last year, I think! Hope you do, too!

Options for me:

The Day the World Came to Town / Jim Defede (9/11 - not that long ago, but involved a historical event)
Dead Mountain / Donni Eichar
Titanic Survivor / Violet Jessop

I read The Great Typo Hunt. It is the story of 2 grammar fanatics who cross the U.S. in search of finding typos and correcting them. Most are apostrophe and spelling errors. Most of the book is quite amusing and of course the language is delightful. It does slow down for a few chapters when the friends ponder such great questions as: who created the grammar rules, why do we as a nation have to follow them, etc. But all in all it was an amusing non-fiction read. 288 pages 3 stars

>15 clue: That sounds like a good one!

>17 LibraryCin: Does any of those appeal more than the other? If so, I would start there.

>18 Tess_W: Were they looking at signs or were there other places where they found the typos, Tess?

>21 Familyhistorian: Mostly signage, but also menus. They even found some on T-shirts-which they couldn't do anything about.

>22 Tess_W: Oh yes, menus. That reminds me of the menu listing for "sweat and sour pork" in one place that we go to.

>20 Familyhistorian: Sometimes I post here first, THEN go check to see what my library has available. :-)

I'm leaning toward "The Day the World Came to Town" and I have put it on hold. I think it also fits for another challenge. If I have time, my second choice is "Titanic Survivor".

>23 Familyhistorian: LOL! That doesn't sound so appealing!

>24 LibraryCin: Two challenges with one book is always a plus.

>25 LibraryCin: The mental visuals for that aren't very appetizing!

>23 Familyhistorian: I think they found one that advertised nice cold "sweat" tea. Ewwwwwwwwww!

>27 Tess_W: Not the reaction the makers of the menu were going for!

I love Travels with Charlie and it has been a long time since I first read it!

>29 cfk: Sounds like a good one. I have seen quite a few posts on LT about it and all were favourable.

Scanning my shelves I came upon The Journals of Lewis and Clark, edited and interpreted by Bernard DeVoto. The book has been edited for the general reader, based on the first one, Original Journals of The Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, “which runs to seven volumes of text and a volume of maps.” My volume has 478 pages and no maps.

By the way, my husband and I loved Travels with Charlie. I recommended the book to my boss at the time, even giving him my paperback copy. He informed me he didn’t like John Steinbeck. However, he read it, highly praised it, and kept my book!

I just found out from further examination that my Lewis and Clark does have a few maps — I’m happy to say.

>31 marell: It's fun seeing what will fit the challenge on our own shelves, isn't it? The Journals of Lewis and Clark looks like a good one.

Yes, it is fun. I’m trying to read more from my shelves.

It was the perfect evening for sitting outside and reading the short book, Walkabout by James Vance Marshall. Originally published in 1959, this story is about two children who survive a plane crash but are stranded in the Australian outback. A young aborigine helps them to survive and sets them on their journey to return to civilization.

>34 DeltaQueen50: I've seen this book reviewed several times, I think it's a BB for me!

>35 Tess_W: It's a very short book of about 130 pages so very easy to squeeze in. There was actually more depth to the story than I expected, I'll look forward to your thoughts on it.

>34 DeltaQueen50: Walkabout looks like a good one, Judy. I can see why they used the title but I had no idea what the book was about as from the title I would think it was just about some guy walking about Australia.

>34 DeltaQueen50: There is also a very atmospheric movie made by Nicolas Roeg back in 1971.

>37 Familyhistorian: I think Walkabout would classify more as a morality tale than an actual travel book, but the author's descriptions of the Australian outback are excellent.

>38 MissWatson: I would love to see that movie! I will have to keep my eyes open in case it shows up at some point.

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland / Jim DeFede
4.25 stars

Gander, Newfoundland has about 10,000 people. It was once a hub for airliners to stop to refuel, so it has lots of space for large aircraft. On 9/11, when the terrorists took down the Twin Towers in New York, air space in all of the United States was closed. Flights already in the air were ordered to land as soon as possible. 38 planes chose to, or were ordered to, land in Gander, adding 7,000 people in to the community who ended up staying for a few days before being able to get back on flights to continue on (or go back).

When Gander declared a state of emergency, people were housed at schools, churches, and anywhere else that had room, while flight crews took over all the hotel rooms. The people in Gander donated hours of their time, items from their homes, food, and places to stay for some of the stranded passengers. Friendships (and maybe even at least one romance) were formed.

The book was published in 2002, about a year after the events of the day. Some of the people the book followed included: a husband and wife returning from Kazakhstan with a little girl they’d just adopted; there was the parents of a missing firefighter in New York; there was royalty; there was a couple of higher-up people in well-known companies; there were a few Jewish people, in a town where most of the people had never met a Jewish person before, and more. I hadn’t thought about the animals that were on those planes, in the cargo hold!

I’m Canadian. I grew up in a small town, and can see people reacting as the people of Gander did, doing everything they could do to help. 9/11 itself is an emotional topic, though I have no close personal connections to New York. This was emotional, it made me feel proud to be Canadian, to read about everything the people in Gander had done.

I listened to the audio book, so I missed out on some photos that were included in the book. Overall, a really good (and emotional) account of what some of the people who were flying that day went through when they landed in a small isolated town in Eastern Canada.

>40 LibraryCin: What an interesting pick for the travel theme! I hadn't thought why so many planes were diverted to Gander until you pointed out that it was set up for refueling large airplanes. I should know having stopped there many times when it was a refueling stop.

I agree about the proud to be Canadian feeling that was a result of taking in so many displaced airplanes. We felt it too on the other end of the country when Vancouver Airport also played host to many stranded planes and passengers.

>42 LibraryCin: I agree about the proud to be Canadian feeling that was a result of taking in so many displaced airplanes. We felt it too on the other end of the country when Vancouver Airport also played host to many stranded planes and passengers.

Yeah, I imagine you would have! And I wasn't even there - at either coast!

Of course, planes went to St. John's as well, and I imagine other airports on the coast, and it sounds like even as far inland as Toronto. I suppose if there was something coming to/from Alberta or Sask (where I am now and where I grew up), or flying over the Prairies (not sure how many flights would have been flying over), there may have been a few flights that had to stop there, as well.

>41 Familyhistorian: I do tag my books, but not till I'm finished. I did tag this one "travel" as well as "history" and I do try to find books tagged history for this group, in addition (of course) to whatever the monthly theme is, so it really does fit.

I just realised that my graphic novel, L'épervier, fits here, as it is a story about a French captain in the 18th century crossing the Atlantic in pursuit of villains on a treasure hunt in Guyana, and it also involves treks through the jungle.

>42 LibraryCin: I would imagine that all of the airports in Canada took what they could. Vancouver would have been full with all the Asian flights that had been headed into the US.

>44 MissWatson: That's more than one mode of travel and quite a lot of distance covered so it definitely fits the theme!

Finished The Satapur Moonstone which I started for the June calendar cat but didn't finish until July. I'm posting here because more than the mystery or the 1920’s feminism, this is a fascinating look at the various modes of travel through the forests outside of Bombay. Whether by train, luxury car, palanquin or horseback, the author takes you through the passing scenery and reveals the challenges of the environment in communicating with one's neighbors or rulers as the case may be. This is the second in a series and I enjoyed the slow pace for a summer read. 4*

>47 beebeereads: I love it when a read fulfills multiple challenges!

I have completed my read of The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. This was a re-read of a book that I first read around forty years ago. I credit this as being one of the books that turned me on to historical fiction and, in particular, the story of American expansion. It stands the test of time and is still a wonderful read.

>49 DeltaQueen50: Isn't it wonderful when books stand the test of time?

>50 Familyhistorian: Absolutely, Meg. I am looking forward to continuing on with my re-reads of his western series.

>51 DeltaQueen50: I hope the rest of the series is just as good, Judy.

Karl May tried his hand at pretty much every genre of popular fiction in the late 19th century, until he struck paydirt with his travel writings, the fictional accounts of a German traipsing across the globe. Still very popular today, although for modern tastes the hero is an insufferable show-off. I started with the first of these books, Durch Wüste und Harem where he explores the Sahara and travels through Egypt and Iraq and has lots of adventures.

>53 MissWatson: I had never heard of Karl May and had to look him up on google. He sounds like a larger than life character himself.

>54 Familyhistorian: Yes, he had a very checkered career, and of course he was vilified by stuffy teachers. But I am sure many boys felt inspired to take up studying foreign languages as a result of reading his books.

I've spent the last few days glued to my computer and Google Maps as I read Blue Highways: A Journey Into America. This was an excellent, although slightly dated travelogue.

>56 DeltaQueen50: That looks interesting, Judy, and kudos to you for being an interactive reader.

Space travel for this one!

Packing for Mars / Mary Roach
4 stars

In Mary Roach’s usual style, she takes a humourous look at NASA and space travel in this one, looking at some of the things that most of us just don’t think about when it comes to travelling in zero-gravity. She looks at using the “toilet”, eating, sex, throwing up, hygiene, and more.

This did, of course, include some history of space travel, as well. I hadn’t even realized when I started reading it a few days ago that the 50th anniversary of the walk on the moon was yesterday, while I was in the middle reading this – good timing for me! In the first chapter, it was interesting to read about how they made the flag “fly” (with no gravity!) on the moon, and also how to even pack it to bring with them, with the limited space available. There was one real transcript of three astronauts having a discussion when one of them noticed a “turd” flying in the air – omg, I couldn’t stop laughing and crying reading that transcript! Kept me from continuing to read for at least 5 minutes, if not more!! This, and “Stiff” are my favourites of the ones I’ve read by her so far.

>58 LibraryCin: How appropriate to read a book for space travel on the flight to the moon's 50th anniversary. Sounds like an interesting one!

I’m currently reading a nonfiction book about travel for this month’s theme but I recently finished The Darwin Affair which had a fair amount of travel in it as well. It was a murder mystery involving a conspiracy in the highest echelons of British Society. Albert, the Prince Consort, was an admirer of Darwin and put his name forth on the yearly list to receive a knighthood. Albert became a target of some of the most powerful men in English Society and his assassination was planned during a state visit which Albert and Queen Victoria take to his homeland in Germany. The descriptions of the Royal Entourage travelling across Europe were interesting and entertaining.

>59 Familyhistorian: I know, right!? And I had no idea!

"A Trail Through Time" by Jodi Taylor. Ricocheting from the Battle of Agincourt (where she died) into the arms of her deceased love near London, to ancient Egypt and Pompeii...pursued by the Time Police. Psychic whiplash anyone? Oh, and then there was England during the plague.

This series provides it all: love, sex, betrayal, violence, death and general mayhem--all in the name of St. Mary's Institute os Historical Research.

>62 cfk: I looks like a good one, which reminds me that I have to get back to the St Marys series.

My nonfiction travel book was Road Through Time: The Story of Humanity on the Move which started with the author's own childhood journey and then segued back to early man and a plausible story about how and why the Red Sea was first crossed. From there to the present day the author looked at travel through time.

It was a unexpected pleasure to finally take Riding With Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books by Ted Bishop off the shelf and read it. It has been on my TBR list for a long long time - maybe since I joined LT. I started reading this one for my real life book discussion group. Each summer we do a round robin book talk of a travel book and this summer I chose this title. I wanted to read something about transportation not in a car, and wasn't in the mood for another snippy Paul Theroux train book. I remembered we had this book in the library and so went and got it. It turned out to be a fun read.

The author is an English Professor at the University of Edmonton whose specialty is early modern English literature. He is also a motorcycle rider. The book is about a literary trip he took by motorcycle from his home in Edmonton to Austin, Texas to do some work in the Stirling Archives. He had purchased a Ducati motorcycle and it was his inaugural trip with that machine. Along the way he stopped at other literary places of interest -like the New Mexico ranch of D. H. Lawrence. In the course of the book, he took a trip to Europe for a literary conference and visited the Ducati factory and museum. The book was full of side trips and lots of motorcycle stories. The author takes time to explain lots of things about the mechanics and physics of motorcycles - why dehydration is a real danger to motorcyclists and how hydroplaning works on a motorcycle and the disastrous consequences of both. It was also full of thoughts about archives, books, and the art of reading. It was quite philosophical - even about motorcycling and motorcycles.

>65 benitastrnad: It sounds like a well rounded travel book. You not only learned things about what he saw and where he went but also found out what to watch out for when riding a motorcycle.

>40 LibraryCin: Somehow I missed this thread! Catching up,not sure if this was mentioned yet, but This book has been turned into to an award winning Broadway musical called Come Far Away. A very moving and powerful story; we were in NYC so saw it on Broadway. I know its touring; if it comes to your town, well worth seeing!

>53 MissWatson: I have never heard of him, but I enjoy those older travel narratives, quite different from today/. I roll my eyes sometimes, but usually they are worth reading. Ill have to look for that

Somehow I never starred this post, so I am catching up! Just so happens that on the last day of July, I managed to have read the perfect book for this theme!

One of my favorite travel writers is Patrick Leigh Fermoor. When he was 17 in 1934, he took a walking trip through Europe, starting at the Horn of Netherlands all the way to Istanbul. In the 80s he took his journals and wrote two amazing books detailing his journey through pre war Europe A Time of Gifts and Between Woods and Water For various reasons it took him a long time to finish the third book Broken Road which was published posthumously.,

So I happened upon Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Life in Letters at my local indie The publishers review explains it better than I can: "the letters in this collection span almost seventy years, the first written ten days before Paddy’s twenty-fifth birthday, the last when he was ninety-four, and the correspondents include Deborah Devonshire, Nancy Mitford, Lawrence Durrell, Diana Cooper, and his lifelong companion, Joan Rayner. The letters exhibit many of Fermor’s most engaging characteristics: his lust for life, his unending curiosity, his lyrical descriptive powers, his love of language, his exuberance"

I just finished it, and for the most part loved it (it helps to have already read some of his work first). He does have a tendency for name dropping, and I think some letters were repetitious (a lot of them start with apologies to the receiver for being so late in writing) , but I enjoyed reading them, learned so much more about his travels and other adventures in his very long life.

Now to go back and see what else you guys read!

>56 DeltaQueen50: Oh I read that when it first came out! And at the time I had my atlas at my feet as I read. One of the best books in the 'travel america' genre. The author's heritage (Native American) makes his observations of his journey unique. Im sure much has changed, but it would be fun to follow his route and see what is there.

>68 cindydavid4: I've got A time of gifts on my TBR, but the month was just too short. It always is.

>67 cindydavid4: A few people mentioned that after I posted my review. I hadn't known about it until then, but I will certainly look into going, if it ever comes here.

>68 cindydavid4: I never heard of Patrick Leigh Fermor, I'll have to check him out because I am interested in Europe during the times of his travels.

>72 Familyhistorian: Then do take a look at his first two books; he talks a lot about the places he stays the people he meets, and the history.

I finally finished reading Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper. This book sat on my physical bookshelf for years and I am glad to have finally read it. It isn't really about stargazing but about a young art student named Peter Hill, who is given an opportunity to work at several lighthouses in Scotland. Along with Peter's youthful musings about his experiences, the book is filled with the colorful stories of other lighthouse keepers, some novices and others near retirement age. There are a lot of 1970s references, some I understood and others I didn't, especially those having to do with Scottish pop-culture. Still, I found most of the stories to be both entertaining and enlightening. It made me feel a little nostalgic for the days before lighthouses became automated. Rating: 4.5 stars.

>74 This-n-That: excellent recommendation, definitely will be reading this!

>73 cindydavid4: I found a lot of his books listed at my library and put the letters one on my wish list. I see that there is also a letters once between him and Deborah Devonshire.

>74 This-n-That: That sounds like an interesting read and a good way to get to know Scotland.

>69 cindydavid4: Yes, a dream road trip for me would be to follow his route as closely as I could. I definitely prefer travelling off the Interstates.

>75 cindydavid4: >77 Familyhistorian: Thanks! I hope you enjoy the book, if either of you have an opportunity to read it

For this challenge, I read:
Lost in Shangri-La, about a sight-seeing group of WWII military personnel, on a plane which crashed in New Guinea.
A Passage to India, the classic about a group of English in colonial India.
The Tooth Tattoo, which I'm including because of the detective's travel to various places to solve the crimes, some of which were against travelers from Asia.

>40 LibraryCin: : I read The Day the World Came to Town about eight years ago, and remember thinking at the time that there was a great deal about diverting flights for emergencies that I never knew. I didn't think the author was a very good writer, but I appreciated learning more about the people stranded and the locals who took them in. It was an interesting book.

It was a LONG journey for me with The Journals of Lewis and Clark but one I’m so glad to have made. I knew so very little about the expedition before reading the book. I could only read bits at a time as the writing was quite dense, spelling and punctuation irregular, and in the case of punctuation, oftentimes missing.

Dealing throughout with accidents, illness, terrible weather, the lethal grizzly bear, dangerous river and land conditions, mosquitoes (at one point so thick they caught in their throats), forging ahead with little or no food at times, these exceptional leaders and their intrepid companions accomplished a remarkable feat. A true adventure from start to finish.

>80 countrylife: Looks like you traveled to the same general area of the world in your three reads.

>81 marell: Sounds like the way the book was written added to the arduousness of the travel in that one.

>80 countrylife: loved Lost in Shangri-La and A Passage to India. Hope you enjoy them both.

Absolutely. While it added to the journals’ charm, if that’s the correct word, it also made it slow going. Occasionally the editor added clarifications or comments to the text. Those comments were a welcome relief. In spite of the irregularities in spelling and punctuation, some very detailed descriptions of flora and fauna, and navigational details, I enjoyed the book very much.