Reading for Leisure: Travel

One night, food writer Hannah Kirshner received an invitation to apprentice with a 'sake evangelist' in a misty Japanese mountain village. While there, she met a community of craftspeople, farmers, and foragers and learned their centuries-old traditions. This book invites readers to see what goes into making a fine bowl, a cup of tea, or a harvest of rice and introduces the masters who dedicate their lives to this work. Part travelogue, part meditation on the meaning of work, this is an ode to a place and its people, and a profound examination of what it means to sustain traditions.

"This quietly profound book belongs on the shelf next to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild." --The New York Times   The riveting true story of Dick Conant, an American folk hero who, over the course of more than twenty years, canoed solo thousands of miles of American rivers--and then disappeared near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This book "contains everything: adventure, mystery, travelogue, and unforgettable characters" (David Grann, best-selling author of Killers of the Flower Moon). For decades, Dick Conant paddled the rivers of America, covering the Mississippi, Yellowstone, Ohio, Hudson, as well as innumerable smaller tributaries. These solo excursions were epic feats of planning, perseverance, and physical courage. At the same time, Conant collected people wherever he went, creating a vast network of friends and acquaintances who would forever remember this brilliant and charming man even after a single meeting. Ben McGrath, a staff writer at The New Yorker, was one of those people. In 2014 he met Conant by chance just north of New York City as Conant paddled down the Hudson, headed for Florida. McGrath wrote a widely read article about their encounter, and when Conant's canoe washed up a few months later, without any sign of his body, McGrath set out to find the people whose lives Conant had touched--to capture a remarkable life lived far outside the staid confines of modern existence.   Riverman is a moving portrait of a complex and fascinating man who was as troubled as he was charismatic, who struggled with mental illness and self-doubt, and was ultimately unable to fashion a stable life for himself; who traveled alone and yet thrived on connection and brought countless people together in his wake. It is also a portrait of an America we rarely see: a nation of unconventional characters, small river towns, and long-forgotten waterways.  

In this inspiring travelogue, celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo--the first Black woman on record to visit all 195 countries in the world--shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections.  It was a daunting task. But Jessica Nabongo, the beloved voice behind the popular website The Catch Me if You Can, made it happen, completing her journey to all 195 UN-recognized countries in the world in October 2019. Now, in this one-of-a-kind memoir, she reveals her top 100 destinations from her global adventure.  Beautifully illustrated with Nabongo's own photography, the book documents her remarkable experiences in each country, including:  A harrowing scooter accident in Nauru, the world's least visited country, Seeing the life and community swarming around the Hazrat Ali Mazar mosque in Afghanistan,  Horseback riding and learning to lasso with Black cowboys in Oklahoma,  Playing dominoes with men on the streets of Havana,  Learning to make traditional takoyaki (octopus balls) from locals in Japan,  Dog sledding in Norway and swimming with humpback whales in Tonga,  A late night adventure with strangers to cross a border in Guinea Bissau,  And sunbathing on the sandy shores of Los Roques in Venezuela. Along with beloved destinations like Peru and South Africa, you'll also find tales from far-flung corners and seldom visited destinations, including Tuvalu, North Korea, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Nabongo's stories are love letters to diversity, beauty, and culture--and most of all, to the people she meets along the way. Throughout, she offers bucket-list experiences for other traveler-lovers looking to follow in her footsteps.  For armchair travelers or readers planning a trip around the globe, this arresting collection will awe and inspire!

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South--and thus of America--by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration." --Isabel Wilkerson An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South--and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole. This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life. Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.   A Recommended Read from: The New York Times * TIME * Oprah Daily * USA Today * Vulture * Essence * Esquire * W Magazine * Atlanta Journal-Constitution * PopSugar * Book Riot * Chicago Review of Books * Electric Literature * Lit Hub 

Kim Stanley Robinson first ventured into the Sierra Nevada mountains during the summer of 1973. He returned from that encounter a changed man, awed by a landscape that made him feel as if he were simultaneously strolling through an art museum and scrambling on a jungle gym like an energized child. He has returned to the mountains throughout his life-more than a hundred trips-and has gathered a vast store of knowledge about them. The High Sierra is his lavish celebration of this exceptional place and an exploration of what makes this span of mountains one of the most compelling places on Earth. Over the course of a vivid and dramatic narrative, Robinson describes the geological forces that shaped the Sierras and the history of its exploration, going back to the indigenous peoples who made it home and whose traces can still be found today. He celebrates the people whose ideas and actions protected the High Sierra for future generations. He describes uniquely beautiful hikes and the trails to be avoided. Robinson's own life-altering events, defining relationships, and unforgettable adventures form the narrative's spine. And he illuminates the human communion with the wild and with the sublime, including the personal growth that only seems to come from time spent outdoors. The High Sierra is a gorgeous, absorbing immersion in a place, born out of a desire to understand and share one of the greatest rapture-inducing experiences our planet offers. Packed with maps, gear advice, more than 100 breathtaking photos, and much more, it will inspire veteran hikers, casual walkers, and travel readers to prepare for a magnificent adventure.

Plan your next getaway to the great outdoors with this one-of-a-kind resource for campgrounds across North America. In this comprehensive sequel to the best-selling 50 States, 5,000 Ideas, you'll discover the top tent and cabin campsites, as well as RV resorts and glamping destinations around the United States and Canada. Along with destination information--location, contact info, open seasons, and amenities--along with expert recommendations for activities including hiking, biking, and water sports; the best restaurants for days you need a break from the camp stove; and nearby attractions--from sights within nearby national and state parks to local museums. Choose from 10 sites in each state, Western and Eastern Canada, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, including a cabin at Yogi Bear's Delaware Beaches Jellystone Park Camp Resort; a tent near the stunning waterfall at the Grand Canyon's Havasupai Campground; or a cozy yurt in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Whatever your camping bucket list includes, 50 States, 500 Campgrounds has the site for you.