Great Reads

A bestselling scientist and nature writer who goes to any extreme to uncover the answers, Streever sets off to find out what heat really means. Written in Streever's signature spare and refreshing prose, "Heat" is a compulsively readable personal narrative that leaves readers with a new vision of an everyday experience.

For fans of "The Lost City of Z"--a real-life Indiana Jones story set in the jungle of Honduras from journalist Stewart.

Antarctica is the most alien place on the planet, the only part of the earth where humans could never survive unaided. Out of our fascination with it have come many books, most of which focus on only one aspect of its unique strangeness. None has managed to capture the whole story--until now. Drawing on her broad travels across the continent, in Antarctica Gabrielle Walker weaves all the significant threads of life on the vast ice sheet into an intricate tapestry, illuminating what it really feels like to be there and why it draws so many different kinds of people. With her we witness cutting-edge science experiments, visit the South Pole, lodge with American, Italian, and French researchers, drive snowdozers, drill ice cores, and listen for the message Antarctica is sending us about our future in an age of global warming. This is a thrilling trip to the farthest reaches of earth by one of the best science writers working today.

VOL·UN·TOUR·IST n. 1. A guy who attempts to save the world in an attempt to save himself. 2. Someone who can only do it two weeks at a time. When Ken Budd was thirty-nine, his father collapsed after eighteen holes of golf. Ken and his wife raced to the hospital--but it was too late. In the weeks that followed, as grieving friends revealed how his father had changed their lives, Ken started questioning his own life--and admitting, after years of denial, that he and his wife would never have children. And then, still struggling with grief--his grief at losing his father, his grief at not being a father--Ken received an e-mail with the subject line: "Katrina Relief Volunteer Opportunities." He signed up. He went to New Orleans. And he kept volunteering: Costa Rica, to teach English; China, to work with special-needs children; Ecuador, to study climate chan≥ the West Bank, to assist refugees; Kenya, to care for orphans. His goal: to find purpose by helping others, one trip at a time. Wry, funny, and heartbreakingly honest, The Voluntourist will linger in your mind long after you've turned the last page.

One of the bestselling authors of Plato and a Platypus travels to Greece with a suitcase full of philosophy books, seeking the best way to achieve a fulfilling old age Daniel Klein journeys to the Greek island Hydra to discover the secrets of aging happily. Drawing on the lives of his Greek friends, as well as philosophers ranging from Epicurus to Sartre, Klein learns to appreciate old age as a distinct and extraordinarily valuable stage of life. He uncovers simple pleasures that are uniquely available late in life, as well as headier pleasures that only a mature mind can fully appreciate. A travel book, a witty and accessible meditation, and an optimistic guide to living well, Travels with Epicurus is a delightful jaunt to the Aegean and through the terrain of old age led by a droll philosopher. A perfect gift book for the holidays, this little treasure is sure to please longtime fans of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar and garner new ones, young and old

The Spanish-American War ended over a century ago, but its effects are with us still. In Yankee Come Home, William Craig travels through Cuba, the birthplace of American imperialism, to find out why our republican ideals died in the glory of San Juan Hill, and to reveal Guantánamo, the corner of Cuba we've never left. I n doing so, he recounts more than a century of the fascinating, but none-too-flattering relationship between the United States and Cuba. Through present-day adventures-spirit-possession rituals, black market odysseys and roots-music epiphanies-Craig explores what that relationship has wrought in the lives of Cubans and A mericans alike. Craig was drawn to the Cuban-American story by memories of his mysterious great-grandfather Thomas O'Brien, a self-proclaimed hero of the "splendid little war" whose legacy of glorious, painful lies left his own children wondering who he'd really been. Like the reality of "Papa" O'Brien's identity, the story of the United States' 1898 intervention in Cuba reflects more hubris than heroism, more avarice than sacrifice. But in the end, despite America's unseemly history there, Craig's journey through Cuba and its history takes him to a greater understanding of both countries. His observation that "at Guantánamo, freedom is in trouble on both sides of the wire" applies to the past and present of the United States as well as Cuba.

The unexpected and moving story of an American journalist who works to uncover her family's long-buried Jewish ancestry in Spain written by "New York Times" journalist Carvajal.

When Whit Alexander, the American co-founder of the Cranium board game, decides, at age 47, to start a new business selling affordable goods and services to low-income villagers in Ghana, West Africa, his journalist brother Max comes along to tell the story. The idea is to create a for-profit enterprise that empowers the world's poor as modern consumers. Whit's first product is a high-quality rechargeable AA battery that off-grid villagers can use in their flashlights and radios, as well as to charge their cell phones.Starting any business is risky enough, but Ghana presents extraordinary challenges, including deadly insects, insane driving conditions, unspeakable food, voodoo priests, corrupt officials, counterfeiters and ethnic rivalries. Signing up customers whose disposable income ranges from a few dollars a month to nothing, training employees with no Western-style work experience, dealing with Chinese manufacturers used to offering Africans junk - it all requires single-minded focus and a lot of patience. Cut loose from their wives and children, Whit and Max relive their own childhood, bickering across the African bush, learning a great deal about Africans as well as themselves. Along the way, Ghanaians stop seeing themselves as charity cases, and the brothers introduce soft-spoken locals to new dimensions of profanity. Irreverent, hilarious, and ultimately inspiring, BRIGHT LIGHTS, NO CITY challenges accepted notions of charity and suggests that there is hope and opportunity in Africa.

Based on his award-winning "Wall Street Journal" online column The Expat Life, "Big in China" explores Paul's unlikely, three-and-a-half year journey raising a family, playing in a blues band, and reinventing himself as an American expat in Beijing.

           In 1978, William Least Heat-Moon made a 14,000-mile journey on the back roads of America, visiting 38 states along the way. In 1982, the popular Blue Highways , which chronicled his adventures, was published. Three decades later, Edgar Ailor III and his son, Edgar IV, retraced and photographed Heat-Moon's route, culminating in Blue Highways Revisited , released for publication on the thirtieth anniversary of Blue Highways . A foreword by Heat-Moon notes, "The photographs, often with amazing accuracy, capture my verbal images and the spirit of the book. Taking the journey again through these pictures, I have been intrigued and even somewhat reassured that America is changing not quite so fast as we often believe. The photographs, happily, reveal a recognizable continuity -- but for how much longer who can say -- and I'm glad the Ailors have recorded so many places and people from Blue Highways while they are yet with us.             Through illustrative photography and text, Ailor and his son capture once more the local color and beauty of the back roads, cafes, taverns, and people of Heat-Moon's original trek. Almost every photograph in Blue Highways Revisited is referenced to a page in the original work. With side-by-side photographic comparisons of eleven of Heat-Moon's characters, this new volume reflects upon and develops the memoir of Heat-Moon's cross-country study of American culture and spirit. Photographs of Heat-Moon's logbook entries, original manuscript pages, Olympia typewriter, Ford van, and other artifacts also give readers insight into Heat-Moon's approach to his trip. Discussions with Heat-Moon about these archival images provide the reader insight into the travels and the writing of Blue Highways that only the perspective of the author could provide.             Blue Highways Revisited reaffirms that the "blue highway" serves as a romantic symbol of the free and restless American spirit, as the Ailors lose themselves to the open road as Heat-Moon did thirty years previously. This book reminds readers of the insatiable attraction of the "blue highway"-"But in those brevities just before dawn and a little after dusk-times neither day or night-the old roads return to the sky some of its color. Then, in truth, they carry a mysterious cast of blue, and it's that time when the pull of the blue highway is strongest, when the open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself" (Introduction to Blue Highways ).

A chic and humorous visual homage to two of the world's most iconic cities. When Vahram Muratyan began his online travel journal, Paris versus New York , he had no idea how quickly it would become one of the most buzzed-about sites on the Internet-it garnered more than a million and a half page views in just a few months, and the attention of savvy online critics. Now Muratyan presents his unique observations in this delightful book, featuring visually striking graphics paired with witty, thought-provoking taglines that celebrate the special details of each city. Paris versus New York is a heartfelt gift to denizens of both cities and to those who dream of big-city romance.

Prepare to Get Lost on the Beaten Path... When Doug Mack picked up a 1963 edition of Europe on Five Dollars a Day , he stumbled on an inspired idea: to boldly go where millions have gone before, relying only on the advice of a travel guide that's nearly a half century out-of-date. Add to the mix his mother's much- documented grand tour through Europe in the late 1960s, and the result is a funny and fascinating journey into a new (old) world, and a disarming look at the ways the classic tourist experience has changed- and has not-in the last generation. After a whirlwind adventure spanning eight countries-and costing way more than five dollars a day-Mack's endearing account is part time travel, part paean to Arthur Frommer's much-loved guide, and a celebration of the modern traveler's grand (and not-so-grand) tour.

Julia Alvarez has been called a one-woman cultural collision by the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and that has never been truer than in this story about three of her most personal relationshipswith her parents, with her husband, and with a young Haitian boy known as Piti. A teenager when Julia and her husband, Bill, first met him in 2001, Piti crossed the border into the Dominican Republic to find work. Julia, impressed by his courage, charmed by his smile, has over the years come to think of him as a son, even promising to be at his wedding someday. When Piti calls in 2009, Julias promise is tested.To Alvarez, much admired for her ability to lead readers deep inside her native Dominican culture, Haiti is like a sister Ive never gotten to know. And so we follow her across the border into what was once the richest of all the French colonies and now teeters on the edge of the abyssfirst for the celebration of a wedding and a year later to find Pitis loved ones in the devastation of the earthquake. As in all of Alvarezs books, a strong message is packed inside an intimate, beguiling story, this time about the nature of poverty and of wealth, of human love and of human frailty, of history and of the way we live now.

The Irish are known for their love of language and their spirit, so it's no surprise that this memoir about numerous visits to Ireland by award-winning Irish-American poet and essayist (and undertaker) Thomas Lynch is "filled with poetry, pathos, triumph, and lots of Irish laughter" (Publishers Weekly). Since his first trip to Ireland in the 1970s, when he stayed in a tiny County Clare cottage with his elderly cousins, Nora and Tommy, Lynch has returned many times. Booking Passage, a thought-provoking look at the auld sod, chronicles these trips and finds Lynch meditating on life, family, religion, and death.

This amusing travelogue tells the story of British comedian Tony Hawk's 1997 circumnavigation of Ireland with a small appliance. Why would he agree to do such a thing? Because he'd been drinking, of course! To turn bar bet into reality, Tony hitchhiked around Ireland with a small refrigerator and called into an Irish radio program every day to update listeners on his progress. In the month he spent traveling, Tony met an array of folks and the fridge went surfing and got christened (really). The basis for a 2010 film of the same name, Round Ireland with a Fridge is sure to please readers who like quirkily charming stories.

In his 30s, Irish-American Tom Coyne decided he would take "the golf trip to end all golf trips": he'd play all of the courses (close to 50) around the coast of Ireland -- and he'd walk to each one of them...even though he didn't really like walking. Over the course of four months, he traveled hundreds of miles of Irish coastline on his own two feet and dealt with painful blisters, pouring rain, various types of livestock, and an extremely large growling dog. Even with roadblocks, Coyne played through and managed to enjoy the beauty and people (and beer) of the Emerald Isle. Since Coyne focuses more on his travels than his games, even non-golfers might pick up this book that's "equal parts touching, wry, and hilarious" (The New York Times).