Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live in England. I mean, really live here, when you’re done eating crumpets and scones and marveling at the beautiful buildings and the kindest, most wonderful people (though I can only speak for the North). When you’re done with that and you almost become one of the English people then it just you riding the train. A lot. And you still get lost a lot. And the places you get lost are hillsides down to train tracks […]
Containing few cannibals and hardly any sex
Travelling is something that always brings out the very worst in me. Simply getting a bus to somewhere unfamiliar in my hometown can set off a frenzy of anxiety that can ruin not only my day but those of everyone I come into contact with, so you can probably imagine the nightmare I can make of travelling to a different country. Add in that I’m also someone who needs frequent medical interventions and it becomes blindingly obvious that the fantasy of living on a desert […]
Honestly, It Sounds Pretty Great
Best for: Anyone possibly considering a move to Denmark. Or just people who like fish-out-of-water stories. In a nutshell: Writer Helen Russell moves with her husband to the land of Legos for (at least) a year, and takes the time to document her experience and how it differs from life in the UK. Line that sticks with me: “ ‘We have a lot of ‘curling parents’ in Denmark, who do everything for their kids and won’t say not to them. The expression is named after […]
We Travel to Find Home
My encounter with this book is a happy accident. As I was browsing through Half-Price Books, I scanned through the yoga/stretching section and laughed out loud at the title of this one – Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It. That sounded like my kind of fitness book, so I bought it and brought it home. Weeks later, I finally got around to opening it up. A few pages in, I realized that both Half-Price Books and I had misjudged the subject matter. […]
Slices of Life
Best for: Those who love Paris and enjoy learning more about specific neighborhoods (or in this case, a single street). In a nutshell: U.S. ex-pat and journalist Ms. Sciolino provides a look at the individuals who live and work on the Rue des Martyrs, providing current information and a look at the history of the street. Line that sticks with me: “A hardware store has been at No. 1 since 1865.” (p 56) Why I chose it: On our whirlwind visit to 19 independent books […]
“Going round the world too quickly is like attending a series of dinner parties and leaving with the soup.”
In 1959, The Sunday Times gave James Bond writer Ian Fleming a round-the-world plane ticket and charged him with quickly traveling through 14 of the world’s major cities. (Fleming had been foreign editor for the paper for some time previously.) The result is Fleming’s Thrilling Cities, a memorialized account of the writer’s experiences. While I am a known fan of the James Bond books (you’ll find several of my reviews on this very site), this little non-fiction gem is one of my favorites of all of Fleming’s books. […]
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