Travel Ebooks

An ambitious and magnificent new travelogue by bestselling and prize-winning author Erika Fatland (The Border and Sovietistan), on a journey along the Himalaya. The Himalaya weave through five very different countries, where the world religions of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are mixed with ancient shamanic religions. Countless languages and vastly different cultures live in the secluded mountain valleys. Modernity and tradition collide, while the great powers fight for influence. We have read about mountain climbers on their way up Mount Everest and about travellers on the spiritual quest for Buddhist monasteries. But how much do we know about the people living in the Himalaya? Fatland invites us into close encounters with the many peoples of the region, and at the same time takes us on a dizzying journey at altitude through incredible landscapes and dramatic, unknown world histories - all the way to the most volatile human conflicts of our times.

In 2017, stuck in a loop of codependency and people-pleasing, 32-year-old novice backpacker Nicole Antoinette sets off to find her self-belief and inner resilience by doing something she does not for one second believe she can actually do: solo- hike all 800 miles of the rugged Arizona Trail. The guiding question she brings wi

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Mrs. Kennedy and Me reveal never-before-told stories of Secret Service Agent Clint Hill’s travels with Jacqueline Kennedy through Europe, Asia, and South America. Featuring more than two hundred rare and never-before-published photographs. While preparing to sell his home in Alexandria, Virginia, retired Secret Service agent Clint Hill uncovers an old steamer trunk in the garage, triggering a floodgate of memories. As he and Lisa McCubbin, his coauthor on three previous books, pry it open for the first time in fifty years, they find forgotten photos, handwritten notes, personal gifts, and treasured mementos from the trips on which Hill accompanied First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy as her Secret Service agent—trips that took them from Paris to London, through India, Pakistan, Greece, Morocco, Mexico, South America, and “three glorious weeks on the Amalfi Coast.” During these journeys, Jacqueline Kennedy became one of her husband’s—and America’s—greatest assets; in Hill’s words and the opinion of many others, “one of the best ambassadors the United States has ever had.” As each newfound treasure sparks long-suppressed memories, Hill provides new insight into the intensely private woman he always called “Mrs. Kennedy” and who always called him “Mr. Hill.” For the first time, he reveals the depth of the relationship that developed between them as they traveled around the globe. Now ninety years old, Hill recounts the tender moments, the private laughs, the wild adventures, and the deep affection he shared with one of the world’s most beautiful and iconic women—and these memories are brought vividly to life alongside more than two hundred rare photographs, many of them previously unpublished. In addition to the humorous stories and intimate moments, Hill reveals startling details about how traveling helped them both heal during the excruciating weeks and months following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. He also writes of the year he spent protecting Mrs. Kennedy after the assassination, a time in his life he has always been reluctant to speak about. My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy unveils a personal side of history that has never been told before and takes the reader on a breathtaking journey, experiencing what it was like for Clint Hill to travel with Jacqueline Kennedy as the entire world was falling in love with her.

WINNER OF THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION 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 Yorker • 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 

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARDS TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR One woman, one bike and one richly entertaining, perception-altering journey of discovery. In 2015, as the Syrian War raged and the refugee crisis reached its peak, Rebecca Lowe set off on her bicycle across the Middle East. Driven by a desire to learn more about this troubled region and its relationship with the West, Lowe's 11,000-kilometre journey took her through Europe to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, the Gulf and finally to Iran. It was an odyssey through landscapes and history that captured her heart, but also a deeply challenging cycle across mountains, deserts and repressive police states that nearly defeated her. Plagued by punctures and battling temperatures ranging from -6 to 48C, Lowe was rescued frequently by farmers and refugees, villagers and urbanites alike, and relied almost entirely on the kindness and hospitality of locals to complete this living portrait of the modern Middle East. This is her evocative, deeply researched and often very funny account of her travels - and the people, politics and culture she encountered.   'Terrifically compelling ... bursting with humour, adventure and insight into the rich landscapes and history of the Middle East. Lowe recounts the beauty, kindnesses and complexities of the lands she travels through with an illuminating insight. A wonderful new travel writer.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “Audacious…Life on the Mississippi sparkles.” —The Wall Street Journal * “A rich mix of history, reporting, and personal introspection.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch * “Both a travelogue and an engaging history lesson about America’s westward expansion.” —The Christian Science Monitor The eagerly awaited return of master American storyteller Rinker Buck, Life on the Mississippi is an epic, enchanting blend of history and adventure in which Buck builds a wooden flatboat from the grand “flatboat era” of the 1800s and sails it down the Mississippi River, illuminating the forgotten past of America’s first western frontier. Seven years ago, readers around the country fell in love with a singular American voice: Rinker Buck, whose infectious curiosity about history launched him across the West in a covered wagon pulled by mules and propelled his book about the trip, The Oregon Trail, to ten weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now, Buck returns to chronicle his latest incredible adventure: building a wooden flatboat from the bygone era of the early 1800s and journeying down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. A modern-day Huck Finn, Buck casts off down the river on the flatboat Patience accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates. Over the course of his voyage, Buck steers his fragile wooden craft through narrow channels dominated by massive cargo barges, rescues his first mate gone overboard, sails blindly through fog, breaks his ribs not once but twice, and camps every night on sandbars, remote islands, and steep levees. As he charts his own journey, he also delivers a richly satisfying work of history that brings to life a lost era. The role of the flatboat in our country’s evolution is far more significant than most Americans realize. Between 1800 and 1840, millions of farmers, merchants, and teenage adventurers embarked from states like Pennsylvania and Virginia on flatboats headed beyond the Appalachians to Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Settler families repurposed the wood from their boats to build their first cabins in the wilderness; cargo boats were broken apart and sold to build the boomtowns along the water route. Joining the river traffic were floating brothels, called “gun boats”; “smithy boats” for blacksmiths; even “whiskey boats” for alcohol. In the present day, America’s inland rivers are a superhighway dominated by leviathan barges—carrying $80 billion of cargo annually—all descended from flatboats like the ramshackle Patience. As a historian, Buck resurrects the era’s adventurous spirit, but he also challenges familiar myths about American expansion, confronting the bloody truth behind settlers’ push for land and wealth. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced more than 125,000 members of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and several other tribes to travel the Mississippi on a brutal journey en route to the barrens of Oklahoma. Simultaneously, almost a million enslaved African Americans were carried in flatboats and marched by foot 1,000 miles over the Appalachians to the cotton and cane fields of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, birthing the term “sold down the river.” Buck portrays this watershed era of American expansion as it was really lived. With a rare narrative power that blends stirring adventure with absorbing untold history, Life on the Mississippi is a mus­cular and majestic feat of storytelling from a writer who may be the closest that we have today to Mark Twain.

A guided group tour to concentration camps in Poland and Germany allows Stahl to confront personal and historical demons with both deep despair and savage humor "Gonzo meets the Shoah in this wildly irreverent—and brilliant—tour of Holocaust tourism . . . Stahl knows his Holocaust history . . . but he was also prepared to be surprised . . . A vivid, potent, decidedly idiosyncratic addition to the literature of genocide."  —Kirkus Reviews, a Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 "Stahl embarks on Holocaust tourism in this meditative yet humorous account, weaving personal narrative with reflections on current and past global events." —New York Times Book Review "[Stahl's] razor-sharp gallows humor will have you howling one moment, breathless the next in the presence of wrenching generational pain, of humanity at its very worst, and goodness at its camouflaged best." —Brooklyn Rail "An audacious, emotional journey." —The Village Voice In September 2016, Jerry Stahl was feeling nervous on the eve of a two-week trip across Poland and Germany. But it was not just the stops at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Dachau that gave him anxiety. It was the fact that he would be traveling with two dozen strangers, by bus. In a tour group. And he was not a tour-group kind of guy. The decision to visit Holocaust-world did not come easy. Stahl’s lifelong depression at an all-time high, his career and personal life at an all-time low, he had the idea to go on a trip where the despair he was feeling—out-of- control sadness, regret, and fear, not just for himself, but for the entire United States—would be appropriate. And where was despair more appropriate than the land of the Six Million? Seamlessly weaving global and personal history, through the lens of Stahl’s own bent perspective, Nein, Nein, Nein! stands out as a triumph of strange-o reporting, a tale that takes us from gang polkas to tour-rash to the truly disturbing snack bar at Auschwitz. Strap in for a raw, surreal, and redemptively hilarious trip. Get on the bus.

Fifty bridges from all over the world to be crossed on foot or with one's imagination.,/p> Bridges can both link people and cultures, providing access and communication, or divide them. They are both steady and fragile, have architectural style and aesthetic qualities. Many ancient myths even present bridges as passages between faraway worlds. More often than not, a bridge represents the story of a person or persons with a vision and determination to make a change, then pursuing it, despite any obstacles. This book features fifty bridges of all description: great classics such as the Old Bridge (Wales), the Charles Bridge (Prague) and the Golden Gate (San Francisco) ; a precarious thread stretched between the Twin Towers by an acrobat (New York); treasures destroyed and rebuilt, like the Mostar Bridge (Herzegovina); a streak of frozen snow between the crevasses of a glacier. But it is also a book of stories that accompany these bridges: legends, anecdotes and the inspirational lives of those who designed, built and crossed them.

“A gorgeous journey…You will be glad you’ve joined her.” —Susan Orlean, author of On Animals and The Library Book In this lyrical memoir of motherhood, love, and resilience that “captures rarely observed natural places” (San Francisco Chronicle) a woman and her toddler son follow the grey whale migration from Mexico to northernmost Alaska. In this “striking, brave[,] and often lyrical” (The Guardian) blend of nature writing, whale science, and memoir, Doreen Cunningham interweaves two stories: tracking the extraordinary northward migration of the grey whales with a mischievous toddler in tow and living with an Iñupiaq family in Alaska seven years earlier. A story of courage and resilience, Soundings is about the migrating whales and all we can learn from them as they mother, adapt, and endure, their lives interrupted and threatened by global warming. It is also a riveting journey onto the Arctic Sea ice and into the changing world of Indigenous whale hunters, where Doreen becomes immersed in the ancient values of the Iñupiaq whale hunt and falls in love. Big-hearted, brave, and fearlessly honest, Soundings is an unforgettable journey.

The instant New York Times bestseller! Pack up your Ouija board, wine bra, and squirt guns full of holy water ... we’re going on a road trip! From the hit podcast And That’s Why We Drink, this is your interactive travel guide to the hosts’ favorite spooky and sinister sights. The world is a scary place ... and that’s why we drink! Jam-packed with illustrations, fun facts, travel tips, and beverage recs, this guide includes some of the country’s most notorious crime scenes, hauntings, and supernatural sightings. You’ll also find Christine and Em’s personal recommendations to the best local bars and ice cream parlors, oddity museums, curiosity shoppes, and more. Explore some of the most bizarre cases you’ve heard on the show, as well as exclusive new content from bayous, basements, and bars!

As the Amazon burns, Fábio Zuker shares stories of resistance, self-determination, and kinship with the land. In 2007, a seven-ton minke whale was found stranded on the banks of the Tapajós River, hundreds of miles into the Amazon rainforest. For days, environmentalists, journalists, and locals followed the lost whale, hoping to guide her back to the ocean, but ultimately proved unable to save her. Ten years later, journalist Fábio Zuker travels to the state of Pará, to the town known as “the place where the whale appeared,” which developers are now eyeing for mining, timber, and soybean cultivation. In these essays, Zuker shares intimate stories of life in the rainforest and its surrounding cities during an age of raging wildfires, mass migration, populist politics, and increasing deforestation. As a group of Venezuelan migrants wait at a bus station in Manaus, looking for a place more stable than home, an elder in Alter do Chão becomes the first Indigenous person in Brazil to die from COVID-19 after years of fighting for the rights and recognition of the Borari people. The subjects Zuker interviews are often torn between ties with their ancestral territories and the push for capitalist gain; The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon captures the friction between their worlds and the resilience of movements for autonomy, self-definition, and respect for the land that nourishes us.

​​For readers of Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Endurance, and other seafaring adventure stories comes a thrilling account of a 21st-century Arctic mission. “ A contemporary classic!”—Ken McGoogan, author of Fatal Passage “Show-stopping.”­—Publisher’s Weekly STARRED Review The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time vividly describes one year aboard the Polarstern, a powerful ice-breaker ship that journeyed deep into the Arctic in 2019, carrying over 100 scientists and crew known as the MOSAiC Expedition. Hailing from across the world, they would become the largest expedition to ever survive a polar winter. Their purpose? To understand - and predict - the impacts of climate change on the Arctic. Written by the expedition’s leader, the renowned atmospheric scientist Markus Rex, this page-turner reads like a captain’s log of daily life aboard the Polarstern. Living in one of the most remote, dangerous, and electrifying places on earth, Rex describes incredible sights: polar bears playing with scientific equipment, Christmas parties in the bitter cold, frostbitten scientists, and hair-raising storms that threaten to break the Polarstern’s cables and send it flying across the ice. He also reveals breathtaking science from deep inside the sea ice. Filled with sobering, heart-warming, and bone-chilling moments, The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time is a testament to Rex’s extraordinary drive to save a precious ecosystem. It’s also an ode to a place that has beguiled sailors and explorers for centuries.

Great Features and Benefits offered ONLY by The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2023: Honest and outspoken advice from the Unofficial experts Exclusively patented, field-tested touring plans that save as much as four hours of standing in line in a single day More than 200 hotels rated and ranked for quality and value, including the top non-Disney hotels for families A complete dining guide with ratings and reviews of all Walt Disney World restaurants, plus extensive alternatives for dining deals outside the World Attractions rated and ranked for each age group Extensive, objective, head-to-head comparisons of the Disney and Universal theme parks Completely independent critical appraisals: If a restaurant serves lackluster food or an attraction isn’t worth the wait, we’ll tell you Tips and advice from Walt Disney World patrons drawn from nearly a million surveys Detailed tips and secrets on Universal’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Diagon Alley, from Butterbeer to broomsticks

Save time and money with in-depth reviews, ratings, and details from the trusted source for a successful Disneyland vacation. How do some guests get on the big, new attraction in less than 20 minutes while others wait for longer than 2 hours—on the same day? Why do some guests pay full price for their visit when others can save hundreds of dollars? In a theme park, every minute and every dollar count. Your vacation is too important to be left to chance, so put the best-selling independent guide to Disneyland in your hands and take control of your trip. The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2023 explains how Disneyland works and how to use that knowledge to stay ahead of the crowd. Authors Seth Kubersky, Bob Sehlinger, Len Testa, and Guy Selga Jr. know that you want your vacation to be anything but average, so they employ an expert team of researchers to find the secrets, the shortcuts, and the bargains that are sure to make your vacation exceptional! Find out what’s available in every category, ranked from best to worst, and get detailed plans to make the most of your time at Disneyland. Stay at a top-rated hotel, eat at the best restaurants, and experience all the most popular attractions. Keep in the know on the latest updates and changes at Disneyland. Here’s what’s NEW in the 2023 book: The latest scoop on Disneyland’s reimagined Toontown and the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway ride Updated information on the resort’s returning live entertainment, including World of Color, the Main Street Electrical Parade, and Fantasmic! Comprehensive in-depth advice on when and how to use Disney’s Genie+ and Lightning Lane line-skipping services In-depth coverage on visiting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, including how to ride Rise of the Resistance with the shortest wait Profiles and ratings for more than 30 Disneyland Resort and Anaheim hotels, including a preview of the Disneyland Hotel’s expansion A guide to Universal Studios Hollywood’s groundbreaking Mario Kart ride and the rest of the new Super Nintendo World Make the right choices to give your family a vacation they’ll never forget. The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2023 is your key to planning a perfect stay. Whether you’re putting together your annual trip or preparing for your first visit, this book gives you the insider scoop on hotels, restaurants, attractions, and more.

An exquisite combination of beautiful photography and compelling stories, this book from Outdoor Afro founder, Rue Mapp, celebrates Black joy in nature. Filled with breathtaking photography, inspiring stories, profiles, and spotlights from Outdoor Afro group members, prominent Black leaders in outdoor spaces, and other organizations, this book inspires Black communities to reclaim their place in the natural world. Interspersed throughout are essays from Mapp on the rich history of Black involvement in the outdoors, activism, and conservation, as well as resources for readers who want to deepen their own connection with the elements. A perfect blend of gorgeous photographs, awe-inspiring stories, and Black history, this collection is the perfect gift for anyone looking to heal in these sacred natural spaces. INCREDIBLE ORGANIZATION: Outdoor Afro is a leading organization in the promotion of Black involvement and interaction with the outdoors. Their powerful work is leaving positive, lasting effects on the Black community and broader conservation community. ACCOMPLISHED AUTHOR: Rue Mapp's rich involvement in the outdoors and her connections with like-minded individuals and organizations offer a unique approach to educating, motivating, and encouraging Black connection with nature. INSPIRATIONAL AND UNIQUE: This book showcases Black joy and strength in spaces from which they have either historically been excluded, or less represented, and makes for an inventive and uplifting celebration of Black joy in nature. A GREAT GIFT: Perfect for the outdoorsy person in your life, this book will make for an excellent boost of inspiration and encouragement all year round.   Perfect for: Black and brown community members with an interest in nature Hikers, campers, birders, and backpackers

ALOHA (love) • 'ĀINA (land) • MO'OLELO (stories) • 'OHANA (family) DISCOVER FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF HAWAIIAN LIVING FOR A PEACEFUL AND BALANCED LIFE.  More than just a beautiful paradise, Hawai'i has a rich culture, deeply rooted in tradition. Native Hawaiian and cultural expert Kainoa Daines has spent many years teaching visitors to the islands about this time-honored wisdom, and now he has teamed up with journalist Annie Daly to share that knowledge with you. Island Wisdom is an inspirational and rewarding journey through traditional Hawaiian teachings that have stood the test of time, from how to be pono (live a balanced life) to how to mālama 'āina (preserve and protect the land). Filled with the voices and guidance of Hawaiian elders, regional folklore, and ancient teachings—plus gorgeous local photography and illustrations throughout—Island Wisdom is a celebration of Hawaiian culture, language, and values that will give you a deeper understanding, appreciation, and respect for Hawai'i and the Hawaiian way of life.  Perfect for: -             Fans of the New York Times bestseller The Little Book of Hygge -             Travelers who have visited or are thinking of visiting Hawai'i -             Readers curious to learn about Hawaiian culture and language -             Anyone seeking a more thoughtful and balanced life

Whether planning a getaway or just dreaming about one, this beautifully curated collection of amazing hikes all around the world evokes awe-inspiring travel adventures that are inspirational and attainable. You Are Here: Hikes features breathtaking photos off-the-beaten-path and iconic natural wonders, from enchanting forests to sunset showcases, jewel-like coastal trails to ancient rock formations, wildflower meadows to spectacular vista views. Each gorgeous, handpicked location represents a unique journey, with geolocation information inviting you to the very scenic spot. You are there, or could be. CHOOSE YOUR OWN PATH: Swoon-worthy photographs will excite the spirit of adventure, with each gorgeous destination identified by geolocation inviting you to visit. WIDE RANGE OF HIKING DESTINATIONS: Rocky alpine summits, tropical fern forests, crystalline ice domes, colorful foliage showstoppers, incredible waterfalls, verdant valleys, towering redwoods, and much more. ARMCHAIR OR OUT THERE: Equally suitable for kicking off your next outdoor exploration and adventure or capturing the beauty of nature to enjoy from the comforts of home. INSPIRING PHOTOGRAPHY: The beautiful photographs collected here will not just inspire travel, but inspire sharing photos of your own journey to these or other amazing places. Perfect for: travel enthusiasts looking for a uniquely memorable hiking experience, and anyone looking for inspiration to take and share their own photos these beautiful scenic spots.

A visually driven celebration of bathing culture around the world, featuring more than 150 photos plus healing rituals and calming practices for daily life. Full of breathtaking photography and engaging stories, THERMAL is a celebration of the places, traditions, and mythologies surrounding the healing benefits of heat. Featuring more than 50 faraway locations—from an ancient holy hot spring in Turkey to a cozy sauna on a snowcapped ridge in Alaska, plus pools, tubs, and more—these pages overflow with idyllic landscapes and wanderlust inspiration. Sprinkled throughout are simple practices for incorporating the restorative powers of heat, steam, and water into daily life, including rejuvenating bath recipes, healing steam rituals, and herbal remedies that encourage well-being at home. In an elevated, tactile package that evokes wellness, serenity, and escape, THERMAL will appeal to outdoor enthusiasts, travelers, and anyone with a spirit of adventure. ON-TREND: A natural extension of the self-care movement, bathleisure is all the rage. This book celebrates bathleisure by exploring bathing cultures around the world, and presenting accessible rituals as a means to find balance and tranquility. In our increasingly digital world, people are craving a slower pace of life, with more time spent outside and less time in front of a screen. This book speaks to that widespread desire to pause, prioritize self-care, and experience the beauty of the world. RESPECTED AUTHOR: Lindsey Bro has years of experience in the outdoor space, having started @CabinLove on Instagram back in 2013  Adhering to the author and @CabinLove's aesthetic sense, THERMAL is perfect for this audience that dreams of escaping to distant places, immersing themselves in nature, and living a quieter life. BEAUTIFUL GIFT: In a photo-driven package that evokes both self-care and wanderlust, this gorgeous book is a lovely gift for wellness enthusiasts, armchair travelers, and adventurers. Alongside crystals, smudge sticks, candles, and souvenirs from faraway places, THERMAL readers can display this beautiful book on a shelf or coffee table. Perfect for: Avid travelers and armchair travelers People looking to incorporate self-care and healing practices into daily life Mind/body/spirit enthusiasts Fans of saunas, hot springs, baths, onsens, hammams, and the like Design/architecture aficionados People who bought CABIN PORN, SHE EXPLORES, MOON BATH, or RITUAL BATHS

An Ernest Hemingway Biography Like No Other “...illuminates his life and works in ways not seen before.” —Sigrid Nunez, National Book Award winner and author of The Friend and What Are You Going Through #1 New Release in Historical Latin America Biographies Discover Hemingway’s biography through the eyes of a fellow author and journalist. New York Times bestselling author of Salt, Mark Kurlansky turns his historical eye to the life of Ernest Hemingway. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, The Importance of Not Being Ernest shows the huge shadow Hemingway casts. The perfect gift for writers. By a series of coincidences, Mark Kurlansky’s life has always been intertwined with Ernest Hemingway's legend, starting with being in Idaho the day of Hemingway’s death. The Importance of Not Being Ernest explores the intersections between Hemingway’s and Kurlansky’s lives, resulting in creative accounts of two inspiring writing careers. Travel the world with Mark Kurlansky and Ernest Hemingway in this personal memoir, where Kurlansky details his ten years in Paris and his time as a journalist in Spain —both cities important to Hemingway’s adventurous life and prolific writing. Paris, Basque Country, Havana and Idaho. Get to know the extraordinary people he met there —those who had also fallen under the Hemingway spell, including a Vietnam veteran suffering from the same syndrome the author did, two winners of the Key West Hemingway look-alike contest, and the man in Idaho who took Hemingway hunting and fishing. In this unique gift for writers, find: A memoir full of entertaining and illuminative stories Little-known historical facts about Hemingway’s life Anecdotes about those who suffer from what the Kurlansky calls “hemitis” Readers of Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley in Search of America, or The Boys will love The Importance of Not Being Ernest.

The idea of writing a book suddenly dawned on Eric Marks as he walked along the South West Coast Path from Minehead in Somerset to St Just in Cornwall. The experiences he'd had, the great seascapes he saw, and he people the met were a pageant for his senses and things were only just getting started. From the Cliffs of Cornwall to Kilimanjaro documents Eric's incredible decision to walk 252 miles with his nephew along the South West Coast Path of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall as part of their training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, later that same year. Was this a late-life crisis, or what? Sharing his memories and stories with the reader, we're taken on his trek, from the comforting sights of home to the exotic landscapes of Africa and joining the thousands of people who every year volunteer to climb the tallest mountain in Africa. Unexpected situations, both home and away, including some near-death moments, slingshot the reader from highs to lows, but one thing is certain: it really is surprising what part serendipity plays when you are on the walking trail for several days at a time. An inspiration for other readers into their later life, Eric has proven that you're only as old as you accept you are in a journey that is dynamic and demanding, satisfying yet humbling.

Named a Best Book of the Year by: Time * New Yorker * Sunday Times (UK) From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity—and how it saved her life. In this brilliant, fierce, and funny memoir of transformation, Jami Attenberg—described as a “master of modern fiction” (Entertainment Weekly) and the “poet laureate of difficult families” (Kirkus Reviews)—reveals the defining moments that pushed her to create a life, and voice, she could claim for herself. What does it take to devote oneself to art? What does it mean to own one’s ideas? What does the world look like for a woman moving solo through it? As the daughter of a traveling salesman in the Midwest, Attenberg was drawn to a life on the road. Frustrated by quotidian jobs and hungry for inspiration and fresh experiences, her wanderlust led her across the country and eventually on travels around the globe. Through it all she grapples with questions of mortality, otherworldliness, and what we leave behind. It is during these adventures that she begins to reflect on the experiences of her youth—the trauma, the challenges, the risks she has taken. Driving across America on self-funded book tours, sometimes crashing on couches when she was broke, she keeps writing: in researching articles for magazines, jotting down ideas for novels, and refining her craft, she grows as an artist and increasingly learns to trust her gut and, ultimately, herself. Exploring themes of friendship, independence, class, and drive, I Came All This Way to Meet You is an inspiring story of finding one’s way home—emotionally, artistically, and physically—and an examination of art and individuality that will resonate with anyone determined to listen to their own creative calling.