February Books of the Month

March 20, 2020 by Christina

February feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it? I know it was a busy month for me because my calendar is packed with book club meetings, dinner plans with friends, and an introduction to quilting class on Sundays. Yet, from the vantage point of mid-March, it feels unimaginably footloose and fancy free. What did I do when I could go and do whatever I wanted? Well, what I did was read an astonishing 17 books during this month thanks in […]

Categories: 2020 Reads, Amish, Animals, Audiobook, Awards and Prizes, Book Club, Canada, Caribbean, Classics, Classics Club, Crime, Europe, Feminism, Fiction, Food, Indigenious Peoples, Juvenile, LGBTQA+, Mountain West, Nonfiction, North America, Persephone Books, ReadDiverse, Religion, Travel, United Kingdom, United States, Women's Prize • Tags: A. J. Finn, Adam Darlin, Audre Lorde, Becky Ohlsen, Brendan Sainsbury, Catherine Bodry, Chris Chalk, Christopher Ketcham, Coco Morante, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Edwidge Danticat, Jesmyn Ward, Jia Tolentino, John Lee, Jon Krakauer, Kamila Shamsie, Kevin Harrison Jr, L. M. Montgomery, Linda Castillo, Marghanita Laski, Richard Thomas, Rutina Wesley, Shelly Frasier, Steven Higashide, Susan O'Malley, Sy Montgomery

Rick Steves’ Guidebooks for Berlin and Iceland

October 2, 2018 by Christina

Last month, my family and I spent a week in the capital of Germany followed by a week driving the Ring Road of Iceland. Whenever I travel to Europe, I like to utilize Rick Steves’ guidebooks as I find his books to be informative, well-formatted, and filled with walking tours of the featured destinations. The latter part is a particularly important aspect of a guidebook for me as I find walking to be one of the best ways to see […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Europe, Germany, Iceland, Nonfiction, Travel • Tags: Cameron Hewitt, Ian Watson, Rick Steves

Southeast Asia Guidebooks

April 11, 2018 by Christina

‘Bangkok City Guide’ by Andrew Burke and Austin Bush. Nonfiction — print. Lonely Planet, 2010. 304 pgs. Library copy. ‘Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos’ by David W. Lloyd with Andrew Spooner. Nonfiction — print. Footprint Handbooks, 2015. 576 pgs. Library copy. The first leg of my upcoming trip to southeast Asia — or second, if you count a twelve hour layover in Hong Kong — will be centered around the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. Burke and Bush’s guidebook — written under the […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Asia, Chunkster, Nonfiction, Travel, Vietnam • Tags: Andrew Burke, Andrew Spooner, Austin Bush, David W. Lloyd

The Voice of Asia by James A. Michener

February 28, 2018 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Random House, 1951. 338 pgs. Purchased.  Before embarking on any trip — around the world or within the United States — I always look to see if James A. Michener wrote about the particular place I’m set to visit. I find his multi-generational, fictional stories make the nonfictional history of a particular geography accessible and intriguing in a way that guidebooks cannot. As I will be traveling throughout southeast Asia in April, I looked into Michener’s back […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Asia, India, Japan, Nonfiction, Thailand, Travel, Vietnam • Tags: James A. Michener

Time Out Shortlist: Dublin

March 8, 2014 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Time Out Guides, 2009. 160 pgs. Gift. I supplemented the information in this book quite heavily with other guidebooks because I started planning for my trip to Ireland before I received this book for Christmas. I also wanted to travel outside of Dublin in order to see more of Ireland, which the book is obviously not suited for. But I’m always looking for a small guidebook with good maps that I can slip into my purse and […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Europe, Ireland, Nonfiction, Travel

Seattle City Guide by Becky Ohlsen

July 27, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Lonely Planet Publications, 2004. 250 pgs. Purchased. I have been calling Seattle home for the last ten weeks after relocating here for a summer internship. Having only visited the city once before (and even then spending all my time visiting colleges and camping on the San Juan Islands), I knew I had to find a guide to the city in order to find something to fill my time off work. This guidebook — published in 2004 — […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Nonfiction, North America, Pacific Northwest, Travel, United States • Tags: Becky Ohlsen

Hungary and Poland Guidebooks

March 1, 2011 by Christina

My parents and I decided to visit Hungary next week on a whim. Flying home to Montana from university is both incredibly expensive and time consuming; I can fly from here to London in less time. My mother and I were discussing how much easier it is for me to get to Europe from where I currently live, how we could trade their timeshare for a place in Europe. Hungary was the only place we had not visit previously before, […]

Categories: 2011 Reads, Europe, Hungary, Nonfiction, Poland, Travel • Tags: Cameron Hewitt, Craig Turp, Norm Longley, Rick Steves

London Guidebooks

December 15, 2009 by Christina

I spent one Friday night earlier this month reading the three guide books I brought to school with me last August and planning my trip to London in March 2010 with my father. The trip, which is a combined 18th birthday, graduation, and 2009 Christmas present, has been a dream of mine since I knew where and what London is. Anytime anyone asked why I wanted to go to London, my response was always “I want to see the place […]

Categories: Europe, Nonfiction, Travel, United Kingdom • Tags: Darwin Porter, Richard Jones, Steve Fallon