We are choosing travel books to read together.
Just found this thread.
I cannot recommend enough...
Tom Crean. An Un-Song Hero. If anyone is interested in Antarctic travel this is one hell of a read. By all accounts he was the linchpin in Scott and Shackleton's trips to the Antarctic. He's my new hero!
Reply to this Maybe we should consider this book for our next club selection. I worked in Antarctica for five months and still enjoy reading books about the place.
Reply to this That sounds good!, we can read that next if everybody's ready... (I'm super busy at uni at the moment, as I have so many essays to hand in an exams to revise to...)
Reply to this Maybe we should put it on hold for a couple of months until life slows down.
We want to enjoy this and not feel like it is an assignment.
Reply to this I agree!!, I can't really read anything not-uni-related until mid June, when I'm done with exams, but if you guys want to go ahead and read a new book I'll just catch up with the next one :o)
Reply to this My suggestion is
From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple.
The author follows the journey of the sixth-century monk, John Moschos, at the time when Christianity was just commencing its decline in the Middle East (from Turkey to Egypt). Whilst following the same route, Dalrymple finds that that decline is almost complete. It is an extremely well written and thoughtful account of faith in the Middle East.
[Edited: 2011 Jun 14 23:53 - The Travel Camel:11053 ]
Reply to this
Sounds like a very good recommendation. I would be interested in reading it.
Reply to this I've just finished reading a great summer read if anyone is interested.
Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
[Edited: 2011 Jun 24 22:35 - D MJ Binkley:42569 ]
Reply to this I have finally finished exams, dissertations, essays, etc and I'm free to read something as a group if someone is interested.
I would like to recommend Jupiter's travels, by Ted Simon, as it seems very interesting; it's about a round the world motorbike trip during the 70's, anyone up for it?... otherwise, I'm open to other recommendations!
Reply to this Deni,
I can join in....and Jupiter's travels sounds interesting. I'll have to see if it is available on Kindle. If not it will take me a week or so to get it. I'll check it tonight.
Let's read.
.......................congrats on finishing all the school work as that is the real accomplishment.
[Edited: 2011 Jul 13 13:04 - D MJ Binkley:42569 ]
Reply to this Thanks Merry Jo!!, I'm so glad it's over (at least for a few months!)
Let me know when you want to start the book :o)
Reply to this Great news--- I just purchased Jupiter's travels for my kindle. I will begin reading tomorrow. It sounds like an interesting book.
Reply to this
I'm not sure how many of you are reading Jupiter's Travels with us but I am half way through and I am enjoying it immensely. It is about a man who rides his motorcycle around the world in 1974.
Man against man, man against machine, man against nature.... it has a little bit of everything in it. His writing style adds anticipation to the coming events. He has a superb vocabulary and paints some amazing word pictures. As a good writer will--- often times you feel as if you are on the adventure with him.
If you are not reading it yet you may want to consider it.
Reply to this Okay, I think you've convinced me on this one! I'm placing an order with Amazon soon, so will include
Jupiter's Travels at the time.
Won't be reading at the same time as you as I'm currently reading
Nuremberg Diary by Gustave Gilbert - an absolutely stunning book by the US prison psychologist during the Nuremberg trials of 1945-6.
I hope to have this book on my travels at the end of the year, but it is slightly weighty - however I'm willing to bear the weight if I'm reading superb vocabulary and amazing word pictures!
Reply to this Just found something interesting. Did you know that Ted Simon made the same journey of his original 1970s expedition in 2001 and wrote about it in a book called
Dreaming of Jupiter. It appears to focus on the changes he witnessed in places during the intervening 20 years, and found that much had changed for the worse.
Reply to this Yes, I did know about his 2001 trip and thought I would read it if I like the first one. So far so good. There were a few pages that were a bit slow but overall a very good read so far.
I like it better than I thought I would.
I'm planning to read from the Holy Mountain soon-- the problem is it is not available on kindle. I will have to read a book again.
Reply to this How is the reading going??
I'm on holidays at the moment and I have lots of time to read, so I have finished it!
I liked it as a whole, but there were parts that were very slow and also other times where I wished he would have taken more time to talk about what he did/saw, etc.
But in general is an amazing adventure which made me extremely jealous and wanting to jump on a motorbike and get outta here!... but since I can't drive motorbikes is not going to happen any time soon :o)
My husbands loves motorbikes and I'm sure he wouldn't mind doing the driving for me ;o) but he hasn't read the book so...
I'm looking forward to hear your opinions, guys!!
Happy readings :o)
Reply to this I'm half way and should finish it Labor Day weekend because we are going away to a quiet place.
(early september)
Reply to this I've only just found this thread so haven't read the book...but hopefully I will be able to pick it up and join in.
Could I suggest a couple that I've recently read about Sierra Leone? One is called "Chasing the Devil" by Tim Butcher about a journey he did through Sierra Leone and Liberia, mostly on foot, a couple of years ago. He was aiming to recreate the journey undertaken by Graham Greene in the 1930s.
The other one is by Aminatta Forna, called "The Devil that Danced on Water", a memoir about growing up in Sierra Leone and about her father, a politician in the early 70s.
Both fascinating reads about a very troubled part of the world. It's definitely on my list though!
Reply to this 
