Reginald Spittle's Blog: See my book blog, page 26

Thank you, Automattic

Thanks to Automattic, we worked off a little of 2020 today with a grueling wwwp5k. It was also a chance to remember the Ashland Food Bank, which does great work for our community here in Southern Oregon. There is still time to join the wwwp5k fun! (Automattic is the parent company of Word Press.)

—Sue and Reg Spittle

Ashland, Oregon

Special Camino Delivery from a U.K. Reader

A fantastic gift arrived just before Christmas in the form of a review from a reader in the United Kingdom: “I absolutely loved this book. I’ve read many Camino books and this is by far the best. So endearing and sweet and I felt like I picked up loads of tips for my upcoming Camino in 2021.”

When I sat on a bench for my first Camino lunch, I wondered if I would be able to walk across Spain to Santiago. I had no idea I would publish a book about Sue’s and my adventure. I am grateful to readers in 10 countries who have chosen to read Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows.

Free Country: What a Ride!

Wearing just underwear emblazoned with the British flag, George Mahood and his buddy left Land’s End in southwest England without a penny, determined to bicycle to the northern tip of Great Britain. They would rely on the generosity and good hearts of the people, from pub owners and accommodation hosts to the police.

They would not solicit cash, but would accept meals, rooms, clothes, old bicycles and whatever else they needed. They would offer to wash dishes and do other work. They were out to prove that people are good.

If you have not read a book by George Mahood, you are in for a treat. His writing in Free Country is even more entertaining than his story’s premise and is powered by humor and down-to-earth human touches.

I doubt it will be the last George Mahood book you read.

Something New: Books and My Backpack

What’s in your backpack?

Get out your drum and give it a roll; my blog has a new name, Books and My Backpack. I offer you spoiler-free reviews of books that will take you on adventures around the world. Selections include the Pacific Crest Trail, Costa Rica, the Silk Road, and Mont Blanc.

If journeys of the mind are your thing, authors include the Dalai Lama, Thoreau, Hesse, and Seneca. See the drop-down menu for a list of book titles (and quick links to each review).

There’s much more coming from the trails and pages ahead, so stay tuned.

Where am I in my wife Sue’s photo? In the Alps, taking a break from the Tour du Mont Blanc, which will be part of my next book. My first book is Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows.

I hope you like my blog’s new name. Have a suggestion for a book or a trail? Please send it along.

Two Treks, Two Writers, Two Stories

Michael Tyler and his wife walked more than 40 times as far as Dan Karmi, but distance is not necessarily the defining measure of their accomplishments.

In Walking Thru, Tyler recreates his journey of more than 2,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. I am pulled to the PCT because of its incredible challenges in the desert of Southern California, over peaks more than 13,000 feet high in the Sierra Nevada, and through two more states, Oregon and Washington. Sue and I have walked five European distance treks, but none compare to the length and difficulty of the PCT.

Karmi, from Israel, walked 60 miles of the 110-mile Tour du Mont Blanc, but I have to give him credit for attempting something unlike anything he had ever done. Sue and I had done two other treks by the time we walked around Mont Blanc, something we could not have done without experience. Karmi’s story, My Journey Around Mont Blanc, is an honest sharing of his unusual experience.

Neither book was a gripping account, but I was drawn to their stories. Their adventures were so unalike, but distance walkers will find value in their words.

Ready Player Two: Does It Measure Up?

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Imagine an alternate reality where people can do more than see, hear, and control a “game.” Instead, the events are real and the library is massive. And in the new world, people are actually reliving (that means all the senses) a person’s experience, feeling everything that person felt. Adults can choose something they would like to do and in whose body they would like to do it. For up to 12 hours a day. Yep, even sex.

Do you see problems with this alternate world? Ethics? Addiction? Confusion? Privacy? A devaluation of “real” life? An end of the world as we know it?

Those were some of my questions as I read the first part of Ready Player Two, Ernest Cline’s sequel to the hugely successful Ready Player One. I expected Cline’s story to explore more about these dilemmas within an adventure story comparable to the action of his first book. But, most of the time, I was left considering my questions on my own.

There was plenty of action. Maybe too much, too fast. Fans of John Hughes’ movies, Prince’s music and life, even the Lord of the Rings, may love the rapid-fire references.

The book is full of riddles, avatars, time travel, teleporting, dark events, “needle drops,” and more. It kept my attention most of the way. But, unlike how I felt while I read the first book, I was not on the edge of my seat.

Nomadland: Read the Book, See the Movie

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If you haven’t read Jessica Bruder’s Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century, I urge you to read it before seeing the film.

Director Chloé Zhao’s acclaimed adaptation of the non-fiction book is due for theatrical release in February. No word yet on where it will be streaming. It has swept awards at several film festivals and is creating Oscars buzz. Frances McDormand plays a woman in her 60s who loses everything in the Great Recession, then travels the West in her van, working various jobs.

Click here to see my review. One of my favorite books of the year.

Land’s End: What a Finish

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It may not look like it, but Sue and I saved the best for last. Soaked to the skin after our finish at Land’s End on England’s South West Coast Path, we were exhausted, but exhilarated. We had walked in horizontal rain that pounded us all afternoon, but it was a perfect ending to our near-monthlong backpacking trip. The trek is one of four adventures in my second book, due out soon. Write me through “contact” on my website (regspittle.com) to get early word when it is published.

A Story With a Perfect Ending

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What a finish! Sue and I pose with Mont Blanc, which we circled during a 110-mile trekking adventure through three countries. It was a journey that we would not have believed possible just a few years before. The Tour du Mont Blanc is one of four adventures in my second book, due out soon. Write me through “contact” on my website (regspittle.com) if you want early word when it is published.

Good Things Do Find Endings

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Two years after I began writing, I am near the last page of my second book. I can’t wait to see how it ends, but I don’t want the writing journey to be over. That’s how Sue and I felt in Scotland at the finish line of the West Highland Way. Like all four adventures in the new book, the day was bittersweet. Write me through “contact” on my website (regspittle.com) if you want an early word when the new book is published.