Play Book Tag discussion
October 2024: Travel
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Announcing the Tag for October
I'm happy about this win since I can include either time travel or space travel. I have several that would fit this prompt.
John wrote: "I'm happy about this win since I can include either time travel or space travel. I have several that would fit this prompt."Yes, I'm going to read Orbital which fits my Booker reading lol. But I'm a little sad my sports TBR won't be getting any love.
It continues to be the Year of Fran! So many of the tags of the month have been right in my wheel house! Historical mystery, authors of color, coming of age, crime, Europe, debut!Travel is one of my favorite for both fiction and non-fiction. I love tales of quests and journeys and of course real life travels, especially of slow travel, walking, running, horse, kayak, canoe, bicycling.
I will be back with recommendations and what I might read.
I might join you for Orbital if I can get hold of it, Anita!
RecommendationsThe Paris Novel
The Odyssey
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
This Tender Land
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Migrations
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Eyre Affair
Outlander
Float Plan - sailing around the caribbean
Possibilities
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Lost in a Good Book
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands - library
The Lost City of the Monkey God - Preston
This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live
The Imperfectionists by Rachman
The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country
River Sing Me Home by Shearer
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Lefteri
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury
Last Chance to See
Life, Loss, and Puffins
I am planning to read the Paris novel if there is to be a buddy read possibility.
Amy wrote: "I am planning to read the Paris novel if there is to be a buddy read possibility."I read it fairly recently, so I can add comments
How disappointing. :( Athletes travel don’t they. Hahaha
So, just a few recommendations:Recommendations
Nonfiction -
A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France
Alta California: From San Diego to San Francisco, A Journey on Foot to Rediscover the Golden State
The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-mile Horseback Journey into the Old West
Pursuing Giraffe: A 1950s Adventure
Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy
The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey
The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds
Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women
Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town
The Salt Path
Why We Swim
River and the Wall
A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith
Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race
Unbranded
The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores
A Hole in the Wind
The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey
Mississippi Current Cookbook: A Culinary Journey down America's Greatest River- cookbook
Trespassing Across America: One Man's Epic, Never-Done-Before (and Sort of Illegal) Hike Across the Heartland
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North
The Wisdom of Donkeys: Finding Tranquility in a Chaotic World
Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge
Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit
Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart
The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War
The Places in Between
Blue Lattitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
Beautiful Madness
Fiction-
When the Angels Left the Old Country
Vintage 1954- time travel
West With Giraffes
Butterflies in November
The Narrowboat Summer
Cold Enough for Snow
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters
America for Beginners
Wintering
Etta and Otto and Russell and James
The Elephant's Journey
Booknblues wrote: "It continues to be the Year of Fran! So many of the tags of the month have been right in my wheel house! Historical mystery, authors of color, coming of age, crime, Europe, debut!Travel is one o..."
LOVE that it's The Year of Fran!
One of my favorite genres to read -- and quite wonderfully versatile!
I have a thing for sailors, er, I mean books about sailing. I enjoyed Float Plan which is light fiction. I’d also like to read a dramatic nonfiction book. Has anyone read either of these books ?
Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea
Adrift: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea
My sailor husband read one a few years ago and loved it. I think it was the first one, but I’m not sure. The second one was retitled (it used to be Red Sky at mourning) and made into a movie.
Jason wrote: "How disappointing. :( Athletes travel don’t they. Hahaha"There must be some that are both, who knows?
The tags have been mostly great this year, but I have still failed dismally due to life messing with my head. I've been excited about many tags and still failed. Hopefully I manage this tag. Almost everything on my reading list would fit.
Jen wrote: "The tags have been mostly great this year, but I have still failed dismally due to life messing with my head. I've been excited about many tags and still failed. Hopefully I manage this tag. Almost..."Reading is never failing, Jen! Anything you read is great.
NancyJ wrote: "I have a thing for sailors, er, I mean books about sailing. I enjoyed Float Plan which is light fiction. I’d also like to read a dramatic nonfiction book. Has anyone read either of these books ? ..."
I watched the movie which was well done. I have not read the book though.
I have a list of possibilities and if anyone is interested in any of these we could do a buddy read:Fiction
The Tour
Miss Benson's Beetle
You Are Here
Nonfiction
Terriers in the Jungle: A Novel-Unlimited
Cross Country: A 3,700-Mile Run to Explore Unseen America-Unlimited
Becoming Fearless: Finding Courage in the African Wilderness-Unlimited
Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness-Unlimited
A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World-Unlimited
The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America-Unlimited
Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime
Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness
Distant Sunflower Fields
In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist
French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris
Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure
Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks
Where the Falcon Flies: A 3,400 Kilometre Odyssey From My Doorstep to the Arctic
The Twenty-Ninth Day
Jason wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I have a thing for sailors, er, I mean books about sailing. I enjoyed Float Plan which is light fiction. I’d also like to read a dramatic nonfiction book. Has anyone read either of..."
I have The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
Shackled
Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World
Carpathia: The extraordinary story of the ship that rescued the survivors of the Titanic
Salt Water and Spear Tips
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
Shadow Divers
Hell Ship
Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria
The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths
The Terrible Hours: The Greatest Submarine Rescue in History
Man in a Grey Suit: A Memoir of Surfing, Shark Attack and Survival
Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea
My favourites from the above so far would be Deep Descent or Hell Ship
For someone wanting something very light then I also read The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific and Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu which were fun but should be taken with a grain of salt having actually lived in both Kiribati (5 years) and Fiji. There was a doctor but the clinic was shut on a weekend in Kiribati (lucky dad was good at stitches) we did have electricity most of the time by 1982, we did have running water and a toilet too and there is an international airport on Tarawa so a lot of what he said was blatant lies. Kiribati is not renowned for cannibalism at all and was very modern after Vaitupu (Tuvalu) where what he said would have been true most of the time. Fiji is even more modern and developed and you can get pretty much anything you want. They are good entertainment but don't believe a word of it.
Booknblues wrote: "So, just a few recommendations:Recommendations
Nonfiction -
A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France
Alta California: From San Diego to San Francisco, ..."</i>
Thank you for these recommendations-I have found several books I'd like to read!I also can recommend
[book:The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
and the two books she writes to continue her story.
I would also like to recommend :
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morningby Laurie Lee
To the Island of Tides: A Journey to Lindisfarneby Alistair Moffat
and,if you enjoy dipping into the adventures of travel writers from yesteryear,I used to hunt high and low for second hand copies of anything by H.V. Mortonwho has now been republished by Da Capo Press.
NancyJ wrote: "I have a thing for sailors, er, I mean books about sailing. I enjoyed Float Plan which is light fiction. I’d also like to read a dramatic nonfiction book. Has anyone read either of these books ? ..."
I read the Steve Callahan book a long time ago - my husband loves sailing books. It was a good one, though I have other favorites - in particular North to the Night : A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic.
annapi wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I have a thing for sailors, er, I mean books about sailing. I enjoyed Float Plan which is light fiction. I’d also like to read a dramatic nonfiction book. Has anyone read either of..."
Thanks Anna that sounds great for both of us!
Well, in my mind I had already picked out a book for Sports - The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. Hey, if it ends with the Olympics there has to be some travel in it so I'm going for it. (Whether it's enough to count for the tag, we'll see.)There are several travel themed books that I hope to get to:
Honeymoon with My Brother
An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude
The Secret Life of the Seine
But I'm attending an Outlander retreat in early October, the theme of which is the seventh Outlander book - An Echo in the Bone. There's lots of travel in that book - from N Carolina to Philly, from the colonies to Scotland, travel overland by wagon and overseas by ship ... and of course ... time travel!
Booknblues wrote: "I have a list of possibilities and if anyone is interested in any of these we could do a buddy read:Fiction
The Tour
Miss Benson's Beetle
You Are Here
Miss Benson's Beetle is delightful, especially on audio.
French Like Moi was written by a prof at my former college (he came after my time of course). During the pandemic he did a Zoom about the books and his experience. It's an easy and fast read. I am a sucker for books about people who move to France and fall in love with the country/food/people.
The Wager was a great read, would be unbelievable if it weren't true.
On TBR for Travel 1) The Travels - Marco Polo
2) Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains - Jon Krakauer
3) The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris - David McCullough
4) The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
5) The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder - David Grann
6) Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet - Xinran
7) Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat - Chris Stewart
8) Lost Children Archive - Valeria Luiselli
9) Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
10) Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void - Mary Roach
11) The Rookie - Scott Sigler
NancyJ wrote: "RecommendationsThe Paris Novel
The Odyssey
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
This Tender Land
[book:Emily W..."
When I saw Float Plan my born-and-raised-on-the-BC-coast immediately wanted to correct it to float plane! Silly, I know, but then I've never read the phrase "float plan" before, either.
Karin wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "RecommendationsThe Paris Novel
The Odyssey
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
This Tender Land..."
I guess it’s a play on words. I thought of the term “flight plan” because she decided to flee from her life/grief, and follow the plan they made before he died. It could be a play on “float plane” too since it’s so close to the letters.
My TBR fot Travel is:The Paris Novel
The Architects Apprentice
Rooftops of Tehran
Three Words for Goodbye
The Paper Girl of Paris
Lies and Weddings - bet you didn't guess this one has 8 tags for travel...
A fun book for travel The Guncle Abroad - Steven Rowley - 35 tagsthough you should read The Guncle first. The audio versions are great.
Jason wrote: "On TBR for Travel I really liked The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris - very interesting
Travel writing is one of my favorite types of reading!Can anyone recommend a good travel narrative about Scotland? I’m especially interested in foot travel, but would enjoy any.
I’m currently doing a virtual 500-mile trek around the North Coast of Scotland, called the North Coast 500. It’s on a fitness app that synchs my progress “in Scotland” with my actual walking and other exercising that I do where I am. It’s great fun, you can see every step of the real way in Scotland.
So of course I would love to read a book about someone doing that route or a similar one for real!
————————————————————————-
I noticed that someone mentioned The Covenant of Water, which happens to be the book I’m currently reading. I’m about 75% along. I’m enjoying it immensely and will rate it 5 stars, something I rarely do. So of course I highly recommend it.
I personally wouldn’t tag it as travel, because the characters live in India rather than travel there. But the writing is so vivid that you do almost feel that you are actually in India. About every aspect of India: the flora and fauna, food, culture, religions, history, languages, scenery, homes and buildings, all the sights, sounds, and smells - everything is beautifully and vividly described. So I can understand why someone might tag it as travel, I wouldn’t argue with that.
And the characters and plots are totally engrossing too. It’s an exceptional book.
NancyJ wrote: "Karin wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "RecommendationsThe Paris Novel
The Odyssey
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
[book:This Tender ..."
A play on flight plan makes sense; I just thought it funny that I'd auto-correct to something connected to were I grew up and can't believe I didn't think flight plan first.
Amy wrote: "My TBR fot Travel is:The Paper Girl of Paris
..."
I read this one for our June tag and will be interested to see what you think of it.
Ghost of a Rose wrote: "Travel writing is one of my favorite types of reading!Can anyone recommend a good travel narrative about Scotland? I’m especially interested in foot travel, but would enjoy any.
I’m currently do..."
Eagle of the Ninth (aka THE EAGLE) by the amazing Rosemary Sutcliff might count as travel by foot in ancient Scotland (Wikipedia article on novel says historical theory author used as inspiration was plausable at the time of her writing. Another of her novels aimed at adults with related setting is The Mark of the Horse Lord.
See also Wikipedia entry on Sutcliff and her memoir Blue Remembered Hills: A Recollection. Due to health issues that began as small child unable to move easily on her own, she spend much time sitting outdoors absorbing the sights, sounds & smells of the English countryside, observations that brought her own writing to life. (Contrast with small screen-addicted moderns often oblivious to what is actually going on around them.)
Noted British children's librarian Marcus Crouch says in his book The Nesbit Tradition: The Children's Novel In England, 1945–1970:
"If Cynthia Harnett's approach to history is essentially cerebral, Rosemary Sutcliff feels the past through her nerves. No other writer for children of any age or country gives so vivid an impression of just how it felt to live in Britain after the departure of the Legions or under the weight of the conquering Normans; these descriptions, one feels, are the work of an eye-witness. This extraordinary writer takes us by the hand and leads us into the barrack-room of a fortress perched between the Roman peace and the barbarian lands; a gentle woman so disabled that no movement can be made without pain, knows exactly what it was like to swing an axe in the shield-ring and shares the knowledge with the reader."
Sutcliff also grew up listening to her Naval officer father talk about men he worked with, experience helping make relationships of her male characters believeable. Several of her protagonists are shaped by a physical challenge which they learn from.
She also relished being taken for drives in fast car by man with whom (as I recall it) she had relationship of mutual admiration. But because she was unable to have children, he married another woman who could.
Fun novel about road trips that don't go as planned As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth may fit into all 3 categories considered for this month: Tho library classifies as YA, includes engaging characters in number of different generations. Mysterious mentor who becomes guide for teen boy had in his past practiced extreme sports like mountain climbing--mature man's female love interest may be fencer (or at least poses with sword in old photo). And 5 characters have separate misadventures sailing small craft in the Caribbean--one pair accidently veering off to Africa... Non-fiction companion reads:
Could be interesting to compare versions of same trip presented in two books, one focusing on someone who was basically tourist (Teddy Roosevelt) The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, with another about indigenous resident who was his guide, Into the Amazon: The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and Conservationist. Shorter book (3 hour audio versus 12 and 16 hours) aimed at YA audience is Death on the River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Amazon Adventure.
I'm curious about how recent trip in the Grand Canyon by two unprepared men A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon may differ from recent book I've already read about 1930's expedition featuring two women scientists Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon.
Contrast between Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail & "new & improved" easier version Appalachian Trail still being too much for out-of-shape man Bill Bryson inA Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail seems to illustrate how many moderns may lack the strength, endurance & toughness of previous generations. (Also may be a proof that expression about women being "the weaker sex" must have been said by a person who never gave birth the old-fashioned way.)
I am going to read Spying on the South: Travels with Frederick Law Olmsted in a Fractured Land and I recommend The Snow Leopard. Happy reading!
Charlie wrote: "I am going to read Spying on the South: Travels with Frederick Law Olmsted in a Fractured Land and I recommend The Snow Leopard. Happy reading!"Spying on the South sounds good. I will look forward to your review.
Ghost of a Rose wrote: "Can anyone recommend a good travel narrative about Scotland? I’m especially interested in foot travel, but would enjoy any...."I am planning to read one that includes a narrative of a woman travelling by foot in Scotland (which occurred many years ago):
Wanderers: A History of Women Walking
I've ordered "Last Bus to Wisdom." Fingers crossed that I'll like it.
The Snow Leopard sounds amazing. Thanks!
Holly R W wrote: "I've ordered "Last Bus to Wisdom." Fingers crossed that I'll like it."Joy D wrote: "Ghost of a Rose wrote: "Can anyone recommend a good travel narrative about Scotland? I’m especially interested in foot travel, but would enjoy any...."
I am planning to read one that includes a na..."
Holly, I really loved Last Bus to Wisdom. It was a bookclub read that I knew nothing about before I read it - but thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me a little of Forest Gump.
Ghost of a Rose wrote: "Travel writing is one of my favorite types of reading!Can anyone recommend a good travel narrative about Scotland? I’m especially interested in foot travel, but would enjoy any.
I’m currently do..."
Ghost, I've been to Scotland three times and can't wait until the next time. Surprisingly, I've never read a travel memoir of Scotland, but this one looks really good: Scotland Beyond the Bagpipes.
And for a bit of fun ..... I would also recommend Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other, written by two of the stars of Outlander (Sam Heugan (Jamie) and Graham McTavish (Dougal). It's more of a travel adventure as these two poke fun at each other but you get to see a lot of Scotland and its customs. The audiobook is narrated by them also. Plenty of laughs and I could listen to these two talk all day long. Sam is also an avid hiker and wrote a memoir of his life and hiking the West Highland Way: Waypoints: My Scottish Journey
I noticed that Audible has a lot of free travel books, especially in the plus category for members.I clicked on quite a few adventures, memoirs and sci fi.
Plus more Scotland and time travel.
They don’t have a genre tag for travel, so I put travel in the search box in the upper right.
Then on the left bar you can cut down your results by genre groups, or Audible Plus, or even the length of the book.
Another great banner, Anna! You continue to amaze us with your creativity!
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Smokey God: Or; A Voyage to the Inner World (other topics)Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other (other topics)
Waypoints: My Scottish Journey (other topics)
Scotland Beyond the Bagpipes (other topics)
Last Bus to Wisdom (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Steven Rowley (other topics)Jon Krakauer (other topics)
David McCullough (other topics)
Jonas Jonasson (other topics)
David Grann (other topics)
More...
The tag for next month is:
travel
Please share your reading plans and recommendations below.
Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as "travel" on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.
One way to find books to read for this tag is to please visit:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
We encourage people to link to additional lists below if they find them.
Happy Reading!!!