The Sunday Salon: Why I Read. And You?
I suppose it depends on what types of books you read, but since I read novels, mostly I read to live a life other than my own for a while. I read to get away, to dream of somewhere far away, or to understand where someone is coming from better. I love international fiction because I can travel somewhere I have never been, or walk the streets in a well known village 8,000 miles away. I am teleported through reading to a dream or a nightmare, depending on the book. I can live an exciting night, even though I don't have a million dollars for travel fees and a babysitter that night!!
I guess movies could be the same thing, but they really aren't, for me at least. Because they don't allow me to take my time, I am on their schedule and just working on keeping up most of the time with what is being said and the images that flash on screen. In reading, I live longer in the places I want to and skip-run-jump through those that freak me out. I like reading.
I have recently been transported to China while reading The Kitchen God's Wife (Amy Tan), to a Russian threatened Afghanistan in The Photographer (graphic novel), and through racial and spacial bounds in Zimbabwe in Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. Where have you been lately? Have your travels taken you pleasant places or nightmareish-ones? Do you read for the same reasons as me or different reasons?
The Little Road Trip Handbook
The Little Road Trip Handbook
by Erin McHugh
192 pages
Travel & Reference
Sterling
(May 5, 2009)
The Little Road Trip Handbook is packed with ideas for your very next road trip! There are so many sections in the handbook to rave about. If you have ever been on a road trip you will know that generally the trip is not the fun part, but McHugh argues that it really should be the fun part. That the, " American Road Trip isn't just a pastime it's a birthright, a necessity, a rite of passage, and even in the teeth of spiraling fuel costs, it's a way of life" (p. x introduction). It is made perfectly to fit in your glove box, as it is a smaller sized book. But don't let that lead you to believe it isn't filled from front to back with tips, tricks and plans, because it most certainly is. This little amazing book packs the punch that it promises! If you tick with it you will get from point A to point B in perfect harmony with your surroundings and so much better prepared than the last time.
Because there is so much in it that I would like any potential travelers to see, I am going to post the chapters to give an idea of what I am so excited about:
Part One: Pre-Ignition Check
1. It's All About the Car
2. What are you packing
3. 10 Things You Must Never Bring On A Road Trip
4. Saving the Benjamins (and Lincolns and Washingtons too)
5. The Ultimate Road Trip Music, Movies, and Books
6. What Is (And Isn't ) A Road Trip
Part Two: Trippers: Choosing Your Dream Team
7. The Interview
8. Tripmates and Their Positions
9. Road Trip Etiquette
10. The Frequent Tripping reward Points Program
Part Thee: Road Rules
11. The 10 Commandments of the Road
12. Expenses
13. Take it to the Limit (But No More!!)
14. Foolish Laws from the 50 States
Part Four: Roadside Attractions
15. As Long as We're Out
Part Five: Tips for Trippers
16. Road Games
17. On the Radio
18. Excuses, Excuses!
19. Worst Case Trip Scenarios (and How to Solve Them)
20. The 10 Classic Road Trip Cars of All Time
21. 10 Things You Should Never Pay For
Part Six: End of the Road
22. Home Again
How do I feel about this book? The only thing that I am annoyed at is that McHugh didn't publish it while I was in high school. It would have saved me so much grief. Growing up we traveled A LOT. We traveled for so many reasons, one that my mom is from Southern Jersey and my dad is from Oregon, and two that we were missionaries. I can most certainly agree with Erin McHugh that the journey should be part of the trip, and a fun part at that, because so much of the trip is actually the travel. So, anyway we traveled across the country from Oregon to New Jersey 4 whole whopping round trips-of-a-lot (yes, so that does make 8 times across the US!). Two of the times that were the worst of all, my dad had to fly over to get there sooner and My mom, my little brother and I got to make the trip alone. We did it in a little Toyota Tercel hatchback from the 80's with a u-haul trailer. Oh, if you are confused by why that would be difficult: imagine a little short lady that can barely see over the steering wheel and is also a bad (very distracted) driver. And to top it off we brought our dog. Miserable.
So you see (imagine me holding up a brand new shinny copy of The Little Road Trip Handbook that you see above and gesturing to it like only Vanna could) if we had had this book, we would have known what we were in for, not only because my mother wanted to stop at every historical monument (such as: the first sidewalk, the biggest pancake, the smallest mountain) that there was a road sign for but because we violated the rules of the journey. If my brother and I would have had this book then, we would have known to leave mom behind, ditch the pooch and make the trip ourselves!!! Oh, that would have been a joy! But because we broke rules 1 and 3 of the "10 Things You Must Never Bring On A Road Trip" we are scared for life. Where were you when we needed you, McHugh?!?!
However even if McHugh wasn't around then, she is now and so is The Little Road Trip Handbook, no worries I'll live another road trip the right way (and hopefully another one down to Book Group Expo in October)! And McHugh, it is good for you I am not the type to hold grudges. Even if I were, I don't think I could after reading and loving The Little Road Trip Handbook. A must own for anyone who loves to make the rubber meet the road.
Do you have a fun/horrid road trip story to share? I'd love to commiserate with you! What about a road trip you dream about but have never been on? I dream of so many....most of them in a VW van. Now that I have The Little Road Trip Handbook all I need is that van.
About the Author:
Erin McHugh started her wanderlust Road Tripping years as a college student in a variety of fast cars. Eventually she turned to the working life and publishing industry, where she has held a number of executive positions. Finding she could keep her opinions to herself no longer, Erin turned to writing; she has published more than a dozen books on a wide variety of subjects, and also appears frequently in Time Out New York. She lives in Manhattan and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, a road trip of 203 miles, door to door.
A View of Jerusalem
Title: A View of Jerusalem
Author: Erin Sheely Tolman
Pages: 116
Publisher: worldclay
Genre: Memoir, collection of travel memories
Yearly Count: 3
Erin Sheely Tolman writes with excellence about her time at the BYU Jerusalem Center, in August of 2000. With determination she embarks on a journey to see as much as she can along with 172 other students. So excited is Erin about her new surroundings and the potential adventures lurking behind every corner that she does not see the dangers that are brewing in that part of the world. Will she get to carry her dreams of exploration and adventure all the way through her voyage or will the dark cloud of middle eastern conflict make traveling and touring a feat even too dangerous for Erin Sheely Tolman?
I completely enjoyed A View of Jerusalem, I read it in one sitting and could not get over the beautifully written descriptions of important religious places that Erin traveled to. Her sincerity in the disappointments of being in lockdown for different periods of the trip, as a safety precaution and other joys and sadnesses she endured made the personality burst through. Stunning illustrations by Steven Lee Elgan help depict the places Erin is visiting, and what she is seeing.
The visuals really helped me gain an even deeper understanding than just by words alone.
She not only explains the importance of each of the sites she tours, but she fills the page with more than surface level descriptions. Going beyond the physical experience to retell her personal feelings, what she learned, and how it changed her forever.
Any reader who is a traveler, or a traveler through reading about other peoples voyages will enjoy this read. It is short and very sweet. I understood and could relate on many different levels, I share the desire Erin Tolman does to explore, as well as experience life in its fullest. I get that. I also can relate to being far away from family and feeling blessed by having them, but miss them all the same. If you read this book you are sure to fall in love with Erin Sheely Tolman.
I just had to share some pictures with you that Erin took on her trip, Jerusalem is a place of beauty, romance, and mystery to me. Enjoy her photos:
fire in the old city
the temple mount
galilee at sunset
garden tomb
the western wallIf you could travel to any place in the world where would you go?
Home Girl
Title: Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block
Author: Judith Matloff
Pages: 290
Genre: Memoir, Travel, Home Repair, Urban Living
Yearly Count:6
Starting off as a travel memoir Home Girl really captured my attention in the beginning. Judith is a traveling world journalist who has been at it for 20 years and loves the whole deal. I couldn't help but relate to her gypsyish dreams of travel and adventure. A time comes though, when life's goals change and it is time for Judith to move into the dreams of family, consistency and not living each day in extreme danger. She and her hubby decide to purchase a house. They have no idea that their adventures overseas only were the tip of the iceberg!
I could relate to the desire to travel, to see things, experience and to live all over. Half way into the home-remodel Home Girl just lost interest for me, I tried to enjoy the rest but it was just too much detail on the freaky street that they chose to buy on and not enough about the little details that make the story relatable. I do see though how many others could relate to this story better than I did. After the initial couple chapters I just didn't feel that strong of a connection because she was so much different than me, in a different stage of life and searching for different things.
Why were Judith and her hubby there in the first place? I don't get it. There are so many, SO MANY, much better places to live than across the street of the crack capitol of the whole east coast!!! Seriously, I willed them to move so many times. What would you do if you found out after buying your home that it was the mecca of drugs and dealers??
It was very amusing though, how she and her husband John paid the drug dealers off the streets to help them renovate their home. I found most of those encounters very touching, humorous and to me they seemed pretty realistic. Judith and her husband kept rooting for these guys to get out of their situations, and it showed just how embedded they were that even after being given chances and time they still often felt the need to scurry back to what they knew and where they were comfortable. I get wanting to be someplace familiar, not even caring what it looks like, familiar makes me happy too. I got it.
All in all it was interesting, but not really my type of book, I just couldn't relate. But, if you are middle aged, just settling down, dealing with miscarriages or into remodeling homes...this could be perfect for you!
Have you ever dreamed of living somewhere to move there and find out you just couldn't wait to get out? Did it grow on you or did you flee like cat thrown in water?
Did you read this too?
They did:
Roads to Quoz
Title: Roads To Quoz: An American Mosey
Author:William Least Heat-Moon
Pages:582
Publisher:Little, Brown
Quoz (rhymes with "oz"): "Anything, anywhere, living or otherwise, connecting a human to existence and bringing an individual into the cosmos and integrating one with the immemorial, thereby making each life belong to creation, and so preventing the divorce of one from the all which brought it into being."
Working from the above definition, William Least Heat-Moon's latest book is a collection of writings about his search for quoz on several unique road trips around America. From the logging roads of north Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, Heat-Moon turns his knack for getting off the beaten path into an interesting and thought provoking string of loosely bound stories.
I have to make a confession here: two years ago I started reading Heat-Moon's most famous book, Blue Highways, and I stopped a fourth of the way into it. I wasn't prepared for his very unconventional prose style, which thrives on sticking its tongue out at brevity and clarity. Heat-Moon is not so concerned with making sure that you're able to follow him every step of the way, but instead enjoys weaving together long, intricate sentences full of word play and nuance.If you're unable to fully grasp the meaning of the the paragraph you just read, he trusts that you'll be able to rejoin him in the next.
Here's a sample sentence from Quoz that I think captures the idea. Heat-Moon is writing about driving into the Ouchita mountains in Arkansas: "In years past, I've always come into that planetary washboard athwart, and on two of those occasions I've had to stop along one of the twisting, transverse routes for a passenger to leave her breakfast along the roadsides for the possums, a consequence of transit not unlike sailing a short sea." Translation: his wife usually throws up when they drive the windy mountain roads.
While I was unprepared for Heat-Moon's style when I first picked up Blue Highways, I knew what was getting into when I started Qouz. As a consequence, I spent several pleasant evenings totally absorbed in the book - not just in the fantastic travel yarns, but in the smoky, rambling way that Heat-Moon tells them.
Most of the stories center on Heat-Moon's quest for interesting people and places in the less-visited areas of America. Some of them he purposefully tracks down - such as a woman who intentionally lives on $4.00 a day - and some of them he stumbles on by accident - such a muralist who has created a psychedelic museum in his home. All of them are worth reading about. A central theme of the book, also worth considering, is how we as Americans continue to adapt to our landscape - both successfully and unsuccessfully. Heat-Moons scorns a town built on top of ancient Native American burial mounds and celebrates a man who uses discarded grain bins to build a restaurant.
My only complaint with with Qouz has to do with Heat-Moon's apparent inability to see the world from other's point of a view. He is a writer with plenty of money travelling at his own leisure. This leaves him vast amounts of free time to critique the people and lifestyles that he encounters along the way. He seems to be a bit trapped in his own dreamy world, and anyone trying to work at a normal job for a living is hopelessly lost. One example: during an extended ride on a boat travelling the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Heat-Moons notices the irritated faces of drivers along the bank who have to wait for a drawn bridge while his boat passes. He spends a paragraph reflecting how these people must be drained of life, unable to appreciate the beauty of a boat sailing gently through the water on its way to an unknown destination. The fact that these people are just trying to get home from work to their families doesn't seem to register with him.
Despite this one aspect, I found Qouz to be a very satisfying read, full of great stories from a great storyteller. Heat-Moon's unique writing style raises it well above the level of average travel literature.
