Results tagged “Books” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Reading Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women was one of Harriet Reisen's seminal experiences growing up, as it is for many girls the world over (the book has been translated into over 50 languages and has never been out of print). But Reisen, a documentary screenwriter, took her enthusiasm a step (or two) further by doggedly pursuing her goal of bringing Alcott's rags-to-riches life story to the screen. The resulting biopic, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, debuts on American Masters on PBS on December 28, but a companion biography written by Reisen is due out in bookstores today.

I chatted with Harriet Reisen about Louisa May Alcott sites to visit, Louisa's own travel experiences, and how travel and literature intersect.

Readers have flocked to visit Orchard House, the Alcott home for 20 years in Concord, Massachusetts, ever since Little Women became nearly an overnight bestseller in 1868. Any tips on what to look out for on a visit there?

When Louisa describes the March home in Little Women, she is describing Orchard House. Visiting it brings the March and the Alcott family alive. The Alcotts feel very present, as if they've just stepped out for a moment. Everything's there: the elder sister's wedding gown, Louisa's mood pillow. Louisa was very moody and she had a pillow that she put up to signal you could approach her, but when she put it sideways, beware.

Don't miss the costumes that the Alcott children wore in their homemade theatricals, including the russet boots Louisa loved. She said she only wrote parts for herself in plays where she could wear the russet boots.

In between the windows of her very small room is a little wooden desk, a semi-circular surface probably 14 inches in diameter, if that. It has just enough room for an inkwell and a piece of paper. And on this desk, she wrote Little Women in just ten weeks.

Last month, our Trip Lit book critic Don George sat down with Amy Tan for the launch of our new "Journeys" series of live conversations with great writers at National Geographic headquarters in D.C. Tomorrow, Don will be chatting with Simon Winchester, author of The Man Who Loved China and The Professor and the Madman, and editor of the 2009 edition of Best American Travel Writing. The evening--which will be preceded by a reception featuring beers from around the world--is also Twitter-friendly. If you've got a question for Simon, add #nglive to your tweet and your question could be answered live at the event. For upcoming events and more news from the Society, be sure to follow @NatGeoScoop.

Click here for more information and to buy tickets. For more inspiring travel reads, check in each month for Don George's Trip Lit column, or browse our Ultimate Travel Library.

Last night, Amy Tan helped launch our new "Journeys" series of live conversations with great writers at National Geographic headquarters here in D.C. The bestselling author of such books as The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen's God's Wife, and most recently, Saving Fish From Drowning, was gracious, funny, and inspiring. (And a fabulous dresser!) The sold-out crowd enjoyed the wide-ranging, often intimate discussion she had with Traveler contributing editor and book reviewer Don George. Some highlights:

• She wrote The Joy Luck Club in four months.

• She's working on her next novel, which was inspired by the remote Chinese village she visited and wrote about for National Geographic Magazine's May 2008 issue.

• Her mother's voice is a constant in her writings--The Kitchen God's Wife was inspired by her mother's story and the dead tour-guide narrator of Saving Fish From Drowning stemmed from a dream she had of her mother after her death: "All the things that I used to find annoying [about my mother], I now find charming."

• Her inspiration for books usually stems from a vivid image of a specific place: for The Joy Luck Club it was Guilin.

• How has her writing helped her grow and change? "I write to discover that; with each book I learn something new about myself."

This was also the first Twitter-friendly event the Society has sponsored, so to learn more about what people thought of the talk, and to get a glimpse of some of what was discussed you can search for #amytannglive. For upcoming events and more news from the Society, be sure to follow @NatGeoScoop.

The next speaker in the series is Simon Winchester, author of The Man Who Loved China and The Professor and the Madman, and editor of the 2009 edition of Best American Travel Writing. He'll be coming to National Geographic on October 15, 2009. Click here for more information and to buy tickets. For more inspiring travel reads, check in each month for Don George's Trip Lit column, or browse our Ultimate Travel Library.

Photo: Amy Tan and Don George in conversation, by Andrew Evans.

We love our Trip Lit book critic, Don George, so we were excited to hear that we'll be seeing more of him around the office. Starting this fall, Don will be hosting a series of conversations with all-star authors whose works evoke a strong sense of place. His first event will be with best-selling author Amy Tan this September 23, at 7:30 p.m. at our headquarters in D.C. Here's a bit about her and the event itself:

Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents from China, Amy Tan rejected her mother's expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist and chose to write fiction instead. Her acclaimed novels include The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Bonesetter's Daughter; and she has adapted her work for film, television, and opera. In a wide-ranging conversation, Tan will discuss, with Traveler editor Don George, the life-changing challenges of living in two cultures, the importance of fate and family in her life and work, and the places that have most moved and inspired her.

The evening will be preceded by a reception featuring beers from around the world, presented with generous support from the Michelob Brewing Company (must be 21 or older).

Click here for more information and to order tickets. The next event, which will feature travel writer Simon Winchester, will be held October 15. We hope to see you there!

Photo: John Foley
 

Über-author Dan Brown is about to strike Washington, and everyone is getting ready. Brown, whose first two blockbuster novels, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, have taken up permanent residence on the Times best-seller list and have been Hanksified for Hollywood, has written his next book, The Lost Symbol, about the hidden secrets of Masonic Washington. And the actual Masonic Washington -- the people who work at Masonic sites throughout the city -- are preparing for the onslaught of tourists, according to a story last week in the Washington Post.

"I'm expecting [tourism] to skyrocket," says Heather Calloway, director of special programs for the Masonic House of the Temple on 16th Street NW, which receives about 10,000 visitors a year. She will double the staff of part-time tour guides, if necessary, to handle the crush.

"We might have to spend the next 25 years responding to Dan Brown's fiction," says Mark Tabbert, director of collections at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria. "That's what I dread." (Think he's overstating? Wait until you hear from his European counterparts, who are still drowning in their own Brown invasions.)

Brigid Pasulka lived in Krakow from 1994-1995 and returns to Poland almost every year. Her debut novel, also set in Krakow, is called A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True. Our book reviewer, Don George, chose it as Book of the Month for August. Here Brigid gives us her insider's picks of top experiences in Poland, in no particular order:

• Eat at a milk bar (bar mleczny). Government-subsidized cafeterias in Communist Poland, milk bars still serve a (mostly) student and pensioner clientele. If you need help with the menu, just ask a student in line--almost all young people in cities speak some English--and don't forget to bus your own table and tell your table-mates "Dziękuję" (jen-KOO-yeh) when you stand up to leave. In Krakow, Bar Żak on Królewska and the bar mleczny on Grodzka (called simply "Bar Mleczny") are the most accessible but still authentic examples.

• Stay in a room in someone's apartment. Sure, there are hotels, hostels and stand-alone apartments, but none of these will show you how people actually live better than...well, actually living with them. Thanks to the Internet, you won't have to take your chances on whichever babcia accosts you straight off the train. These are, of course, not recommended for drunken revelers--most of the proprietors seem to be single mothers or pensioners who need their beauty sleep.

If you want to get away without actually getting away, check out Traveler's Trip Lit column for July. Our columnist Don George reviews his new Book of the Month, Lime Tree Can't Bear Orange by Amanda Smyth, a novel about a teenage girl in Trinidad, and Aisling Juanjuan Shen's A Tiger's Heart: The Story of a Modern Chinese Woman about the author's journey out of a rice-farming village in rural China.

Other Trip Lit Highlights:

- Near Death in the Desert, edited by Cecil Kuhne: This installment of the "Near Death" series highlights 12 almost-lethal tales of desert adventures.

- An Irreverent Curiosity by David Farley: Part history, part travel reporting, Farley follows the story of Jesus' foreskin from its journey to the town of Calcata to its disappearance in 1983.

Don't Miss:

- The Reading Matchmaker: Love the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series? Then check out Wife of the Gods, by Kwei Quartey. The first in a planned series starring Detective Inspector Darko Dawson, this complex mystery is set not in Precious Ramotswe's beloved Botswana but in grittier Ghana.

Want More?

-Check out our 50 Books of Summer for great picks that will get you inspired for your next trip.

[Trip Lit]

Photo of a Trinidad Beach by Eli Fuller - Antiqua/Getty Images

Renting a villa in Umbria this summer? Perhaps you're hiking in Nepal or just lazing on a Bermuda beach. Or you may be taking the kids on their first U.S. road trip. Whatever your plans, we have a book for you, selected from Traveler's online Ultimate Travel Library of classic and new reads with a great sense of place. Each of these books will illuminate your destination, give you unexpected tips on what to see and do, and keep you turning pages during that long flight or that sunny poolside afternoon.

[50 Books of Summer]

Photo by Hans F. Meier/iStockphoto.com

Need a rewarding getaway this summer? About about 100 getaways? Author Pam Grout has gathered a wide selection of fantastic--and fulfilling--trips to choose from in her book The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life. Here are some of her favorites, with the full book excerpt here on Traveler's site. Want the whole book? We're offering a 20 percent discount - so order now and get going! 

1. Excavate Stone Tools; Cortez, Colorado
2. Blaze a New Trail; New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana
3. Collect Butterflies in Remote Amazonia; Huaorani Reserve, Ecuador
4. Produce the News; Cochabamba, Bolivia
5. Turn a Military Base into a School and Garden; Bethlehem, Israel
6. Bottle-Feed Orphaned Lion Cubs; Victoria Falls, Zambia
7. Research the Great White Shark; Gansbaai, South Africa
8. Assist the Kenya Wildlife Service; Kenya
9. Restore a Buddhist Monastery; Mustang Valley, Nepal
10. Go Carbon Neutral in Western Australia; Perth, Australia

Photo: Bottle-feed lion cubs with Amanzi Travel and help save the "king of beasts." by Daniel Mallard/iStockphoto.com

In his latest column, our book critic Don George reviews the new title, Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, by Geoff Dyer, about a British art journalist sent to cover the Venice Biennale. In it, George writes, the main character Jeff Atman's exploits are both dizzying and quintessentially Venetian:

[His] Bellini-fueled adventures offer artful angles from which to appreciate anew Venice's enduring attractions: the canals, palazzos, gondoliers, and vaporetti; the crumbling pastels, illusory waterways, and century-spanning bells. Through Atman, Dyer touches the elusive soul of Venice, the unexpected beauties of glass and grave, the way you can get lost at any minute and then, after wandering for an hour, suddenly appear at the doorway to your hotel, miles from where it was supposed to be.

Read the rest of George's review here, plus more book picks from Mexico, Australia, and Pakistan. And learn more about Venice from our Places of a Lifetime series. 

Photo: Jimmy Leo 

National Geographic is excited to announce the publication of its newest title, National Geographic: The Best of the Breasts. Here's a snippet from the press release: "Finally, a compendium of all of our stellar breast photography has been culled from our 126-year history. It's a celebration of the female body in its most honest form."

It's been a long time coming, but frankly, none of us here at NG are that surprised, as the first thing most people tell us when we introduce ourselves as Society employees is their original acquaintance with the mammary glands came via our magazines. And we can't help but think it will be a big seller this Mother's Day. The book will be hitting stores this spring.

Photo: Maynard Owen Williams/NGS IMAGE COLLECTION

Friend of IT Hunter Braithwaite braves the winter doldrums to find the best bookstores in Berlin.

The Pro QM bookstore in Berlin

A few months after the publishing world gathered in Frankfurt for the annual book fair, I went to Berlin to catch up on my reading. Northeastern Germany in January seems closer to martyrdom than a vacation, but if authentic travel has taught us anything, it is that you have to take the bad with the good. Food, accommodations, even the weather are best experienced as locals do. And in the winter, Berliners stay inside and read. The resulting tide of bookshops keeps one busy for weeks. Guessing that this blog is read mainly by Anglophones, I'll only list those with English titles. After that, a brief mention of the one sport that you can do in Berlin this winter (with the obvious exception of competitive döner-eating).

Start in hip Prenzlauer Berg at Saint Georges Bookshop (Wörtherstrasse 77, off the M2 Marienburgerstrasse).  The shop carries standard literary fare and boasts an impressive used books collection. When I went they had taken in a local street cat that was trying with all its might to escape whenever someone walked in through the front door. In the back room you can sink into a chesterfield sofa and read a used copy of Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz or a collection of Philip K. Dick's stories. They also do a movie night on Tuesdays. The 2-euro admission comes with a glass of wine or a beer. Saint Georges is open 11-8 p.m. during the week, 11-7 p.m. on Saturday, and is closed on Sunday.

While not technically an English Bookstore, Pro QM (+49 (0) 30 247 285 20) shouldn't be missed.  Located at Almstadtstrasse 48-50 (U8, Weinmeisterstrasse), the shop manages to stay hidden in the heart of popular shopping district Mitte. One way to classify bookstores is by how they apply order to chaos. Though the Pro QM stocks thousands of books that range from urban planning to philosophy to typography to environmental politics, the shop itself is spacious, beautiful, and organized with a ruthless German efficiency. Most of the titles are in English, and while some can be a bit expensive, just browsing makes you smarter. Pro QM is open Monday through Saturday, 11-8.

We obviously love travel here at the magazine, so we're happy to announce our special online Valentine's Day travel package highlighting some of the best places to celebrate all things amour. Click through to find out where Tiffany & Co.'s recommendations on places to propose, a sampling of romantic books that will whisk you away to foreign lands, an international playlist to woo your one love, a quiz to test your romantic acumen, and our personal favorite, a list of all the special cupcake bakeries across the country (and their V-day recipes), so you can grab a treat for your sweetie.

We accept deliveries here at the office if anyone it interested...

Photo: Thomas Fahey 

'Tis the season to be...

Grumpy about airport security checks? Frustrated by the passenger next to you who keeps drooling on your shoulder? Utterly exhausted from travel before family time even starts? Bah, humbug.

Airports aren't exactly the most pleasant places in the world, especially around the holidays, but Jason Barger, author of Step Back from the Baggage Claim, thinks this could change. He spent seven continuous days in airplanes and airports around the country, observing people's interactions as well as airport culture. Oddly enough, he came to the conclusion that air travel can not only be uplifting, it can inspire us to better ourselves and the world.

We at IT were curious, so we decided to ask him a few questions about his experience and his new travel philosophy.

Full Q & A after the break...