DECEMBER:   TRAVEL STORIES

JO:  SCENIC CRUISES DVDS

Jo chose to review her own DVD collection of scenic cruises.  Some were in Victoria and other parts of Australia.  There was also "Scenic Cruises of the World".  She said the scenery was beautiful.

LESLEY:  THIS BARREN ROCK BY SYLVIE HAISMAN

With so much to do at this time of the year, Lesley only read part of the book.  It is a true story set in 1875.  It's the story of Fanny Wordsworth (great great grandmother of the author) and her very spoiled son Charles who emigrate to New Zealand.  They travel down the Cape of Good Hope where the ship is wrecked after terrible gales.  The survivors have to find food, shelter, firewood etc in a place with no trees or vegetation and only seabirds to eat.  Lesley said it was not a happy story but interesting.

JOAN:  IN PATAGONIA BY BRUCE CHATWIN

This book was published in 1977.  In 1972 Bruce Chatwin was hired to write an article about a 93year old female architect living in Paris.  She had always wanted to go to Patagonia which is at the southern tip of South America. Chatwin told her he had always wanted to go to Patagonia she told him to go for her.  The book he wrote about his adventure is ground breaking work with sharp prose and jumbled stories of people and places.  Joan particularly enjoyed the book as she has been to Patagonia.


BEV:  THE OLD WAYS BY ROBERT MCFARLANE

The story is set in England and describes the walks you can take in England.  The author is very interested in geology so he talks about the rock formations as well.  It is an interesting book but not exciting.

ROSEMARIE O:  NOTES FROM A BIG COUNTRY BY BILL BRYSON

Rosemarie thought the cover looked exciting.  Bill Bryson lived in Yorkshire and married a Yorkshire woman.  He wanted to move back to New Hampshire.  The Sunday Times wanted him to write an article on America so the English would be able to understand American life.  American people are very different to English people. It's a witty, funny book and if you need a lift, this is the book to read.  It opens your eyes to American life.

ANNE:  TRACKS BY ROBYN DAVIDSON

This is the story of a Robyn Davidson, a 25year old woman who makes a perilous journey across Australia from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean in 1975.  She has one dog, three adult camels and a baby camel. It is a compelling tale with vivid descriptions.  She had to contend with sweltering heat by day and terrible cold at night.  She developed an affinity with the aboriginals.  She discovered that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be. Anne found the book very interesting.

PAULINE: FULL TILT BY DERVLA MURPHY

Dervla was born in 1931 in Ireland.  She was always keen on travelling from a young age after her father gave her a bike and an atlas.  At age 31 she decided to travel from Ireland to India on a bike journey. It was a six month journey through Yugoslavia, Persia(Iran), Afghanistan, over the Himalayas to Pakistan and then to India. She had many interesting adventures and she found the people generous and kind. The book is based on the diary she kept on her journey. Pauline really enjoyed it and it is the second time she read the book.

PAT:  TRUE PLEASURES - A MEMOIR OF WOMEN IN PARIS BY LUCINDA HOLDFORTH

Lucinda, the author decided to make a life change at age thirty five when she quit her job and moved to a Paris apartment. In the book she describes the elegance of the women, the smell of buttery croissants and coffee.  It reminded Pat of the time she was in Paris. Due to other commitments, Pat didn't finish it but she found the book interesting.

KRIS:  SHADOW OF THE SILK ROAD BY COLIN THUBRAN

Due to commitments of Christmas Kris did not finish this book but would like to have the time to continue reading it.  The book records the journey by the author along the greatest land route on earth. He travels by bus, train, donkey, camel etc.etc. The Silk Road was the first great trade route out of China into the mountains of central Asia, across northern Afghanistan, the plains of Iran and into Kurdish Turkey. He writes beautifully and his intimate conversations with the people he meets are very interesting.


JUDY:  TURN RIGHT AT MACHU PICHU, REDISCOVERING THE LOST CITY ONE STEP AT A TIME BY MARK ADAMS

Mark Adams is a travel writer in America and his wife is Peruvian. He believed you should travel properly to be a good travel writer so he decides to retrace the steps of Hiram Bingham III who, in 1911 climbed in to the Andes mountains of Peru to discover Machu Pichu. Judy enjoyed the book as she had been to Machu Pichu although she said there was more detail than she would have liked.

JULIA:  JOURNEY TO THE STARS BY STUART CLARK

The book is about dying stars, planets, statistics, black holes and galaxies.  Judy has always been interested in astronomy so found the book very enjoyable.

PAMELA:  HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY CREATED BY DOUGLAS ADAMS

One of the main characters is Arthur Dent.  He has a friend who is an alien marooned on Earth from a planet called Beetlejuice. Arthur Dent's house is going to be demolished for a super highway that will go through the galaxy and destroy earth. Pamela said it is surreal, extremely witty and very verbal.  The characters are wonderful and there is fun with mathematics and probability.

SHEILA:  LADIES ON THE LOOSE - WOMEN TRAVELLERS OF THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY

This book is not a library book.  It is a collection of first person narratives by women travellers of the 18th and 19th century.  They went to many different places throughout the world, mostly remote places with people of strange customs.  They enjoyed the freedom of travelling on their own.  They endured hardship and danger with composure. Sheila felt they were very brave women.

BETH:  FIVE WAYS TO CARRY A GOAT BY BEN GROUNDWATER

Ben is a young travel writer.  He went to fourteen countries in three months.  Some of the countries he went to were Korea, China, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, U.S.A., Canada etc.  There was lots of drinking and clubbing and although Beth did enjoy it, it wasn't what she was expecting.

ED:  PARIS WIFE BY PAULA MCLAIN

This book is not a travel book.  It is a fictional account of the first of Ernest Hemingway's four wives.  She was 28 and he was 20 when they met in America. Hemingway started sending her letters. They moved to Paris.  They were part of the scene of up and coming writers and artists in Paris.  Hemingway needed to be pampered and have his needs and wants met by his wife.  Ed did not finish it.  She found it interesting but not riveting.

ROSEMARIE: HANOI STORY BY PAM SCOTT

The author is an Australian academic.  She is a great writer.  She visited Hanoi in the 1980's and stayed there eight years.  She opened the first English language bookshop and the book describes the trials and tribulations she experienced.  Rosemarie said it was a great read.  She thoroughly enjoyed it and read it in two days.  As Rosemarie had been to Hanoi, the book revitalized memories of her time there.

PRUE:  KINGDOM OF 10,000 THINGS BY GARY GEDDES

The author is a Canadian poet, not a journalist.  He discusses the theory that perhaps Columbus wasn't the first person to discover America.  There are details of big ships from China.  There is a belief that the first person may have been an monk from Afghanistan.  Gary retraced the voyage of the legendary 5th century Buddhist monk from Afghanistan to central America.  The book is well researched but Prue said it wasn't an easy read.  She forced herself to come back to it and then there were snippets of interest.  It is still a mystery.

JUDY:  ROAD TO PARADISE BY PAULINA SIMONS

Judy said there was no paradise in paradise.  It is about a girl who wants to find her mother who had left when she was little.  She didn't find her mother but Judy did not read to the end.  She found it a very tense book with lots of twists and turns and it definitely wasn't a light read.

CONNIE:  A WALK AROUND THE LAKES BY HUNTER DAVIES

The book was written in 1978. The author spent a year doing the various walks around the Lake District.  Sometimes he would walk on his own,sometimes with family but often returned home between walks.  There are maps in the book. Each chapter is about a different lake so it took a while to read.  Sometimes the weather was severe, cold and damp.  Connie knew the area very well but the walks were monotonous.  She did enjoy the book.  There was also a biography of William Wordsworth and it spoiled her illusions of a man she admired.

CLAURENE:  DOWN UNDER BY BILL BRYSON

Claurene has been reading his books since 1995 but this book was the only one she had not read.  It was interesting.  He felt he had privately discovered life on another planet when he came to Australia.  He said it teems with life, a large proportion of it deadly.  He promptly fell in love with the country and said life doesn't get much better than that.

TAM:  COLD MOUNTAIN BY CHARLES FRAZIER

This book is set in the America during the American Civil War.  The American Civil War is one of Tam's passions.   The main male character has had enough of war and after being in hospital he heads home to his girlfriend Ada in Cold Mountain. It takes him a year to get back.  During this time he develops a spiritual relationship with the environment.  There are a lot of characters he meets on his journey who change him.He is also being hunted by the men trying to capture the soldiers who have left.  It is an external and internal journey.  Ada is also on a journey.  She is not used to the land and has to learn independence. Tam loved the book.

DI:  NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND BY BILL BRYSON

Bill Bryson lived in England for twenty years before going to America. Before leaving he took a trip around England and wrote about it in this book.  Di is English so she loved the places.  She loved every page and his sense of humour.  It was a journey amongst people as well as villages.  There was a great divide in England between the North and South.  One million people lost their jobs in the North but the people still expressed great humour and wit. Di said it was a great read.


BOOK LIST FOR NEXT SIX MONTHS

JANUARY:    Santa Sack - a book you read over Christmas

FEBRUARY: Authors of books for Young Adults

MARCH:  Emma by Jane Austen

APRIL:  Anzac Day Stories - 100 years Anniversary

MAY:  Marelle Day (Australian author)

JUNE:  Autobiographies/Biographies