National Network for Equitable Library Service

Bryson shares his breath-taking adventures and the fascinating history of the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, as he travels slowly on foot.

Xiaolu Guo is one of the most acclaimed Chinese-born writers of her generation, an iconoclastic and completely contemporary voice. Her vivid, poignant memoir, Nine Continents is the story of a curious mind coming of age in an inhospitable country, and her determination to seek a life beyond the limits of its borders. Xiaolu Guo has traveled further than most to become who she needed to be. Now, as she experiences the birth of her daughter in a London maternity ward surrounded by women from all over the world, she looks back on that journey.

As a working mother whose livelihood as a poet-lecturer depended on travel, Camille T. Dungy crisscrossed America with her infant, then a toddler. As they travel, Dungy is intensely aware of how they are seen, not just as mother and child but as black females. With a poet's eye, she celebrates the particular in the universal, such as a child's acquisition of language and what to pack in a diaper bag.

Japan is arguably the preeminent food nation on earth, a Mecca for the world's greatest chefs, with more Michelin stars than any other country. The Japanese go to extraordinary lengths and expense to eat food that is marked both by its exquisite preparation and exotic content. Their creativity, dedication, and courage in the face of dishes such as cod sperm and octopus ice cream is only now beginning to be fully appreciated in the sushi and ramen-saturated West, as are the remarkable health benefits of the traditional Japanese diet.

Most of what we know of Russia comes from our views of Moscow and Putin. Distorted half-truths, political assassinations, Cold War spy mythology, Communism and political oppression reign in the capital city, but as many Russians will affirm, Moscow is not a reflection of Russia. Most Russian citizens, including the many diverse ethnic groups throughout Russia, live elsewhere. Dispersed across a vast landscape, they both admire and resent the Moscow megalopolis. From the outsider perspective, Russia is Moscow.

When Pico Iyer visited Japan, he met the vivacious, attractive Sachiko. The result of that meeting is this ironic and heartfelt portrait of cross-cultural infatuation and a view of both the old Japan and the very new.

When June Cameron and Paul Holsinger set out in 1983 in Paul's ancient 26-foot wooden sloop, Wood Duck, to cross the perilous Hecate Strait and explore the weather-beaten west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii), they knew they would face danger. But June had raced her own sailboat for years and Paul was a gifted mechanic, so they put trepidation aside and answered the call to adventure. 26 Feet to the Charlottes takes readers to remote beaches, uninhabited First Nations villages, abandoned mines and sheltered coves.

In her third book of off-the-beaten-track explorations of western Canada, Liz Bryan travels scenic roads of British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. From country routes winding through the Fraser Valley to forest roads on Vancouver Island leading to coastal settlements such as Zeballos and Telegraph Cove, these journeys celebrate amazing landscapes and trace the early human history of these regions.

Join Liz Bryan on 18 picturesque journeys through the diverse landscapes of the British Columbia Interior. Winding through sagebrush and forest, grassland plateaus and mountain valleys, beside river canyons and multicoloured volcanic rocks, these road trips reveal the rich variety of the province's geology and natural history and show how the strands of human history are closely interwoven with the land. First Nations, fur traders, explorers, gold miners, ranchers and homesteaders—all have left their mark.

A Place in Mind: The Search for Authenticity is the result of Avi Friedman’s worldwide quest for successful environments where people congregate and feel comfortable. Whether he writes of the conviviality of a teahouse in Istanbul; the serenity of Assisi; the squatter settlements of Tijuana, or the architectural harmony of neighbourhoods in London, Friedman conveys his excitement at discovering people-friendly places—antidotes to social isolation. His search for unique spots took him to spiritual places, workplaces, towns’ squares, very cold places and warm ones.