National Network for Equitable Library Service

A New York Times Bestseller - The author of Nowhere for Very Long continues her story with this deeply honest, moving account of a woman walking the line between independence and isolation when she moves to the Southwest desert with nothing and no one but her four dogs. In her debut memoir, Nowhere for Very Long, Brianna Madia reflected on her life as a nomad, free to roam some of the most beautiful land in America. Now, in Never Leave the Dogs Behind, the van life adherent faces the unfathomable darkness that comes from a life blown apart, her only solace the support of her dogs.

Somalia is one of the world's most desolate, sun-scorched lands, inhabited by fierce and independent-minded tribesmen. It was here that Gerald Hanley spent the Second World War, charged with preventing bloodshed between feuding tribes at a remote outstation. Rations were scarce, pay infrequent, and his detachment of native soldiers near-mutinous. In these extreme conditions seven British officers committed suicide, but Hanley describes the period as the "most valuable time" of his life. With intense curiosity and openmindedness, he explores the effects of loneliness.

In this unconventional and accessible history, Italian best-seller Alberto Angela literally follows the money to map the reach and power of the Roman Empire. To see a map of the Roman Empire at the height of its territorial expansion is to be struck by its size, stretching from Scotland to Kuwait, from the Sahara to the North Sea. What was life like in the Empire, and how were such diverse peoples and places united under one rule?

A remarkable firsthand view of a lost culture in all its simplicity and violence by renowned writer Peter Matthiessen (1927–2014), author of the National Book Award–winning The Snow Leopard and the novel In Paradise. In the Baliem Valley in central New Guinea live the Kurelu, a Stone Age tribe that survived into the twentieth century.

Rachel Friedman has always been the consummate good girl who does well in school and plays it safe, so the college grad surprises no one more than herself when, on a whim (and in an effort to escape impending life decisions), she buys a ticket to Ireland, a place she has never visited. There, she forms an unlikely bond with a free-spirited Australian girl, a born adventurer who spurs Rachel on to a yearlong odyssey that takes her to three continents, fills her life with newfound friends, and gives birth to a previously unrealized passion for adventure.

In the 1920s, the young J. R. Ackerley spent several months in India as the personal secretary to the maharajah of a small Indian principality. In his journals, Ackerley recorded the Maharajah's fantastically eccentric habits and riddling conversations, and the odd shambling day-to-day life of his court. Hindoo Holiday is an intimate and very funny account of an exceedingly strange place, and one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century travel literature.

African Silences is a powerful and sobering account of the cataclysmic depredation of the African landscape and its wildlife. In this critically acclaimed work, Peter Matthiessen explores new terrain on a continent he has written about in two previous books, A Tree Where Man Was Born—nominated for the National Book Award—and Sand Rivers. Through his eyes, we see elephants, white rhinos, gorillas, and other endangered creatures of the wild. We share the drama of the journeys themselves, including a hazardous crossing of the continent in a light plane.

Isadora Tattlin is the American wife of a European energy consultant posted to Havana in the 1990s. Wisely, the witty Mrs. Tattlin began a diary the day her husband informed her of their new assignment. One of the first entries is her shopping list of things to take, including six gallons of shampoo. For although the Tattlins were provided with a wonderful, big house in Havana, complete with a staff of seven, there wasn't much else money could buy in a country whose shelves are nearly bare.

New York, Capri, Naples, Venise, Cuba, Jérusalem... autant de destinations d'écrivains, de milliardaires, d'assoiffés de vie et d'imprévus. De ces villes mythiques, Françoise Sagan rapporta des tableaux saisissants d'une plume vive et légère, capturant l'esprit de chaque lieu. La retrouver avec ces petits carnets de voyage est un pur bonheur. Bonjour New York rassemble quatre reportages de Françoise Sagan, écrits en 1956 pour le magazine Elle. Maisons louées réunit des articles publiés dans L’Égoïste, L’Express, Elle, Vogue, Senso ou encore Le Monde.

A classic work of nature and humanity, by renowned writer Peter Matthiessen (1927–2014), author of the National Book Award–winning The Snow Leopard and the novel In Paradise. National Book Award–winning author Peter Matthiessen takes readers on an expedition to find the most dangerous predator on Earth—the legendary great white shark.