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{{Frontpage
|author=Alastair Humphreys
|title=Local
|rating=5
|genre=Travel
|summary= Alastair Humphreys has walked and cycled all over the world. And then written about it. For this book he walked and cycled very close to home and then wrote about it. As he says in his introduction, the book is an attempt ''to share what I have learnt about some big issues from a year exploring a small map. Nature loss, pollution, land use and access, agriculture, the food system, rewilding…'' One of the joys of the book for me was that the biggest thing he learned about all of these things was that there are no easy answers, no single 'right or wrong', that every upside is likely to have a downside for somebody and that there are some hard choices ahead.
|isbn=1785633678
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0957181167
|title=Blue Skies and Boat Trips: The Norfolk of Brian Lewis
|author=Alan Marshall
|rating=5
|genre=Art
|summary=There are few positive things which can be said about a substandard apartment when you’re on holiday but this time, in trying to avoid looking at a problem I found myself looking more closely at a couple of pictures on the walls - and was completely taken by the work of Brian Lewis. I searched online and could only find ‘used’ versions of this book and the print I wanted was ‘not available’. Oh, dear - then a few doors down from the apartment, I found a gift shop with a stack of brand new books - and a framed print of the picture I wanted.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1785633457
|title=Charging Around: Exploring the Edges of England by Electric Car
|author=Clive Wilkinson
|rating=5
|genre=Travel
|summary=Clive Wilkinson has a history of travelling by unconventional means with a preference for slow travel. As he neared his eightieth birthday the idea of exploring the edges of England in an electric car was not totally outrageous. In fact, it should be a pleasant holiday for Clive and his wife, Joan, shouldn't it?
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Merryn Glover
|title=The Hidden Fires
|rating=5
|genre=Travel
|summary= It is always about the book, not the writer, but there are times when the author's hinterland is also the background to the book and so it is necessary to understand that context, in order to appreciate the book. Merryn Glover is of Australian parentage, was born in Kathmandu, grew up in the Annapurna and Himalayan and now lives in Badenoch in Scotland. I can think of no-one better a combination to give us a re-appraisal of Nan Shepherds work than the first Writer in Residence in the Cairngorms National Park. Merryn walks, not so much in the shadow of Shepherd, but in her spirit. I think the two would have gotten along famously.
|isbn=1846975751
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B0B7289HKQ
|title=Conversations Across America: A Father and Son, Alzheimer's, and 300 Conversations Along the TransAmerica Bike Trail that Capture the Soul of America
|author=Kari Loya
|rating=4
|genre=Travel
|summary=Kari (that rhymes with ‘sorry’, by the way) wanted to spend some time with his father and the period between two jobs seemed like a good time to do it. The decision was made to ride the Trans America Bike Trail from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon - all 4250 miles of it - in 2015. They had 73 days to do it - slightly less than the recommended time - but there were factors which pointed this up as more of a challenge that it would be for most people who considered taking it on. Merv Loya was 75 years old and he was suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's.
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Erling Kagge
|title=Walking: One Step At A Time
|rating=5
|genre= Lifestyle
|summary= Those who have read my reviews before will know that how much I loved a book is evidenced by the number of pages with corners turned, so let me start this one with an apology to the Norfolk Library Service: sorry! I forgot it was your book not mine. In my defence, I will say that as a reader of this type of book there is something connective about noting where prior readers were inspired (provided it is subtle – I'll allow creased corners, but not scribbles – for the latter we must buy our own copy – which I am about to do as soon as I have finished telling you why).
Erligg Kagge is a Norwegian explorer who has walked to the South Pole, the North Pole and the summit of Everest. He knows a thing or two about walking. However, this isn't a travelogue about any of those epic journeys, it is instead a thoughtful exploration of what it means to walk. It is a plenitude of unnumbered essays about walking. There is no 'contents' page and I haven't counted. In small format paperback, each essay is only a few pages long. Perhaps then, better thought of as a meditation rather than an essay.
|isbn=0241357705
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Monica Connell
|title=Against a Peacock Sky
|rating=5
|genre=Travel
|summary= Monica Connell went to Nepal to do the fieldwork for her Ph.D. in social anthropology. I think it is important to know that. She went on a grant-supported trip, with a relatively specific objective. She wasn't a hippy wanderer looking for Shangri-la. She wasn't a mere tourist passing through. She went with a fundamental aim of learning about these people and how they lived. She also went, presumably, with the academic discipline of how to find these things out, how to organise them in her mind, how to "understand" them in the context of her own paradigms, and how to keep enough notes and files and photos to help her create some greater sense of the experience after the event. Fortunately, she also went with a sense of open-ness and curiosity and a willingness to muck-in, to break her own rules and to truly connect with the people of the village where she hauled up.
|isbn=1780600429
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Nicolas Bouvier
|title=The Japanese Chronicles
|rating=5
|genre=Travel
|summary= It never does to start a review of a book with a quote from the blurb, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Le Monde reviewed this book, at some point, with the words ''what the old master craftsmen would call a masterpiece.'' It is precisely that. A masterpiece in the sense of the craft as well as the art of writing. I'm going to hesitate to call it 'travel writing' because this is as much a history of Japan, a mythology-primer for the Japanese culture as it is a personal response to living and travelling in the country.
|isbn=1906011044
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Stephen Fabes
|title=Signs of Life
|rating=5
|genre=Travel
|summary= I was brought up on maps and first-person narratives of tales of far away places. I was birth-righted wanderlust and curiosity. Unfortunately, I didn't inherit what Dr. Stephen Fabes clearly had which was the guts to simply go out and do it. I also didn't inherit the kind of steady nerve, ability to talk to strangers and basic practicality that would have meant that I would have survived if I had been gifted with the requisite 'bottle'. In order words I'm not the sort of person who will get on a bike outside a London hospital and not come home for six years. Fabes did precisely that.
|isbn=1788161211
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Rob Baker
|summary=The Observer quote on the front of the paperback edition of Stewart's latest book observes ''This is travel writing at its finest.'' Perhaps, but to call it 'travel writing' is to totally under-sell it. This is erudition at its finest. Stewart has the background to do this: he had an international upbringing and followed his father in both the Army and the Foreign Office, and then (to his father's, bemusement, shall we say) became an MP. Oh, and he walked 6,000 miles across Afghanistan in 2002. A walk along the Scottish borders should be a doddle by comparison.
}}
{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15"<!-- Barnes -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0995765847.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0995765847/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Unlikeliest Backpacker by Kathryn Barnes]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] Almost on a whim (by her own admission) Kathryn Barnes and her husband Conrad Nicholas decide to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Not exactly on a whim: they do invest some time in some (maybe not enough, maybe not the right) preparation. And not all of the trail: Kathryn has no intention of a walking a desert. That she intends walking at all comes as a shock to her family, that she would even contemplate camping has them staring in disbelief. [[The Unlikeliest Backpacker by Kathryn Barnes|Full Review]] <!-- Potts -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1501329413.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/ISBN/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Souvenir (Object Lessons) by Rolf Potts]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] I know a lot about the subject of this book – although please don't think for one minute that is akin to a boast that I could have written it; far from it. But I too have a mountain of souvenirs here and there. They come in five kinds, don't you know – including a miniature version of what you've been to see (my porcelain Field of Miracles from Pisa, that has long since lost its miraculous ability to act as both memento and leaning hygrometer); pictorial representation, such as postcards (oh so many postcards); and physical bits of the place (a particularly Klimtian bit of stone found on a beach on Jersey only this autumn past). I am such a collector of souvenirs I get narked when I go to a place such as a cathedral and all that's on offer is religious product and nothing branded with the site, which is rich considering the whole souvenir industry came from religion and religious pilgrimage in the first place – you only need consider that in buying a souvenir you're trying to take a bit of its source home with you, and for that very reason people sought a continuance of some kind of holiness via religious artefact. You only need consider it, I say, but rest assured all that history and everything else has been considered in the making of this wonderful book. [[Souvenir (Object Lessons) by Rolf Potts|Full Review]] <!-- Nicholson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Nicholson_Tambourine.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1524681822?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524681822]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mr Tambourine Man by Nicholson]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] Back in 1965 we heard ''Mr Tambourine Man'' by the Byrds on the radio very regularly. Nicholson was thirteen and saw the 45rpm recording of the song in the window of the local music store and would have loved to be able to buy it but didn't have the money. Thirteen-year olds didn't in those days unless it was a birthday or Christmas and you couldn't get a part-time job until you were fifteen. There would be a few of those badly-paid jobs before he finished his A levels and went to New York for three months. It's this trip which Nicholson feels turned him from being a boy into a man and allowed him to see the bigger picture. <!-- Bristow -->|-Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Bristow China.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1910985902?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1910985902]] | styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[China in Drag: Travels with a Cross-dresser by |author=Michael Bristow]]==|rating=4 [[image:4star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] summary=Having worked for nine years in Bejing as a journalist for the BBC, author Michael Bristow decided to write about Chinese history. Having been learning the local language for several years, Bristow asked his language teacher for guidance - the language teacher, born in the early fifties, offered Bristow a compelling picture of life in Communist China - but added to that, Bristow was greatly surprised to find that his language teacher also enjoyed spending his spare time in ladies clothing. It soon becomes clear that the tale told here is immensely personal - yet also paints a fascinating portrait of one of the world's most intriguing nations. [[China in Drag: Travels with a Cross-dresser by Michael Bristow|Full Review]] <!-- Jenkins -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jenkins_100.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/024197898X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=024197898X]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:Art|Art]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] In the mid twentieth century the railway was something which harked back to the Victorian age with trains being supplanted by cars and planes, but steam was being replaced by oil, even then and in the twenty-first century oil is giving way to electricity. It's cleaner, more environmentally friendly and the stations which we'd all rushed through as quickly as possible, keen to escape their grime, were restored and became places to be admired, possibly even lingered in. Simon Jenkins has chosen his hundred best railway stations. [[Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins|Full Review]] <!-- Taylor -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that – the author provides a handy guide to the etiquette of their name, their nature and location, etc.) For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. They're big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a police presence. But there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which has brought to life all the whimsical comedy of his work. [[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] <!-- Maconie -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:MACONIE_lONG.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785030531/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Long Road From Jarrow by Stuart Maconie]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] I cancelled my ''Country Walking'' magazine subscription about a year ago and the only thing I miss is Stuart Maconie's column. His down-to-earth approach and sharp wit belie an equally sharp intellect and a soul more sensitive than he might be willing to admit. Let's be honest, though, I picked this one up because of someone else's review, in which I spotted names like Ferryhill and Newton Aycliffe. Places I grew up in. Like Maconie I have no connection (that I know of) to the Jarrow Crusade but when he talks about it being ''a whole matrix of events reducible to one word like Aberfan, Hillsborough, or Orgreave'' then somehow it does become part of my history too. Tangentially, at least. [[Long Road From Jarrow by Stuart Maconie|Full Review]] <!-- Hurst -->Frontpage|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Hurst_Norfolk.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/095444003X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=095444003X]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title===[[On My Way: Norfolk Coastal Walks by |author=John Hurst]]==|rating=4 [[image:5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Art|Art]],[[:Category:Sport|Sport]] summary=It was pure serendipity: after a five-hour drive , we were, annoyingly, left with an hour to fill in Blakeney before we could have the keys to our holiday cottage. There was an art exhibition in the church hall, so we went in - and found a display of the most gorgeous pictures. I'd cheerfully have bought every one and hung them on our walls, but thought that I would have to make do with a couple of greetings cards when I saw ''On My Way: Norfolk Coastal Walks'' and I couldn't resist buying it. [[On My Way: Norfolk Coastal Walks by John Hurst|Full Review]] <!-- Morris -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Morris_Footsteps.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/144567114X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=144567114X]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII: The visitor's companion to the palaces, castles & houses associated with Henry VIII's iconic queens by S Morris and N Grueninger]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Biography|Biography]] It was inevitable that each of the six wives of Henry VIII would have left their mark in some way on the places they lived and visited. This book straddles several categories; it is part history, part gazetteer or guide book, and also a collection of potted biographies. [[In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII: The visitor's companion to the palaces, castles & houses associated with Henry VIII's iconic queens by S Morris and N Grueninger|Full Review]] <!-- Foreman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Foreman_Travel.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1783704721?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1783704721]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Travels With My Sketchbook by Michael Foreman]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Art|Art]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] I guess the best children's literature can do away with complete veracity, as long as it has something about it that is recognisable – a little of the spirit, heart and character of the real thing, whatever it may be. And if that's the case then it definitely applies to children's literature illustrations, such as those provided close on two hundred times by [[:Category:Michael Foreman|Michael Foreman]]. This prolific artist leapt at a scholarship in the US when he'd completed his official, formal studies, and it would appear – huge credits list regardless – that he's never stopped moving since, as this book takes us to all corners of the world, and back home again. [[Travels With My Sketchbook by Michael Foreman|Full Review]] <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
