Book picks similar to
Life's a Ditch by C.L.R. Dougherty


indie-author
mystery-adventure
sailing
travel

It ends with a dream: The farther you go, the closer we get


Medha Nagur - 2021
    He is a lawyer aspiring to become the youngest MLA of Telangana state and comes from a messed-up family, or so he believes.Yashika- 23, tall, fair and beautiful. She is a doctor from Coorg, the land of sophistication and perfection. What more, the same is reflected in her work and her presence.Both are strong, bold, and capable in their own ways, yet vulnerable to each other. Coming from distinguished backgrounds and yet two ordinary people when it comes to love and their emotions. They both believe in the same and even share their dream; still, they are two worlds apart.He has everything that he could ask for in life, even the love of his family by the grace of God. But…She has a loving father, a coffee estate to look after, a degree to fulfil her dream to become an Obstetrician. But…Yadnya and Yashika first met in their childhood and then parted ways three times. Already. But fate keeps bringing them together. And it did yet again.But the question is, will they be together for good this time or will they part again, God forbid, for good?It’s a heartbreaking story of love and loss that ends with a dream and rekindles hope and faith in life and relationship.This book also explores the many facets of relationships that are not shallow.An emotionally gripping read with a satisfying ending.This Valentina’s season, gift this heart-wrenching romance book to your love and feel the beautiful and growing pain along!Written in lucid, crisp and elegant language, it is a love story that will stay with you for a long time.Every sentence in the book tells a tale! No boring fluff! No dragging middle!

The Crinkle Crankle Wall: Our First Year in Andalusia


Sabina Ostrowska - 2020
    As soon as they drive across Andalusia, they fall in love with its rugged beauty, whitewashed villages, red geraniums, giant aloes, and endless olive trees. After weeks of visiting ruins and dilapidated sheds advertised as homes, they find a little stone cottage in a mountain valley in the middle of nowhere. Equipped with everything that a romantic soul desires: a patio shaded by grape vines, an ancient bay leaf tree, and a formidable oak in front of a long driveway, they fall in love with this property and decide to reform it into a guest house. With little foresight or planning, they exchange cushy expats lives for a life in the sun.Quite quickly, however, they find themselves battling cowboy builders, no electricity, a dry well, torrential rain storms, and a freezing cold winter without a roof over their heads. Through all these adventures, they develop relations with their neighbours who had lived in the valley for many generations. Puzzled by the strangers’ behaviour, the neighbours teach them about olive picking, and the cultivation of local vegetables. But primarily, they offer their endless generosity and insight into life in rural Andalusia.As they begin to settle in, financial problems confront our somewhat naïve couple. Without steady pay checks and construction bills piling up, their idea of the good life starts to fall apart. Written with a wry sense of honest humour, this story is filled with twists and turns that take the reader on a journey from a life where every day was monotonously repetitive to a place where every day presents a new challenge.

The White Island


Stephen Armstrong - 2004
    Its history reads like a history of pleasure itself. It is also a story of invasions and migrations, of artists and conmen, of drop-outs and love-ins. The Carthaginians established a cult to their goddess of sex there, and named the island after Bez, their god of dance. Roman centurions in need of a bit of down time between campaigns would go to Ibiza to get their kicks. And over the centuries, cultures around the Med have used the island either as a playground or a dump for the kind of people who didn't quite fit in back home, but who you'd probably quite like to meet at a party...This is the history of Ibiza, the fantasy island, framed by one long, golden summer where anything can happen - and it usually does.

Land's End to John O'Groats: The ride that started it all


Sean Conway - 2012
    What followed was one of the most adventurous months of his life as he faced cold nights, rainy days and a lot of time on his own. "If I had not done this ride then I probably wouldn't be where I am today. Every adventure cyclist needs to cycle around Britain. There is just so much to experience." 46,000 words. 200 pages.

Boat Girl: A Memoir of Youth, Love & Fiberglass


Melanie Neale - 2012
    Throughout the 1980's and 90's, Melanie's family lived aboard a 47-foot sailboat, spending their summers along the US East Coast and their winters in the Bahamas. But the cruising life was not all fun in the sun. The family had to work hard to pay for their way of life. They dodged hurricanes, overzealous federal agents and bullying land-kids. And they endured a boatload of family drama. As her father published articles about how living on a boat brings families together, Melanie secretly struggled with an eating disorder, the alienation of being a boat kid, and confusion over her developing sexuality. As an adult, she lived aboard her own 28-foot sailboat and had several relationships trying to find someone who wasn't intimidated by her stubborn independence and free-spirited lifestyle. "Boat Girl" weaves all this together into a story about a girl who, once all is said and done, simply wants her own boat and her own life. Melanie paints a vivid picture of the trials and tribulations of family life aboard a sailboat without drowning the reader in the technical details of sailing. "Boat Girl" strikes a perfect balance between a coming of age story and a sea tale, enjoyable for boaters and land-lovers alike.

യൂറോപ്പിലൂടെ | Europpiloode


S.K. Pottekkatt - 1955
    'Europiloode' documents his journeys through Naples, Pompei, Rome, Vatican, Switzerland, Paris etc.

The Wrong Way: How Not to Walk the West Highland Way


Bart Stevens - 2014
     But when one night over a beer his friend suggests they do just that, he surprisingly agrees. It may have been slightly more than just one beer. In his own hapless style, Stevens recalls their adventure; six days of getting lost, scared, wet, tired and more than occasionally drunk.

Mine's Bigger: Tom Perkins and the Making of the Greatest Sailing Machine Ever Built


David A. Kaplan - 2007
    It wasn't to get rich, acquire power, or marry into fame. As the man most responsible for creating Silicon Valley, he had done all that. His venture-capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, remains the most celebrated money machine since the Medicis. He'd helped found Genentech and fund Google. And in 2006 his resignation from the Hewlett-Packard board triggered the revelation of a spying scandal that dominated the front pages. Along the way, he also managed to get himself convicted of manslaughter in France and become Danielle Steel's Husband No. 5.No, as he hit his seventies, Perkins wanted to create the biggest, fastest, riskiest, highest-tech, most self-indulgent sailboat ever—the "perfect yacht." His fantasy would be a modern clipper ship—as long as a football field, forty-two feet wide, with three masts each rising twenty stories toward the heavens. This $130 million square-rigger—The Maltese Falcon—would evoke the era of magnificent vessels that raced across the oceans in the nineteenth century. But the Falcon is more than a tribute to the past. Gone are all the deckhands to climb the yardarms. Gone is the intricate rigging that helped give the square-riggers of yore their impressive look. Instead, the Falcon's giant carbon-fiber masts are entirely freestanding and rotate by computer. The bridge looks like something out of Star Trek. And the fifteen huge sails unfurl at the touch of a screen. In short, this is a revolutionary machine—the most significant advance in sailing in 150 years.With keen storytelling and biting wit, Newsweek's David A. Kaplan takes us behind the scenes of an extraordinary project and inside the mind of a larger-than-life character. We discover why any sane man would gamble a sizeable chunk of his net worth on a boat; we meet the cast of engineers who conspired with him; and we learn about the other two monumental yachts just built by gazillionaires that Perkins is ever eyeing. In a battle of egos on the high seas, Perkins loves to preen, "Mine's better! Mine's Bigger!" On the Falcon's climactic maiden voyage across the Mediterranean—sixteen hundred nautical miles from Istanbul to Malta to the Riviera—we revel with Perkins as his creation surges along at record-breaking speeds.This is the biography of a remarkable boat and the man who built it. More than a tale of technology, Mine's Bigger is a profile of ambition, hubris, and the imagination of a legendary entrepreneur.

Living the Dream: in the Algarve, Portugal


Alyson Sheldrake - 2020
    Follow them as they battle with the Portuguese language, set up their own businesses, adopt a rescue dog and navigate the 'expat' world.Part guidebook, mostly memoir; this book is for anyone who has ever wondered what moving abroad is really like; and is essential reading for anyone considering moving to Portugal.

A Donkey On The Catwalk: Tales of life in Greece


Marjory McGinn - 2021
    Once again there are comical and insightful tales of life in wild and stunning locations.Readers will be further enlightened by the escapades of the unforgettable farmer Foteini: her unique take on life; her outrageous ‘fashions’, including a makeshift shoe design you will never forget, and her ‘haute couture’ offerings for Riko the donkey.As well as tales of the Peloponnese, there are stories from other Greek locations the couple have visited, including Pelion and the islands of Santorini and Corfu. This book also offers a fascinating glimpse into some of the author’s earliest trips to Greece with tales that have not been published before, including a year of teaching English in Athens during a dangerous time of political upheaval; a humorous story of facing up to bizarre religious relics in Corfu; and a long sabbatical in Crete that didn’t quite go to plan, with a hint of unexpected romance in an idyllic setting.This book also includes some of the author's photographs of her travels in Greece.

I Am Gypsy: Proceeds Go To Hurricane Michael Relief


Cap Daniels - 2018
    I Am Gypsy explores this remarkable relationship from the unique perspective of the sailboat. This is the heartwarming and heartbreaking tale of how one sailboat comes of age, realizing her potential, while watching her families fall in love, grow, falter, and sometimes fail. Gypsy’s perception of the world blossoms from the innocence of her childhood, through the adventures of her rebellious adolescence, and finally, as she confronts her mortality in the face of a mighty hurricane. Hold on to the rail as Gypsy takes you on the unforgettable and emotional voyage of a lifetime. The proceeds of this book will directly go to aid the individuals, families, and small businesses of the Emerald and Forgotten Coast regions of the Panhandle of Florida, who were so devastatingly affected by the ravages of Hurricane Michael that made landfall on October 10, 2018.

Underwood, Scotch, and Cry


Brian D. Meeks - 2016
    Arthur has to come to grips with the fact that he’s completely screwed. In this sequel to the social media satire, Underwood, Scotch, and Wry , Arthur finds that his snarky attitude isn’t going to help get him out of trouble. He needs to delve into the murky world of self-publishing to learn about the areas of the book business he has mocked relentlessly for decades. Or he may just give up and drink. Katarina is a successful romance author who seems immune to Arthur’s charms…mostly. Can she save him from himself? Give it a read because everyone enjoys a chuckle.

Ignore the Fear: One woman's paddleboarding adventure, 800 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats with a fear of the sea


Fiona Quinn - 2019
    Yet as a complete beginner, and a terrified one at that, in April 2018 Fiona set out to see if she could stand up paddleboard up the west coast of Britain, 800 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG). Having walked and cycled LEJOG the year before, something inexplicably compelled her to see if she could turn her previous adventures into a length of Britain triathlon and set three new world records. Along the way Fiona was joined by dolphins, paddled 40 miles across the Irish Sea, and battled past whirlpools. This inspiring and gripping account shows that no matter what the odds, if you dare to start before you’re ready, anything is possible. "Fiona’s stand up paddleboard adventure certainly tested her to the limits. Having had a bad experience in water when she was a child, and then to put herself in a situation that pushes on that fear, week after week, is no mean feat. Along the way she lost sight of shore to paddle across the Irish Sea, becoming the first woman to do so. Through all of the challenges she faced, it was her belief in herself and those around her that enabled her to keep moving forwards." - Sean Conway Fiona Quinn is a keynote speaker, endurance adventurer and entrepreneur. Sharing stories with everyone from school children to business executives, she enthusiastically invites you to change your view of what’s possible.

Homes and Experiences


Liam Williams - 2020
    Everything Mark's not, Paris is a man of the world with a thirst for adventure - even his name is better than Mark's.But after a catastrophic argument, Mark finds himself setting off alone on his voyage, instead emailing an unresponsive Paris from the road. A cocktail cruise on the Seine, mindful pastry making in Foix, a graffiti tour in Barcelona: Mark will be forced to engage with life and strangers as he never has before, with poignantly recognisable results.But questions remain: will he ever be able to have an authentic interaction? Will Paris ever reply to his emails? And crucially, will he manage to write SEO friendly copy for every place he visits?After all, it's not the destination that counts: it's the homes and experiences you encounter along the way.

I Found Myself in Tuscany


Lisa Condie - 2016
    As Lisa explored the streets of Florence, she felt invigorated and fulfillled wandering through the famed architecture and spectacular galleries; a deep sense of peace enveloped her as she discovered the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside, where Condie sought out wineries and olive groves, and monasteries and churches for answers and inspiration. The imposing Duomo that dominated the Florence skyline and the city’s awe-inspiring bridges and meandering rivers beckoned her to leave her Utah home. The sights of Florence not only healed her, they became her muse.