Tiny Stations: An Uncommon Odyssey Around Britain's Railway Request Stops


Dixe Wills - 2014
    Perhaps the oddest quirk of Britain's railway network is also one of its least well known: around 150 of the nation's stations are request stops. Take an unassuming station like Shippea Hill in Cambridgeshire - the scene of a fatal accident involving thousands of carrots. Or Talsarnau in Wales, which experienced a tsunami. Tiny Stations is the story of the author's journey from the far west of Cornwall to the far north of Scotland, visiting around 40 of the most interesting of these little used and ill-regarded stations. Often a pen-stroke away from closure - kept alive by political expediency, labyrinthine bureaucracy or sheer whimsy - these half-abandoned stops afford a fascinating glimpse of a Britain that has all but disappeared from view. There are stations built to serve once thriving industries - copper mines, smelting works, cotton mills, and china clay quarries where the first trains were pulled by horses; stations erected for the sole convenience of stately home and castle owners through whose land the new iron road cut an unwelcome swathe; stations created for Victorian day-tripping attractions; a station built for a cavalry barracks whose last horse has long since bolted; and many more. Dixe Wills will leave you in no doubt that there's more to tiny stations than you might think.

Rick Steves Snapshot Berlin


Rick Steves - 2009
    Visit the Jewish Museum, the Reichstag Parliament Building, the New Synagogue, or the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church—you'll get tips on all the best tours and least-crowded visiting hours. Rick offers his firsthand advice on the best sights, eating, sleeping, and nightlife, and the maps and self-guided tours will ensure you make the most of your experience. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves Snapshot guide is a tour guide in your pocket.Rick Steves Snapshot guides consist of excerpted chapters from Rick Steves’ European country guidebooks. Snapshot guides are a great choice for travelers visiting a specific city or region, rather than multiple European destinations. These slim guides offer all of Rick’s up-to-date advice on what sights are worth your time and money. They include good-value hotel and restaurant recommendations, with no introductory information (such as overall trip planning, when to go, and travel practicalities).

Into Africa: 3 Kids, 13 Crates and a Husband


Ann Patras - 2014
    While prepared for sunshine and storms 13º south of the equator, the Patras family are ill-equipped for much else. Interspersed with snippets from Ann’s letters home, this crazy story describes encounters ranging from lizards to lions, servants to shopping shortages, and cockroaches to curfews.

The Revealed Rome Handbook: Tips and Tricks for Exploring the Eternal City


Amanda Ruggeri - 2012
    Written by Amanda Ruggeri, Rome resident, travel journalist, and the blogger behind www.revealedrome.com, it's full of advice to help you enjoy every aspect of your trip, including tips like:-how to pick an authentic Roman restaurant at a glance-budget accommodation options you may not have considered-how to skip the lines at the Colosseum and the Vatican-how to protect yourself from pickpocketing in Rome-which Roman dishes you have to try-where to find drinking water, and bathrooms, while out and about-how to navigate Rome's public transportation system-the best neighborhoods in Rome for shopping...and much more!Armed with these tips, both first-time and frequent visitors to Rome will come away feeling like true Rome insiders!

Birnbaum's 2016 Walt Disney World: The Official Guide


Birnbaum Guides - 2015
    This updated edition of Birnbaum's Walt Disney World Resort takes readers through Disney's biggest resort with ease and flair and includes the most accurate, current information on prices and attractions. What's new in 2016:• The brand-new Frozen attraction, scheduled to burst onto the Epcot scene in 2016,whisks guests on a chilly trip to meet Anna, Elsa, and Olaf. • Our coverage of Disney's Hollywood Studios includes the inside scoop on plans for new Star Wars-themed additions and other shows and attractions.• Experience new shows and attractions, including the Magic Kingdom's popular new parades:Festival of Fantasy and Move It! Shake it! Dance and Play It!• Fastpass+is Walt Disney World's advance reservation system for theme park shows and attractions. We offer tips and strategies for making the most of this free service.• Downtown Disney has morphed into Disney Springs, a bustling waterside enclave teeming with new dining, shopping, and recreational activities. • Our newly-expanded dining chapter details each and every restaurant, and includes menu updates, a "best of wow restaurant roundup", and specialized indexes.• The 2016 Guide has more photos than ever, including brand-new photo hunts for each of the World's four theme parks. Can you find them all?• Baffled by WDW's magic band? Don't be! We give the scoop on maximizing the potential of the band.• A wave of new entertainment has hit World Showcase: we'll tell you where to see new acts featuring lumberjacks, Celtic folk musicians, and flag wavers.• Disney's Polynesian Village resort has been renewed and revitalized, thanks Disney Vacation Club. • Checkout our bonus chapter featuring "Land and Sea vacation" planning advice, perfect for pairing a Disney Cruise with a visit to Walt Disney World.

In Search of Greener Grass


Graham Field - 2012
    Written with a dry, cynical and opinionated wit, this book offers advice on preparation for motorbike travels. It's part guidebook - Graham describes routes worth travelling and what to expect from them - and part life story, full of anecdotes and knowledge generated by a quarter of a century of travelling. Graham's narrative is full of insightful observations, occasional wisdom and sporadic alcohol fuelled inspiration, a little rebellious and somewhat defiant. The book offers insecurities and enlightenment, banter and bollocks from inside the helmet of someone who did know better, then forgot again. All the way to Mongolia and then a bit further, discovering truths, wondering if they're right then reassessing it all. Graham rides into the unknown, before moving on again, deciding that contentment must be around the next corner, occasionally finding it and then missing it.

The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven: Journeys to Three Worlds Gone Mad


Robert Young Pelton - 2002
    A firsthand exploration of war and the people who survive it in three of the most war-ravaged countries on earth: Sierra Leone, Chechnya, and Bougainville.

The Reluctant Expat: Part One - Surprised by Spain


Alan Laycock - 2018
     Alan has no desire to move to Spain, but his sister Cathy and brother-in-law Bernie are going regardless, so he decides to tag along. Despite his initial pessimism, he soon sees that life in their new home has more to offer than he first suspected, and by befriending a pair of local oldies he finds surprising new opportunities opening up to him. A coin dealer by trade and an idler by nature, his new, dynamic attitude surprises Cathy, Bernie and, most of all, himself, as he gets to grips with the language, tries out new activities and embraces the outdoor life. When the bar in the nearby village is reopened by two enterprising ladies, he also begins to realise that bachelorhood may not be his destiny after all. Part Two is now also available.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Summary & Study Guide


BookRags - 2010
    61 pages of summaries and analysis on Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.

Volcanoes, Jungles and Leeches: A Glimpse of Indonesia


Gordon Alexander - 2018
     Join him for some laugh-out-loud moments as he island-hops across Indonesia. From Sumbawa’s Mount Tambora, the home of the largest eruption in human history, to Krakatoa, the creator of the loudest sound ever heard by modern man, Gordon works his way across the country, taking in some of the most remarkable, beautiful and downright scary places on Earth.

Up the Amazon Without a Paddle


Doug Lansky - 1999
    CNN has described him as "having the world's most interesting job." Read about Lansky's experiences: fending off hippos with a canoe paddle on the Zambezi Rivertest driving Ferraris in Italysurviving the world's largest tomato fight in Spainswimming with dolphins off the coast of New Zealandblowgun hunting with the Jaguar Indians in the Amazonriding an ostrich in South Africalassoing reindeer above the Arctic Circlewrestling an alligator in Floridaplaying ice golf in Finland

Bound For Distant Seas: A Voyage Alone to Asia Aboard the 28-Foot Sailboat Atom


James Baldwin - 2015
    His story is seasoned by his adventures during his first circumnavigation in 1984-86 as told in Across Islands and Oceans. Alone with little money aboard Atom, his now engineless 28-foot sailboat, James embarks on his odyssey without the comforts and equipment most sailors consider essential. Challenging himself to live as closely with the sea as possible, the author sets sail in 1987 from Florida, bound for new adventures on the distant shores of Asia. He does not return home again for 15 years. In this paean to the sea and foreign lands, the author recounts the best and worst of life on the ocean, visits to far-flung islands, and adventures amid throngs of humanity in some of the world’s most densely populated cities. This unvarnished physical and philosophical saga includes encounters with dead-eyed bureaucrats, native angels of mercy, newly discovered WWII wreckage, fellow expat adventurers, rogues and misfits. The journey takes many unplanned turns as the author faces near misses with lurking dangers, hikes across islands, finds temporary employment ashore, and immerses himself in foreign cultures. Along the way he is tested by sea and society, and he ultimately discovers the priceless treasures of heart and mind that he seeks. James invites you to come aboard Atom for the journey of a lifetime.

Inca Trail to Machu Picchu: Sixteen strangers and the quest for the holy Facebook photo.


Joel Paul Reisig - 2020
    

Scatterling of Africa: My Early Years


Johnny Clegg - 2021
    Suspended for a few seconds, they float in their own space and time with their own hidden prospects. For want of a better term, we call these moments “magical” and when we remember them they are cloaked in a halo of special meaning.’For 14-year-old Johnny Clegg, hearing Zulu street music as plucked on the strings of a guitar by Charlie Mzila one evening outside a corner café in Bellevue, Johannesburg, was one such ‘magical’ moment. The success story of Juluka and later Savuka, and the cross-cultural celebration of music, language, story, dance and song that stirred the hearts of millions across the world, is well documented. Their music was the soundtrack to many South Africans’ lives during the turbulent 70s and 80s as the country moved from legislated oppression to democratic freedom. It crossed borders, boundaries and generations, resonating around the world and back again. Less known is the story of how it all began and developed. Scatterling of Africa is that origin story, as Johnny Clegg wrote it and wanted it told. It is the story of how the son of an unconventional mother, grandson of Jewish immigrants, came to realise that identity can be a choice, and home is a place you leave and return to as surely as the seasons change.

Fat Woman on the Mountain: How I Lost Half of Myself and Found Happiness


Kara Richardson Whitely - 2010
    She lost 120 pounds and found happiness along the way. Kara Richardson Whitely has been a journalist for the past decade. She has been featured in Self, American Hiker and Redbook magazines.