Around the world with cbfiske

Thanks for this group. This type of world reading is right up my alley.

Africa

Kenya - Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

Antarctica, The Arctic, and the World's Oceans and Seas

Atlantic Ocean - The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Panama Canal - Looking for a Ship by John McPhee

Asia

China - God's Double Agent by Bob Fu

Japan - Midnight in Broad Daylight by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto (also under North America - United States)
Japan - A Song for Nagasaki by Fr. Paul Glynn

Various countries - Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron

Europe

Austria - Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor

Denmark - Darkness Over Denmark by Ellen Levine

France - I'll Never Be French by Mark Greenside
France - Paris: A Love Story by Kati Marton

Germany - The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (also under North America - United States)
Germany - In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen

Scandinavian Region- The Almost Nearly Perfect People by Michael Booth

United Kingdom - All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
United Kingdom - Citizens of London by Lynne Olson
United Kingdom - The Roosevelts and the Royals by Will Swift (also under North America - United States)

Various countries - The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel
Various countries - The Path to Rome by Hilaire Belloc

North America

United States - The Kings of New York: A Year by Michael Weinreb
United States - The Roosevelts and the Royals by Will Swift (also listed under Europe - United Kingdom)
United States - Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
United States - Alistair Cooke's America by Alistair Cooke
United States - Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir by Frances Mayes
United States - Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast... by Michael Wallis
United States - Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
United States - The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival and the Epic True... by Al Roker
United States - How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein
United States - How the States Got Their Shapes Too: The People Behind the Borderlines by Mark Stein
United States - Walkin' the Line: A Journey From Past to Present by Bill Ecenbarger
United States - Midnight in Broad Daylight by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto (also listed under Asia - Japan)
United States - The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (also listed under Europe - Germany)

Oceania

Welcome!

South America

Thanks for the welcome lorax.

I've gone through the books I read in 2013 and am adding to my lists the ones where location played a major role. I found 7. One book is listed more than once as 2 places played a big role in this book. In the days to come, I'll be giving my impressions of these books and sharing the ones I read this year.

As promised, here are my thoughts on some of my books from last year. I'll start with Asia.

God's Double Agent is a view of China from a dissident, political and then religious, who ended up fleeing China and now lives in the United States. Interesting insights into how dissent is, or at least in this case was, dealt with. Good to have an insider's view on , for example, the protest at Tiananmen Square, Chinese house churches and Chinese prisons.

Shadow of the Silk Road is a meandering return tour by the author through the countries that traditionally made up the Silk Road trade route. I enjoyed this mix of history, both recent from the author's previous trip and older from the prime time of Silk Road travel, and present day life in these countries. Great introduction to an area I just don't know enough about.

Tomorrow, on to Europe.

On to Europe

I'll Never Be French is Mark Greenside's account of buying a house and living part time in Brittany. Charming story that made me smile.

Paris: A Love Story is Kati Marton's take on the role of Paris in her life. We hear of her time as a student, news correspondent and time with her husband Peter Jennings and later Richard Holbrooke and then go into retirement with her. Not sure she completely succeeded in communicating her love for Paris as much as her love for the people she shared Paris with, but I did enjoy it.

The Roosevelts and the Royals gives us World War II and beyond through the eyes of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and King George and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom. Interesting perspective. Glad I read it.

North America

See message #13 for my thoughts on The Roosevelt's and the Royals. This book has given me a desire to see the Roosevelt's house in Hyde Park where they hosted the Royals during their pre-war tour of North America.

The Kings of New York: A Year Competitive chess through the eyes of the talented students at a New York City Public high school. Liked being a fly on the wall. New York from a different perspective.

Now that I've shared my books from last year, I'm looking forward to sharing more armchair travels with you. Happy Reading in 2014!

For my Europe category, I've finished a reread of All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot which is a memoir of Herriot's early days as a veterinarian in Yorkshire in the 1930s. This book is one of my favorite rereads and shows Herriot's appreciation for Yorkshire and the people (and the animals) he finds there. All Creatures Great and Small displays a real sense of place. You feel like you are there with the author.

I'm also including The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History for my Europe category. As well as a sense of the time, this book gives you a sense of the place - what cultural items were and are important to people in the different countries in this continent, what was and is worth saving, etc.

Just finished one for my North America category. While browsing in the library, I came across Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Somehow missed seeing the movie, so I decided to read the book and I'm happy that I did. Well-written adventure concerning a trail I had never before heard of (I'm an East Coast girl). Ms. Strayed walked solo on the Pacific Coast Trail from mid-California to the Oregon-Washington border. Lots of insight into hiking long distance and wonderful insight into that part of the country. Also interesting story of what caused her to take this journey and what she gained from it.

Just added two more books in the North America category. Alistair Cooke's America by Alistair Cooke was a reread for me of a book I had read based on a documentary of the same name which I also greatly enjoyed. This is a history of America that, to me, offers a great sense of place. Where the history took place is presented in as interesting a way as what happened there. The book includes lovely illustrations and gives you a view of America by someone who was not born here, but emigrated from the United Kingdom as an adult.

Frances Mayes' Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir gives us an insider's view of the South. Mayes, a Georgia native, takes a trip back through her growing up in Georgia, also touching on Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. Well written memoir by someone we know from Under the Tuscan Sun and associate with Italy. Nice to hear about her start in America and nice to read her impressions of the South.

Added a book to my catchall category: Antarctica, The Arctic and the World's Oceans and Seas. Sebastian Junger's book, The Perfect Storm was a look at the who, what, where, when and why of the Halloween Storm which took place in 1991 off the coast of North America. Mr. Junger covered the what, where and when of the storm, helped this nontechnical reader to understand the why and, above all, did not neglect the who of those affected by the storm whom I came to care about. Really good book. You will not look at people who make their living from the sea or who work at sea rescue in the same way again.

Didn't want to neglect to mention this one I read for my North America category. This summer I took a nice virtual ride along the Lincoln Highway with Michael Wallis through The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate.
A lot of local color in this one and great photographs. Perfect summer read.

I've just finished reading Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen. Isak Dinesen is the pen-name of Karen Blixen, who owned a coffee farm in Kenya during the Teens, Twenties and into the Thirties in the Twentieth Century. Her love of the farm, the country and the people come through in this book and, as she is quite the storyteller, her nonfiction account reads almost like fiction. The reader does need to remember that this book was published in 1937 when listening to the narrative regarding such subjects as 'the natives' or big game hunting, for example. This book, nevertheless is good reading and I'm glad I took the time.

Three more to report on
1. The Storm of the Century: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival and the Epic True... by Al Roker

This was a good introduction to the Galveston, Texas storm of 1900. Roker includes clear information regarding the weather prediction instruments of the time as well as stories from people of different cultures in Galveston and their experiences facing the storm. He gives a nice background on Galveston and what made it so vulnerable to this storm. Also included is a list of sources for more information.

2. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

Travelogue of a trip taken by John Steinbeck and his dog, Charley, in 1960 across the United States and back. Discussed are small concerns, such as where do you park your makeshift trailer for the night, and larger concerns, such as integration in the elementary schools of New Orleans.

Both of these were good reads with a good sense of place: the first set in Galveston, Texas and the second in various places around the United States.

3. The Path to Rome by Hilaire Belloc

This book recounted a trip taken by Mr. Belloc in the early 1900s from France to Rome almost entirely on foot. It included good description of the places he passed through, which included the Alps, and the people he met and also included accounts of conversations he had with himself and songs he sang along the way. Belloc's book really gave me the feeling of being on a journey and also drove me to my Atlas to look up the towns he visited along the way.

Here's my report on Looking for a Ship by John McPhee. This book was more of a treatment of the Merchant Marine industry and the mariners who work in it than a travel guide to the Panama Canal and South America where the S.S. Stella Lykes traveled with Mr. McPhee aboard. The book did give some local color though and was a very interesting introduction to a way of life fairly unfamiliar to me. Made me think about a different kind of travel than typical trips by tourists.

Yes, I'm catching up. In the past year or so, I've read some books that belong here.

This first set of books are histories that include quite a sense of the unique physical place and society that lived in that place at that time.

1) Citizens of London by Lynne Olson. Ms. Olson describes World War II London and Britain through the eyes of three Americans who lived in London and stood by the British during this time. Her citizens are John Gilbert Winant, the U.S. Ambassador to the UK; Averell Harriman, there to head the Lend-Lease program, and Edward R. Murrow, of CBS News in London and broadcasting from the city.
Excellent book and great information on Mr. Winant, whom I'd never heard of before this. We see the influence of these three on the society and its influence on them.

2) In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen. Another ambassador, this time from the US to Nazi Germany in the years 1933-1937. Mr. William E. Dodd and his family come to Berlin and see what is beginning to happen. Great insight into the city and those in charge from the perspective of Mr. Dodd and of his daughter, Martha, a young woman in her twenties. Great look at this society by outsiders thrust into it.

3) Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor. This book's main focus is on one painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt. Mrs. Bloch-Bauer's portrait was painted between 1903 and 1907 in Vienna, Austria. We are given quite a picture of turn of the century Viennese society and culture, but the book doesn't stop there. We trace the painting and Mrs. Bloch-Bauer's family through the takeover of Austria by the Nazis and beyond to present day. Quite an exciting ride and real insight into Austrian, and particularly Viennese, society at different times in history.

One more for Europe:

Darkness over Denmark by Ellen Levine. This book is an excellent introduction to the hows and whys of the survival of most of the Danish Jews during the Holocaust and also to the Danish Resistance against the Nazis. The author includes quite a good bibliography for those who want to know more and , throughout the work, uses interviews with Danes who lived the history. She even updates us on their post war histories. This is just one more that does a great job of dealing with a particular place in this particular time. The book is geared for young adult readers, but still had something to teach this adult.

And now to the United States. A real life book club of which I'm a member spent this month discussing the borders of Delaware, where we live. Much more interesting than you might first think! I'm including these three books touching on this subject.

How the States Got Their Shapes and How the States Got Their Shapes Too: The People Behind the Borderlines by Mark Stein. Great books to browse through. A little bit on the story behind every state border in the United States. The second book takes a more in depth look at the people involved , in some way, in creating a particular state's borders. Interesting, interesting stories. Delaware has a strange and unique feature in its border that I had never thought much about. I dare you to check that out as well as your own state's borders.

Walkin' the Line: A Journey From Past to Present Along the Mason-Dixon Line by Bill Ecenbarger.
The Mason-Dixon line, for the most part, lies west of Delaware, believe it or not. There is a reason, which this book does touch on. Mr. Ecenbarger walked the walkable portion of the line, talking to the people who live near it now and to historians who told him about the people who used to live there. The more he walked, the more he realized that the Mason-Dixon line could not be separated from the issue of race. The stories do touch on that issue and make this book an even more valuable insight into the United States and its society and culture, past and present.

Ok, three more to record.

I'll start with The Almost Nearly Perfect People by Michael Booth. This was an entertaining read by a British writer living in Denmark with his Danish wife and children. He takes on each of the Scandinavian countries and gives you an impression. We hear his view of what's right and wrong with Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. We learn what makes them different from the rest of the world and from one another. Liked his inviting tone and his warts and all portrayals of these countries.

Now I've got two dealing with World War II. Lately, I've come across many good books on this subject without intentionally looking for books about World War II. Go figure.

Midnight in Broad Daylight by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto discusses the fascinating story of the Fukuhara family. This family emigrated from Japan to the United States in the early 1900s. We see their life during the Great Depression and follow them into World War II. Some family members go to the Relocation camps in the US, one ends up in the United States Army and others go through World War II in Hiroshima, Japan. Great insight on Asian immigrants to the United States, life in the Japanese Relocation camps and life in World War II Japan. Amazing true story that I had trouble putting down.

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown follows the rowing crew from the University of Washington to the Berlin Olympics of 1936. More to it than you realize and real insight into growing up in Washington state during the Depression and into the Berlin Olympics and Germany at this time.
Very good read

Thought of another World War II book deserving a mention. A Song for Nagasaki by Fr. Paul Glynn follows the life of Takashi Nagai , a Catholic convert, Physician and Research Scientist in Nagasaki, Japan before, during and after World War II and a survivor of the atomic bomb. Interesting thoughts on Nagai's life and quite a bit regarding the town of Nagasaki, its history and its facing of the atomic bomb. This is one I read over five years ago, but still think about.