Tag: vacations

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

- Stephanie Leave a comment

“I still have a lot to figure out, but the one thing I know is, wherever you are, that’s where I belong. I’ll never belong anywhere like I belong with you.”
― Emily Henry, People We Meet on Vacation

The above quote sums up People We Meet on Vacation pretty perfectly. Alex and Poppy do not seem like they would fit together. Poppy is a traveling wild child who gets anxious if she is in one place for too long. Alex would much rather stay at home in his khakis reading a book. The two met by chance at college, but each wrote the other off as a nobody. Thrown together later in a car share home one summer, the two form a best friend bond that has only grown over time.

While Alex and Poppy may live apart for most of the year – she in New York and he back home in Ohio, they revel in their summer trips. For over a decade, the two have taken one week of vacation together every summer to various destinations all over the globe. They have had disastrous vacations all the way to magnificent ones. Two years ago, something happened on their summer vacation that has driven a wedge between the two. They haven’t spoken to each other since.

Poppy has been having a rough time dealing with Alex being out of her life. She feels like she’s stuck in a rut. When her friend asks her when she last felt happy, Poppy realizes that it was when she was with Alex. She wants that back! Poppy has decided that she has to get Alex to take a vacation with her so that she can make their relationship right again. Alex agrees, so she has one week to fix everything that’s wrong between them. That task proves to be way harder than she imagined, given the massive secret lurking between the two.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Jenna Bush Hager October Pick – ‘Leave the World Behind’

- Stephanie 2 Comments

Jenna Bush Hager has selected Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam as the October pick for her #ReadWithJenna book club.

Curious what Leave the World Behind is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.

Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.

Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one other?

Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis.

Want to make sure that Jenna’s picks are automatically put on hold for you? Be sure to join our Best Sellers Club.

Ultimate Adventures by Greg Witt

- Ann Leave a comment

Wow! This is a great book for travel dreamers or doers.  Subtitled A Rough Guide to Travel Adventures by Greg Witt, Ultimate Adventures showcases all sorts of exotic locations — some places I’ve never even heard of, but now can’t wait to see.  And though there are many adventures which are geared more to the adrenaline junkie, there are still plenty of “soft” experiences for the more conservative traveler.  For instance, I know I’ll never ever attempt a 51-day ski trip to the South Pole or ice diving in Russia’s White Sea.  But maybe I could handle hiking New Zealand’s Milford Trek, as I’ve had friends who’ve successfully completed it.

One handy feature is a 5-star rating system covering 4 elements: physical, psychological, skill level and wow! factor.  This is designed to help the reader decide if this trip is a good match for their abilities.  For example, climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro is ranked high (4) for the physical endurance required, only a 2 for the skill level needed (it’s basic hiking, not technical rock climbing) but it scores a 5 for Wow factor.

It’s well-organized (by continents); the photos are breathtaking and the descriptions should inspire even the stodgiest couch potato.  As a librarian, I don’t need to buy many books, but I do plan to purchase this one!

The Lure of the Open Road

- Ann Leave a comment

What is it about Americans and cars? Maybe it’s the sheer size of our country, or our heritage from our pioneer ancestors who were forever exploring the open road, but most of us have a real attachment to our cars. While plane travel and gas prices have made some difference in vacation plans, the tradition of seeing the country from the road remains strong. Start planning your next road trip with these two new books.

Drives of a Lifetime from National Geographic. This coffee-table-worthy book covers 500 trips world-wide, from spectacular scenery to sophisticated cities. Divided by types of trips (including mountains, sea, rivers, villages, urban, historic and gourmet) you’ll find the famous (the Grand Canyon, Mt Fuji, the Cotswolds of England) to the less traveled (the coast of Newfoundland in Canada, Cuban byways or the Okavango Delta in Botswana) Scattered throughout are quick “top ten” drives by subject (Wilderness Drives, Untamed Roads, African River Drives, Music Drives, Spectacular Bridges) and several “ultimate road trips” with more detail (Australia’s Great Ocean Road, Arches and Canyons of Utah, Sunset Boulevard in California) As you would expect from National Geographic, the photographs are outstanding.

USA’s Best Trips from Lonely Planet. No photos but lots more detail, this title concentrates on just the US with 99 itineraries with something for everyone including lists by theme (city, historic, culinary, etc) Most range in length from 2 to 5 days and are arranged geographically so it’d be easy to string two or more together. Some of the most fun are the longer, iconic cross-country trips – Route 66, Massachusetts to Miami, the Lincoln Highway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great River Road, the Great Divide (Rocky Mountains) and the Pacific Coast Highway. You’ll never be short of ideas for the your next great American road trip.

Once in a Lifetime Trips by Chris Santella

- Ann 1 Comment

If you like to travel, you’ll love this book!  In creating this little treasure of a book, Once in a Lifetime Trips: The World’s 50 Most Extraordinary and Memorable Travel Experiences, author Chris Santella  interviewed travel experts with first-hand knowledge of the destinations  described.  The photographs alone are enough to make one drool — the stunning full-page color vistas really seem to capture the essence of each location– and make one dream of someday seeing them in person.

Included are some places I’ve always wanted to go to (such as Machu Picchu in Peru); others I’ve never even considered (Mongolia or Cappadocai) and some, such as Provence by Bike, that I just might have to investigate.  One drawback — these are not cheap trips — they are first class, often even using private jets to conveniently transport guests get from point A to point B, so for most of us, they really are once in a lifetime trips, if ever.  Still, it doesn’t hurt to drool and dream!

See the USA

- Ann Leave a comment

At last! Summer is here! Time to get up off that couch and see something of the world. And what better part of the world to explore than our own beloved USA? There’s no shortage of exciting and interesting places to visit and lucky us, many of the most beautiful, most historic, most fragile have been set aside and protected, for us and for future generations – the National Parks.

National Geographic’s Complete National Parks of the United States is a great place to start if you’re not sure where you want to go. In fact, it might make you to realize you’d like to go everywhere, the pictures are so enticing and beautiful. The descriptions of each park are short and to the point – you will want to do more research if you are planning a major stay – but this gives you the highlights and must-sees. It’s also useful to show you places you might want to stop along the way – maybe schedule a stop at the lesser known Black Canyon of the Gunnison on your way to the Grand Canyon, or reroute to visit to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site when heading to the Everglades.  Website and contact information is included for each site.

Now there’s no excuse for not getting out and participating in the great American summer vacation (Chevrolet optional!)

Hawaii: the Big Island Revealed

- Ann Leave a comment

submitted by Georgann

Aptly subtitled “the Ultimate Guidebook,” Hawaii: the Big Island Revealed was a great help to us on our recent trip to The Big Island. Authors Andrew Doughty and Harriett Friedman were terrific “tour guides.” The prose is well-written, humorous and thorough. I was so glad we took this book along!

It can be overwhelming to plan a trip to a far-away place, but the authors told us what to do and what to skip. All the recommendations they made were well worth following. And when we didn’t follow but struck out on our own, our results were less than stellar. I liked how they rated places to see with “Real Gem” or “Not to be Missed” icons.

The authors tell you where to turn by mile marker. I had no idea how extremely helpful that would be until we began driving and realized that there is very little signage along the roads. Businesses are not allowed signs in front, but only can put their names on the buildings themselves, so it is easy to drive right by and miss the place you were looking for. Also, even the highways signs were different, so the mile marker directions were important.

Our guidebook made it safely to The Big Island, was well used while there, and is back on the shelf at the library. If you are planning a trip, take this “Real Gem” along! Even if you aren’t going, it is a fun and interesting read!