Essential Reading: Travel
Are you dreaming of a much needed vacation to a faraway place or longing for a few quiet moments of reflection? Literary Mamas share some of their favorite travel titles to lift you up. Enjoy the ride!
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Literary Reflections Co-Editor, Christina Marie Speed, recommends The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth. “It is a timeless tale of a boy who is struggling to answer life’s largest questions: When is the best time to do things? What is the right thing to do? Who is the most important person? This book was given to me by a dear friend who understands my oldest son’s inquisitiveness and my aim for perfection, but I find I enjoy it as much — or more — than he does. The illustrations echo a faraway place, a land of quiet reflection among the world’s bounty of animals and plants. The storyline has a sublime quality that transports me from where I sit: the words are simple and straightforward, the story engaging and thought-provoking. There are no attempts at commercial creativity here. Just a boy on a quest for truth and understanding. And isn’t that at the heart of why we travel?”
Jessica DeVoe Riley, E-Zine Editor, says, “Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story by Chuck Klosterman is a hilarious road trip across America in which Klosterman visits the rather un-hilarious moments of rock and roll: infamous death sites. Among his visits are Sid Vicious’ hotel room where Nancy Spungen was found dead, the plane crash site where Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper died, and the Seattle locale Klosterman refers to as ‘the Big KC,’ aka the site of Kurt Cobain’s final hours. Throughout the journey, Klosterman reflects on death, the impetuous and passionate emotions often attributed to rock and rollers, and his past and present relationships, while simultaneously entertaining readers with his amusing interpretations of classic rock music lyrics and random encounters of the road.”
Caroline Grant, Editor-in-Chief and Columnist writes, “In 1873, Isabella Bird set off on a six-month journey by horseback through the Rocky Mountains. She traveled by horseback, often alone, and wrote about her experiences in vivid, energetic letters home to her sister. Published several years later as A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, the letters describe a rough and unsettled world that is largely gone now, but Bird’s voice remains fresh and she makes keen observations about the world she rides through: ‘This hard greed, and the exclusive pursuit of gain, with the indifference to all which does not aid in its acquisition, are eating up family love and life throughout the West.’ She could be writing for a contemporary newspaper.”