Summer Reading   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Here's a page from Longitude, the specialty bookseller for travelers. To order online, and to see the latest, most comprehensive selection of books and maps, go to http://reading.longitudebooks.com/LN21769. You may also call 800-342-2164 to order or request a catalog.


Essential Books These 4 items are available for $82, including
U.S. shipping, a 21% discount (Item no. EXTVL12)		  
Paris to the Past, Traveling Through French History by Train  •  Ina Caro
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2011 •  HARD COVER  • 381 PAGES
Ina Caro (Road from the Past) invites readers to join her on 25 one-day trips by train from Paris, transporting us back through 700 years of French history. Whether taking us to Orleans to evoke the miraculous visions of Joan of Arc, to Versailles to experience the flamboyant achievements of Louis XIV, or to the Place de la Concorde to witness the beheading of Marie Antoinette, Caro animates history with her lush descriptions of architectural splendors and tales of court intrigue. Organizing her destinations chronologically from 12th-century Saint-Denis to the 19th-century Restoration at Chantilly, Caro appeals not only to casual travelers aboard the Metro or the TGV but also to anyone interested in Franch history. (FRN953, $27.95)		   Paris to the Past, Traveling Through French History by Train
The Floor of Heaven, A True Tale of the American West and the Yukon Gold Rush  •  Howard Blum
HISTORY •  2011 •  HARD COVER  • 448 PAGES
From the author of the Edgar Award-winning American Lightning comes the fascinating story of the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush. Through the eyes many fascinating historical characters -- a Pinkerton detective, a confidence man and an army deserter among them -- Blum explores the dreams that drove men to the last remnant of the Old West, the Alaskan frontier. (ALA341, $26.00)		   The Floor of Heaven, A True Tale of the American West and the Yukon Gold Rush
The Tiger's Wife, A Novel  •  Tea Obreht
LITERATURE •  2011 •  PAPER  • 353 PAGES
Born in what was then Yugoslavia in 1985, Tea Bajraktarevic (Obrehct is a pen name) draws on family stories for her remarkable debut -- a rich family saga and fable about a young woman and her relationship with her doctor grandfather in war-torn Balkans. Winner of the 2011 Orange Prize. (BLK159, $15.00)		   The Tiger's Wife, A Novel
Moby-Duck  •  Donovan Hohn
SCIENCE •  2012 •  HARD COVER  • 416 PAGES • NEW
"The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in search of them." A journey into the heart of the sea and an adventure through science, myth, the global economy, and terrible weather, Hohn's accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive world of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories. (OCE176, $27.95)		   Moby-Duck



Also Recommended

Born in Africa  •  Martin Meredith   • HISTORY  •  Martin Meredith (The Fate of Africa) turns to human origins and the riveting tale of rival anthropologists, archaeologists and scientists who have struggled to unravel the story of the evolution of humankind on the plains of Africa. (AFR286, $26.99)
 		  
Cradle of Gold, The Story of Hiram Bingham  •  Chris Heaney   • HISTORY  •  A graduate of Yale and archaeologist, Chris Heaney turns his research in Peru and in the archives into a moving tale of discovery, focusing not just on the charismatic explorer and politician (he was a Connectiut Senator) but also on the controversy surrounding the artifacts Bingham shipped (some say smuggled) home to the Peabody Museum. (PRU106, $17.00)
 		  
Empires of the Silk Road  •  Christopher I. Beckwith   • HISTORY • NEW  •  Beckwith rescues Central Asia from the periphery of world affairs with flair and scholarship, showing the sweep of empire, trade and cultural life over the millennia. (CAS171, $16.95)
 		  
Reset, Iran, Turkey, and America's Future  •  Stephen Kinzer   • HISTORY  •  A master storyteller with an eye for grand characters and illuminating historical detail, Kinzer introduces grand themes and larger-than-life figures, like a Nebraska schoolteacher who became a martyr to democracy in Iran, a Turkish radical who transformed his country and Islam forever, and a colorful parade of princes, politicians, women of the world, spies, oppressors, liberators, and dreamers. (TKY239, $15.99)
 		  
Silk Parachute  •  John McPhee   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  In these 10 marvelously varied essays John McPhee ranges with his characteristic humor and intensity through lacrosse, long-exposure view-camera photography, the weird foods he has sometimes been served in the course of his travels, a golf championship, and a season in Europe in this latest collection of ten sparkling essays, most originally appearing in The New Yorker. Always the geologist, the chapters "following the chalk," from the downs and sea cliffs of England to the Maas valley in the Netherlands and the champagne country of northern France show McPhee at his best. (GEN560, $15.00)
 		  
Sorcerer's Apprentice, An Incredible Journey into the World of India's Godmen  •  Tahir Shah   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  "You can keep your sensible cars, clothes and prim little houses," bellowed Shah to his posh London friends, " I'm off to India to become a magician." The apprentice of this beguiling book is none other than the young author, who travels from Calcutta to Madras, Bangalore and Bombay in pursuit of swamis, tricksters, and other eccentrics. Originally published in 1998, Shah's fantastic journey, recounted with deadpan humor, is impossible to put down. (IDA624, $14.95)
 		  
The Hare With Amber Eyes  •  Edmund De Waal   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Edmund de Waal unfolds the story of his remarkable family, a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who "burned like a comet" in early 20th-century Paris and Vienna. (FRN941, $16.00)
 		  
Death at the Chateau Bremont  •  M.L. Longworth   • MYSTERY  •  A lively whodunit steeped in the rich, enticing, and romantic atmosphere of Aix-en-Provence, Death at the Chateau Bremont introduces Antoine Verlaque, the handsome and seductive chief magistrate of Aix, and his sometime love interest, law professor Marine Bonnet. (FRN972, $14.00)
 		  
Faithful Place  •  Tana French   • MYSTERY  •  The third Dublin Murder mystery from French centers around Frank Mackey, who returns to the inner city neighborhood in Dublin of his youth, a place he had hoped to leave behind for good, to investigate the disappearance of his girlfriend of 20 years earlier. (IRE285, $16.00)
 		  
French Feast, A Traveler's Literary Companion  •  William Rodarmor   • LITERATURE  •  With deliciously idiosyncratic twists, you won't find recipes or expats or sweet nostalgia in this sampling of contemporary short stories, many translated by editor William Rodarmor. As his co-conspirator Jean Anderson puts it in the introduction, "none of the 30 stories is really about food; they're about people". (FRN970, $14.95)
 		  
Killed at the Whim of a Hat  •  Colin Cotterill   • MYSTERY  •  Cotterill trades in Laos -- and the elderly Dr. Paiboun -- for Jimm Juree, "a feisty Thai lady journalist with relatives that make the Adams family look like Alexander McCall Smith characters," for this wry new book set in a dusty resort along the Gulf of Siam. (TLD100, $24.99)
 		  
Let the Great World Spin  •  Colum McCann   • LITERATURE  •  Dublin-born New Yorker Colum McCann took home the 2011 International Impac Dublin literary award for his stunningly realized portrait of New York City. Set in 1974, he traces the interlocking lives of diverse characters as as Philippe Petit tightrope walks between the newly built Twin Towers. Let the Great World Spin won the National Book Award in 2009. (NYC214, $15.00)
 		  
Our Kind of Traitor  •  John Le Carre   • LITERATURE  •  In John le Carre's latest thriller, an unsuspecting young British couple on a tennis holiday in Antigua meet Dima, a money launderer on the run from the Russian mob, keen to defect to the United Kingdom. Naturally, Perry and Gail are soon drawn into the deadly games and international intrigue, well-played as usual by the master of espionage. (GRB10, $15.00)
 		  
Spies of the Balkans  •  Alan Furst   • LITERATURE  •  A master storyteller, Furst places senior police official Costa Zannis at the center of this taut World War II thriller, his eleventh. The action (and there is plenty) plays out against a backdrop of the Nazi occupation of Salonika. (BLK152, $15.00)
 		  
State of Wonder, A Novel  •  Ann Patchett   • LITERATURE  •  Pharmacologist Marina Singh travels to the heart of the Amazon to investigate the reported death of her colleague, a field researcher for a top-secret fertility drug. (AMZ130, $26.99)
 		  
The Invisible Bridge  •  Julie Orringer   • LITERATURE  •  Set during the rise of fascism and cataclysms of World War II, Oringer's grand love story follows the fate of three Jewish Hungarian brothers against the backdrop of Budapest, Paris, Hungary and the Carpathian mountains. (EUR378, $15.95)
 		  
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, A Novel  •  David Mitchell   • LITERATURE  •  Mitchell sets this richly imagined historical novel in the world of the Dutch East Indies company and cloistered early 18th-century Japan, where -- to this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons -- comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk. (JPN415, $15.00)
 		  
We, the Drowned  •  Carsten Jensen   • LITERATURE  •  Set in his hometown in Denmark, Jensen spins an old-fashioned tale of love, war and adventure, following his seafaring townsmen from the shipyards in Marstal to the barren rocks of Newfoundland, roughest bars in Hobart and the frozen coasts of Russia. (DMK44, $28.00)
 		  
Work Song  •  Ivan Doig   • LITERATURE  •  Ivan Doig peoples this lively portrait of the copper-mining capital Butte circa 1919 with host of colorful characters, including the schoolteacher Morrie Morgan at the center of his equally compelling The Whistling Season. (USW654, $15.00)
 		  
The Sweet Life in Paris  •  David Lebovitz   • FIELD GUIDE  •  As clever as he is talented (but not sweet), David Lebovitz writes with flair and insight of his adopted home in this cheeky memoir. The pastry chef includes stellar recipes throughout. (FRN816, $14.00)
 		  
 
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