Books & Blogs
BOOKS
The Living Medicine:
How a Lifesaving Cure Was Nearly Lost—and Why It Will Rescue Us When Antibiotics Fail
By Lina Zeldovich
Published October, 2024 by St. Martin’s Press
A remarkable story of the scientists behind a long-forgotten and life-saving cure: the healing viruses that can conquer antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.
Filled with adventure, human ambition, tragedy, technology, irrepressible scientists and the excitement of their innovation, The Living Medicine offers a vision of how our future may be saved by knowledge from the past and why we should know about it for our own health choices.
Read more about Lina Zeldovich at https://linazeldovich.com/
THE CHEESEMAKER’S DAUGHTER
By Kristin Vuković
Published August 6, 2024 by Regalo Press
When Marina’s father summons her to their Croatian island from New York—and away from her evaporating marriage—to help him save his failing cheese factory, she must face her rocky past and an uncertain future.
How do you begin again when the past threatens to drown you?
Asking questions central to identity and the meaning of home, this richly drawn story reckons with how we survive inherited and personal traumas, and what it means to heal and reinvent oneself in the face of life’s challenges.
Read more about Kristin and her book at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Cheesemakers-Daughter/Kristin-Vukovic/9798888456828
Badass: From Fearful to Fierce
By: Margie Goldsmith
Publishing presently chapter by chapter on Substack.com
Book info: https://substack.com/@margiegoldsmith
This memoir is for those who have ever felt not good enough or less than. Anyone can go from fearful to fierce and become a confident, optimistic version of themselves, no matter what their circumstances. Margie was born to two alcoholic parents: an abusive father who committed suicide, and a mother who told her nothing she did was good enough. In addition, she had a schizophrenic sister.
In this powerful story, Margie grows up to become a confident and successful filmmaker and then writer, traveling to 145 countries on seven continents and winning 101 writing awards; she also becomes a singer/songwriter producing two albums, and a weekend warrior completing marathons and triathlons, all while overcoming Stage 4 pancreatic and lung cancer. For more about Margie and her book go to www.margiegoldsmith.com
Pisa Loves Bella: A Towering Tale of Kindness
By Kimberley Lovato
Published June 30, 2024 by MB Publishing
This upbeat story stars Bella, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, who has happily leaned for hundreds of years...until she overhears some unkind words on the piazza and changes in a way that has friends and visitors worried their treasured landmark will never be the same again!
The uplifting rhyming tale is splashed of joyful art, sparks of wanderlust, fun-to-say Italian words and phrases, and lessons on the importance of being kind to others, and yourself.
Available at online retailers like Amazon and Bookshop.org, and can be requested at your favorite local bookstore.
Read more about Kimberley and her book at www.kimberleylovato.com
Slow Travel New Mexico: Unforgettable Personal Experiences in the Land of Enchantment
By Judie Fein and Paul Ross
Published March 15, 2024 by University of New Mexico Press
An Amazon best seller since before its release
Slow travel is the secret to opening doors, meeting people, participating in surprising events, experiencing joy, and making each trip--no matter how short or long--deeper, richer, and an adventure that is uniquely yours.
Award-winning travel journalists and Santa Fe residents Judith Fein and Paul J. Ross crisscross New Mexico, finding unforgettable adventures readers can personally experience such as painting with an abstract artist on the Navajo Reservation, visiting a wolf refuge, cruising in a lowrider, hiking in a volcano, gourmet dining at Zuni Pueblo, seeing a ghost, tracking the true Billy the Kid . . . and so much more.
Read more about Judie Fein and Paul Ross at www.globaladventure.us
THE LONELIEST PLACES: Loss, Grief, and the Long Journey Home
By Rachel Dickinson
Published October 2022, by Three Hills Press
“Gold Medal winner from Foreward INDIES for autobiography and memoir, 2023; Best Memoir from ASJA, 2023; winner for best memoir from the National League of American Pen Women, 2023
"A child's suicide pitches you into a hellish place of fragmentary images, the deepest depression imaginable, efforts to destroy yourself, and an almost complete break with what's happening in the world around you. That was my experience. I wish it upon no one."
The essays of The Loneliest Places began as a chronicle of Rachel Dickinson's life after her son's suicide. The pieces became much more. Dickinson writes the unimaginable and terrifying facts of heartbreaking loss. In The Loneliest Places she tells stories from her months on the run, fleeing her grief and herself, as she escapes to Iceland and the Falkland Islands―as far as possible from the memories of her dead son, Jack. She frankly relates the paralyzing emotion that sometimes left her trapped in her home, confined to a single chair, helplessly isolated.
The tales from these years are bleak and Dickinson's journey home, back to her changed self and fractured family, is lonely. Conjuring Emily Dickinson, however, she describes how hope was sighted, allowed to perch, and then, remarkably, made actual.
Read about Rachel and her books at https://www.racheldickinson.com/about
BRAVE-ish
One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
By Lisa Niver
Published 2023 by Post Hill Press
Book info: https://lisaniver.com/braveish/
About: Conde Nast Traveler featured BRAVE-ish as "10 New Books We Can't Wait to Read This Fall." Forbes said Best New NonFiction. Read her essay in Travel & Leisure called: "How Travel Healed Me After Divorce — and Made Me Fearless in My 50s." Bloomberg Pursuits interviewed her for Distinguished Travel Hacker in a story called, "To Stay in Shape on the Road, One Travel Expert Packs a Hula Hoop; Writer and podcast host Lisa Niver has visited more than 100 countries. Here’s her advice on scuba diving, hydration tablets and exercise." See all these press links and more at https://lisaniver.com/press/
Masters of the Harmonica
By Margie Goldsmith
ISBN: 978-1-63183-646-6
Publication Date: September 23rd, 2019
Publisher: Mountain Arbor Press
About: Masters of the Harmonica: 30 Masters of the Harmonica Share Their Craft includes revealing interviews with such consummate performers as Kim Wilson, Charlie McCoy, and Delbert McClinton.
"Masters of the Harmonica is a must-have for harmonica players of every level.”
Gerhard Mueller, Product Manager, Hohner Harmonicas
“A five-star book for anyone looking to get a look into how the harmonica has had such an impact in the music world.” Ronnie Shellist, Professional Harmonica Player
“A very important book for anyone who wants the inside story from some great players. This is a happy thing for the harp world.” Jon Gindick, Professional Harmonica Player
The Creative Spark
By Michael Shapiro
ISBN: 978-1609521769
Publication Date: November 2019
Publisher: Solas House, Palo Alto, Calif. (publisher of Travelers’ Tales books)
About The Creative Spark: How musicians, writers, explorers, and other artists found their inner fire and followed their dreams .
Interviews with biographies of wildly creative people
“Shapiro’s finely tuned, informed and intimate interviews strike to the heart of the matter.” Tim Cahill, author of Hold the Enlightenment
“Michael Shapiro is a genius at doing interviews, not just writing them but getting all of the famous people to talk to him.” Elaine Petrocelli, owner, Book Passage
“Questions are knowledgeable, probing, thoughtful. … The artists’ discussions are organic and sometimes amusing, and their inclusion is guided by Shapiro’s admiration of his subjects.” Foreword Reviews
D-Day Girls
Sarah Rose
Crown Publishing Group,
A division of Penguin Random House
ISBN 978-0-451-49508-2
ABOUT D-DAY GIRLS
THE SPIES WHO ARMED THE RESISTANCE, SABOTAGED THE NAZIS, AND HELPED WIN WORLD WAR II
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The dramatic, untold true story of the extraordinary women recruited by Britain’s elite spy agency to help pave the way for Allied victory in World War II
“Gripping. Spies, romance, Gestapo thugs, blown-up trains, courage, and treachery (lots of treachery)—and all of it true.”—Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake
May This Be the Best Year of Your Life: A Memoir
Sandra Bornstein, Author
Publisher: CreateSpace (December 2012)
ISBN 9781478198055
Bornstein wrote May This Be the Best Year of Your Life to serve as a resource and guide to help others overcome the challenges of living outside their comfort zone. When her husband accepted a job that required extensive international travel, the author was living her version of the American dream in Colorado, never imagining she would be faced with several dilemmas that left her feeling uncertain.
This compelling, honest, and edifying memoir shares what she learned about perseverance, travel, education, faith, and family. Had Sandra never resided in India, she would have missed out on an experience that ultimately enhanced her resiliency, confidence, and passion for life.
Bornstein’s memoir was a finalist in the Travel/Travel Guide category of the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the 2013 International Book Awards, the 2013 National Indie Book Excellence Awards, an Honorable Mention award in the Multicultural Non-Fiction category for the 2013 Global ebook Awards, and received a 4-star rating from Indie Reader Discovery Awards.
Read more about the book and its author.
The New Irish Table: Recipes from Ireland’s Top Chefs
By Leslie Conran Carola
Publisher: Charlesbridge 2017
Ireland today is a food-lover’s choice. Ten of the finest chefs in Ireland—Darina Allen, Martin Bealin, Derry Clarke, Ultan Cooke, Kevin Dundon, Catherine Fulvio, Neven Maguire, Noel McMeel, Ian Orr, and Tim O’Sullivan—represent the new Irish food culture, dispelling the myth that Irish cooking is limited to corned beef and cabbage. These chefs favor fresh, local, seasonal ingredients to create mouthwatering and sophisticated meals that satisfy with a refreshingly light treatment of fine ingredients.
Every one of the outstanding chefs selected from all four provinces of Ireland offers an imaginative style of food preparation, demonstrating a respect for the old while adding their own contemporary creativity to the process. Each of these chefs connects with the environment; they are masters at using local ingredients from the miles of farmland and surrounding sea, lakes, and rivers carving through the land. The new wave of artisan food producers and imaginative chefs work together as a team. It’s all a team—the earth and it’s splendid fare, the farmers and producers, the chefs with the seasonal, natural ethos. More than 80 recipes, from simple lunches to imaginative 3-course dinners, are accompanied by 175 full-color photographs of food and landscape, including sidebars on artisanal food producers. Read more about the book and its author.
Unique Eats and Eateries of San Francisco
Kimberley Lovato, Author
Publisher: Reedy Press (October 2017)
ISBN 978-1681061115
When people talk about great food cities, San Francisco rises to the top of the list thanks to its 49-square-miles of mouthwatering ways to whet your appetite. "Unique Eats & Eateries of San Francisco" invites the city's nearly 25 million annual visitors--and its food-obsessed residents--to discover the stories and histories that simmer behind some of San Francisco's iconic dishes, historic restaurants, and artisanal shops. Want to know why a 12-time World Pizza Champion only makes 73 of his prize-winning pies per day? Eat your homework at the city's only cheese school? Attend a dinner party with 40 strangers? Learn the origin of Hangtown Fry? Dumpling dine in the country's oldest dim sum restaurant? Or find out how fortune cookies came to San Francisco? Pull up a chair and crack open Unique Eats & Eateries of San Francisco. This tasty guide is seasoned with all you need for an off-the-eaten path exploration of one of the world's most food-savvy cities. Read more about the book and its author.
Getting Naked for Money: An Accidental Travel Writer Reveals All
Edie Jarolim
Publisher: The Invisible Press (October 2016)
ISBN 978-1-5374150-4-8
The story of how a Brooklyn-born poetry Ph.D. moved west and found her mojo, Edie Jarolim's wickedly funny memoir spares no one she encounters, least of all herself. Jarolim tells tales from both sides of the travel editor's desk: As an in-house guidebook editor in New York (Simon & Schuster/Frommer's and Random House/Fodor's) and London (Rough Guides), and as the freelance author of three guidebooks and hundreds of travel articles, many for national publications. But the author isn't a typical travel journalist. She has no sense of direction, is afraid of heights, and is a klutz. She also had a phobia of driving, which she overcame.
Read more about the book and its author.
Sea and Smoke: Flavors from the Untamed Pacific Northwest
Blaine Wetzel and Joe Ray
Running Press (October 2015)
ISBN 978-0762453788
Sea and Smoke is a travelogue chronicling the plucky ambition of a young chef determined to create a world class dining destination in an unlikely place. A native of the Pacific Northwest, two-time James Beard winning chef Blaine Wetzel saw Lummi Island, with fewer than 1,000 residents, as the perfect vehicle for his brand of hyperlocalism: a culinary celebration of what is good and nearby and flavorful.
The Dog Lover's Guide to Travel:
Best Destinations, Hotels, Events, and Advice to Please Your Pet-and You
Kelly E. Carter
Publisher: National Geographic (2014)
ASIN: B00JN8HXFA
THE DOG LOVER'S GUIDE TO TRAVEL begins with basic advice for pet parents looking to take a vacation with Fido: How to determine if your dog is ready for a trip; how to select the right carrier and appropriate travel gear; what to know before booking a flight with your pup. Carter also shares her knowledge of what travelers and their pets can expect at hotels, airports, the beach, on the trail and more.
The World Was Our Stage: Spanning the Globe with ABC Sports
Doug Wilson
CreateSpace (August 31, 2013)
ISBN-10: 1490403663
In The World Was Our Stage, producer/director Doug Wilson recounts his incredible fifty-year journey with ABC Sports and its beloved sports anthology program ABC's Wide World of Sports. His natural storytelling style and entertaining anecdotes capture not only "the human drama of athletic competition"--the hallmark of ABC's coverage--but also the unforgettable golden era of sports television.
The Turk Who Loved Apples
and Other Tales of Losing My Way Around the World
Matt Gross
Da Capo Press (April 23, 2013)
ISBN-10: 030682115X
A celebration of independent travel, Matt Gross' The Turk Who Loved Apples collects never-before-published essays spanning his many journeys. Throughout, Gross invites readers into the wild adventures and somber realities of a life in motion, taking us from Third World countries to rich European ports.
COLOR BLIND: The Forgotten Team that Broke Baseball's Color Line
Tom Dunkel
Atlantic Monthly Press (April 2, 2013)
ISBN: 0802120121
Bismarck, North Dakota's town baseball team developed into a regional powerhouse during the Depression by luring players from the Negro Leagues, most notably legendary pitcher Satchel Paige. This was more than a decade before the integration of the Major Leagues. Color Blind is a mix of sports, gambling, moonshine, pioneer history and racial discrimination... with cameo appearances by Sitting Bull, Franklin Roosevelt and others.
Read more about the book and its author.
The Coat Route: Craft, Luxury, & Obsession on the Trail of a $50,000 Coat
Meg Lukens Noonan
Spiegel & Grau (July 16, 2013)
ISBN-10: 1400069939
When journalist Meg Lukens Noonan learned of an unthinkably expensive, entirely handcrafted overcoat that a fourth-generation tailor had made for one of his longtime clients, she set off on an adventure to understand its provenance, and from that impulse unspooled rich and colorful stories about its components, the centuries-old bespoke industry and its traditions, and the master craftsmen whose trade is an art form.
Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows: Tales from Two Valleys
Eddy Ancinas
The History Press (February 20, 2013)
ISBN: 1609497139
In the rugged High Sierra at the north end of Lake Tahoe, California; two adjacent valleys lie protected by high peaks to the west and separated by a massive ridge. The story of how these two remote valleys became two (now one) of the best-known ski areas in North America, begins with their discoveries by two visionaries: Wayne Poulsen, a young ski competitor from Reno, who first saw the potential in Squaw Valley while fishing there as a boy in 1931, and John Reily, a Los Angeles businessman, who came to Squaw Valley in 1955, and looked down from the top of the KT22 ski lift into a pristine valley to the south.
The Voluntourist
A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem
Ken Budd
William Morrow Paperbacks (May 8, 2012)
ISBN: 9780061946462
When Ken Budd's father suddenly collapsed in 2007, he was one year into his retirement, seemingly healthy, and just finishing eighteen holes of golf. Then in a matter of seconds he was gone. Seeing the legions of family, friends and coworkers paying tribute at his father's funeral, Ken began to reflect on the achievements of his dad, a man who rose from poverty, who never attended college yet climbed to upper management in a variety of high-tech companies, and who supported the financial demands of a household and still made time for his family. Ken began thinking about his own life...
Adrift: Charting Our Course Back to a Great Nation
William C. Harris and Steven C. Beschloss
Prometheus Books (June 30, 2011)
ISBN: 1616144033
What has gone wrong for America and what can we do about it? Americans have begun to wonder whether our best days are ahead of us or are now past. Yet at a time of clear urgency and grave need, the nation's politicians seem increasingly unable to get beyond ideological battles and provide genuine leadership. Is this any way to run a great country?
Still Life with Sierra: a memoir
Peggy Sijswerda
CreateSpace (November 8, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1453723102
Just as life at its best is a journey toward meaning and truth, Still Life with Sierra recounts one family's quest to find where they belong, how they fit in after the tragic death of the author's young daughter rocked their perception of what life should be. Seeking a fresh start, the author, her husband, and their young sons relocated to the Netherlands. "We moved our lives, our belongings, our coffee mugs across the Atlantic, hoping to find a place that felt like home," the author said. Instead, they found something unexpected: that the home they were seeking didn't exist.
Life is a Trip:
The Transformative Magic of Travel
Judith Fein
Spirituality & Health Books (August 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0981870880
"LIFE IS A TRIP is about transformative travel. In it, I take the reader with me on 14 exotic adventures. Each time, I learn a new and different approach to some life issue like family conflict, success, healing, overcoming trauma, death, forgiveness, faith in the face of adversity. The book is highly informative, I'll stick my head in the microwave if it's not entertaining, and it appeals both to those who love to travel and those who love to read about it in the comfort of their homes."
Sisters on the Fly:
Caravans, Campfires, and Tales from the Road
Irene Rawlings
Andrews McMeel Publishing (May 2010)
ISBN: 0740791311
The Sisters on the Fly have more fun than anyone. They buy and restore vintage trailers and take them fly fishing to some of the most beautiful places in the country. The book is organized around fishing, food, friendship, love and loss. And, of course, around beautiful vintage trailers that have been lovingly restored from "trashed to treasured."
For All the Tea in China:
How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History
Sarah Rose
Viking Adult (March 18, 2010)
ISBN: 0670021520
From Books Quarterly: "Enter Robert Fortune, botanist and plant-hunter extraordinaire -- as diligent, daring and enterprising a Victorian hero as one could wish for. Sarah Rose tells a stirring tale of individual derring-do and the fate of nations."
BLOGS
LANEE LEE AND LINDSAY TAUB
Lanee Lee and Lindsay Taub launched Voyage Vixens™ out of a love for travel and in hopes of empowering women to pursue their own passion—be it motherhood or motorcar racing. The blog garnered two bronze awards: a Lowell Thomas award “Best Travel Blog 2014” and a NATJA “Best Independent Travel Blog 2014”
BUDDHA DRINKS FANTA
JENNY ADAMS
A humor travel blog about strange towns, great meals, long nights and hilarious near catastrophes.
AMANDA CASTLEMAN
A blog reflecting the outdoors passions of award-winning writer and photographer Amanda Castleman. Despite Amanda’s yoga-and-yogurt tendencies, she's a former wilderness guide and scuba aficionado. Her published articles deal with travel, adventure, pop culture and the environment. Amanda’s Honduras scuba article won a Lowell Thomas award (travel writing's ersatz Pulitzer).
ECHO GARRETT
A blog as lively as its creator, Echo Garrett, TV and radio personality and contributor to over 100 media outlets. Her award-winning books and articles have earned her a spot on shows from Good Morning America to CNBC.
Judith Fein and Paul Ross
Judith Fein and Paul Ross live to leave. They’ve garnered multiple awards for their travel articles and have contributed stories and photos to more than 105 magazines, newspapers, blogs and websites.
LISA NIVER
Wesaidgotravel.com is a top 100 travel blog that is read by more than 300,000 people per year and has published over 2,000 writers from 75 countries ranging from well traveled amateurs to experienced travel experts from 75 countries.
