How to Live Japanese by Yutaka Yazawa: Review

 

How to Live Japanese

by Yutaka Yazawa

Pub Date 11 Oct 2018

Quarto Publishing Group - Aurum Press, White Lion Publishing, NetGalley

Detailed and very readable book with sections covering the history, geography and topography of Japan, as well as the religions, cuisine, cultural traditions, famous landmarks and more.

This book would be good background reading for anyone traveling to Japan, to help   make the land, the people, and the customs easily understandable.  Religious celebrations, festivals, holidays, are all included in easy to understand and fluid prose.

Outstanding to me were descriptions of Mt. Fuji and its importance, mountain walking and trekking that are popular for so many, onsens and hot spring resorts, the unique preparation of food as in sushi and more, the geisha tradition and history, pottery making in the Kyoto region and elsewhere, other arts and crafts, farming and fishing occupations, religious festivals and celebrations.

Those already familiar with Japan will recognize many of the sections' information, and see these from the Japanese-born author's point of view.  I enjoyed reading about what was new to me and what I was already familiar with.

Yutaka Yazawa

Having spent university and early career years in London, Yutaka Yazawa decided to return to his childhood home of Tokyo. After a long career travelling in law, he decided to make the switch to writer. He has also written The Little Book of Japanese Living. 

Resource for Living, Traveling, Visiting, Vacationing in France: The Good Life in France

For Paris in July 2023 Reading Challenge. 

Author of three books on living in France, Janine Marsh has gone on to produce the magazine, blog, podcast, weekly newsletter entitled The Good Life France.

All the images on their website are protected, so I can't show any of them here, but the informative site is well worth at least a couple of visits. 

Her books:

My Good Life in France: Book 1 of 3 by Janine Marsh, published August 25, 2017

Genre: travel, memoir, biography, France

About: One grey dismal day, Janine Marsh was on a trip to northern France to pick up some cheap wine. She returned to England a few hours later having put in an offer on a rundown old barn in the rural Seven Valleys area of Pas de Calais. This was not something she’d expected or planned for.

 Janine eventually gave up her job in London to move with her husband to live the good life in France. Or so she hoped. While getting to grips with the locals and la vie Française, and renovating her dilapidated new house, a building lacking the comforts of mains drainage, heating, or proper rooms, and with little money and less of a clue, she started to realize there was lot more to her new home than she could ever have imagined.

 These are the true tales of Janine’s rollercoaster ride through a different culture—one that, to a Brit from the city, was in turns surprising, charming, and not the least bit baffling. (publisher)

See The Good Life France podcasts for a colorful and informative look at France.

Sunday Salon: Memoirs and Cozies

First in a new mystery series:

Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders by

Tessa Arlen, November 5, 2019, Berkley.

Genre: WWII historical mystery series, with Air Raid Warden and sleuth Poppy Redfern.

Location: Remote English village, 1942

Four cozy mysteries:

Mumbo Gumbo Murder: A New Orleans Scrapbooking Mystery

by Laura Childs, October 1, 2019, Berkley Books

Carmela and Ava solve a murder during Jazz Fest in New Orleans

The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans by JoAnna Carl,

November 5, 2019, Berkley Books. 

House flipping turns deadly in this Chocoholic Mystery.

City of Scoundrels by Victoria Thompson

November 5, 2019, Berkley

Historical mystery set during the Great War.

A psychological thriller:

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan, September 10, 2019, William Morrow

A seven-year-old grows up wondering why her nanny left without a trace, and why. 

Current library books:

The Ungrateful Refugee

This Is How I Save My Life by Amy B. Scher, April 10, 2018, Gallery Books

Genre: memoir of a woman who travels from California to India in search of a life saving medical procedure to cure her Lyme disease.

What have you been reading this month?

Memes: 

The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Mailbox Monday and the Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: J'ai du Rever Trop Fort by Michel Bussi

Reading in the French language

J'ai du rever trop fort

J'ai du rever trop fort by Michel Bussi, February 28, 2019, Presses de la Cite
Setting: Barcelona, Montreal, Paris
Genre: contemporary French fiction, romance

Thanks to my built-in French-English dictionary, I'm able to use my college French to read this novel as it hasn't yet been translated into English, as many of the Bussi's other books have. What seems to be a pure romance in exotic cities has a bit of mystery added, as do his other books, many of which are more thrillers than romance. 

But I'm really enjoying this one, brushing up on my French language as well as  reading a well-written mystery and romance novel. 

Air France hostess Natalie travels around the world at least three times each month, leaving her husband Olivier to tend to their young daughter in Paris. She meets Ylian on her trip to Montreal and meets him again in Barcelona. Their story is one of passion and intrigue, coincidences that are unexplained so far, and even some danger. I'm half way through and enjoying the mini travelogues to the cities that also include Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana. Looking forward to Jakarta later on in the novel!

What books are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  Stacking the Shelves, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date

Book Tour: Close Encounters of the Traveling Kind by Amanda Jayne

Extreme travel with near-death experiences

Close Encounters of the Traveling Kind by Amanda Jayne

Publisher:  Waldorf Publishing (July 1, 2018)
Category: Essays, Travelogues , Travel, Adventure
Tour dates: Oct-Nov, 2018
ISBN: 978-1642556797
Available in Print and ebook, 140 pages

This collection of near-death (and a few almost-near-death) stories take you on adventures in Africa, South America, Nepal, Japan and Thailand. Close Encounters with an angry snake, the edge of an abyss, an unfriendly African tribe, a fake guide or two, a mean Dutch man, a magic whirlpool, a nasty case of Typhoid and a severe case of mountain stupidity are told with the confidence of a traveler who has discovered that no matter what happens, everything works out in the end.

Amanda Jayne never wanted to live a normal life, which she has achieved with resounding success so far. She realized books were magic and could take you to other places, times and universes when she was very young and wanted to become an author immediately. However, she waited several decades so she could do other things first.

Her love for travel began with a six month South Africa trip at age 18 and continued with short jaunts in Eastern Europe during the years she worked in the mental health field.

As soon as she realized offices, rules and regulations were not her thing, she left her job and her native England to find out more about the world and the amazing array of people living in it. She spent 10 years living and travelling in various countries and finally returned to the UK in 2009 after gaining a masters in Spiritual Psychology in the USA and walking 1,200 km around the 88 temples pilgrimage in Shikoku, Japan.

These days she teaches Jikiden Reiki, makes websites and writes books. She’s sometimes quite busy. Some of the things she loves are trees, art, being with friends, making up stories for her nephews, karaoke, cats and dark chocolate, not necessarily in that order. She lives in a quiet corner of Kent in the UK and tries, but usually fails, to stay there for long periods of time.

My comments:

I know people from South America and Thailand, so I was eager to read Amanda Jayne's experiences in those countries, among others. 

The stories from Bolivia, three of them to be exact, warns the traveler to be wary of eating street food and to watch out for unreliable tourist guides, of making sure you see a qualified doctor if you ever get something like typhoid or stomach problems, and being extra careful when biking or riding down the Road of Death, a narrow winding mountain road with fabulous views of the jungle but a harrowing ride if the road is crowded with trucks and/or other vehicles. 

The Thailand rafting experience on a small river in the north could be exquisite, a communion with nature, unless a rafting guide decides to hit a snake out of its resting place in a tree overhanging said river. In Jayne's experience, the snake tried to get out of the water and climb onto their raft, causing panic among the raft riders. 

There are other interesting survival stories: climbing Mt. Fuji in Japan with the wrong schedule, white water rafting in the Himalayas, getting on the wrong bus and landing up in the wrong place in Lesotho, Africa. 

None of the narrow escapes made me want to avoid most of these countries. In fact, the stories could whet the appetite of travelers who would swear they would be able to avoid the pitfalls Jayne experienced.

You can read the short essays in any order, which I did. It was fun, enlightening, and great even for armchair travelers.

Website: https://www.amandacjayne.com/author

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/amandacjayne. Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/amandajayneauthor. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandacjayne/

Virtual Author Book Tours organized this book tour and provided a review copy of this book.

Page 56:

It had all been worth it despite the guide who wasn't a guide. 

Meme: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. 

Review: Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist

Two Steps Forward

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist, May 1, 2018, William Morrow
Genre:travel, contemporary novel
Setting: The Chemin, also known as the Camino de Santiago, is a centuries-old pilgrim route that ends in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. 

I loved this book, told from the point of view of a woman in her 40s or 50s and a man of the same age, walking from Cluny in France to Santiago in Spain on an old pilgrimage route. Though it's a novel, the book reads as if written by people who have travelled the Camino many times and know of what they speak! And in fact the authors are seasoned walkers of the pilgrim's route in Spain.

In the novel, the fictitious Martin and Zoe meet on the trail, traveling by foot from France and into northern Spain on the famous route. Martin pulls a cart he designed to hold his gear and hopes to sell the design to anyone who would buy it and manufacture it for public use. Zoe, using a backpack, is on the trail to try to escape memories of the very recent death of her husband, Keith. 

They have many setbacks along the Camino, meet interesting people from different countries, sometimes walking together and other times separately, and have varied experiences staying in hostels, hotels, pensions, and bed and breakfasts along the way. The narrators describe the terrain and each little town they enter, in detail. 

This is not only a travel story, about the experiences of walking over 2,000 kilometers, but also a love story of sorts. The book made me want to get into shape and travel along the Camino myself, and I've put the trail on my bucket list!

Objective rating: 5/5. Thanks to William Morrow for the review copy. 

Finished reading:

Sunburn

The flawed main character in Sunburn didn't get my sympathy even though she endured a lot in order to get to her final goals. Interesting plot and character; the book was entertaining even though not memorable. I gave it four stars.

New books include

Once Upon a Spine

A Panicked Premonition

Bought the Farm

A Just Clause

What books are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

First Chapter: A Taste of Paris by David Downie

A Taste of Paris: A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food by David Downie, September 26, 2017,  courtesy of St. Martin's Press

Genre: travel, food, nonfiction

Described as "a culinary history" of Paris, this book is one of several books on Paris and France by David Downie, an informative, entertaining, and well researched writer. 

First Chapter:

A Conspiracy of Pleasure

Imagine a gastronomic romp through Paris weaving the living past into the lively present, the story of the great Parisian conspiracy to enjoy life - the city's centuries-old passion for food, wine, dining out and entertaining. That's what this book is about.

Long ago this love affair with food and wine earned Paris the name of the world's capital of fine dining. I had the foretaste of the fun as a young man during my first visit to the city in 1976. A decade later in the spring of 1986 I became a full-time conspirator,  taking possession of a seventh-floor, cold-water walk-up maid's room in the 17th arrondissement near the Arc de Triomphe. As soon as I unpacked I began mapping out Paris' gastronomic topography - the markets, stores, restaurants, and cafes that became my second home. 

Based on the first paragraphs and the book description, would you read on?

MEME: Every Tuesday Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two, from a book you are reading or will be reading soon

Book Beginning: Why the Dutch Are Different by Ben Coates

Why the Dutch Are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands by Ben Coates
Published September 24, 2015
Genre: travel, nonfiction

Book beginning:
Introduction
Almost Dutch

Rotterdam is not a beautiful city. A sprawling industrial conurbation of some 600,000 people, the Netherland's second largest metropolis has none of the canals, cobbles or picturesque bridges of its more famous rival, Amsterdam, and as such is rarely troubled by tourists. However, much to my surprise, it soon began to feel like home. Literally hours after walking out of the airport in the snow, I found myself living in a tall, crooked townhouse, on a tree-lined street between a canal, a tramstop, and a bar selling tiny glasses of Heineken. My Caribbean suntan quickly faded and my long beard joined my tattered beach clothes in a rubbish bin on a rain-soaked balcony. By the time the snow melted, my belongings had already arrived in the post from England, and I was eating bright green erwtensoep (pea soup) with gusto. The skinny girl - a feisty, fiercely intelligent Rotterdammer with a pretty smile - showed no signs of kicking me out, and I began the slow process of integrating into Dutch society.

Page 56:
In the fourth century, the bishop Servatius died while passing through Maastricht. A basilica was built to honour of the dead pilgrims and something of a cult developed around him, with Maastricht becoming an important stopping point for pilgrims on their way to other religious centers...

Book description: a personal portrait of a fascinating people, a sideways history and an entertaining travelogue.

The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

First Chapter: Deep South by Paul Theroux

Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph every Tuesday. Share the first paragraph(s) of your current read or book interest, with information for readers

Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads by Paul Theroux, published September 3, 2015 by Penguin
Genre: nonfiction, travel
Source: library

First chapter, first paragraphs:

In Tuskaloosa, Alabama, on a hot Sunday morning in early October, I sat in my car in the parking lot of a motel studying a map, trying to locate a certain church. I was not looking for more religion or to be voyeuristically stimulated by travel. I was hoping for music and uplift, sacred steel and celebration, and maybe a friend.

I slapped the map with the back of my hand. I must have looked befuddled.

"You lost, baby?"

Travelling through North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, travel writer Paul Theroux writes of the stunning landscapes he discovers - the deserts, the mountains, the Mississippi - and above all, the lives of the people he meets. (publisher)

Based on the opening sentences,  would you continue reading?

Book Review: THE LAST GOOD PARADISE by Tatjana Soli

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli, published February 10, 2015; St. Martin's Press.

Book beginning: 

A 7.1 tremor had been felt throughout the Southland that morning, the epicenter somewhere out in the hinterlands of Lancaster, unnerving residents, but the offices of Flask, Flask, Gardiner, Bulkington, Bartleby, and Peleg were seemingly immune. Ten floors up in the sybaritic conference room,the air conditioner purred; the air was filtered, ionized, and subtly scented of cedar. Ann looked out the plate glass windows at the expansive, gaseous hills of West Los Angeles as a contemplative might look out of her meditation temple. Smoke was opouring from a Spanish Colonial Revival house halfway up a nearby manicured hill, and as she watched, toylike, candy-colored fire engines curled up the narrow canyon roads to put it out. The glass was proofed; no siren sound reached them.

Page 56: 

There was always the unforeseen lurking. What if she and Richard drowned or got eaten by sharks? What if they were killed for the money? 

My comments: The above scenario in Los Angeles is what Ann, junior partner in a law firm, wants so desperately to escape. When her husband Richard and his business partner, Javi, must use all of their and her hard-won savings/earnings to pay Javi's exwife in her bid for extra alimony, Ann and Richard decide at the last minute to literally take their money and run, before creditors can withdraw the funds from their bank account. The couple flee the country with their money, leaving Javi to face his own music, and the two end up in a resort on a remote island in the South Pacific, where they however face new and challenging situations.

Interesting premise - a new life in paradise, remote and private. Complications ensue with the manager of the resort and with the other tourists, however, and the plot becomes complex and a bit complicated. I personallyl prefer more streamlined storytelling, but this is an entertaining escape into a Gaugin like environment, but one with problems nevertheless.

Richly atmospheric, the novel will be enjoyed by armchair travelers and those who love stories that show how complicated personal problems can unfold and yet be satisfactorily resolved.

Objective rating: 3.75/5


TATJANA SOLI is a novelist and short story writer. Her New York Times bestselling debut novel, The Lotus Eaters, was the winner of the James Tait Black Prize, a New York Times Notable Book, and a finalist for the LA Times Book Award. Her second novel The Forgetting Tree was also a New York Times Notable book . Her stories have appeared in Zyzzyva, Boulevard, and The Sun, and have been listed in Best American Short Stories. She lives with her husband in Southern California.

Visit TLC Book Tours for other reviews of the book and a list of tour stops. 
Thanks to TLC and the author for an ARE of this book for review.

CYCLING SOJOURNER: A Guide to the Best Multi-Day Tours in Washington by Ellee Thalheimer

Summer is coming up, and long distance cyclists on the road have another tour guidebook, this time in the state of Washington!

Title: Cycling Sojourner: A Guide to the Best Multi-Day Tours in Washington by Ellee Thalheimer
Expected publication on May 15, 2014; Microcosm Publishing
Genre: travel guidebook, cycling

Publisher description:
As the second book in a one-of-a-kind cycle-touring series, this guidebook reveals hard-to-find information about exploring Washington by bike. Learn about the state’s remotest ribbons of road in the Okanagan, the best bikeable berry stands in the San Juans Islands, luscious Walla Walla wine country vineyards best reached by bicycle, and routes across the Cascade Mountain Range that will transform you into an interminable lover of the Pacific Northwest.

Like a cycle-touring concierge, Cycling Sojourner takes care of the logistics and removes obstacles between you and your two-wheeled adventure, so you can grab your bike and go. The nine tours in the book are meticulously laid out and include cue sheets; maps; and information about weather, difficulty level, camping and lodging options, and how to get to the ride’s start. The voices of Thalheimer and the four contributing Washingtonian authors use storytelling, local history, and humor to draw out your inner adventurer.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for feature/review.

Travel Memoir Review: Blind Curves by Linda Crill

Title: Blind Curves: One Woman's Unusual Journey to Reinvent Herself and Answer: What Now?
Author: Linda Crill
Published March 1, 2013; Opus Intl.
Genre: travel, memoir

Before reading the book, I read the book description: "After 18 months of following one-size-fits-all advice for a 57-year-old widow, Linda Crill was still miserable. In a moment of rebellion, she traded her corporate suits for motorcycle leathers and committed herself to a 2,500-mile road trip down Americas Pacific Northwest coast riding a motorcycle. The problem, she didn't know how to ride and had only 30 days to learn."

I was amazed that a corporate executive in a high octane atmosphere such as Washington DC could suddenly, in her mid-fifties, throw caution to the wind and decide to learn how to ride a motorcycle and take off for a long road trip along the Pacific Northwest coast. I though it took a lot of gumption, not to mention, determination.

There are probably many roads to dealing with the death of a spouse or loved one and finding your place in a new future. Linda Crill took this biking route, which worked very well for her. She was pulled away from her grief by the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and her surroundings.

Standing on the vast beach - at least 100 yards deep and stretching for miles to the north and south - we were amazed. To our right, majestically rising out of the ocean close to shore, was a rocky monolith. In front and to its left stood several smaller ones. They aroused my curiosity as I surveyed the area around me, trying to conjecture how they had been created. (ch. 10)

I liked that the book is illustrated with sketches of the author on her bike, with her biker friends, or in the middle of beautiful scenery.

The memoir reads as part adventure, part inspirational. A scenic and uplifting bike ride.

About the author: Linda Crill is a Washington DC area executive, consultant and international speaker who has worked with Citigroup, Cadbury-Mott’s, Goldman Sachs and Marriott International, Inc., as well as  other Fortune 100 companies, universities, non-profits, and government departments and agencies. A mother of three, she lectures and writes on how to manage change and reinvent yourself, your life and your business. “Discoveries,” she says,” are waiting to be found around each blind curve.”

I received a complimentary review copy of the book from Rebecca at The Cadence Group.
Submitted to Cym Lowell's Book Review Link-Up Party

Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light by David Downie

Title: Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light by David Downie
Published April 5, 2011; Broadway paperback
Genre: travel
Photographs by Alison Harris

Paris is only one of the cities called the "City of Light." It was given this name because it was the first European city that lit up its streets with gaslights. Other cities with the title include Miami, Florida; Anchorage, Alaska and Los Angeles, Ca., given for different reasons. The oldest city known as the City of Light is Varanasi (known as Benares) in India, the place where light first entered earth, according to Hindu belief.

For those traveling to Paris, Paris, Paris is the most complete and detailed description and history of Paris that I have seen. With lots of interesting tidbits and historical facts, it also has the advantage that it can be read in sections.

Here is the book/publisher description:
"Swapping his native San Francisco for the City of Light, travel writer David Downie arrived in Paris in 1986 on a one-way ticket, his head full of romantic notions. Curiosity and the legs of a cross-country runner propelled him daily from an unheated, seventh-floor walk-up garret near the Champs-Elysées to the old Montmartre haunts of the doomed painter Modigliani, the tombs of Père-Lachaise cemetery, the luxuriant alleys of the Luxembourg Gardens and the aristocratic Île Saint-Louis midstream in the Seine. 

Downie wound up living in the chic Marais district, married to the Paris-born American photographer Alison Harris, an equally incurable walker and chronicler. Ten books and a quarter-century later, he still spends several hours every day rambling through Paris, and writing about the city he loves. 

 An irreverent, witty romp featuring thirty-one short prose sketches of people, places and daily life, Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light ranges from the glamorous to the least-known corners and characters of the world’s favorite city."

I hope to make it back someday to Paris, which I visited after college during a short ramble through Europe. I'd be sure to read this book first, though, to get the most out of the trip.

Thanks to the author for a complimentary copy of this book. 

Once Upon a Gypsy Moon by Michael Hurley

Wonder what it's like to take off on a sailboat for two years, alone, sailing from port to port, from the U.S. down to the Caribbean islands? Here is a memoir of a writer's journey, a spiritual quest as well as a physical challenge.

It was not the dreary weather, or being alone, or the sixty-mile stretch of ocean from Beaufort to Masonboro Inlet that concerned me. On the open sea at night, the Gypsy Moon is as cozy as a warm fire and rocks like a baby's cradle as she rises and falls over the waves. It was the unknown that troubled me, and the worry that I was about to do something rather foolish (again) and potentially very expensive (again) that I would regret (again). (ch. 12; quote from an uncorrected proof; final copy may differ)

Publisher's description: Michael Hurley's world unraveled in the wake of divorce and failure. In August 2009, short of money, out of a job and in need of perspective, he took to the open seas in a 32-foot sailboat, Gypsy Moon.

The story of his 2-year outward odyssey, complicated by rough weather and mechanical troubles, combines keen observation and deep introspection with excellent prose. Once Upon a Gypsy Moon presents a unique point of view on this spiritual-journey narrative. It offers a love story inside a rollicking sea tale, but it also has something important to say about relationships, faith and disbelief, life and death, love and marriage, and what really matters.

Title: Once Upon a Gypsy Moon: A Memoir: An Improbable Voyage and One Man's Yearning for Redemption by Michael Hurley
Published April 16, 2013; Center Street
Source: ARC review copy

Book Review: Have Mother, Will Travel by Claire and Mia Fontaine

I think when I go home, I'll see female colleagues less in terms of our age differences and more in terms of the shared experiences of our gender. (Mia Fontaine, ch. 13)

Claire Fontaine and her daughter Mia take a trip to seven countries in Asia and Europe, to renew and strengthen their mother-daughter relationship, to find out more about themselves, and to find out about other women around the globe.

They travel to China, Malaysia, Nepal, Cairo, Greece and the Balkans, and to Avignon in France as well as to Budapest. There they interact with and observe other women, mothers and their daughters, as well give us the feel and the flavor of the countries they visit. The trip is designed as a scavenger hunt for the travel group they are with, where each group chooses things or places, foods or events to find and experience. Along the way, mother and daughter manage their inevitable conflicts, ask each other pointed personal questions, and share new discoveries.

Reading the book was having an interesting armchair travel experience, seeing the countries and people from their points of view and also learning about the shared history that made up their first memoir, Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back. Mia has come a long way from the runaway teenager and user that she had been to a more independent and responsible woman and daughter.

I did find myself confusing one person with the other while I was reading, as mother and daughter share chapters, both writing as in a journal. Claire's entries are in regular print and Mia's thoughts are in italics. As I found their writing styles not too dissimilar, I would forget to switch and would sometimes read Mia's entries thinking it was Claire's and vice versa. That was the only confusion for me, keeping them straight at all times, in spite of the difference in the fonts.

I like that you can pick up the book and start at any chapter. Here is an excerpt from Claire's thoughts, chapter nine:

My heart and soul, however, came alive in Plovdiv, a verdant, historic hilltop town in Bulgaria.Till now, I wasn't sure why. As Mia and I sit for lunch against a low stone wall and a cascade of ivy tendrils and the wind blows the little green corkscrews across my cheek, I suddenly understand....
It lies on the same latitude, exactly, as Cleveland Heights, where I was born and spent much of my childhood. It has the same plants and flowers, the same trees, insects, climates and constellations, the same fragrance, light, and colors. One I hadn't been surrounded by in decades.

I did enjoy their travel narratives and interactions best of all.

For more reviews of the book, visit the TLC Book Tour schedule.

Title: Have Mother, Will Travel: A Mother and Daughter Discover Themselves, Each Other, and the World by Claire and Mia Fontaine
Published April 2, 2013; William Morrow paperback
Objective rating: 4/5
Genre:  memoir, travel

Claire Fontaine is a former screenwriter living in the US and Europe. She is a certified relationship and life coach. Mia Fontaine is a motivational speaker who has written for the New York Times, blogs for Ms. Magazine, and is at work on a narrative nonfiction book. She lives in New York City. Find them at their website or on Facebook.

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for a review copy of the book.

Linked to Cym Lowell's Book Review Link Up/Ben's Recovery Fund.

First Chapter: Have Mother, Will Travel by Claire and Mia Fontaine

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. Opening sentences in a book can help readers decide if the book is one they would continue reading. 

I was on my way home from work when I got the call. The one that would make me quit my job, sublet my apartment, and take off for the great unknown alongside my mother. The call that led to the book you are now reading, an around-the-world adventure that's intended to entertain, educate, and, above all, explore the changing dynamic between mother and adult daughter.

This is the first chapter in the book, the second travel memoir of this mother and daughter traveling and writing team. Would you keep reading?
Goodreads description, to help you along:>Have Mother, Will Travel captures the changing relationship between a mother and her adult daughter.

Title: Have Mother, Will Travel: A Mother and Daughter Discover Themselves, Each Other, and the World by Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine
Published July 17, 2012; William Morrow
Source: publisher

It's Monday: What Are You Reading This Week?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week. It is hosted by Book Journey.

The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem by Ken Budd.

A travel memoir of the author's volunteer trips to New Orleans, Costa Rica, China, Ecuador, Palestine, and Kenya. I don't know how popular volunteer vacations are but they seem to be a growing trend.

The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel by Regina O'Melveny is set in the Venice of 1590.

Gabriella Mondini helps her physician father with his work, The Book of Diseases, and must fend for herself when he disappears. She searches for him in Europe all the way to Morocco and discovers family secrets while developing her skills in healing.

Two different books, but they are taking me to different countries and back in history too. What are you reading this week?

Book Review: Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

Title: Following Atticus: Forty-eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Author: Tom Ryan
William Morrow Paperbacks; Aug. 7. 2012
Genre: memoir, travel

I was once asked if Atticus was the perfect dog. "He's perfect for me," I said. (from the Acknowledgements).

About: A little dog named Atticus M. Finch helps Tom Ryan on an extended journey of self discovery and healing by accompanying him on long and isolated nature treks up and down the mountains of New Hampshire.

Comments: The writing is excellent and pulls the reader into the heart of the writer and into the center of his journeys with Atticus, who often leads the way on the treks. In the middle of the book, I thought that Tom and Atticus would stop climbing, retire, and take it easy, having already climbed so many 4,000-foot mountains in all kinds of weather. But they continued on, during one winter making the rounds of mountains twice and raising money for an animal medical center. I read on and realized that Atticus pined for the mountains as much as Tom did and that their outings are a big part of what keeps them both contented.

Recommendations: This book is a excellent one for all dog lovers, trekkers, and others who like good writing and the outdoors. Those who normally avoid dog books because they fear an unhappy ending when the dog dies need have no fear. Atticus and Tom are both still active and mountain trekking.

The author: In 2007 former newspaper publisher and editor Tom Ryan moved to New Hampshire with miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch. Tom and Atticus have climbed more than 450 four-thousand-foot peaks over the last five years. After raising thousands of dollars for Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, the pair was inducted into the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Hall of Fame. Tom currently writes The Adventures of Tom & Atticus column in the Northcountry News and Mountainside Guide, and the blog The Adventures of Tom & Atticus. Tom and Atticus live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

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For more reviews of Following Atticus, see the Book Tour Schedule.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Book Tour: Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

Title: Following Atticus: Forty-eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Author: Tom Ryan
William Morrow Paperbacks; Aug. 7. 2012
Genre: memoir, travel

I was once asked if Atticus was the perfect dog. "He's perfect for me," I said. (from the Acknowledgements).

About: A little dog named Atticus M. Finch helps Tom Ryan on an extended journey of self discovery and healing by accompanying him on long and isolated nature treks up and down the mountains of New Hampshire.

Comments: The writing is excellent and pulls the reader into the heart of the writer and into the center of his journeys with Atticus, who often leads the way on the treks. In the middle of the book, I thought that Tom and Atticus would stop climbing, retire, and take it easy, having already climbed so many 4,000-foot mountains in all kinds of weather. But they continued on, during one winter making the rounds of mountains twice and raising money for an animal medical center. I read on and realized that Atticus pined for the mountains as much as Tom did and that their outings are a big part of what keeps them both contented.

Recommendations: This book is a good one for all dog lovers and trekkers. Those who normally avoid dog books because they fear an unhappy ending when the dog dies need have no fear. Atticus and Tom are both still active and mountain trekking.

The author: In 2007 former newspaper publisher and editor Tom Ryan moved to New Hampshire with miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch. Tom and Atticus have climbed more than 450 four-thousand-foot peaks over the last five years. After raising thousands of dollars for Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, the pair was inducted into the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Hall of Fame. Tom currently writes The Adventures of Tom & Atticus column in the Northcountry News and Mountainside Guide, and the blog The Adventures of Tom & Atticus. Tom and Atticus live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Visit Blog | Facebook | Twitter

For more reviews of Following Atticus, see the Book Tour Schedule.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for a review copy of this book.