As an independent traveller, and throughout a career supporting international nature conservation, I’ve been fortunate to see many far-flung places of the world. Over the years, technology (eg. smartphones, internet, social media) has radically changed the way we travel, and indeed our expectations. Nowadays we want instant access, instant answers, instant results; we hate waiting for anything. However, long-haul travel still demands us to wait... in airport lounges, at train stations, bus stops, and onboard our transport while we endure long hours before reaching our destination. While some aspects have changed, patience, humour, and a good book still remain the best companions for any long journey.
Diary of a Shy Backpacker is a romcom travelogue that has been described as “refreshingly different” and as “a saucy, fun, entertaining read which perfectly captures the backpacking experience.” The series is a semi-fictional account, loosely derived from my own 'selectively-enhanced’ adventures, travelling in the days before smartphones and social media. We begin in Australia with Awakening Down Under, before moving to New Zealand inEye on the Prize, and finally to Canada in No Looking Back. Throughout the journey you’ll be entertained, as one reader put it, by “colourful characters, beautiful landscapes and of course... throbbing loins.” Why not join the ride?
Bryson’s various travelogues give you such colourful views of the places he visits and, if you’re journeying to Australia, Down Underis a must-read. Expertly combining sharp observations, unusual factual snippets, and incisive wit, the pictures he paints will inspire you to travel and see it for yourself... or alternatively, persuade you to avoid it at all cost. Whichever the result, you will be amply entertained.
Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion up, down, and over the Appalachian Trail (well, most of it) resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. Now he has traveled across the world and all the way Down Under to Australia, a shockingly under-discovered country with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet. In a Sunburned Country is his report on what he found there--a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a…
The Bridget Jones series is amongst my all-time favourite reads. Bridget’s character has so many aspects that I can identify with, and so many of us experience insecurities about our looks, our talents and our love lives. The whole series is extremely entertaining, but there’s a specific part of The Edge of Reason that resonates with me: the fear I’ve always had when travelling, of ending up in police detention abroad through no fault of my own. It’s fabulously entertaining, but also thought-provoking.
9st 2, cigarettes smoked in front of Mark 0 (v.g.), cigarettes smoked in secret 7, cigarettes not smoked 47 (v.g.).
Bridget's second diary ushers in a reformed woman. She is no longer a smoker (well, not much), the wilderness years are over, and she is at last united with man-of-her-dreams Mark Darcy. But things aren't perfect: there's an eight-foot hole in the wall of her flat, she's increasingly worried about a certain boyfriend-stealing beauty, and her friends' mad advice is getting her nowhere - something has to change. And so Bridget decides to…
For any long-haul flight, Tom Sharpe is one of my go-to authors; he encapsulates British wit at its finest. Of the many that I’ve read, I probably feel the greatest connection to Porterhouse Blue. Having experienced Oxbridge undergraduate life for myself, this book revives so many memories. The main characters are so beautifully crafted and relatable. The resemblance of lead character Skullion to a porter at my old college is uncanny. As for Zipser the undergrad... well, having also been ‘romantically frustrated’ in my own college days, I have great empathy for him... including his fixation for the buxom bedder on his staircase.
______________________________ The 'endlessly funny' novel widely regarded as a classic of comic English literature
Porterhouse College is world renowned for its gastronomic excellence, the arrogance of its Fellows, its academic mediocrity and the social cache it confers on the athletic sons of country families.
Sir Godber Evans, ex-Cabinet Minister and the new Master, is determined to change all this. Spurred on by his politically angular wife, Lady Mary, he challenges the established order and provokes the wrath of the Dean, the Senior Tutor, the Bursar and, most intransigent of all, Skullion the Head Porter - with hilarious and catastrophic results.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good romantic comedy? I know I do, and Canadian author Barbara Kellyn writes some of the best. And how about you like those chance travel encounters that set the sparks flying? Of course, everyone’s dreamt of that holiday romance, right? Well, if you like such things, then this could be right up your street. With colourful and contrasting main characters and plenty of sizzle, Forever Endeavorwill keep you turning the pages and wanting more.
Inspiration walked out on bestselling romance author Billie Mustard the day her husband blindsided her with divorce papers, leaving her clouded by writer’s block and soured on happily ever after.
Time-pressed to deliver a new manuscript about everlasting love, Billie embarks on an exotic vacation to find her muse, only to be forced to detour to dinky Janus Lake, a speck on the map known for its fishing and a bizarre statue of a Roman god in the middle of town. It’s bad enough that she’s missed her flight and stranded with a useless suitcase of beachwear, but now she…
Do you ever think how great it’d be if you could walk through your closet door and end up in New York? No waiting around; it’d be so much quicker than a long-haul flight. Well, now you can... at least in your mind, as you travel through doors on a wonderful adventure. If you enjoy beautifully written characters, humorous dialogue, portal travel and unravelling mysteries, then T L Brown’s Door to Door series is a fabulous place to start.
Praise For Author: With a novel premise, engaging characters, and a wholly original world, T.L. Brown's first-in-series will draw you through her magical doors - and refuse to let you go... - Book review site Jill-Elizabeth.com
Two worlds collide when Emily Swift turns thirty and her late father’s journal lands on her doorstep... Seventeen years after Emily Swift’s father died, a door is opened to a new world, an Empire led by peculiar men and women called Salesmen – transporters of magical items. These Salesmen have the unique ability to travel from place to place, and even world to world,…
Charley Byrne isn’t really living. She hunkers down in her apartment above the bookstore she manages, until quirky activist Xander Wallace lures her out of social exile with the prospect of friendship and romance. Charley joins Xander’s circle of diverse friends and thrives, even leaving her comfort zone to join protests in a city struggling with social justice ills.
But the new friendships bring back-to-back betrayals that threaten the bookstore—Charley’s haven—and propel her into a dangerous depression, in a stark reminder that friendship has the power to destroy as well as save lives. Can her friends save the store? And Charley?
"A beautifully crafted story of friendship and self-discovery set amidst the harsh realities of today's world. Superb!" -Eileen O'Finlan, author of Erin's Children
Charley Byrne isn't really living. At age 29, she hunkers down in her apartment above the bookstore she manages, afraid of a 7-year curse. Then quirky activist Xander Wallace lures her out of social exile with the prospect of friendship and romance. Charley joins Xander's circle of friends diverse in their heritage, race, gender and sexual orientation. She thrives, even leaving her comfort zone to join protests in a city struggling with social justice ills.
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