One for the Road (04/02/07)

by Kelly Amabile on
We’ll waste no time kicking off the revived book feature with this one: What I love about this book is that the completed product is both a creative work of fiction and a messenger that helps spread the word about real life happenings and how we can help. The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton, although a fictional tale, is based on the real camel-borne library that has operated in Kenya’s northeastern province since 1996.

Hamilton’s third novel tells the story of an American woman who brings a traveling library to African villages, and addresses important issues of cultural conflict in the process. The actual library operates from the city of Garissa, using 12 camels to visit four settlements per day, four days per week. The traveling library brings books to a semi-nomadic people along the unstable Somalian border who live with drought, famine and chronic poverty.

Hamilton started a book donation project in February 2007 that has already inspired over 150 authors to donate copies of five of their favorite books to be shipped to Kenya. You can read more about the novel, issues surrounding African literacy, and how to make a book donation of your own at the Camel Bookmobile Blog. Hamilton’s website has additional info about the story behind the book.

And a special bonus for NYC Gadling readers: Masha will be at McNally Robinson Booksellers tonight at 7 pm. There will be a reading, discussion and slide show of Hamilton’s time spent with the Camel Bookmobile in 2006. (I’ll be dropping by myself, so see ya there!)

One for the Road Redux

by Kelly Amabile on

Your daily dose of travel-inspired reading material has returned! The Gadling team has always been a terrific source for information about the latest and greatest travel books. But now you can be sure to get at least one book suggestion Every.Single.Day. Guaranteed. (I know — you just can’t contain your excitement.)

I’m sure some of my fellow bibliophile nomads will indeed be happy to see the revival of the daily One for the Road feature (and will eagerly let us know how complete their life now is by sharing so in the comments below.) And for those of you who are not yet book-lovahs?!?!? Just wait — eventually, one of these daily suggestions will seduce its way into your backpack or regulation size carry-on bag. Over time the range of books covered will surely pique the interest of each and every traveler type that pays a visit to Gadling. (Even if all you ever normally read is our website!)

Books can serve as excellent companions on our journeys, or they allow us to travel far and wide without ever stepping foot out of bed. It’s great to be back at Gadling, and I’m happy to serve as your travel book tour guide. Stay tuned each day for news and views about books, author events, interviews and more. This will not just be guidebooks galore — we’ll cover books from a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres. And if you have a book you’d like to suggest, please share in the comments or email me at gadlingkel AT gmail DOT com.

Fresno’s Saroyan Walking Tour

by Neil Woodburn on

Small towns are fiercely proud of their local heroes who have made it big on the world stage. Fresno is no exception. This blip of a metropolis in the center of California gave birth to Pulitzer Prize winner William Saroyan.

Today, the William Saroyan Society is dedicated to keeping the author’s memory alive and to “to educate the public about the human values depicted in his works; to promote the heritage of the Armenian/American culture and its unique and rich experience.”

Fresno has been home to a large Armenian community since the end of the 19th century when immigrants arrived in the Central Valley to work in the region’s rich agriculture sector. Today, the Armenian/American population is still an integral part of Fresno cultural diversity.

Delving into the city’s Armenian past and exploring Saroyan’s personal connection with it will be the focus of a walking tour on April 21 in downtown Fresno. Participants will tour the city’s Armenian Town and the important role various locations played in Saroyan’s writings. The event starts at 9:30 in front of the William Saroyan Theater (naturally).

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of March 18

by Adrienne Wilson on

What a week here this week! We had the chance to experience deja-vu or something like it with the announcement of another New Year’s being celebrated. I finally had the chance to sit down and provide you with some of the details from my island adventure in St. Lucia and we found out about more explosive destinations and food than one could ever possibly handle from Iva, but now I turn your attention to these five picks selected to help you on your journey – one way or another.

5. Make Your Own Guidebook:
Neil brings up a fine point on guidebooks – most of the time we don’t need but a handful of information from them, yet we’re stuck paying $25 bucks if not more to help us navigate the land of the unknown. Now there is a way to create your own guidebook for $5 from the folks at DK guides. If you act fast you can make one now and get it for free.

4. Build a $25, 10-Day Survival Kit For Your Car:
Breaking down is the last thing anyone wants to think about on a long road trip across the state or the beautiful land of America, but should it happen you’ll want to be prepared. Learn how to stay alive for at least ten days by building a survival kit.

3. Man Uses Air Sickness Bag as Mini-Urinal:
File this one under: Random. Dave Luna brings interesting and slightly stomach turning news about a gentleman who could no longer hold his bladder in flight and took matters into his own hands and air sickness bag because the lavatory could not be used in flight. You wonder the outcome of such an awkward public display and use of an air sickness bag? You’ll have to read further.

2. 5 Destinations for Learning the Flying Trapeze:
Looking for something new to try on your trips out and about? Tired of the endless number of cooking courses and yoga classes offered at every destination? Why not try your hand at learning the flying trapeze man!

1. World’s 10 Most Magnificent Trees:
Spring is here and who doesn’t want to get out of their home and go hug a tree? In this short blurb we discover 10 of the world’s greatest giants and odd-shaped beauties in nature.

Make your own Guidebook

by Neil Woodburn on

Don’t you sometimes wish you could take the best sections of a guidebook, supplement it with online research and print out your own personal guidebook?

Well, the folks over at Dorling Kindersley (DK) would like to help you out. Their website has a new gig where one can browse through thousands of various recommendations and select the most relevant ones. A few simple clicks and the site nicely organizers your picks into a handy guidebook, complete with maps and photographs. Print it out, and you’re good to go!

It costs $5 for each downloaded book, but a free promotion is going on right now until March 28. So jump on it!