Full disclosure. I’ve only read two of these three, but I did leave out a book I just finished. So, we are even. I don’t have a lot of time here, but I wanted to share some recent titles. I’ve read many Pico Iyer books, and have enjoyed them all. The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise is no exception. I once worked on a project about all the towns in America named Paradise. There are twelve. I made it through five before pulling the plug. My work wasn’t good enough. This book reminded me of that, and also reminded me that there might not be a paradise out there.
Jonathan Payne’s Citizen Orlov was loaned to me by a friend. A quick but fun read. Spies, citizens, twists and turns, and the book also contains a few illustrations that I find particularly alluring. Why more books don’t use this strategy is a mystery to me. The next book on my radar is Free Ride by Noraly Schoenmaker, also known as Itchy Boots. She is a YouTube motorcycle phenomenon with millions of subscribers and a massive revenue stream. She’s a doer, and has ridden from Argentina to Alaska, and northern Europe to southern Africa. She’s also a trained biologist and geologist. The book is about her falling in love with a motorcycle while on a trip to India and the 20,000-mile voyage that came after.
On a side note, she is greatly responsible for the motorcycle I have now, but perhaps not in the way you would think. I had just ordered a new motorcycle from Honda, the CRF300L Rally, which happened to coincide with Noraly deciding to ride from Argentina to Alaska on the same motorcycle. Due to her incredible popularity, the bike became the “it” bike and instantly sold out in America. My wait began. Six months, twelve months, eighteen months. Nothing. Honda kept everyone in the dark while doling out free CRF300L Rally samples to popular social media stars, while paying customers remained in the dark without their bikes. So, I bought a Royal Enfield Himalayan. Loved it, but it was heavy and too much for me off-road. Sold it, and bought the Honda XR150, which I currently own and ride. The Rally is still just about the perfect bike in my mind, but alas, the ship has sailed.
The book I forgot to post about was Mark Synnott’s Into the Ice: The Northwest Passage, the Polar Sun, and a 175-Year-Old Mystery, a book I enjoyed quite a lot. I know Synnott from his exploits in the climbing world, and also because he’s been a twenty-eight-year North Face-sponsored athlete. I didn’t know the history behind the story of this book. If you are well-versed in the history, well, okay, but I wasn’t, so the story was new. I’m a sailing book nut, which is odd because I don’t sail. However, it was funny to read about him starting one voyage on the Saco River in Maine, where I will be fishing in the next few weeks. If you want to know where he is now….check this out.
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I’m not into motorcycles at all but I’ve recently been rewatching all of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s Long Way series as they’re all on Apple TV. I’ll start on Jupiter’s Travels again once I’m done with all of the tv as well.
Getting major wanderlust over here.
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Motos are dangerous but so much fun and the speed and exposure is so key. I’m not fast, and my bike tops out at 50ish unless I’m downhill.
These look like good suggestions as always Dan. Next on deck for me is H is for Hawk and after that is Cadillac Desert. (someday I’ll figure out how to properly type in titles and authors in my responses)
Danielsan, I love “Itchyboots,” watched her from the start. Her bright / bubbly and fearless personality is the hook. I was concerned for her safety through some of those remote / sketchy countries. And, in the beginning she had little skills in off-road riding. At times I would cringe at how she would approach difficult terrain. Somehow, she “usually” made it and would laugh in the end. As for the “Saco” river, I’m not familiar with it. However, a quick search indicated there are plenty of water-types and species to fish with a fly…Good Luck Mate!