Globe Corner Blogs

I have always been an avid reader of Jose Saramago’s fiction, so when I recently picked up his travel narrative, Journey to Portugal, I was pleased to discover that the book contains Saramago’s distinguished voice and unique writing style, and that his non-fiction account of his travels through Portugal actually reads very much like a novel. This is probably due to the fact that throughout his journey Saramago refers to himself as “the traveller,” which has the affect of transforming the non-fiction narrator into something of a character.

When referring to himself, Saramago is careful to make the important distinction between traveler and tourist. “The traveller has seen much of the world and of life,” he writes, “and has never felt comfortable in the role of a tourist who goes somewhere, takes a look at it, thinks he understands it, takes photos of it and returns to his own country boasting that he knows [it].”

A recent article published in the New York Times by Ilan Stavans and Joshua Ellison, “Reclaiming Travel,” takes Saramago’s definition of a traveler even further, exploring essential questions about the art of travel such as, “what distinguishes meaningful, fruitful travel from mere tourism?” and “What turns travel into a quest rather than self-serving escapism?”

I am reminded of the distinction between traveler and tourist whenever I flip through one of our DK Eyewitness travel guides, books that are undoubtedly oriented toward the traveler interested not only in what to eat and where to sleep, but in picking up important literary, cultural, and architectural details about their surroundings along the way. Though these guides might contain less practical information, I always find the trade-off worthwhile for their in-depth look at the history and culture of a destination. Each guide is tastefully designed with an aesthetic layout certain to inspire you to new lands.

Eyewitness has supplemented their larger guides with a pocket “Top Ten” series, easy to slip into your pack. If you’re bringing the kids, Eyewitness also has a new Family Guide series to destinations like New York City and Paris.

Michelin Green Guides are the classic touring guides, full of delightful and informative walking tours paired with full colored maps. If you are traveling to France this summer, Michelin has you covered with regional guides to Northern France, Normandy, Brittany, the French Alps, the Chateaux of the Loire, the French Riviera, Provence, the French Atlantic Coast, and more. Michelin’s detailed country and regional road maps to destinations around the world are indispensable to both traveler and tourist,  allowing you to navigate independently in foreign lands.

Tune in to WBUR this week to learn more about the travel resources we have available at our Globe Corner Travel Annex at Brookline Booksmith, and check back next week for Shuchi’s take on guidebooks for travelers who are not tourists.

Countless times customers come into the bookstore asking for a book they heard on NPR, only they forgot the author…and the title. I usually enjoy the challenge of tracking down the book based on the strains of story the customer picked up on their morning commute or over lunch break. Sometimes, however, the search is in vain, the sound byte too short.

So if you heard the Globe Corner Travel Annex at Brookline Booksmith mentioned on your local WBUR station over the past few days, but didn’t quite catch the full range of travel resources we now have on hand at Booksmith, we’re here to fill you in and make sure you’re prepared for your next destination.

If that destination happens to be one of our country’s grand national parks, Lonely Planet has several guides to take you through the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Parks. These books have everything you need to explore, from detailed mountain hikes to cycling paths, nature and wildlife to watch for, and information on accommodations, including camping.

Want to leave the country without going overseas? Our neighbors to the north are waiting with open hands. But don’t go with empty hands, pick up one of our Moon Handbooks for Montreal and Quebec, Nova Scotia, and even the Canadian Rockies.

If you’re in the Boston area, we’ve got National Geographic Trail maps for the Boston Harbor Islands and Cape Cod–the perfect place to spend the upcoming holiday.

And for those of you lucky enough to be traveling to Europe this summer, check out Rick Steve’s guides to European countries, including the Rick Steve’s pocket guides to cities such as Paris, Rome, and Athens. These books are full of trip planning and touring advice you do not want to be without.

Looking forward to seeing you at Brookline Booksmith’s Globe Corner Travel Annex. Happy Travels.

Ever since I finished Cheryl Strayed’s new book Wild, about her journey along the Pacific Crest Trail, I have been craving a good long hike. I can get caught up in the routine of urban life, thinking my walk to work is exercise enough, my pause by the Charles River a sufficient enough breath of nature to get me through. I forget what a good hike can do, until a book like Strayed’s or a brilliant summer day reminds me: I’m due for a hike. 

Luckily I have two spectacular mountain ranges within reach: the Green and White Mountains. And luckily, we have a plethora of National Geographic Trail Maps to guide me to my next day hike. Just unfolding one of these maps makes my feet ache to hit the trails.  

If you’re Boston-bound but still craving a hike, take heart, or rather, Take a Hike, Boston, the title of Moon Guide’s latest trail guide for the Boston area. Look to Moon Handbooks to guide you into your next summer destination in North, Central, or South America, be it to a beach in Cancun or the wilds of Glacier National Park. 

Traveling with kids? Check out Lonely Planet’s new travel series geared specifically toward young travelers. The Not For Parents guides, available for London, New York, Rome, and Paris, are filled with brilliant graphics, photos, and illustrations along with information and tips aimed to engage children with their new surroundings. 

You may have heard these guidebooks mentioned on your local NPR station recently. We’re excited to be part of your summer plans, bringing you the latest and best in travel guidebooks and maps at our new Globe Corner Travel Annex at Brookline Booksmith. Happy Travels.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle -by Haruki Murakami

Some time ago, while driving somewhere inconsequential, I found myself doing what I always do in the car: listening to NPR and day-dreaming about my future Talk of the Nation radio personality and all the insightful questions I’d ask my equally insightful guests. And so it was on this otherwise mundane day that I heard a particularly intriguing program about foreign novels: aired on the heels of Jean-Marie Gustave le Clezio’s award for the Nobel Prize in literature, Day to Day hosts interviewed David Kipen. They discussed the choice of le Clezio for the Prize, why many Americans haven’t heard of him, and why in the words of a certain Nobel Committee member, America remains “too isolated, too insular” when it comes to literature.

While this accusation turned many (American) heads, I was more interested in what came next in the conversation.  See, for someone working in a bookstore, constantly surrounded by new releases and newly released editions, books with pretty covers and books with not-so-pretty covers, it’s sometimes hard to decide what to read next. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear Kipen’s list of “The Best Foreign Books You’ve Never Heard Of” and promptly added some to my To-Read list.

Out Stealing Horses -by Per Petterson

I was also happy to hear some titles that I was already familiar with (all thanks to the GCB’s wonderfully diverse Armchair Travel selection). Taken from Kipen’s list, I can only personally recommend three, but I recommend them all highly: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Norway), The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt), and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (Japan). We also have autographed copies of Antonio Lobo Antunes’ What Can I Do When Everything’s on Fire? (Portugal).

For the full list, visit this program’s online summary found on the NPR website. Also, feel free to tell us your favorite translated books so they can stop being unheard of and start being read… by us!

State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

I have never known the correct word for someone who lives in Massachusetts and I have never really bothered to find the official name. Is it Massachusian… Massachusettite? The only thing I have ever heard was not very flattering and is something usually yelled at people driving on the Mass Pike.  When asked, I usually start to trip over the word and then just say, “I live in Boston, but I will always be a Washingtonian at heart.”

Yesterday, I was checking out a book new to our shelves: State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. It is a compilation of 50 writers writing about 50 states with the lofty goal of “explaining America to Americans.” Inspired by the WPA American Guide series of the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s, the editors of this project commissioned 50 writers, cartoonists, a cook, and a musician to write an essay about their home or adopted home state. (Washington DC is covered in the afterword.) The list of contributers is impressive and includes Dave Eggers (Illinois), Ha  Jin (Georgia), Susan Orlean (Ohio), Anthony Bourdain (New Jersey), and Carrie Brownstein (Washington State).

Each essay is preceeded by some general information about the state (which is great for trivia nights at the pub), such as the state’s capital, nickname, official flower, geographic center, and what to call the residents. That is where I discovered the answer to my question, and now I can say with some confidence that “I am a Bay Stater!”.