Washoe County Library System

"Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes--and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings. For a start there's...

This account of the author's seven-year stay in Africa's Kalahari wilderness covers their adventures of survival, their contact with curious and dangerous animals, and the establishment of their conservation research project "Carrying little more than a change of clothes and a pair of binoculars, two young Americans, Mark and Delia Owens, caught a plane to Africa, bought a thirdhand Land Rover, and drove deep into the Kalahari Desert. There they...

It is the Everest of rivers, a maelstrom of water and rocks, gradient and flow. It is the world's last great adventure prize, remote, forbidding, and hidden from Western eyes. Long considered unrunnable, the Tsangpo River has drawn extreme kayakers since the sport was born. It's killed them too. One group did it. A mammoth, old-school adventure team led by a young, fiery river cowboy battled the white water, their Sherpa, and a Himalayan winter...

Bordering seven other countries, Niger is a landlocked nation in the heart of western Africa. Due to economic troubles, frequent civil wars and disruption of the government, and other problems, poverty is a major issue throughout the country. Nevertheless, Niger is a land of rich history and vibrant culture. Readers will find out what life is like for the people of Niger, from what they learn in school and what people do for work to what they like...