Washoe County Library System

A perilous journey into the lethal but luscious Land Down Under is filled with news and knowledge about the Aborigines, exiled British convicts, careless prime ministers, eating snakes the size of catcher's mitts, avoiding killer seashells, and preparing for cyclones.

"Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened? Late October. After midnight. You’re waiting up for your seventeen-year-old son. He’s late. As you watch from the window, he emerges, and you realize he isn’t alone: he’s walking toward a man, and he’s armed. You can’t believe it when you see him do it: your funny, happy teenage son, he kills a stranger, right there on the street outside your house. You don’t know who. You don’t...

"An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South--and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America"--

Roughing It tells the (almost) true story of Mark Twain’s rollicking adventures across the United States. A hilarious account of how the author tried finding wealth in the rocks of Nevada, it was published before his most famous works and shows why he would grow to become one of the most beloved American writers of all time. The story follows many of Twain’s early adventures, including a visit to Salt Lake City, gold and silver prospecting, real...

"Part travelogue, part culinary history, all capitalist critique―comedian Jamie Loftus's debut, Raw Dog, will take you on a cross-country road trip in the summer of 2021, and reveal what the creation, culture, and class influence of hot dogs says about America now. “Wise and funny” ―ANDY RICHTER • “Gonzo yet vulnerable” ―GABE DUNN • “Hot dog Moby-Dick” ―BRANSON REESE • “Revealing, funny, sad, horny, and insatiably curious”...

Following the 1992 "Open Lands" agreement between the USA and Russia, which allowed their citizens to travel freely in both countries, this is an account of an ex-diplomat's visit to seven once-closed cities and regions of Russia. Taplin travelled to seven cities and regions which, prior to the 1992 "Open Lands" agreement, had been closed to Westerners for 75 years. "Unlike Moscow and Leningrad, the forbidden zones had never been prettied up for...

"Does George Washington still matter? The bestselling author argues for his unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new President through the former colonies, now an unsure nation. A new first-person voice for Philbrick, weaving history and personal reflection into one narrative. When George Washington became president in 1798, the United States of America was still a loose and quarrelsome confederation and a tentative...

Buck's epic account of traveling the length of the Oregon Trail the old-fashioned way--in a covered wagon with a team of mules, an audacious journey that hasn't been attempted in a century--tells the rich history of the trail, the people who made the migration, and its significance to the country.

The authors odyssey began when she looked beyond Turkeys borders for contemporary traces of the Ottoman Empire. Their 800 years of rule ended a century agoand yet, travelling through twelve countries from Kosovo to Greece to Palestine, she uncovers a legacy thats vital and relevant; where medieval ethnic diversity meets twenty-first century nationalismand displaced people seek new identities.It's a story of surprises. An acolyte of Erdogan in Christian-majority...

With his trademark wit, the author provides a running commentary on his experiences traveling in Europe and the Middle East, poking fun at tourists and tour guides and revealing what happens when New Barbarians' encounter the Old World. "In 1867, Mark Twain and a group fellow-Americans toured Europe and the Holy Land, aboard a retired Civil War ship known as “Quaker City.” Throughout the journey, Twain kept a written record of his experiences....