Gone with the Family

Book Review: Have Mother, Will Travel

I have just finished reading Have Mother, Will Travel by Claire and Mia Fontaine as part of a TLC Book Tour and I can say without reservation that it is one of the most enjoyable and moving travel memoirs that I have read in quite some time. Traveling along with Claire and Mia as they experienced new places appealed to the traveler in me but I think it was witnessing the transformation in the two women and their relationship as they got to know each other and themselves better that made the book impossible to put down.

Here We Are and There We Go Book Review

I have just finished reading Jill Dobbe's inspirational memoir, Here We Are & There We Go, which chronicles her family's unconventional lifestyle of living and teaching abroad with two young children. The memoir covers the period from 1991 when the family moved with toddlers to Guam for their first overseas experience to their move home to the United States in 2001. In between they also lived in Singapore, Ghana, and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Book of the Month: Novel Destinations

 

Novel Destinations by Shannon McKenna Schmidt & Joni Rendon is my choice as the Book of the Month for September.  In the book's introduction, the authors refer to Louisa May Alcott who wrote in her journal while visiting London in 1865, "I felt as if I'd got into a novel while going about in the places I'd read so much of".  McKenna Schmidt and Rendon maintain that this quote strikes a chord with modern-day travelers such as themselves who are "two life-long voracious readers who share an equally passionate appetite for exploration".  

Manitoulin Island's Hawbear Book Series

Manitoulin Island is a Canadian island located in the north channel of Lake Huron which has the distinction of being the largest freshwater island in the world.  As my husband's family hails from Manitoulin, we visit with our kids at least once every year to stay with Granny and Grampy at their cottage in Kagawong.  

Book of the Month: Maeve Binchy Novels

I was incredibly saddened to learn this week of the passing of Irish novelist Maeve Binchy at the far too young age of 72.  I have devoured every book that she has written over the years, enjoyed every single page and every character and fell in love with Ireland in the process.

Cooper's Pack Travel Guides For Kids

For July's Book of the Month I am featuring Cooper's Pack Travel Guides, a fabulous series of guidebooks for younger kids.  While I only reviewed the guides for Seattle, Alaska and New York City, there is also one currently available for London, England and upcoming guides are to be published for Paris, Athens, Hawaii, Bangkok, Amsterdam and other destinations.

Percy Jackson and Our European Trip

When preparing for a trip, I always try to find books that are related to our destination in order to familiarize my daughters with the things that they are going to see and to get them excited about their upcoming travels.  Last summer, we were planning to spend a few days in Rome prior to a Mediterranean cruise with ports of call in Greece, Turkey and Italy and, primarily, I needed books to pique the interest of my younger daughter, Emma, who turned 8 just a couple of weeks prior to the trip.

Book of the Month: National Geographic's 100 Countries, 5000 Ideas

 

If you are looking for a book that will provide some inspiration in planning future travels then National Geographic's 100 Countries, 5000 Ideas would be an excellent choice.  It is described as a guide to help readers decide "where to go, when to go, what to see, what to do".  The guide provides the kind of information that people who are strapped for time in planning their holidays want to get from a trusted source and since it's published by National Geographic there are beautiful photographs to tantalize and awaken the reader's wanderlust.

Book of the Month: The Hundred-Foot Journey

  

 

The book that I have chosen for May is The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais. It was my turn to select a book for April for my book club and this is the one that I chose for us to read as a group. When I saw this book on the shelf, I was initially drawn to it by the beautiful cover. As soon as I read the summary on the jacket, I was hooked by the connections to one of my favourite cities, Paris, and to India, a country that I have been obsessed with visiting for a very long time now.

Book of the Month: Eyewitness Travel: Family Guide Paris

Shortly before we went on our trip to Paris earlier this month I picked up a copy of Eyewitness Travel's recently published Family Guide: Paris.  I already had a couple of travel guides for Paris but I couldn't resist this book filled with beautiful coloured photos and advice written specifically for families.  As it turned out this was the only guide that I needed for Paris as it is packed with practical information for exploring the city with kids.