PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ AUGUST 28, 2017 46
Fall Travel Books
L’Appart
David Lebovitz. Crown, Nov.
The Chez Panisse alum and popular blogger
(he has 584,000 Pinterest followers) offers a
glimpse into the not-always-glamorous expat
life in Paris, his home since 2004, via his
adventures in apartment renovation. The
previous books include The Sweet Life in Paris,
which like his new book is a memoir with
recipes, and which has sold 95,000 print
copies, according to NPD Bookscan.
Border
Kapka Kassabova. Graywolf, Sept.
PW’s starred review said this travelogue, in
which poet and memoirist Kassabova returns
to her native Bulgaria to explore its borders with
Greece and Turkey, is “engrossing,” and the
author “a penetrating and contemplative guide
through rough terrain.”
The Epic City
Kushanava Choudhury. Bloomsbury, Jan. 2018
Indian-American journalist Choudhury spent his
childhood shuttling between India and New
Jersey. In this memoir, the author, who has
worked as a reporter for the English-language
Indian newspaper the Statesman and for the
New York Times, paints a personal portrait of
life in Calcutta.
The Food Explorer
Daniel Stone. Dutton, Feb. 2018
If you’ve ever Instagrammed your avocado
toast, thank the subject of this book, botanist
David Fairchild (1869–1954), whose international travels led to the introduction in the U.S.
of kale from Croatia, mangoes from India, and,
thank the brunch gods, avocados from Chile.
In the Province of the Gods
Kenny Fries. Univ. of Wisconsin, Sept.
Fries, who teaches in the M.F.A. program at
Goddard College, embarks on a journey of self-
discovery as a disabled foreigner in Japan, where he is diagnosed
as HIV-positive. The book is part of the press’s Living Out: Gay and
Lesbian Autobiographies series.
Be Here Now
This season, travelogue readers can join a 19th-century botanist on a voyage of culinary discovery,
contemporary sailors circumnavigating the globe using ancient technology, and a comedian tackling
the challenges of coastal Maine.
Malama Honua
Jennifer Allen, photos by John Bilderback.
Patagonia, Oct.
Allen and Bilderback follow the three-year,
round-the-world trip of Hokule’a, a traditional
Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe,
which was undertaken to raise awareness of
sustainability issues and Hawaiian culture.
Though the vessel was built fairly recently, in
1974, its sailors made the voyage without
the help of modern navigation equipment.
The Road to Sleeping Dragon
Michael Meyer. Bloomsbury, Oct.
In 1995, at age 23, Michael Meyer joined the
Peace Corps and was sent to a tiny town in
Sichuan, China. He’s spent much of the last
two decades living and working in the country,
and this book completes the trilogy that also
includes The Last Days of Old Beijing (2008)
and In Manchuria (2015).
Vacationland
John Hodgman. Viking, Oct.
The actor and comedian, whose three previous books have together sold more than
200,000 print copies per BookScan, writes
of his adventures along the coast of Maine,
which he says is known for having the most
painful beaches on Earth.
Where the Wild Winds Are
Nick Hunt. Nicholas Brearley, Nov.
The author of 2014’s Walking the Woods and
the Water here follows Europe’s four winds
across the continent, beginning in the Pennines
with the Helm, Britain’s only named wind, and
ending in the south of France with the Mistral,
said to have tormented Vincent Van Gogh.
A Year in the Wilderness
Amy and Dave Freeman.
Milk weed, Sept.
National Geographic’s 2014 Adventurers of
the Year recount their time camping and traveling via canoe, on foot,
on skis and snowshoes, and by dogsled in the Boundary Waters
area, to raise awareness of the dangers posed by proposed sulfide-ore copper mining in the region. —C.J.
