\nMaira Kalman\u2019s And the Pursuit of Happiness<\/strong> reports with words and drawings a yearlong investigation of democracy and how it works. She uses monthly visits to very different places to make her different, but finally inclusive, points. She and the book, which I read as a blog in the NYT, are charming.(I also love her unusual memoir, Principles of Uncertainty<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n
![\"IMG_9445.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/lh4.ggpht.com\/-_M4D3m51ui8\/TVH6lO9qk2I\/AAAAAAAAC94\/yAl3JYw9dsc\/IMG_9445.jpg\")
<\/a>Re: hand-knits, low-tide striped sweaters have wider bands of kelp-colored yarn.<\/p><\/div>\n
Owen Gingerich\u2019s The Book Nobody Read<\/strong> reports his 30-year quest “to see in person all 600 extant copies of the first and second editions of [Copernicus\u2019] De revolutionibus<\/strong>, including those owned and annotated by Galileo and Kepler.\u00a0 Part biography of a book, part scientific exploration, and part bibliographic detective story,” I enjoyed them all. In a similar vein, a friend of a friend is trying to see all the Vermeer\u2019s in the world.<\/p>\n Timothy Egan\u2019s The Good Rain<\/strong> reports his \u201ctravels through Washington, Oregon, and southern Vancouver, following the route taken by an earlier traveler, Theodore Winthrop, 150 years ago.\u201d He looks at now, compares it with then, and comments. I love that his trek is replicable if you are energetic and physically flexible and that he works from an earlier report, much as do Tim Severin and William Dalrymple (see below).<\/p>\n Tim Severin\u2019s Spice Islands Voyage<\/strong> reports his return to the Indonesian Archipelago that Alfred Russell Wallace explored 140 years ago as he wrote about and thereby, with Darwin, shared the discovery of evolution.<\/p>\n William Dalrymple\u2019s From the Holy Mountain<\/strong>, replicates in reverse the late 6th C. travels of John Moschos and Sophronius as they visit and report on the monasteries from Egypt to Mt. Athos in Greece and notes, unexpectedly (as I recall), the twilight of eastern Christianity. In my post-1991 quest to learn about the Near and Mideast, Dalrymple\u2019s was a most useful survey. Paul Theroux\u2019s Pillars of Hercules<\/strong> and Eric Newby\u2019s On the Shores of the Mediterranean<\/strong> cover similar territory but with different purpose.<\/p>\n More granite and floating kelp change stripe widths in hand-knit tidal sweaters.<\/p><\/div>\n A Roseledge Books Regular also recommended: ————————————————–<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hot and bored.\u201d Well, today I would suggest Norb Vonnegut\u2019s Top Producer<\/strong> which I am just finishing.\u00a0 It is my latest effort to learn about finance through fiction, and I like it a lot.<\/p>\n The fog has lifted, but I don\u2019t see you coming up the walk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI\u2019m going to retire and travel around the world.\u201d (Pause.) \u201cI\u2019m going to stay longer in several places.\u201d (More pause.) The attending bookseller hears, \u201cWhat books should I read?\u201d Never at a loss to answer unasked questions, Roseledge Books suggests … Continue reading <\/a>
\nSarah Vowell\u2019s Assassination Vacation<\/strong> \u201ctakes us on a road trip like no other — a journey to the pit stops of American political murder and through the myriad ways they have been used for fun and profit, for political and cultural advantage.\u201d (All quotes are from Amazon\u2019s Book Descriptions.)
\nOther suggestions?<\/p>\n
\n(Indefinite pause.)
\nRB ears hear, \u201cWhat book is perfect?\u201d<\/p>\n