12 Books To Take You Far Away

From the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach:

June 29, 2020

By Emily

We're about halfway through Summer Reading 2020, and if you’re in a reading slump, we library people are here to rescue you! One of the reading challenges for this year’s program is to read a book set somewhere you want to go. Real or fictional, the books listed below are set in places that are sure to take you far away if you’re looking for a way to escape while never leaving home. I think many of us can use that right now. After all, “there is no frigate like a book / to take us lands away” –Emily Dickinson

PS – it’s not too late to sign up for Summer Reading! Log books and earn prizes via Beanstack through July 31. Learn more about the program and reading challenges here.

Emily’s pick (Disney World): The Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson

“Finn Whitman, an Orlando teen, is hired to be hologramed as a Disney World park "guide" but soon finds himself being transported into the Magic Kingdom in the dead of night to help fight a group of Disney villains, led by Maleficent, who want to take over Disney World--and maybe more…” –NoveList

Emily says: I'm definitely missing Disney World right now, so it has been so much fun to revisit it in these adventurous books! It’s especially fun to read them while the parks are closed since you can totally imagine some of the ride characters coming to life when no one’s around!

Available at the library and online as an e-book from hoopla digital

Tara’s pick (Savannah, GA): Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

“Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.” –from the publisher

Tara says: The quintessential Savannah novel. I heard it's better than the movie based on it. I got to go to Savannah on spring break but would like to go back in non-pandemic times.

Available at the library

Antoinette’s pick (Dungeons and Dragons universe): Vox Machina: Origins by Matthew Mercer

“The band of adventurers known as Vox Machina will save the world. Eventually. But even they have to start somewhere. Six would-be heroes on seemingly different jobs find their paths intertwined as they investigate shady business in the swamp town of Stilben. They'll need to put their heads-- and weapons--together to figure out what's going on...and keep from being killed in the process. Even then, whether or not they can overcome what truly lurks at the bottom of the town's travails remains to be seen!” –from the publisher

Antoinette says: I would love to go visit somewhere in the fantasy world, especially in the Dungeons and Dragon's universe where I can be a ranger or something of that nature. I have been an avid watcher of the Critical Role series, and when they came out with the graphic novel, I got to see more of the world I can escape too.

Available online as an e-book from hoopla digital

Sarah’s pick (Red London): A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

“Prepare to be dazzled by a world of parallel Londons -- where magic thrives, starves, or lies forgotten, and where power can destroy just as quickly as it can create.” –NoveList

Sarah says: I would love to visit Red London (alternate reality London imbued with magic) from Schwab's Darker Shades of Magic trilogy.

Available at the library and online as an audiobook from hoopla digital

Danielle’s pick (Kent, England): The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

“A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.” –from the publisher

Danielle says: Awesome juvenile historical fiction book!

Available at the library and online as an e-book and audiobook from cloudLibrary

Tina’s pick (England, France, New England, etc.): A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

“Discovering a magical manuscript in Oxford's library, scholar Diana Bishop, a descendant of witches who has rejected her heritage, inadvertently unleashes a fantastical underworld of daemons, witches and vampires whose activities center around an enchanted treasure.” –NoveList

Tina says: This marvelous fantasy novel is set in a lot of places I want to visit - Oxford, the French countryside, New England...

Available at the library and online as an e-book from cloudLibrary

Amris’ pick (Mt. Everest): Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

“The author describes his spring 1996 trek to Mt. Everest, a disastrous expedition that claimed the lives of eight climbers and explains why he survived.” –NoveList

Amris says: Do I really want to climb Mt. Everest? No, and Krakauer details the perils of the endeavor. But would I like to see it? Absolutely!

Available at the library

Lena’s pick (France): Sunlight on Cold Water by Francoise Sagan

"Gilles Lantier is thirty-five, attractive, with a beautiful mistress and a job in Paris as a journalist. He seems to have all that life can offer. But suddenly he is overwhelmed by despair. Nothing seems worth while. In panic at his boredom, and hating Eloïse, his model girlfriend, he flees for some peace to his sister and her dull husband in the provinces. Here he meets Nathalie, the wife of a country lawyer. She falls deeply in love with him, a passion to which he soon responds. But back in Paris her innate goodness contrasts oddly with the frivolity of Gilles's life. Soon it seems as if their relationships is doomed, as if their happiness is a mere gleam of sunlight on cold water" – from the publisher

Lena says: Set in Paris and Limoges, France. A story of love and betrayal, sad and true as life itself. Written by a very talented and once wildly popular French writer.

Available at the library

Theresa’s pick (Africa): Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

“In Out of Africa, author Isak Dinesen takes a wistful and nostalgic look back on her years living in Africa on a Kenyan coffee plantation. Recalling the lives of friends and neighbours—both African and European—Dinesen provides a first-hand perspective of colonial Africa. Through her obvious love of both the landscape and her time in Africa, Dinesen’s meditative writing style deeply reflects the themes of loss as her plantation fails and she returns to Europe.” –from the publisher

Theresa says: A journey of a lifetime would be a safari excursion to Kenya. When I read Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen followed by watching the movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, it solidified my travel bucket list with a trip to Africa.

Available at the library and online as an e-book from hoopla digital. The film adaptation is also available at the library.

Jeremy’s pick (Mars): The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

“Interconnected, chronological stories of Earth's settlement of Mars include tales of human interaction with one another and with the Martians, interplanetary interracial strife, self-doubt, and the metamorphosis of humanity.” –NoveList

Available at the library and online as an e-book and audiobook from hoopla digital

Janice’s pick (Paris): The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

“Meeting through mutual friends in Chicago, Hadley is intrigued by brash "beautiful boy" Ernest Hemingway, and after a brief courtship and small wedding, they take off for Paris, where Hadley makes a convincing transformation from an overprotected child to a game and brave young woman who puts up with impoverished living conditions and shattering loneliness to prop up her husband's career.” –NoveList

Available at the library and online as an e-book and audiobook from cloudLibrary

Sophie’s pick (Elfhame): The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

“Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.” –NoveList

Sophie says: I literally would not last one second in Black's faerie land Elfhame, but I wish I could see the magic of it in real life.

Available at the library and online as an e-book and audiobook from cloudLibrary

This press release was produced by the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. The views expressed are the author's own.