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Gobi (picture book): A Little Dog With A Very Big Heart
By Dion Leonard. 2017
Bring home the incredible true story of a friendship so strong that it crosses the globe! Families everywhere will be…
delighted by the tale of Gobi and Dion—a little lost dog and the ultramarathon runner who saved her. Gobi: A Little Dog with a Big Heart is a fun, engaging picture book perfect for families to enjoy together.Prepare to fall in love with the heartwarming and true story of Gobi and Dion. Gobi, a scrappy little stray dog, latches onto a man named Dion and keeps pace alongside him as he runs his way across China in a long 155-mile race. Through cold nights and raging rivers, with little food and water, and through a long, hard journey, these two create a bond unlike any other.Cross the finish line with Gobi and Dion, the little pup who never quit and the ultramarathon runner who loves her. This amazing true story sparked international attention and will continue to inspire readers as they enjoy this fun picture book perfect for children.Join these two unlikely friends as they form a winning team for both the race and life!
Invisible China: A Journey Through Ethnic Borderlands
By Jacob Rawson, Colin Legerton. 2009
Traveling more than 14,000 miles by bus and train to the farthest reaches of China, the authors of this narrative…
explore the minority peoples who dwell there, talking to farmers in their fields, monks in their monasteries, fishermen on their skiffs, and herders on the steppe. Closely observing daily life in these remote regions, they document the many lifestyles and adventures of the Chinese natives--they visit an old Catholic fisherman at a church that has been without a priest for 40 years; they hike around high-altitude Lugu Lake to farm with the matriarchal Mosuo women; and they descend into a dry riverbed to hunt for jade with Muslim Uyghur merchants. This account uncovers surprising truths about China's hidden minorities and their complex position in Chinese society through real discussions, including a heated debate with Ewenki village cadres on human rights and talks with aging hajjis about the Chinese government's razing of their mosque.
The Korean Book of Happiness: Joy, resilience and the art of giving
By Barbara J. Zitwer. 2023
From the very first moment she set foot in South Korea, Barbara Zitwer, literary agent to some of the most…
celebrated, prize-winning Korean authors, fell head-over-heels in love, discovering there a renewed sense of happiness and energy. In this witty, charming book, Zitwer shares all that she has learnt about this fascinating country: a vibrant, global powerhouse of culture and industry with an enduring devotion to the ancient philosophies of Han, Heung and Jeong (resilience, joy and the art of giving).We follow Zitwer as she travels from the buzzing capital of Seoul to a meeting with Buddhist nuns in the mountains, from the bizarre theme park within the Demilitarized Zone to the tropical island of Jeju, home to Haenyeo, the inspirational, octogenarian, female divers. Along the way she regales us with hilarious anecdotes of her cultural faux pas, top travel tips and local recipes as well as magical moments of understanding and connection.The Korean Book of Happiness invites you to explore a beguiling culture and learn how the Korean way can make your life happier and more fulfilled.
Sociopragmatics of Japanese: Theoretical Implications (Routledge Research in Pragmatics)
By Michael Haugh, Yasuko Obana. 2023
Obana and Haugh question the extent to which commonly accepted theories in pragmatics can readily explain sociopragmatic phenomena in Japanese.…
Studies of Japanese in pragmatics have often challenged the cross-linguistic relevance of dominant theories. However, they have also inadvertently perpetuated stereotypes about the Japanese. It is often been assumed, for instance, that Japanese people are less strategic, more polite and more reliant on tacit forms of communication than speakers of other languages. But the Japanese are not as polite as one might think. The aim of this book is thus to question those folk assumptions around politeness, impoliteness, irony and indirectness while at the same time emphasizing that close examination of sociopragmatic phenomena in Japanese yields important empirical insights that combat common theoretical assumptions in pragmatics. The content is structured in three parts, in which the authors highlight a key building block of a theory of sociopragmatics. Part I focuses on indexing through the lens of chapters on honorifics, routine formula and politeness strategies. Part II focuses on evaluating through the lens of chapters on giving/receiving expressions and honorific irony. Finally, Part III focuses on relating through the lens of chapters on joint utterances and off record requests. Throughout the chapters the authors draw attention to ways in which these three dimensions are invariably intertwined in various ways. This book is not simply a collection of studies that promotes our understanding of the sociopragmatics of a particular language, but goes deeper and challenges what many have taken for granted in pragmatics. It proposes a framework for exploring sociopragmatic phenomena, building on the key sociopragmatic axes of indexing, evaluating and relating, and offers fresh new perspectives on time-honoured phenomena in pragmatics. It will interest scholars and postgraduate students in pragmatics, particularly those specializing in: politeness, impoliteness, indirectness and irony. The book explains what Japanese terms mean, and all the Japanese examples are morphologically-glossed. Therefore, teachers (and advanced learners) of Japanese at all levels will benefit from the book as it will enrich their knowledge of the Japanese language.
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
By Peter Frankopan. 2015
<P>The epic history of the crossroads of the world--the meeting place of East and West and the birthplace of civilization…
It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. <P>From the rise and fall of empires to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century--this book shows how the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East. <P>Peter Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. He vividly re-creates the emergence of the first cities in Mesopotamia and the birth of empires in Persia, Rome and Constantinople, as well as the depredations by the Mongols, the transmission of the Black Death and the violent struggles over Western imperialism. <P> Throughout the millennia, it was the appetite for foreign goods that brought East and West together, driving economies and the growth of nations. From the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast region stretching eastward from the Balkans across the steppe and South Asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years. <P>Frankopan teaches us that to understand what is at stake for the cities and nations built on these intricate trade routes, we must first understand their astounding pasts. Far more than a history of the Silk Roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Samarkand: Recipes And Stories From Central Asia And The Caucasus
By Caroline Eden, Eleanor Ford, Eleanor Smallwood. 2016
Winner of the Guild of Food Writers Food and Travel Award 2017'This is a book to delight food lovers, travel…
hounds and history buffs alike.' The Telegraph'As an armchair traveler, I was led by Caroline Eden's firsthand account of journeys to the Uzbek city of Samarkand and other exotic destinations, then lured into the kitchen by Eleanor Ford's fine recipes' New York Times'A particularly expansive and ambitious example of the genre. Imagine a Lonely Planet guide to Uzbekistan and beyond, with a hundred recipes.' LA Times'I am LOVING it! So interesting to see so many familiar but also lesser known recipes! Beautiful pictures too! Love the styling! Love it!' Sabrina GhayourOver hundreds of years, various ethnic groups have passed through Samarkand, sharing and influencing each other's cuisine and leaving their culinary stamp. This book is a love letter to Central Asia and the Caucasus, containing personal travel essays and recipes little known in the West that have been expertly adapted for the home cook. An array of delicious dishes will introduce the region and its different ethnic groups - Uzbek, Tajik, Russian, Turkish, Korean, Caucasian and Jewish - along with a detailed introduction on the Silk Road and a useful store cupboard of essential ingredients. Chapters are divided into Shared Table, Soups, Roast Meats & Kebabs, Warming Dishes, Pilavs & Plovs, Accompaniments, Breads & Doughs, Drinks and Desserts. 100 recipes are showcased, including Apricot & Red Lentil Soup, Chapli Kebabs with Tomato Relish, Rosh Hashanah Palov with Barberries, Pomegranate and Quince, Curd Pancakes with Red Berry Compote and the all-important breads of the region. And with evocative travel features like On the Road to Samarkand, A Banquet on the Caspian Sea and Shopping for Spices under Solomon's Throne, you will be charmed and enticed by this region and its cuisine, which has remained relatively untouched in centuries.
Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime
By Stephen Alter. 2014
Stephen Alter was raised by American missionary parents in the hill station of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas,…
where he and his wife, Ameeta, now live. Their idyllic existence was brutally interrupted when four armed intruders invaded their house and viciously attacked them, leaving them for dead. The violent assault and the trauma of almost dying left him questioning assumptions he had lived by since childhood. For the first time, he encountered the face of evil and the terror of the unknown. He felt like a foreigner in the land of his birth. This book is his account of a series of treks he took in the high Himalayas following his convalescence--to Bandar Punch (the monkey’s tail), Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India, and Mt. Kailash in Tibet. He set himself this goal to prove that he had healed mentally as well as physically and to re-knit his connection to his homeland. Undertaken out of sorrow, the treks become a moving soul journey, a way to rediscover mountains in his inner landscape. Weaving together observations of the natural world, Himalayan history, folklore and mythology, as well as encounters with other pilgrims along the way, Stephen Alter has given us a moving meditation on the solace of high places, and on the hidden meanings and enduring mystery of mountains.
A Travel Junkie's Diary: Searching for Mare's Milk and Other Far-Flung Pursuits
By Dina Bennett. 2018
Dina Bennett’s on the road again—and she can’t stop! Having completed the 7,800-mile Peking to Paris Classic Car Challenge while…
braving carsickness and patching rocky marital relations, she’s once more in over her head, enduring 100,000 miles of road trips through the world’s out-of-the-way places.Drawn to strange foods and intriguing views into the kaleidoscope of local life, and with a knack for getting into—and out of—awkward situations, Dina gives you the world in all its glory. She’s a born storyteller, uncovering the curious and unusual in the ordinary, bringing you along on vivid experiences in laugh-out-loud style. Neither particularly brave nor wild, she opens her diary of personal triumphs and embarrassments, suspense and discovery, in places most will never get to. Join her as she stands knee-to-knee with a Tajik border guard in his bedroom, hunts down camel pad meat in the street markets of China, and seeks out the source of mare’s milk in Kyrgyzstan. Whether stranded on a sandbar in Myanmar’s Chindwin River or sharing barley beer with an ex-Black Panther in Ethiopia, Dina’s observations are half prying neighbor, half best friend gossiping together on the crooked path to enlightenment.The tales in A Travel Junkie’s Diary plunge the reader right into the midst of exhilarating travel experiences, with all the smells, sounds, sensations and emotions of being right there. They are by turns fascinating and frightening, endearing and bittersweet, humorous, humiliating, and always engrossing.
Let's Go Mad: A Year Abroad in Search of Utopia and Enlightenment
By Rob Binkley, Murphy Hooker. 2016
"In my madness I bought the ticket. I took the ride. I needed to live. I needed to suffer. I…
had to go." -Rob BinkleyRob Binkley is a young Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has it all at twenty-seven: a thriving business, beautiful girlfriend, and great life. But something is missing. Despite his success, Rob fantasizes about shedding the shackles of his American Dream to live wild and free like his hero Hunter S. Thompson. As Rob's world begins to fall apart, a visit from his Zen madman of a best friend, Brian, convinces him to hatch an escape plan and follow his bliss for authentic life experiences. Will he find the meaning of life while backpacking through twenty-three countries, or will he and Brian go mad wallowing in the extreme debauchery the world has to offer?A tribute to gonzo beat literature, Let's Go Mad is the amazing true story of their year abroad backpacking across the globe on a sideways search in all the wrong places, with all the wrong people, at all the wrong times. After Brian's lust for life inspires Rob to embrace his inner lunatic, pushing the limits of sanity (and their friendship) into one merry blur-they come to realize there's more to life than mere mad experience. They must have a "personal renaissance" or die trying.
In Other Words: 40 Years of Writing on Indonesia
By Goenawan Mohamad. 2016
A wide-ranging and beautiful collection of essays from one of world literature’s most important writers.Goenawan Mohamad is one of Indonesia’s…
foremost public intellectuals, and this translated volume of essays-spanning from 1968 to the present day-demonstrates the breadth of his perceptive and elegant commentary on literature, faith, mythology, politics, and history.Through the worst days of Indonesia's authoritarianism, in the face of the trauma of great violence and the chaos of democratic transition, Goenawan has never lost faith in the act of writing. Many of his essays from In Other Words were first published for Tempo, the Indonesian weekly magazine that he founded in 1971. His writings bring nuance and sympathy to difficult histories, introduce doubt to damaging certainties, and apply clarity of thought and action to times of great upheaval. Activist, journalist, editor, essayist, poet, commentator, theater director, and playwright, Goenawan Mohamad brings an unparalleled and wide-ranging perspective to the world. These essays, translated by his long-time collaborator Jennifer Lindsay, reveal a vision both uniquely Indonesian and completely universal, and indisputably establish him as one of the leading political thinkers and cultural observers in the world today.
My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist
By Sadanand Dhume. 2016
A nation once synonymous with tolerance, Indonesia, the fourth-most populated country in the world and its most populous Muslim country,…
now finds itself in the midst of a profound shift toward radical Islam. Sadanand Dhume, a Princeton-educated Indian atheist with a fondness for literary fiction and an interest in economic development, travels across Indonesia to find out how a society goes from broad inclusiveness to outspoken intolerance in the space of a generation. His traveling companion is Harry Nurdi, a young Islamist who hero-worships the late Osama bin Laden and sympathizes with the Taliban. Their travels span mosques and discotheques, prison cells and dormitories, sacred volcanoes and temple ruins. Over time, they forge an uneasy friendship that offers a firsthand look into the crucible of radical Islam’s future. With a new preface by the author detailing what has happened in Indonesia since the book’s initial publication, My Friend the Fanatic is the story of an alternately disturbing, amusing, and poignant journey that illuminates one of the most pressing issues of our time.
Eagle Dreams: Searching for Legends in Wild Mongolia (Lyons Press Series)
By Cat Urbigkit, Stephen J. Bodio. 2015
This travel memoir of Mongolia—a little-known landscape and the birthplace of falconry—is also “quite possibly the best book ever written…
about eagles” (Lawrence Millman, author of Last Places). As a boy, Stephen Bodio was always fascinated with nature—and when he saw an image in National Geographic of a Kazakh nomad, dressed in a long coat and fur hat and holding a huge eagle on his fist, his life was forever changed. When Mongolia finally became independent in 1990, Bodio knew that his childhood wish to see the eagle hunters was soon to become a reality. In Eagle Dreams, he recounts his trip to Mongolia, where he spent months with the people and birds of his dreams. He is finally able to visit the birthplace of falconry and observe the traditions that have survived intact through the ages. Here, he witnesses things most people will never be able to—and in this memoir of an incomparable journey, he brings to vivid life to the people, landscapes, and animals of Mongolia that have become part of his soul. “Bodio writes like Pavarotti sings . . . A master.” —Tony Hillerman
Delirious Delhi: Inside India's Incredible Capital
By David Prager. 2013
When the Big Apple no longer felt big enough, Dave Prager and his wife, Jenny, moved to a city of…
sixteen million people--with seemingly twice as many honking horns. Living and working in Delhi, the couple wrote about their travails and discoveries on their popular blog Our Delhi Struggle. This book, all new, is Dave's top-to-bottom account of a megacity he describes as simultaneously ecstatic, hallucinatory, feverish, and hugely energizing. Weaving together useful observations and hilarious anecdotes, he covers what you need to know to enjoy the city and discover its splendors: its sprawling layout,some favorite sites, the food, the markets, and the challenges of living in or visiting a city that presents every human extreme at once. Among his revelations: secrets that every Delhiite knows, including the key phrase for successfully negotiating with any shopkeeper; the most fascinating neighborhoods, and the trendiest; the realities behind common stereotypes; tips for enjoying street food and finding hidden restaurants, as well as navigating the transportation system; and the nuances of gestures like the famous Indian head bobble. Delirious Delhi is at once tribute to a great world city and an invitation to explore. Read it, and you'll want to book the next flight!
Courage to Say No: A Pakistani Female Doctor's Battle Against Sexual Exploitation
By Raana Mahmood. 2019
Sexual harassment is in the news almost every day. Countless women have been intimidated into silence or their careers and…
lives have been ruined because they refused to submit to unwanted sexual advances. Yet, sexual harassment coupled with corruption is not singularly an American affliction. It’s an ancient disease, a truly universal tale. Dr. Raana Mahmood's story, Courage to Stay No, is a narrative of standing up against sexual corruption in her home country of Pakistan. It epitomizes the courage, audacity, and determination required to resist becoming a victim in a culture that places little value on divorced women. One that openly allows men to have a second, a third, and a fourth wife, all at a man’s pleasure. After escaping from her husband's physical, verbal, and emotional abuse with her young son in tow, Dr. Mahmood filed for divorce and took up residency as gynecologist at a nearby hospital. After facing years of harassment from her colleagues for being a working woman, and suffering a nervous breakdown because of the vitriol, Dr. Mahmood eventually received a grant of asylum from the United States, where she became an advocate for other women looking to escape domestic violence and an inspiration to those suffering in silence. In the vein of Reading Lolita in Tehran and Infidel, Courage to Say No is a remarkable and empowering story for our times.
Acclaimed travel writer Rick Antonson (Full Moon Over Noah’s Ark) tackles his most challenging adventure yet: a formidable trail through…
the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea. Rick Antonson has traveled to parts of the world that are not simply exotic but sometimes damned near inaccessible. He has climbed to the summit of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey, traveling beyond to Iraq and Iran and Armenia. He has undertaken an improbable overland journey to the ancient city of Timbuktu, an enlightening look into efforts to preserve the city’s priceless manuscripts. Now he has traversed the notorious Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, a country some call “the last wild place on earth.” The trail is a narrow, 60-mile footpath featuring rough jungle, 6,000 feet in elevation change, and punishing weather extremes. In a country unfairly locked in Western misperceptions, the track is inhospitable terrain yet home to hospitable indigenous peoples, who live among the rusting reminders of the Japanese, Australian, and American armies that clashed in some of the deadliest protracted combat of World War II. In Walking With Ghosts in Papua New Guinea, Antonson shares a journey of physical and mental endurance in his inimitable way, in the company of a mixed band of resolute adventurers, blending fascinating historical context with the tribulations of unexpected discoveries in faraway lands.
Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World
By Dina Bennett. 2013
In May 2007, leaving China's Great Wall is Car 84, one of 128 antique autos racing in the Peking to…
Paris Motor Challenge. It's guided by one Dina Bennett, the world's least likely navigator: a daydreamer prone to carsickness, riddled with self-doubt, and married to a thrill-seeking perfectionist who is half-human, half-racecar. What could possibly go wrong?Funny, self-deprecating, and marred by only a few acts of great fortitude, Peking to Paris is first and foremost a voyage of transformation. The reader is swept on a wild, emotional ride, with romance and adversity, torment and triumph. Starting in Beijing, Dina and her husband, Bernard, limp across the Gobi, Siberia, Baltic States, and south to Paris in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, while Dina nurses the absurd hope that she can turn herself into a person of courage and patience.Writing for every woman who's ever doubted herself and any man who's wondered what the woman traveling with him is thinking, Dina brings the reader with her as she deftly sidesteps rock-throwing Mongolians and locks horns with Russians left over from the Interpol era--not to mention getting a sandstorm facial and racing rabbits on a curvy country road. Come along for the ride with a dashboard diva!
The snow leopard
By Peter Matthiessen. 1978
Account of a journey that began in September, 1973, when the novelist-explorer set out with field biologist George Schaller to…
the Crystal Mountain across the Himalayas on the Tibetan plateau. Schaller wished to observe the rutting of the blue sheep, and Matthiessen, a student of Zen Buddhism, hoped to find the Lama of Shey. 1979
It's chinese new year! (It's a Holiday!)
By Richard Sebra. 2017
Do you like holidays? Learn all about how and why people celebrate different holidays. Carefully leveled text and fresh, vibrant…
photos engage young readers in learning about the traditions and celebrations of Chinese New Year. Age-appropriate critical thinking questions and a photo glossary help build nonfiction learning skills
Who was genghis khan? (Who Was?)
By Nico Medina. 2018
Named Temujin at birth by his nomadic family in early Mongolia, the great Genghis Khan used his skill and cunning…
to create the Mongol Empire and conquer almost the entire continent of Asia. As ruler of the largest empire in human history, he was as respected as he was feared. Learn more about the man and the legend in Who Was Genghis Khan?
Moon Tokyo Walks: See the City Like a Local (Travel Guide)
By Moon Travel Guides. 2020
<p>Experience Tokyo like a local: on foot! Stroll through the city and soak up its infectious energy, futuristic charm, and…
centuries of Japanese art and culture with Moon Tokyo Walks.<p> <p>Walk through the city's coolest neighborhoods, including Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ginza, and more, with color-coded stops and turn-by-turn directions<p> <p>Find your scene with top ten lists for restaurants, nightlife, shopping, and more<p> <p>Get to know the real Tokyo on six customizable walks: Savor fresh sushi or delicious ramen, snack on yakitori in a neighborhood izakaya, and barhop through Shibuya. Walk under the famous cherry blossoms in the spring, watch a traditional kabuki performance, and make your way through a bustling morning fish market. Enter the imaginative world of master animator Hayao Miyazaki or marvel at historic temples and Buddhist monuments<p> <p>Explore on the go with foldout maps of each walking route and a removable full-city map, all in a handy guide that fits in your pocket Discover public transportation options like bike rentals, subway lines, and more<p> <p>With creative routes, public transit options, and a full-city map, you can explore Tokyo at your own pace, without missing a beat.<p>