The Book of Roads: Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech by Phil Cousineau

The Book of Roads:
Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech
by Phil Cousineau

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon | Goodreads
BookExcerpt
Website | Blog
Facebook
Twitter @PhilCousineau

Published: 2015
Publisher: Viva Editions; 2 edition
Genre: Travel
Paperback: 232 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
CHRISTMAS EVE, 1956. The snowdrifts pile up against our small brick house, impossibly white, rising with the moon, and shrouding the cars in the street.

Cousineau’s wanderlust has driven him to visit nearly 100 countries as a backpacker, documentary filmmaker, travel writer, photographer, and art and literary tour leader. For him, travel gives us what his mentor Joseph Campbell called “the key to the realm of the muses.”

As author of the best-selling travel book The Art of Pilgrimage, Cousineau continues to crisscross the world as a travel writer, filmmaker, and host of Global Spirit.

The Book of Roads: Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech is the culmination of a lifetime of travel experiences, from the steel factories of Detroit to headhunting villages in the Philippines, the war-torn villages in the Balkans to the river roads of Canada once traversed by his voyageur ancestors.

My two-bits:

There are many travel tales compiled in this book. The short pieces make for quick doses of experiences in a variety of places.

The stories are mostly quiet observations and reflections shared.

About the author:

Phil Cousineau is a writer, teacher, editor, independent scholar, documentary filmmaker, travel leader, and storyteller. The author of more than 30 nonfiction books, Cousineau has more than 15 documentary screenwriting credits to his name, including the 1991 Academy Award-nominated Forever Activists. His life-long fascination with art, literature, and the history of culture has taken him on many journeys around the world; one of his bestselling books is The Art of Pilgrimage, inspired by his many years of meaningful travels.

Born in an army hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, Cousineau grew up in Detroit, and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years. American mythologist Joseph Campbell was a mentor and major influence; Cousineau wrote the documentary film and companion book about Campbell's life, "The Hero's Journey." The “omnipresent influence of myth in modern life” is a thread that runs through all of his work. He lectures frequently on a wide range of topics--from mythology, film, and writing, to sports, creativity, travel, art, and beauty. Currently he is the host of the much-praised “inner travel” television series, Global Spirit, on Link TV and PBS, and is finishing a book on beauty.

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* part of SF Travel Book Club

Stacking the Shelves - 5.7.16

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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Bought:

The Darkest Corners
by Kara Thomas
-Mystery, Thriller, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Keep hearing good things about this one. And very interested in the thriller aspect.

The Book of Roads:
Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech
by Phil Cousineau
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> The June book for the face-to-fact SF Travel Book Club.

=====> Kepler's Books presented a YA author event at Redwood City Public Library.

The panel included: (pictured above)
Ryan Graudin
Aimee Kaufman
Jay Kristoff
Stacey Lee (moderator)

Something about each…

Ryan: one of the inspirations for her alternate history, Wolf by Wolf, includes the tv series Long Way Round (imdb) which is about a motorcyle tour and happens to star my fave actor, Ewan McGregor ;-)

Aimee: the inspiration for Illuminae was from conversations of various interests between her and Jay

Jay: he and Aimee met via sharing their horror story experiences with the IRS

Stacey: loves to listen to audio books and is currently enjoying Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

ALSO bought their recent books:

The Walled City
by Ryan Graudin
-Dystopia, Thriller, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Actually this book was released before her recent book, Wolf by Wolf which was mentioned on my shelves before.

Illuminae
by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> I reviewed the ARC. But wanted a finished copy which is even more awesome!

Under A Painted Sky
by Stacey Lee
-Historical, Western, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
AND watched: in theatre

MIKU EXPO Short Film Festival
-Documentary, Music Videos | website | my rating: 4
Needless to say, Hatsune Miku's world is produced by innumerable amazing creators - of music, art and even movies too! MIKU EXPO will host its first short film festival by curating an exciting collection of Hatsune Miku related movies including "Mikumentary Remix", "#UltraMiku Special Edition!", and music videos that won the Grand-Prix at previous years' UGC Awards of Sapporo International Short Film Festival and Market!

=====> I did not know what I was getting into with this one. Mostly was compelled because it was a special showing at the Japan town cinema. I was blown away with the popularity of this phenomenon of an animated character gaining such a following and how various media continues to create and morph Miku.

Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)
Ji-geum-eun-mat-go-geu-ddae-neun-teul-li-da (original title)
Director/Writer: Sang-soo Hong
Starring: Jae-yeong Jeong, Min-hee Kim
-Drama, South Korea | imdb | my rating: 5
Quite by accident, a film director arrives in town a day early. With time to kill before his lecture the next day, he stops by a restored, old palace and meets a fledgling artist. She's never seen any of his films, but knows he's famous. They talk. And together, they go to her workshop to look at her paintings, have Sushi and Soju. More conversation follows, and drinks, and then an awkward get-together with friends where all sorts of secrets are revealed. All the while, they may or may not be falling for each other. Then, quite unexpectedly, we begin again, but now things appear somewhat different.

=====> A kind of love story told with two perspectives. Interesting to watch for the filming sequencing.

Journey To The Shore (2015)
Kishibe no tabi (original title)
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Screenplay: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Ujita
Based on book by: Kazumi Yumoto
Starring: Eri Fukatsu, Tadanobu Asano
-Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Japan | imdb | my rating: 5
Mizuki's husband (Yusuke) drowned at sea three years ago. When he suddenly comes back home, she is not that surprised. Instead, Mizuki is wondering what took him so long. She agrees to let Yusuke take her on a journey.

=====> Beautiful story that is sad yet uplifting.

SPECIAL: book event

=====> Exciting! I will be in Chicago attending BEA (and Book Con) next week walking around in the floor plan above amongst authors, publishers and books ;-)

Currently flipping through: from the library

Lookbook Cookbook--Salty:
Vegan Food, Hot Models, Great Eats for Healthy Living
by Jessica Milan
-Cookbook
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> This cookbook has an interesting format where all the recipes are pictured in color with hipster models. How cute and cool is that! The Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Pesto looks like a yummy one that I plan to try.

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* image source: Miku

* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers