By Anne Gerlach, Adult Services Librarian, Montgomery County Public Libraries, White Oak Library
Whether it is the warmer temperatures and sunnier skies or the start of summer vacation, there is something about this season that beckons wanderlust and adventure — whether that be around the world, around the block or daydreaming from the comfort of your hammock out in your backyard.
And Montgomery County Public Libraries can help inspire these dreams and journeys! Here is but a small sample of where your library card can take you. Check it out!
1,000 Places to See Before You Die: The World as You’ve Never Seen It Before
You are not going to schlep this coffee-table book onto the beach or stuff it under an airplane seat. The breathtaking photos alone, more than a thousand of them, are worth it. This is for lying on your recliner and adding buckets to your list.
What takes it beyond a photo album are the accompanying paragraphs identifying the scenes’ significance and highlighting the nearby “must-sees.”
My favorite aspect is the book’s organization, starting with the geographically arranged table of contents and subsequent sections opening with a map of the covered region, identifying locations of the list of countries for easier route plotting.
The best organizational feature is the additional “Thematic Indexes.” Want your vacation centered around festivals? Or a journey to sacred places? These listings and more are there! With famous and obscure places revealed in brief and brilliant splendor, this book is a great tool to start your own memory album.
Seven at Sea
by Erik and Emily Orton
True account of how this family of modest means still managed to drop the rat race and lift their anchor for a year at sea.
Meet Me in Paradise
by Libby Hubscher
A feel-good, paperback beach read celebrating risk-taking, travel and falling in love.
Life on the Mississippi
by Rinker Buck
Join the famous history traveler and his daring crew on a perilous journey down “Old Man River” on a recreated flatboat from the 1800s.