A Jane Austen Year curated by Jane Austen’s House (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What was the last book you purchased just because of Instagram?  Frozen River for me!

A Jane Austen Year celebrates Jane Austen’s 250^th birthday year by exploring her life through her letters, objects, and manuscripts.  This is put together by the curators of Jane Austen’s house in Chawton – a place that is on my bucket list to visit.

The introduction talks about how this book was written from Jane Austen’s house in Chawton and how it has “an unparalleled collection of Austen treasures including items of furniture, paintings, and household objects.  Visitors can discover Jane’s personal letters and first editions of her novels, items of jewelry, portraits of her friends and family, and the tiny writing table at which she wrote.”

This book shows us fragments of Jane Austen’s life.  It is split up into twelve months.  Each month details events from her books and life that happened in that month.  For example, in January:

·       The Dashwood sisters take a trip to London the first week of January.  Artwork is shown of this trip and an excerpt from the novel.

·       A picture of the miniature of Tom Lefroy and a written description of Jane dancing with Tom in January.

·       Pride and Prejudice was published on January 28, 1813.

·       On January 14, 1817, Jane wrote a friend asking for her orange wine recipe.  The recipe is shown as well as a beautiful picture.

·       A letter is written out that was sent from Jane to Cassandra on January 29, 1813.

·       A picture of Jane’s piano and a description of the two books of sheet music that were copied by Jane.

·       A picture and description of the French Revolution including snippets of a letter Jane wrote to her cousin Phila Walter about her poor cousin Eliza’s husband, the Comte de Feuille, who was executed in France during the revolution.

I loved all the Christmas information that was listed in the month of December.  The book is both informative and beautiful.  There is also a great index at the end of the book and more detailed information about Jane Austen’s house.

Overall, A Jane Austen Year is a fantastic book for any Jane Austen lover in your life (including yourself).  It would be fun to read throughout a year but was also great to read all at once.  It’s a nice conservation book for like minded Jane Austen loving friends.

Book Source:  Review copy from @janeaustenshouse @batsfordbooks as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

This beautifully illustrated book charts the life of one of the world’s most beloved authors through the letters, objects, and manuscripts that shaped her life.

Published in partnership with the curators of Jane Austen’s House, the enchanting Hampshire cottage where Jane Austen’s genius flourished that now attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Arranged over the course of a calendar year, from snowy scenes in January to festive recipes in December, specially commissioned photography of Austen’s home and possessions are brought together with extracts from her books, reproductions of her letters, and stories of her life throughout the seasons. Highlights include the first time Austen read a published copy of Pride and Prejudice to an enraptured audience in her drawing room, affectionate letters to her sister Cassandra reproduced in full and an exquisite miniature portrait of Tom Lefroy, the man she nearly married.

Read this book for a unique and intimate insight into Austen’s world. Dip into it as you will, or visit each month, and enjoy a full year of Austen—her life, works and letters, people and objects she knew, and of course her idyllic, inspiring home.

CURATOR BIO

Jane Austen’s House is the inspiring Hampshire cottage where the beloved author lived for the last eight years of her life. It houses an unparalleled collection of Austen treasures. Highlights include Jane’s jewelry, letters, first editions of her novels, and the table at which she wrote her much loved novels. Visitors can step back in time to 1816 and follow in Austen’s footsteps as they explore the rooms where she lived and wrote. It has been open to the public as a museum since 1949 and is an international center for Jane Austen studies.

100 Great American Parks by Stephanie Pearson (TLC Book Tours)

 

What is your favorite American Park?

I think my favorites so far have been the Grand Canyon National Park and Custer State Park. 

The new National Geographic book, 100 Great American Parks by Stephanie Pearson, has everything you’ve come to expect in a National Geographic book.  It has awe inspiring beautiful pictures of the parks.  There are 100 parks in this book including all 63 national parks.  The foreword is by Garth Brooks discussing his travels as a touring musician and is very inspiring.  The introduction is full of interesting facts including that Boston Common was the first park in the United States in 1634 put in place as a space to graze cows.  Until 1817, a tree was used in the center for public hanging.  It has seen a lot of change over time.  Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the world.  The U.S. Park Service was established in 1916 to manage 420 units across 85 million acres.

The book is split into five parts.  It starts with “The West and the Pacific” and has a wonderful section about the Grand Canyon National Park describing it with both words and fantastic pictures.  The White Sands National Park pictures brought back some happy memories of a trip there in college. Part two is “Off the Mainland.”  The stunning pictures really made me want to visit Alaska and Hawaii even more.  Part three is “the East and mid-Atlantic.”  It gave me a new idea to try to look for the “Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park” while we are in Maryland next month.  It made me excited about some places already on our list for our trip such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Part four is “the south.  I found out that Arkansas had the first National River, the Buffalo National River.  It looks beautiful. Part five is “the Midwest & Plains.”  My only complaint is this section is very scant.  As a lifetime Midwesterner, there are a lot more beautiful parks here than represented.  The only park from Michigan was Isle Royale National Park and the only park from Wisconsin was the Apostle Island National Lakeshore.  Meanwhile western states like California had ten parks included. 

The last section of the book is a great list on how to protect our parks.

What new park would I like to visit are reading this book?  I would say the Katmai National Park and Reserve in Alaska.

Favorite Quote:

“We all need a space to feel free.”

Overall, 100 Great American Parks is a beautiful coffee table book to remember great places you’ve explored, plan ahead for new places to visit, or to “travel” from your own home through the wonderful pictures.

Book Source:  A Review Copy from Hachette Book Group as part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Into the Forest: The Secret Language of Trees by Susan Tyler Hitchcock (TLC Book Tours)

 

Happy Earth Day!

What are your favorite memories involving trees?  I grew up next to a pine woods and loved spending my time in the woods climbing trees.  I also had a favorite old tree in my yard that I loved to sit in and read books well into my teenage years.  Sadly my tree grew into electric wires and was chopped down.  My love for trees and the outdoors became my profession as I became an environmental engineer.

Into the Forest is a beautiful coffee table book that focuses on trees, how they function, and how they are important for humanity.  As one would expect for a National Geographic book, the photography in this book is gorgeous.  I love looking at the pictures.  The foreword to the book is by Suzanne Simard, a Professor Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia.  She gives a good discussion of why forests are important for humanity.  The following chapters were in the book, and they were very informative and interesting:

Chapter 1 – Tree: To understand the forest, let us first get to know the tree

Chapter 2 – Earth:  Trees emerge from the soil underneath, intertwining with the life it cradles.

Chapter 3 – Water: Rain falls, sap rises:  Trees play a part in the grand water cycle.

Chapter 4 – Air:  Trees breath in, breathe out, enhancing the air with subtle fragrance.

Chapter 5 – Fire:  Forest fires rage and destroy; new life rises phenix-like from the ashes.

Chapter 6 – Forest:  Come into the forest:  refreshed, enriched, at peace with the world that surrounds you

I thought this book was fascinating.  I wish I would have had it when I was teaching environmental science to be able to share the beautiful photos and the interesting vignettes with my students.  Each chapter was filled with interesting essays about different aspects of trees. I loved Chapter 6 as it has some really interesting information about forests in the cities and old forests.  I would love to visit a really old forest and I think trying to get more green space in cities is a good thing.

Book Source:  A Review Copy Hachette Book Group as part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Complete Birds of North America by National Geographic (TLC Book Tour)

 Do you have any bird lovers in your family or are you a bird lover yourself?  National Geographic has a new third edition of the Complete Birds of North America.  It has more than 1,000 species of birds detailed in it.

 I used to love watching for birds out of my Great Grandparents window.  They had a dog-eared field guide they would check to determine what any unknown bird was.  This book is a large hardcover book with beautiful glossy pages.  It is not a field guide, but more an encyclopedia of everything you would like to know about birds. There is a great introduction of bird watching that shows a map of north America and the range for birds.  It explains taxonomic organization, plumage variation, feather topography, and abundance terms and codes.  Beautiful artwork of the birds is included and is mostly from the 2017 edition of the book. 

 The book is split up into families. The start of each family section gives information in general about the family.  Then there are separate entries about each species. The entries have a map showing where the bird is found, a nice drawing of the bird, how to identify the bird, flight, similar species, voice call, status & distribution, migration, rare status, dispersal, and population.   

 I thought it was interesting that the last species included was the Pied Wheatear a stray from Eurasia that came to North America the summer of 2018.  My daughter is obsessed with owls and is having a fun time looking through this book.

 Overall, Complete Birds of North America is a great book for a bird lover or anyone who would like to know more about birds.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Hachette Book Group for being a part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The 21st Century: Photographs from the Image Collection by National Geographic (TLC Book Tours)

 

Do you love looking at beautiful photographs?  I know I do.  The 21^st Century is a wonderful collection of images from the National Geographic Society.    The photographic archives of the National Geographic Society holds tens of millions of images including 11.5 million physical objects in their vault and 50 million on their digital servers as told by Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg in the foreword.  She also has an interesting tidbit that there were no photographs in the first few issues of the National Geographic magazine when it was first printed in 1888.  When pictures were first put into the magazine, a few individuals resigned from the board as they thought it was so low brow.

 The goal of this book is to show our “shared history told through photography” of the last twenty years.  The start of the century has National Geographic photographer Robert Clark’s iconic images of the World Trade Center being hit.  These photographs will give me a punch in the gut no matter how many times I see them.  I loved the quotes from the photographers on why photography is important to them such as “Photography is a weapon against what’s wrong out there.  It’s bearing witness to the truth.” – Brent Stirton.

 This book is split into four chapters, each covering approximately five years starting in 2000 and ending in 2021.  The book is coffee table book size and has beautiful glossy pictures.  The pictures are from around the world of nature, ordinary people, and some historic events or people.  Pope Francis has an iconic picture at the start of the book.  Each picture has a short description with the photographer, year, and place.  I also like the “through the lens” sections that are interspersed through the book with thoughts from the photographer about the picture that they took.  There are brief bios of all of the photographers at the end of the book.

 Overall, The 21^st Century:  Photographs from the Image Collection by National Geographic is a beautiful book full of gorgeous images.  I find it relaxing to peruse through them and it’s a wonderful book to look out for company to share.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Hachette Book Group for being a part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Ultimate Visual History of the World by Jean-Pierre Isbouts

“This book is truly a story of our species – and how, against incredible odds, despite innumerable disasters and catastrophic conflicts, humans found a way to survive, and thrive.”

 Are you looking for a Christmas gift for the history lover in your family?  You may have found it in National Geographic’s new publication, Ultimate Visual History of the World:  The Story of Humankind from Prehistory to Modern Times.  I love history as does my husband and sons.  I let my sons preview this book and they really loved the high-quality illustrations. 

 The book is coffee table book size and has beautiful glossy paper and pictures. It starts with the dawn of humankind and ends with today’s COVID crisis.  The book is split into ten chapters as follows:  Dawn of Humankind, Cultures of the Bronze Age, Cultures of the Iron Age, The Classical Age, The Age of Faith, The Age of Conflict, The Age of Discovery, Reason and Revolution, The World at War, and The Modern Age.  There is a great introduction and epilogue that rounds out the book.  There are also great maps to illustration ideas such as human migration or the spread of Christianity.  Each chapter has notable dates during that time period and cut outs with interesting facts.  The end of this book also has a great section for further reading if you want to deep dive into any of the sections.  It’s a really fun and interesting book to peruse. 

 My favorite part about this book is that it dives into history from ALL around the world.  I like this description from the introduction, “It is a story told across the full canvas of human civilization, from Asia to Africa, from Europe to the Pacific, and from the Middle East – the birthplace of human civilization – to the Americas. It is an exciting story, filled with the rise and fall of dynasties and empires, the drama of wars and conflict, the stunning impact of new discovers, the heroic deeds of men and women and, above all, the power of ideas.”  I feel like what I learned in school was primarily focused on United States and European history.  I’m still trying to learn more about the history of the broader world. 

 Overall, Ultimate Visual History of the World is a beautiful and interesting book for history lovers and those that would like to learn more about world history.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Hachette Book Group for being a part of the TLC Book Tour. 
Thank-you!

About Ultimate Visual History of the World

• Publisher: National Geographic (October 19, 2021) 

• Hardcover: 656 pages

Follow the fascinating threads of human history in this monumental volume, amply illustrated with maps, archival imagery, and revealing photographs.

History comes to life in this comprehensive overview of humankind, from earliest times to the present day. Each page is filled with stunning visuals and thought-provoking text that make this book an instant classic. From the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Gulf War, from the Xia and Shang Dynasties of Bronze Age China to the new space race, from Egyptian hieroglyphics to the digital age?here, in vivid color and crisp narrative, is the sweeping story of the history of civilization.

Every chapter includes:

• Notable dates
• Salient quotations from the time
• Explanatory maps
• Fascinating sidebar stories
• Photographs of artifacts & landscapes
• Art works depicting dramatic scenes

Visually driven, rich and far-reaching yet friendly and browsable, with iconic National Geographic maps, illustrations, and images enhancing the pages, this new book is a history-lover’s dream.

 

You can complete your collection of recent National Geographic history books with National Geographic History at a Glance and More Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar -- and you will treasure earlier National Geographic titles by this author, including The Biblical World,In the Footsteps of Jesus, and Archaeology of the Bible.

 

Purchase Links

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble

1000 Perfect Weekends: Great Getaways Around the Globe by National Geographic Society (TLC Book Tours)

 “The book you hold in your hands is entirely dedicated to the beauty and possibilities of the perfect weekend – 1,000 of them to be exact.”

 What is your perfect weekend?  Where do you get ideas on where to travel?

 1000 Perfect Weekends is giving me lots of new ideas of places to travel.  It’s a beautiful, large book (smallish coffee table book) that is a perfect conversation piece when you have people over.  Stunning pictures show great vacation spots around the world.  If you don’t have the means to travel worldwide, you can dream of it by exploring this book.  You can also find locations closer to home by exploring the helpful and detailed index.  The chapters are broken out into various interesting places to explore from beach escapes to camping spots, from family friendly vacations to food & wine, from historical explorations to wildlife adventures.  Each chapter highlights interesting vacation ideas and includes the nearest airport hub to each location.  It also includes a top ten lists for interesting items like beaches, golf courses, most-stop antiquing spots, music towns, television locations, food markets, places for romance, etc. 

 This is a very fun book to read, peruse, and just to flip through and talk about.  It also gave me some life goals with a list of the top ten bookstores in the world.  Number one is Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France.  I also loved the top ten national parks.  I have only been to one, the Grand Canyon, but I would love to see the rest around the world including the Krka National Park in Croatia.  I have heard my friend Barb talk about the beauty of Croatia for years and its very well represented in this book. 

 I also had to see how Wisconsin was represented.  Wisconsin has five locations in this book from the Great Wolf Lodge at the Dells to the Lumberjack World Championships.  I was kind of confused that Racine was picked as one of the top beaches. Living on Lake Michigan in beautiful Kewaunee right by beautiful Door County, I felt left out.  I always think of Racine as an industrial city I drive through, but now maybe I need to check out their beach . . . my birth state of Michigan had six locations including the beautiful Tahquamenon Falls, Isle Royale, and Sleeping Bear Dunes.  I approve.

 We are finally going on our delayed 2020 vacation to Washington DC next summer.  Looking at the top ten Battlefields, number two is Yorktown in Virginia.  We thought about this and extended our trip to stop by to visit.  I’ve never been there before, and the kids are excited.

 I have been enjoying this book for myself, but with Christmas just around the corner, this would make a great gift for anyone who likes to travel or likes to dream about traveling. 

 Overall, 1000 Perfect Weekends is a perfect book to explore great destinations around the world from the comfort of your own home.

Book Source:  Review Copy from Hachette as part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you!

About 1000 Perfect Weekends

• Publisher: National Geographic (October 19, 2021) 

• Hardcover: 720 pages 

  Packed with innovative ideas and inspiring photographs, this gift-worthy treasury features 1,000 dream escapes from sunny beach retreats to lush mountain idylls, exotic city sojourns, and wild adventures around the world. 

 Whether you're looking for a way to unplug from the busy work week, take the family on a quick getaway, or add to a vacation itinerary, this practical and inspiring book provides the perfect way to plan your next escape. Spend two days sailing off the coast of the Bahamas. Indulge in a foodie tour of Mexico City's markets. Camp with wild horses on Assateague Island. Take a drive through Italy's "Chocolate Valley." Skate the world's largest ice rink at Ottawa's winter festival. Whatever your pleasure, 1,000 Perfect Weekends has a unique itinerary built to excite you and your travel companions, illustrated with dramatic National Geographic photographs. Divided by theme and interest--including nature parks, city escapes, country weekends, mountain retreats, and more--this fun-packed guide offers an adventure you can experience in 36 to 72 hours. Highlighting the best short escapes from hubs across the globe, these trips cover more than 40 countries around the world. You'll also find 50 snackable top-10 lists--from the best places to go antiquing to the most relaxing spas to the top museums in the world--to add to your bucket list, along with first-person accounts from travelers who have scouted out each location.

 

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

America the Beautiful: A Story in Photographs (TLC Book Tour)

 

America is a diverse nation with natural beauty throughout. America the Beautiful is a coffee table book that displays the beauty with beautiful color pictures of the people and places that make up the United States.  There are 250 images from all 50 states and six territories.  The pictures are from National Geographics archives and span 100 years.  There are inspirational quotes from a lot of different people describing their state or territory. Overall, the theme is the song America the Beautiful.

 My son Daniel and I read through this quickly after we received it. We loved looking at the pictures and reading the short descriptions about them. The book is sorted into different parts of the country. We of course looked for Wisconsin right away. We liked the pictures, but only wish there were more for our state. Strangely a beautiful picture of the Apostle Islands said it was Michigan rather than Wisconsin. This bugged Daniel, but otherwise we loved the book.

 Overall, America the Beautiful is a wonderful way to tour America from your own home.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from the Hachette Book Group / National Geographic for being a part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you!  For more stops on the tour, check out this link.

About America the Beautiful

• Hardcover : 400 pages  

• Publisher : National Geographic (October 20, 2020)  

This glorious book of photography, featuring more than 200 magnificent National Geographic images of all 50 states, is a gift-worthy celebration of America's unique natural and cultural treasures. 

 America the Beautiful showcases the stunning spaces closest to our nation's heart--from the woods in the Great Appalachian Valley that Davy Crockett once called home to the breathtaking sweep of California's Big Sur coast to the wilds of Alaska. It also celebrates the people who have made this country what it is, featuring a wide range of images including the Arikara Nation in the early 1900s and scientists preparing for travel to Mars on a Hawaiian island. Culled from more than 130 years of National Geographic's vaunted archives, this provocative collection depicts the splendor of this great nation as only National Geographic can, with a dramatic combination of modern and historical imagery--from the creation of architectural icons like the Golden Gate Bridge and Lady Liberty to the last of the country's wild places currently preserved in our national parks. 

Organized by chapters focused on region (west coast and the Pacific, east coast, the south, and the Midwest) that are themselves inspired by verses of the original poem America the Beautiful, this book also features a moving introduction offering perspective on the country's unique journey. You'll also find behind-the-scenes commentary from the world-renowned photographers who captured this unforgettable imagery, and observations from the conservationists, activists, and historians who help keep America beautiful today. Profound and inspiring, this is a book for everyone who has ever marveled at the beauty of the United States.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble