Other books that might interest you

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  Walking the Tideline - Loss and...

  Caroline Kurtz

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  In Walking the Tideline, Caroline Kurtz solo hikes the rugged, beautiful Oregon Coast—an expedition of isolation, adventure, joy, and grief inside the emotional wilderness of finding one's identity after the death of a loved one. 
    
  In her third memoir, Portland-based author Caroline Kurtz travels the coast of Oregon on foot in her late sixties, tracing the boundary of sand and salt water, rock and forests, carrying her shelter and food as she navigates the edges of solace and resolution after the death of her husband. During her journey, Kurtz grieves as she reflects on her long, and at times rocky, marriage to Mark, whom she had known and loved since she was a teenager in boarding school in Ethiopia. As she navigates the adventures encountered along the trail—leaky tents, hitching rides, chance encounters, and beautiful landscapes—she intertwines the historical events of coastal Oregon with her spiritual experience, giving space for the shattering of an old identity and the planting of a new self, nourished and enlightened by the depths of a profoundly complex and considered life. 
    
  Kurtz spent her early years in Oregon before her parents moved her and her siblings to remote Ethiopia, where she spent her childhood and teen years, before returning to America for college, where she reunited with and married Mark. The two lived variously in Portland, Ethiopia, and Kenya, and retired to Portland, where Caroline now lives.

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  Flourishing Chinese Empires -...

  Rolf Hedger

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  After centuries of division, China experienced an extraordinary renaissance through three dynasties that elevated the empire to unprecedented heights of cultural brilliance and global influence. "Flourishing Chinese Empires: Art, Trade, and Power" examines the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties—a golden age when China stood as the world's most advanced civilization. 
  The short-lived Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE) accomplished the crucial task of reunification through ambitious projects including the Grand Canal, standardized administration, and reformed examination system. Though bankrupted by these massive undertakings and unsuccessful military campaigns, the Sui created the essential foundation for the glory that followed. 
  The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) transformed this unified state into a cosmopolitan empire of unrivaled splendor. China's borders expanded dramatically while its capital at Chang'an became the world's largest and most sophisticated city—a multicultural metropolis where Persian merchants, Japanese monks, and Korean scholars mingled in bustling markets and elegant gardens. This was the era of China's greatest poets, its artistic zenith in sculpture and painting, and unprecedented openness to foreign influences. 
  The Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) compensated for military vulnerability with stunning economic and technological advancement. Urbanization accelerated as printing spread literacy, commerce flourished through paper money, maritime trade expanded, and scientific innovation thrived. Though constantly threatened by powerful northern neighbors, the Song fostered a refined cultural environment where landscape painting, philosophical inquiry, and scholarly pursuits reached remarkable sophistication.

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  Jalan-Jalan - A Journey of...

  Margo Weinstein

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  Can you combine wanderlust and motherhood? 
  Margo Weinstein did. 
  For decades, Margo Weinstein escaped her demanding legal practice by kayaking, whitewater rafting, trekking, and climbing in remote regions. Then she had a son and found herself in the kiddie pool on a Disney cruise. Searching for a new path, a jalan-jalan, that could accommodate motherhood and satisfy her wanderlust, she dragged her young son to the other side of the world, moving first to Shanghai and then to Bali. 
  Adventure seekers and armchair travelers will relish listening to Weinstein’s exploits as she battles baboons in Zimbabwe and surfaces under a capsized raft in Pakistan. Parents will appreciate her efforts to explore the world with a kid in tow and her expat life in a villa where a python on the stairs, a scorpion in the outdoor shower, and Hindu offerings ceremonially placed next to the infinity pool and Wi-Fi router are daily realities.  
  Told with intelligence, humor, spirit, and Weinstein’s version of practicality, Jalan-Jalan will inspire you to find your path and take the trip of a lifetime. 
   

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  Songs & Sounds Volume One

  Robert Gerald Porter

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  Birding can be an acoustic experience as much as a visual one. Songs & Sounds follows birding guide and nature recordist Rob Porter through various songbird and waterfowl habitats around southern Ontario during the course of a year. Recorded entirely outdoors in both natural and manmade habitats, this audiobook is like any other: you won't just hear about the birds, you will hear from the birds themselves during breeding season, migration, and wintering.With a mix of guided birding walks and pure soundscapes, Songs & Sounds will teach you about birds' songs and calls at a relaxed pace and show how any time of year can be a good time to get outside and enjoy nature.

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  The Western Xia Dynasty - The...

  Rolf Hedger

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  The Western Xia Dynasty, founded by the Tangut people, emerged as a powerful and distinct kingdom in northwestern China during the 11th century. Its establishment marked the rise of a unique civilization that balanced influences from the Chinese, Tibetan, and Central Asian cultures while maintaining its own identity. The Tanguts, originally a nomadic group, gradually settled in the Ordos region and later expanded into the Hexi Corridor, an area of strategic importance due to its location along the Silk Road. 
  The dynasty was officially established in 1038 by Li Yuanhao, who declared himself emperor and adopted the title of the Great Xia. Li Yuanhao sought to solidify Tangut sovereignty by breaking free from the dominance of the Song Dynasty. To emphasize independence, he introduced significant reforms, including the creation of the Tangut script, a writing system distinct from Chinese characters, reinforcing cultural identity. Under his rule, Western Xia developed a centralized government, with administrative structures modeled in part after the Song system but adapted to suit Tangut traditions. 
  Expansion and military strength played crucial roles in the rise of the Western Xia. The Tanguts, skilled in cavalry warfare, built a formidable army that enabled them to challenge the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty of the Khitans, and later, the Jin Dynasty of the Jurchens. Frequent conflicts with these neighboring states shaped Western Xia’s military strategies, leading to a highly fortified kingdom capable of defending its territory against multiple threats. While diplomacy was occasionally pursued, warfare was often the means through which the dynasty maintained its influence.

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  Experience Microadventure the...

  Lara Althaus

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  You work 40 hours a week and hardly have time for sports activities or other experiences in nature? You are constantly under pressure and can actually only really switch off and do something on trips? But you want to change this and finally break out of your comfort zone? Then this guide is the ideal way to put your plan into practice. Most people these days are far too comfortable to go outside and experience something and are always inventing excuses instead of really daring to do something for once. But it doesn't have to be that way, because the next adventure is often waiting around the corner, quickly prepared and easy to carry out. This guidebook is about those undertakings - the so-called microadventures - that are really suitable for everyone, regardless of age and experience.

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