I Never Knew That About England by Christopher Winn

This is one of the books that I got in England! I thought it’d be a nice trip souvenir, though maybe it’s more suitable for during the trip.

I Never Knew That About England is basically a compilation of interesting facts in England. The book is organised geographically, according to the “39 traditional English counties that have defined the map of England for many hundreds of years, since these are based on natural boundaries.” I’m a total geography noob so it doesn’t matter either way to me, but I suppose it’d be a plus/minus point to people who are passionate about counties.

The facts here range from one sentence to a couple of paragraphs long, and cover things such as:

- the home of marmite (Burton-on-Trent)
- the legend of the “wicked lady”, a heiress who was so bored so took to becoming a highway robber
- the world’s first railway bridge (Causey Arch)

And many more facts. Some were familiar to me, but many are brand new.

And because there is just so much to say, each area only gets a little space. If I were still in the planning stages of the trip, I would definitely have added a few facts from here into my itinerary. In retrospect, perhaps it’s a good thing I found this book in England. The itinerary was far too long as it was.

A Field Guide for Immersion Writing by Robin Hemley

As I was preparing for last year's trip to England, I started looking for travel-related books. One of the books that caught my eye was A Field Guide for Immersion Writing and even though it wasn't a travel guide/memoir, I decided to read it.

The book is divided into five chapters (six sections, if you count the introduction). The introduction introduces the concept of immersion writing, chapter one talks about the immersion memoir, chapter two is about immersion journalism, chapter three about travel writing, chapter four about ethics and legal considerations, and chapter five about story (book and magazine) proposals. Each chapter ends with exercises for the reader.

Personally, the introduction felt a little scatter-shot and I briefly considered abandoning the book, but I was hooked in the first chapter. The definition of the immersion memoir, which I really liked, is that “the immersion memoirist is interested in self-revelation or evaluation while using the outside world as his/her vehicle.” Basically, you’re looking at yourself by looking at outside events.

The first three chapters basically go through the different types of immersion writing in these similar but not identical genres. No matter if you’re a memoirist, travel writer, or journalist, if you’re doing immersion writing, you can divide immersion writing into five categories:

1. Re-enactment
2. Experiment
3. Infiltration
4. Investigation (for memoirs, this is more for biographies than autobiographies)
5. Quest

Through this book, I’ve realised that a lot of books that I’ve read are immersion writing, and I enjoy most of it. Of course, there are a lot more books that I haven’t read and I could see my TBR list growing as I read (hopefully I can get to them soon).

If you’re interested in what this genre of writing is about and you’re looking for books to read (or you want to write a book yourself), you should definitely read this.

Some Photos from Okinawa

As you may know, I've been on a holiday in Okinawa. While I'm still going through the photos that I took using my camera, I thought I'd share a few photos that I grabbed with my phone (yes, I definitely took too many photos):

Manzamo Cape

Taking a break at a cafe - The photo looks odd because the food was originally very dark and this was my best attempt to lighten it.

My sis and I at the beach.

Photo of said beach - I am in love with the beaches at Okinawa! The water is so clear!

One of the whale sharks at Churaumi aquarium - The aquarium was really cool and it's definitely a must-visit if you're ever in Okinawa! It is a little crowded though.

This photo was taken at Shuri Castle - also another must-visit spot. Do try the tea set (310 yen for sanpin tea + 4 types of sweets!)

At the entrance of Gyokusendo caves. It's part of a larger attraction called Okinawa World so if you ever want to explore caves, experience Okinawan culture and see some snakes, this is the place to go (we did not go see the snakes because I am not a fan).

My sister and I in Okinawan kimonos! We got this taken at Okinawa world as well!

I'll be blogging about the trip in detail at my other blog once the photos are ready, so feel free to check it out.

I also got quite a bit of reading done on the trip, so the reviews will be appearing here soon!

Overbooked by Elizabeth Becker

When I first flipped through Overbooked, I was rather disappointed that neither Singapore nor Japan got their own chapter. Now that I'm done, however, I feel rather relieved. I like to think that these two countries are doing tourism right, but what if they aren't?

Overbooked is a look at the economy of tourism, and how it's affecting different countries. It's grouped according to a theme, and within each theme, a certain country is highlighted as a case study. The result is an easy to read book that doesn't feel like it's crammed with too much information - on the contrary, the amount of information feels just right.

The themes are:
1. Cultural Tourism
- France sort of does it right
- Venice is probably going to die from tourism
- Cambodia is definitely not doing tourism right and Ankor Wat is at risk (but then again, they do need the tourist money...)

2. Consumer Tourism
- On how big cruise ships suck your money, don't need to follow very high standards (and hence pay terribly low wages and pollute everywhere) and don't really contribute to the economies of the countries they visit. But they'll never admit that
- Dubai: artificially made shopping destination.

3. Nature Tourism
- Zambia is still free of the crowds of tourists (for now)
- Costa Rica seems to be doing it right
- Can Sri Lanka use tourism to help rebuild its economy? (maybe)

4. The New Giant: China
- The government is very, very involved

5. The Old Giant
- Strict visa regulations turn visitors away.

I must say, this book was eye opening in a rather bad way. I've been on cruises, I've been to China and Dubai (and Cambodia on a volunteer trip) and I never really knew how my actions impacted the countries. Especially Cambodia, where my school friends and I went to teach in an orphanage for a day and participated in "dark tourism" (although it was technically an educational trip) - I now wonder if the kids that I taught were orphans, or if they were just bought/taken from their families for the tourist dollar.

The tourist industry is something that is only going to grow bigger, and all of us will be participating in it in one way or the other. I think that it makes sense that we read this book to spark a conversation (if not within a group than within ourselves) on the type of tourism industry that we want in our countries and that we want to participate in.

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

A long time ago, when I was in Secondary School (fine, about five years ago), I was given this really funny excerpt to analyse as part of a literature test. The excerpt was from a book called "A Dog's Life" for Peter Mayle, and I liked it so much that I went (unsuccessfully) looking for the book.

Last week, my Economics core seminar teacher was reccomending this book about living in Provence by an English author. I immediate thought of this book and guess what? I was correct (and my teacher got the Japanese title wrong). So, here you go, an excuse to read!

And I'm so happy that I got to read this! It was an extremely fun read! The book follows the author and his wife as they try to fix their farmhouse in Provence, and how they deal with the weather, workers, tourists and life in general.

I wouldn't say this is a travel guide - I would say this is more of a primer for life in Provence many many years ago (I checked, the book was published in 1991 and things have probably changed by now). The author admits to not doing tourist-y things and not going tourist-y places, instead, he and his wife prefer living in the countryside.

Kind of like me. I lived in Tokyo, and the only time I went to a tourist destination was when someone asked me to. It isn't something I do voluntarily (unless we're talking museums).

But to be honest, this book has gotten me interested in spending some time in France. Although I don't speak the language. Or know the customs. Alright, this is starting to sound like a bad idea.

This book is easy to read, humorous and sparkles with love for Provence. I really recommend it!

Long Reads #18

I'm finally back with another Long Reads post! Hisashiburi desu ne~ (It's been a long time). This time, I'm focusing on book-ish essays:

My Father's "Eviscerated" Work by Raphaëlle Rérolle - This is actually a really good essay about Tolkien's legacy, and a little of what his family thought about it. For example, the Lord of the Ring film studios didn't want to pay royalties to the estate. That's not very fair. And sadly, the estate has no way to make sure that the films are true to the books (so if you don't like the films, just blame the producers).

It Matters if You're Black or White: The Racism of YA Book Covers by Annie Schutte - This is actually a really thought provoking covers. Even though I buy books based on whether the cover is attractive, I don't normally think much about the cover afterwards. She does make a compelling case for a bias towards Caucasian characters though.

YA Book Post - Whitewashing Covers by Diana Peterfreund - And here, one of the authors featured in the above article to say that her cover was accurate (surprise!). And yes, it does seem as though her protagonist is white, even though the word "brown" was used at one point. I think the point to take back from the two articles is: some covers are accurate, and some are not. Let's do all we can to change the inaccurate ones.

Royal Bodies by Hilary Mantel - I'm including this under the "books" category because Hilary Mantel is an awesome writer. Yes, this is the article that had everyone in shock because she said some bad things about Kate Middleton, but the real focus of this article is really how women like Marie Antionette and Anne Boleyn have been portrayed. A really good look if you're into historical fiction.

On Travelogues by Ian Manley - If you were to read only one article from here, read this one. It's so awesome that clicking the title will link you to the page (It's that good!). I may even subscribe to their RSS feed(; And this isn't in the article (but appeared when I saved to readability), but there's also a list of "enduring Travelogues in the Public Domain". This is a really great introduction to the history of the travelogue (also bemoaning how most travel blogs nowadays are awful - oops! I think my other blog falls under this!), and I think I'm going to read more travelogues as a result. Any reccomendations?

What about you? What have you been reading?

New Zealand With A Hobbit Botherer by John Gisby (Enchanted Book Promotions)

I really think I found the next Neil Humphrey. Either that, or all British writers are funny when it comes to travelogues. I'm not sure which.

John Gibsy is not the Hobbit Botherer (HB). His wife, on the other hand, is. After seeing Peter Jackson in a dream, John takes his wife on a trip across New Zealand in an effort to 'cure' her. What results is a really fascinating guide to New Zealand, with an emphasis on Lord of The Rings (LOTR) locations. It's not totally a LOTR guidebook, because well, at least one half of this couple isn't that big a fan.

What I enjoyed was the tone of the piece. It's written in a conversational tone that I never got sick off, and peppered with jokes. I can't believe that he was only in New Zealand for a visit, he writes as though he stayed there for a long time, and I think he genuinely likes the people and the country.

Apart from a laugh-out-loud travelogue, this book also has quite a lot of facts about New Zealand. Somehow, John Gibsy has managed to incorporate facts about various parts of New Zealand in an interesting manner. If I was taught this way all the time, I'm sure I would have scored straight A's.

Well, maybe not. I might have just spent the whole time laughing instead of learning.

Although I have relatives living in New Zealand, I've never been there. And while I'm a LOTR fan, I haven't watched the movies yet. After reading this book though, I'm very tempted to go there. Not so much for the LOTR spots (that might be nice though), but because the country sounds fascinating in general.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book as part of the Enchanted Book Promotions blog tour.