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Pat's Picks - Hot off the Press

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A Dip in the Ocean : Rowing Solo Across the Indian

Four-thousand miles of unpredictable ocean, 500 chocolate bars, 124 days of physical exertion, three Guinness World Records, and one incredible journey. On April 1, 2009, brave 23-year-old Sarah Outen embarked on an ambitious solo voyage across the Indian Ocean in her rowing boat, Dippers. Powered by the grief of the sudden loss of her father and the determination to live life to the fullest, Sarah and her tiny boat successfully negotiated wild ocean storms, unexpected encounters with whales, and the continuous threat of being capsized by passing container ships. Along the way she broke two oars, ate 500 chocolate bars, and lost 20 kg of bodyweight before arriving in Mauritius. She became the first woman and the youngest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean. Life-affirming, funny, and poignant, Sarah's salty tale of courage and endurance will inspire the taste of adventure in everyone.

The Raven's Gift : a Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness

A noted scientist and kayak adventurer undertakes a journey of spiritual healing. Jon Turk has kayaked around Cape Horn and paddled across the Pacific Ocean to retrace the voyages of ancient people. But, the strangest trip he ever took was the journey he made as a man of science into the realm of the spiritual. In a remote Siberian village, Turk met an elderly Koryak shaman named Moolynaut who invoked the help of a Spirit Raven to mend his fractured pelvis. When the healing was complete, he was able to walk without pain. Turk, finding no rational explanation, sought understanding by traversing the frozen tundra where Moolynaut was born, camping with bands of reindeer herders, and recording stories of their lives and spirituality. Framed by high adventure across the vast and forbidding Siberian landscape, The Raven's Gift creates a vision of natural and spiritual realms interwoven by one man's awakening.

Have Mother, Will Travel : a Mother and Daughter Discover Themselves, Each Other, and the World

A mother, a daughter, and a life-changing adventure around the world . . . Their bestselling memoir, Come Back , moved and inspired readers with the story of Mia Fontaine's harrowing drug addiction and her mother, Claire's, desperate and ultimately successful attempts to save her. Now it's a decade later and Claire and Mia each face a defining moment in her life, and a mother-daughter relationship that has frayed around the edges. At fifty-one, Claire's shed her identity as Mia's savior but realizes that, oops, she forgot to plan for life after motherhood; Mia, twenty-five and eager to step outside her role as recovery's poster child, finds adult life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Determined to transform themselves and their relationship once again, the pair sets off on a five-month around-the-world adventure. What awaits them is an extraordinary, often hilarious journey through twenty cities and twelve countries'one that includes mishaps, mayhem, and unexpected joys, from a passport-eating elephant to a calamitous camel ride around the Pyramids'and finally making peace with their tumultuous past in the lavender fields of France, where they live for the last four months of the trip. Seeing how self-possessed and community-minded twenty somethings are in other countries broadens Mia's perspective, helping her grow, and grow up. Claire uses the trip to examine her broken relationship with her own mother, a Holocaust survivor, and to create a vision for her second act. Watching her mom assess half a century of life, Mia comes to know her as Claire has always known Mia, as all mothers know their daughters, better than anyone else, and often better than themselves. Wiser for what they've learned from women in other cultures, and from each other, they return with a deepened sense of who they are and where they want to go'and with each embracing the mature friendship they've discovered and the profound love they share. Alternating between Claire and Mia's compelling and distinct voices, Have Mother, Will Travel is a testament to the power and beauty of the mother-daughter relationship, one that illuminates possibilities for our own lives.

Call of the White : Taking the World to the South Pole : Eight Women, One Unique Expedition

An inspirational account of eight women on one very unique expedition. Felicity Aston challenged women in many countries, asking if they could ski to the South Pole, as she set out to create the most international all-female expedition ever to ski to the Pole. The team would not be experienced explorers but "ordinary" women who want to inspire others to follow their dreams. She received more than 800 applications and led a team from places as diverse as Jamaica, India, Singapore, and Cyprus, some of whom had never even seen snow or spent the night in a tent before joining the expedition on one of the toughest journeys on the planet. Eighty-mile-an-hour winds ripped through base camp, frostbite and injuries were an everyday occurrence, and deadly crevasses cracked beneath their feet. This is their story of newfound strength, persistence, and friendships.

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