There are a lot of readers in the pacific northwest, must have something to do with the rain! And not only readers, but writers and publishers as well. You can read about them in Seattle: City of Literature, edited by Ryan Boudinot. It is a nice collection about where writers like to write, or how an author got an idea. And, there are some great suggestions for where one might set a murder mystery, or a science fiction novel as well as which book about Seattle to give to a stranger.

For a grand romp all about food and travel try The Food Explorer: the True Adventures of the Globe-trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats, by Daniel Stone. David Fairchild was a young man who longed to travel (which was hard in the 1890’s) and an interest in adding to the foods (and other crops) of the U.S. He looked for things which would grow well in various parts of the country. The result was avocados, various citrus fruits, grapes, peaches (and much more) as well as varieties of cotton and the cherry blossoms so popular in Washington, D.C. As with other travel books I’ve read, I’m glad he did the traveling and I just read about it! ;-)

Reading Hermit With Dog