Travel, Adventure, & Sports from our 2017 Summer Newsletter

Lonely Planet’s Global Beer Tour is the world’s greatest bar hop. For beer connoisseurs and casual beer drinkers alike, Global Beer Tour is an easy-to-follow guide to the best taprooms, bars, and breweries around the world. With crisp pictures and detailed brewery profiles, it gives an intimate depiction of each country’s native beer haven and the local brews in each area that are la crème de la bière. - Sairsha

When Matt Warshaw, the former editor of Surfer magazine, published The History of Surfing seven years ago, it was a behemoth of information, enough to weigh down a coffee table or hold open a door. Now he has honed and curated his magnum opus into a perfect, accessible, fascinating collection of surf history and culture: portable and updated. Every surfer should own a copy. - Melinda

Sure, I had dabbled in a little ultimate frisbee in high school, but I had not even scratched the surface of this rich subculture, equal parts rambunctious and competitive but all intensely athletic. Gessner doesn’t just report on the early days of this young sport; he brings them to life. Suddenly you are caught up in the rivalries, crammed into the team vans, swigging the celebratory beers, and reveling in the great layout catches of the day. A perfect Santa Cruz summer read. - Melinda

If you’ve watched the Golden State Warriors in the last couple years, it’s likely you have fallen for the charm of Stephen Curry, whose incredible 3-pointers look effortless and whose smile is infectious. In Golden, Marcus Thompson II explores Curry’s rise to the top of the NBA and the ways in which he has changed professional basketball. Thompson moves smoothly from one area of Steph’s life to another: from his youth on the court to his family (his father was an NBA star himself, and his wife Ayesha and their children have their own following), to his ethos as a player. Reading Golden has me watching games differently, more closely attuned to the plays on the court, more appreciative of the players—not just Steph or the Warriors favorites, but also those on other teams and the coaches, too. - Chorel

This wonderful book is part memoir, part adventure and nature writing, and fully a tale of inspiration and hope. In 2015, Tommy Caldwell completed what is considered one of the hardest climbs in the world: a free climb up El Capitan’s vertical wall in Yosemite—that’s 3,000 feet of balance and strength using just his fingers and toes. The Push is an incredible account of endurance as well as a deeply engrossing memoir of a once-self-conscious boy finding the obsession and drive to overcome heartbreak and disappointment in order to achieve the seemingly impossible. - S.M.C.

In 1839, John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood trudged into the Guatemalan jungle in search of some rumored rocks that they had heard might be of interest. What they found forever changed Western understanding of the evolution of civilization. Carlsen weaves the two explorers’ life stories into his telling of how Stephens and Catherwood defied both the unforgiving Central American jungle and the xenophobic society of their time to expose the grandeur and remarkable engineering of the Mayas. - Jade

Each of these essays explores a different area—from San Francisco to Chile—through the lens of a literary figure. One author wandered Lake Geneva, following the path of Lord Byron and company, another road-tripped to learn about Nabokov’s inspiration for Lolita. Truly good travel writing mixed with literary musings—what could be better? - Jax

Geraldine DeRuiter is the first to tell you this is not your normal travel writing book. You won’t get great advice or learn interesting or relevant facts about the places she’s been. You will, however, get story after story of escapades with friends, life lessons, a weird family, and a love that, if you’re lucky, will remind you of your own. I hadn’t read DeRuiter’s renowned blog Everywhereist before, but you can bet I will now. - Jocelyn