Library Scavenger Hunt discussion

Happy September, everyone! I decided to go with something a little unusual this month, so your new challenge is to read a book connected with the antipode of the place where you live. Feel free to take "connected with" as tenuously as you like. 😊

Antipodes are diametrically opposite points of the Earth, but there's no need to be exact, as most places don't have exact antipodes (on land). England's antipode, for instance, is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, but pretty close to New Zealand. You can find more information on antipodes here, along with a map.

Happy hunting!

As always:
1) Please feel free to use this thread for discussion, recommendations, and reviews.
2) Please also remember to add your book to the group bookshelf! You can do this on the group's main page by scrolling down to where it says "Bookshelf" at the bottom, and clicking on "Add Books".

I found this to be a particularly great prompt, because it definitely made me read something I never would have otherwise. The antipode for where I live is in the Indian Ocean, but the closest land is the Kerguelen Islands / French Southern and Antarctic Lands. So I read The Arch of Kerguelen: Voyage to the Islands of Desolation which is pretty much a travelogue by a man who had been fascinated with the idea of visiting here all his life. This book made me intimately aware of a place I had never known existed before, and both its topography and history. The writing was poetic and the end unexpectedly bittersweet, and even though the very islands themselves seem to be doing their best to reject mankind, I kind of want to visit now.

I also find myself itching to travel after this month's book - though its setting was much less obscure than the Kerguelen Islands! 😁 The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt is set primarily in Australia, but with significant chunks in Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand (which is the place that's most relevant to this challenge) and Cornwall, and is the fictional autobiography of a famous theremin player. A more thorough review can be found on my blog.