AFAReads discussion

I'm Sara, and I'm an assistant editor at AFAR. I'm a fan of mysteries, YA, nonfiction (memoirs in particular), anything that reworks or is inspired by mythology or fairy tales, and I've started to dabble more in sci-fi fantasy. I'm a sucker for a layered villain and, of course, strong female leads. If I'm not reading, I'm probably playing board games or watching TV (and that was *before* covid forced us inside!).

Hi Sara! I'm Cindy, I own a floral and decor company in Denver. I'm reading Boys in the Boat, (very late to that party) and loving it! I read an inordinate amount of Historical Fiction, but I love a good mystery, thriller, comedy, memoir, especially if they feature a place as character or are set someplace I'm dying to go (Dublin Murder Squad series or Long Bright River). When I'm not reading I'm retooling social media ideas to try and keep the phones ringing in this time of New Normal Upside-down Time! Or I'm cooking my face off. ❤️❤️

Cindy wrote: "Hi Sara! I'm Cindy, I own a floral and decor company in Denver. I'm reading Boys in the Boat, (very late to that party) and loving it! I read an inordinate amount of Historical Fiction, but I love ..."

Hi, Cindy! Thanks so much for joining us, thrilled to have you here. :)

Hi Sara. I'm Lisa. Glad to see this group up and running (and thank you for the great content you all are producing right now).

I love mysteries, sci-fi, literary fiction, short stories, and partial to romances during stressful times.

Lisa wrote: "Hi Sara. I'm Lisa. Glad to see this group up and running (and thank you for the great content you all are producing right now).

I love mysteries, sci-fi, literary fiction, short stories, and part..."

Thanks a million for signing in with us, Lisa! And thanks for your kind words, I'll be sure to pass them along to the team. :)

Hi Sara, Cindy, and Lisa,

Super cool to see this community started to cope with the restlessness that sheltering in place can produce. More than willing to shelter in place and so grateful healthy diversions!

Shared the "Save Me From Myself! A Travel Lover’s Guide to Staying Sane When You’re Stuck at Home" article with a global community called The Creative Workshop mentored by Seth Godin.

Embracing Learning Afar's approach to coping with C19 and the current social distancing it requires.

Thank you, Sara and team Afar!

Annette Mason wrote: "Hi Sara, Cindy, and Lisa,

Super cool to see this community started to cope with the restlessness that sheltering in place can produce. More than willing to shelter in place and so grateful health..."

Hi Annette! Welcome, welcome and thank you for sharing Save Me From Myself and your kind words about AFAR--happy to have you here! :)

Hi Sara,

My name is Pam and I am very excited to join this new group. I have been an AFAR subscriber since the magazine launched. Most all of the books I read are travel narratives or related to travel.

Can't wait for the first book selection. Thank you for this great idea!

Pamela C. Griffin wrote: "Hi Sara,

My name is Pam and I am very excited to join this new group. I have been an AFAR subscriber since the magazine launched. Most all of the books I read are travel narratives or related to t..."

Hi Pam, and welcome! Thank you for being a subscriber--happy to have you here!

Hello! I'm Eduardo. I'm a screenwriter and film producer living in LA. Traveling is my #1 non-professional passion, and along those lines, I like books that take me to other places and times.

Eduardo wrote: "Hello! I'm Eduardo. I'm a screenwriter and film producer living in LA. Traveling is my #1 non-professional passion, and along those lines, I like books that take me to other places and times."

Welcome, Eduardo! Thanks for joining us--sounds like you're in the right place! :)

Hi everyone! I'm Shannon, and I actually know Sara in IRL -- we went to graduate school together. I'm a writer and a professor living in Pittsburgh. Right now, I'm working on promoting my book coming out at the end of June, and teaching fiction-writing classes remotely which is strange and fun, at the same time. I love to read many different kinds of books! Since starting social distancing on March 12th, I've read Elton John's memoir (very charming), Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth (which I eventually found tedious), Axton Betz-Hamilton's The Less People Know About Us (fascinating and weird), Tracy Chevalier's A Single Thread (which I absolutely loved) and now I am reading The Time Traveler's Wife, which is deeper and more complex than I expected. I love talking about books and literature, so I am excited to read along with all of you!

Shannon wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Shannon, and I actually know Sara in IRL -- we went to graduate school together. I'm a writer and a professor living in Pittsburgh. Right now, I'm working on promoting my book comi..."

Yay, Shannon! So happy you've joined us. Sounds like you've made the best of the time--I've got a lot of reading catch up to do! ;)

Hey Shannon! LOVED Time Travelers Wife. I will add A Single thread to my list! Some of my fave reads this year were Educated, and Long Bright River. Hope Pittsburgh is faring well. Denver is plugging along under lock down and it's sunny!

Hi, I am Tricia and I live in Orlando. I have my own national consulting business for Human Services Entities and am moving what I can to virtual connection instead of in person work: This will be the first month that I have not travelled weekly (apart from Christmas to New Years) in quite a long time, so I am hoping to get some peaceful reading in: usually the flights I take provide that quiet! I read more fiction than fact, but am open to other ideas. Am I the only one who stocked up at Barnes and Noble instead of at Costco???

Hi, I'm Carolyn, and I'm a freelance travel writer who lives in the Bay Area. Thankfully, I have a few stories for upcoming magazine issues that I am working on, but I am trying to read as much as I can during this "shelter in place" while I am at home and not traveling. I love fiction, historical fiction, memoirs...love strong female leads. Grateful to have a stack of new books on my nightstand:)

Greetings from the Scottish Highlands, everyone! My name is Rebecca and split my time between Los Angeles and here in the middle of nowhere. I never turn down a good mystery or thriller, but try to balance those reads with biographies of notable leaders (government and corporate), as well as the occasional historical non-fiction. Looking forward to 'traveling' to Italy with all of you!

Hi Sara, I'm Ayla, an admin in Boston. I love sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction. I too love reworked fairy tales and board games! I am also a sucker for truly fleshed out characters that show actual character development.

If you are just getting into sci-fi, I cannot recommend the Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt enough. It's hilarious and world building with a couple of great female leads.

Doug here! I listen to books on Audible a lot and read some. :) I work in travel advertising and generally travel 100k+ miles a year and love the idea of discussing a book, together, that transports us somewhere else at a time like this. Looking forward to this!!

Priyanka, live in the DC area and work with all our state and territorial health agencies (so definitely working on COVID 19 response).

I love books and reading almost as much as writing and I’m working on a book now.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/book-a...

Or on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/s_prii/

Check me out!

Hi, I’m Heather, I live in rural Northern California in a beautiful area with mountains, trees and streams. I work as a pediatric occupational therapist when life was normal. I also own and manage a gym, which is also closed... I have 2 daughters, Skyler 14 & Corinne 10, they attend a private Waldorf School and now We school at home. We live on a few acres and have 2 Dobermans, Dash and Luca, 3 cats, some chickens and 2 adorable goats. I love to travel, especially internationally! I started traveling the South Pacific on a circle the pacific ticket after undergraduate school and soon fell in love with the people of the world; other likeminded travelers included. I have shared this passion with my kids, they have been to China, Egypt, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Mexico....
Will we ever get to travel again? What will it be like? Crossing borders? The general reaction of locals to travelers?
I was in Fiji when 9/11 occurred, the way people treated me changed and our country changed while I was gone too.
Anyhow looking forward to book club.....

Hi everyone! This is Chloe based in Denver, but I’m from Taiwan originally. I used to work in AMEX Travel in Taiwan now I’m a marketing professional.
Thank you Sara and AFAR team to start this book club!
I also love mythology and took a couple of classics in college because of it.
In general I like thriller/fantasy/historical fiction, and I’m trying to push myself to read some non-fiction this year too.
Hope everyone & your loved ones are safe & healthy at home

Hi everyone, I'm in Chicago and work as a software consultant. I love to read all types of books, and I'm on year two of setting reading goals. This year, I hope to read two books a month. Most of the books I read are one of the following: historical novels, biographies, or travel related. I've read a few cooking related books like Kitchen Confidential.

I've traveled recently to Italy, so it makes me sad to see the devastation occurring today, but I know Italy is strong, and they will return better than before. Also, I have also traveled around the United States, Latin America (farthest is Guatemala), and many of the Caribbean islands.

I'm looking forward to learning about new travel related books!

Hi. Excited to join this group. I am a pediatrician and having been reading a lot to keep me away from facebook and the news! I love historical fiction and am currently reading “The Weight of Ink”.

Tricia wrote: "Hi, I am Tricia and I live in Orlando. I have my own national consulting business for Human Services Entities and am moving what I can to virtual connection instead of in person work: This will be ..."

Thanks for joining us, Tricia! Hope you get some peaceful reading time in for sure. :)

Carolyn wrote: "Hi, I'm Carolyn, and I'm a freelance travel writer who lives in the Bay Area. Thankfully, I have a few stories for upcoming magazine issues that I am working on, but I am trying to read as much as ..."

Hey, fellow Bay Area dweller! Thanks for joining us!

Rebecca wrote: "Greetings from the Scottish Highlands, everyone! My name is Rebecca and split my time between Los Angeles and here in the middle of nowhere. I never turn down a good mystery or thriller, but try to..."

Rebecca, I love the Scottish Highlands. Have some wonderful memories from staying at the Glenbrittle Youth Hostel on the Isle of Skye :) Thanks for reading with us!

Ayla wrote: "Hi Sara, I'm Ayla, an admin in Boston. I love sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction. I too love reworked fairy tales and board games! I am also a sucker for truly fleshed out characters that show act..."

Yes to fleshed out characters! Also, curious to hear more about what you thought about Uprooted compared to Spinning Silver, when you're done--dm me! :)

Douglas wrote: "Doug here! I listen to books on Audible a lot and read some. :) I work in travel advertising and generally travel 100k+ miles a year and love the idea of discussing a book, together, that transport..."

100,000k+ miles a year, holy moly, Doug! Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us here!

Priyanka wrote: "Priyanka, live in the DC area and work with all our state and territorial health agencies (so definitely working on COVID 19 response).

I love books and reading almost as much as writing and I’m ..."

Priyanka, thank you for all the work you're doing as we confront this crisis! And thank you for joining us here--I hope it provides some respite from the storm. :)

Heather wrote: "Hi, I’m Heather, I live in rural Northern California in a beautiful area with mountains, trees and streams. I work as a pediatric occupational therapist when life was normal. I also own and manage ..."

Heather, thank you for coming. So happy to hear you've passed on your love of travel to your kids; what a gift that is. I'm curious to see how all those things change, too, as we come out the other side of things.

Psyche wrote: "Hi everyone! This is Chloe based in Denver, but I’m from Taiwan originally. I used to work in AMEX Travel in Taiwan now I’m a marketing professional.
Thank you Sara and AFAR team to start this book..."

Chloe! Thank you for joining us—I see your handle is also inspired by your love of mythology. :)

Hi everyone, I'm in San Diego and I'm a data analyst. I read primarily science-fiction and fantasy. I'm currently listening to (Audible) Forward Collection by Blake Crouch and rereading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Garret wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm in Chicago and work as a software consultant. I love to read all types of books, and I'm on year two of setting reading goals. This year, I hope to read two books a month. Most of ..."

Garret, thanks so much for joining. Last year was the first year I sat a reading goal and I wish I'd done it so much earlier! This year I think I'm already behind, lol.

Lori wrote: "Hi. Excited to join this group. I am a pediatrician and having been reading a lot to keep me away from facebook and the news! I love historical fiction and am currently reading “The Weight of Ink”."

Hi Lori, thank you for the work you do! I hear ya on trying to stay away from news overload. Thanks for joining us. :)

Lori wrote: "Hi. Excited to join this group. I am a pediatrician and having been reading a lot to keep me away from facebook and the news! I love historical fiction and am currently reading “The Weight of Ink”."

Hi Lori, The Weight of Ink is an incredible book. I'm now thinking of listening to the audio version.

Hi, I live in a suburb outside of Los Angeles, and was in the travel industry. I love historical fiction. Just finished "The Girl With the Louding Voice" - a powerful book.
Also love books about other places in the world.

Hi! I'm Barbara and thankful for this opportunity! I'm working through the many books that I picked up throughout the year on our public library sale shelves and at the used book store I (used to) frequent. In place of finalizing our June trip to Sweden at the moment I'm reading Of Swedish Ways, a very old yet still relevant non-fiction book. I've also started The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland on the Kindle app. It was selected for our May library book club that likely won't meet. Seems timely as it begins with the parallels of world shock, ceased air travel, people on cots and kind people helping others who are stuck away from home. Thus far we've canceled a trip to Northern VA in March; Atlanta, GA this month; Nashville, TN and then Arizona & CO in May; Sweden & Norway in June and South Korea & Japan in September. We're older and my husband isn't sure when he'll feel comfortable boarding a plane again.

H-Grace here, from Florida, USA. I’m a retired commercial anthropologist. Fabulous idea and just in time to lift my mood since I’ve just been making calls canceling our May trip to Utah national parks. Love Italy and I’ve always wanted to read “Room With A View.” Wrapping up “Americanah” (set in Nigeria and US) for our local face-face book group - only this month we’ll be meeting on Zoom.

Barbara wrote: "Hi! I'm Barbara and thankful for this opportunity! I'm working through the many books that I picked up throughout the year on our public library sale shelves and at the used book store I (used to) ..."

Joyce wrote: "Hi, I live in a suburb outside of Los Angeles, and was in the travel industry. I love historical fiction. Just finished "The Girl With the Louding Voice" - a powerful book.
Also love books about ot..."

Hi Barbara, where are you living. I’ve lived in ATL, DC, and have siblings in AZ and CO. So sad you too are having to cancel your trips. One hour ago I cancelled our two week trip to Utah. We are trying to visit all the Nat. parks.

Hi I’m Kathleen. I am a recently retired Outreach Services Manager for an Illinois library with a Bookmobile. Bookmobiles bring books and other library materials to those unable to get to a bricks and mortar library building, usually due to transportation, language or cultural barriers. I love to read and will read just about any genre, fiction or non-fiction. I am currently reading, “This is Happiness” by Niall Williams. Niall Williams is an Irish author who writes both fiction and non-fiction about the Irish, their land, history & experiences. My favorite book by him is called “Four Letters of Love”. I love to travel, but admittedly, I am more of a armchair traveler. I look forward to reading “A Room With A View”, a classic to be sure.

I’m Audrey and I live in Maine, and this is the perfect push to start reading and lower the stress! I’m almost done with Hold Still by Sally Mann, which is a memoir with photographs that actually let you time travel With her to the south! It’s fascinating.

I'm Wendi and I live in Texas. I work as a hospital chaplain in Dallas and am in need of some escapist downtime! I love all genres almost equally, though literary fiction is my favorite. Glad to see this group start up and am excited to get reading!

Hello all. I am Kim from Idaho. Most of my reading includes non-fiction but I do enjoy a good fiction book from time to time. Some of my recent favorites include, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister and The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker. Right now I am re-reading The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron. Afar articles come to me via emails which are always a welcome sight in my inbox. My favorite recent article was the one about what lives look like in locked down countries. The entry from the poet in France, Nav Vilain, really resonated with me. Thanks, Sara, for putting this virtual book club together.

Hi! I'm Vicki. I am a school teacher in Louisiana. I am currently reading Beneath a Scarlet Sky, which is historical fiction. That is one of my favorite genres. I downloaded A Room with a View and will begin that one as soon as I am finished with my current book. Since I am staying home due to social distancing, I will be doing a lot of reading in the days ahead. I am excited to be reading this book and sharing thoughts about the book with other members of this community so that being at home doesn't feel so isolating.

Hi! I’m Paul from the west side of Los Angeles, a very short stone’s throw from the beach. I am delighted to be joining this group because it combines my biggest two passions: reading and traveling.
Of course, life is best when I can do both at the same time, especially on long plane rides, but life is good all the time!
I love Afar Magazine and daily email it sends me and hope to find a similar love in this GR Group.
I’m very glad to have this group available.

Hi All! I'm Shauna, and have just returned from a year abroad after evacuating due to this situation. I packed my apartment in 8 hours and flew home...a bittersweet return. This bookclub is a great idea to bring those of us with the travel bug needing some comradery (or camaraderie depending on your spelling preference ;) ). Like many Afar has been providing me with dream worthy travel plans for many years, so exciting for this group to bring it to life with books.

Hi everyone! I am Katerina, I am from Greece and I moved to Sweden recently! I think I was born a bookworm and with a curiosity for new places! So happy to find new books through this bookclub, especially during this timeperiod.

Hi everyone! I am Eleanna, from Athens, Greece and a travel blogger (yeah, I know, it's like the worse these days, right?) Because I'm part Greek and part East European, I grew up in a multicultural environment and I think that explains the travel bug! I also love sci-fi and fantasy stories (I admit to also having a thing for paranormal romance), historical fiction, mysteries and the occasional biography. This book club is the best thing for us travel lovers these days of lockdown. Thank you Sara!

Hi! I'm sitting in my NYC apartment while my daughter and husband are on their respective devices. 'A Room with a View' that is not one of the empty streets of Manhattan sounds like an excellent idea. Looking forward to reading it and discussing it with all of you!