I think that Big Miracle fits in this “interesting non-fiction category.”

The Big Miracle movie is based on a true story. Reporter Tom Rose was one of the people who went to Barrow, Alaska to cover the event. He wrote a book called Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World’s Greatest Non-Event, which has recently been republished as Big Miracle, movie tie-in.

The original title shows a bit of his tongue-in-cheek philosophy (and honestly, this almost satirical view does come across a bit in the movie, too), but in reality, Rose’s book is pretty balanced. He gives information about Alaskan Eskimo whale-hunting (and how the subsistence hunting legislation actually caused more whales to be killed than before), the culture in Barrow, Alaska, the way news media works, what makes a story popular and why, the oil business of drilling in Alaska (correctly expressed in Texas vernacular as the “all bidness”), and so much more.

Set in the Cold War era of 1988, politics come into play as well, when a Russian ship is the only one available that can reach that area to break the ice.

If you see the movie (and I do recommend it for you and your whole family — I loved it), don’t expect the book to be a story like this is, but if you want to know more about the people and culture in this small remote Alaskan town and how this even affected them (and didn’t affect them), I can highly recommend this book. I haven’t quite finished it, but it’s a very readable look at this one event and the real-life characters who were principals in the action.

Truly a movie for the whole family

Big Miracle opens February 3.

I can’t wait to share it with my family, because I know that they’ll all love it, which is rare to be confident that my 13-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, not to mention my husband, will all enjoy the same movie!

**Universal Studios took care of my travel expenses for this lovely trip to Santa Monica, California for the Big Miracle press junket, in exchange for coverage of the movie, however, I was not told what to say. My opinions are completely my own.

Check out all the Big Miracle movie coverage over at 5 Minutes for Mom:

• Drew Barrymore and John Krasinksi
• Behind the Scenes on the Big Miracle Set and Blogger Interviews (Kristen Bell)
• Ted Danson and Dermot Mulroney

The most notable feature is lighting that actually allowed me to read. Not only was the lamp nice and bright, but there were reading lights on both sides of the bed, not to mention two books on the nightstand for those who might be in need of reading material: Poems of the Sea and Paulo Coehlo’s The Alchemist.

This chaise at the end of the bed was a VERY cozy place to sit and read (or — yes– watch TV). The cabinets around the TV also had some books (mostly decorative, but it was still a nice sight).

In addition to a really homey interior, the location — right on the Santa Monica boardwalk — was beautiful. Please read more about the surprising way I enjoyed the boardwalk at Snapshot.

Jennifer Donovan has enjoyed writing for 5 Minutes for Mom, especially attending press junkets (This trip and hotel was sponsored by Universal Studios). Be sure to check out the Big Miracle movie coverage next week.

I wouldn’t have thought this would work, but it did. He might have been helped by the fact that he had a film crew along, although they didn’t get involved and weren’t allowed to help—he just wanted this journey documented. They definitely stay in the background, but I can’t help but wonder if that helped people take him seriously.

And along the way, Leon has some amazing adventures. People offer him rides, put him up overnight, buy him train tickets, and dump him on the side of highways. He “earns” his night in a frat house in Virginia by streaking to the middle of campus and kissing a statue; he has one woman toss him her keys and tell him that if he can find a way to Chicago, he can stay at her place—she won’t be home till the following day. He stays, for free, in a scary dive in New Mexico with blood on the door and drunken brawls going on next door, and he crosses downtown Indianapolis in the dark on his own, on his way to a Marriott hotel where an elderly woman he met on a train is waiting for him with a bag full of homemade cookies. He attends a party where the hostess wanders the rooms scantily-dressed with a sword over her head, looking for virgins willing to be sacrificed. He meets some honest, God-fearing Americans mid-country, who offer him rides and spare bedrooms, who take him home for barbecues and impromptu parties. He also meets a lot of people on the fringes, like Karen/Cinnamon/Barbara, who constantly changes her name and checks hotel rooms to see if they’ve been bugged by the CIA. Along the way he receives news that his blood-pressure is dangerously high and he’s borderline diabetic. He passes out in Las Vegas, only to come to in an ambulance.

He makes it to the Hollywood sign and a new lease on life. Honeycombed through the book’s chapters are the lessons he’s learning; about connections, community, and a desire to give back from the overflow of all that he’s received. Along the way, his future becomes clear; he decides to stay in LA and work in the film industry and he succeeds. He’s now TV producer and writer, and 3 seasons of Amazing Adventures of a Nobody were aired on the National Geographic Channel. Perhaps a slightly different outcome to Che Guevara’s life-changing trip through South America, but intriguing none-the-less.

Elizabeth can relate to the fact that travel can change your life, although her reaction to “The Motorcycle Diaries” was much less book-worthy. Read more at her blog Planet Nomad.

Imagine how validated I felt when I read about Jennifer Wilson’s struggles to jump into her new life in Croatia that she chose for her family and detailed in her memoir Running Away to Home: Our Family’s Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters:

Closet shy. Huh. Jim had called it.

It’s not that I was a loner. It’s just that, over time, I’d come to prefer my own quiet company. I used to think this was because I had kids who peppered me with questions all day long and so I carved peace more than anything else. But I guess it was also tied to an emotional laziness I’d developed in my thirties. I’d never been a party girl. Then somewhere along the line, it got easier to curl up with a book than to go out and be social. Books had beginnings and endings clear-cut characters I could understand. In real life, my friends morphed into spouses or parents or committed singletons, and suddenly everyone seemed more sensitive and distant than when we were all in college together.

–Excerpt from the advanced copy of Running Away to Home, page 92

Ah yes. People are complicated. Books aren’t always. They offer an escape and they are definitely easy. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way, but I’m also glad that one of the ways I can escape into books is reading about people like Jennifer Wilson’s brave experiences picking up and leaving America for Croatia for a year. It sometimes inspires me to put down the book and make a real connection or dream a real dream.

If you liked this insight that Jennifer Wilson offers, click through to my full review and giveaway of the book over at 5 Minutes for Mom. Leave a comment over there to win one of 3 copies of the book. If you leave a comment here about this On Reading post, you’ll also gain an extra entry in the contest. The winner will be announced in our Monday 5 Minutes for Books column over at 5 Minutes for Mom on November 7.

The giveaway is closed

So, do you agree with this? Since you’ve gotten older have you become more introverted? Do books have anything to do with that?

Jennifer Donovan reads and writes (reviews mostly). You can find her here managing 5 Minutes for Books and occasionally blogging at Snapshot.

Mark Adams, working a desk job editing adventure travel stories, decided to find out the truth for himself, at least as much as possible. He set out to the Andes to retrace the famous explorer’s steps and in the process to study Bingham’s life and writings as well as Inca history. The result is Turn Right at Machu Picchu, a fascinating read which combines a history of Inca-Spainard clashes in Peru, Bingham’s adventures in exploring, and a travelogue of Adams’ own adventures in Peru, with an Australian guide right out of Crocodile Dundee and Indiana Jones.

I really, really liked this book.

Although I was thankful for the historical parts which gave me background, my favorite parts were the first person travels. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of his travels all over Peru, and the characters with whom he was traveling. First off, there was Australian guide John Leivers, who wears the same clothes every day no matter the weather, always has a machete on hand, and has no permanent address. He just has a different way of looking at the world, due to his experience of it. Then there were the muleteers and cooks, with their coca leaves to combat altitude sickness and bags of sweet snacks and sugary soft drinks, telling crazy tales and responding to events with stoicism and humour. There are the people he meets along the way, both locals and other travelers. I loved the story of the two Quechua kids, asking Adams where he was from. They had not heard of New York or the United States, but they said to him, “Is it true Michael Jackson is dead?” And finally, there is Peru itself; the steep hikes that take the travelers through different climates in the course of a single afternoon, the Inca ruins and the mysteries hidden within them, and the travails of its history. Because, although I have confessed to enjoying the modern bits best, the history is actually fascinating—gory and bloodstained and full of excitement, lots of double-crossing from both sides, fleeing Inca warriors and kings, and pursuing Spainards in search of legendary gold. Adams is a good writer, and he makes his subject matter live, infusing all with a subtle humour and wry turn of phrase.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time actually encompasses several trips that Adams takes to Peru, including his account of hiking the famous Inca Trail and even arriving to see the sunrise of the summer solstice and having a mistico in a vest embroidered with astrological signs tell him the morning had been a “major bummer,” with “hundreds of harmonically inclined people assembled…and then nothing.” (p. 285) And it ends as all good adventure yarns should—with Adams back home, talking to John Leivers, and starting to plan and hope and dream of yet another trip.

Elizabeth makes no secret of the fact that she loves to travel, and if she can’t go to a place herself, she wants to read a well-written account of someone else’s adventures. Learn more at her blog Planet Nomad.

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris is a fascinating book—half travelogue, half memoir, all interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed my imaginary strolls with him through Paris, learning more about luminaries such as Ernest Hemingway and Napoleon, but also hearing him describe life in Paris at various times. He takes the time to walk us through various routes, almost as if we were on one of his guided tours, pointing out spots of interest and taking time to recreate the feel of the place. He tells us of the cafes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Joyce, yes, but also of Picasso’s Montmartre and life under the Nazi occupation.

He has wonderful anecdotes. This book is a pleasure to read. I loved his correcting of Hemingway’s account of his return to Paris in 1944, on the heels of the retreating Nazis. He quotes Hemingway’s account and then adds in the first person account of his neighbour, Madame Dechaux, who watched the whole scene unfold from her first-floor window. It wasn’t quite as stirring and romantic as Hemingway described, although I have to admit that his version makes a much better story.

Baxter combines historical snippets and quotes with accounts of his modern-day tours. His wry tone and sardonic comments just add to the fun. This is a book to keep around—you will want to reread it several times so you, too, can drop amusing stories about opium pipes and student apartments and other erudite issues. And, of course, so that you can reread it just before you go to Paris yourself, to discover what for you will become the most beautiful walk in the world.

Elizabeth has to admit that, cliche as it is, she adores Paris! She still remembers the late afternoon light on the cobbled streets. Decide for yourself how banal she is at her blog Planet Nomad.

Today I am reviewing my three favorite Disney guides at the Kirkus Reviews site. Whether you are a new Disney World visitor or someone who has experienced the magic for yourself, I hope you will click over and read my suggestions, and chime in with your own experiences with Disney guidebooks as well.

Lauren is a wife, mother of two, and Disney addict. She enjoys sharing her love of books and Disney World, and especially likes to combine the two. Lauren blogs at Baseballs and Bows.

Please click through to read my full review of Paris, Baby!, where you can also leave a comment if you’d like to win your own copy.

Comments are closed here to remind you to read my full review of Paris, Baby! and comment over at 5 Minutes for Mom for a chance to win!

Jennifer Donovan has only been to Paris once, but it’s a city she hopes to visit again. As for revisiting the first year of motherhood? She has no plans for that. She blogs about travel when she gets a chance to, at Snapshot.