BOOKPATHS

Lake Tahoe, California

As a frequent visitor to Lake Tahoe, it’s only recently that I finally picked up the first in Todd Borg’s mystery series, followed by the second, third, fourth, and fifth novels -- and I’m still reading. Who can resist Own McKenna, a Dalmatian owning, art loving, detective whose beautiful girlfriend, Street Casey, just happens to be an entomologist often called in to help solve homicides. The Owen McKenna Mystery Thrillers will keep you guessing, and reading, while also taking you on a tour of Tahoe and the surrounding region, including Emerald Bay, Maggie’s Peak, Mt. Tallac, Zephyr Cove, Evans, Red Hut, and on and on. Tahoe Hijack! is the most recent in the series. For other titles and information, visit Todd Borg’s website.

New Orleans, Louisiana

In the September issue of Smithsonian, Randy Fertel explains why New Orleans is "my kind of town."

New Orleans is a Southern anomaly: in the South but not of the South, more Catholic (or pagan) than Baptist, as much Caribbean (or Mediterranean) as American. Almost everything here bears explanation, even how we orient ourselves. Because of the curve in the Mississippi River that makes us the Crescent City, we look to its West Bank for the sunrise. North Rampart is east of South Rampart. Since standard directionals are unreliable, we use our own: Lake Pontchartrain is on one side of the city; the Mississippi River on the other. Riverside and lakeside, Uptown and Downtown, as the river flows: those make up our compass rose.

England

Writer and translator, Jesse Browner, explains why we "must read" A Month in the Country, by J. L. Carr.

Most importantly, Tom needs to be healed, as we all do to some extent, and he is — by the restorative powers of his slow, patient work, by his recognition of love, even unfulfilled love, as a regenerative force, by the erosion of his isolation in the warm waters of community. And as his month in the country comes to its gentle, quiet end, the reader, too, somehow feels healed, as if they had shared a common, ancient hurt.

Egypt

Negar Azimi considers the question -- "what do Egypt's writers do now?"

Still, his tale [Waguih Ghali's 'Beer in Snooker Club'] presents uncanny parallels to today’s Egypt, where artists, intellectuals and youth at large are beginning to fashion a new cultural republic of sorts even as they also struggle to find their bearings.

New York, New York

Christopher Reynolds shares some "New York City's spots for book lovers."

So, old-fashioned book people, hit literary Manhattan soon and hard. Even if you have only three days, as I did earlier this year, you can squeeze in an eight-stop tour, complete with thinking, drinking, Bibles, tote bags and a certain pair of municipal mascots.

Dublin, Ireland

Author John Banville (pen name Benjamin Black) describes Dublin noir.

Like his protagonist, Black's Dublin setting is flawed, but full of character. 'I suppose I love this place,' Black says. 'I feel very odd saying it. In a way, it's the cheapest thing you can do. It's like saying, 'I love my mother,' or 'Apple pie is nice.' But I suppose I love this place in a strange, embittered kind of way, which is the best way to love somewhere I think.'