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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Absolutely transports you to life in the Caribbean - a must read!
This was a fun read overall. I really liked the focus on food because that is also my top priority when traveling. I personally also liked learning about what it's like to sail the intracoastal waterway, as someone who lived beside it for most of my childhood.
In a few months I'll be cruising with family and friends on a catamaran in the BVI. My clever friend who will be our captain shared this book to get me ready. What a delight! The story is fun and light; a recounting of their trip. But the focus on food and new friends is what draws you in. I suspect the islands today are more spoiled and perhaps a little less friendly and slightly more corporate with new developments but it was wonderful to be able to live vicariously for a bit. And at least I'll have all her recipes to try as we sail! Really enjoyed this book!
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Middle-aged white couple buys a sailboard and takes a two-year sea voyage, mostly around the Caribbean. The husband is really the sailor in the family but the wife finds a way to make the trip her own as well—mostly through cooking. Through befriending locals, she learns to cook a variety of new foods and, of course, they have all sorts of adventures—some of them dangerous. I found it a little dull, but only because travel writing just isn’t my cup of tea. It’s fairly engaging; if it sounds like the sort of thing you normally like, then you’ll like it.
I rarely cry when I read books, but this one was an exception. I couldn't help but tear up as I made it through the last few pages (before the "four years later" chapter).
Ann's description of EVERYTHING--sailing, meeting new people, encountering diverse cultures, eating, cooking--was just delightful, easy to read, and completely engrossing. Their experiences felt like mine, start to finish. And at the end, I didn't wish for their journey to continue just so I could continue reading; I truly didn't want it to end for them.
I cannot wait to try some of the tempting recipes included in the text. What a superb way to wrap up each chapter.
I may not cry at books, but I do cry when I get home from vacation. No wonder the words became blurry to me as Ann and Steve ended a TWO YEAR vacation. But it turned out to be so much more for them...and so much more for me, too.
An absolute pleasure to read.
Ann's description of EVERYTHING--sailing, meeting new people, encountering diverse cultures, eating, cooking--was just delightful, easy to read, and completely engrossing. Their experiences felt like mine, start to finish. And at the end, I didn't wish for their journey to continue just so I could continue reading; I truly didn't want it to end for them.
I cannot wait to try some of the tempting recipes included in the text. What a superb way to wrap up each chapter.
I may not cry at books, but I do cry when I get home from vacation. No wonder the words became blurry to me as Ann and Steve ended a TWO YEAR vacation. But it turned out to be so much more for them...and so much more for me, too.
An absolute pleasure to read.
A delightful escape from a Cincinnati winter. The recipes (especially for cocktails) were enough to make me ask for my own copy for Christmas.
I am completely unqualified to give any sort of unbiased review about this book, as it is about one's love for the Caribbean. The nostalgia was so strong, I am now inspired to make a DVD of my time in Martinique and surrounding islands. Time to make myself another Ti-punch.
Very easy to read and approachable. What a fun book that describes cruising so well, even nearly 30 years after it was written. It's chock full of recipes for different dishes Vanderhoof learned/created on her 2 year stint as a cruiser on a sailboat. I enjoyed living the life through her eyes, ears, and experiences and found much to relate to in my own journey.
Originally posted at Fancy Terrible:
I started reading this on a crisp, bright, fall morning, where the temperature outside barely reached the mid-50s (that’s just out of the single digits for you Celsius folks). It didn’t take much to get me into the smooth, clear waters of the Caribbean, the juicy, brightly colored fruits at the market, the spicy, warm fire of the rum.
Many travel narratives are born from this urge for the traveler to try and find her/himself . . . to pick up after some kind of crisis in their life and travel in order to discover what they truly want out of the rest of their life. This isn’t that, and I fell in love with the simplicity of the premise: a couple, too overworked, decide they’ve had enough. They plan to save enough money and sail for about two years. Then they do it. Folded into this simplicity is something else I love, which is the fact that Ann Vanderhoof and her husband, Steve, are able to share the shift in their lives and the joy of living something new for a while. Or as Ann puts it: “This year has given us a closeness — a pleasure in each other’s company — that I know many couples yearn for. We trust each other too, in a different, deeper way.”
To read the rest, please visit www.fancyterrible.com.
I started reading this on a crisp, bright, fall morning, where the temperature outside barely reached the mid-50s (that’s just out of the single digits for you Celsius folks). It didn’t take much to get me into the smooth, clear waters of the Caribbean, the juicy, brightly colored fruits at the market, the spicy, warm fire of the rum.
Many travel narratives are born from this urge for the traveler to try and find her/himself . . . to pick up after some kind of crisis in their life and travel in order to discover what they truly want out of the rest of their life. This isn’t that, and I fell in love with the simplicity of the premise: a couple, too overworked, decide they’ve had enough. They plan to save enough money and sail for about two years. Then they do it. Folded into this simplicity is something else I love, which is the fact that Ann Vanderhoof and her husband, Steve, are able to share the shift in their lives and the joy of living something new for a while. Or as Ann puts it: “This year has given us a closeness — a pleasure in each other’s company — that I know many couples yearn for. We trust each other too, in a different, deeper way.”
To read the rest, please visit www.fancyterrible.com.