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Read To Roam: This Book Must Be Heard to be Fully Appreciated!
Every now and then, the perfect novel converges with just the right narrator and a wonderful audiobook experience is born.
John Larison’s 2018 debut novel, “Whiskey When We’re Dry” is the Civil War-era tale of Jessie Harney, a sharpshooting, cross-dressing, intrepid girl in pursuit of her brother, Noah, a legendary Wild West Robin Hood.
As Jessie and her horse Ingrid travel through Utah and beyond, word of her prodigious skills with pistols and rifles precede her and eventually turn her into a legend of her own.
Her adventures are captivating and suspenseful but it’s the voice Larison created for Jessie that is so compelling. At 14, she’s both brave and frightened, introspective and foolish, philosophical and young–so young–the way teen-agers are!
And I can’t imagine any narrator more pitch perfect than Sophie Amoss. She imbues Jessie’s voice with both bravado and tenderness and she’s a perfect argument for why some novels just resonate more deeply in the ear.
Vietnam UnVeiled: November 2026
My last trip to Vietnam was too much city and not enough Nature.
So I'm working with a zoologist on an itinerary for November of 2026 that will take us deep into the forests, national parks and mountain reserves of Cambodia and Vietnam in search of some of the rarest creatures in Asia.
We'll sleep in lodges and farms and spend our days among the monkeys, lions and rare birds of these remarkable landscapes.
More details to come. This adventure is for everyone! If you're intrigued, email Kerri at SirenSojourns@gmail.com.
How YOU Read to Roam
On our way west and north from Cienfuegos to Havana , I asked each Chicks Only Cuba adventurer to reflect on a novel whose setting was so vivid and so alluring that they dreamed of experiencing it.
So, beware! This list (the first part appears this month, and more will appear in subsequent Roaming & Readings) may be hazardous to your travel budget but oh so fulfilling to the spirit.
When Laurie plunged into Lisa See's "Island of Sea Women," she was immediately captivated by the warm vibrant sea, lush fauna and matriarchal society of Korea's Jeju Island. The novel, which moves from present day to the Japanese occupation in the late 1930's, follows two close friends through war and upheaval, the loss of their parents and their own entry into arranged marriages, when they're long time friendship will be tested.
Laura was intrigued with the setting of rural Mongolia, which is where Quan Barry's "When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East."
Twin brothers have been tasked with seeking out the reincarnated person of a great spiritual leader, but like any terrific road novel, the adventure is in the quest, not the fulfillment of the mission.
Laura relished the reading experience: "Lyrical, spiritual, joyous."
I found Danna's enthusiasm for Newfoundland, Canada so inspiring that SirenSojourns is headed there some day! She chose "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams," by Wayne Johnston. This biographical novel follows Joe Smallwood from his childhood as the eldest of 13 to his election as the province's first premier. Smallwood's beloved and unforgiving landscape glows with beauty and brilliance in Wayne Johnston's descriptions. He said: "Newfoundland is that kind of place. It makes you want to live up to the landscape, but on the other hand, it offers you no resources to do so. There's always this constant yearning...that helped me to start writing." Danna said, "It was a strange book and wonderful and it made me want to go to Newfoundland ." In fact, even though she's never been there, she receives a Newfoundland travel letter newsletter.
More Roam to Read novels next month!
Summer Talking Volumes in Red Wing!
We're taking Talking Volumes on the road to Red Wing on June 4th. Leif Enger's new book, "I Cheerfully Refuse," follows a bereaved musician who sets sail on Lake Superior in search of his recently departed wife.
Tickets are on sale now! Would love to see you at the Shelden in Red Wing.
Bookstore Radar
Next time you're in Chicago, drop in on Semicolon Books. Peruse the shelves, admire the art and support their efforts to provide books to the next generation of readers!