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Read to Roam for February: All the Water in the World
My Read to Roam books often sweep us off to a foreign land or unfamiliar landscape where the setting drives the sensibility of the novel and the plot.
But in February's selection, "All the Water in the World" by Eiren Caffall, we are plunged into a place so transformed by superstorms, drowned cities and privation that it only vaguely resembles somewhere recognizable.
In this one remarkable sentence, Caffall opens the door to a subsumed world and to the people who are trying to survive in it.
She writes: “I was a blur of closed heart and quiet voice, scared of the dark and of losing home, cozied in a place Mother made for us on the roof, where time and space were as mixed as they could be in The World As It Is.”
In our interview, which will air on MPR in March, Caffall explained that she was trying to create a dystopia that wasn't sterile and cold, but one in which family and the founding of unexpected community gave her characters their purpose for pressing on.
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Want to see another delicious book I'm recommending to all of my friends? This novel even worked its way into my dreams!
Find me on Instagram @KerriRoams&Reads
A Hidden Oasis, Savory Spices & the Shining Sands of the Sahara
This adventure to Morocco is stuffed with delectable meals in traditional homes, tranquil experiences in green desert oases, sunrise hikes and evenings under the vast starry skies.
We'll be guided by Paul Bowles' classic about Morocco, "The Sheltering Sky" (ever see the movie with Debra Winger & John Malkovich?) but also by contemporary writers who give us new perspective on Morocco's food, history and politics.
The trip, April 18 - 30, 2026, is maximum 13 people because our desert lodges are cozy and small.
https://www.sirensojourns.com/morocco
If you're intrigued, please drop Kerri an email at SirenSojourns@gmail.com.
Keep Reading Adventurously in 2025!
Three Books You Might’ve Missed in 2024:
I read eight books and listened to two audiobooks in the last days of December and I STILL didn’t scrape the bottom of my 2024 To Be Read list.
I figure you might be in the same predicament. So, here is explicit encouragement to keep chipping away at last year’s pile even as 2025 books begin to cascade from your favorite bookstore and your local library.
One of my favorites of 2024 is “Hester” by Laurie Lico Albanese, in which a mid-twenties Nathaniel Hawthorne falls for a married but apparently abandoned young seamstress who possesses an ability to translate words and letters into colors (like the scarlet “A’).
I loved the Salem, Mass. of Albanese’s novel and the speculation that Nat Hawthorne’s novel might have had its genesis in a doomed romance from his youth.
"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread appeared the letter A."
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
If you listen to my MPR show on books, Big Books, Bold Ideas, you won’t be surprised to see a Richard Powers book here but “Playground” is so sumptuous, so marvelous and so meaningful that I simply won’t be satisfied until every book-lover in Minnesota has read it!
And here’s a wild spin on “Gatsby” that I loved and recommended to many friends last year. I somehow missed this book when it was published in the summer of 2021 but I think “The Chosen and the Beautiful” by Nghi Vo is fantastic.
Told from the character of Jordan Baker’s perspective, we encounter a Jay Gastby who is so obsessed with Daisy Buchanan (now married to someone else) that he has bartered away his soul for a second chance with her.
The descriptions of the decadence, the careless wealth and the parties! are delicious and I loved the way Vo pulled a glittering magic thread through this most familiar of stories.
Now, go on! Keep reading adventurously in 2025.
A Writer on Climate You Shouldn't Miss
Sometimes when you're head is full of images and extraordinary reporting on devastation (see the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires) you need to zoom the lens out for a wider and believe it or not, more hopeful view.
That's when I turn to Katherine Hayhoe: Nature Conservancy scientist, evangelical, author.
She is the antidote to disaster-driven despair. Here's our Big Books, Bold Ideas interview about her most recent and must-read book, "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World."
https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2022/03/29/from-the-archives-climate-scientist-katharine-hayhoe
And if you want the latest news on climate policy and science, check out the NYT's "Climate Forward." I recently subscribed and read an excellent story on the billions being pledged to bring electricity to Africa. What's truly intriguing is how they'll use solar and wind to do it.
February, 2026 in Cuba!
Donald Trump's election sent a wobble through travel companies who take Americans to Cuba.
I heard from a friend in New England who sent a letter to clients explaining why she was pausing all future trips to the island for several years, and her explanation included this:
"After the recent election results and the appointment of a vehemently anti-Cuba Secretary of State, I prefer to focus on our other destinations. The company already endured one Trump administration and the chaos he brought to Cuba tourism, so I don’t want to do it again. "
But Conde Nast Magazine says there has never been a more exciting time to go to Cuba. And the Cuba outfitter that I collaborated with for my 2024 trip has decided to keep sharing the green and rural beauty of the island with travelers, so we are adventuring to Cuba in February, 2026!!
Want to go with me? Drop me a "yes, I'm in!" email at: SirenSojourns@gmail.com.