Monroe Free Library

A powerful, blazingly honest, inspiring memoir: the story of a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe--and built her back up again.

An intimate journey across and in search of America, as told by one of its most beloved writers, in a deluxe centennial edition
In September 1960, John Steinbeck embarked on a journey across America. He felt that he might have lost touch with the country, with its speech, the smell of its grass and trees, its color and quality of light, the pulse of its people. To reassure himself, he set out on a voyage of rediscovery of the American identity,...

He was Sam Clemens, steamboat pilot, before he was Mark Twain, famous author. His better-known name originated with the lingo of navigation, and much of his writing was informed by his shipboard adventures on one of the world's great rivers. In this classic of American literature, Twain offers lively recollections ranging from his salad days as a novice pilot to views from the passenger deck in the twilight of the river culture's heyday. Under the...

In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Clark's exploration of the American West, their incredible mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery. Scaling 16,000 foot mountains in the Peruvian Andes, and braving jaguars, pumas, insects, and vampire bats...

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Martin Chuzzlewit) was serialized between 1843 and 1844, and is considered to be one of Charles Dickens's last picaresque novels. Raised by his grandfather and namesake, Martin Chuzzlewit is disinherited after revealing his love for his nursemaid, Mary. With no fortune, Martin apprentices himself to the greedy architect Seth Pecksniff and befriends Tom Pinch. Although Dickens considered Martin Chuzzlewit...

"Situated in South America very close to the Equator, Ecuador is a country known for its vibrant culture and ecotourism. This book discusses the history of Ecuador, what its people and cities are like, and examines how it became the country it is today."

An early-morning workout becomes an enchanting adventure when a record-holding swimmer reunites a baby whale and its mother. An inspiring, irresistible story for all ages, from the beloved author of Swimming to Antarctica. It's five o'clock in the morning and still dark. Swimming outside the wave break off the Catalina coast, training for her next long-distance swim (she has already crossed the English Channel twice), 17-year-old Lynne Cox senses...

Just after the Iron Curtain fell on Eastern Europe, John Steinbeck and Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune. This rare opportunity took the famous travelers not only to Moscow and Stalingrad--now Volgograd--but through the countryside of the Ukraine and the Caucasus. Hailed by the New York Times as "superb" when it first appeared in 1948, this work is the distillation of their journey and remains a remarkable...