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Little Book Of Days
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Book Synopsis Little Book of Days by : Nona Caspers
Download or read book Little Book of Days written by Nona Caspers and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fiction. Cross-Genre. "Nona Caspers gives us a refreshingly honest and poignant slice of truth in her BOOK OF DAYS. Observing cars, neighbors, ground squirrels, desire and death, BOOK OF DAYS is a contemporary take on Montaigne's famous ESSAYS, so alive that every page feels as if it's breathing"--Maxine Chernoff. "I like how she falls through the present into prehistory (of this or that specific thing) in a blink. Supported by a rhythm of the claws of love, a hand on the back of your head, the warmth inside of coldness of the daily fading world--an avalanche of quiet risk-taking, this book sings"--Eileen Myles. Nona Caspers is also the author of Heavier Than Air: Stories (University of Massachusetts Press), which won the Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction and was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. She's been awarded an NEA fellowship and Iowa Review Fiction Award along with other awards and is an Associate Professor at San Francisco State University.
Book Synopsis The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days by : Alda Sigmundsdóttir
Download or read book The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days written by Alda Sigmundsdóttir and published by Little Books Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-21 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Iceland in centuries past was a formidable place to live. Situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the edge of the inhabitable world, the nation was both isolated and abjectly poor. Centuries of colonization translated into oppression and subjugation from the colonial overlords, and a hostile climate and repeated natural disasters meant that mere survival was a challenge to even the hardiest of souls. In these 50 miniature essays, Alda Sigmundsdottir writes about the Icelanders in centuries past in a light and humorous way, yet never without admiration and respect for the resilience and strength they showed in coping with conditions of adversity that are barely imaginable today. Their ways of interacting with the natural world are described, as are their sometimes tragic, sometimes ingenious, means of dealing with maltreatment and injustice from the church and other rulers. These forms of oppression include a trade monopoly imposed by Denmark that lasted nearly two centuries, a ban on dancing that lasted for a similar length of time, the forced dissolution of households when the breadwinner of the family died, the tyranny of merchants granted exclusive right to trade with the Icelanders, and the dreaded decrees of the Grand Judgement—a court of law that was set up to punish various offenses, real or imagined. Yet it is not only the “big picture” that is described in this book, but also the various smaller aspects that shed light on the daily life of the Icelanders of old. These include their ingenious ways of coping with lack, of preserving food, of finding shelter, of creating or admitting light into their homes, as well as the innumerable and sometimes wacky superstitions attached to various life events, big and small. The hilarious customs of hospitality and visiting are also described, as are some of the sexual activates of Icelanders in the past, their belief in elves and hidden people, sexual interactions with hidden people (!), ways of dealing with grief, interactions with foreigners, and much, much more. Today’s Iceland is a modern, cosmopolitan place, with one of the highest standards of living in the world. Yet less than a century ago, this paragon of equality and peace was the poorest society in Europe. The conditions of life described in this book are therefore not very distant from the Icelanders today, and many of the aspects described are still very much reflected in Iceland’s unique culture. In short, The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days is not only a funny, witty, and wise exposé on the Icelanders’ daily life in the past, it is also essential to understanding the Icelandic national character today. Among the fascinating subjects broached in The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days: • How Icelanders' housing developed from stately longhouses to tiny turf farms • The kvöldvaka: how Icelanders managed to live through the long, dark winters • Social structure among the common folk (farmers to vagabonds) • All the superstitions: how folks attempted to gain control over their lives • The elf belief deconstructed: why did those tales of hidden people develop? • No time to be a kid (being a child was tough in the Iceland of old) • Sex and the church (yep, Icelandic ecclesiastical authorities also meddled in people's sex lives) • Precious, precious food. How do you live on the edge of the inhabitable world, where hardly anything grows? • Welcoming guests: smooching and other etiquettes • Foreigners in Iceland. Think Iceland had no visitors back then? Think again! ... and so much more!
Download or read book A Book of Days written by Patti Smith and published by Random House. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply moving and brilliantly idiosyncratic visual book of days by the National Book Award–winning author of Just Kids and M Train, featuring more than 365 images and reflections that chart Smith’s singular aesthetic—inspired by her wildly popular Instagram. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Variety, Pitchfork, PopSugar In 2018, without any plan or agenda for what might happen next, Patti Smith posted her first Instagram photo: her hand with the simple message “Hello Everybody!” Known for shooting with her beloved Land Camera 250, Smith started posting images from her phone including portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots, and her Abyssinian cat, Cairo. Followers felt an immediate affinity with these miniature windows into Smith’s world, photographs of her daily coffee, the books she’s reading, the graves of beloved heroes—William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Simone Weil, Albert Camus. Over time, a coherent story of a life devoted to art took shape, and more than a million followers responded to Smith’s unique aesthetic in images that chart her passions, devotions, obsessions, and whims. Original to this book are vintage photographs: anniversary pearls, a mother’s keychain, and a husband’s Mosrite guitar. Here, too, are photos from Smith’s archives of life on and off the road, train stations, obscure cafés, a notebook always nearby. In wide-ranging yet intimate daily notations, Smith shares dispatches from her travels around the world. With over 365 photographs taking you through a single year, A Book of Days is a new way to experience the expansive mind of the visionary poet, writer, and performer. Hopeful, elegiac, playful—and complete with an introduction by Smith that explores her documentary process—A Book of Days is a timeless offering for deeply uncertain times, an inspirational map of an artist’s life.
Book Synopsis The Little Book of Revelation by : Eli of Kittim
Download or read book The Little Book of Revelation written by Eli of Kittim and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2013-02-15 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of 2015 Religion & Spirituality Double Decker Books Awards on Goodreads This book is a fascinating study in search of the real Jesus. The author concludes that scripture is essentially a collection of prophecies, not a record of past events. Jesus did not say, "Blessed is he who heeds the words of the history of this book," but rather "Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." Thus, the current tenets of Christianity with regard to the origin and advent of Jesus are based on fundamental misconceptions. The book ́s argument is that Christ ́s visitation has not yet occurred in the world of time, since it is a future event, and that his origin will be derived from the Greeks, not the Jews, when he does appear.
Book Synopsis A Little Book of Days by : Rachel Field
Download or read book A Little Book of Days written by Rachel Field and published by . This book was released on 1936 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Verses and pictures for children's favourite holidays--ranging from New Year's Day, St. Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas to Anybody's Birthday.
Book Synopsis The Little Book of Joy by : Joanne Ruelos Diaz
Download or read book The Little Book of Joy written by Joanne Ruelos Diaz and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover 365 ways to share joy every day with this little book packed with fun facts, mindful activities, trivia, birthdays, and international days relating to each day of the year Discover a different way to find happiness every day of the year with this pocket-size book that celebrates the little things that bring great joy. Be inspired by famous people on their birthdays; learn how to spot and find flowers throughout each season; create your own gratitude jar; learn how to make pastries; make a gift for someone you love; discover the pleasure of letter writing; and find joy in a rainy day. Packed with art activities, famous birthdays, inventions, international holidays, facts, and trivia about the world around us, each page offers a mindful prompt to encourage gratitude for things we have, every day.
Book Synopsis The Little Book of the Hidden People by : Alda Sigmundsdóttir
Download or read book The Little Book of the Hidden People written by Alda Sigmundsdóttir and published by Little Books Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-21 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Icelandic folklore is rife with tales of elves and hidden people that inhabited hills and rocks in the landscape. But what do those elf stories really tell us about the Iceland of old and the people who lived there? In this book, author Alda Sigmundsdóttir presents twenty translated elf stories from Icelandic folklore, along with fascinating notes on the context from which they sprung. The international media has had a particular infatuation with the Icelanders’ elf belief, generally using it to propagate some kind of “kooky Icelanders” myth. Yet Iceland’s elf folklore, at its core, reflects the plight of a nation living in abject poverty on the edge of the inhabitable world, and its people’s heroic efforts to survive, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. That is what the stories of the elves, or hidden people, are really about. In a country that was, at times, virtually uninhabitable, where poverty was endemic and death and grief a part of daily life, the Icelanders nurtured a belief in a world that existed parallel to their own. This was the world of the hidden people, which more often than not was a projection of the most fervent dreams and desires of the human population. The hidden people lived inside hillocks, cliffs, or boulders, very close to the abodes of the humans. Their homes were furnished with fine, sumptuous objects. Their clothes were luxurious, their adornments beautiful. Their livestock was better and fatter, their sheep yielded more wool than regular sheep, their crops were more bounteous. They even had supernatural powers: they could make themselves visible or invisible at will, and they could see the future. To the Icelanders, stories of elves and hidden people are an integral part of the cultural and psychological fabric of their nation. They are a part of their identity, a reflection of the struggles, hopes, resilience, and endurance of their people. What you will read about in The Little Book of the Hidden People: • The fascination in the international media: why are they so obsessed with elves? • The meaning of elf: what do hidden people stories tell us about the psyche of the Icelanders of old? • The elves' badassery—they could make or break your fortune so you’d better be nice! • The ljúflingar ... hidden men who became the lovers of mortal women • Glamorous and regal: why were the elves so damn good-looking? • The grim realities: what do scholars believe about all those children abducted by elves? ... and so much more!
Book Synopsis The Little Book of the Icelanders by : Alda Sigmundsdóttir
Download or read book The Little Book of the Icelanders written by Alda Sigmundsdóttir and published by Little Books Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-21 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After more than 20 years away, Alda Sigmundsdottir returned to her native Iceland as a foreigner. With a native person's insight yet an outsider's perspective, Alda quickly set about dissecting the national psyche of the Icelanders. This second edition, from 2018, contains new and updated chapters from the original edition, reflecting the changes in Icelandic society and among the Icelandic people since the book was first published in 2012. Among the fascinating subjects broached in The Little Book of the Icelanders: • The appalling driving habits of the Icelanders • Naming conventions and customs • The Icelanders’ profound fear of commitment • The Icelanders’ irreverence • Why Icelandic women are really men • How the Icelanders manage to make social interactions really complicated • The importance of the family in Icelandic society • Where to go to meet the real Icelanders (and possibly score some free financial advice) • Rituals associated with the most important life events (weddings, confirmations, graduations, and deaths) ... and many more. One chapter leads to the next, creating a continuous chain of storytelling. It feels as if you’re sitting in the author’s kitchen, enjoying a cup of coffee and conversing with her about the quirks of her countrymen, every now and then bursting out laughing. [...] I’m going to heartily recommend The Little Book of the Icelanders, both to fans of Sigmundsdóttir’s blog and those unfamiliar with her work. - Iceland Review Online There aren’t many books I’d recommend reading over morning coffee but The Little Book of the Icelanders is one of them. [...] I laughed at the essays in this book, not because I was laughing at Icelanders but because I recognize much of the behavior in myself and members of my family. It felt good. It’s not just the sanest, most impressive characteristics that we pass on and share but also some of the zaniest. As I read this book, I frequently thought, yup, I’m definitely part Icelandic. - Lögberg-Heimskringla, Canada Excerpt "Even though they live on the edge of the inhabitable world with engulfing darkness for several months of the year, the Icelanders continue to score among the most optimistic people in the world. Is it the fish? The fresh air? The cod liver oil? Natural selection? The copious amounts of anti-depressants they consume? Nobody really knows. However, one thing is sure: this character trait serves Icelanders well and has helped the nation cope with innumerable shocks, from volcanic eruptions to famines, to a massive economic crisis. Whatever happens, you can be sure that the Icelanders will seek the silver lining and soldier on, firmly believing that things will soon get better. Indeed it is fascinating to observe how the Icelanders deal with trauma at a national level. Their initial reaction always seems to be to bond together. People who on regular days will bicker and quarrel amongst themselves, suddenly become enormously supportive of each other. I’ve seen this happen in the aftermath of disasters such as snow avalanches and volcanic eruptions, or tragedies that capture the nation’s attention. Take, for example, the economic meltdown of 2008, which for the Icelanders was one of the most catastrophic events in recent history. Many people feared an onslaught of suicides in the wake of all the bankruptcies that ensued. Yet it turned out that the number of suicides actually declined. According to the Directorate of Health, it was because the nation had bonded together, and people were closer and more supportive of each other than they had been in a very long time. In other words, the optimism is probably a long-term survival strategy. After all, through the centuries of hardship and geographical isolation that the Icelandic nation has endured, defeat was not an option – it was stand together, fight together, or die."
Book Synopsis The Little Book of Icelandic by : Alda Sigmundsdottir
Download or read book The Little Book of Icelandic written by Alda Sigmundsdottir and published by Little Books Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-21 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Icelandic is one of the oldest and most complex languages in the world. In this book, Alda Sigmundsdóttir looks at the Icelandic language with wit and humor, and how it reflects the heart and soul of the Icelandic people and their culture. Many of the Icelanders' idioms and proverbs, their meaning, and origins are discussed, as is the Icelanders' love for their language and their attempts to keep it pure through the ongoing construction of new words and terminology. There is a section on Icelandic curse words as well as Icelandic slang, which is mostly derived from English. Throughout, this book deconstructs Icelandic vocabulary, and the often-hilarious, almost naive, ways in which words are made. Among the fascinating topics broached in The Little Book of Icelandic: • The Language Committee: how Icelanders struggle to keep their language “pure” • Let's make a word!—How names for new things are constructed • Old letters, strange sounds: wrapping your tongue around the Icelanders’ tongue • $#*!%&!“#$%*, or how Icelanders curse • The missing dialects—why Icelandic has none • Which is the prettiest of all: contests to find the most lovely word in Icelandic (and the ugliest!) • Quintessential Icelandic words and phrases (the ones that describe the Icelanders like no others) • Useful phrases to impress your new Icelandic friends! • Klósett—the unexpected origin of the Icelandic word for toilet ... and so much more! This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the Icelandic people, their culture—and of course their language. Excerpt "Idioms and proverbs provide a unique insight into the soul of a nation. They say so much about a people’s history—the heartfelt, the tragic, the monumental, the proud. Icelandic has a vast number of idioms and proverbs that are a direct throwback to our nation’s past, especially idioms relating to the ocean, which is such a massive force in our nation's history. Many of them we use all the time without ever giving a thought to their origins. What follows is a random sampling—I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I did. — Idiom: Eins og skrattinn úr sauðaleggnum Translation: Like Satan out of the sheep’s leg bone Meaning: Unexpectedly, out of the blue If someone suddenly appeared, especially someone I didn’t really want to see, I might say hann kom eins og skrattinn úr sauðaleggnum, literally “he appeared like Satan out of the sheep’s leg bone”. Where the affiliation between a sheep’s leg bone and the prince of darkness comes in I could not tell you. However, I can tell you that, in the old days, Icelandic children (being impoverished and everything) had no proper toys. Instead, they played with sheeps’ bones, each of which was assigned a role. The jawbones were the cows, the joints of the legs were the sheep, and the leg bones were the horses. So maybe folks were worried that Satan—being the crafty bugger that he was—would install himself in a sheeps’ leg bone when the kids were playing and then suddenly BOO! pop out and scare the bejeezus out of them. It’s just a theory. Incidentally, the use of this idiom is not confined to people—it is also successfully used to comment on unwanted happenings, as in: “Damn, this huge phone bill comes like Satan out of a sheep’s leg bone!”
Book Synopsis A Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year by : Tom Nissley
Download or read book A Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year written by Tom Nissley and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A witty and addictively readable day-by-day literary companion. At once a love letter to literature and a charming guide to the books most worth reading, A Reader's Book of Days features bite-size accounts of events in the lives of great authors for every day of the year. Here is Marcel Proust starting In Search of Lost Time and Virginia Woolf scribbling in the margin of her own writing, "Is it nonsense, or is it brilliance?" Fictional events that take place within beloved books are also included: the birth of Harry Potter’s enemy Draco Malfoy, the blood-soaked prom in Stephen King’s Carrie. A Reader's Book of Days is filled with memorable and surprising tales from the lives and works of Martin Amis, Jane Austen, James Baldwin, Roberto Bolano, the Brontë sisters, Junot Díaz, Philip K. Dick, Charles Dickens, Joan Didion, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Keats, Hilary Mantel, Haruki Murakami, Flannery O’Connor, Orhan Pamuk, George Plimpton, Marilynne Robinson, W. G. Sebald, Dr. Seuss, Zadie Smith, Susan Sontag, Hunter S. Thompson, Leo Tolstoy, David Foster Wallace, and many more. The book also notes the days on which famous authors were born and died; it includes lists of recommended reading for every month of the year as well as snippets from book reviews as they appeared across literary history; and throughout there are wry illustrations by acclaimed artist Joanna Neborsky. Brimming with nearly 2,000 stories, A Reader's Book of Days will have readers of every stripe reaching for their favorite books and discovering new ones.
Book Synopsis The Little Book of Light by : Mikaela Katherine Jones
Download or read book The Little Book of Light written by Mikaela Katherine Jones and published by Conari Press. This book was released on 2020-10-01 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of 111 short, inspiring teachings on how to let your light shine regardless of what's going on in your life. Stressed out by life? Need a little extra comfort, inspiration, and love? Whether you've lost your way or are just having a bad day, The Little Book of Light is the ideal pick-me-up, a reminder that love and joy are available in every moment. This elegantly packaged little gift book will inspire, uplift, and enlighten with digestible nuggets of inspiration. It appeals to people of all spiritual traditions and at various stages on their spiritual path without being religious. The Little Book of Life is bite-sized inspirational wisdom that will help illuminate your path, no matter how dark it may sometimes appear. It will help you stay connected with your true self, and find daily delight so you can shine.
Book Synopsis Little Book of Letting Go by : Hugh Prather
Download or read book Little Book of Letting Go written by Hugh Prather and published by Mango Media. This book was released on 2021-11-01 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Let It Go and Find Happiness “Letting go —particularly of fear —has been my desire and goal for years. With the help of this book, I am finally beginning to do it!” —M. J. Ryan, author of Attitudes of Gratitude 2021 International Book Awards finalist in Spirituality: Inspiration Life does not have to be as complicated as we often make it. Little Book of Letting Go shows us how to let go of the blocks that interfere with experiencing our natural state of wholeness, joy, and peace. Let it go and shed what weighs you down. From long-harbored guilt to deep-rooted prejudices, many of us bear the weight of harmful tendencies in our daily lives. Whether we realize it or not, these things are actively holding us back from the happiness we long to attain. In this inspirational book, minister and counselor Hugh Prather provides a guide for mental cleansing. It is only in ridding our minds of the fear and judgments we cling to that we open the door for happiness. Embrace opportunities as they come. The more we hold on to, the less room we have to take on more. If our minds are clouded by negativity, then we aren’t facing each day with the openness that it deserves. By facing each moment with enthusiasm, we pave the path for positive thinking and make the most out of every opportunity that comes our way. Practical exercises and lasting tools. Changing how we think takes practice. This is why Prather doesn’t just tell us that it’s important to let go —he shares with us simple steps for how to go about letting go of things that hold us back. Through learning from Prather’s shared experiences and adopting the practices he offers, we can find happiness, peace, and a chance at spiritual renewal. Inside discover: A simple 3-step process for letting go A 30-day plan for spiritual renewal Personal stories from Prather Readers of Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, It’s All Under Control, The Art of Happiness, or Love is Letting Go of Fear, will love Little Book of Letting Go.
Download or read book Book of Days written by James L. Rubart and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2011 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young video producer suffering memory loss goes in search of God's book of days--described in Psalm 139--that has recorded the past, present, and future of every soul on Earth.
Download or read book Victoria Book of Days written by and published by Hearst Communications. This book was released on 1989 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than one hundred beautiful photographs and illustrations from Victorian writers and poets provide ideas for gift giving, collecting, and gardening.
Book Synopsis An Advent Book of Days by : Gregory K. Cameron
Download or read book An Advent Book of Days written by Gregory K. Cameron and published by Canterbury Press. This book was released on 2021-08-20 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Advent Book of Days tells the stories of all the characters and creatures that make up the Christmas story, with daily prayers and reflections based on their experiences. Fully illustrated in colour, this rich seasonal companion combines the bible, history, art and legend to explore the story of the incarnation. For each day of Advent, we meet a character caught up in the drama of the nativity, from the archangel Gabriel to the ox and ass in the stable. We discover what their portrayal in scripture reveals about them, how they have been understood in history, what folk legends have accrued around them, and what their stories offer for faith and devotion today. This is a book to engage all the senses and the imagination, to be enjoyed slowly and to shed new light on the most famous and familiar story of all.
Book Synopsis The Little Book of Tourists in Iceland by : Alda Sigmundsdóttir
Download or read book The Little Book of Tourists in Iceland written by Alda Sigmundsdóttir and published by Little Books Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-21 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Iceland is in the midst of an unprecedented tourist boom that has brought wealth to the country, but also myriad issues and challenges. Through a series of short essays, this book provides a unique insight into the social and environmental impact that tourism is having on Iceland, and with wit and intelligence offers invaluable tips for touring safely, responsibly, and in harmony with the locals. A fascinating resource for anyone interested in contemporary Iceland, and an essential companion for all visitors to the country. Among the topics addressed in this book: • Why now?—Reasons for the tourism boom in Iceland • The impact of tourism on Iceland’s housing market, health care system, law enforcement, search and rescue operations, and more • Touring Iceland, staying safe—the things to keep in mind while traveling in Iceland’s treacherous terrain • Out driving. The most dangerous parts of Iceland? Its roads! Read our tips for staying safe • What they think of us—he things our visitors complain about • What we think of them: tourist behaviors that really, seriously irk the Icelanders • Crazy stories of tourists in Iceland (hahaha oh lord!) • The environmental footprint: depletion of natural resources, pollution, and the physical impact of tourism • Taxing tourists? The endless debate and what it entails • Can't we just all get along? Tips for touring in harmony with the locals • The truth about those Iceland myths: jailed bankers, believing in elves, the incest app, sleeping around ... don’t believe everything you hear! • The hilarious questions we get (“What time do the northern lights come on?”) ... and so much more! Excerpt "Yes, Iceland’s landscape is treacherous, and there are dangers in both expected and unexpected places. Yet the most dangerous aspect of touring Iceland is not those hot springs, glaciers, or rogue waves, but something far more commonplace: driving. Iceland has a very low population density—only about three people per square kilometer, or eight per square mile. Building and maintaining an efficient road system obviously costs a few crowns, and hitherto the Icelanders have been, if not entirely satisfied, then at least reasonably content with their single-lane highways, gravel roads, and the mountainous F-roads that are generally only open in summer. So here we are, merrily driving on our sub-standard roads and suddenly there is a tourist boom, resulting in far more cars on the road than ever before, including whole convoys of tour buses. This means increased wear and tear on roads that were already unsuitable for so much traffic and that require more frequent maintenance if they are to be kept safe. Also, many Icelandic roads are not built for the volume of traffic that they are now experiencing. For instance, shoulders have been known to collapse when a tour bus has moved too far over to one side of a narrow road, in order to make way for an oncoming vehicle. Thankfully there have been no serious injuries to people under such circumstances, but there have been enough scares to make people stand up and pay attention. A related problem that has been growing ever more serious is the limited experience of many folks when it comes to the driving conditions endemic to Iceland. I am speaking of driving in strong winds, winter driving, two-lane highways, gravel roads, and so on. [...] So the road system definitely needs a major overhaul. However, that is not an undertaking that can be completed overnight, and besides, it is entirely open to debate whether we want all those roads improved. More on that later. For now, at least, we must accept the sort of road system we have, and try our best to make our visitors aware of the main dangers and risks of motoring in Iceland, so that we can all stay safe."
Download or read book The Little Book of History written by DK and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journey through time and explore more than 60 of the most important events in world history! See the past come to life in the most spectacular way! From the beginning of civilization to the modern world, discover the perfect pocket-sized introduction to human history. Inside the pages of this visual reference book, you’ll find: • Bold illustrations and infographics that bring complex historical events to life • Clear, authoritative text that explains the underlying causes behind historical events, and how the events unfolded • A lightweight, compact format that makes it ideal for vacation reading • Entries that are truly international in scope Human history in your pocket From the birth of Athenian democracy to the launch of Sputnik and the Global Financial Crisis, this informative little book provides you with an overview of the most fascinating events in history that shaped our world as we know it! Get to know some of the most important thinkers and leaders throughout history such as Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Nelson Mandela. Packed with infographics and flowcharts that explain complex concepts in a simple but exciting way, The Little Book of History is a modern twist on the good old-fashioned encyclopedia. It’s perfect for holidaymakers looking to go beyond the standard beach read. Even more Little Books to discover The Little Book of History series uses a combination of creative typography, bold infographics, and clear text to explore every area of a subject. For the perfect introduction to politics and political thought throughout history, look out for The Little Book of Politics. More titles in this series include The Little Book of Economics and The Little Book of Philosophy.
