May – Booklist
The bustle of the summer vacation season is upon us. In the modern world we can travel across the world in a day by boarding a plane, take a leisure cruise on almost any ocean, hop a train around the city or across the country, or drive in our reliable and efficient cars for hours on end. This book list explores both the history of transportation as we know it today and the imaginative storytelling it has inspired. So, jump aboard a vehicle with us and read a book that takes you away!
Fiction
Falling by T.J. Newman
As he prepares for his next flight, airline pilot Bill Hoffman finds out his wife Carrie and two young children have been taken hostage. The kidnappers want him to crash the plane and leave no survivors or his family dies, but Bill must find a way for everyone to survive. Contains some strong language and some violence.
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
Join the mysterious passengers on the Trans-Siberian Express in a journey of luxury and danger across a magical landscape. Something has gone terribly wrong, but no one, not even Zhang Weiwei who has spent her whole life onboard, can remember what happened. Can the passengers trust each other, as the wildness outside threatens to consume them all?
The Car by Gary Paulsen
At fourteen, Terry Anders is alone: he awoke one morning to find both parents gone. Terry assembles a car kit his father owned, and soon he is headed to Oregon in search of an uncle. Before going far, Terry is joined by a Vietnam vet and later the vet’s friend. The two adults mentor Terry as they travel America.
The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton
In 1934, a luxury cruise becomes a fight for survival as two women’s pasts collide on a round-trip voyage from New York to Havana. As danger swirls aboard the Morro Castle and their fates intertwine, Elena and Catherine must risk everything to see justice served once and for all. Inspired by the true story.
Nonfiction
The Airplane: How Ideas Gave Us Wings by Jay P. Spenser
The former curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum chronicles the innovations that solved technical challenges from aviation’s conception to the development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad by David Haward Bain
The epic story of connecting America’s east and west coasts by railroad during the nineteenth century’s Gilded Age. Chronicles the engineering feats, the scandals and political dealings, and the lives of the movers and shakers that accomplished the feat of uniting the country by rail.
Sixty to Zero: An Inside Look at the Collapse of General Motors and the Detroit Auto Industry by Alex Taylor
General Motors’ bankruptcy captured headlines in 2009. This extensively researched and award-winning narrative explores how GM’s problems began over 40 years ago and looks at the numerous mistakes GM and its competitors have made that resulted in a crisis for automobile manufacturers.
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
In 1915 the Lusitania, a luxury ocean liner, left New York for Liverpool. The captain assumed that the Germans would follow gentlemanly strictures of warfare, keeping civilian ships safe from attack. Larson recounts what happened when Germany violated that code and that choice’s wider repercussions.
Image Description: A drawing of an airport with a large, vaulted terminal in the foreground with an air traffic control tower, two planes on the runway, and one taking off. The background is a silhouetted cityscape.