Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm doing mini-reviews here of a couple of books I read recently about women explorers. I picked up an actual paper copy of  Off the Beaten Track  last fall when I was visiting Banff National Park.  A Woman in the Polar Night  was a library book, one of those that pops up in the "if you're looking at this book, you might like these books" lists.   Title: A woman in the Polar Night Author: Christiane Ritter. Translate by Jane Degras, read by Rebecca Gallagher Publication Info: Tantor Media, 2024. 7 hours. First published in German in 1938. Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (Goodreads): This rediscovered classic memoir tells the incredible tale of a woman defying society's expectations to find freedom and peace in the adventure of a lifetime. In 1934, the painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable life in Austria and travels to the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, to spend a year there with her husband. She thinks it will be a relaxing trip, a c...

If you enjoyed my hike through Iceland's Highlands on the Laugavegur trail ( here , here , and here ), wait till you see all the places I took my rental campervan! Day One: Gullfoss, Geysir, Brúarfoss   I started my day early (painfully so, after my late dinner and evening out with the hikers the night before), catching the bus back to the airport for pickup by the campervan people. Of course, I had visions of picking it up and being on my way by mid-morning. In fact, it was nearly 1:00 before I had the van, had bought groceries, and was on my way. Since I liked my van and thought I got good service and a decent price from Happy Campers, they can have this bit of advertising :)  It was a Nissan NV200 or something of that sort, for those who know such things. I got the "EX" package which is an older van (2017-19) and manual transmission, which saved me about $20/day. Sometimes being old isn't all bad--I learned to drive on a stick shift, so this was no problem for me. ...

I 'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.     Title: The Peach Thief Author: Linda Joan Smith Publication Information: Candlewick Press, 2025, 385 pages Source: Library  Publisher's Blurb (Goodreads) :  The night that workhouse orphan Scilla Brown dares to climb the Earl of Havermore’s garden wall, she wants only to steal a peach—the best thing she’s ever tasted in her hard, hungry life. But when she’s caught by the earl’s head gardener and mistaken for a boy, she grabs on to something a temporary job scrubbing flowerpots. If she can just keep up her deception, she’ll have a soft bed and food beyond her wildest dreams . . . maybe even peaches. She soon falls in with Phin, a garden apprentice who sneaks her into the steamy, fruit-filled greenhouses, calls her “Brownie,” and makes her skin prick...

Parts 1 and 2 of this trail narrative are here and here . Today we'll finish the trail, enjoy some time and a couple of good meals in Thorsmork (which is a place, not a town), and get the bus back to Reykjavik. Laugavegur Trail Day 4: Emstrur Hut to Thorsmork   After sleeping early and hard, it was no surprise to be up early. Because the hut was so crowded it seemed best to just get out of the way ASAP, and because once again weather might be better in the morning, I was off about half past 7, in a light rain and stiff breeze (a huge improvement over howling winds). The all-important, if largely useless, forecast board.   With far less wind and barely any rain, I was able to put my camera back on the packstrap, under my poncho, where I could access it and finally start shooting with a real camera again.  Looking back at the hut. I think the giant tents stay there all season for guided hikers; there were other spots for the actual backpackers, poor wet souls. I think...