best book | Books and my backpack

A little late, isn’t it? You’re right, but I hope you’ll forgive me for focusing on the launch of my third book.

So, here it is, my review (published last March) of my favorite book that I read in 2024:

I glanced at this book’s title; I thought, “Perfect. A travel adventure book. To Alaska!”

But I was wrong. Looking for Alaska is indeed a journey, but the teen-aged protagonist travels through his eventful life in a new boarding school.

This is no ordinary coming-of-age story. Divided into two sections, before and after, John Green tells a tale filled with poignant happenings in the life of Miles “Pudge” Halter. One event is a defining, shocking moment where the “after” story begins. (No spoiler here.)

Obsessed with famous last words, Pudge falls into the world of the Great Perhaps with Alaska Young. She feeds his sense of humor, challenges his tendency to play it safe, and captures his heart. The entertaining story may move you to consider your own journey to self-discovery.

Looking for Alaska is one more in a series of young adult novels that have kept me away from my usual non-fiction leanings. I am drawn to YA books for stories that take me back to my own teen-aged years and my struggle to find myself. Like Pudge, I found a friend in high school who accepted me for who I was, giving me confidence that changed everything. I am thankful every day for that friendship.

Looking for Alaska was Green’s debut novel. He has written many more, including The Fault of Our Stars, selling a total of 50 million copies.

I have read many good books in 2021, but Jerry Steimel’s Chasing Zorba jumped out at me for my book of the year. You will enjoy getting to know Jerry and his journey will intrigue you on several levels.

Oh, by the way, one follower of this blog found the answer to my find-the-book challenge within minutes. Well done, Jeff.

I am pleased to republish my discussion about Chasing Zorba below.

In 1972, Jerry Steimel graduated college, jumped in a VW Beetle with his lifelong friend, and set out to live his dream, a cross-country trip to California. But his VW Bug had other ideas, quickly ending the trip with mechanical breakdown.

Steimel’s dream wasn’t deterred. Forty-five years later, he jumped in another Volkswagen, a 1973 air-cooled van, and set out from his home in Massachusetts for another try, this time solo. But Jerry Steimel hardly traveled alone.

In Chasing Zorba: A Journey of Self-Discovery in a VW Bus, he is guided by author Nikos Kazantzakis and his book, Report to Greco, whose life lessons begin each chapter. He names his van Zorba after Kazantzakis’ book Zorba the Greek. Steimel’s goal: California. And so much more.

Some call his plan lunacy. But Steimel is out to discover comfort in taking risks rather than living as if he is just waiting to die. He doesn’t hurry, neither in his writing nor his driving, and his literary and physical journeys are a meander. But, in the end, the book rushes up and grabs readers before leaving them with memories anchored in what it means to live life to its fullest.

Steimel goes to great lengths to find places, like the West Virginia site where four high school boys launched rockets and their lives to heights beyond their wildest dreams. It is the site of the film October Sky, which Steimel watched a dozen times. That figures, you see, because Jerry devoted 45 years to social work, lifting kids who needed an extra push.

Steimel weaves places and American history with the people he meets as he drives mostly back roads, having to stop more than now and then to take Zorba to mechanics for adjustments. The journey tests Steimel and Zorba in ways they could never have anticipated.

The author and his VW Bus still miss the turn of the key every morning. And I miss wondering what is around their next turn.