I’m excited to be on the blog tour for Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom today and to be sharing a guest post of Stephanie’s as well as my review.
As the book visits four different countries, the bloggers on the tour were also assigned a certain city. I was very pleased to get New York City as it’s a city that I’ve visited quite a few times and one that holds many memories for me. I first visited the city only five days before the September the 11th terrorist attacks, actually visiting the twin towers and walking around the shops that existed under it which is quite scary to think of now. New York is also the city my husband proposed in, going down on one knee in a wooded area of central Park, that we haven’t been able to find since. He had planned on proposing in the row boats on the lake but after discovering them to be far too crowded, chose the wood area instead. Of course like all good engagement stories I almost ruined the whole thing by continually moaning that my feet were tired!
I have a great guest post from Stephanie about the things you definitely need to visit in New York later in this post, but first here is a little about the book.
Book Synopsis:
Travelling with friends and family is usually thought of as a privilege. In theory, anyway. In practice, it’s more often about debating which sights to see, panicking over diminishing phone batteries and bickering over what to eat. Not much joy in that. But alone you can do as you please. You can wander markets, relish silence, go to a park. Go to Paris. Why not?
In Alone Time, New York Times travel columnist Stephanie Rosenbloom travels alone in four seasons to four remarkable cities – Paris, Istanbul, Florence and New York – exploring the sensory experience of solitude. Along the way she illuminates the psychological arguments for alone time, revealing that whether you recognize it or not, it’s good to be alone now and then.
This is a book about the pleasures and benefits of savouring the moment, examining things closely, using all your senses to take in your surroundings, whether travelling to faraway places or walking the streets of your own city. Through on-the-ground observations and anecdotes, and drawing on the thinking of artists, writers and innovators who have cherished solitude, Alone Time lays bare the magic of going solo.
Alone Time is out now in ebook and hardback, you can purchase a copy of both here.
My Review:
As a mother of three I must admit alone time seems like a distance memory and one that i’d have no problem filling! However I very much enjoyed the journey to the four countries that the author takes us on. I don’t think I’d ever dare to travel to a foreign country on my own, to a place where I knew no one, but I admire Stephanie for having the courage to do it.
The four cities (Paris, Istanbul, Florence and New York) are vividly described by the author so that the reader feels like they are there alongside her experiencing all the sights and sounds too. I really felt that I could visualise the cities in my mind and I now want to visit them in the near future as Stephanie makes them seem so interesting. In each city we are taken on a whistle stop tour of the tourist attractions and must see sights which were fascinating to read about. I spent a lot of time on Google looking up some of the places as they sounded so intriguing. This is cleverly interwoven with some history of each place and some quotes from famous people who lived in or visited the area. This helped add to the experience of each place and it was very interesting to know more about how other people perceived the city too.
I found her experience of New York to be very intriguing, especially as there are places mentioned in the book that I haven’t visited yet. I had no idea so many famous people had lived in New York and that so many interesting things had happened there. Stephanie’s love for her home town shines from the page and it was lovely to detect a little bit of pride in her writing. I love the idea of revisiting your home town and seeing it again with fresh eyes. I have lived in the same town for over twenty years and will be taking time out to visit some of the famous and beautiful areas as soon as possible.
This is Stephanie’s debut book and I’ll be interested to read more books from her in the future.
Huge thanks to Hayley and Transworld publishers for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.
Five Things Not To Miss In New York by Stephanie Rosenbloom:
1. The elevated park known as the High Line is Central Park’s slender downtown sibling, where wildflowers and trees grow amid railroad tracks, and visitors are treated to lofty views of the Hudson River.
2. Stop into the New York Public Library for a break from the city’s hustle and bustle, and walk the stately marble halls to some of the loveliest research rooms you’ve ever seen. Afterward, go ice skating in Bryant Park.
3. Crack your wallet and head downtown to the streets of Soho and the East Village for the best boutique shopping (and brunching) in Manhattan.
4. Get tickets to see a Broadway show – there are some great places to buy these without spending a fortune. TKTS is one of several ways to find discounted prices https://www.tdf.org/nyc/7/TKTS-ticket-booths.
5. New York is home to Museum Mile, so there’s no shortage of world-class art. But should you tire of the MET and MoMA, go check out the dinosaur bones and dioramas at The Museum of Natural History— or travel to the Milky Way at a planetarium show in the adjoining Rose Center for Earth and Space.
About The Author:
Stephanie Rosenbloom is the staff columnist for the Travel section of The New York Times, where she has been a reporter for various desks (including Styles, Business, and Real Estate) for more than a decade. She has appeared on CNN’s American Morning, NBC’s The Today Show, and NPR’s The Takeaway.
Follow The Blog Tour:
If you liked the sound of this book from my review please follow the blog tour and find out what these other fabulous bloggers are saying.
Over The Rainbow Blog 