My Midsummer Morning, Alastair Humphreys
My Midsummer Morning, Alastair Humphreys
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

My Midsummer Morning

Author: Alastair Humphreys

Narrator: Alastair Humphreys

Unabridged: 6 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/30/2019


Synopsis

A Summer Book of 2019 Seasoned adventurer Alastair Humphreys pushes himself to his very limits – busking his way across Spain with a violin he can barely play. In 1935 a young Englishman named Laurie Lee arrived in Spain. He had never been overseas; had hardly even left the quiet village he grew up in. His idea was to walk through the country, earning money for food by playing his violin in bars and plazas. Nearly a century later, the book Laurie Lee wrote – – inspired Alastair Humphreys. It made him fall in love with Spain – the landscapes and the spirit – and with Laurie's style of travel. He travelled slow, lived simply, slept on hilltops, relished spontaneity, and loved conversations with the different people he met along the hot and dusty road. For 15 years, Alastair dreamed of retracing Laurie Lee’s footsteps, but could never get past the hurdle of being distinctly unmusical. This year, he decided to go anyway. The journey was his most terrifying yet, risking failure and humiliation every day, and finding himself truly vulnerable to the rhythms of the road and of his own life. But along the way, he found humility, redemption and triumph. It was a very good adventure.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dakota on June 02, 2019

Looking to launch on a big escapade or trying to figure out how to balance a full life with a drive for adventure? You'll find both in this thought-provoking read. Honest, revealing, funny, and inspiring all wrapped into one fine book. I tore through it and have SO many highlighted paragraphs to rev......more

Goodreads review by Tom on August 09, 2019

This book follows neatly from Alastair's previous travelogues, relating the latest chapter in the life of a modern-day adventurer-explorer-writer. In this story we follow the author as he mediates a long-running internal dispute between the restless wanderer and the married father, all in the contex......more

Goodreads review by Felicity on July 18, 2019

My Midsummer Morning: an honest review First things first, I’m not being paid to write this review. I did receive a free copy of the book from the organiser of my book club, but not in exchange for anything. The book. Okay, I didn’t read the blurb (as I often don’t before diving in), so it wasn’t what......more

Goodreads review by Ben on December 20, 2019

The writing is more mature than "Thunder Sunshine." It is more expressive and sounds better. But some of the fun of the other book was its brashness. Is busking across Spain a gimmick? Sure, but so are most of what society agrees to call "adventures." To me, Humphreys's life-changing epiphanies at t......more

Goodreads review by Iain on January 05, 2021

Always enjoy reading Humphreys, he's got a great talent and a keen eye for intriguing detail. Would love to chat to him over a coffee, there were a few paragraphs where he seemed to be very humbly and honestly grasping for the bigger meaning to life, and yet not quite getting it. The biggest adventu......more


Quotes

'Humphreys is clearly slightly bonkers and this is a wonderful thing' ‘Compelling reading … It’s honest and human’ magazine ‘Without a doubt Alastair’s best writing … intriguing and captivating’ The Outdoor Adventure Blog ‘Funny, heartwarming and above all, it was a very honest read’ Adventure Geek ‘Deeply personal … brave’ The Grown-Up Gap Year ‘A brutally honest, refreshing and heart-warming read’ Humans Resourced ‘Alastair’s books never fail to ignite the spark for travel in me, but this one is my favourite to date’ magazine ‘My Midsummer Morning is an honest and sincere look at a man trying to define himself. And it is Humphreys’ open and genuine spirit that provides the authenticity’ The Writer Shed