In a few short days, the long-awaited London Olympics begin. Pageantry, athleticism, grit, determination, patriotism, pride, triumph, anguish, strength, skill, and grace will all be on display. While you’re waiting, you may want to check out the London Olympic official website, http://www.london2012.com/ which has a boatload of interesting facts and photos. Check out photos of the Olympic torch route, past castles and cathedrals, over mountains, across a rope bridge, through charming villages and down modern city streets, and past famous sites such as Stonehenge and the castle where the Harry Potter movies were filmed. You can also see photos of giant 12x24 foot Olympic rings hung at iconic sites like Tyne Bridge and Cardiff Castle. There are descriptions of the various sports, both the rules and the history. For example, did you know that badminton was invented by British military officers in India? Or that each shuttlecock contains 16 feathers, each plucked from the left wing of a goose? Or that shuttlecock speeds exceed 400 km per hour? In addition, the site contains profiles of the athletes, the schedule of events, and eventually, the medal count.
You can boost your enjoyment of the Olympics with a few books, like How to watch the Olympics: the essential guide to the rules, statistics, heroes and zeroes of every sport by David Goldblatt or The Complete Book of the Olympics by David Wallechinsky. In the children’s collection, Great Moments in the Summer Olympics by Matt Christopher, tells the stories of exciting moments in past Olympics in the events of track & field, swimming, and gymnastics.
Watching the Olympics and seeing the sites in England may inspire you to visit. An Easicat search for England—guidebooks reveals several, including Frommer’s, Fodor’s, Rick Steves’, and Best day trips from London.
You may not be able to visit England in person, but you can travel there through the pages of any of these fiction books, all set in modern London. Click on the links to read the descriptions and to find the books or reserve them in Easicat.
The chemistry of tears by Peter Carey
Being Lara by Lola Jaye
Blue Monday by Nicci French
Capital by John Lanchester
The Fear by Charles Higson
The girl below by Zander
How it all began by Penelope Lively
One moment, one morning by Sarah Rayner
Happy reading….and GO USA!
photo courtesy of Google images
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