Ireland - there's a reason why this small island nation is on everyone's travel list. It's gorgeously green, full of history and art and culture, and boasts world-renowned drink (Guinness, looking at you!) and delicious food. There's also the Irish people, known for their hospitality and kindness.

You know we're always digging into the backstory of what people create - it's one of the best parts of publishing this website. I love seeing the inspiration, drive, and focus of writers and musicians. Without further ado, here are our best recommendations for books and music we've reviewed in 2016 - with interviews!

Do you love your fiction to be intercultural, full of travel and learning about new things and cultures? Me, too. One such read is a new book by Katherine Reay, entitled A Portrait of Emily Price. It's a book about finding yourself, in more ways than one. It's about family, and doing what you love (and finding out what you love, which is a whole different ball game), and intercultural adjustment, and love, and moving to another country, and finding a new family. Here's the truth: I couldn't put it down.

I know you, dear wandering educators. I know you’re always on the lookout for bookshops while you travel (because, well, BOOKS).

“When every piece falls into place, it’s like a dance, a delicate but powerful balancing act. The art of holding on and letting go at the same time.”

Such is the beautiful writing in the winner of Elephant Rock Books’ 2016 Sheehan YA Book Prize, The Art of Holding On and Letting Go, by Kristin Lenz. A fellow Michigander, Lenz has written a powerful story of family, finding yourself, and growing up. 

Need a great summer read? I’ve got a great anytime read for you, dear wanderers. Girls Who Travel, a novel by Nicole Trilivas, landed in my hands last week. Let me tell you from experience: don’t start reading this book at 11pm. Because pretty soon it’ll be the early hours of the morning, and birds will be chirping, and coffee never looked so good, but you’ll be imagining drinking it in London, not stumbling to in your kitchen. But the good news is that your reading wanderlust will be supremely satisfied.

Got the travel bug? Always planning your next big trek? I have had it bad, but as a teacher, funds were limited. Sigh...

I decided to feed my travel bug by sponsoring overseas student tours, which gave me an opportunity to see the world (for free) as I exposed my students to life beyond our northwoods community. Traveling with teens was a joy (well, mostly)—their enthusiasm great fun. 

Some books come into your life and stay with you. For whatever reason, they strike a chord and fit right in. And while this is rare, it does happen. One book that is forever lodged in my heart is Lassoing the Sun: A Year in America's National Parks, by Mark Woods. It's a personal look at natural spaces, at family and friends, at moving and doing, at being in nature. It's a thoughtful record of exploration and listening and thinking, of love, of essence of place.