By the staff at Covered Treasures
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”—Eleanor Roosevelt
June is the time to set out for travel adventures. Check out these books to get ideas of where to visit or simply find a cozy spot and travel in your mind. The first two authors will be signing their books at Covered Treasures this month.
Death Valley Duel (A National Park Mystery)
By Scott Graham (Torrey House Press) $18
When archaeologist Chuck Bender makes a stunning discovery of a century-old crime, he believes it may be related to a series of deadly accidents plaguing the Whitney to Death 150, the world’s toughest ultra trail-running race. While Chuck’s teenage stepdaughter races to win the competition, Chuck races to uncover the wicked intent lying behind the tragedies—before Carmelita becomes the next victim. Scott is an avid Colorado outdoorsman who enjoys backpacking, river rafting, skiing, and mountaineering.
Mystery in Rocky Mountain National Park: A Mystery Adventure in the National Parks (National Park Mystery #1)
By Aaron Johnson (Aaron Johnson Publisher) $14
Before Jake’s grandfather died, he entrusted a mystery to Jake, leaving behind a set of hidden codes, riddles, maps, and other clues that lead Jake and his friends on a scavenger hunt into the heart of Colorado’s wild and rugged Rocky Mountain National Park. Through twists and turns, the mystery unfolds while Jake, Amber, and Wes learn about survival skills, natural history, integrity, character, and friendship. With over 30 illustrations by the author, this page-turning adventure is designed to capture the imagination of even the most reluctant of young readers. Parents looking for a delightful read-aloud adventure will find it hard to put down.
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier
By Hampton Sides (Anchor Books) $19
For more than 15 years, Hampton Sides has traveled widely across the continent exploring the America that lurks just behind the scenes of our mainstream culture. In these two dozen pieces, Sides gives us a fresh, alluring, and at times startling America brimming with fascinating subcultures and bizarre characters who could live nowhere else. Following Sides, we crash the redwood retreat of a group of fabulously powerful military-industrialists, drop in on the Indy 500 of bass fishing, and join a giant techno-rave at the lip of the Grand Canyon.
Ask a Pilot: A Pilot Answers Kids’ Top Questions about Flying
By Justin Kelley (Bushel & Peck Books) $16
This juvenile nonfiction book addresses questions like “Why don’t planes hit each other in the sky? Do you start a plane with a key? Why do my ears feel funny?” In Ask a Pilot, author, pilot, and dad Justin Kelley puts kids at ease by answering 20 of their most pressing questions. With friendly language, simple explanations, and colorful illustrations, Ask a Pilot is the perfect handbook for aviation lovers and nervous flyers alike.
Travels with Charley: In Search of America
By John Steinbeck (Penguin Classics) $16
John Steinbeck set out, at the age of 58, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years. With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.
America’s National Heritage Areas: A Guide to the Nation’s New Kind of National Park
By Robert Manning (Globe Pequot Press) $25
There are 55 National Heritage Areas (NHAs) scattered across the U.S., and they continue to grow in number and diversity. Though they’re not officially national parks, their conservation, education, and recreation related objectives echo those of the national parks: to conserve nationally significant natural and cultural landscapes and to make them available to the public for purposes of education, recreation, and sustainable tourism-related economic development. Each chapter in this guidebook describes the remarkable natural and cultural resources that define NHAs and highlights nearby visitor attractions, enticing readers to visit NHAs and to enjoy and appreciate the attractions offered.
Until next month, happy reading.
The staff at Covered Treasures can be reached at books@ocn.me.
Other book columns
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Remembering to be thankful (10/30/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Reading is still fundamental (10/2/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Get lost in a new book (9/3/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Settle in for some Romance (7/31/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Summer fun has begun (7/3/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Let’s get cooking! (6/7/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Celebrating Poetry Month and Earth Day (4/5/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – March mystery madness (3/1/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Books that showcase love (2/1/2025)
- Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore Ring in the New Year with a Book (1/4/2025)