For those who have a passion for history and trains, Pamela Mulloy’s Off the Tracks: A Meditation on Train Journeys in a Time of No Travel is sure to captivate you. If not, then this book might be a bit of a snooze, though it is a relatively short read. Personally, I fall somewhere in between the two. I am a huge fan of train travel as it is my preferred mode of transportation; however, I found parts of this book to be a bit too introspective and dry for my liking. I did find it intriguing to see how the evolution of train travel intersects with various important facets of society, such as the publishing sector and the progress of rights for women and Black individuals. Furthermore, the evolution of our perception of train travel is quite remarkable. Reading Off the Tracks, one can tell that Mulloy has not only done her research but is also incredibly passionate about train travel. For those thinking about reading this book, I would recommend going down the audiobook route. Jennifer Wigmore’s narration does an excellent job at bringing both the historical anecdotes and Mulloy’s personal story to life.

I originally requested this book because I was planning on traveling and taking many train journeys so I thought this would be apropos. It ended up being much more than what I thought it was, and I enjoyed it.

This is a lovely collection of stories that evoke both the beauty and romanticism of train travel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the pubisher for this ARC in exhcange for an honet review.

Written primarily during lockdown, this is a lovely ode to the beauty of train travel. I love to travel by train and it's rare to see that enjoyment captured so well by someone else.

A gentle reflection on train travel with interesting anecdotes and enjoyable tales of famous travels

A surprisingly charming story. It wasn't at all what I was expecting given the blurb as I thought it would be more a collection of critical essays about train travel and great literary figures but really those only feature as anecdotes scattered throughout the text. Really, this is more of a personal memoir from the author that I think particularly centres around her life in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall and her return there with her family many years later. It has a certain wanderlust given that it was written during the travel restrictions of the pandemic but really this is - much like slow travel - slow storytelling and a book to sit back with and listen to softly with amusing anecdotes and opinions scattered throughout. A good book for anyone who wants an interesting and gentle read.

This definitely reads like a personal pandemic project, which it was, but at the same time, it was nice to hear the longing thoughts of a train travel enthusiast. Mulloy shared personal experiences and relevant facts about trains and those who have traveled in them. As a lover of train trips, I enjoyed listening to this book.

An ode to train travel. As indicated by the word „Meditation” in the subtitle, it is a very poetic and reflective book. The author blends her personal experience with fascinating facts from the history of railways in the world. As traveling by train is also my favorite choice, it was a pleasure to be immersed in this tale – I think the narrator did a decent job here.

Thanks to the publisher, ECW Press Audio, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

Excellent. This travel book, written during the Pandemic was thoughtful, entertaining, educational, and made me reflect on my own travels. The author, a Canadian stuck at home, reminisces about train journeys she had made over a lifetime. She expertly weaves in the history of train history, along with interesting tidbits of social history in the UK, US, and Canada. I listened to this book during a long driving trip up I-95 North, and it kept me alert and made the miles go faster.

This is a perfect book to listen to while on your own travels. If found myself remembering train travels with my late husband, train travels in Europe, and adventures with my now-grown children. I'm very appreciative for such a wonderful book to accompany me while making yet another journey.

I found the narrator a bit annoying at first, but she toned her narration down through the book. However I cannot really find a point in this book, or think of an intended audience. There was no theme to the book to give me some idea who to recommend this to. Nice stories about trains, but nothing to make me love this book.

This was a wonderfully gentle wander via the clickety clack of the train on track throughout North America and Europe.

It doesn't just include the author's own extensive travels both solo and with friends or family but also delves into the interesting history of railways and those who have travelled on it.

I found the historical anecdotal evidence the most interesting, including men who apparently went mad because of the speed of the new transport or the idea that women's internal organs would expel themselves from their bodies plus several other quite crazy ideas. But then it was all new back in the 1850s.

However the one story that stood out the most was when Charles Dickens and his mistress were in an accident. He inadvertently left the manuscript of Our Mutual Friend on board and had to risk going back into the dangerous wreckage to save it. And all I could think was, oh it would have saved me hours of my life that I'll never get back if he'd just left it there. Sorry Charles.

On the Tracks thankfully was a jolly interesting book. I listened to Jennifer Wigmore read the audio version and she had a lovely delivery. Pamela Molloy has written a beautiful, sometimes touching, interesting memoir interlaced with history. Very enjoyable.

Thanks to Netgalley and ECW Press Audio for the advance review copy.

This was a great book emphasizing how everything changed during Covid. It is quite a history lesson on railway travels and the ups and downs that it entailed. It was a great book, I enjoyed it very much.

The author reflects on memorable train journeys in her life as well as the train travel adventures and happenings of famous people in the past. An enjoyable and fun mix. Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book rambles and flows like a trip on tracks. Mulloy has extensively traveled in Europe and North America and weaves those experiences with ruminations of other travel writings, with a bit that I fell into on the Mary’s (mother and daughter Shelley and Wollstonecraft).

This book had me back on my rail pass as a 20 year old chugging across England and the continent. Sleeping in standard cars to avoid paying for a place to stay. Rushing to catch a connection. Avoiding overly forward boys from Naples. Navigating through Paris to meet Celeste so that we could board yet another train for Switzerland. For those that have traveled by rail, this will spur the nostalgia we all love.

This book has a little bit of everything - lots of interesting historical stories about train travel, some personal stories about the author's memorable train journeys, and some reflections during the Covid lockdown about what travel means to us at a time when we couldn't travel. To me, the historical parts were the most engaging - clearly the author did her research, and I learned a lot! I thought the concept was a good one, but the structure didn't really hold together well. Still, I enjoyed listening to this for a quick virtual getaway!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this title but I enjoy travel and thought the audiobook might present an opportunity to travel vicariously. The narration throughout is excellent; laid back and relaxed which complemented the narrative. I found the content a little mixed with a little too much involvement with people rather than the actual places and journey. I understand that travel often involves conversing with fellow passengers but that and the covid references rather broke the flow of some journeys.

That said, I found it a relaxing listen and the author has a keen eye for visual detail that brings the journey to life and allows the listener to experience some of the pleasure of a long relaxing journey.

I’m a pretty easy sell when it comes to travel narrative and travel reflections. This one was kind of a mixed bag.

Mulloy does really well with the historical material included in the book, as well as with her musings on the cultural perception of train travel and the way it has changed and evolved.

I was less thrilled with the personal content, of which there is too much, and which veers into subtle but pointed sanctimony too often for my taste. The self righteousness of travelers who are not in a hurry is always very dismissive of those who don’t have the luxury not to be, and there’s a fair amount of that in this book that didn’t need to be there.

I didn’t much care for the pandemic-focused aspects of this either, mostly because they aren’t really anything unique and I think we’re still a bit too close to it to be reliving it in memoir-ish fashion without a more original perspective.

The writing itself is lovely and I really enjoyed the overall sentiment of the book. It’s appropriately pretty short, and it felt like the author did well in selecting what made it into a book on a subject that is probably best presented in a tighter, more concise manner than many of its ilk.

Really lovely book. Took me on such a beautiful journey. Captured the romance of train travel. Unique and captivating.

This is a really fun book for anyone who loves trains and/or train travel. There's just something wonderful about traveling by train, even when I was on a dirty train or when my travel was delayed and I was exhausted.
Mulloy talks about her unique experiences, and her style her is to have a conversation about places she's been, while mixing it with facts about train travel and train trips by famous people.
I have no doubt that I will revisit this book, because it feels like taking a comfortable trip -- and I love traveling! The narrator was great, and really added to the comfortable mood. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook

In this short book, writer Pamela Mulloy reflects on a life of traveling, especially on trains. Essays and memoirs are not genres that I usually read but, since I enjoy both taking trips and trains, I wanted to know what she had to say. I’m so glad I did! Her remarkable experiences really show how much the world has changed, even before the lockdown years that shall not be named. The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Wigmore in a colloquial, easygoing style that sounds like having a conversation with a good friend. The stories she tells are very compelling, and she rounds them by adding the historical context and even some fun trivia. Now that trains are making a comeback, it is a good time to learn more about this irreplaceable form of travel.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#ECW Press Audio.