Susan Ford Wiltshire wrote this book as a thank you note for all the books she has read, the wonders she has seen, and the stories she has heard. Whether reading, traveling, or listening, she invites others to come along.

A recurring theme in everything Wiltshire writes is hospitality. An act of hospitality, she says, is a matter of turning strangers into friends. When that happens, both host and guest are transformed.

Wiltshire learned the ways of hospitality not only from her West Texas upbringing but also from the ancient Greeks and Romans. When she refers to the ancient...