Traveling By Book List
May 6, 2008 by Stefanie
Last week when I asked for suggestions of great books for armchair traveling I had no idea I would get the response I did. My TBR list has grown exponentially because of all the great recommendations. Because I shouldn’t be the only one with a list like this, here it is.
- Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskel. Victorian England
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen. Kenya. I read this after the movie came out and loved it.
- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Bombay/Mumbai
- Peony in Love by Lisa See. China
- Death at La Fenice: a Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon. Venice
- Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski. India, China, Africa
- Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron. The Silk Road, China, Iran, Turkey
- Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk. Istanbul
- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. 1920s Paris
- Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Turnbull. Paris
- Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia by Chris Stewart. Spain
- Confessions of an Eco Sinner: Travels to Find Where My Stuff Comes From by Fred Pearce
- Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes. Russia
- From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East, In Xanadu: A Quest (following Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Xanadu), City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters, all are by William Dalrymple
- The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. I’ve read this one and can say it is marvelous.
- Yoga for People Who Can’t Be bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer. Amsterdam, Cambodia, Rome, Indonesia, New Orleans, Libya, and places in between.
- Wanderlust: A History of Walking, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, both by Rebecca Solnit
- The Places in Between by Rory Stewart. Afghanistan
- Kilvert’s Diary, 1870-1879 Francis Kilvert. Welsh borderlands, Victorian era
- Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson. Pakistan and Afghanistan
- Travels into the Interior of Africa by Mungo Park. 1795 West Africa
- Travels in West Africa by Mary Kingsley. Unmarried Victorian lady in Africa.
- Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean by Paul Theroux
- A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller by Frances Mayes
- Their Heads are Green and Their Hands are Blue: Scenes from the Non-Christian World by Paul Bowles
- Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon by Colin Fletcher
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail and In a Sunburned Country (Australia) by Bill Bryson
- Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew Pham
- Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain
- Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman by Alice Steinbach (Paris, Oxford, Milan)
- Don’t Let’s Go the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood and Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier by Alexandra Fuller
- Galileo’s Daughter and Longitude by Dava Sobel
- War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, Señior Vivo and the Coca Lord, and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman by Louis de Bernieres (fictional South American country)
- The 8.55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames (following Agatha Christie from London to Baghdad on a train)
- 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: A Semi-Dysfunctional Family Circumnavigates the Globe by Mark Jacobson
- Royal Road to Romance by Richard Halliburton (Matterhorn, Gibraltar and other places)
- Forbidden Journey: From Peking to Kashmir by Ella Maillart and News from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir by Peter Fleming (Maillart and Fleming were companions on the same trip in 1935)
- Frontiers of Heaven: A Journey to the End of China by Stanley Stewart
- Sahara by Michael Palin
- In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon
- Around Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks
And if that’s not enough, for more ideas there is Longitude, recommended reading for travelers and World Hum, travel dispatches from a shrinking planet.
Whew! That’s enough to keep me “traveling” for years! Thanks for all your suggestions.
For my vacation, I’ve decided to read one of my books for the Science 2008 Challenge, Rachel Carson’s The Sea Around Us and Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost. And, of course, Herodotus. I wish I could read all of these books they sound so good! I’m halfway through my quarter at school so I will have to plan another “trip” when I get two-week break between classes.
What a great list of books! I really liked Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach. I believe she has a sequel to it now. Similar to it there’s another good one, Tales of a Female Nomad. Made me want to drop everything and travel.
I was hoping you’d consolidate all of those comments! Of course, now my TBR list is even longer, hehe.
What a list! I shall print this one out. Thanks for putting it together, Stefanie!
This is one great list. Good luck on your vacation readings. Carson, Solnit and Herodotus! So fun!
Almost French and To the Lighthouse are both good. Great list!
Thanks for the list! I know a lot of work went into that … I’m considering picking up Cranford soon — it’ll be great to travel to 19C England (at least I think that’s where the book will take me).
That is a great list. Enjoy the Solnit - it’s an interesting read. And I love Chatwin, especially Songlines, about aboriginal cultures in Australia.
Brilliant list! You are a star - thanks so much. I have posted a shorter list on my blog, which I got from a bookstore. Many of the above books are the same and there are some different ones as well. Now I know that these really are the books I should read. Check mine out on http://readingworms.blogspot.com. Thanks so much Stefanie!
Wow, that’s an amazing list. Lots of books I’ve never heard of, too, so it’s a great resource.
Yikes! What a long list. And some of these books are very good–you can’t go wrong with any of Bill Bryson’s work. Blue Highways is also a great book; I read it a few years ago. I read a book that’s similar, by Irma Kurtz, about travelling through the US via Grayhound.
“Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge” by Jill Fredston is a good read.
This is a great list! Armchair traveling seems to be the only kind I do lately. Whenever someone asks for a recommendation like this I always give Robyn Davidson’s Tracks as an idea. She traveled the Australian outback via camel! It’s an excellent and unusual read.
I agree, a great list! Don’t know if you need any more suggestions, but Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman is a fast-paced and exciting read. They’re basically riding their motorcycles around the globe–through Eastern Europe, Mongolia, Russia…
Bravo! And what a treat for all of us. I’m printing this out and getting started! Thanks Stefanie, and Bon Voyage! TJ
I never got around to write a suggestion on your post about travelling through reading. For a reading addict, the novel I’ve just finished would do pretty nicely. It’s ‘If on a winter’s night a traveller’ by Italo Calvino. Although physical travelling is not it’s main theme, the novel is a journey through various genres of literature, in various countries. It is a novel about….. reading, and you are the hero of this novel. Intriguing? I highly recommend it!
Em
Wow, this list is inspiring! I’ll have to do some armchair traveling, too
Am also going to print this one out for future reference, Thanks so much!
Iliana, book people are the best
Taking note that Steinbach has a sequel.
Eva, well at least you know you’ve read some of the books on the list since you recommended them
Litlove, and thank you for our suggestions! I actually own Traveling with Herodotus and I’m saving it for when I am finished with The Histories. That’s the plan anyway, I may not be able to wait!
Dark Orpheus, thank you for your recommendations! And the links to the websites, they are great!
Bibliophylia, good to know. Though it seems I can’t go wrong with anything on the list.
Dorothy, I do believe Cranford will take you to 19th c England. Did you know it was being made into a movie?
Andi, thanks. I will add Songlines onto my list too!
AST, thanks. I ow the list to everyone who made a suggestion. Thank you for the link to your list.
Katherine, I was surprised at how long the list was. So much variety though and many of the books I have never heard of.
Karen, thanks for the addition. I like books about the arctic.
Danielle, armchair travel saves on gas and there is no jet lag. Still, I’d rather take my chances though I don’t think I’d ever tour Outback via camel! Adding that one to the list.
Louisa, there’s always room for more suggestions! Traveling by motorcycle sounds like fu.
TJ, thanks! Maybe I’ll run into you in Paris or Rome
Em, good recommendation! I’ve read If on a Winter’s Night and absolutely loved it.
Gentle Reader, I was hoping for a dozen books when I asked for a recommendation, inspiring is a good word for the list I got.
Verbivore, happy traveling
Thanks for the list. I love traveling from my couch!
Oooh! Thank you! I came late to the game, but you might like the two I suggested, as well, if you ever make it through all these.
Kylee, glad to share
Emily, you are never too late
I find book lists irresistible. OK, here are three of my personal recommendations:
A memoir/travelogue through modern-day China: Ma Jian’s “Red Dust.”
For contemporary Afghanistan: Asne Seierstad’s “The Bookseller of Kabul”
For contemporary Cuba: Isadora Tattlin’s “An American Housewife in Havana”