Spencer
Los Angeles
...not called Eat, Pray, Love. And not just travel books, but just any book you've read while traveling (or inspired you to travel or go to a destination) that you've loved, perhaps even about a specific culture or place. I'm always looking for new books to add to my list to read when I'm traveling.
Some of these I read because I was researching a trip, some of them I read on a trip, and some of them I read and they inspired a trip.
A Walk in the Woods - by Bill Bryson; Applachian Trail hike
Travels with Charlie - by John Steinbeck; travels all around America
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig; motorcycle trip across montana
Flight of the Nez Pierce - Mark Brown; great Native American history, Oregon, Idaho, Montana
The Big Burn - Timothy Eagan; the 1910 fires in northern Idaho and Western Montana
Sources of the River - Jack Nisbet; history of Hudsons Bay Co. explorer David Thompson and his travels across Canada and search for a route to the Pacific before Lewis and Clark.
Glacial Lake Missoula - David Alt; Geologic history of pre-historic ice-dams and floods from western Montana across northern Idaho, and Washington
Anasazi America - David Stuart; great history of the Native people around Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.
Dancing at the Rascal Fair - Ivan Doig; history of a Scottish immigrant family in 1880's Montana
American Gods - Neil Gaiman; interesting SciFi Fantasy taking place in locations in america
East of the Mountains - David Guterson; a trip from Seattle to eastern Washington
Frank Lloyd Wright - Ada Huxtable; biography of the great architect
Shoeless Joe - WP Kinsella; baseball stories from the Northeast, to Minnesota, to Iowa
A River Runs Through It - Norman MacLean; flyfishing and family in Western Montana
Men to Match My Mountains - Irving Stone; history of California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado from 1840 to 1900
Sarum - Edward Rutherford; excellent history of the area around Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral from pre roman times to the present.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Cannot recommend enough. One of the most thought provoking books i've ever read.
Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer (This one's my bible, especially after visiting the bus in Alaska)
A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
The Alchemist, Paulo Coehlo
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
A Brief History of Time, Steven Hawking
The Tricking of Freya. Amazing book that covers a lot about people of Icelandic descent in Canada.
Wow, some amazing book recommendations. Already read some of these that were recommended, including Harold Fry, which I recently read. Also, just saw this great list of books on Buzzfeed that included some of those mentioned and others:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/quite-ready-for-your-next-adventure#.niQ1rdRZe
Mine are hardly literary gems.
First solo trip (to Ghana) and I started the Harry Potter series, a bit of "Britishness" helped as I was feeling homesick & overwhelmed.
My family & other animals on my first holiday to Corfu
Definitely Travels by Michael Crichton featuring his short stories from his many real adventures across the world over the years. Very easy to pick up and put down while traveling and definitely inspiring. Also, it's cliché but it never gets old...Eay Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert! I will definitely be reading her new book Big Magic!
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) Mindy Kaling
Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain
The Death of Cool Gavin McInnes
Something about reading other people's life journey while you're creating stories for you own.
Whether you are seeking to explore physical or spiritual dimensions of the Earth, I guarantee the books on this page will enhance your journey.
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel By Rolf Potts
Travels By Michael Crichton
On the Road By Jack Kerouac
501 Must-Visit Cities By David Brown
The Art of Travel By Alain de Botton
The Road Less Traveled By M. Scott Peck
The Seat of the Soul By Gary Zukav
Journey of Your Soul By Shepherd Hoodwin
Reading Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth provides a fascinating education into England's history and adds a layer of meaning to visits there.
One of my favorite books of all time is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova which is also historical fiction and takes you to places in France, Turkey, and Romania among others.
Mentioned in this answer:
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts had a great deal of influence in my travels.
Anything, and I do mean anything, from Bill Bryson gets top honors for anything about travel, or history, or science, or trivialities, or some combination thereof.
Favorite thing I've read while traveling would be hard to pin down, as I like to read a great deal of varying things. I'll narrow it down to things I've read this year, in which case my favorite fiction was probably David Mitchell's Ghostwritten, and favorite nonfiction was probably Annie Lamont's Bird by Bird (as I have also been trying to write).
Love with a Chance of Drowning is the first book that made me even consider a long term sailing trip. Right now I'm reading Marching Powder; the prose isn't great, but the story keeps you reading.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville, an excellent tale of adventure and the open sea
The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton is a great travel book to read when you're travelling!
Also love history of art books when you're travelling through certain areas
If you are looking for an epic : Shantaram!
In South America it was truly amazing to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez - all of the imagery came to life in the environment around me and a connection to the land was felt... really amazing.
One of my favorite book is: Basilica, by R. A Scotti. I read this book in 2006. It is the story of the building of the present day St. Peters in Rome. Scotti begin with the destruction of the first St. Peters in the late 1400's. She leads you through the many popes, artist during the 125 years it took to rebuild St. Peters. It is a remarkable story of each pope would want changes made that were under construction. The obelisk that stands today in the open square was moved from the north side of St. Peter's by order of Sixtus V. Scotti describes how this was achieved with breaking it. Marble stone columns were taken from other temples and moved to St. Peter's. The money that pope's received from indulgencies that were instituted. Pope's lovers. So much engrossing history, if you are interested in history. I never thought I would ever see St. Peters, but a year after I read the book I was standing in it and went under the edifice to see St. Peter's tomb as well as several other popes. I am thankful I read the book before I went. It is one of the great masterpiece in art, and architectural achievements. Also the painting of the Sistine Chapel. It is worthy of your time to read Basilica, and to visit St. Peters and the Sistine Chapel and museum.
One Hundred Years of Solitude. Gabriel García Márquez,
In Colombia,
I love reading books about the country I am traveling in.
While I was traveling through Australia I loved reading In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (tiled Down Under in some countries). Highly Recommend if you're traveling Australia.
While traveling Japan, I read Hitching Rides with Buddah by Will Ferguson. Will Ferguson Hitchhiked from South to North Japan following the cherry blossom front.
While visiting Hawaii, read Hawaii by James Michener.
The "Wolf Hall/Bring up the Bodies" series is incredible if you're going to London.
Antonia Fraser's "Marie Antoinette" is pretty great if you're headed to France. I've read "A Moveable Feast" more times than I can count (all about Paris). Also, "How Paris Became Paris" is fantastic.
I'm going to China this year so I just finished Lisa See's "On Gold Mountain" which is about a family that emigrates from Shanghai to Los Angeles.
So many it's hard to chose just a few!
My favourite was reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami whilst travelling in Japan.
All the Light You Cannot See while traveling through Paris and Normandy area.
I love reading while traveling. I recommend Satan Came to Eden, which is an extremely well written auto biography about a German couple who moved to the Galapagos. It details their struggles and has a murder twist. It made me want to move off the grid.
I also really enjoyed The Quiet American when I traveled to Vietnam.
Others include Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, The Count of Monte Cristo, and anything by David Sedaris if you're looking to laugh
The Kite Runner. A great book in its own right but really good whilst you're travelling as you learn to appreciate and understand different cultural differences and also what it feels like to be a real foreigner in a place.
Last year I lost my phone while travelling. In Rome to be more specific... It turned out to be a good thing.
I bought Tuareg ( Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa) and it was a great way to spend time while flying or waiting for a train.
Gone Girl!!!! I was up all night, but well before the movie came out!
Scouting on Two Continents -Major Fredrick Russell ; possible inspiration ( for Allen Quartermain/ Indiana Jones )
The Lemon Grove- Helen Walsh- loved the setting! I was gripped by Gone Girl, The Good Girl and The Girl on The Train- literally speeding through them! A quirky but enjoyable read was The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry- a great one if you are walking!
Well, by coincidence read Unbroken while in Hawaii and beyond it being an amazing book, it was cool to look out on the ocean that all those bombers flew over. Otherwise, The Girl on the Train and Where'd You Go, Bernadette.
One of my best travel / reading memories is of reading Carol Shields' Stone Diaries on a train from Rome to Milan. The train was packed, I had to sit in the corridor on my bag and the book was wonderfully engrossing. I finished it just as we arrived in Centrale. This year I started reading Sapiens on a flight to Bergamo (it took a little longer and is excellent book)
Hello Spencer! Regards from the Dead Princess by Kenize Mourad. Best novel ever! It was a watershed in my life. Saludos!!
Read a book called The Trust, a legal thriller set in Charleston, SC. Fun read. Author was Keefer.
Mine favorite is 'Light From Many Lamps' by Lillian Watson. It gives happiness and encouragement at the same time. I always carry it. I always feel like reading it again and again.