Thursday, January 7, 2010

Reading List: Travel Narratives

INTRODUCTION
The following are travel narratives, with a few international memoirs mixed in. They are organized by continent. The books on this list I’ve either read, plan to read, or have been highly successful. Most are contemporary, but a few were written over 50 years ago (i.e. Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Freya Stark, Theodore Roosevelt). I've listed specific countries where appropriate if they're not evident from the title. I know this list is far from comprehensive, so recommendations would be appreciated.

NORTH AMERICA
I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson
The Lost Continent – Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods [Appalachian Trail] – Bill Bryson
Blue Highways - William Least Heat-Moon
Roads to Quoz - William Least Heat-Moon
A Walk Across America – Peter Jenkins
The Walk West - Peter & Barbara Jenkins
Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer
You Can Get Arrested for That – Rich Smith
Travels with Charley – John Steinbeck
The Call of the Weird – Louis Theroux

EUROPE
Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson
Notes From a Small Island [England] - Bill Bryson
A Year in Provence [France] - Peter Mayle
Toujours Provence [France] - Peter Mayle
Without Reservations [France, England, Italy] – Alice Steinbach
The Kingdom By the Sea [Great Britain] – Paul Theroux
A Motor-flight Through France – Edith Wharton

ASIA
Wrong About Japan - Peter Carey
Child of the Jungle [Indonesia] – Sabine Kuegler
Letters Home [Japan] – Todd Jay Leonard
Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah
Three Cups of Tea [Pakistan] – Greg Mortenson
Japanland - Karin Muller
The Valley of the Assassins and Other Persian Tales [Iraq/Iran] - Freya Stark

AUSTRALIA
In a Sunburned Country - Bill Bryson
The Road from Coorain (memoir) - Jill Ker Conway
The Sex Lives of Cannibals [South Pacific island] - J. Maarten Troost

AFRICA
Don't Look Behind You - Peter Allison
Whatever You Do, Don’t Run [Botswana] – Peter Allison
Bill Bryson's African Diary [Kenya] - Bill Bryson
In Morocco – Edith Wharton

SOUTH AMERICA
Road Fever - Tim Cahill
The Enchanted Isles [Galapagos Islands] - Herman Melville
Nothing to Declare – Mary Morris
Through the Brazilian Wilderness – Theodore Roosevelt

WORLD TRAVEL
Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine
Pecked to Death by Ducks – Tim Cahill
Around the World in 80 Dates - Jennifer Cox
Where the Hell Is Matt? - Matt Harding
The Ridiculous Race - Steve Hely & Vali Chandrasekaran
101 Places Not to See Before You Die - Catherine Price
Mark Twain on Travel – Mark Twain, Terry Mort, ed.

ESSAY COLLECTIONS
Not So Funny When It Happened – Tim Cahill, ed.
The Risks of Sunbathing Topless - Kate Chynoweth, ed.
Bad Trips - Keath Fraser, ed.
By the Seat of My Pants – Don George, ed.
The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Klara Glowczewska, ed.
Sand in My Bra - Jennifer L. Leo, ed.
The Gift of Travel - Habegger, O'Reilly & O'Reilly, eds.
The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt - Mary Russell

ANNUAL COLLECTIONS
The Best Travel Writing
The Best American Travel Writing
The Best Women’s Travel Writing

2 comments:

  1. Peter Allison has a second book about Africa, Don't Look Behind You. Signed, his agent.

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  2. Thank you, Kate. I've added it to the list. It looks like a great read!

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