100 Best Wanderlust Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Cheryl Strayed

5.0

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand

Recommended by Emma Watson and Nancy Goldstone.

Nancy Goldstone

I found the narrative honest and riveting. The author used the journey through the hiking trail to work out her problems. [source]

2

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

4.9

Preview Summary

Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. What starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treas

Recommended by Tony Robbins, Anthony Robbins, Brené Brown, and 27 others.

Brené Brown

There's a great quote in this book: When you're on the right path the universe conspires to help you! [source]

Daniel Ek

It was fascinating to talk to the author about how this book came to be such a hit—he never backed down, and he allowed people to read it for free in order to then boost sales—much like how Spotify’s freemium model was perceived in the early days. [source]

Eric Ripert

Speaks of everyone having an ultimate goal in life, but most of us are too afraid to pursue it. The encouragement to fulfill your dreams is very inspirational! [source]

3

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer

4.7

Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himse

Recommended by Holger Seim.

Holger Seim

When it comes to adventure stories, Into the Wild. [source]

4

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Bill Bryson

4.7

The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America—majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhar

5

Eat, Pray, Love

Elizabeth Gilbert

4.7

Preview Summary

A celebrated writer's irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, and what she really wanted out of life.

Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feel

Recommended by Chelsea Frank and Gabriel Coarna.

Chelsea Frank

I read everything with an open mind, often challenging myself by choosing books with an odd perspective or religious/spiritual views. These books do not reflect my personal feelings but are books that helped shape my perspective on life, love, and happiness. [source]

Gabriel Coarna

I started reading "Eat, Pray, Love" as soon as I finished watching Elizabeth Gilbert give this talk. [source]

6

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Timothy Ferriss

4.6

Preview Summary

More than 100 pages of new, cutting-edge content.
Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, Th

Recommended by Eric Weinstein, Simon Sinek, Tim Draper, and 51 others.

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

Tim Draper

Founder/Draper Fisher Jurvetson

With this kind of time management and focus on the important things in life, people should be able to get 15 times as much done in a normal work week. [source]

Jack Canfield

Co-author/The Success Principles

It's about time this book was written. It is a long-overdue manifesto for the mobile lifestyle, and Tim Ferriss is the ideal ambassador. This will be huge. [source]

7

Travels with Charley: In Search of America

John Steinbeck

4.6

To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light— these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.

Recommended by Richard Branson.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

I wanted to include an older book that has been on my bookshelves for decades, and is a less obvious example of reading to lead. John Steinbeck took a road trip with his dog Charley for company across the length and breadth of the US, and recorded what he saw, who he met and what he learned. With his inimitable charm, it opens your eyes to the small pleasures of life, and the great wonders of humanity in the little moments that matter. Less a direction on how to lead, you could see it as a subtle guide on how to live. [source]

8

In a Sunburned Country

Bill Bryson

4.6

A CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ONE SUMMER

Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned Country is his report on what he found in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that doubles

9

On the Road

Jack Kerouac

4.6

When Jack Kerouac’s On the Road first appeared in 1957, readers instantly felt the beat of a new literary rhythm. A fictionalised account of his own journeys across America with his friend Neal Cassady, Kerouac’s beatnik odyssey captured the soul of a generation and changed the landscape of American fiction for ever.

Influenced by Jack London and Thomas Wolfe, Kerouac always wanted to be a writer,

Recommended by Ev Williams and Bogdan Iordache.

Bogdan Iordache

My favourite book is "On the road" by Jack Kerouac. Apart from being probably one of the best well written books in the world, I appreciate Kerouac's philosophy to dedicate himself entirely to what was important to him, something that I have applied in my life as much as possible. I've simplified my life in many ways, and stay focused on what I think it's really important. For Jack it was the experimentation of life with friends, drinks and jazz, and the dedication he put into it is simply transformative. For me it is a very different mix, though, but doing things your way will make your life meaningful and unique. Obviously, first of all you have to decide what is important for you, that's a process in itself. Also, I loved the "own less, live more" approach he took at life. I don't plan to be a bum, but even if someday I will own billions of dollars I don't want to worry about a yacht in some harbour, I find it meaningless. But I know that's also a trait of our generation, to pay for experience and not for ownership. [source]

10

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

Rolf Potts, Timothy Ferriss

4.6

Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life - from six weeks to four months to two years - to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel. Potts gives the necessary information on:

- financing your travel time
- determining your destinati

Recommended by Joel Gascoigne.

Joel Gascoigne

Travel is something we've found to crave and seek out within the team, and the fact we're set up as a distributed team gives us all a lot of freedom to explore the world. Vagabonding is one of the best books out there to think about travel in a whole new way. Rather than going to places for just a few days and cramming in seeing all the sights, it suggests that if we can we should spend weeks or months rather than days in a place. That way we can get to know the culture and people or even become part of it. [source]

11

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

Robert M Pirsig

4.6

Preview Summary

This lyrical, evocative, thought-provoking journal of a man's quest for truth - and for himself - has touched and changed an entire generation, and is ready to reach out to a new one. At its heart, the story is all too simple: a man and his son take a motorcycle trip across America. But this is not a simple trip at all, for around every corner, through mountain and desert, wind and rain, and seari

Recommended by Brad Feld, Drew Houston, Ev Williams, and 7 others.

Brad Feld

Co-Founder/Foundry Group

I think every entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur should read the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It was written in the 1970s by a guy named Robert Pirsig. It was his first book, it's kind of a hippie philosophy treatised journey. The word that sort of came out of it was Chautauqua, he's like having a conversation with his son as they do a motorcycle trip across the country, and it's just this incredible treatise on philosophy, product, quality, accomplishing what your goal is, against the backdrop of the narrator, the author, going crazy and having a psychotic break. And so it's this very powerful mix of accessible philosophy, combined with this pretty captivating journey in a book that, again, anybody who builds anything, there's so much in it that's so worth reading and just soaking in. But it's not what you'd expect, it's not a "here's how you do it", you have to read it slowly and think about it. So, it's one of my favorites. [source]

Drew Houston

CEO/Dropbox

There are engineers who dismiss all these things that can’t be fit into an algorithm, or that don’t have some kind of mathematical rigor underpinning them, this book is about that question. [source]

Tyler Cowen

Founder/Marginal Revolution University

Honorable mentions: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and The Joy of Sex, all given to me by my mother. I believe they helped inculcate some of the 1960s-70s ethos of individual freedom into my thinking. [source]

12

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

Jon Krakauer

4.6

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six h

Recommended by Richard Branson, Cristina Riesen, Fabrice Grinda, and 2 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Cristina Riesen

First, a word on career paths. In time, I realised that career paths are like one-way streets. Magic happens in unexplored territories. Plus life is how you choose to live every moment, every day. So today, rather than building a career, I prefer to make lateral moves in life, working with great people and being part of ambitious projects impacting the world. There are a few books that got me here: … Jon Krakauer "Into Thin Air". [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

13

Shantaram

Gregory David Roberts

4.6

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."

So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security pri

Recommended by Richard Branson, Henry Medine, Irina Marinescu, and 3 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Henry Medine

I promote range and diversity. Thus, I recommend readers to expose themselves to as many different topics as possible. I usually have 2-4 books I refer back to at any given time. They range in topics from management, art, spirituality and philosophy. Trying to get the engineering thing going but don't much of a mind for science. [source]

Irina Marinescu

I am always eager to learn how people think and form friendships, how they deal with life's challenges and still remain human. This book delivers that and even more! Shantaram takes you on an incredible journey and you return a changed person. [source]

14

Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1)

Stephanie Perkins

4.6

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of

15

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

Eric Weiner

4.5

Weiner spent a decade as a foreign correspondent reporting from such discontented locales as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Indonesia. Unhappy people living in profoundly unstable states, he notes, inspire pathos and make for good copy, but not for good karma. So Weiner, admitted grump and self-help book aficionado, undertook a year's research to travel the globe, looking for the "unheralded happy places.

16

The Beach

Alex Garland

4.5

After discovering a seemingly Edenic paradise on an island in a Thai national park, Richard soon finds that since civilized behavior tends to dissolve without external restraints, the utopia is hard to maintain. (Nancy Pearl)

Recommended by Cat Barton.

Cat Barton

This is a great book to read on the beach, and it’s much better than the film. It’s an interesting pop-culture musing on the idea of backpackers travelling around in search of unspoilt beaches. It deals with themes many people are likely to think about when travelling around the region. For example, is it possible to find an unspoilt beach? And what do backpackers do to the societies we visit? For example, how much good has it done the locals to have areas with thriving sex industries? Yes, the money flowing in is good, but how much has it really benefited the area? [source]

17

Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Rebecca Solnit

4.5

This volume provides a history of walking, exploring the relationship between thinking and walking and between walking and culture. The author argues for the preservation of the time and space in which to walk in an ever more car-dependent and accelerated world.

Recommended by Thom and Beth Atkinson.

Thom and Beth Atkinson

She says that ‘to trace even an imaginary route is to trace the spirit or thought of what passed there before’. [source]

18

Outlander (Outlander, #1)

Diana Gabaldon

4.4

Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another...

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach an 'outlander' in a Scotland torn by war and raid

Recommended by Priscilla Pilon.

Priscilla Pilon

I just voted for Outlander (Series) #VOTEOutlander! https://t.co/MM628DhkE9 Because @Writer_DG is a flipping genius. I dare you to read the first book and not fall in love with the series. Be forewarned, you’ll lose sleep because you...can’t...stop...reading! [source]

19

The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien

4.4

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilb

Recommended by Richard Branson, Cressida Cowell, Lev Grossman, and 5 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Cressida Cowell

The Hobbit is such a richly imagined fantasy that, especially as a child, you can live in it. It is so completely immersive. [source]

Lev Grossman

First up, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, by JRR Tolkien. But you knew I was going to say that. This one book, which was published in 1937, defined so many variables for the fantasy tradition that are still in place today. Tolkien’s extraordinary achievement was to recover the epic landscapes of Anglo-Saxon myth, bring them back to life, and then to take us through them on foot, so we could see the details up close, at human scale. The Hobbit is both mythic and relatable at the same time – The New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik recently called it “an arranged marriage between the Elder Edda and The Wind in the Willows”, and I think that’s entirely fair. Though I would give more credit to the bass register of Tolkien’s imagination, its abyssal depths. Mole never delved as deep as the Mines of Moria. [source]

20

Walden

Henry David Thoreau

4.4

Preview Summary

At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection.

In Walden, Thoreau condenses his two-year, two-month, two-day stay into a single year, using the four seasons to symbolize h

Recommended by Emma Watson, Donna Dickenson, Emily Thomas, and 5 others.

Donna Dickenson

He discusses how the original ideals that America was founded on were being compromised, and how massive industrial interests were starting to dominate. [source]

Emily Thomas

The beginning is hard going. Once you get past that, then suddenly you’re into these beautiful and inspiring descriptions of nature. [source]

Joan Boixados

In case you were deceived and expected me to name Walden by Henry David Thoreau, you should read it too if you haven’t, it obviously is the inspiration to Walden Two. :) [source]

21

Just One Day (Just One Day, #1)

Gayle Forman

4.4

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay.

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there's an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning,

22

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

Morgan Matson

4.4

When you're on a road trip, life is all about the detours. . . .

Amy Curry is having a terrible year. Her mother has decided to move across the country and needs Amy to get their car from California to Connecticut. There's just one small problem: Since her father died this past spring, Amy hasn't been able to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger, the nineteen-year-old son of an old family friend, wh

23

Seven Years in Tibet

Heinrich Harrer, Richard Graves, Peter Fleming, His Holiness The Dalai Lama

4.4

Recounts how the author, an Austrian, escaped from an English internment camp in India in 1943 and spent the next seven years in Tibet, observing its social practices, religion, politics, and people.

24

The Art of Travel

Alain De Botton

4.4

Any Baedeker will tell us where we ought to travel, but only Alain de Botton will tell us how and why. With the same intelligence and insouciant charm he brought to How Proust Can Save Your Life, de Botton considers the pleasures of anticipation; the allure of the exotic, and the value of noticing everything from a seascape in Barbados to the takeoffs at Heathrow.

Even as de Botton takes the reade

Recommended by Emily Thomas.

Emily Thomas

It’s a thoughtful account of de Botton’s engagement with artists about travel. He focuses on painters and novelists with a view to asking what light they can shed on why we travel, and picking up titbits from them for our own travels. One of my favourite examples he discusses is Edward Hopper. [source]

25

A Moveable Feast

Ernest Hemingway

4.4

Preview Summary

Hemingway's memories of his life as an unknown writer living in Paris in the twenties are deeply personal, warmly affectionate, and full of wit. Looking back not only at his own much younger self, but also at the other writers who shared Paris with him - James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald - he recalls the time when, poor, happy, and writing in cafes, he discovered his vocation.

Recommended by Janine di Giovanni, Mohsin Hamid, and Wai Chee Dimock.

Janine di Giovanni

The fact that Hemingway writes it as an old, rather bitter man trapped in his Idaho home with a bullying wife while he dreams of his youth in Paris with his first wife and child is so touching to me. [source]

Mohsin Hamid

We think of Hemingway as an American writer, but much of his writing is set outside of the United States, just as much of his life was set outside of the United States. [source]

Wai Chee Dimock

This is a memoir by Hemingway about his time in Paris, which includes sketches of people like F Scott Fitzgerald. [source]

26

Desert Solitaire

Edward Abbey

4.4

First published in 1968, Desert Solitaire is one of Edward Abbey’s most critically acclaimed works and marks his first foray into the world of nonfiction writing. Written while Abbey was working as a ranger at Arches National Park outside of Moab, Utah, Desert Solitaire is a rare view of one man’s quest to experience nature in its purest form.

Through prose that is by turns passionate and poetic, A

Recommended by Hari Kunzru and Robert Macfarlane.

Hari Kunzru

He has a deep love for this place and he’s amusing to read because he’s such a strong personality. His writing is extraordinary. [source]

Robert Macfarlane

Abbey is full of passion, fury and contempt – a fiery fighter to shake up the sometimes over-tranquil atmosphere of nature writing. [source]

27

Love & Gelato (Love & Gelato, #1)

Jenna Evans Welch

4.4

“I made the wrong choice.”

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in

28

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe

Bill Bryson

4.3

Bill Bryson's first travel book, The Lost Continent, was unanimously acclaimed as one of the funniest books in years. In Neither Here nor There he brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one langua

29

Blue Highways

William Least Heat Moon

4.3

Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads.
William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that get on the map-if they get on at all-only because some cartographer has a blank space to fill: Remote, Oregon; Simplicity, Virginia; Ne

Recommended by George Raveling.

George Raveling

One that I read twice. [source]

30

Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

Rita Golden Gelman

4.3

“I move throughout the world without a plan, guided by instinct, connecting through trust, and constantly watching for serendipitous opportunities.” —From the Preface

Tales of a Female Nomad is the story of Rita Golden Gelman, an ordinary woman who is living an extraordinary existence. At the age of forty-eight, on the verge of a divorce, Rita left an elegant life in L.A. to follow her dream of con

31

Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3)

Stephanie Perkins

4.3

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges eve

32

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Christopher McDougall

4.3

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we tho

Recommended by Ed Stafford and Turia Pitt.

Ed Stafford

An honour to be asked to do an impromptu little talk tonight after #christophermcdougall. Great to see the big man in the flesh in the UK. #BornToRun was a book that definitely changed the path of my life. #legend @vivobarefoot #barefootrunning https://t.co/3QgVKZ0OQ4 [source]

Turia Pitt

If people are interested in running, I give them this book. [source]

33

A Year in Provence

Peter Mayle

4.3

National Bestseller

In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and

Recommended by Fabrice Grinda.

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

34

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway, William Hurt, et al

4.3

The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style.

A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Bret

Recommended by Wai Chee Dimock.

Wai Chee Dimock

Many people don’t appreciate what a big commitment writing this novel was for Hemingway. He was used to writing short stories. It meant he had to spend a lot of time on one book that could have been spent more profitably writing short stories. Like many of Hemingway’s later novels, it is stitched together from shorter pieces – in this case, what he’d already written about Pamplona. [source]

35

The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World.

Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, Amanda Pressner

4.3

“Brave, funny, and deeply moving.”
— Cathy Alter, author of Up for Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex, and Starting Over

“Three cheers to The Lost Girls for showing us, with good humor and graceful prose, the beauty and importance of leading life astray.”
— Franz Wisner, New York Times Bestselling author of Honeymoon with My Brother

Three friends, each on the brink of a quarter-life c

36

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Milan Kundera

4.3

In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover. This magnificent novel juxtaposes geographically distant places; brilliant and playful reflections; and a variety of styles to take its place as perhaps the major achievement of

Recommended by Ev Williams, Evan Spiegel, Alain de Botton, and 6 others.

Evan Spiegel

Evan Spiegel said this was his favorite book. [source]

Alain de Botton

This book was recommended by on page 488 in "Tools of Titans". [source]

Bernard Tan

I wasn’t expecting anything going into it, but I am currently quite engrossed by Kundera’s understanding of humanity and his beautiful writing style. [source]

37

Notes from a Small Island

Bill Bryson

4.3

"Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain-which is to say, all of it."

After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson - bestselling author of The Mother Tongue and Made in America-decided to return to the United States. ("I had recently read," Bryson writes, "that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one ti

38

The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World

Lonely Planet

4.3

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Take a journey through every country in the world. 850 images. 230 countries. One complete picture.

With details of every United Nations-approved country in the world, and a few more principalities and dependencies besides, Lonely Planet's Travel Book is the ultimate introduction to a world of travel and the essential travel reference book fo

39

Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders

Joshua Foer

4.3

Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, Atlas Obscura celebrates over 600 of the strangest and most curious places in the world.

Here are natural wonders—the dazzling glowworm caves in New Zealand, or a baobob tree in South Africa that’s so large it has a pub inside where 15 people can drink comfortably. Architectural marvels, including the M.C. Escher-like stepwells in India. Mind-boggling ev

Recommended by Adam Savage and David Plotz.

Adam Savage

Atlas Obscura. Go to the site. Buy the book. Seriously great content. My favorite way to travel (this endorsement based only in love) @atlasobscura https://t.co/zLMm126yXD [source]

David Plotz

I'm here to solve your holiday gift buying problems! Today we release the Second Edition of the No. 1 bestselling Atlas Obscura book, with 100 new wondrous places, 12 city guides, a foldout map. It's gorgeous and fun and an amazing gift. https://t.co/ids7kNjImW https://t.co/95ULoJOKJg [source]

40

The Martian

Andy Weir

4.3

Note: Alternate-Cover Edition for this ASIN can be found here

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even i

Recommended by Ev Williams, Craig Barrett, Dan Christensen, and 2 others.

Craig Barrett

Former CEO/Intel

This book didn’t really change my mind, but rather reinforced the concept of the power of the individual. At a time when we depend more and more on big institutions to solve our business and social problems the real solutions are crafted by individual actions and initiative. This is true in the business world, where ideas from individual researchers or entrepreneurs can create mega companies overnight, and in the social sector, where such actions as high performing charter schools run circles around a moribund K-12 education system. Best we all remember that the next meaningful advances will come from individual initiative rather than massive governmental programs. After all, Google, Facebook, Uber, microloans and countless other success stories were not products of big government. [source]

Dan Christensen

@EconTalker @cable_co1 The Martian... hey it can’t all be economics and it’s a great book [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

41

Love with a Chance of Drowning

Torre DeRoche

4.3

Love can make a person do crazy things. . .

A city girl with a morbid fear of deep water, Torre DeRoche is not someone you would ordinarily find adrift in the middle of the stormy Pacific aboard a leaky sailboat – total crew of two – struggling to keep an old boat, a new relationship and her floundering sanity afloat.

But when she meets Ivan, a handsome Argentinean man with a humble sailboat and a d

42

Under the Tuscan Sun

Frances Mayes

4.2

An enchanting and lyrical look at the life, the traditions, and the cuisine of Tuscany, in the spirit of Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence.

Frances Mayes entered a wondrous new world when she began restoring an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. There were unexpected treasures at every turn: faded frescos beneath the whitewash in her dining room, a vineyard under wildly overgrow

43

Wanderlove

Kirsten Hubbard

4.2

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and

44

The Great Railway Bazaar

Paul Theroux

4.2

First published in 1975, Paul Theroux's strange, unique, and hugely entertaining railway odyssey has become a modern classic of travel literature. Here Theroux recounts his early adventures on an unusual grand continental tour. Asia's fabled trains -- the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express --

45

A Field Guide to Getting Lost

Rebecca Solnit

4.2

Whether she is contemplating the history of walking as a cultural and political experience over the past two hundred years (Wanderlust), or using the life of photographer Eadweard Muybridge as a lens to discuss the transformations of space and time in late nineteenth-century America (River of Shadows), Rebecca Solnit has emerged as an inventive and original writer whose mind is daring in the conne

Cover unavailable

46

13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope, #1)

Maureen Johnson

4.2

Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.

In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat.

The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist.

Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/ bloke about town called Keith go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous though utterly romantic results. But will she ever see him again?

Everythi

47

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time

Mark Adams

4.2

What happens when an adventure travel expert-who's never actually done anything adventurous-tries to re-create the original expedition to Machu Picchu?

July 24, 1911, was a day for the history books. For on that rainy morning, the young Yale professor Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and encountered an ancient city in the clouds: the now famous citadel of Machu Picchu. N

48

Memoirs of a Geisha

Arthur Golden

4.2

A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel presents with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love

Recommended by Alice Little.

Alice Little

The author uses language that is very, very rich and colorful. … You can really immerse yourself into that world and kind of get a sense of what things were like, at that time. [source]

49

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time

Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

4.2

The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia.

In April 2011, the CBS documentary "60 Minutes" called into question Greg Mortenson's work. The program alleged several inaccuracies in Three Cups of Tea, and its sequel, Stones into Schools, as well as financial improprieties in the operation of Mortenson's Central Asia In

Recommended by Gretchen Peters, Jennifer Steil, and Nicholas Kristof.

Gretchen Peters

I went to a refugee camp after 9/11 where people were living in tents and boiling grass to make tea and at least one family offered to let me sleep in their tent. [source]

Jennifer Steil

Greg Mortenson has changed literally thousands and thousands of lives. [source]

Nicholas Kristof

I think Greg does a very good job of providing a more nuanced portrait of the Islamic world and what is possible in it. [source]

50

A Time of Gifts

Patrick Leigh Fermor, Jan Morris

4.2

In 1933, at the age of 18, Patrick Leigh Fermor set out on an extraordinary journey by foot - from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. A Time of Gifts is the first volume in a trilogy recounting the trip, and takes the reader with him as far as Hungary. It is a book of compelling glimpses - not only of the events which were curdling Europe at that time, but also of its resplendent domes and mon

Recommended by Colin Thubron and Quentin Hardy.

Colin Thubron

This is the first volume of his journey in 1933-34 from the Hook of Holland, as he called it, to what he insisted on calling Constantinople (Istanbul). It was to be in three volumes. This one takes him beyond Vienna. The second volume, Between the Woods and the Water, takes him through Hungary to the Balkans. The third volume was going to get him across Romania to Istanbul, but he never wrote it. There is a very modified version of it, which will probably be published – people are so longing to see this third volume that even an outline of it will suffice. But it’s not finished by his standards, which were very exacting. [source]

Quentin Hardy

@parul_sehgal @DwightGarner @jenszalai Excellent list. "This Boy's Life" pairs well with "The Duke of Deception," brother Geoffrey Wolff's boyhood with their con man father. Also "A Time of Gifts" is a memoir as well as a great travel book, particularly when the way it came about becomes part of the tale. [source]

51

Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback

Robyn Davidson

4.2

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

Robyn Davidson's opens the memoir of her perilous journey across 1,700 miles of hostile Australian desert to the sea with only four camels and a dog for company with the following words: “I experienced that sinking feeling you get when you know you have conned yourself into doing something difficult and there's no going back."

Enduring sweltering heat, fending off poisono

Recommended by Alastair Humphreys.

Alastair Humphreys

Tracks is just fantastically well written. [source]

52

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver

4.2

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of on

Recommended by Brigid Keenan and Michelle Jana Chan.

Brigid Keenan

This is about everything that can go wrong when you are in another country and faced with another culture. It’s about a family – primarily it centres on a father and his four daughters – who move to the Congo from America as missionaries. The book is tragic because the father has the best intentions of making a good life for his family, but he’s too closed-minded and set in his American ways. I identify with the daughters because they have a childish sensitivity to their surroundings that adults don’t always have. It is important if you go to live in other countries to be aware of the cultural differences, otherwise you can upset people. [source]

Michelle Jana Chan

It’s quite an old-fashioned story of sin and redemption, yet a hugely ambitious tale for Kingsolver to take on. It’s about filial responsibility as a wife and as daughters and sisters; it’s about guilt, bitterness and revenge. [source]

53

Down and Out in Paris and London

George Orwell

4.2

This unusual fictional memoir - in good part autobiographical - narrates without self-pity and often with humor the adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-outs of two great cities. The Parisian episode is fascinating for its expose of the kitchens of posh French restaurants, where the narrator works at the bottom of the culinary echelon as dishwasher, or plongeur. In London, w

Recommended by D J Taylor, David Downie, David Kramaley, and 2 others.

D J Taylor

The fascination of Down and Out in Paris and London is that it’s his first book. In it, you can see Orwell stumbling, moving towards the kind of writer he wants to be, choosing the sort of subject matter he thinks will be appropriate. He spent time in Paris, working humbly in hotels and restaurants as what the French called a plongeur, someone who basically does the washing up. Then, he came back to England and went on what he called his ‘tramping adventures,’ masquerading as a down and out. [source]

David Downie

That is a book I read when I was young – in my teens – and it really marked me. [source]

David Kramaley

I really enjoyed Down and Out in Paris and London. I think it’s meant to be a semi-autobiographical novel by George Orwell. I liked it because it was one of those books that had a big influence on the way I perceive and think about the world. Highly recommended. [source]

54

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)

Laini Taylor

4.2

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not

Recommended by Zoe.

Zoe

This series really stood out for me. The writing is exceptional and the story really grabs your attention and holds it. [source]

55

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding

Kristin Newman

4.2

A funny, sexy, and ultimately poignant memoir about mastering the art of the "vacationship."

Kristin Newman spent much of her twenties and thirties buying dresses to wear to her friends' weddings and baby showers. Not ready to settle down and in need of an escape from her fast-paced job as a sitcom writer, Kristin instead traveled the world, often alone, for several weeks each year. In addition to

56

Life of Pi

Yann Martel

4.2

Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father

Recommended by David Allen.

Cover unavailable

57

The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure

Rachel Friedman

4.2

Rachel Friedman has always been the consummate good girl who does well in school and plays it safe, so the college grad surprises no one more than herself when, on a whim (and in an effort to escape impending life decisions), she buys a ticket to Ireland, a place she has never visited. There she forms an unlikely bond with a free-spirited Australian girl, a born adventurer who spurs Rachel on to a

58

The Dharma Bums

Jack Kerouac

4.2

Two ebullient young men search for Truth the Zen way: from marathon wine-drinking bouts, poetry jam sessions, and "yabyum" in San Francisco's Bohemia to solitude in the high Sierras and a vigil atop Desolation Peak in Washington State. Published just a year after On the Road put the Beat Generation on the map, The Dharma Bums is sparked by Kerouac's expansiveness, humor, and a contagious zest for

Recommended by Josh Waitzkin.

Josh Waitzkin

If we go back to when I was seventeen, Jack Kerouac has had a huge impact in my life on the road. His books tapped me into the idea that life could be ecstatically beautiful. [source]

Cover unavailable

59

The Twenty-One Balloons

William Pene du Bois

4.2

Professor William Waterman Sherman intends to fly across the Pacific Ocean. But through a twist of fate, he lands on the secret island of Krakatoa where he discovers a world of unimaginable wealth, eccentric inhabitants, and incredible balloon inventions. Winner of the 1948 Newbery Medal, this classic fantasy-adventure is a joy for all ages.

Recommended by Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

A short, silly and utterly charming book which a generation of children, particularly American children, have enjoyed. [source]

60

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

DAVID GRANN

4.2

A grand mystery reaching back centuries. A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon.

After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, New Yorker writer David

Recommended by The Jupiter Girl.

The Jupiter Girl

The Lost City of Z (I have the book and it remains unread in Australia) is an odd little film, it's really more about the father-son relationship rather than what motivates Fawcett. It's a slow and dreamy film about a dreamer searching for some great achievement in his life [source]

61

The Odyssey

Homer

4.2

After enduring the Trojan War, Odysseus begins the treacherous journey home to Ithaca. On the way, he faces ravenous monsters and vengeful gods. But the real battle awaits, as his kingdom is under siege by unruly suitors vying for his wife’s hand—and his son’s head. To reclaim his throne and save his family, Odysseus must rely on his wits…and help from the unpredictable gods.

Homer’s The Odyssey wa

Recommended by Caterina Fake, Ted Turner, Charlotte Higgins, and 3 others.

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

Charlotte Higgins

It’s a very easy read, and a completely different world from The Iliad. Whereas The Iliad depicts a militaristic and war-wrecked world, The Odyssey is like a fairytale and it’s fascinatingly complex. It’s told in flashbacks, it has time that’s extended and time that’s compressed, and it’s told from different viewpoints. [source]

Janine di Giovanni

The thing I loved about Ulysses was that he’s so in love with adventure and with love. [source]

62

Last Chance to See

Douglas Adams, Mark Carwardine

4.2

"Very funny and moving...The glimpses of rare fauna seem to have enlarged [Adams'] thinking, enlivened his world; and so might the animals do for us all, if we were to help them live."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
Join bestselling author Douglas Adams and zooligist Mark Carwardine as they take off around the world in search of exotic, endangered creatures. Hilarious and poignant--as only Douglas A

Recommended by Beth Shapiro, Gaia Vince, and Mark Lynas.

Beth Shapiro

He describes in this book not only the beauty of these animals, but the human landscape they live in and what a disastrous time he has getting to these locations. [source]

Gaia Vince

This is a book obviously for readers but it’s also a book for writers of science to understand how to capture the imagination of readers. [source]

Mark Lynas

For me, Last Chance to See is a real eye-opener, with the idea that you can take a depressing subject – species on the verge of extinction – and present it in a way which is so engaging, so funny and so humane. [source]

63

Kon-Tiki

Thor Heyerdahl

4.2

Kon-Tiki is the record of an astonishing adventure -- a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. Intrigued by Polynesian folklore, biologist Thor Heyerdahl suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east, led by a mythical hero, Kon-Tiki. He decided to prove his theory by duplicating the legendary voyage.

On April

Recommended by Ovidiu Drugan.

Ovidiu Drugan

Expedition books from north pole to across the oceans with ships or rafts. [source]

64

My Life in France

Julia Child

4.1

The bestselling story of Julia's years in France--and the basis for Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams--in her own words.
Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach to American cuisine with her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television show The French Chef, Julia Child was not always a master chef. Indeed, when she first arrived in France in

65

Just One Year (Just One Day, #2)

Gayle Forman

4.1

Just One Day. Just One Year. Just One Read.

Before you find out how their story ends, remember how it began....

When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem

66

Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips

National Geographic

4.1

No one knows the world like National Geographic—and in this lavish volume, we reveal our picks for the world's most fabulous journeys, along with helpful information for readers who want to try them out.

Compiled from the favorite trips of National Geographic's travel writers, Journeys of a Lifetime spans the globe to highlight the best of the world's most famous and lesser known sojourns. It pres

67

The Snow Leopard

Peter Matthiessen

4.1

When Matthiessen went to Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and, possibly, to glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard, he undertook his five-week trek as winter snows were sweeping into the high passes. This is a radiant and deeply moving account of a "true pilgrimage, a journey of the heart."

Recommended by Nick Pyenson.

Nick Pyenson

The book stands apart and it remains fresh because of the ways that Matthiessen weaves his exploration of the outer world with his own inner one. [source]

68

The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1)

Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Lucia Grave

4.1

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. I

Recommended by Emma Watson.

69

Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman

Alice Steinbach

4.1

"In many ways, I was an independent woman," writes Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Alice Steinbach. “For years I’d made my own choices, paid my own bills, shoveled my own snow.” But somehow she had become dependent in quite another way. “I had fallen into the habit of defining myself in terms of who I was to other people and what they expected of me.” But who was she away from the people and thi

70

All the Bright Places

Jennifer Niven

4.1

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning!

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for th

71

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Harold Fry, #1)

Rachel Joyce

4.1

Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn't seen or heard from i

Cover unavailable

72

At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe

Tsh Oxenreider

4.1

As Tsh Oxenreider, author of Notes From a Blue Bike, chronicles her family’s adventure around the world. Americans Tsh and Kyle met and married in Kosovo. They lived as expats for most of a decade. They’ve been back in the States—now with three kids under ten—for four years, and while home is nice, they are filled with wanderlust and long to answer the call, so a trip—a nine-months-long trip—is pl

73

Paper Towns

John Green

4.1

Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now be

74

Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail

Jennifer Pharr Davis

4.1

After graduating from college, Jennifer isn't sure what she wants to do with her life. She is drawn to the Appalachian Trail, a 2175-mile footpath that stretches from Georgia to Maine. Though her friends and family think she's crazy, she sets out alone to hike the trail, hoping it will give her time to think about what she wants to do next. The next four months are the most physically and emotiona

75

The Paris Wife

Paula McLain

4.1

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship

Recommended by Wai Chee Dimock.

Wai Chee Dimock

This book is told in the first person, in the voice of Hadley. In that way it’s a good complement to Monique Truong’s book, which is told in the voice of the cook. Paula McLain did a good job in terms of historical research, and in fleshing out Hadley’s psychology. [source]

76

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)

Diana Gabaldon

4.1

From the author of Outlander... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland...

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancie

77

In Patagonia

Bruce Chatwin, Nicholas Shakespeare

4.1

An exhilarating look at a place that still retains the exotic mystery of a far-off, unseen land, Bruce Chatwin’s exquisite account of his journey through Patagonia teems with evocative descriptions, remarkable bits of history, and unforgettable anecdotes. Fueled by an unmistakable lust for life and adventure and a singular gift for storytelling, Chatwin treks through “the uttermost part of the ear

Recommended by Richard Branson and Colin Thubron.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Colin Thubron

This struck me as a rather different way of travel writing. It is very individual, with stark, short passages….His research isn’t a history of that area, it’s all about the strange inhabitants of it, and the weird leftovers. Anything that was incongruous he loved – a Welsh community in southern Argentina, that sort of thing. It was a world of oddities, of leftovers, of communities that had been isolated, people that had gone there for God knows what reason. He always felt himself to be an outsider in the world, and that’s what fascinated him. [source]

78

The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey

Ernesto Che Guevara

4.1

The young Che Guevara’s lively and highly entertaining travel diary, now a popular movie and a New York Times bestseller.

This new, expanded edition features exclusive, unpublished photos taken by the 23-year-old Ernesto on his journey across a continent, and a tender preface by Aleida Guevara, offering an insightful perspective on the man and the icon.

Features of this edition include:

A preface by

79

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: Revised Second Edition

Patricia Schultz

4.1

The world is calling. Time to answer.

The world’s wonders, continent by continent: A trek through Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. Sri Lanka’s Hill Country. A sunrise balloon safari over the Masai Mara. Canyon de Chelly. The sacred festivals of Bhutan. The Amalfi Coast. Sailing the Mekong River.

In all, 1,000 places guaranteed to give travelers the shivers: sacred ruins, coral reefs, hilltop villages, d

80

Around the World in Eighty Days (Extraordinary Voyages, #11)

Jules Verne, Michael Glencross, Brian Aldiss

4.1

One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand—whether train or elephant—overcoming set-backs an

Recommended by Cristina Riesen.

Cristina Riesen

Chronologically, my first favourite book probably was Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. [source]

81

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America

Bill Bryson

4.1

'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to'

And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England, he returned to the land of his youth, and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of trim and sunny place where the films of his youth were set. Instead, his search led him to

82

Wanderlust: A Modern Yogi's Guide to Discovering Your Best Self

Jeff Krasno, Sarah Herrington, Nicole Lindstrom

4.1

83

Voyager (Outlander, #3)

Diana Gabaldon

4.1

From the author of the breathtaking bestsellers Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, the extraordinary saga continues.

Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him

84

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi

4.1

A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

Two half-

85

Beautiful Ruins

Jess Walter

4.1

The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying.

And the story begins again today, half a world away

86

West with the Night

Beryl Markham

4.1

West with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s.

Recommended by Cal Fussman and David Maraniss.

Cal Fussman

"I note: Tim Ferriss asked Cal, "If you were a billionaire and could give 2 to 3 books to every graduating high school senior in the country this year, what would they be?" His answer (updated since the podcast) is: "For everyone: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. For females: West with the Night by Beryl Markham. For males: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. That's a good start for a journey". [source]

David Maraniss

She’s always been attracted to flying and space, she grew up near O’Hare Airport. [source]

87

Love

Matt de la Peña, Loren Long

4.0

From Newbery Medal-winning author Matt de la Peña and bestselling illustrator Loren Long comes a story about the strongest bond there is and the diverse and powerful ways it connects us all.

"In the beginning there is light
and two wide-eyed figures standing near the foot of your bed
and the sound of their voices is love.
...
A cab driver plays love softly on his radio
while you bounce in back with th

88

The Innocents Abroad

Mark Twain and Jane Jacobs

4.0

The Innocents Abroad is one of the most prominent and influential travel books ever written about Europe and the Holy Land.

Recommended by Charles Glass.

Charles Glass

In 1867, Mark Twain accompanied a group of American Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. As part of this excursion, they also enter Russia and various places in and around continental Europe. In this book, he sends them up marvellously – their pretensions, their messianic belief that they were better than anyone else in the world and their inability to understand what was going on around them. It’s a wonderfully wry look at a certain type of American who is striding the world, probably at just about the stage where America was about to take over the world. [source]

89

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Hunter S. Thompson

4.0

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.

Recommended by Bill Earner and Matthew O’Brien.

Bill Earner

My favorites novels are 100 Years of Solitude, All the King's Men, The Last Samurai, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. [source]

Matthew O’Brien

It’s one of my favourite books and probably my favourite Las Vegas-related book. Hunter S Thompson came out here in the early 70s to cover the Mint 400 off-road race for Sports Illustrated. He ended up writing a 10,000-word riff on his visit. In 1971, Jann Wenner ultimately published two long sections of it in Rolling Stone. Those two stories were the foundation for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. [source]

90

Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)

Kevin Kwan

4.0

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be

Recommended by Cat Williams-Treloar and Tracy Chou.

Cat Williams-Treloar

A couple of years after moving to Singapore I read Kevin Kwan's first book "Crazy Rich Asians". I've never laughed so much in my life and have been an advocate of the entire series. To this day, whenever someone has a copy in hand at the airport or in our regular store, I tell them how amazing the books area. Kevin is a genius, and his books are full of beautiful cultural insights from across the region. I can't wait for the movie! [source]

Tracy Chou

@nelson @CrazyRichMovie yay i’m so glad you got to enjoy it!! lots of singaporeans do speak hokkien and eleanor does in the movie, i can’t remember if she does in the book [source]

91

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town

Paul Theroux

4.0

In Dark Star Safari the wittily observant and endearingly irascible Paul Theroux takes readers the length of Africa by rattletrap bus, dugout canoe, cattle truck, armed convoy, ferry, and train. In the course of his epic and enlightening journey, he endures danger, delay, and dismaying circumstances.

Gauging the state of affairs, he talks to Africans, aid workers, missionaries, and tourists. What r

92

Round Ireland with a Fridge

Tony Hawks

4.0

Have you ever made a drunken bet? Worse still, have you ever tried to win one? In attempting to hitchhike round Ireland with a fridge, Tony Hawks did both, and his foolhardiness led him to one of the best experiences of his life. Joined by his trusty traveling companion-cum-domestic appliance, he made his way from Dublin to Donegal, from Sligo through Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Wexford, Wic

93

The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelope, #2)

Maureen Johnson

4.0

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny fro

94

The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah

4.0

Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl comin

95

The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

J. Maarten Troost

4.0

At the age of twenty-six, Maarten Troost who had been pushing the snooze button on the alarm clock of life by racking up useless graduate degrees and muddling through a series of temp jobs decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to Tarawa, a remote South Pacific island in the Republic of Kiribati. He was restless and lacked direction, and the idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends o

Recommended by Jennifer Steil.

Jennifer Steil

The Sex Lives of Cannibals. I’m not sure the book legitimises the title and, in any case, it’s such a funny, engaging book that it doesn’t need a title like that. It’s the funniest of all the books I read. It’s about this guy, the author J Maarten Troost, who’s in his early 20s, hasn’t developed a career yet, hasn’t launched into a job after university, and how his girlfriend gets a job with an NGO in this tiny Pacific island nation called Kiribati, on a tiny strip of land called the Tarawa atoll. It’s the middle absolutely nowhere, zillions of miles from civilisation, and it’s this flat, baking strip of land that’s overpopulated, full of trash, people defecating on the sea shore: the worst detritus of modern society. All there is to eat is tuna. And while his girlfriend’s working there, he’s trying to write the great American novel. [source]

96

Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents

Elisabeth Eaves

4.0

Spanning 15 years of travel, beginning when she is a sophomore in college, Wanderlust documents Elisabeth Eaves's insatiable hunger for the rush of the unfamiliar and the experience of encountering new people and cultures. Young and independent, she crisscrosses five continents and chases the exotic, both in culture and in romance. In the jungles of Papua New Guinea, she loses herself—literally—to

97

A Walk Across America

Peter Jenkins

4.0

Twenty-five years ago, a disillusioned young man set out on a walk across America. This is the book he wrote about that journey -- a classic account of the reawakening of his faith in himself and his country.

"I started out searching for myself and my country," Peter Jenkins writes, "and found both." In this timeless classic, Jenkins describes how disillusionment with society in the 1970s drove him

98

Wanderlost

Jen Malone

4.0

Not all those who wander are lost, but Aubree Sadler most definitely is on this novel’s whirlwind trip through Europe.

Aubree can’t think of a better place to be than in perfectly boring Ohio, and she’s ready for a relaxing summer. But when her older sister, Elizabeth, gets into real trouble, Aubree is talked into taking over Elizabeth’s summer job, leading a group of senior citizens on a bus tour

99

Out of Africa

Isak Dinesen

4.0

Out of Africa is Isak Dinesen's memoir of her years in Africa, from 1914 to 1931, on a four-thousand-acre coffee plantation in the hills near Nairobi. She had come to Kenya from Denmark with her husband, and when they separated she stayed on to manage the farm by herself, visited frequently by her lover, the big-game hunter Denys Finch-Hatton, for whom she would make up stories "like Scheherazade.

Recommended by Brigid Keenan and Helena Frith Powell.

Brigid Keenan

An incredible introduction to Africa, and I read the book when I needed it most. [source]

Helena Frith Powell

I found the book itself inspirational, and I found the fact that a woman had written it doubly inspirational. [source]

100

My Documents

Alejandro Zambra, Megan McDowell

4.0

Archived in a folder on award-winning author Alejandro Zambra's desktop are 11 stories of liars and ghosts, armed bandits and young lovers. Intimate, mysterious, and uncanny, these stories reveal a mind that is as undeniably singular as it is universal. Together, they constitute the debut short-story collection from Zambra, whose first novel was heralded as a “bloodletting in Chilean literature.”

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