Road Reads
As a full-time journalist specializing in travel, I spend a sizeable amount of time in transit.
I am often asked how I can stand ‘wasting’ so much time waiting in airports or flying for hours - sometimes days - to reach a destination.
Truth is, I am a bookworm of the most gluttonous sort. Discovering a new book, a new author, is like meeting a new friend. The downtime provides the perfect opportunity to get caught up on reading.
Airports, with a bookstore or newsstand on nearly every concourse corner, are great places to discover new titles, authors and magazines. And, booksellers in foreign airports often provide an excellent selection of the region’s best authors and stunning photographic books.
Listed below are (in no particular order) a few books I enjoy. Most of the books listed are set in destinations I have visited, others highlight places I still hope to see.
I encourage you to check in often, as the list is ever-evolving, ever- expanding, as I discover new favorites, or remember old ones.Have a favorite to share? Email me*.
* Please type BOOKS I LOVE in the subject line of your message.
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Great Novels
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When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned.
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The brilliantly funny and heartwarming New York Times bestseller about a young woman who stumbles, then fights to build a new life after the death of her husband. 36-year-old Sophie Stanton loses her young husband to cancer.
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A hilarious romp dedicated to Paul Gauguin and the other men who have run away and discovered the consequences.
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Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul.
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As bombs pound Malta to dust, Father Salvatore--a simple priest, or kappillan, serving the poor--finds himself caught in the drama of World War Two. His story, and that of the island, unfold in superbly graphic images of six days during the siege.
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Horan's ambitious first novel is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman
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This bestseller puts you smack dab in the middle of the exciting and volatile world of Hemingway's Paris. A novel creatively crafted from a point of view rarely glimpsed, that of Hadley Richardson, Hemingway’s first wife.
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Memorable Memoirs
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An insightful and at times wrenching memoir of love lost and love found, set against a backdrop of the world's wildest places.
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This small memoir is large with wisdom, humor and stories you'll want to share with everyone you care for.
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An intensely articulate, sensible, moving and funny memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment.
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Tales of a Female Nomad is the story of an ordinary woman who is living an extraordinary existance. 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 traversing the globe.
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Forced to reveal hidden emotions and the unknown circumstances of her father’s death, this moving memoir is a powerful story of how pain and loss can result in a renewed sense of self.
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When Laura Fraser’s husband of one year leaves her for his high school sweetheart, she decides on impulse to take a trip to Italy to soothe her broken heart. An excursion to the island of Ischia lands her face-to-face with a handsome lover.
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Warned by a Hong kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for an entire year, Tiziano Terzani - a vastly experienced Asia correspondent - did just that. This marvelous tale regales us with his exploits, both internal and external.
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This is the extraordinary life of an ordinary man. It is the inspiring life story of Albert Facey, a parentless boy who started working at eight on the rough West Australian frontier.
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This is an astonishing story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave Walls the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.
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Travel Tales
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Equal parts travel, humor and self-help,The Geography of Bliss is as funny as it is enlightening.
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Never Pass a Bar that Has Your Name On It, says the eighth rule of travel; a very rewarding rule if your name is McCarthy and you're wandering through the west of Ireland. McCarhty's Bar is a funny and affectionate portrait of a rapidly changing country.
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Three years before Che Guevara's fateful meeting with Fidel Castro in 1956, the 23-year-old medical student set out on his ancient Norton 500 motorbike on an eight-month voyage of discovery around Latin America. This diary tells the story of that trip in
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Everything feels different on the road. It’s a time to test limits, contemplate life from new angles, or create changes big and small. The women in A Woman’s Passion for Travel do this and more, exploring every corner of the globe.
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Twenty-two women describe the country they love and why tey have fallen under its spell. Transcending the ordinary travelogue, these articles capture the ways in which Mexico has shaped lives or influenced decisions, how it has affected each woman.
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I'm not always a fan of travel narratives, but the more I read, the more I liked this book. The natural world descriptions and historical tid-bits sold me.
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Don't Miss
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Mexico told through the tales of its people. Moving from Mexico City discos to remote Indian towns, Patrict Oster tells of Mexicans whose lives reveal something vital about Mexico.
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A generous and evocative novel of living in rural Mexico - a land with the power to enchant, repel, and change all who pass through.
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Life of Pi is a masterful and utterly original novel that is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound.
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In Adventure Divas, Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine, Holly Morris ditches desk life and sets out to prove that adventure is not just a vacation style but a philosophy of living — and to find like-minded, risk-taking women around the globe.
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A novel of sex and sensibility. A hilarious romp through the life and loves of a truly modern woman on the go.
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In this rousing examination of contemporary American male identity, author and journalist Elizabeth Gilbert explores the fascinating true story of Eustace Conway.
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Too funny. I've been running around regaling anyone and everyone with useless facts gleaned from this book. Love it!
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Motivational
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Does your work give your life meaning and purpose? No. Then you will want to read this book - a personal favorite.
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In illuminating the nature of consciousness, Tolle describes in detail how our current ego-based state of consciousness operates. Then gently, and in very practical terms, he leads us into a new level of awareness.
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What is Adventure? As Dr. Jeff Salz shows us in this wise, wonderful and extraordinary book, it is the most vital way of living your life every day.
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A must-have career guide for anyone ready to transform the way they do business and life!
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The Green Dream
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Farewell, My Subaru is the hilarious account of everything that can go wrong (and then right) when this globe-trotting NPR freelancer attempts to kick oil, live locally and keep his goats out of his rose bushes.
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For Foodies
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Join restaurant critic Anne Hillerman for a whirlwind tour through some of the most delectable Santa Fe restaurants and offers recommendations on the best eateries with recipes contributed by restaurant chefs. Absolutely yummy!
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Book Blogs & More
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An awesome blog about books and movies as they influence travel.
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n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
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One of the best sources for recommended reading! Book Passage President Elaine Petrocelli selects her favorite new books and writes a brief review about her selections in each issue of the Book Passage News & Reviews.
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A great listing of the best the online books community has to offer
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A fantastic source for the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures. Don't miss their free destination reading lists for travelers!
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With approximately 1 million members, Oprah has built the world's largest book club.
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