An Eclectic Collection of the Best Books to Read While Traveling

Books make fine travel companions no matter how you read them. I prefer paper copies. They give tired eyes a rest and there’s something satisfying about turning a page.  Most books can be slipped into a carry-on easily, although a used copy of The Tales of Gengi by Murasaki Shikibo came with me on my last trip to Japan. The historical account, written in the 11th century, was full of details about intrigues in courtiers lives at the height of the Heian period and it weighed nearly two pounds! I confess to tearing each chapter out as I finished it, eventually leaving the final quarter of the book unread on a Kyoto train station bench. I hated desecrating the book, but my shoulders complained from lugging around baggage for nearly three weeks. Later, the book sprang to life when I discovered the Tale of Gengi Museum near Kyoto in Uji. As a Westerner, walking through those halls deepened every temple and ancient site I experienced on the trip. Genji was memorable and became one of my best books to read about travel.

Each one of us who love traveling collect stories about the places we’ve been. A news report might inspire or inform, a magazine spread can draw us in and often the pictures lure us closer to destinations. However, I’ve found that reading about a place, a bit of history or fiction informed by it, makes travel more exciting and immersive.

In Egypt, I stood in front of the island temple of Philae, which was saved from the Nile inundation as the Aswan dam was built. It was moved, stone by gigantic stone, in large part by the efforts of French archaeologist, Derouche-Noblecourt. Her efforts came to life as I surveyed the water line burnished into the columns far above my head. The book about her decades of work, Empress of the Nile, is another of my best books about travel writing. Even my Egyptian guide thought so. She DM’d me a thank you for recommending the historical account months later. (You can read more about my solo trip along the Nile here.)

Literary Journeys – a new book mapping notable, fictional travels

Literary Journeys

We pack and trim our needs for each trip but this book may be a necessity and a pleasure if you’re more historically inclined or academically minded. Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels across the World of Literature is filled with original essays about great historical travels by an international team of literary critics, scholars, and other writers. It’s edited by John McMurtrie, of McSweeney’s Publishing and the former books editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. The book is lovely to behold with illustrations and photographs, maps, and artwork relative to the seventy-five entries. I found the Index most helpful in researching destinations, and the Table of Contents is intriguingly ordered in sections: Quests & Explorations, The Age of Travel, Postmodern Movements, and Contemporary Crossings. Literary Journeys recommends many of the best books to read while traveling and was recently published by Princeton University Press.

I’m getting ready for another trip and looking for literary insights. There are three good reasons I couldn’t find something about French Polynesia when I scanned Literary Journeys. It didn’t fit into the criteria which determined inclusion:

• The work had to be a literary work of fiction.
• Each had to contain a journey that is evidentially based on real, rather than imaginary locations.
• The aim was for the book to act both as a travel companion…and a time machine with entries running chronologically.

Luckily, I found other bookish companions for my upcoming trip to the Tahitian Islands.

The Writings of a Savage by Paul Gaugin about his life in French Polynesia

A Handful of the Best Books to Read While Traveling

1. Tahiti

How I wish I’d kept up with my high school French studies! I am, like too many Americans, hobbled by speaking only English. Once out of the country the deficit stings as I sit through conversations only picking out a word here and there but unable to follow conversations. Tethered to Google Translate (not always the best either!)

If I could read in French, the book, Tahiti – Island of Shattered Dreams by Shantal Spitz would be traveling with me. It is available as a Kindle edition. (Not going there – I carry too many electronic devices already.) To read the first Indigenous Tahitian’s novel in her own language would be a fascinating honor. The novel encompasses a family saga and a doomed love story set against the background of the first nuclear tests. It took a while for publication as the story was polarising in Tahiti for being highly critical of the French government’s decisions. An English version has been translated into English by Jean Anderson. I’m going to look for a copy when I get to the islands.

The book that will be with me as I explore several islands of French Polynesia will be Guagin’s journal: The Writings of a Savage, edited by Daniel Guerin. I’ve always loved Gaugin’s compositions, passionate colors, and broad brushstrokes. A man of complicated morals, he nevertheless disagreed with colonial attitudes towards the Polynesian people. It will be interesting to learn more as I visit several islands while staying in guest houses as well as a family resort during my time there.

Shantaram is one of the best books while traveling for its relentless descriptions of life in lower Indian castes from the perspective of an Australian fugitive.

2. India

Shantaram: I’ve long wanted to visit India but knew the trip could be challenging. How would I handle the crowds and poverty, spicey food, and air quality? I knew it could be especially overwhelming as a solo traveler. Gratefully I found a women’s tour that fit my budget and interests. I’ve written about the trip before: The Food, and the Tour.

The personal issues remained, how to deal with them? Enter another of the best travel books to read about travel in India, Shantaram. Here’s a snippet of the book description in Good Reads:

Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas—this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart.

The amazing story follows the travails of its author, Gregory David Roberts as he escapes from prison in his home country of Australia and navigates to his eventual freedom in India. It has difficult passages detailing torture and suffering but they move the plot forward as the young man finds a way to take responsibility for his crimes and rise above them. The best-selling tome (another big book) has been made into a TV series that didn’t work for me but the story did.

The main thing I learned and came to admire about Indian culture is the support of the community that exists amongst the poorest people and in the most dire of slums. I also had to acknowledge an underground of dark entrepreneurship that has roots in colonialism. Did reading it influence my trip? Absolutely. It gave me a richer perspective I couldn’t have had and respect for India’s processes.

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson is a great companion when visiting Australia

3. Australia

In a Sunburned Country: Bill Bryson’s writing delights me. His wit and perceptions, encounters and insights are worth turning every page. One reader on Good Reads describes her experience of reading In a Sunburned Country: There is history, wonderfully funny and horribly gruesome and sad stories, lodging and traveling tips and a long list of places there that I really now want to see. His wit and sarcastic humor is what did it for me.” I visited a thin slice of Australia on a family trip but want to see and experience much more. The best books to read while traveling should inspire that.

xplore the world of Douglas Adams as compiled by Yvette Keller.

4. London

42 Locations from the Life and Work of Douglas Adams: If you loved the Hitchikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, there’s now a literary guide that charts forty-two locations from the life and work of Douglas Adams. California writer, Yvette Keller, lover of all things Adams, has worked tirelessly to track and explore all the locations in the UK.  Using all of his books, biographies, and fresh research, her guide offers a glimpse of the city through the eyes of a much-missed author.

I look forward to returning to London to use the Hitchikers Guide Guide (see what I did there?) and learn more about what very real places sparked Adams’s imagination.  42 locations from the life and work of Douglas Adams.

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck is a great road trip read.

5. American Road Trips

Travels With Charley: After growing up riding in the back seat of my family’s various station wagons on long road trips around the country and far into Mexico (when that was much easier) it’s only right that I still love the feel of the open road and a destination pulling me forward like a magnet. I’ve driven up and down California’s Central Valley too many times to count and finally pulled over to visit the Salinas Steinbeck Museum on an extended rest stop. Wish I could say I’ve read his book, Travels with Charley, about searching for America from behind the wheel, but it’s on the list. I’ve written more about driving through John Steinbeck Country in this earlier blog post.

Driving Mr. Albert has to be one of the quirkiest road trip books but it’s a great read.

Driving Mr. Albert: A book of a far stranger kind has caught my attention during a time when work keeps me from traveling and my mind needs a diversion during the early, sleepless hours.. Michael Paterniti’s story sprang from a Harper’s Magazine article that won a National Magazine Award and it’s as odd and intriguing as road trip stories come. Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip across America with Einstein’s Brain. He sought out the possessor, some would say, kidnapper, of Eistien’s brain and surrendered to the journey. Yes, Paterniti drives with a Tupperware container holding chunks of the brain in the trunk, stopping at odd spots and fast food joints with his companion on the way to connecting with a relative of Einstein’s. It’s a true story with a surprising redemption, I’ve been told. I can’t spoil it for you as I’m still reading!

Best books to read while traveling PIN