I just posted a similar question in fave books not travel thread, but I wanted to put it here too. I was thinking of making a page (actually, make that 2 or 3) of all the recommendations here, so that way travelers could look through the Books & Guides section of our Traveler's Toolkit, see what they like, and buy it online. Does this sound like a good idea to you guys?

Here's a link to the Books & Guides section, so you can have a look:

http://toolkit.bootsnall.com/books/

There are some books I have read multi times which I take on flights to read yet again :-

Neuromancer - William Gibson
Fadeout - Patrick Tilley
Strata - Terry Pratchett (one of his early books)
The Horseman - Joseph Kessel (about Afghanistan)

... to name a few.

There are some very funny books by Robert Klane -
he wrote 'Weekend at Bernies' which gives you some idea of the humour.

Any of the 'Sharpe' series by Bernard Cornwell.
Any of the 'Aubrey' series by Patrick O'Brian.
Any of the Navajo books by Tony Hillerman.

... but mostly I sleep !

Songlines - Bruce Chatwin (I know it was already mentioned, but I got the name right...)
Mosquito Coast - Paul Theoroux
Beloved - Toni Morrison (not travel writing, but journeying none the less)
Away - Jane Urquhart (big plug for my fav Canadian author)
Obasan - Joy Kogawa

"Frost On My Moustache"! by Tim Moore.
There was another topic posted by Nick somewhere in the Boots depths where I gave this recommendation, but it is worthy of repetition. Ant- I completley concur with your views on Bill Bryson's "Neither Here Nor There". I am currently reading it, and if he mentions the chest size of another desk or railway clerk, I'm feeding the book to my tabbies. I hope his other works redeem his name in my estimation. He is also coming across as the whinging American, talking about how dirty and boring places are.
Nobody has mentioned Eric Newby. Try "Round Ireland in Low Gear" about a bicycle trip he made with his wife (guess where) when they were both at least 65 years strong. Tres funny.

The African Safari Papers - Robert Sedlack

It's his first novel - he's been sort of hand picked by Timothy Findlay. It's a fictional account of a 19 year old's African safari trip with his mom and dad, but he's a sex-obsessed druggy, his dad's a control freak and his mom has mental troubles. Everyone who reads it says it blew them away, and he's being touted as the "next big thing" - likened to Kerouac, etc.

And get this, although it's fictional and he says it was only semi based on life, he went on a similar safari with his parents at the same age, and he's a recovering heroic addict. He's scared of flying, so he drove his old mustang from LA to Toronto for his press interviews. Definitely worth checking out!!

ant good idea

The book you are looking for is called May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons - A Journey Among the Women of India by Elisabeth Bumiller. A wonderfully insightful book. You can get it at Amazon, but here's a thumbs up for ordering from your local, independent, new or used bookseller (they might actually have it in stock..they did at mine).

Don't forget to include the classic get your butt off the couch book: "A Journey of One's Own: Uncommon Advice for the Independent Woman Traveler" by Thalia Zepatos.

I also love "Walking to the Mountain" by Wendy Teasdill. A beautiful book about a woman travelling on her own in Tibet. Focuses on her time at Mount Kailash (it also gives a few tips on how to make it to this hard to reach area, as well as obtaining the pertinent tourist visa).

Caitlin,
Read some other stuff of ol' Bills, and it redeems him pretty well. Notes from a Small Island was good, not nearly so damn chest size-obsessed, and A Walk in the Woods (on the Appalachian Trail) was brilliant - probably his best.

BTW, we can chat more on ol' Bill this weekend - the lads and I can't wait to meet you! Have a good trip down!

Thanx for solving the mystery. I concur with trying to support the ol' local bookstore, but if anyone defo wants to hit the ol Amazon fer their texts, here's a link to the mystery book itself:

May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons

Cheers, Otter! -- oh, and welcome to the boards! Good to have ya!

hmmmm... this does sound an interesting text. One of those fictional factual novels. HOw long has it been out? We probably are due for a sort of next big thing, really, aren't we? I hope it's better than The Beach, though- which if i recall correctly is the last book people were touting as the next Kerouac kind of thing. A decent book, but not exactly much *oomph*, ya know?

Desperadoes by Joseph O'Connor - a brilliantly described book about a middle-aged Irish couple who travel to Nicaragua to find their son who has gone missing, suspected dead. I haven't visited Nicaragua so can't vouch for the accuracy but the descriptions were extremely vivid.

Ant, I think this is an excellent thread, one of my first steps when planning to visit a new place is to dig out a few books, preferably by authors from that country/region, and try to read myself into the culture

After reading some comments on this book I rushed out and bought a copy. The thing is...and perhaps this is just me being dense - I dont think its a good book at all - I have found it a little perdantic and terribly pretentious - I know this is ment to be a travel classic (and I havent quite finished it yet)...I would be interested to hear anyones views on this..

Nick Danziger applies for the 'Winston Churchill grant' or something like that and gets a couple of grand to 'furthur cultural understanding' by travelling across Asia. Of course being a reasourceful fellow he took 2 years, crossed the Iranian border without papers at night, went native and hung out with the mujahadeen in Afghanistan.

An interesting read for those of us who like to travel without the constraints of borders.

-Nick-

Are you experienced? by William Sutcliffe. Very nice, and a must read for every backpacker who takes himself too serious!

Don Quijote and Sancho were 2 marvellous travellers,his adventures are only about Spain but they dream many times in other countries.I advice the juvenil version (without the boring parts).Also Gerald Durrel´s books..