One of my favorite things about Los Angeles are the Literary Lunches organized by Julie Robinson of Literary Affairs. The lunches started a few years ago with the Jane Austen Book Club series. We met for six months, each time discussing a different book. An English professor at UCLA, Lynn Batten, gave a lecture and then we all discussed the book. Ever wonder how to make a packed room of grown, successful, mostly married women fall in love with you? Talk to them about Jane Austen. We quickly became Lynn Batten groupies. Since then Lynn has shared books from various time periods and locations. Currently, we’re talking about literature from Paris between WWI and WWII. We wishfully joke about visiting the counties we’re reading about; now we all crave a trip to Paris. To hold us over until we can all board a plane together, Lynn agreed to share his favorite travel books by modern writers. Any of these books make the perfect gift for the reader and traveller (or armchair traveller) in your life.
MY 15 FAVORITE MODERN TRAVEL BOOKS BY 15 DIFFERENT AUTHORS
(A Totally Idiosyncratic List)
Barry, Dave - Dave Barry Does Japan
Bryson, Bill - Notes from a Small Island
Byron, Robert – The Road to Oxiana
Chatwin, Bruce – In Patagonia
Dalrymple, William - In Xanadu
Fermor, Patrick Leigh – A Time of Gifts
Fleming, Peter – News from Tartary
Greenwald, Jeff - The Size of the World: Once Around Without Leaving the Ground
Iyer, Pico – Video Night in Kathmandu
Kerouac, Jack – On the Road
Naipaul, V. S. – An Area of Darkness
Newby, Eric – Slowly Down the Ganges
Stark, Freya – Alexander’s Path
Steinbeck, John – Travels with Charley
Theroux, Paul - The Great Railway Bazaar
Don’t forget to enter our Holiday Helper giveaway, buy any two books at an independent bookstore before December 31st, send us the receipt(s) and we’ll enter you in a drawing for an ABA Gift Card.
-
You know, a list of gifts for “people who run a bookstore-lovers blog” would be good, too. Very helpful.
-
I love, love, loved Notes from a Small Island when I listened to it (unabridged, of course) on audio. I really need to get more of Bryson’s work.
-
Carrie, try The Lost Continent, we read it in our Son and Parent Book Group when my son was about 14 and loved it. Very funny.
-
Thanks, I will!
Reply
Recent Articles
-
Wonderful Video of What Happens in a Bookstore at Night
I’ve been in a bit of a posting slump, but I’m working my way out and what better way to start the new year than with this lovely stop action video, “The Joy of Books,” about what happens in Type bookstore at night. I can’t wait to visit Toronto just to stop by Type Books to [...]
-
Scrambling For A Last Minute Gift? Head To Your Local Bookstore!
Farhad Manjoo ignited the latest round of ‘will the local bookstore survive’ with his “Don’t Support Your Local Bookstore” tirade on Slate. (I couldn’t fail to notice that while Salon promotes a campaign to support local bookstores, Slate is bashing them.) Numerous responses Manjoo were published, twitter feeds with special hashtags popped up, and even [...]
-
57th Street Books – Chicago, IL
57th Street, the actual street, is perfect for the meandering bookworm. We started with lunch at the graffiti clad Medici Restaurant. Famous for its burgers and scribbled upon walls and furnishings, we filled the time waiting for our food by adding our own “tags” to the table top. More importantly, within blocks there are three [...]
-
Essay Challenge Recap
I coming in just under the wire this year, this challenge must be completed today!! The Essay Challenge over at Books and Movies is the only one I joined this year, even so, I didn’t keep up with it the way I have the past two years. Not that I haven’t read essays all year [...]
-
Salon says “Support Your Local Bookstore!”
In the latest pitch to keep bookstores alive and well, or at least breathing, Salon.com gave credit to indies for finding and promoting the latest excellent book most of us don’t know: An independent bookstore brings a lot to a city or a town: a showroom for the latest literary releases, an auditorium where authors [...]
-
Small Business Saturday – Shop at Local Businesses on November 26th!
Actually shop at them as much as possible, they are the engine that drives your local economy. But, let’s give the little guys a leg up in the middle of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Drop by a local business, chat with a real person, and contribute to your neighborhood economy by purchasing a Christmas [...]
-
Which authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner?
Taking a riff from NPR’s story last week about which deceased composers Miles Hoffman would invite to Thanksgiving dinner, I pondered the same question for authors and asked quite a few friends. Here are the guidelines: which dead authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner? Which author would you invite to give a reading Thanksgiving [...]
-
Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Opens Today
One of the pleasures of having a teenage daughter is the opportunity to share silly, girlly experiences. While I understand all of the criticism about the Twilght series, and agree with some, as I’ve written before, I’ve enjoyed the ride. Even more, I’m grateful for the opportunity to share the sheer reading fun with my daughter. [...]
-
Abbey Books & Gifts – Valyermo, CA
I spent just over 24 hours last week at St. Andrews Abbey. I’m not Catholic, but I enjoy joining the monks in the Daily Office. For those of you new to that term (and that would’ve been me a couple of years ago), it’s the practice of pausing at several set times through out the [...]
-
Alexander Book Co. – San Francisco, CA
Alexander Book Co. is a traditional independent bookstore tucked around a corner in downtown San Francisco. Wedged between office towers and the Academy of Arts complex, it’s a cozy respite from steel, glass, and marble. The store even smells like good books waiting to be discovered. The first time I tried to visit the store, [...]
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link: http://www.bookstorepeople.com/2009/11/best-gift-for-readers-and-travelers/trackback/