As avid readers, we love to dive into books about our upcoming destinations. Some are fiction, others are not, some are travelogues and others are destination guides. To help you plan and prepare for your next journey, consider diving into one or more of these great reads.
TRAVEL GUIDES
1,000 Places To See Before You Die is our favorite coffee table book. Patricia Shultz began her compilation of the world’s must-see spots with the first publication in 2003. The newest edition (2019) is gorgeous with illustrations and updates that still resonate five years later.
It’s a great way to notate where and when you’ve been and then start compiling a list of the places you want to go!
We aren’t the only fans, this book was named a Best Gift Book/Best Travel Book of the Year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, House Beautiful, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Forbes, Fodor’s, The Points Guy, and us! Plus, it’s sold over 2 million copies – someone else loves it.
ALASKA
One of the most popular destinations of our clients is Alaska. There are many great ways to visit America’s 49th state and one of them i
s from your favorite reading chair. There are dozens of books about Alaska that get past the majestic beauty of this wild state to drill down on the deprivations and harshness of living.
One of these is a lyrical, dreamy book by Eowyn Ivey titled “The Snow Child.” In this book, two settlers in the 1920’s are struggling with their move to Alaska until, in a moment of lightness, they build a snowman child. When the snow creation disappears the next day, it is replaced by a small girl that seems to have come from a fairy tale. As with all good stories, this one has joy and despair and is a magical book that will stay with you.
Luckily, your Alaska vacation most likely won’t encounter fairie children!
CHINA
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven has got to be one of the greatest book titles I’ve ever seen. This non-fiction tale is pretty remarkable as well. In 1986 just as China began to welcome foreign travelers, two college acquaintance hatched a plan to travel the world beginning in the People’s Republic of China. To say things
did not go according to plan is an understatement, and an eye-opener to how different that country was just forty years ago. Sarah Gilman shares this memoir with laugh-out-loud humor and painful honesty about the predicaments she and her friend unwittingly found themselves in a country very different from today.
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is a great read that will make you happy that your journey with the author is from the comfort of your home.
FRANCE
David McCullough was one of America’s most gifted writers. I’ve read many of his fascinating non-fiction stories of American fortitude, creativity and strength, and one of my favorite, all-time books, is “The Greater Journey.” It’s not a light read, but one that will stay with you many years and inspire your own trip to the City of Lights. David McCullough had the gift of writing non-fiction in a way that reads like a novel while offering insights and turn of phrase not often found.
In the mid to late 1800’s Paris was the place to be for people of means and who were interested in art, literature, philosophy, medicine, and fashion. Many of these adventurous doctors, lawyers, artists, architects and politicians are still known to us today, and the influence Paris had on these Americans is profound. Equally measured is the influence the Americans had on the French culture, their country and beyond.
Check back often as we will continue to add our favorite books to these lists.
As always, if you purchase from this list, we may earn a small commission.