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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Item EXTVL1. Buy these 25 items as a set for $334 including shipping, 20% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Arctic Dreams

by Barry Lopez

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2001
• PAPER
• 417 PAGES
• FAVORITE

A dazzling meditation on the Arctic, breathtaking in scope. Lopez draws on his travels throughout the North, including Baffin Island, the Chukchi and Bering seas, Alaska, the Yukon and Greenland, interweaving natural history, accounts of early exploration, anecdote and lore into an indelible portrait of place. (ARC11, $16.00)

The Colossus of Maroussi

by Henry Miller

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 223 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Miller captures the spirit and warmth of the resilient Greek people in this inspired tale of a wartime journey from Athens to Crete, Corfu and Delphi with his friend Lawrence Durrell. (GRE05, $12.95)

Dersu the Trapper

by V.K. Arseniev | Malcolm Burr

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1996
• PAPER
• 358 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Captain Arseniev's mesmerizing account of adventure, exploration and friendship in the Russian Far East, source for the Kurosowa film. (SIB24, $16.00)

Desert Solitaire

by Edward Abbey

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 1990
• PAPER
• 303 PAGES
• FAVORITE

One of the great works on the value of the desert, eloquent and laugh-out-loud funny. Although Abbey writes specifically about his experiences as a ranger at Arches National Park outside Moab, Utah, his message is universal. (DES02, $14.95)

Dreams of Trespass, Tales of a Harem Girlhood

by Fatima Mernissi

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1995
• PAPER
• 242 PAGES
• FAVORITE

This captivating memoir by one of Morocco's most outspoken women opens, "I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, a ninth-century Moroccan city." Mernissi captures not only the spirit of the place, but also the hierarchy and decorum of a Muslim family compound. (MRC10, $17.00)

Endurance, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

by Alfred Lansing

• EXPLORATION
• 1998
• PAPER
• 280 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Lansing's gripping day-by-day story of Shackleton's legendary perseverance is essential reading for any Antarctic traveler; it captures all the fortitude, drama and cheer of this most famous Antarctic expedition. (ANT03, $14.95)

The Fatal Shore

by Robert Hughes

• HISTORY
• 1988
• PAPER
• 752 PAGES
• FAVORITE

In this celebrated social history, both scholarly and entertaining, Hughes traces the fate of those who were transported to the penal colonies of Australia between 1787 and 1868. It's an engaging popular account, drawn from the experiences of the colonists themselves. (AUS04, $19.95)

The Great Game

by Peter Hopkirk

• HISTORY
• 1994
• PAPER
• 565 PAGES
• FAVORITE
• HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

Hopkirk's spellbinding account of the great struggle for European supremacy in Central Asia takes us over the high mountain passes and through the scorching deserts and caravan towns of the Silk Road, capturing the glamour, intrigue, treachery and adventure of the time. (CAS09, $18.00)

Here is New York

by E.B. White

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1999
• HARD COVER
• 56 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Written in a hotel room over two hot days in the summer of 1948, White's timeless love letter (it's easily read in an hour) captures the spirit of New York. It's a swift, lyrical portrait of the city that moves from Broadway to Central Park and the Hudson River to favorite haunts on 3rd Avenue. (NYC28, $16.95)

Homage to Catalonia

by George Orwell

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1987
• PAPER
• 234 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Orwell's portrait of the Barcelona uprising and the spirit of a city at war is a classic, an observant and heartfelt report from the streets. (SPN03, $14.95)

Independent People, An Epic

by Halldor Laxness

• LITERATURE
• 1997
• PAPER
• 480 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Rich in local color, this great mock-epic by the Icelandic Nobel Prize-winner features the indelible Bjartur of Summerhouses, a hard-headed, independent-minded sheep farmer. (ICL01, $16.95)

In Patagonia

by Bruce Chatwin

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1989
• PAPER
• 204 PAGES
• FAVORITE

A masterpiece of travel, history and adventure, this award-winning book captures the spirit of the land, history, wildlife and people of Patagonia. There's no travel writer as engaging, insightful and just plain wonderful as Bruce Chatwin. (PAT01, $15.00)

In Siberia

by Colin Thubron

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2001
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Thubron captures the beauty, personality, contradictions and harsh nature of this huge land in this classic account of a 15,000-mile, cross-continental odyssey from the Yenisei to Baikal, Khabarovsk and Magadan. (SIB14, $14.99)

The Log from the Sea of Cortez

by John Steinbeck

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1995
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The classic account of a collecting trip to the Sea of Cortez with marine biologist Ed Ricketts, first published in 1941. Subtitled "A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research," this much-loved book captures the wonders of the Gulf of California and the joys of discovery. (BJA02, $16.00)

Midnight's Children

by Salman Rushdie

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 533 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Crowned Best of the Booker in 2008, Rushdie's greatest novel is a madcap, comic take on the birth of modern India in all its splendid and unexpected manifestations. (IDA12, $16.00)

The Path Between the Seas, The Creation of the Panama Canal: 1870-1914

by David McCullough

• HISTORY
• 2004
• PAPER
• 700 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Admirably told in vivid, page-turning detail. McCullough reveals the full scope of the Panama Canal, its characters, technical difficulties and Byzantine politics. (CAM32, $20.00)

Playing With Water: A Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island

by James Hamilton-Paterson

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1994
• PAPER
• 282 PAGES
• FAVORITE

In this altogether wonderful memoir, Hamilton-Paterson writes with unusual warmth of his time among the villagers -- and under the water -- on a small Filipino island. (PLP04, $14.95)

The Snow Leopard

by Peter Matthiessen

• EXPLORATION
• 2008
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The most perceptive, acutely observed and personal of all his books, Matthiessen's account of a five-week journey through Nepal with naturalist George Schaller combines their quest for the elusive cat with a moving introduction to Buddhism and the people and culture of the Himalayas. (NPL03, $16.00)

Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice

by Mark Plotkin

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1994
• PAPER
• 328 PAGES
• FAVORITE

In this marvelous book, Plotkin recounts his work documenting the use of medicinal plants among remote tribes in the Northwest Amazon of Suriname, Venezuela, Guyana and French Guiana. A portrait of people and their environment, a tale of adventure and, most of all, a moving example of science in the service of preservation. (AMZ15, $16.00)

Trading with the Enemy

by Tom Miller

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 352 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Miller captures the openness, sensuality and pride of Cuba and the Cubans in this eloquent account of entertaining travels in Fidel's Cuba. (CBA11, $18.00)

Voyage of the Beagle

by Charles Darwin

• EXPLORATION
• 2002
• PAPER
• 468 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The wide-eyed tale of a young man on a five-year voyage that changed his life -- and our way of thinking about the world. First published in 1839, it's still a marvelous introduction to the wildlife, nature and allure of South America. (GPS02, $12.95)

West with the Night

by Beryl Markham | Sara Wheeler

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2013
• PAPER
• 294 PAGES
• BEST SELLER
• FAVORITE

Beryl Markham evokes the landscapes, people and wildlife of East Africa in engrossing detail in this classic memoir of amazing adventures as a bush pilot in 1930s Kenya. A Longitude favorite. This new edition includes an introduction by the daring Sara Wheeler. If you haven't read this book, whether or not you are ghoing on Safari, you are in for a treat. (EAF10, $16.00)

Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China

by Jung Chang

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2003
• PAPER
• 524 PAGES
• FAVORITE

In this riveting tale of three generations spanning the end of Old China, Mao's regime and the Japanese occupation, Chang chronicles the enormous changes in China since 1929. (CHN04, $16.99)

The World of Venice

by Jan Morris

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1995
• PAPER
• 315 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Morris displays her talent for research, anecdote and well-wrought prose in this spirited history of a beloved city. (ITL12, $18.95)

The Worst Journey in the World

by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

• EXPLORATION
• 2006
• PAPER
• 573 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Cherry-Garrard's epic midwinter jaunt to an emperor penguin rookery is just a warm-up for the main event: Scott's doomed last expedition. (ANT23, $18.00)

 

Also Recommended

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

by William Dalrymple

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2003
• PAPER
• 350 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Dalrymple infectiously interweaves his own experiences over a year in Delhi with the art, architecture, history and literature of the city. (IDA06, $16.00)

Coming into the Country

by John McPhee

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1976
• PAPER
• 438 PAGES
• BEST SELLER
• FAVORITE

A superb introduction to the state, McPhee's lyrical portrait blends history, issues and interesting facts, including sketches of frontier life and some unforgettable Alaskan characters. (ALA04, $18.00)

The City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings

by R.W.B. Lewis

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1996
• PAPER
• 350 PAGES
• FAVORITE

A vivid tour of the city and its riches by the fine biographer of Edith Wharton and Henry James. Lewis has written what he calls "a partial biography of Florence," beautifully interweaving the personal and the historical. (ITL47, $21.99)

The Songlines

by Bruce Chatwin

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2012
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Rory Stewart provides the introduction to this 25th anniversary edition of Bruce Chatwin's celebrated travelogue, which is as much about its gifted author -- and the meaning of travel -- as about the Aboriginal people and their ways of life. Chatwin transforms a journey through the Outback into an exhilarating, semi-fictional meditation on our place in the world. (AUS01, $16.00)

Annapurna, The Epic Account of a Himalayan Conquest and its Harrowing Aftermath

by Maurice Herzog

• EXPLORATION
• 2010
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Conrad Anker provides a new foreword for this 60th-anniversary edition of Maurice Herzog's classic, dictated from his hospital bed in Paris. French minister of youth and sport in the 1960s and former mayor of Chamonix, Herzog recovered nicely (he's 103 in 2012). (HML07, $16.95)

Arabian Sands

by Wilfred Thesiger

• EXPLORATION
• 2007
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The last of the great British traveler-explorers, Thesiger (1910-2003) journeyed among the nomadic camel-breeding peoples of Southern Arabia in the late 1940s, falling in love with the desert and ways of life of the Bedouin. This eloquent book is his tribute to them. (ARB15, $16.00)

In Trouble Again

by Redmond O'Hanlon

• EXPLORATION
• 1990
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES
• FAVORITE

As funny as he is insightful, O'Hanlon starts his comic masterpiece of a journey between the Orinoco and the Amazon with a litany of the insects, protozoa, snakes and predators that can do you harm. (AMZ04, $13.95)

The River at the Center of the World

by Simon Winchester

• EXPLORATION
• 2004
• PAPER
• 410 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Winchester writes about the character of the Yangtze and the people and places along its banks with easy grace in this absorbing portrait of the great river flowing through the heart of China. (CHN31, $17.00)

A Dragon Apparent, Travels in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

by Norman Lewis

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2003
• PAPER
• 358 PAGES
• FAVORITE
• HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

A classic account of travels and adventure during the last years of French Indochina, strong on atmosphere and including wonderfully detailed descriptions of local cultures and archaeological treasures. First published in 1951. (SEA40, $33.95)

A Russian Journal

by John Steinbeck | Robert Capa

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1999
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES

Steinbeck's moving account of the people and everyday life in Russia, Ukraine and Caucasus circa 1948, with striking photographs by the great Robert Capra. (RUS275, $15.00)

A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

by Eric Newby

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 255 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Newby wrote a string of memorable books about his adventures, often on a bicycle, but sometimes by foot or train, usually with his wife. This classic is a superb example of the misguided lark: a comically ill-prepared jaunt in the Naristan mountains of northeastern Afghanistan. "People like it," he explained, "when things go wrong." (CAS32, $14.99)

A Time of Gifts

by Patrick Leigh Fermor

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES
• BEST SELLER

Fermor effortlessly interweaves anecdote, history and culture in this exuberant account of a walk from Holland, up the Rhine and down the Danube, through Germany, Prague and Austria in 1933. Written not in the moment, but 40 years later, the accumulation of time and experience give the book particular poignancy. (CEU30, $16.95)

Between Meals, An Appetite for Paris

by A.J. Liebling

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2004
• PAPER
• 182 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Liebling captures with stylish prose his coming-of-age in Paris in this elegant memoir, which is also a tribute to French cuisine. (FRN32, $15.00)

Christ Stopped at Eboli, The Story of a Year

by Carlo Levi | Frances Frenaye

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2006
• PAPER
• 268 PAGES

An affecting memoir of southern Italy, originally published in 1947, it stems from the author's forced relocation to the region as punishment for anti-fascist political activity. (ITL09, $15.00)

Eastern Approaches

by Fitzroy MacLean

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2009
• PAPER
• 543 PAGES
• OUT OF PRINT

Fitzroy MacLeans's action-packed account of his amazing adventures undercover in the Central Asian Republics of the USSR during Stalin's reign, as a commando in the Long Range Desert Group in North Africa, and with the Partisans in Yugoslavia during World War II. Touted as the real-life inspiration for James Bond, Maclean is not only a terrific writer but an eyewitness to historic events. Originally published in 1949. (CAS48, $30.00)

Following the Equator

by Mark Twain

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 440 PAGES

From Paris to New York, across America to Vancouver and around the world, Twain writes with humor and satire of his whirlwind lecture tour in this classic of American humor and the 19th-century. (TVL508, $14.00)

Frontiers of Heaven, A Journey to the End of China

by Stanley Stewart

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 232 PAGES

A British journalist with wanderlust and a way with the pen, Stewart recounts his rough journey halfway across Asia from Shanghai to Xinjiang along the Great Wall. A Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year. (CHN237, $14.95)

I See By My Outfit

by Peter S. Beagle

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2007
• PAPER
• 238 PAGES

Although better-known for his fantasy writing (The Last Unicorn), Beagle penned a winning travelogue about his journey across a changing America on a motor scooter in 1963. A classic, newly reprinted. (USA174, $14.95)

In a Sunburned Country

by Bill Bryson

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2001
• PAPER
• 335 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The intrepid, ever-resourceful Bryson revels in Australia's eccentric characters, dangerous flora and fauna, and other oddities in this wildly funny, effortlessly informative travelogue. (AUS83, $15.99)

Italian Days

by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1998
• PAPER
• 479 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Grizzuti Harrison writes with warmth and depth of her journey from Milan south to Calabria in this sprightly account of Italy and the Italians. (ITL02, $15.00)

Libby

by Libby Beaman | Betty John

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1998
• PAPER
• 206 PAGES
• HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

From her storm-bound arrival in Alaska's Pribilof Islands to her reception by the local population, tales of fur seals and her near-death of cold and malnutrition, Libby Beaman's tale of a year in St. Paul in 1879 is a great story, brought to life by her granddaughter Betty John. (ARC07, $16.95)

Midnight in Sicily, On Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra

by Peter Robb

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2007
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Combining interviews, research and essays on Sicilian history and culture, this vivid report by journalist Peter Robb is a superb introduction to Italy's glorious, corrupt and troubled south. (ITL74, $18.00)

Motoring with Mohammed, Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea

by Eric Hansen

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1992
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Shipwrecked en route from the Maldives, rescued with his buddies by Eritrean goat smugglers, and an accidental tourist in Sana'a, Hansen's misadventures make a terrific story. Even better, he provides a rich portrait of a little-known region. (ARB11, $16.00)

The Panama Hat Trail

by Tom Miller

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2001
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES
• FAVORITE

An entertaining and insightful social history of Ecuador -- as told through its hat-making history. It's a classic example of travel writing, and one of the best things written on Ecuador. (EDR15, $14.00)

The Pine Barrens

by John McPhee

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1978
• PAPER
• 157 PAGES

Classic essays on the nature, history and personalities of New Jersey's Pine Barrens by the Pulitzer Prize-winner. McPhee digs deep into tales of the wildfires and the Jersey Devil, the rise and fall of iron towns and efforts to protect this rich, unusual environment from development. (USE418, $14.00)

The Places in Between

by Rory Stewart

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES

Rory Stewart illuminates the absurdity, plight and peril of war-ravaged Afghanistan in his thrilling, poignant account of a walk across the country from Herat to Kabul in the dead of winter. (MDE100, $14.95)

The Tree Where Man Was Born

by Peter Matthiessen

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES

A classic portrait of East Africa, enthralling in its detail on nature and daily life. Includes Maasai, Ngorongoro, the Kenyan highlands and Mathiessen's field trips, safaris and adventures in the Serengeti. (EAF27, $17.00)

Travels with Myself and Another, A Memoir

by Martha Gellhorn

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2001
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

The other, of course, being Ernest Hemingway, Gelhorn's husband at the time. A marvelous, incisive writer who covered every important conflict from from the Spanish Civil War to Vietnam and Nicaragua, Martha Gelhorn writes of her time in East Africa with Heminway, a visit with Chiang Kai-Shek, Soviet Moscow and other unforgettable journeys in this collection, first published in 1979. The two are played by X and Y in the HBO series. Permieres April Z. (TVL25, $15.95)

Two Towns in Provence

by M. F. K. Fisher

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1983
• PAPER
• 208 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Celebrated food writer M.F.K. Fisher contrasts village life in Aix-en-Provence with bustling Marseilles, evoking these two favorite places with anecdote and loving description. (FRN27, $18.95)

Video Night in Kathmandu, and Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East

by Pico Iyer

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1989
• PAPER
• 376 PAGES

Iyer brings enormous wit and humor to these classic essays on travel to places including Bali, Hong Kong and Bangkok. (ASA02, $14.95)

What Am I Doing Here?

by Bruce Chatwin

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1990
• PAPER
• 366 PAGES

A delightful collection of essays by one of our favorite travel writers, capturing the allure of the land and its wildlife and history. Includes a great chapter on his visit to Chiloe Island. (PAT02, $17.00)

Wind, Sand and Stars

by Antoine de Saint Exupery

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1967
• PAPER
• 229 PAGES
• FAVORITE

St. Exupery's luminous account of flying early postal routes over South America, Europe and the deserts of North Africa in the 1930s includes the classic tale of his crash in the Libyan desert. (DES11, $13.95)

A Fine Balance

by Rohinton Mistry

• LITERATURE
• 1997
• PAPER
• 624 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Set in Indira Gandhi's "Emergency Raj" of 1975 in an unnamed Indian "city by the sea," which bears a striking resemblance to Bombay, this tender novel follows the intermingled fortunes of a Parsi widow, her boarder and two tailors. (IDA92, $17.00)

Malgudi Days

by R. K. Narayan

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Wonderful tales from one of India's foremost writers about a fictional South Indian town, populated by quirky characters whose unique approaches to tradition and modernity are the stuff of great short stories. (IDA59, $15.00)

Never Cry Wolf

by Farley Mowat

• LITERATURE
• 2001
• PAPER
• 246 PAGES
• FAVORITE

A laugh-out-loud account of wolf research and government folly set on the barren lands of northern Manitoba. Perfect for teens. (BST34, $12.99)

Our Man in Havana

by Graham Greene

• LITERATURE
• 2007
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The classic story of a British vacuum cleaner salesman who gets accidentally drawn into cold war espionage with disastrous results. (CBA19, $15.00)

The Ginger Tree

by Oswald Wynd

• LITERATURE
• 2002
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES

The bittersweet tale of an innocent young Scots woman in Asia, rich in the details of life in Japan and China before WWII. (JPN125, $12.99)

The Quiet American

by Graham Greene

• LITERATURE
• 2004
• PAPER
• 180 PAGES
• FAVORITE

A classic, this is the most famous Western work of fiction on Vietnam. Greene writes of a love triangle between a war correspondent, his Vietnamese consort and an optimistic young American during the last days of French rule. (VNM08, $16.00)

The Sun Also Rises

by Ernest Hemingway

• LITERATURE
• 1995
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

Hemingway's great novel, which encapsulates the angst of the post-WWI "lost generation," is the story of unmoored American and British expats travelling from Paris to Pamplona. (SPN33, $15.00)

The Towers of Trebizond

by Rose MacAulay | Jan Morris

• LITERATURE
• 2012
• PAPER
• 277 PAGES

Mixing high farce, archaeology, history and lively travel writing, Rose MacAulay's impossibly witty short novel is back in a new edition., Originally published in 1956, MacAulay follows the adventures of English missionaries traipsing to across Turkey from Istanbul to Trabzon. (TKY15, $16.00)

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