Travels by the Book

Spring Break is just around the corner (or just happened for some) and many people have wonderful, fun and exciting trips planned. For myself I tend to use my imagination and library card and take a tour through books. Here are a few of my favorite destinations, both fiction and non-fiction.

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau has a fantastic setting in Ecuador and seeing it through the eyes of main character Zeeta makes it so vivid and a place I never before thought I might want to visit (but now maybe I do). (The other two books in the series, Jade Notebook and Ruby Notebook, are set in different locations and just as intriguing through Zeeta's eyes.)

Bill Bryson's books on travel (among his other topics) are at the very top of my favorites list and In A Sunburned Country is no exception. He is so adept at mixing historical facts with humorous first person anecdotes. And who wouldn't want to learn that the reason that Australia is overrun with rabbits is all because some rich muckity-muck wanted to shoot them from his back balcony. Or, the fact that all of the top ten deadliest snakes reside in Australia. Kinda makes you not want to go there.(Also, don't hesitate to check out A Walk in the Woods and Notes from a Small Island.)

I was never one for wanting to backpack through any place. But Bria's evolving sense of adventure in Wanderlove by Kristen Hubbard sure made it seem a teeny, tiny bit more enticing. When what she thought would be a one-of-a-kind experience with like-minded recent high school graduates turned out to be a guided tour with middle-aged fanny pack wearers, Bria takes matters into her own hands and ditches the group and goes down the pass less traveled with brother and sister backpackers, Rowan and Starling.

Again, this would never be my choice of vacation. Nor the mode of transportation for the entirety of my vacation. But reading about riding a bicycle to the lowest point on six different continents in Into Thick Air by Jim Malusa was utterly fascinating. The ability the author had to connect with locals while riding a bike made the trip seem more intimate and inclusive.

A daring vacation this would make! The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin involves chasing tornadoes across parts of the Midwest and collecting scientific data for further research. Wanting to get away from a negative situation at home Jane joins her brother and his team as a photographer of the storms to get some much needed perspective. I have to admit, I don't know if I would have the guts to actually take on a vacation like this but the idea is pretty intriguing.


Do you have any literary vacations you would recommend?