book suggestions?

Bill Bryson's "Notes On a Small Island" is great for travel in they UK. Just the right amount of humor and facts mixed up together!

I think the OP was asking for recommendations for books she can download on her kindle, not buy while she is in Europe.

Sorry, none come to mind right now, but if I think of any I will post again.

UPDATE - In case my first sentence does not make sense, the first person to post an answer seems to have deleted their post.

My life in France - by Julia Child. I read it during the last week of my 6 month stay in France, and I was quite teary-eyed though a lot of it. It was great to be reading the book in Paris, where most of the book takes place.

Since you've got lots of time, Edward Rutherfurd's London gives a great historical perspective of the city. Paris: am rdg Hemingway's A Moveable Feast (can't believe I missed it during a Hemingeway binge in college), Is Paris Burning? (Collins) abt last days of German occupation during WWII, A Year in the Merde (Clarke) for some laughs. There are lots of novels set in both London and Paris. I haven't been to Barcelona.

I ready these two books while I was in Paris last year:

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik -- a memoir of when he and his wife lived in Paris with their young son

Suite Francais by Irene Nemirovsky -- this is actually a novel about families in Paris and the countryside during the German occupantion.

Also I second the nomination of Notes on a Small Island.

I have no idea if they are available on the Kindle.

I want to second, My Life in France. It was wonderful. You might also want to check into Peter Mayle's books. On a bit heavier level, years ago I read Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror which is a great history narrative. I also really enjoyed Paul Murray Kendall's Louis X!, The Universal Spider. It was a wonderful biography.

Pam

wow--thanks! i've already downloaded samples of four of the books mentioned above--the julia child book, hemmingway, a year in the merde, and paris to the moon. sadly, bryson's books are not available on kindle, but i've been wanting to pick up 'notes' for a while now, perhaps i'll just read it before i go.

James Michener's "Iberia" is mostly about Spain and a little about Portugal. His Barcelona chapter was particularly helpful to me when I visited that City. Also, while not a book, there is a multipart video on Barcelona on YouTube you might want to see.

I gonna recommend a more contemporary author: British humorist Danny Wallace. His books (all non-fiction memoirs)include: Join Me, Yes Man, and Friends Like These. All contain a slice of contemporary London, and also feature lots of travel to other locations around the world. All three books are engaging, funny, and thoroughly entertaining.

Danny Wallace

How about "Lust for Life" by Irving Stone? It is a great fictionalization about the life of Vincent Van Gogh. Of course includes a lot about his time in Paris and the South of France.

"Man's Hope" by Andre Malraux is one of the classic novels of the Spanish Civil War. Barcelona is practically a character in the book. Get caught reading it in a tapas bar in Barcelona and people may buy you drinks.

"World lit only by fire" by William Manchester is the most readable medieval history I've ever read. It's a page turner and paints some vivid pictures and has lots of interesting trivia. Happy reading!

For Barcelona. George Orwell wrote about his experiences there during the Spanish Civil War. I forget the name of the book, but you can find it by looking in your library's website. Read it before you go if it isn't available for Kindle.

Diane Johnson has written several books about modern life in Paris. One is autobiographical, the others are fictional.

I second the recommendations for Diane Johnson's books (Le Mariage, Le Divorce, and L'Affaire), Paris to the Moon, My Life in France, and Suite Francaise. Also, Is Paris Burning? and A Moveable Feast.

Here are more France suggestions: Peter Mayle books (my favorite is Hotel Pastis), Almost French by Sarah Turnbull, C'est la Vie by Suzy Gershman, A Corner in the Marais by Alex Karmel, The Olive Trilogy by Carol Drinkwater, The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Carhart, Without Reservations and Educating Alice by Alice Steinbach, and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. All but the first and last books are non-fiction/memoir.

For England, 44 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, novels by Kate Atkinson, The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, anything by PG Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh.

For Spain, I’ll recommend:

The New Spaniards by John Hooper,
Homage to Catalonia by Orwell (Swan mentioned above), and
Iberia by Michener

'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' or 'Notre Dame de Paris' to gives its proper title by Victor Hugo. His home in Place des Vosges is now a museum. 'Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens is set in both London and Paris.

"The Sweet Life in Paris" by David Lebovitz. I am half way thru it. Cute, funny, very Parisian and it has recipes!

And a 14th vote for "My Life in France" - really enjoyed that one.

I loved Seven Ages of Paris - I read it shortly before our 3-week sojourn there in 2003. Also enjoyed Marion Meade's biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I second [or is it third] the recommendation for Tuchman's A Distant Mirror. And the Thomas Costain books about the Plantagenets are a fun read that covers a lot of English/French history - The Conquering Family, The Three Edwards, The Magnificent Century, and The Last of the Plantagenets. Finally, Josephine Tey's book A Daughter of Time gives a new view of Richard III. Georgette Heyer wrote a number of Regency romances, many of which take place in London; The Spanish Bride is less fluffy and is based on the actual marriage between Captain Harry Smith and a young Spanish woman during Wellington's Peninsular campaign. But I enjoy her fluffy novels too... The Grand Sophy and Frederica are two of my favorites. I'm not sure how many of these are on Kindle, but happy reading [and traveling]!

Sarah's Key.....Those Who Save Us....The Art of Racing in the Rain....The Book Thief

I second "A moveable feast.". If you do read that, couple it with Paris Walk's Hemingway tour.

"Paris to the Moon" is also excellent, especially if you are a foodie.

Orwell's book on the Spanish Civil War was Homage to Catalonia. It's really very good. I'm hoping to get some more Orwel into my summer reading list, but I just picked up both parts I and II of Goethe's Faust in German, and my German isn't good enough to make that a fast read ;)

For a fun, not so serious novel for London, how about Neil Gaiman's Neverwear? It would be particularly entertaining if you'll be on the Metro a lot!

I actually have the same question-- but for the Czech Republic/Prague-- any good historical fiction suggestions?

For Prague, a very good but heart-rending book (it quickly jumped to be one of my favorites) is Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague 1941-1968 by Heda Margolius Kovaly. It's the memoir of a Jewish women from Prague who survived the camps, became a communist, and lost her husband in the purges by the Stalinist government. I think I spent the first chapter sobbing, but it's a wonderful book to read somewhere private.

For more recent and less terrible history, The Magic Lantern by Timothy Garton Ash is a historian/journalist's first-hand account of the revolutions of 1989.

I also have a suggestion for Spain again, also regarding the Spanish Civil War. Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas plays around with reality and fiction a bit. It also gives a nice little explanation of the major players mentioned in the book for those unfamiliar with the war. Like all my suggestions so far, it's a fairly quick read, but quite enjoyable.

(I'm going to Europe to learn a language for my thesis, so this stuff is always at the top of my head! Just don't ask for suggestions for Germany or Russia, because none of my books on those countries are light reading. Except maybe Maus, but that's Poland and New York, really.)