favorite travel literature - not guide books

Paul Theroux for sure. His train travel books are wonderful and awoke in me a desire to ride all of them. Bill Bryson is another favorite and the one he wrote about the UK is great. (sorry I don't remember the names of these books). I know a lot of people like the Dan Brown books because of the historical references in the different cities. Not sure I would go on one those specialized tours for them, but it obviously excites some fans. I like "London" by Edward Rutherford and I believe he also has one about Dublin.

I love the Bill Bryson books, and Paul Theroux, but also newer writers like Martin VanTroost, Peter Hessler and Tim Cahill. I often pick up travel anthologies in the travel essays section of Barnes and Noble and Borders - you get exposed to many different writers that way.

I enjoyed Pompeii by Robert Harris.

For PARIS: Diane Johnson, especially "Into a Paris Quartier." Cara Black's murder mysteries: "Murder in the Marais," Murder in Belleville," etc. For either of these authors, it helps to have a map of Paris to follow the action.

I know it's not fiction, but I loved "Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain. 100+ years after he wrote it, his observations about travel through Europe and the Holy Land are still as fresh.

For France, we really enjoyed Les Miserables. And anything by MFK Fisher.

Assuming you will read or have read the rest of the travel writing by Bryson and Theroux:

Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad.

Bruce Chatwin, In Patagonia
John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley
Ken Wells, Travels with Barley
Henry V. Morton, In Search of London
Redmond O'Hanlon, No Mercy, a Journey to the Heart of the Congo
Redmond O'Hanlon, Into the Heart of Borneo
Rory Stewart, The Places In Between

This is a little off the subject. but I enjoyed the book Permanent Parisians. It tells about all the people buried in Pere- Lachaise Cemetery. I think it is out of print. I believe we got it online. Quite interesting.... if one is into Paris and Pere-Lachaise.

In preparation for my upcoming trip to Italy (38 days to go, but who's counting), I reread "The Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irving Stone. Excellent for anyone who has been or is going to Florence and Rome.

"The Agony & The Ecstasy":

It was made into a film.

"Almost French" by Sarah Turnbull. She is an Australian who married a Frenchman and the book is about her attempts to understand the way the French think. Very entertaining read.

I loved City of Falling Angels by John Bernendt. I read it after going to Venice (many years after!), but I've recommended it to many people who read it either just prior to or even while visiting Venice who found it fascinating. It's his account of his stay in Venice after the Opera was burnt down and the investigation into the fire. The book ranges all over Venice.

And, I agree with the comments on Paul Theroux's books. They are wonderful. He takes me to places, I'm probably less likely to get to and expands my horizons.

Pam

wonderful suggestions everyone, thank you! Here's hoping some travel dreams are fulfilled in 2010!

I always bring along literature by authors from the countries I visit, or a novel set in the country I am visiting. I also load music on my iPod from the country, as well.

They aren't travel writers, but...
Stieg Larssen (Sweden) mystery series- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc...
Henrik Ibsen (Norway) any of his plays, but especially A Doll's House
Irving Stone - his novel The Agony and the Ecstasy- the life of Michelangelo.
James Michener- Iberia (travels in Spain) and many others of his, too

For Spain, I’ll second Iberia and will add Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. Also, Bill Bryson's (from Des Moines) work is very good.

Peter Mayle - Provence, Carol Drinkwater - Cote d'Azur, Susan Allen Toth - England, Diane Johnson - Paris. Bill Bryson. James Herriott - Yorkshire.

Venice - Donna Leon; Italy - "Italian Days"
by Barbara Grazzuti Harrison; Anne Perry wonderful mysteries - Victorian England. I know some mentioned are not travel books, but interesting reading.

Good to see more Paul Theroux fans. I, too, always read as many novels and memoirs as possible to connect with the places I plan to visit. However, I'm trying to find books set in Germany now. I've read so many WW II and Holocaust books, bur can't find any good recommendations for German life that reflects subjects other than this sad time period. There are so many wonderful stories of people moving to Italy, France or Spain. Any ideas for great books about German life other than war stories?

Kathleen - how about "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. It's a historical novel about building a cathedral in England. The story stayed with me over the years and hit home when I visited the churches in England and France.

I like detective/crime novels and really enjoy the Aurelio Zen books by Michael Dibdin, each one is set in a different part of Italy.

Also like the Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri. They are set in Sicily and have been made into an Italian television series. Also available on DVD.

Both give interesting insights into modern Italian society including its politics.

Tony Hawks (not the skateboard guy) has written a couple of very funny books:

Round Ireland with a Fridge
Playing the Moldovians at Tennis

Below is an Amazon review of the first book that explains it pretty well. Anyone with a love of the Irish and Ireland will appreciate this book.

"On his only prior visit to Ireland, English songwriter-comic Tony Hawks had seen a man hitchhiking with a refrigerator. For years, he was wont to tell the tale during late-night drinking matches, and after one particularly heavy-duty night of partying, he awoke to find a bet scrawled pillowside: a friend wagered 100 pounds that Hawks wouldn't travel Ireland for a month with a refrigerator at his side.

Out of this stupid premise, a ridiculously amusing book was born. Quickly discovered by the Irish media, the thumbing Englishman finds that he and his box fridge are elevated to celebrity status, and there's no dearth of rides, places to stay, or goofy people to meet, from kings to spoons players to locals who take his fridge surfing. As insightful about the strange inner workings of Hawk's mind as it is about charming peculiarities of Irishmen--it's doubtful that Hawks would have been similarly embraced by Germans, Italians, or the French--Round Ireland with a Fridge is an entirely silly, heartwarming tale told in a rollicking funny and refreshing style."