A novel, memoir, biography, history anything! What book & which country or city? No limits-- all eras, authors, styles.
I need ideas for my upcoming holiday shopping!
PS: I have a dream trip inspired by Homage to Catalonia, but I haven't made it yet.
Band of Brothers - we just booked a guide for Bastogne and loved Normandy.
My Life in France - for Provence.
South Pacific musical put that area high on my list.
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes definitely inspired me to go to Tuscany - made that trip the year after I read the book when it first came out.
A year in Provence by Peter Mayle and My Life in France by Julia Child both pushed me to visit Provence.
I recently read The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova which takes place in and around Sofia, Bulgaria and now I want to go there.
"Byzantium" by John Julius Norwich propelled me to Turkey within a year of reading the 3-volume set.
" The Last Place on Earth " by Roland Huntford . The true story of the 1910 expeditions to The South Pole . Thirty five years after the publication , I finally made it to Oslo .
First an article about the city in a travel magazine and then "On Mexican Time" by Tony Cohan. We later spent a wonderful week in San Miguel de Allende!
Most recently it was "The Cellist of Sarajevo" by Steven Galloway before visiting Bosnia/ Herzegovina in September. Currently reading "Prague Winter" by the inspiring Madeleine Albright. It's Prague next year!
These are all wonderful! Getting so many Ideas. Thanks, & keep them coming!
Nancy, Kostova's The Historian was half the reason my partner & I went to Bulgaria. Loved both the book & the trip.
jlschandler, I have The Cellist of Sarajevo on my bedside pile-- will shift it to the top. Sarajevo is high on my bucket list already.
Thanks for starting this thread Ashley.
My year in Provence by Peter Mayle inspired my first trip to France years ago.
For US travel, I visited New Mexico because of Willa Cather’s book, Death Comes for the Archbishop.
“The Most Beautiful Villages of Spain”. The cover and first village in the book were about Albarracin, and I traveled there and to other small towns in the area this past spring.
SandyO, I haven't read Cather since high school & now I want to again!
Larry, I will have to get that-- I want to get to Spain for a longish trip in the next few years
A billion years ago, my 6th grade teacher read a book to us that was already out of print then. It was called Mischief in Fez. It was probably politically inappropriate by today's standards. But it gave me the idea that magic existed if I could be brave enough to travel. And travel I have, as soon as I could afford it. (And yes, I have since dragged my other half to Fes.)
I was already going to go to Budapest when I bought "Wallenberg" by Kati Marton. Reading that book was quite a moving experience, and made be want to visit Budapest even more so.
Not before a trip, but I have read many books after trips, that have helped me to get a better understanding of what I saw and experienced during the trip.
various and numerous history books and travel brochures (when they were around) to see places including specific history museums and sites in Germany....
Berlin, Lüneburg, Pinneberg bei Hamburg, Weimar, Wiesbaden, Ratingen, Rüdesheim am Rhein, Hannover, Wustrau/Brandenburg,
Sigmaringen an der Donau, Münster/Westf., Friedrichsruh bei Hamburg, Wesel am Rhein, Duisburg, Rastatt, Munich, Kelheim,
Potsdam, Marburg an der Lahn, Minden an der Weser, etc, etc.
After reading the books to see the Napoleon sites...Paris, Toulon, Montmirail, Leipzig, Boulogne sur Mer, Fontainebleau, Malmaison, Austerlitz (Slavkov), and obviously, Waterloo,
Salisbury, England --Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett;
Tierra del Fuego, Argentina- Uttermost Part of the Earth
These are top three books that inspired us to retire, rent our house, and actually move to Italy.
Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain - a classic big European trip with humor
Road to McCarthy by Pete McCarthy - Irish bar hopping while looking for family
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It's a series of eight 1,000 or so page books (she's currently working on #9). I visited Scotland with my aunt for an Outlander tour through the highlands. The book is now a TV show (each season is a different book) and we were able to go to some of the filming sites for season 1...we were there right before season 1 aired.
Tim , since you liked " Wallenberg " , this book , also by Kati Marton , is a must - https://www.amazon.com/Great-Escape-Hitler-Changed-World-ebook/dp/B000MGAU0C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542120507&sr=8-1&keywords=the+great+escape+kati+marton
I may have a bit of a different perspective, as a European wanting to visiting the Untied States, because of something I read/watched, but I feel that it is the same sentiment.
More than any book, it was those wild-west films, specifically John Ford's, that made me want to visit the western United States. I was inspired by the stunning vistas in Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Back in 2008 I visited Monument Valley, where many of Ford's films were shot, it is located on Navajo Reservation on the Arizona/Utah border.
I mustered the courage to try some horseback riding there too, it was so spectacular I felt like I was in one of those wild west films. I even met Stephen Fry, of all places, in a roadside diner there, he was shooting a documentary about Monument Valley for the BBC.
What struck me though was that many of the tourists there were all actually Europeans, I did not see many Americans, other than the indigenous Navajos. Even when I tell some of my American friends about this trip, they seem puzzled about Monument Valley, it seems familiar to them but they don't know where it is, I was surprised because I though that it was a very famous place in the United States.
I haven't gotten there yet, but "The Basque History of the World" is a very clever and funny book that piqued my interest in going there.
Carlos, yes Americans are pretty badly schooled in geography, even our own. All that stuff between California and the east coast is a mystery, even to those who live there. Oh, except for Las Vegas and Disney World.
"A Tramp Abroad" by Mark Twain is even better than "The Innocents Abroad". It shows how tourists traveled through Europe in the 1870's.
Interesting that in those days, you hired a "courier", a travel agent who went with you and booked all your hotels and train tickets as you went. Twain couldn't figure out why they were so cheap to hire until he finally realized that they took a cut of every transaction, including tourist knick knacks.
I have thought about visiting Picardy since reading "A Distant Mirror, The Calamitous 14th Century". The Sire de Coucy had the largest donjon (castle tower) in France, which stood until 1918 when the retreating Germans dynamited it. Remnants in the town of Coucy-le-Chateau-Auffrique, halfway between Amiens and Reims.
Ashley,
If the book inspires you to travel to New Mexico, then you must try to visit Taos and the Mable Dodge Luhan house. It is an artist retreat and small hotel that was founded by Mabel Dodge Luhan a well-known socialite from New York who traveled to New Mexico and started an artist colony. Her endeavour was highly influential, furthering the careers of writers Willa Cather and D.H. Lawrence, artists and photographers including Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Edward Weston. Musical guests included composer and conductor Leopold Stokowski and composer Dane Rudhyar. While resident here, Luhan also wrote seven books on cultural and intellectual aspects of American society.
We stayed in Tony's room which shares the DH Lawrence bathroom which as window shades painted by DH Lawrence. If you are brave you can stay in the solarium (no window coverings) which also shares the bathroom.
Sandy
In 4th grade, the librarian read Eric P. Kelly’s The Trumpeter of Krakow to our class. Over 50 years later, we went to Krakow only because a piece of that book had stuck with me for 5 decades. A piece of me was 9 years old again for 3 days.
THANK YOU ALL! I’m having a blast reading all of your stories & recommendations!
Oh, I'm so glad someone brought up Twain! I read Innocents Abroad at least 20 years ago, but never Tramps Abroad. I think I’ll read them back to back.
SandyO-- I had no idea Mable Dodge Luhan’s original house is still standing! I would love to see it. The library where I currently work got a compilation of the letters of Anita Pollitzer & O’Keefe last summer-- Lovingly, Georgia-- and Taos is a fully fleshed character in it. And the Dodge’s salon was at the center of every political & artistic movement of the time, so any ephemera they still have would be fasciating!
Carlos-- That’s an interesting point. To some degree, I think the attraction to the “wild west” cowboy culture and mythos has always appealed as much or more to Europeans. Certainly Buffalo Bill was welcomed everywhere in Europe. This is an interesting overview of an element of that: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/09/wild-west-germany.
Personally, I’ve only been to 2 of the western National Parks. I’d love to visit more; the size of our country works against that, as does, frankly, our meagre vacation allotments. My younger brother lived in Arizona for over 10 years, and in that entire time, I could never scrape together the time to hike the Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon with him; between flying to Phoenix & renting a car & driving up etc etc, our plans to do it fell through (Sept 11 also had an impact but that’s a story for a different time).
Your story makes me wonder what books everyone would recommend to give to someone who has never visited, something that would shed a (reasonably honest) light on some part of America or a uniquely American culture. Maybe I’ll start that list next~~
stan-- That’s going on my Spain reading list now! Kulansky is such a fun writer.
I’ve watched the TV adaptations of Outlander & The Pillars of the Earth, and they both do a lovely job of capturing the atmospherics. I’ll have to take a look at the books, now.
Thanks again, everyone, & keep ‘em coming!
Denny - I also read Trumpeter of Krakow in about 4th grade. When I visited Krakow, things did seem familiar! So when I got home, I got a copy of the book and re-read it. Very enjoyable to re-visit it 50 years later! LOL
I forgot about one book that I read as a child. I don't remember the name but it was about a couple of kids who were investigating a mystery at the Abbey on Mont St Michel - secret rooms, treasure maps, etc. It sounded like such a incredible place it stuck with me for decades. Finally visited there a few years ago, with that book in mind.
@ashley.3.e Thanks for that interesting (and extensive) article! I guess that sentiment of the romanticized wild west is for Europeans similar to the romanticized image of living in Provence (or something along those lines) is for Americans, an interesting dynamic! :)
I think what Monument Valley has working against it is that it's not a National Park (as it's on Navajo lands). So it does not have the resources to really develop the tourist infrastructure too much. Thinking about that now though, maybe that's a good thing, less people that way.
One of my good friends from Barcelona, a novelist, wrote a Catalan language book for children about adventures in the American Wild West: En John Garfield en territori xeiene. He also wrote a great novel about the Abraham Lincoln battalion of American volunteers during the Spanish Civil War: El brigadista. In Spain, I feel there is a significant interest in the United States and it's short history, even if it may be a bit romanticized.
Well, siiigh, this is going to make me seem ~very~ shallow but yes, reading Regency Romances made me not just want to visit Bath but to spend a few days there. I continue to go back because I love the Regency/Georgian feel of it.
Edward Rutherford's books - Sarum, London and Forest
For US National Parks, the Nevada Barr mystery series with Anna Pigeon as a National Park Ranger is good. Of course, not terribly realistic and she is a pretty depressing personality sometimes.
New Mexico/Arizona/Navajo Reservation - Tony Hillerman's books I'd also advise getting the AAA map called Indian Country to have next to you as you read them.
If anyone wants help with planning a trip to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, PM me. I'm happy to help.
Of course-"A Tale of Two Cities" when I was a kid. I wanted to go to Paris then but it took me quite a while to get there. I have to say I am making up for lost time, though!
I read the Paddington the Bear books at around age 7 and they inspired a life-long love of London, finally go to visit for the first time 40 years later. The Diary of Anne Frank inspired a life-long interest in WWII and the plight of the Jews in particular, and I visited her house in Amsterdam in 2017. Other than those two big inspirations, I tend to gravitate towards fiction set in European countries and will also read non-fiction/historical books pertaining to places I am interested in.
Pam-- nothing shallow at all about genre lit, whether it's romance, mystery, scifi, whatever! There are good & bad writers in every genre-- Raymond Chandler, Chester Hymes, & Patricia Highsmith are some of my favorite writers, period, not just favorite mystery writers. And Tony Hillerman was awesome. I haven’t read any of the books since his daughter started to continue the Leaphorn series; I need to get back to them.
Carlos-- I just checked, & unfortunately your friend’s book is only available in Catalan & Spanish, for now; I hope that Penguin publishes a translation, as I don’t think I’ve ever read the Catlonian view of the Lincoln Brigade. Cossing my fingers.
Well, I always wanted to visit Venice. It was serendipity that I read Miss Garnet's Angel just before booking the old Seven Days in Venice tour. Hours of fun looking for locations. Also, the Brunetti detective series have prompted some exploration. The tour guide was v. interested to know why I wanted to know where the Questura is.
I suppose my most unfulfilled yearn, to date, is to relive The Enchanted April. And then there is A Room with a View and I Capture the Castle. I spend lots of time in spring looking up bluebell woods online.
My wife and I are great fans of the spy/thriller books of Alan Furst. These are set in the 1930s and 1940s, in the Balkans, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece. We are very interested in Salonika/Thessalonika. One of his books was set there. He set other books on the Danube between Beograd and the mouth of the river in the Black Sea.
Another book which I am greatly fond of is "Birds without Wings" by Louis de Berniers. It is set in a small village somewhere in the north of Greece, and is the story of the rise of Kamal Ataturk, the Ottoman empire in WWI, and the most beautiful girl in the world. It is a sad book about a vanished world, which has led us again to the southern Balkans.
Great thread!👍🏻 I like to read books on the destination after I know I will be going there. The Immortal Irishman, Ireland were 2 books I read before going to Ireland.
Many Beautiful Things by the late American actor Vincent Schiavelli about the town of Polizzi Generosa at the base of Sicily's Madonie Mountains inspired our first trip to Sicily. His grandparents came from there and when he was nearly 40 years old he visited for the first time (and later lived there off and on). Talk about being off the tourist radar! It was fun to visit the restaurants and bars he mentioned in the book and tell the owners that they were "famosa." Everyone remembered Vincent fondly but most had not read the (English only) book. Schiavelli's grandfather had been a master chef, and the book includes recipes. It was illustrated by Polizzi's best-known artist. Work up your Italian language skills before going there!
Also, I wish I had read Il Bel Centro by Michelle Damiani before I spent a week in Spello rather than after!
This is off the wall but it really inspired me.
My grandmother had a book published in 1898 called "Two Travelers in Europe" written by Mrs. Herman J. Hall. (I have it now.)
It is the memoir of a wealthy Chicago widow who traveled to Europe at the turn of the previous century (with a companion and letters of introduction) and then wrote of her experiences.
I read this book when I was about 9 years old and never forgot it.
I think I was 52 years old when I saw Venice for the first time. I burst into tears!
For something more conventional, I loved "Portraits of France" by Robert Daley and all the Peter Mayle books.
I know this ain’t what you want - but as a young child I found a book called “ Europe on 5 dollars a day “ in a second hand shop and that was it for me ! This would have been in early 70s
Great Thread!!! We had been to the UK several times, but reading Bill Bryson's 'Notes on a Small Island' reinforced my love for it (he even stayed at the hotel we also stayed in in Windsor) and encouraged us to return again and again (more than 40 times so far). So, no surprise, I read his 'Sunburned Country' after we had visited Australia. Wish I had know about it before our visit there. He has written many others, some of which I've read. Everyone helped me see the world from a different perspective and was a 'fun read'.
I have also read (multiple times) Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' series. They are great for helping you understand some of the history and geography and culture of Scotland and early history of the USA. It is neat that we live in the area of the fictional 'Fraser's Ridge'! I also love watching the TV series, but it has taken several liberties with the books (had to, I guess).
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, David McCullough
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles With Jesus, Fr. Dave Pivonka T.O.R.
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, Robert M. Edsel
tan-- I remembered that book & found it on WorldCat! http://www.worldcat.org/title/mystery-of-mont-saint-michel/oclc/4286919
It seems to be out of print, but the ebook is free. If you complete the free registration with Internet Archive, then you can download it for 14 days. https://archive.org/details/mysteryofmontsai00rouz
(I’m sending the link to one of my nieces now)
Janet-- Oh, I miss Schiavelli (loved that hangdog face). I’m going to find this. Not that I ever need inspiration to visit Italy…
Paul-of-the-Frozen-North-- All your recommendations are right up my alley. I’ve really liked the Furst books. Birds Without WIngs sounds like something I’d like. Corelli’s Mandolin was good, but I’m interested in the Attaturk fallout in Greece, Cyprus, & the Balkans.
If you’ve never read it, you might like Berlin Stories by Isherwood. I never got around to it during my 20s, which is when most people read it, I think. But I read it just a few years ago wish I’d been around to spend the winter fomenting revolution in 1920s Berlin.
SharYn-- I think that’s AWESOME! Those old travelogues are a hoot & a great slice of history, patronizing jingoism, guides to how to pack your servants, & all. Working in archives & libraries, we see a lot of them in historic collections, in the same way the libraries & archives nowadays see past editions of Rick Steves, Shell Guides, Lonely Planets, etc. in donations.
You may get a kick out of this: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6355984/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_5
Ardal O’Hanlon hosted a 3 episode documentary inspired by a Victorian guide to Ireland written by a British protestant couple.
If anyone is interested in medieval Europe on the approach to the Renaissance, I highly recommend the Ariana Franklin books. She nails the details, & doesn’t shy away from being accurate about some of the, shall we say, less hygienic parts of medieval life. Her lead character is a woman doctor, inspired by the small number of women doctors who were allowed to practice in Sicily before being outlawed in 1244. Although the protagonist, Adelia, is Sicilian, many of the books take place in England under Henry II. The mysteries range through Aquitaine, Catalonia, and the Italian principalities. Franklin is a wonderful writer.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/49612.Ariana_Franklin
Pam, you may really like her!
stan-- I just realized I left the 's' in you name off my post above! I found The Mystery of Mont St Michel online-- follow the links above to get it free!
I owe two recent delightful walking holidays based on villages in S. W. France to Roger Deakin - Olargues and Maroul are the subject of a chapter in "Wildwood: a journey through trees"; and Sousceyrac is mentioned with great affection in "Notes from Walnut Tree Farm". These are not travel books - accommodation and retaurants do not feature so the excellent auberge in Sousceyrac and the fine restaurant in Maroul were discoveries of my own. At Sousceyrac, I was lent a copy of "Au Déjeuner de Sousceyrac" by Pierre Benoit in which the protagaonist stays at the auberge of that name where I was staying, some 86 years later. The meals there are still memorable and prepared with the same care by theowners as back then.
ashley.3.e Well thanks for solving that mystery!
I usually pick a place then find reading, fiction and non-fiction, to mentally prep for the trip.
Thanks Ashley! Duly noted!
The Winds of War-Sienna, Italy
Sherlock Holmes-London
Pillars of the Earth - Camino de Santiago - Basilica St. Denis, Paris - Salisbury Cathedral
Foot-Loose in the Swiss Alps, changed everything for me!
At the beginning of the summer in 1990 I gave up my job as a newly qualified accountant working at one of the big four accounting practices in Dublin and with a copy of this book in my rucksack headed to Switzerland to spend the summer climbing.
At the end of the summer instead of going home as planned I accepted a temporary job writing banking software for the father of one of my new found climbing friends. I did not know it at the time put I was never to practice accounting again!
I never did get around to going ‘home’. And now 28 years later I can say I am home. Yes it is nice to visit Ireland every few years, but it is not home. Home is arriving back in Zurich airport, it’s hearing the local dialect once again, receiving a “Hoi Jim” and a wave from a neighbor in the village, playing cards at the stammtisch in local restaurant and so much more that makes me feel incredibly comfortable here.
Sweden has experienced a boon in travelers to certain rural spots because they were featured in noir mysteries/thrillers that have been popular internationally.
marcia, I met a woman who did a whole northern trip because of Smilla's Sense of Snow & Wallander, so I find this all totally plausible!
What a wonderful thread, Ashley - thank you! I have to go over everyone's favorites carefully now and make a reading list! And it's great to see how childhood books, especially one read to the class by the school librarian, were so treasured.
My high school French teacher had us read Daudet's Lettres de mon moulin, and that made me not only want to go to France but particularly, Provence. I did get there and saw Daudet's windmill. Also, Village en Vaucluse - about a small town in Provence - I think the author based it on Rousillon.
I guess I saw Venice before I read Thomas Mann's Death in Venice - or saw the movie (Luchino Visconti) - but both absolutely capture for me the magic of Venice.
So nice to connect with book lovers. I'll have to check out Mark Twain's Tramps Abroad, and re-read some Willa Cather. Wordsworth is one of my favorite poets and I have yet to see the Lake District of England!
I have wanted to visit the island of Guernsey ever since reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I recently watched the movie, rekindling my interest. Perhaps that will be the next adventure!
Not a book but nearly 7 years ago watching the late Anthony Bourdain Walk down a street in Havana had me asking “ why does he get to go and I don’t?”
Visited Cuba the next year. One of the best trips of my life.
The Bible .....
So, James, where did you go that was inspired by reading the bible? Was there a specific place mentioned or described in the bible that inspired you? Or did you mean the bible as a whole inspiring a trip or trips to much of the middle east?
Nancy, The Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. But others have been moved to see and experience a lot more than that. So I guess you could say my interest in the book and the trip were not motivated by secular issues.
I think a movie was mentioned above. If we open the door that far: I was alone for a week while my significant other was traveling. Out of boredom I went to the kids Netflix account and started poking around. I ended up watching "Winter on Fire". A few days later my S.O. returned and I made the announcement; we are going to Kyiv. My S.O. said that I was insane until I turned on Netflix and we watched it together. 60 days later we were in Kyiv for their 25th anniversary of independence. A very, very moving and special trip.
dorothy-- I couldn't agree with you more regarding Death in Venice. Not only does he nail the city itself, but when I'm there, I see an Aschenbach on every gondola.
Claudia-- I totally envy you the trip to Cuba. It's on my bucket list.
Bourdain was the only reason we paid extra for CNN for years. I'm spacing out watching his last season, knowing how sad I'll be when it's over. His episode on Marseille is the only reason I was able to talk my partner into going to there when we can schedule it.
Speaking of that, the wonderful Julia Childs biography, "Appetite for Life," got me to visit Marseille as an adult.
Thanks, everyone! This is so inspiring!
I'll mention one reference that might be of interest. Some time ago, someone on this forum recommended a website Stop your killing me
which lists authors and series of detective novels which are set in European cities. If you like mysteries, this is a great way to get insights on specific places and customs. The Aimee LeDuc series set in Paris (one set in every arrondissement), the Donna Leon Inspector Brunetti (Venice), Commissario Montalbano in Sicily, and the Bruno, Chief of Police series in the Dordogne, will pique your interest in these places.
stan-- I love mysteries & that rocks!
Sophie's Choice..........Krakow.
Just some of my favorite ones: 84 Charing Cross Road /London. Children's book about Greyfriars Bobby/Edinburgh. Hiding Place/Haarlem, Netherlands. Ange!as Ashes/Limerick. Any book by James Herriot/Yorkshire Dales. Am currently restricted to anything within day trip from home so am reading Midnight in Garden of Good and Evil about Savannah that's real close to.Philadelphia isn't it??
Tropic of Cancer
Henry Miller's biographical fiction set in France
I’ve been traveling in my mind through books since I was a little girl. Stories about ice skaters, canal boats with brown sails and storks on rooftops have lead me on some real life adventures in Holland and Germany recently.
I think it’s NEVER too early to start thinking about travel adventures. For several years before we took our granddaughters to Europe we read the Madeline books and the artist board books in the Mini Masters series and many others to them. Loved seeing their interest in these European capitols and major art museums as we traveled together.
I’m still inspired to visit places I’ve read about and we are always one of the last to leave a movie theater as we watch the location credits roll by. Travel is always on our minds.
In the late 70s when I was a teenager I read Child of the Morning about Queen Hatshepsut, woman pharaoh of Egypt. I just returned from a 2 week trip to Egypt which included Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple in the Valley of the Kings. The trip of a lifetime!
ashley,
I can't say that I've read a book that inspired me to make a trip but I have read some that have inspired me to visit specific destinations whilst travelling in Europe. These are all related to history and a few titles that some to mind are The Great Escape, the Longest Day and Enigma - The Battle for the Code. I've also read A Bridge Too Far but haven't made it to that area yet. Perhaps next year?
Gail-- I can't believe I forgot about All Creatures Great & Small & the other Herriot books. I read them until they fell apart when I was a tween, and toyed with the idea of becoming a veterinarian (the love of animals is there, but not the math chops to get into vet school). You reminded me to put the Dales on my must-go list!
Everyone, this is just wonderful!
It's interesting to see how many of us were influenced by books we read as children and teens.
I am still dying to see "the moors" from reading classic books like Wuthering Heights as a teenager.
ashley.3.e, & all us Yorkshire/Herriot fans - there's a terrific spin-off TV series, The Yorkshire Vet, on Netflix or Amazon, I forget which. Real-life veterinary clinic in Thirsk, engaging people, patients great & small! - kittens to sheepdogs to bulls - & always the take-me-there countryside.
BURMESE DAYS by George Orwell
THE GREAT RAILWAY BAZAAR by Paul Theroux
BRIDGE ON THE DRINA by Ivo Andric (Won the Nobel Prize in Literature)
A SUITABLE BOY (set in India) by Vikram Seth
IBERIA by James Michener (Non Fiction)
Reading these will give you a unique and much broader perspective on the world and inspire you to travel the world not just Europe.
Thank you for this wonderful list! Reading inspires me to do so many things, including travel! I tend to think of authors, as that is usually how I read...I guess I'm a binge reader? I loved Camilla Lackberg as someone mentioned above, and, of course, Stieg Larsson, before I traveled to Sweden...but went because of my grandmother's roots so doesn't quite fit the post. I have to say that the big three who inspired me greatly to travel were Paul Theroux, Somerset Maughn and Graham Greene. Of course, there were Charles Dickens, Tim Parks (different genre but what the heck), Elizabeth George, and of course, George Simenon. Although, with Room with a View, my daughters and I actually tracked down some of the locales...
Thank you again, so many more wonderful books to read from this list.
