In no particular order:
Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods,
In a Sunburnt Country,
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
Paul Theroux
Dark Star Safari,
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star,
Riding the Iron Rooster
Jeffrey Tayler
Glory in a Camel's Eye;
Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat and Camel
Peter Mayle
A Year in Provence,
Toujours Provence,
Encore Provence
Tony Horwitz
A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of
Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America;
Baghdad without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia;
Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before;
One for the Road
Polly Evans
It's Not About the Tapas: A Spanish Adventure on Two Wheels;
Fried Eggs with Chopsticks;
On a Hoof and a Prayer
George Orwell
Homage to Catalonia;
Down and Out in Paris;
Burmese Days
Pico Iyer
The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto;
Video Night in Kathmandu
Colin Thubron
The Lost Heart of Asia;
In Siberia;
Shadow of the Silk Road
Mark Twain
Roughing It;
The Innocents Abroad
I know I'm leaving people out.
Who are your favorite travel writers?
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.
A fantastic list! I love Bill Bryson - he never fails to make me laugh - especially as he's written a great book about Australia ;-)
ReplyDeleteI agree about Bill Bryson. And the same is true about Tony Horwitz; he always makes me laugh!
ReplyDeleteWow, new authors and new books to the list! Thank you! I love to travel and I love history. So, ings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America; sounds awesome to me.
ReplyDeleteTravel narratives are one of my favorite genres.
DeleteDeb,
DeleteThis is great news! I was just surfing around Amazon.com and found your review of Troost's "Lost on Planet China" and would like to know if you would be game to do a review of my recently-published travel narrative, "China Diaries and Other Tales From the Road": http://www.amazon.com/China-Diaries-Other-Tales-From/dp/1592998348/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351954454&sr=8-1&keywords=john+rydzewski
I think you will find that my narrative is a bit of a departure from other China narratives out there. You see, I'm an engineer by education and career, but have been writing on-and-off for 20 years. I had an opportunity to live/work in China and travel through Asia from 2006-2010, and wrote my book in real time while there. My book started off as a blog site where, once per month, I would educate/entertain my friends/family who were concerned about my decision to go to China.Leveraging my analytical training as an engineer, I not only make observations about what I saw and how people behaved, but I dig deeper and try to understand the "why" behind it. I would post, on average, one 2,000-word story per month...for 3.5 years. I took what I considered my favorite/best blog posts, cleaned them up, and published the book.
I take much pride in knowing that my Chinese friends and coworkers who read my blog considered my observations/opinions/commentary "fair". Also, unlike some others who went to China and wrote about it, I learned the language, and then talked to the local people.
The above Amazon link allows you to preview the Foreword, the Table of Contents, Chapter 1, and a bit of Chapter 2. If what you read piques your interest, I hope that you consider reading further...
Thanks in advance!
John
Here's a new one for you to consider..."China Diaries and Other Takes from the Road"...that I wrote during my 3.5 years living/working in China and traveling through Asia. I just published it a few weeks ago....
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/China-Diaries-Other-Tales-From/dp/1592998348/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351954454&sr=8-1&keywords=john+rydzewski
Thanks!
John
I also love Jon Krakauer - more adventure than travel per se, but great writing. Nice list! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, agreed!
DeleteGreat list idea! I'll have to think about that one more! :D My TTTs are at Musings on Fantasia and LKHill. Happy Tuesday! :D (P.S. Now following you via GFC. :D)
ReplyDeleteOff to read your TTT!
DeleteI really enjoy Bill Bryson, although I've only read A Walk in the Woods and his Australian book (called Down Under here). I must read more. I'm hoping to read Down and Out in Paris and London next year as preparation for a trip to both those fair cities. There are many others in your list that I've meant to read, but haven't managed it so far. An inspiring collection as always.
ReplyDeleteYou are always so kind, Louise. Tony Horwitz is especially wonderful. The book about Captain Cook's travels includes a lot of info about the exploration of your world.
DeleteI did try to read the Captain Cook book once, but I think I got through about a page, not a fair try really. I should try again.
DeleteWow, I've never heard of any of these authors before, Orwell excepted. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteWhat a great list! I haven't read any of these works. A new book that is sort of in this genre (or at least the protagonist is traveling) is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. It's surprising but very good.
ReplyDeleteI will add that to my wishlist. Thank you.
DeleteThe classic travel book about Spain written many years ago by Laurie Lee (who was an English poet) is As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning. It's worth reading if you are interested in Spain or if you love beautiful writing.
ReplyDeleteAnother favorite of mine is Without Reservations (The Travels of an Independent Woman) by Alice Steinbach.
And count me in as a Bryson fan.
I love the two you mentioned. Thank you for sharing some of your favorites, Dvora!
DeleteI don't think I've ever read any travel books...! I do plan on reading Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie but that's as much because I love dogs and Steinbeck...
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely story.
DeleteA Walk in the Woods is a great book!
ReplyDeleteI've never read Bill Bryson. Everyone is constantly talking about how wonderful he is and I still haven't done it.
ReplyDeleteHe is. Wonderful, that is.
DeleteWhat a great list!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first TTT Travel authors i have seen.
I love Bill Bryson!
Thanks for stopping by :-)
Cassie
GreatMunchieReads
Love travel narratives.
DeleteI haven't read a lot of "travel" books/essays etc. Well, any, really. This is a great list!
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice way to travel for the price of a book.
DeleteI hardly do travel books but I did read Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. (I'm not quite sure if the latter is considered under the travel category) Both were lovely. :D
ReplyDeleteYep, I'd classify both of those as travel narratives.
DeleteLOVE Bill Bryson - will have to check out some of the others you've listed that I'm not familiar with. Have a read a few other travel type books - but not sure I'd recommend them... glad I read them, but won't be returning to reread them.
ReplyDeleteSome travel books are to excellent travel narratives as textbooks are to fabulous nonfiction. Some travel books give travel books in general a bad name.
DeleteWhich is too bad, because we can't actually visit every cool place in the world. (And we really don't want to actually visit some spots...i.e., the last travel book I read, where the author visited the most polluted places on Earth.
My favorite of all time is probably Jules Verne. My latest discovery in that genre is Vivian Swift. here it's why: http://wordsandpeace.com/2012/08/16/i-love-france-29-2012-40-review-le-road-trip/
ReplyDeleteooh i love the topic you chose! i really love to travel but haven't really read much travel writing so this is perfect.
ReplyDeleteBill Bryson is awesome. I am quite a fan myself. I need to read more of these travel writers because I love reading travel writing but rarely get the chance to pick up the genre. Nice topic.
ReplyDelete