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Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks From Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West
For the new breed of vacationer who craves meaningful trips and unusual locales, the combination of reading and travel can be a heady mix—especially if you happen to be checking into Hemingway’s favorite hotel in Sun Valley, or strolling about Bath’s Royal Crescent while entertaining fantasies of Lizzie Bennett and her Mr. Darcy! Cue National Geographic’s Novel Destinations —a guide for bibliophiles to more than 500 literary sites across the United States and Europe.
The book begins with thematic chapters covering author houses and museums, literary festivals and walking tours. Then, in-depth explorations of author and places take readers roaming Franz Kafka’s Prague, James Joyce’s Dublin, Louisa May Alcott’s New England, and other locales. Peppered with great reading suggestions and little-known tales of literary gossip, Novel Destinations is a unique travel guide, an attractive gift book, and the ultimate browser’s delight.
The book begins with thematic chapters covering author houses and museums, literary festivals and walking tours. Then, in-depth explorations of author and places take readers roaming Franz Kafka’s Prague, James Joyce’s Dublin, Louisa May Alcott’s New England, and other locales. Peppered with great reading suggestions and little-known tales of literary gossip, Novel Destinations is a unique travel guide, an attractive gift book, and the ultimate browser’s delight.
368 pages, Paperback
Published June 16, 2009
55 people are currently reading
1987 people want to read
About the author
Shannon McKenna Schmidt
5 books34 followersReader, writer, traveler. Shannon is the author of THE FIRST LADY OF WORLD WAR II: Eleanor Roosevelt's Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back (Sourcebooks May 2, 2023). She is also the co-author of NOVEL DESTINATIONS: A Travel Guide to Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West, 2nd Edition and WRITERS BETWEEN THE COVERS: The Scandalous Romantic Lives of Legendary Literary Casanovas, Coquettes, and Cads. www.shannonmckennaschmidt.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
March 8, 2021
Novel Destinations: A Travel Guide to Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West is a delightful exploration of beloved writers and novelists over the years from William Shakespeare to Charles Dickens to Jane Austen to William Wordsworth as well as Thomas Hardy in England. Throughout America, we visit the sites of the homes of writers such as William Faulkner, Jack London, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Sinclair Lewis, Katherine Anne Porter, Willa Cather, Robert Louis Stevenson and John Steinbeck. From W.B Yeats Country in Ireland to the Keats-Shelley House in Rome at the bottom of the Spanish Steps to Alexander Dumas's Chateau in France to the birthplace museum of Miguel de Cervantes in Spain to the Russian writers, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pasternak, and Dostoyevsky, the literary journeys were enjoyable.
The book was divided into two main parts. Part One was Travel by the Book: The best literary experiences at home and abroad, and Part Two being Journeys Between the Pages: The pages of literature come to life in the following eleven locales, immortalized by famous novelists.
One of my favorite sections highlighted the journeys and writing both at home and abroad of F. Scott Fitzgerald, chronicler of the Jazz Age; Ernest Hemingway, rugged adventurer; Mark Twain, an innocent abroad, Edith Wharton, famed Francophile, and Henry James. Another favorite section was about Charles Dickens including the Charles Dickens Museum, different sites where Dickens wrote, lived and dined, including destinations where certain of his books were written.
And a few of my favorite quotes:
"'We are planted between heaven and earth,' French feminist scribe George Sand wrote of the 14th-century monastery where she and her lover Frederic Chopin and her two small children settled in December 1838. 'The clouds cross our garden at their own will and pleasure, and the eagles clamor over our heads,' she wrote of the austere place. The foursome had left Paris for the winter, traveling to the Spanish isle of Majorca, in hopes the temperate climate would benefit Sand's sickly son and Chopin's consumption."
"An elegant residence graced by an oak-lined pathway, William Faulkner's Rowan Oak estate was in shambles when the writer purchased it in 1930. He completed much of the restoration himself, wielding a hammer and saw to create a sanctuary where he lived for more than three decades. The moniker Faulkner bestowed on the house comes from a Celtic legend about the rowan tree, which is believed to harbor powers of safety and protection."
"'If I can be said to have a home,' declared Tennessee Williams, 'it is New Orleans, which has provided me with more material than any other part of the country.' The playwright lived in the city's picturesque French Quarter, and visiting the haunts he once frequented is still possible today."
And so many more places I need to explore and so many more books I want to read.
The book was divided into two main parts. Part One was Travel by the Book: The best literary experiences at home and abroad, and Part Two being Journeys Between the Pages: The pages of literature come to life in the following eleven locales, immortalized by famous novelists.
One of my favorite sections highlighted the journeys and writing both at home and abroad of F. Scott Fitzgerald, chronicler of the Jazz Age; Ernest Hemingway, rugged adventurer; Mark Twain, an innocent abroad, Edith Wharton, famed Francophile, and Henry James. Another favorite section was about Charles Dickens including the Charles Dickens Museum, different sites where Dickens wrote, lived and dined, including destinations where certain of his books were written.
And a few of my favorite quotes:
"'We are planted between heaven and earth,' French feminist scribe George Sand wrote of the 14th-century monastery where she and her lover Frederic Chopin and her two small children settled in December 1838. 'The clouds cross our garden at their own will and pleasure, and the eagles clamor over our heads,' she wrote of the austere place. The foursome had left Paris for the winter, traveling to the Spanish isle of Majorca, in hopes the temperate climate would benefit Sand's sickly son and Chopin's consumption."
"An elegant residence graced by an oak-lined pathway, William Faulkner's Rowan Oak estate was in shambles when the writer purchased it in 1930. He completed much of the restoration himself, wielding a hammer and saw to create a sanctuary where he lived for more than three decades. The moniker Faulkner bestowed on the house comes from a Celtic legend about the rowan tree, which is believed to harbor powers of safety and protection."
"'If I can be said to have a home,' declared Tennessee Williams, 'it is New Orleans, which has provided me with more material than any other part of the country.' The playwright lived in the city's picturesque French Quarter, and visiting the haunts he once frequented is still possible today."
And so many more places I need to explore and so many more books I want to read.
May 18, 2017
"Novel Destinations" is for travelers who like me love to find any bookish related sites anywhere they travel. Is there a author related museum nearby? Is there a bookstore nearby? If there is, I will find it. This book makes it easier. This is the perfect book to generate new travel ideas (who wants to go to Key West now to see EVERY. SINGLE. HEMINGWAY. RELATED. THING? *raises hand excitedly*). So if you are like me and love to daydream about your next trip, this is perfect.
The book is organized a couple different ways. There are groups of related authors but the locations are not necessarily close so they probably would make for a better bucket list than itinerary. My favorite section was the actual itineraries. Like I said, I'm ready to hop a plane to Key West now. Because the book is sorted a couple different ways, there are some repeats of authors and places. The organization could have probably been a little bit better. It is hard to find the different sections as they can start in the middle of the page with relatively small headers.
The book also is limited in what it focuses on. The locations are mostly in the U.S. and Europe so it is limited to Western writers and definitely should not be seen as an end all, be all of literary travel. It is also limited in the kinds of authors that it focuses on: mostly authors that I would consider classic authors. This book is only a taste of the bookish places you can go!
This book would make a great gift for a new high school or college graduate just stretching their wings and beginning to see the world!
The book is organized a couple different ways. There are groups of related authors but the locations are not necessarily close so they probably would make for a better bucket list than itinerary. My favorite section was the actual itineraries. Like I said, I'm ready to hop a plane to Key West now. Because the book is sorted a couple different ways, there are some repeats of authors and places. The organization could have probably been a little bit better. It is hard to find the different sections as they can start in the middle of the page with relatively small headers.
The book also is limited in what it focuses on. The locations are mostly in the U.S. and Europe so it is limited to Western writers and definitely should not be seen as an end all, be all of literary travel. It is also limited in the kinds of authors that it focuses on: mostly authors that I would consider classic authors. This book is only a taste of the bookish places you can go!
This book would make a great gift for a new high school or college graduate just stretching their wings and beginning to see the world!
December 4, 2014
I enjoyed sampling the entries from this book, but it wasn't particularly useful when I went to use it to plan some literary adventures. The layout stymied me when I approached the book from a planning standpoint. I felt like I had to search around quite a bit to find what I was looking for, both when looking for everything for one author and for everything in one geographical region. I wanted to be able to say, "I'm in New England; what can I do that's literary?" but it didn't work that way for me. (It's possible this was due to user error.) I also could have used a book more centered on North America because that's where I am and that's where I plan most (or, so far, all) of my road trips. I liked reading about the destinations in the UK, but having never been there and having no immediate plans to go there, it was difficult to envision the locations.
I do plan to pick this one up again as my kids get older and they and I plan trips together. Or at least I hope that's what will happen. My kids and I all love to read, and the whole family loves road trips; literary road trips seem like a logical outcome of all of this reading/road-tripping love, but it's possible I'm not taking into account the feelings of pre-teens and teens about traveling with their mom.
I do plan to pick this one up again as my kids get older and they and I plan trips together. Or at least I hope that's what will happen. My kids and I all love to read, and the whole family loves road trips; literary road trips seem like a logical outcome of all of this reading/road-tripping love, but it's possible I'm not taking into account the feelings of pre-teens and teens about traveling with their mom.
August 16, 2020
My family, being the classic home schoolers we were, always had ~educational~ vacations. A trip to Boston centered around walking the Freedom Trail, with a day trip to Louisa May Alcott's home in Concord. A trip to Mount Rushmore included several stops at Laura Ingalls Wilder sites, to my delight. As adults, my husband and I continue the trend. Last year, on a trip to England and Scotland, we visited Elizabeth Gaskell's home in Manchester, and spent three halcyon days in the Lake District for a literary pilgrimage to Beatrix Potter's home. (Not that you can avoid literary sites anywhere in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. They are everywhere. The Edinburgh train station is named Waverly after Sir Walter Scott's novels.) Novel Destinations is perfect for readers who want to see where their favorite writers lived, and the landscapes their stories inhabited. However, there's not much in here that's really off the beaten path.
The usual sites and authors are included (Bath and Jane Austen's home; Stratford-upon-Avon; homes of the Fireside Poets, et c.), but I was pleasantly surprised to learn of some new sites. The home of William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) is open to visitors in Austin, Texas, and I must go the next time I return to my birthplace.
Novel Destinations feels a bit scattered, but I can't think of a really great way to organize it more than the authors did. They begin with a broad overview of significant spots, starting with author homes/museums, moving to American expats, continuing with festivals, and concluding with literary sites where you can lodge, eat, and drink. The second part is a deep dive into the worlds of ten authors and some of their most significant novels. Within this portion are included tangential sites of interest--Alexandre Dumas père is included in the section on Victor Hugo. Thus, it's not really a book made to take along with you on your travels, but is instead one to use when planning a trip.
While it didn't make the greatest read during lockdown, Novel Destinations is a fun resource for those looking to find literary sites. I must say, I prefer personal travelogues of other literary pilgrims (How the Heather Looks, My Life in Middlemarch, and From Little Houses to Little Women come to mind), because they really give the experience, and often include more unique discoveries, but they are bibliomemoirs and not travel guides. Overall, I'll likely consult this when planning trips in the future so I don't miss out on literary sites. For example, I didn't know F. Scott Fitzgerald was from St. Paul, though the museum dedicated to him is in his wife's birthplace in Montgomery, Alabama. A book to keep in mind, if not one to cherish.
The usual sites and authors are included (Bath and Jane Austen's home; Stratford-upon-Avon; homes of the Fireside Poets, et c.), but I was pleasantly surprised to learn of some new sites. The home of William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) is open to visitors in Austin, Texas, and I must go the next time I return to my birthplace.
Novel Destinations feels a bit scattered, but I can't think of a really great way to organize it more than the authors did. They begin with a broad overview of significant spots, starting with author homes/museums, moving to American expats, continuing with festivals, and concluding with literary sites where you can lodge, eat, and drink. The second part is a deep dive into the worlds of ten authors and some of their most significant novels. Within this portion are included tangential sites of interest--Alexandre Dumas père is included in the section on Victor Hugo. Thus, it's not really a book made to take along with you on your travels, but is instead one to use when planning a trip.
While it didn't make the greatest read during lockdown, Novel Destinations is a fun resource for those looking to find literary sites. I must say, I prefer personal travelogues of other literary pilgrims (How the Heather Looks, My Life in Middlemarch, and From Little Houses to Little Women come to mind), because they really give the experience, and often include more unique discoveries, but they are bibliomemoirs and not travel guides. Overall, I'll likely consult this when planning trips in the future so I don't miss out on literary sites. For example, I didn't know F. Scott Fitzgerald was from St. Paul, though the museum dedicated to him is in his wife's birthplace in Montgomery, Alabama. A book to keep in mind, if not one to cherish.
May 20, 2017
Literary landmarks In United States and Europe
This book offers an opportunity to visit and learn about literary giants like Ernst Hemingway, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and others. This is a great guide for bibliophiles and readers interested in literature to numerous literary sites in United States and Europe. It also provides information about literary festivals, and places to go for a drink, to dine and lodge. Big Apple bars, Parisian cafes, literary pubs in England, and Ernst Hemingway’s watery holes in United States and Cuba.
Take a stroll around museums dedicated to work of these authors, the homes, neighborhoods, galleries, and the restaurants they hung out, and the towns and cities they lived in. Franz Kafka's Prague, James Joyce's Dublin, Louisa May Alcott's Massachusetts and Papa Hemingway’s favorite place in Sun Valley, Idaho or Havana, Cuba.
Some of the highlights include; Harper Lee’s old Court House Museum surrounded by landscapes of cotton fields, red clay roads, rolling hills tucked into rural pockets of Monroeville, Alabama. Tony’s Saloon in Key West, Florida, which is the original location of Sloppy Joe’s where Hemingway spent much time during his stay in Key West. The 17th century seaside manse in Salem, Massachusetts, which was the inspiration of Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The House of Seven Gables.” The home of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts that was the setting for her novel, “Little Women.” Charles Dickens museum in London, and fragments of Marshalsea debtor’s prison where Dickens was incarcerated.
The book also has numerous photographs, but they are small and hard to appreciate. This book is recommended to readers interested in travelling to places of literary significance.
This book offers an opportunity to visit and learn about literary giants like Ernst Hemingway, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and others. This is a great guide for bibliophiles and readers interested in literature to numerous literary sites in United States and Europe. It also provides information about literary festivals, and places to go for a drink, to dine and lodge. Big Apple bars, Parisian cafes, literary pubs in England, and Ernst Hemingway’s watery holes in United States and Cuba.
Take a stroll around museums dedicated to work of these authors, the homes, neighborhoods, galleries, and the restaurants they hung out, and the towns and cities they lived in. Franz Kafka's Prague, James Joyce's Dublin, Louisa May Alcott's Massachusetts and Papa Hemingway’s favorite place in Sun Valley, Idaho or Havana, Cuba.
Some of the highlights include; Harper Lee’s old Court House Museum surrounded by landscapes of cotton fields, red clay roads, rolling hills tucked into rural pockets of Monroeville, Alabama. Tony’s Saloon in Key West, Florida, which is the original location of Sloppy Joe’s where Hemingway spent much time during his stay in Key West. The 17th century seaside manse in Salem, Massachusetts, which was the inspiration of Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The House of Seven Gables.” The home of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts that was the setting for her novel, “Little Women.” Charles Dickens museum in London, and fragments of Marshalsea debtor’s prison where Dickens was incarcerated.
The book also has numerous photographs, but they are small and hard to appreciate. This book is recommended to readers interested in travelling to places of literary significance.
December 30, 2017
This is an excellent, well-researched and detailed book for people who enjoy enjoy travel with occasional visits to literary locales. I enjoyed the Dickens, Hemingway, and Steinbeck locales.
August 27, 2008
*Review based on skimming through to points of interest:
Found at the library, joy of joys! Not that I'll be reading through every single page (I doubt) but enough skimming to do a bit of armchair travel! ;-> Delightful!!! As the cover suggests, it's "a book-lover's Baedeker" featuring more than 500 literary locales from the US and Europe. Of course, there's the obvious and obligatory "Shakespeare's Birthplace" type entry, but also a lot of really nifty lesser-known sites of literary interest with such section headings as "Mark Twain Slept Here and You Can, Too!" featuring hotels where famous authors have stayed, small-but-significant museums devoted to authors, and even some festivals (some close-to-home, like the John Steinbeck Festival in Salinas--some mouthwateringly distant, like the Jane Austen festival in Bath). Anyway, much fun (and daydreaming) to be had if you are like me and enjoy armchair travel while amassing an interesting list of places to visit when the chance for the real thing rolls around!
(I do wish there were more photos; but I suppose we may hope that all the websites listed still work and that they will have nice color photos for our vicarius travel enjoyment!)
Found at the library, joy of joys! Not that I'll be reading through every single page (I doubt) but enough skimming to do a bit of armchair travel! ;-> Delightful!!! As the cover suggests, it's "a book-lover's Baedeker" featuring more than 500 literary locales from the US and Europe. Of course, there's the obvious and obligatory "Shakespeare's Birthplace" type entry, but also a lot of really nifty lesser-known sites of literary interest with such section headings as "Mark Twain Slept Here and You Can, Too!" featuring hotels where famous authors have stayed, small-but-significant museums devoted to authors, and even some festivals (some close-to-home, like the John Steinbeck Festival in Salinas--some mouthwateringly distant, like the Jane Austen festival in Bath). Anyway, much fun (and daydreaming) to be had if you are like me and enjoy armchair travel while amassing an interesting list of places to visit when the chance for the real thing rolls around!
(I do wish there were more photos; but I suppose we may hope that all the websites listed still work and that they will have nice color photos for our vicarius travel enjoyment!)
March 24, 2019
For me, this book is the sweet spot, that divine intersection of belovedness. Here, that sweet spot is between travel and the literary, bookish things I love, whether it's a specific author, where the author spent time writing, a location that appears in a book, an amazing bookstore, cemeteries to visit, whatever. Even though this book is a bit heavy on the classics for my taste, I still loved it. And the focus is almost exclusively US and UK authors. Nevertheless, this book is a fun read, but more importantly, a great resource. I read it cover-to-cover in one sitting!
September 28, 2017
The idea is fantastic, but I didn't much care for the layout of the book. I would have preferred, for instance, all of New England to be in one section, and such. It was fun for a quick afternoon read though.
December 30, 2016
I didn't read this cover-to-cover, but on a 30-day solo roadtrip I did this summer, it provided plenty of inspiration and information.
October 2, 2017
Very interesting!
I ended up Xeroxing some pages -- would love to travel to Richmond, VA or New York or Boston and check out some of these places!
I ended up Xeroxing some pages -- would love to travel to Richmond, VA or New York or Boston and check out some of these places!
November 3, 2018
Published 10 years ago I'm not sure how reliable some of the phone numbers may still be, but it gave me tons of ideas of where to go next. I loved all the information but found some repetition, would love to see this as a modern travel/ interactive website!
Read
January 23, 2020It jumped around quite a bit. Perhaps better for armchair travellers?
March 4, 2024
Wonderful! Very comprehensive. I’ll be referencing this book for years!
June 30, 2011
Kerja keras dan tersusun oleh dua penggila sastera ini bukan sahaja membawa kita mengenali tempat asal dan tempat berkarya penulis-penulis besar dunia, tetapi juga menjenguk tinggalan serta warisan zaman setiap pengarang ini tidak kiralah melalui muzium, restoran yang dikerapi, mahu pun hotel yang pernah ditumpangi.
Selain itu, kita juga diperkenalkan dengan tempat-tempat sebenar yang diangkat senagai inspirasi mahupun latar novel-novel terkenal dalam sastera Inggeris. Bath, yang sebetulnya dibenci Jane Austen, tetapi menjadi latar dua novelnya yang pertama diterbitkan. Sementara Hemingway pula mula mendapat gelaran "Papa" sewaktu 'bertapa' di Key West.
Sebagai pengembara kerusi malas tegar, saya hanyut membaca tentang pengarang-pengarang yang digemari (dan tak kurang juga belum dimesrai, terutamanya penulis-penulis Amerika seperti Ralph Waldo Emerson dan John Steinbeck)dan bagaimana legasi kepengarangan mereka dipengaruhi serta mempengaruhi sesebuah tempat.
Selain itu, kita juga diperkenalkan dengan tempat-tempat sebenar yang diangkat senagai inspirasi mahupun latar novel-novel terkenal dalam sastera Inggeris. Bath, yang sebetulnya dibenci Jane Austen, tetapi menjadi latar dua novelnya yang pertama diterbitkan. Sementara Hemingway pula mula mendapat gelaran "Papa" sewaktu 'bertapa' di Key West.
Sebagai pengembara kerusi malas tegar, saya hanyut membaca tentang pengarang-pengarang yang digemari (dan tak kurang juga belum dimesrai, terutamanya penulis-penulis Amerika seperti Ralph Waldo Emerson dan John Steinbeck)dan bagaimana legasi kepengarangan mereka dipengaruhi serta mempengaruhi sesebuah tempat.
December 15, 2020
A cornucopia of literary ventures. From their birth to death, all the spots between, including that of their muses, comrades, haunts, neighbors, and nearbys. Anecdotal bars give added info as if sitting with them over drinks hearing it.
It’s mini-bios of literary giants, of famed buildings, (noted frequenters often quoted) and inspirational points. Fascinating the amount of information within these nearly 400 pages, including sorting by location (country/state/city) and author. Nice travel companion for a road trip.
Tours are noted, should you want to partake in their footsteps or feel their lingering vibes.
August 14, 2008
Although there were features on authors that I am not interested in, I did fantasize about a few vacations while reading this book. I am not a big Agatha Christie fan, but I would love a trip organized around the settings of her books. What's not to like about the Orient Express?
June 15, 2009
As someone who has enjoyed many author pilgrimages in the past (L.M. Montgomery, J.K. Rowling, just about every deceased New England writer/poet), I really enjoyed this book. Now I'm dying to travel to Alabama to see Harper Lee's stomping grounds, as well as return to Bath and see the Jane Austen landmarks (should have done that while I was there instead of shopping...oops).
May 16, 2017
If you know me at all you know I absolutely LOVE a road trip. If I can somehow incorporate a literary stop on a road trip, even better. The only bummer about this is that a lot of this book features things that are abroad... as in places I most likely will never get to see in my life time. So that's a total bummer. But don't fret, pets! There is still a ton of stuff in the United States for you to see!
Let's break down the book though because the book is two parts: travel by the book and journey through the pages. In the first part there are author houses and museums (my favorites were southern comfort and vampires, ghosts, and ravens), writers at home and abroad, literary festivals, tours, and more (this was my FAVORITE part of the entire book), literary places to drink, dine, and doze. The second part of the book, Journeys Between the Pages, was more of like a dedicated vacation. Clearly the one that would be up my alley was the Island Time: Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Florida only because I am a Florida girl through and through. But there was also a California Dreaming: John Steinbeck in Monterey and Salinas, California that I kind of thought would be fascinating.
Another section I really enjoyed was the "Libraries Worth Checking Out", but I have decided I really, really, REALLY want to go to a book festival. WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN TO A BOOK FESTIVAL?! Have any of you been to one? Sigh. The other cool thing is that if you are going on a little trip and you've got some time, check out the index on the back for the state that you're visiting, there is a good chance it's mentioned in the book and you can make a quick day trip to a literary landmark! We are driving to Florida at the end of June and I'm hoping I can convince Matt to squeeze a stop, or four, in. They are practically on our way so it's not like we're losing time. Surely someone will have to go to the bathroom and I can just take a quick peek! Right? Of course I'm right.
I totally loved this. It's such a fun, nerdy book to page through with lots of fun facts, lots of things I didn't know, it gave me lots of ideas for future trips (maybe not family trips but definitely trips with my friends!) and it's just an enjoyable read. Who doesn't love a good non-fiction book every now and then?!
Let's break down the book though because the book is two parts: travel by the book and journey through the pages. In the first part there are author houses and museums (my favorites were southern comfort and vampires, ghosts, and ravens), writers at home and abroad, literary festivals, tours, and more (this was my FAVORITE part of the entire book), literary places to drink, dine, and doze. The second part of the book, Journeys Between the Pages, was more of like a dedicated vacation. Clearly the one that would be up my alley was the Island Time: Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Florida only because I am a Florida girl through and through. But there was also a California Dreaming: John Steinbeck in Monterey and Salinas, California that I kind of thought would be fascinating.
Another section I really enjoyed was the "Libraries Worth Checking Out", but I have decided I really, really, REALLY want to go to a book festival. WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN TO A BOOK FESTIVAL?! Have any of you been to one? Sigh. The other cool thing is that if you are going on a little trip and you've got some time, check out the index on the back for the state that you're visiting, there is a good chance it's mentioned in the book and you can make a quick day trip to a literary landmark! We are driving to Florida at the end of June and I'm hoping I can convince Matt to squeeze a stop, or four, in. They are practically on our way so it's not like we're losing time. Surely someone will have to go to the bathroom and I can just take a quick peek! Right? Of course I'm right.
I totally loved this. It's such a fun, nerdy book to page through with lots of fun facts, lots of things I didn't know, it gave me lots of ideas for future trips (maybe not family trips but definitely trips with my friends!) and it's just an enjoyable read. Who doesn't love a good non-fiction book every now and then?!
October 13, 2017
The only thing I don’t like about this book is that I didn’t write it first. Honestly, this is my dream book to write. Travel + literature = my perfect world.
The first part of the book is a guide to all sorts of literary places like writers’ homes, prominent places from literature, and final resting places. It’s organized first by topic (like “Atmospheric Landscapes” for the Bronte sisters and William Wordsworth or “Vampires, Ghosts, and Ravens” for Edgar Allen Poe and Washington Irving), then by author. So for example, the section on Bronte Country in the Yorkshire Moors of England first gives a little background on the Brontes and their work. Then it guides you from one noteworthy place to another, like Haworth Parish Church where their father presided as curate and where all the Brontes are buried, to a 300-year-old pub frequented by a Bronte brother. Most exciting to me is a guide to some of the places where the Brontes said they did a lot of their writing and playing. I love to stand in the places that inspired writers.
The first part of the book also has a section that follows a few particularly transient authors through the many places that they lived and wrote during their lives. We trace Edith Wharton’s footsteps from New York (of course) to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, France, Italy, and Morocco, touring her favorite chateaus and even the site of her death and burial in Versailles. There’s also a directory of literary festivals such as Hemingway Days in Key West, the Daphne Du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature in Fowey, England, Bloomsday in Dublin; literary walking tours from Greenwich Village to London; and literary lodgings, cafes, and bars all over the world.
The second part of Novel Destinations highlights ten cities through the lens of a book that immortalized them. Bath, England (Jane Austen’ Northanger Abbey); Paris (Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame); Monroeville, Alabama (Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird).
I could honestly plan all of my travel from this book alone for the next several years. For now, I just use it to dream while sipping tea from a teacup I bought at the Jane Austen Center in Bath.
The first part of the book is a guide to all sorts of literary places like writers’ homes, prominent places from literature, and final resting places. It’s organized first by topic (like “Atmospheric Landscapes” for the Bronte sisters and William Wordsworth or “Vampires, Ghosts, and Ravens” for Edgar Allen Poe and Washington Irving), then by author. So for example, the section on Bronte Country in the Yorkshire Moors of England first gives a little background on the Brontes and their work. Then it guides you from one noteworthy place to another, like Haworth Parish Church where their father presided as curate and where all the Brontes are buried, to a 300-year-old pub frequented by a Bronte brother. Most exciting to me is a guide to some of the places where the Brontes said they did a lot of their writing and playing. I love to stand in the places that inspired writers.
The first part of the book also has a section that follows a few particularly transient authors through the many places that they lived and wrote during their lives. We trace Edith Wharton’s footsteps from New York (of course) to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, France, Italy, and Morocco, touring her favorite chateaus and even the site of her death and burial in Versailles. There’s also a directory of literary festivals such as Hemingway Days in Key West, the Daphne Du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature in Fowey, England, Bloomsday in Dublin; literary walking tours from Greenwich Village to London; and literary lodgings, cafes, and bars all over the world.
The second part of Novel Destinations highlights ten cities through the lens of a book that immortalized them. Bath, England (Jane Austen’ Northanger Abbey); Paris (Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame); Monroeville, Alabama (Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird).
I could honestly plan all of my travel from this book alone for the next several years. For now, I just use it to dream while sipping tea from a teacup I bought at the Jane Austen Center in Bath.
May 23, 2017
I love to travel and when I do I am always on the lookout for anything bookish to check out. Whether it's bookstores, museums or local hangouts of authors, I scour the net before leaving. I jumped at the chance to review this book, it's exactly what I am interested in and everything is in one neat package. Now it's a little big to take along but it is great for planning. Novel Destinations is also great to sit back and browse, not just to get ideas and plan your next great adventure but for curiosity's sake as well.
Divided into 2 parts with Travel by the Book: the best literary experiences at home and abroad being the first one.
Chapter headings like: Read 'Em and See: Author Houses
Museums, Literary Festivals, Tours and More
Booked Up: Literary Places to Drink, Dine and Doze
...just to name a few.
Part Two: Journeys between the Pages - the pages of literature come to life in the following 11 locales immortalized by famed novelists. These locations are mainly in Europe and the east coast of the US (and one stop in California). All of them are authors that I have heard of but some I've never read. Reading about their story, seeing pictures of the places they would hang out has peaked my interest. From The House of the Seven Gables (Nathaniel Hawthorne) to A Sacred Place (Victor Hugo) and 9 more famous authors this book was insightful and a nice glimpse into their lives.
Part of me feels that I liked Part Two better just because of the opportunity to get to know new authors better and see their background but then Part One journeys to museums, coffee shops and other places to visit and walk in their footsteps. Each section was unique and interesting.
Thank you to TLC Tours for the opportunity to review this one.
Divided into 2 parts with Travel by the Book: the best literary experiences at home and abroad being the first one.
Chapter headings like: Read 'Em and See: Author Houses
Museums, Literary Festivals, Tours and More
Booked Up: Literary Places to Drink, Dine and Doze
...just to name a few.
Part Two: Journeys between the Pages - the pages of literature come to life in the following 11 locales immortalized by famed novelists. These locations are mainly in Europe and the east coast of the US (and one stop in California). All of them are authors that I have heard of but some I've never read. Reading about their story, seeing pictures of the places they would hang out has peaked my interest. From The House of the Seven Gables (Nathaniel Hawthorne) to A Sacred Place (Victor Hugo) and 9 more famous authors this book was insightful and a nice glimpse into their lives.
Part of me feels that I liked Part Two better just because of the opportunity to get to know new authors better and see their background but then Part One journeys to museums, coffee shops and other places to visit and walk in their footsteps. Each section was unique and interesting.
Thank you to TLC Tours for the opportunity to review this one.
May 9, 2017
Do you like books? Do you like or dream about travel? What if you could visit literary places?
That's what Novel Destinations is all about.
As soon as I got this beautiful book (Look at that cover, its adorable) I started to peruse the places inside and the authors that make you want to go there. There are so many...Austen..the Brontes....sigh...Dickens..
The book is segmented wonderfully with literary homes, museums and festivals, not to mention literary places to eat and stay over.
Of course, Great Britain (well Europe mostly) takes up a good portion of the book, and it definitely had me dreaming of "All the Places I'd Go" if the money were there.
I was happy to see my state represented in the book, with the Poe National Site and the Pearl S Buck House located in Pennsylvania. So there might be a road trip in my future.
No don't read this start to finish, that would't be any fun at all. Pick it up..got to the index and look for things that interest you.
My dream trip would involve an F. Scoot Fitzgerald tour.
This is a wonderful coffee table book or nightstand book, where you can plan your next literary jaunt or if you are like me, dream of one you'd love to take.
That's what Novel Destinations is all about.
As soon as I got this beautiful book (Look at that cover, its adorable) I started to peruse the places inside and the authors that make you want to go there. There are so many...Austen..the Brontes....sigh...Dickens..
The book is segmented wonderfully with literary homes, museums and festivals, not to mention literary places to eat and stay over.
Of course, Great Britain (well Europe mostly) takes up a good portion of the book, and it definitely had me dreaming of "All the Places I'd Go" if the money were there.
I was happy to see my state represented in the book, with the Poe National Site and the Pearl S Buck House located in Pennsylvania. So there might be a road trip in my future.
No don't read this start to finish, that would't be any fun at all. Pick it up..got to the index and look for things that interest you.
My dream trip would involve an F. Scoot Fitzgerald tour.
This is a wonderful coffee table book or nightstand book, where you can plan your next literary jaunt or if you are like me, dream of one you'd love to take.
March 2, 2019
I enjoyed this but I think I would have liked it a lot more 10+ years ago, when I was more focused on the narrow literary canon of authors that this book covers. Mostly men and only one writer of color (Zora Neale Hurston). I will probably visit a couple locations in London and I’ve already visited Monterey & Pacific Grove Grove (Steinbeck), but I have less interest in most of these authors these days.
It would be great if a second volume was published that covers a wider variety of authors. In fact, my favorite idea would be one that covers children’s authors. I think kids love to go to places they’ve read about. I did several trips with my kid that followed that theme. The only book I’ve found that’s similar to that is Joan Bodger’s How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books, but I need one for the US and the rest of the world!
Maybe I need to write one. That would supply me with the perfect excuse to do a lot of traveling.
It would be great if a second volume was published that covers a wider variety of authors. In fact, my favorite idea would be one that covers children’s authors. I think kids love to go to places they’ve read about. I did several trips with my kid that followed that theme. The only book I’ve found that’s similar to that is Joan Bodger’s How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books, but I need one for the US and the rest of the world!
Maybe I need to write one. That would supply me with the perfect excuse to do a lot of traveling.
June 24, 2017
One of the first things I do when I plan a trip to a new city is to look up all the literary landmarks, libraries, bookstores, and other reading-related locations. This book works as a guidebook for just those kinds of trips, although it's arranged more by themes than it is by location or author, which would have been more user-friendly. However, the index is arranged both ways and it is easy to use.
This isn't a book to read straight through -- I skimmed it and marked interesting places/items with a sticky note, so that I can transfer them to one of my notebook lists later.
This isn't a book to read straight through -- I skimmed it and marked interesting places/items with a sticky note, so that I can transfer them to one of my notebook lists later.
September 27, 2017
If you are a fan of any of the so-called literary ‘classics’, then this is the book for you. I'm guessing it could be ‘the’ definitive guide to the homes and museums of famous authors, from Shakespeare and Marlowe to Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the creators of Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie. Also included are hotels, cafes and pubs, tours and literary festivals in the U.S. and abroad. A good book to peruse for your favorite authors, and quickly skim through lesser favorites.
July 27, 2017
A beautiful book about travel and literature is bound to make me happy. Where else would I have learned about the place in Mississippi that has an annual Stella-yelling contest in honor of Tennessee Williams?! This is really heavy on Shakespeare and surprisingly sparse on Nabokov. Much is too repetitious, like Keats and Shelley and Kerouac. But I'll reference this before I travel so I know not to miss some sites where favorite authors have lived.
February 9, 2020
Interesting for the snippets into the featured authors’ lives, but not what I expected in terms of travel insight. The chapters felt a little ADD as we made our way back and forth to the same geographical areas more than once. Perhaps best not read cover to cover as a novel, but more so as a chapter-at-time travel guide.
July 25, 2021
This book is a dream!
It combines two of my favorite things—books and travel—and is the perfect kickstarter to plan literary travel adventures.
The book is really topically organized, rather than author/location (so even sections on one author could span continents, not just a town they loved at one point). So, I’d say it’s a really good starter to getting the mind thinking about where to go.
It combines two of my favorite things—books and travel—and is the perfect kickstarter to plan literary travel adventures.
The book is really topically organized, rather than author/location (so even sections on one author could span continents, not just a town they loved at one point). So, I’d say it’s a really good starter to getting the mind thinking about where to go.
November 25, 2024
Disappointing and dull. It didn't help that the ebook was poorly formatted, with two-thirds of the photos missing, and overly large initial characters covering the text of many of the pages. The selection was a bit disappointing, and I never did figure out the organization of the book, the locations and authors seeming to jump around at random as well as repeat.
June 10, 2017
A beautiful book, although I probably will forget all about it and not use it for the planning of any trips. Part Two: Journeys Between The Pages, I had planned to skim over but the introductions for the authors and how place effected their work was wonderfully written and drew me in.
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