Book Lust to Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers

Book Lust

by Nancy Pearl

Adventure is just a book away as best-selling author Nancy Pearl returns with recommended reading for more than 120 destinations around the globe. Book Lust To Go connects the best fiction and nonfiction to particular destinations, whether your bags are packed or your armchair is calling. With stops from Texas to Timbuktu, Nancy Pearl's reading recommendations will send you on your way.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Books About Books, Reference, Ebooks, Literature, Writing

301 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the first two Book Lust books yet, but decided to read this first because it was more focused in one certain theme. The books include both fiction and non-fiction, for those who travel and those who prefer doing it from their armchair ;) Author is clearly the latter (her daughter the opposite). All books mentioned are not necessarily in print, but that doesn't really matter to me - I got a long list out of reading this book even with my usual mood of being picky.

There's a geographical index at the start of the book, of places mentioned within the book, on a map. Not all places are visited, so it's not 'books from every country'. Still you get many, and not just countries: continents and parts of continent, some US states, cities, parts of a country... and also groups of not-actually-countries: mountains, anglophile stuff, comics, adventures, explorers, hiking, travel gone wrong, trainrides, peace corps experience, on a bot, at sea, travel series, 'house in foreign land' (a year or more), stories in verse, imagined lands, walking, water travel, and hard-to-categorise.

At the end comes the index with author names and book titles. Within the text are included some author interview online addresses. Of course, the author's own interests show a little, with all the mystery novel titles. You could use this for the 'mystery novels from around the world' sort of year-theme.

This is a good book to read, though you may end up lenghtening your book shopping list. *lol* But that is to be expected, and so this was a fun read :)

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Pearl aims to offer selections for all reading tastes and topics rather than saying "these are the best of the best and everyone should read them." With that in mind, I don't rate her books based on whether I liked the books she suggests. Instead, I rate them for the feeling of possibility, anticipation, and excitement she creates for me. Her love of books and their authors infuses every page. She always includes interesting personal anecdotes and a sprinkling of humor, so it's not just a dry list of books you should read.

The sections in Book Lust to Go are presented according to region, city, state, or country. If you have an interest in a particular place, you can turn to that section and find both fiction and non-fiction offerings about its history, people, recent events, or fellow travelers' experiences. There are also some sections devoted to mode of travel rather than location, including sea voyages, river rides, mountain climbing, bicycle trips, train travel, and walking treks.

Whether Cavorting through the Caribbean, Frolicking in Finland, Galloping Through the Galapagos, Sheltering in the Shetlands, or Peru(sing) Peru, there's something for everyone, if only for travel of the armchair variety.

Pearl explains in the introduction that she has tried to avoid repeating suggestions. So if you think there are titles conspicuously missing from a particular section, you'll probably find they've already been mentioned in Book Lust or More Book Lust.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I’ve read 3 other “Book Lust” books by Pearl and really liked them, and this one is particularly fun since I always enjoy reading about places where I’m about to visit, places I yearn to visit or plan to visit, and places I have visited/have resided.

What I find most frustrating about these books, though, is that they’re not sufficiently comprehensive. I can always think of books that are missing, and that I wish were included, so I have to wonder about books with which I am not at all familiar that are also not listed. And, of course, many places are missing, as I found out when I tried to help a Goodreads’ friend find books for her every country challenge. But, it’s a fun book, and I’ll definitely keep it handy as a reference. Given that I’m attempting to get my Mt. TBR under control, I refrained from adding any more books to my to-read shelf. It wasn’t easy, and I might go back and add some. There were many that looked interesting.

I love the layout of this book. The categories are in alphabetical order, but they have so much variety. They include countries, general regions, cities, activities (such as hiking and mountain climbing), modes of travel (such as by train, boat and walking), specific areas (such as Niagara Falls and the Sahara), etc. etc. etc. There is even Peace Corps Memories, and Imaginary Places, Books in Verse, and a list of books under “Where in the World Do These Books Belong?” There is such a wonderful mishmash; it’s tempting to list them all. It goes from A is for Adventure to Zipping Through Zimbabwe/Roaming Rhodesia. Many of the titles are entertaining.

The maps are not all that useful; they’re hard to read and confusing. The index and contents list are helpful.

I think it’s a hoot that Pearl does not enjoy traveling, as she reveals in the book’s introduction, yet compiled this particular book. I’m glad that she did. I’ll definitely refer to it if I plan to travel or feel the urge to do some armchair traveling.

[Negin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, one of America’s top librarians, who appears on NPR’s Morning Edition, has a series of Book Lust books and I look forward to reading more. This one is a travel-based book and helps you choose books based on locations throughout most of the world. I wish that I had time to read all of the books that I want to read!

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle for this book is "recommended reading for travelers, vagabonds, and dreamers" - and much as I admire the author, I think this book misses the mark a bit.

Don't get me wrong; there are tons of recommendations in here for just about every place on the planet. Pearl obviously did her homework finding works that work for this book. She has recommendations for countries I've never even heard of. But the style of this book didn't make me long to visit any of those places, let alone pick up any of the books listed here to "explore" these places. In that sense, the book doesn't succeed in its mission.

I started reading this just like every other book, word for word, straight through. I quickly got bored and started skimming, so that should tell you something. I read more about what she said about each country/place than I read about the recommendations.

And there were, in my humble opinion, some glaring omissions. In her chapter "Hiking the (Fill in the Blank) Trail", there's no mention of Bill Bryson's hilarious "A Walk in the Woods", which really did have me considering if I could hike the Appalachian Trail (I'm about 99% certain that I could not). And I was disappointed not to see "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes in the chapter "So We/I Bought (or Built) a House in..." I so wanted to move to Italy after reading Mayes' book, and I laughed right along with her as she not only re-built the house, but also the olive groves and the grounds. Granted, this is Pearl's book and not mine, but these two books just beg to be included.

Before it sounds as if I've lost all faith in the nation's most famous (or infamous) librarian, I will say that she gives a major shout-out to one of my favorite authors, Ian Rankin. In the chapter "Scotland: More than Haggis, Kilts, and Ian Rankin", she shows much love to Rankin, author of the John Rebus series. Everything I think I know about Edinburgh, I learned from Rankin's books. Pearl highly recommends the series, and thankfully recommends that readers start at the very beginning, reading them in order. I very much agree; the mysteries themselves could probably stand on their own, but so much happens in Rebus' life that it's best to read them chronologically.

I haven't given up entirely on Pearl, as I just picked up "More Book Lust" as the library the other day. But this book didn't make me want to pack my bags.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Nancy Pearl book is for armchair and actual travelers alike. Although there are many books I'd add, it provides a plethora of choices of reading - both fiction and non-fiction- about places around the world. Many of us love to do some reading about a place before we visit, and will find great suggestions in this volume. It's a a book to keep around, and dip in and out of. I'd love to see a book about those places that are less written about. Of course, in some cases, for example Paraguay, it's understandable why. Or lists that are more specific and include regions, states, counties etc. of countries other than the U.S. While Pearl's book doesn't include all 50 states, she does mention some such as Wyoming. I can imagine creating lists of books specific to different regions and states in countries such as Mexico and Brazil. Ireland (ROI and NI) would yield great lists for various cities and counties and islands. I wish I had kept track of all the titles that appealed to me while reading this book but there were so many, my TBR list would have increased by well over 100 titles.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone producing a list of anything is open to criticism but it's just as much fun discovering new books to read in here as it is arguing about why others aren't included. Nancy Pearl welcomes suggestions from her readers and isn't claiming to have produced a definitive list. The only problem with books like this is that I'll end up with far too many books on my 'to read' list but I love a challenge! I had never heard of Nancy Pearl but I'll probably be putting her other books on my 'to read' list. Even though she consistently recommends a book (which I had better not name) which is one of the worst biographies I have ever read, I'm optimistic that it is just a blip, albeit an incomprehensible one for me.

[Bookslut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous and addictive. I stayed up late many nights, reading just one more section, and just one more section. It's like pornography for the person who loves to read about books. My to-read list is now several hundred books heavier, and I feel so happy and excited. And I don't even especially like books about travel! I do wish she had added a wrap-up chapter for me at the end. You just get to books on Zimbabwe and then kaput--the end. It was kind of abrupt, and I wanted a farewell. Oh, and the map was fabulous!

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really more of a reference book than something you would read cover to cover, this has the same pros/cons as the other Nancy Pearl Book Lust titles - the lists are not comprehensive, to me there are some obvious picks missing, but it would be a good place to start when wanting to read more about a place, or something set in a place. And I want that all the time when I'm traveling.

My to-read list was already bursting at the seams, and now it is going to need its own suitcase.

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The difficulty I had with this book is 1. The organization - the table of contents/index look very similar. If one wished to discover what is covered in a book, and the book is a paperback (no front or back flap), the table of contents is a good place to go, but this book's t of c looks like the index - small print, etc. thus, the effort to find out what's in the book becomes laborious. 2. The selection of books - I am not sure why the author chose certain books. Some of them sound as though they are similar to textbooks, and if I am reading for a hobby or just something I like to do ( travel ), I do not desire to read textbooks. One book the author selected I have and it was printed ages ago ( 15-20 years ). How would one find this book easily? I do not think it could be done. I could be wrong, but.....3. The destinations - the author's choice of destinations, personally, I did not like. So that area does not appeal to me. I am not pleased that I purchased this book, and I most definitely will not refer to it when planning a trip.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are someone who is acutely aware that one's time on earth is limited and, as such, you cannot possibly read everything... well, then Nancy Pearl's wonderful Book Lust series of books might not be for you, unless you're also capable of being ruthlessly selective in the face of multiple fascinating options. If you are, however, like me and constantly add books to your fantasy "to read" list, daydreaming about the many hours spent in delight with a variety of books that might have no bearing on your greater purpose in life (save for the enlightened joy of one's soul), then I'll bet that you've already gotten your greedy hands on at least one Nancy Pearl book and this is just more fuel for the fire.

As if we all didn't have a long enough list of books to read, Book Lust To Go provides a fascinating collection of titles for the armchair traveler in all of us. Of course, that's just the issue here... folks who are likely to adore recommendations from Nancy Pearl are the exact people who will already have long lists of books (and who are also likely to make comments like, "Oh, but she didn't include __!") and this new abundance of titles only has the merit of at least being tidily centered around one topic (though one of the great benefits of this series is that it is very good at sorting books by subject matter). Nancy Pearl readily admits that she does not like to travel in person, but she's always eager to take off on a literary journey with the safe distance a book provides. There are also those of us who simply cannot afford to be jetting off to every exotic locale that charms us, and so the price of a paperback is a much less costly alternative. We may not get to bring home the photographs, but we also know we'll be coming home in one piece, no matter what adventure we embark upon. Pearl, then, provides us with a whole host of books that we've never even heard of (and allows us moments of joy when we're able to concur, "Oh yes! That book was excellent!" on the rare occasion when our own meager reading has overlapped with her extensive knowledge). Of course, there's always the danger that reading a book about a particular place will stir an even greater desire to visit that location in person... but that's just a risk you'll have to accept.

The book is organized, unsurprisingly, by location -- though my favorite little sections were those which had no specific location in mind, but rather, a mindset or a novel type. Some such charming sections include: Explorers, In the Footsteps of..., It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, So We/I Bought (or Built) a House In..., and Making Tracks by Trains. For those familiar with any reading that focuses on a journey or a new location (and this need not be actual travel literature), these categories are staples and yet I cannot remember coming across a truly good list that endeavored to group many titles together. I was charmed by the fact that Pearl does not steer clear of mysteries and certain romances -- for quite honestly, writers of those genres tend to create incredibly vivid descriptions of places as well as people and as a result, they can make for some of the best venues for armchair travel. The only slightly frustrating bit to Book Lust To Go is that there isn't a really thorough index in the back of the book which lists absolutely everything -- authors, titles, and such. I suppose in a list of books, it might be asking too much for yet another list (though honestly, I would think this would be *particularly* useful in a book that is, essentially, a detailed list), but I would have found it helpful (especially when I wanted a specific location or was paging through and realized she had mentioned an author twice and I wanted an easy way to find out what the first mention had been). It might simply be something that didn't make the ARC, of course... along with an explanation for the world maps in the front of the book, which I assume will be labeled with arrows or something in the final product.

I imagine the most useful way to read this book is sitting in front of your computer so that you can immediately look up every title that catches your fancy and then add it to your queue or cart. The disconnect here is that it's increasingly less useful to have a book like this in actual book form -- online book communities have largely taken the place of such lengthy recommendations and it's pretty easy to find lists of similar titles. I know that whenever I consider buying a book online, I'm almost always going to look on goodreads.com or librarything.com to check and see what other people have said about it or what the average rating might be. Of course, the only thing I can really say here is that those forums are great for the casual kind of word-of-mouth buzz, but there is something comforting in getting a recommendation from a "professional" like Nancy Pearl, someone who has spent spent his/her life reading and reviewing books. Her lists are fabulous and include many modern titles as well as some classics and/or out-of-print titles that deserve a resurgence in popularity. If you're a book lover who takes pleasure in carefully detailed locations in a book and you're looking for some excellent recommendations (or if you're like me and you don't need any, but you can't help but solicit more), then you're sure to find something to delight in Pearl's collection. The next time I'm seized with the desire to visit a particular location, I think it's quite likely that my first impulse (well, after I indulge my imagination and visit Orbitz to check flight prices and see how unrealistic a real trip might be) will be to pull down Book Lust to Go and see what titles Pearl recommends that will at least whisk my imagination away to my desired locale... and all without transferring conditioner into tiny little FAA-approved bottles.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book list leans toward books about war, violence, sports, and the outdoors, so it just wasn't appealing to me. Also, it contains lots of errors and misconceptions about the locations discussed. For example, the author has listed Andorra as a fictional place, on the same list as Earthsea. Ummm, no, Andorra is a real country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. She also gives the wrong dates for events, and dates are generally easy to double check. This sort of glaring error occurs again and again, and that, along with the typos and the narrow range of genres, made this book painful to read.

[Story · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nancy Pearl introduced this rather odd guide by admitting she doesn't like to travel. Perhaps the task of recommending fiction and non-fiction for world travellers should have been passed on to a travel enthusiast. While I certainly found some interesting titles to add to my TBR, I have to seriously question a book that offers a larger section on the city of Detroit than the entire countries of Canada and India and offers more titles for Baltimore than the entire history and civilization of Egypt.

[Julie Durnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always pick up great reading suggestions from her Book Lust books and this one is no exception. It was just a delight to travel via armchair with her around the world@

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this armchair travel adventure of reading suggestions by Nancy Pearl. Book Lust to Go is an A-Z guide chock full of world-wide destinations as seen through books. Anyone with a zest for a journey should be able to find something to take them away in this collection.

Nancy Pearl is one of the readers' advisory queens. She has aced the art of annotations. Each description of the books she mentions whets the appetite to read the book yourself. She knows how to hook. Take "N" is for Nigeria for instance. Here, she offers both non-fiction and fiction titles that give a sense of its culture, people, history and language. I found a new international author here, Adimchinma Ibe and his book Treachery in the Yard: A Nigerian Thriller, which introduces Detective Peterside.

This is a nice addition to Pearl's Book Lust series. You could start anywhere in the world, perhaps with a place that interests you or look up an area to help someone else find a good read. My own dip took me to China first as that was my marker to judge the book. Lots and lots of great suggestions here.

Nancy claims she's not an enthusiastic traveler, but you'd never know it from her enthusiasm presenting books for our pleasure. The index includes author, title, region as you'd expect. As Pearl suggests in the introduction, keep a pen handy to jot down titles and notes. I can't imagine you won't find something new to add to your list.

Of course, a book of this nature can't cover everything. That's ok. Maybe there will be a Book Lust to Go Part 2. I'll be first in line.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A librarian suggested this to me when I inquired about travel books to places less commonly written about—Eastern Europe, etc. It's a mixed bag: plenty of promising-looking books (although not travel books to the specific places I was looking for) set in places all over the world, but frustrating organisation. I don't really mind the overall organisation, that is—jumping around from country to town to country to region—but within the sections I found it pretty frustrating that, for example, some sections were divided by fiction and nonfiction and others weren't, and that while there was an index by book/author, there wasn't an index by country. (Then again, had there been an index by country, I probably would have used that rather than going through the whole book, page by page. So there's that.)

One to check out from the library rather than one to buy, but well worth paging through.

[Alisa Kester · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a person who loves lists. I love books about lists, and books about travel. I've heard nothing but awesome things about Nancy Pearl.

But. How can you make descriptions of travel books so dead boring? I've read and loved any number of the books she lists, and yet, given her description, I'd never have picked them up.

Maybe it's partly how anxious, twittering, and twee she is in her comments about herself, but no thanks. I won't be picking up more of Pearl's lists.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Book Lust 1, 2, & 3 subsequent to studying several tomes of literary reviews of serious contemporary literature of all genres. Pearl's treatment is lighter than what I had been reading but for the most part useful. As a librarian, she has profound experience with books of a wide range of subjects and I recommend it to fellow bibliophiles, although she seemed to have petered out a little on this 3rd try.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all of Nancy Pearl's lusts.

[Tori]

I blamed some of the embarrassingly in-bad-taste content in the first Book Lust on the publication year (2002) and now I am beginning to regret it, as this follow-up, circa 2012, is so much worse. This is sort of an around-the-world edition of book recommendations, and unfortunately, Pearl chooses to share with us her thoughts and feelings on every country and region which we visit. The first Book Lust had a section on 9/11; Book Lust to Go has a section on Afghanistan titled "Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires" and including this sentence which I for one regretted reading:

The only positive outcome of the events of 9/11 that I can see is the proliferation of books -- both fiction and nonfiction -- set in a country that most of us never before paid much attention to.

Lest you think I'm being too harsh, we get a lot of other descriptions of countries and regions which are somewhere between "actively offensive" and "probably true, but kind of tasteless to say."

Some examples, ribbed for your pleasure:

"From my reading I can tell that it's a place of great beauty (if you like jungles) and danger."

"... a country that is typically regarded as a cypher to many people."

"I have to be honest and say that I really have no great desire to spend time in [Country]."

"the country's inherently dramatic setting..."

"... the sad history of that seemingly doomed nation..."

"There isn't a lot of great fiction about [location ...] and what's out there is also not particularly aimed at making you feel better about the world..."

"this [nation] whose history is bleak and violent, and whose present does not lead one to an optimistic view of its future."

"its uniquely [location] combination of beauty and inept (and corrupt) governments that consistently fail to improve the lives of their citizens."

"the area does have a somewhat grisly reputation as the home of [indigenous people]..."

"Any stray thoughts I might have entertained about going anywhere in [Country] besides [locations] immediately vanished upon reading [book about drugs and murder]."

And, yes, this is worse for the less-European, less white countries; Rome gets to have a "Storied past." We get to learn about literature in Lyme, Guernsey, and Cornwall. India and Pakistan get a shared section called "Sojourns in South Asia."

I skimmed the whole way through, though, because, look, there were a lot of names, and none of the sections last very long. Most of the recommendations were travel books and memoirs (of the "my three years in a foreign country" or "my time as the daughter of expatriates" variety) but I did find a lot of authors I wasn't familiar with, from a lot of different backgrounds and parts of the world. And, look, I'm not opposed to a dishy travel memoir, but I think sometimes we can afford to put a little less of ourselves into our reference guides.

There's also a lot of making assumptions along the lines of "If we talk about [x], probably The Author To Talk About Is [Y]," or "When I mention [place], you think [z]," and that does grate on me in particular.

[Lexy Kelleher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished this one! Whew. I know these kinds of books aren't designed to be read cover to cover but instead to be used as a reference. Well, too bad. I read the whole thing anyway.

The Good. I got quite a few solid recommendations from this. Many are in my local library, and I wouldn't have given them a second look if it wasn't for Book Lust to Go. I liked that the sections were (generally) organized by place.

The Bad. The sections are not necessarily in order by place. They are in alphabetical order according to the name of the section. For example, books about Paris are not after, say, Pakistan. The section about Paris is called "We'll always have Paris," so it's near the end of the book, a little after a section on Wales. What? Also, books in each section weren't organized consistently between non-fiction and fiction, a distinction I find pretty important when looking for books to read. Some sections had these separated, but most didn't.

Really loved some of the recommendations in here, but wish it was a little easier to navigate the book to find them.

[Jolanta (knygupė) · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointed....with the mistakes again...

[Jean Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Pearl is amazing - how does she read all those books?! I had the good fortune of seeing her in person; what a rock star in the world of libraries.

[Simone · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an impulse purchase and I regret it.

I listened to an interview with Nancy Pearl on Rick Steves’ Radio Show and I was very intrigued – I love to travel and I love to read so “Book Lust To Go” sounded like it was made for me! I ordered it from Amazon right way! (That was in November 2011)

I finally dug into it properly last night and I am very disappointed.

Basically, it’s a book of recommendations, but honestly I have THIS site for that and Goodreads is so much more complete! Many of the recommendations in Book Lust To Go only are 1 or 2 sentences and tell me nothing about the story – just where it takes place. Big whoop.

This will go in the “donate to charity” pile.

[Mycala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I love lists and because all of my overseas travel is done via armchair these days, this book caught my attention and I might as well just buy it. I borrowed it from the library and put sticky notes on every page that had interesting books on it. Just envision the book above with lots of those little skinny sticky bookmark notes sticking out in all directions to make it look like somebody slammed the book closed on one of those party horns with the streamers inside. That's what it looked like when I was done making my "oh, that sounds interesting!" selections.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful bibliography of fiction and nonfiction set around the world. Want to find some good reads about Hong Kong? Brazil? Even made-up locations? This is the book for you. The entries are organized by country, city, or general geographic area. Nancy Pearl is THE quintessential librarian -- there's even an action figure based off of her! -- and hails from the Seattle Public Library. It's clear that she is a devoted reader; she points readers to thousands of titles in this book. Enjoy!

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book inspired me to start blogging again, this time with the purpose of reading and talking about (not reviewing!) books from and set in every corner of the world. Links will be coming as soon as I have a few things up on there!


I love you all and thank you wholeheartedly for all of your roles in me becoming the person I am today. I would not be that person without my retired baby blog Olivia's Opinions. Join me on the next leg of my journey? :)

<3

[Robin]

Nancy is the best!

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If we cannot have Nancy Pearl's job at least we can have her brilliant book recommendations!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful trip around the world in books. I'll return to it for recommendations often.