Ah, fall. Back to school. Sort of. Well, maybe not. If your course load isn’t quite like it used to be, here’s a travel-inspired reading list to satisfy this season’s literary hankerings.
Everything Is Going to Be Great
by Rachel Shukert
If you…scored a gig across the pond. Shukert’s memoir which chronicles her “underfunded and overexposed European grand tour” is both funny and whip-smart. Comparisons have been made to Chelsea Handler and Sloan Crosley, but we think Rachel has a style all her own.
You Gotta Have Wa
by Robert Whiting
If you… are an Ichiro fan. “Wa,” meaning “team unity,” is the creed of Japanese baseball, as opposed to the emphasis in the American game on individuality. Whiting examines culture through the lens of sport, and it’s surprisingly effective.
The Marriage Plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides
If you…were ever caught in a college love triangle. From small town New England to Europe, India and beyond, Eugenindes’ latest novel traces a somewhat unconventional relationship between three Brown graduates during the ’80s.
Nada
by Carmen Laforet
If you…are in search of old Barcelona. You could book a room at the Neri (an 18th-century palace), but for a taste of the city’s more recent history, Laforet’s novel, set in the 1940s, is the story of all stories.
A High Wind in Jamaica
by Richard Hughes
If you…are setting sail for the Caribbean. “A High Wind” is the amazing (amazingly violent, too) tale of an parentless family of children who flee Jamaica by ship. First published in 1929, it was chosen by the Modern Library as one the 100 best novels of the 20th century.
Paris Wife
by Paula McLain
If you…are following in Hemingway’s footsteps (to France, not Key West). The eponymous wife is Hadley Richardson, who left her Midwestern roots to be with the young writer in Paris during the ’20s. Between the Fitzgeralds, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound, her social circle makes for a catalogue of literary and artistic geniuses of the modern era.
In Patagonia
by Bruce Chatwin
If you…hear the call of the wild. Chatwin’s classic recalling his journey to the mythical South American is as bizarre and beautiful as the landscape itself.
Sightseeing
by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
If you…got the time off to go to Thailand. Lapcharoensap’s collection of short stories explores modern relationships in a country far more complex than its exoticized stereotypes.
Country Driving
by Peter Hessler
If you…want to go beyond Beijing. In early 2001, New Yorker correspondent Peter Hessler acquired his Chinese driver’s license and over the next seven years, traversed 7,000-miles of the Chinese roads, documenting a period of staggering, rapid change in the country.
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