Apr 23

Apr 23 Read around the world

My fellow wanderlusters,

Like many of you, the unsettling feeling of quarantine is reaching a peak. I crave to get back to the days of hearing the phrase “your bag is overweight”, feeling my seat back getting kicked, and experiencing jet lag. Jokes aside though, it is tough to be a homebody when forced into it. Just know I’m right there with you with good & bad days but we’ll get through this together.

Although we are physically not able to travel right now, we can explore with our minds. Reading is the quickest way to travel to a new destination all while never leaving the comfort and safety of home. I personally choose to read books that take place in my dream destinations or history: for me, that’s anything based on WW2. It’s been so nice to just turn off my phone, sit on the back porch and escape for a bit. It’s also made me so grateful that while Anne Frank had to sit in an attic for two years with nothing, we have the luxury of entertainment and freedom to still walk outside.

Below I list a book for each country so you can take a *mini* vacation wherever you’d like during this isolation era.

Books from around the world

* = also a movie

Afghanistan: The Kite Runner*

Antarctica: Shiver

Argentina: Heartbreak Tango*

Australia: The Secret River

Bahamas: Wind from the Carolina’s

Bangladesh: A Golden Age

Brazil: Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon

Canada: The Blind Assassin

Cambodia: First they killed my Father

Chile: Eva Luna

China: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

Columbia: One Hundred years of Solitude

Congo: The Posionwood Bible

Dominican Republic: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Egypt: The alchemist

Ethiopia: Cutting for Stone

Fiji: Maya

Finland: The Nordic Theory of Everything: In search of a better life

France: The Ladies Paradise

Germany: The book Thief*

Greece: Zorba the Greek, Chasing Athens

Guernsey: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society*

Iceland: Burial Rites

India: A Suitable Boy, A Passage to India

Indonesia: This Earth of Mankind

Iran: Rooftops of Tehran

Iraq: The Yellow Birds

Ireland: The Wonder

Italy: The Name of the Rose

Jamaica: The Book of Night Women

Japan: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles

Kenya: Out of Africa*

Mexico: Like Water for Chocolate*

Morocco: The Caliph’s House

Myanmar: The Glass Palace

Nepal: Palpasa Cafe

Netherlands: The Girl With a Pearl Earring

New Zealand: The Luminaries

Nigeria: Things Fall Apart

Oman: The Turtle of Oman

Pakistan: I am Malala

Papua New Guinea: Four Corners

Peru: Death in the Andes

Philippines: When the Elephant Dance

Poland: The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Romania: The Girl They Left Behind

Russia: A Gentleman in Moscow

Saudi Arabia: Girls of Riyadh

South Africa: Disgrace

South Korea: Please look after Mom

Spain: The Shadow of the Wind

Sweden: A Man Called Ove

Thailand: Sightseeing

Turkey: Snow

United Kingdom: The other Windsor Girl

United States of America: To Kill A Mockingbird

Vietnam: The Quiet American

Zimbabwe: Nervous Conditions

General travel inspiring books

Eat pray Love- Italy, India, and Bali
As You Wander- My friend Kaley from college wrote a book! It’s a 100 day devotional and I think we could all use an extra spark in our spiritual journey right now.
Ultimate Journeys for Two
The Dogs of ‘Nam
The Atlas of Happiness
Around the Bloc- Moscow, Beijing, and Havana
Rediscovering Travel
What I was doing while you were breeding-HIGHLY recommend to all you single ladies
Misadventure is better- Europe, New Zealand
Wanderlust: A love Affair with Five Continents
Ten Years a Nomad
How to travel the world on $50 a day
We Were The Lucky Ones- Europe, Brazil, and Soviet Union