BVBook Verdict

Nonfiction

Around the World in Books

Travel writing that takes you somewhere — and brings something back.

14 books · ranked

  1. 1

    A Walk in the Woods

    Bill Bryson · 1998 · Travel

    Two unfit friends attempt the Appalachian Trail; very funny, with real love for wild places.

  2. 2

    Notes from a Small Island

    Bill Bryson · 1995 · Travel

    An American's affectionate, exasperated farewell tour of Britain; warm comic travel writing.

  3. 3

    Into the Wild

    Jon Krakauer · 1996 · Travel

    A young man walks into the Alaskan wilderness and doesn't come back; a haunting study of an idealist.

  4. 4

    Into Thin Air

    Jon Krakauer · 1997 · Travel

    A first-hand account of the deadly 1996 Everest disaster; tense, honest and unforgettable.

  5. 5

    Eat, Pray, Love

    Elizabeth Gilbert · 2006 · Travel

    One woman's year of pleasure, devotion and balance across Italy, India and Bali; a huge, divisive bestseller.

  6. 6

    The Great Railway Bazaar

    Paul Theroux · 1975 · Travel

    A four-month rail journey across Asia; the book that revived modern travel writing.

  7. 7

    A Time of Gifts

    Patrick Leigh Fermor · 1977 · Travel

    Leigh Fermor walked from London to Budapest when he was 18. Sometimes called England's greatest travel writer.

  8. 8

    Abroad

    Paul Fussell · 1980 · Travel

    A eulogy for the lost art of traveling and an evaluation of the British writers who authored travel books.

  9. 9

    An account of the Pelew Islands

    George Keate · 1788 · Travel

    Account of the journey of the Antelope which was shipwrecked off the coast of the Palau Islands; the first extensive contact of Palauans with Westerners; the experiences of the crew on the Palau Islan

  10. 10

    Antebellum American Women Writers and the Road

    Susan L. Roberson · 2012 · Travel

    A study of American women s narratives of mobility and travel, this book examines how geographic movement opened up other movements or mobilities for antebellum women at a time of great national expan

  11. 11

    Arabian sands

    Wilfred Thesiger · 1959 · Travel

    Story of five years of travel with the nomad Arabs in the unknown deserts of Southern Arabia.

  12. 12

    Blood River

    Tim Butcher · 2007 · Travel

    The author recounts his audacious and perilous quest through the Congo as he retraced the 1874 expedition of explorer H. M. Stanley to map the Congo River, traveling alone with an assortment of vehicl

  13. 13

    Don't Get Too Comfortable

    David Rakoff · 2005 · Travel

    David Rakoff’s bestselling collection of autobiographical essays, Fraud, established him as one of today’s funniest and most insightful writers. Now, in Don’t Get Too Comfortable, Rakoff moves from th

  14. 14

    Edith Wharton abroad

    Edith Wharton · 1995 · Travel

    Edith Wharton's seven works of travel have been called "brilliantly written and permanently interesting." For the first time, excerpts from each of these works have been made available to the general

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