Friday, April 25, 2008

Books to Travel By

Well last night I have finally ordered my books for our upcoming trip. I probably won't read (or even take) all of them but I thought they were all appropriate in some way to me for a trip to Belize. The rest will be summer reading fodder. Here they are:


"The Mosquito Coast"
Paul Theroux; Paperback; CDN$ 12.37
There are few books of any kind that are written and set in Belize but this piece of fiction takes place close by. Paul Theroux's The Happy Isle of Oceania is one of my favorites. The Mosquito Coast is about a man who swears off the modern world and relocates his family to the wild jungle of The Honduras. Apparently the main character is one of the most intriguing and complex ever written. I saw parts of the movie (with Harrison Ford) when I was a teen but I don't remember anything about it. Looking very forward to this one!

"Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World"
Ewan McGregor; Paperback; CDN$ 11.21
I gave this book to my father in law a couple of years ago for Christmas and he said he enjoyed it very much. Written by Ewan McGregor (aka Obi Wan Kenobi), it is supposed to be an authentic story of two men and their trip by motorcycles around the world. I've wanted to pick it up for awhile and so it was a natural choice. Hopefully in the story they will travel through Belize.


"The Shack"
William P. Young; Paperback; CDN$ 11.20
I know very little about this book except that it is fiction and has made a lot of good Christians whom I respect cry. A book about faith, I've heard only good things about this first book by Young and I'm hoping that God will speak to me through it. I have found Christian writing to be less challenging and engaging lately so here's wishing that that will change with this one!


"A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America Along the Appalachian Trail"
Bill Bryson; Mass Market Paperback; CDN$ 10.79
Billy Bryson is one of the most popular travel writers in the world. When I was procrastinating on my schoolwork in the library at Prov I would read a chapter two from his hilarious Notes From A Small Island, about his travel experiences in England. I remember people looking at me disapprovingly as I would spontaneously laugh out loud at the witty way that Bryson would describe the irrationality of the British people (my ancestors no less!). I know little of the world of hiking but I know enough of Bryson that this should be an entertaining and satisfying read.

Now that school is over I can actually have more time to read, just for fun and I'm looking forward to it. Summer is usually a good time to read. Are you looking forward to reading something good soon? If you would like to read something but have no idea where to start, check out some ideas on my Amazon bookstore. Yes, it's a shameless plug, but my goal is to get at least one person to buy a book from it before I die!

May Light increase!

3 comments:

Elayne said...

I read Long Way Round too and really enjoyed it and have been wanting to read The Shack too. Everyone says it's a must read. The Bill Bryson book sounds very interesting too.
Summer is supposed to be a good time to read. Why then do I never seem to get any books read during the summer months I wonder?
Glad that you are able to read for pleasure and enjoyment for a change!

Michele said...

I have never heard of The Shack but I'm going to look for it at our library now!

The Long Way Round is not only a great book but a fantastic TV series! We bought the series for Dad on DVD one year. We had watched it while it was on TV. It was great.

Thanks for the book ideas! I'll be checking out some of those titles myself!

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed The Shack - made me think, which is always a sign of a good book! I'd love to hear what you think of it when you're done...