Book Cover
Destination: Everywhere or the Armchair
Book: Book Lust To Go by Nancy Pearl NEW September, 2010
Nancy Pearl travels the world from her easy chair. The prototypical armchair traveler, a former librarian and bookseller who suggests books and interviews authors on radio and TV, attracts crowds of fans.
Book Lust to Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers
When I say “random”, I mean a mix of genres, and also a mix of new and old. She explains that she does not shy away from suggesting out of print books and is quite happy that it is now easier to get them over the Internet.
She has arranged the entries in Book Lust to Go alphabetically by title of section. The titles relate to a state, city or region, but also sometimes to an activity or type of travel. And if you are looking for books about the country of Colombia, you had better look in the index, because alphabetically it shows up as “Hail, Colombia.” She gets a bit, well, “creative” with those titles. Most of her titles at least are alliterative, so they will show up close to where you expect them, but not New Zealand, that comes under K for Kiwi. I was relieved to be informed that unlike the review copy I was looking at, the final version of the book has an index by place name.
Readers of A Traveler’s Library should feel a companionship with Pearl, even though she says in her introduction that she herself is NOT a traveler. Rather she likes to travel in her mind with a travel book. She says, “I adore books–whether fiction or non-fiction–that give me a sense of being in another place and time.” Well I can certainly relate to that–can’t you?
It was fun to find that she admires some of the books that we have talked about here–The Woman Who Fell From the Sky by Jennifer Steil (Yemen); The Calligrapher’s Daughter by Eugenia Kim (Korea); Nine Lives by Dan Baum (New Orleans); and February by Lisa Moore (Newfoundland) caught my eye. When you read Book Lust To Go, you probably will notice some other books we have in common. She admits that had she realized when she wrote her first, or even second Book Lust book, that a series was in the works, she might have saved up some of the travel books for this volume. I will admit I skimmed pretty quickly, because let’s face it, this is the kind of book you put in your traveler’s library to refer to. You couldn’t absorb all of that content at once!
You probably will also notice a lot of books that are your own personal favorites that she left out. If you want to tell her about them, she gives her e-mail address in the book, and you can find her at her Nancy Pearl blog and on Facebook.
This may become my second favorite place to look for books about travel. My first favorite? The comment section of A Traveler’s Library, of course. And where do you find the perfect travel book? Please share….
Vote for my article on WorldTravelist.com, sharing the best travel content on the web.
About the Author:
A freelance writer who loves to travel. When she is not traveling she is reading about travel. When she is not reading or traveling, she is sharing with the readers of A Traveler's Library, Reel Life With Jane and other websites. Also co-author of a biography, Quincy Tahoma, The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist. Contact Vera Marie by e-mail.
Vera Marie Badertscher – who has written 677 posts on A Traveler's Library.
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Tags: A Travelers Library, armchair traveler, Nancy Pearl, NPR, travel books, travel literature
Sounds like a keeper. Happy to be listed under “K” for Kiwi!
Frugal Kiwi would like you to read..Biological Incubation Unit Failure
I’ve listened to Nancy Pearl quite a bit on NPR. She’s very unique and offers a different perspective that can be very informative. Thanks for the great article on her :}. I often visit sites like Nancy Pearl, Goodreads, Librarything and of course Amazon to find great titles. Recently I found and purchased a travel memoir about retired biology teacher, Tom McLaughlin’s, adventures in Borneo called, “Borneo Tom.” I love the fun sketches and his amazing story about meeting his wife there.
Glad you all like Nancy Pearl, and thanks for your additional info. Audrey, the Borneo Tom book sounds like a good find.
Nancy Pearl is not just the NPR book guru. She was a general book guru before NPR got wind of her, via her local Seattle NPR affiliate and before that from her wonderful “Book Lust” titles chosen from her long experience as a reader and librarian. She has terrific and eclectic taste in books–and don’t forget–her very own action figure!
oh – i can’t wait! i love her books – and my mom (a librarian) has her action figure doll, LOL. it also makes me laugh that she’s in the UW youtube video, librarians do gaga.
this book? a definite read – thanks for the heads up!
where do i find my travel books? all over – library, here, friends, other recommendations. my TBR pile is too big.
jessiev would like you to read..Winter sun holidays to the Caribbean