The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure is a heart-warming and funny story of self-evolution and mateship, as defined through travel.
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Sarah Jane Gilman
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is a cautionary tale of how not all backpacking trips end up as something you want to tell all your friends about when you get back home. Taking place in the mid 1980's on the cusp of mainland China opening up to independent travel, Gilman writes of the naivety of youth as she and one of her friends from University head out on a one-year trip round the world. However, things quickly begin to unravel as they experience a culture shock well beyond anything of their imaginings.
How Not to Travel the World by Lauren Juliff
How Not to Travel the World: Adventures of a Disaster-Prone Backpacker is a travel memoir written by well-known travel blogger Lauren Juliff of www.neverendingfootsteps.com. Suffering from an anxiety disorder, Juliff's memoir is an inspiring and uplifting account of the first five years of her travel experiences around the world, since she first left the UK in 2011.
Backpack by Emily Barr (Fiction)
Backpack is a "chick-lit" psychological thriller telling the story of a young English girl, Tansy, who decides to go travelling after the death of her alcoholic mother. After her boyfriend Tom breaks up with her just prior to leaving, Tansy decides she will travel to exotic South East Asia on her own, in order to prove her independence and win him back. As she begins her travels, though, there are reports of a killer on the loose who is murdering blonde British girls in South East Asia. Will Tansy live long enough to win Tom back, or is there some other mysterious dark-haired, scruffy suitor who will win her affectations. All is about to be revealed.
It's Only the Himalayas by S. Bedford
It's Only the Himalayas is Sue Bedford's debut travelogue regaling her outrageous tales during a year spent backpacking with her bestie around the world. Packed full of hilarity, this is a book that will delight both older backpackers looking back nostalgically at misspent youths and those thinking about embarking on their own wild travels themselves.
Book Review - My Desert Kingdom by Jill Koolmees
My Desert Kingdom is an enjoyable and insightful book detailing an Australian couples ex-pat experience in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While written prior to 9/11, it nonetheless provides a good feel for the trials and tribulations of ex-pat life, not shying away from the unglamorous aspects that are part and parcel of living in this insular country.
Book Review - Kite Strings of the Southern Cross by Laurie Gough
Book Review - Wild by Cheryl Strayed
I'm always somewhat apprehensive after watching a movie which I have enjoyed immensely to the read the book. Reese Witherspoon put in such a brilliant performance in the 2014 movie of the same name, that I was concerned that the book wouldn't reach the same standard. I needn't have worried, as Strayed delivers a deeply personal memoir that bests the movie in almost all regards.