Travel & Adventure (M to Z)

The Snow Leopard by P. Matthiessen

When Matthiessen went to Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and, possibly, to glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard, he undertook his five-week trek as winter snows were sweeping into the high passes. This is a radiant and deeply moving account of a “true pilgrimage, a journey of the heart.”

A Year in the World by Frances Mayes

A celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlikely locales, of memory woven into the present, and of a joyous sense of quest. An ideal travel companion, Frances Mayes brings to the page the curiosity of an intrepid explorer, remarkable insights into the wonder of the everyday, and a compelling narrative style that entertains as it informs.

An Innocent in Ireland by David McFadden

When writer David McFadden sets out on a tour of Ireland, he is determined to so do in a relatively innocent state. Using as a guide only In Search of Ireland, a 1930 title by travel writer H. V. Morton, he plans to follow the same route, to try to determine how things have changed and how they have remained the same. This he proceeds to do – at least at first. But soon he is wandering more and more erratically around the country, poking into any corner and musing over any sight that takes his fancy.

Muddling Through in Madagascar by Dervla Murphy

“Everything about Madagascar is surprising”, as Dervla Murphy and her 14-year-old daughter, Rachel, found to their delight. Despite accidents, misadventures, contrasts and the political instability of the Great Red Island, they returned with a lasting respect for the kindness of its proud people.

North of South: an African journey by Shiva Naipaul

Sets out to answer the question - what do terms like “liberation”, “revolution”, “African socialism” actually mean to the people who define and use them? The author tells of his journey to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique.

Into the Heart of Borneo by Redmond O’Hanlon

Recounts the perilous and remarkable (and sometimes hilarious) 1983 journey of the author, who is a naturalist, the poet James Fenton, and three native guides to the center of Borneo, an area unvisited by outsiders since 1926.

Sindh Revisited by Chris Ondaatje

The travels of Richard Burton, 19th-century traveller, orientalist, archaeologist, linguist, anthropologist and controversial diplomat, are traced in this text. The book is both a biography and exploration of the British India of yesterday and the India and Sindh of today.

Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Palin
In Around the World in 80 Days we join Michael Palin on the first of his great adventures. Following in the footsteps of the fictional Phileas Fogg, he makes real the journey which author Jules Verne imagined more than a century earlier. From the opulence of the “Orient Express” to the lurching progress of an Egyptian camel, from the hot and lively streets of Madras to the lofty heights of a hot-air balloon over Colorado, there is never a dull moment in this hilarious account of a journey full of surprises.

Dangerous River by R. M. Patterson
An enchanting story of adventure and the hunt for gold, this book is written by a man who came to Canada after leaving a cushy job with the Bank of England. Dangerous River goes back to the 1920s and chronicles journeys down the unreliable Nahanni River. Learn how the adventurous banker hunted, trapped and fished along the way.

From Heaven Lake by Vikram Seth
Hitch-hiking, walking, slogging through rivers and across leech-ridden hills, Vikram Seth travelled through Sinkiang and Tibet to Nepal: from Heaven Lake to the Himalayas. By breaking away from the reliable routes of organised travel, he transformed his journey into an unusual and intriguing exploration of one of the world’s least known areas.

Nova Scotia and the Maritimes by Bike by Walter Sienko
Veteran cyclist Sienko tackles the eastern coast of his home country, Canada. He offers readers a variety of cycling options in 21 tours that explore the diverse terrain of the coast. Sienko’s conversational style is a refreshing change, allowing readers to feel as though they are accompanying the author on his travels. Vivid descriptions sprinkled with historical facts, local trivia, and the occasional clever analogy enhance the lively text.

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
In this unique and hugely entertaining railway odyssey, Theroux vividly recounts his travels–and the people, places, and landscapes he encountered–on the Orient Express, the Khyber Mail, and the Trans-Siberian Express, through such countries as Turkey, Iran, India, Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Soviet Union.

Where Nights are Longest by Colin Thubron
Descriptions of people met during the author’s journey by car of over ten thousand miles throughout the Soviet Union are augmented by accounts of the historical background of their nation and region.

My Love Affair With England by Susan Allen Toth
A traveler’s memoir as personal as it is inviting, this modern odyssey explores what happens when the vital imagination of a writer from the American Midwest meets the many-layered legacy that is Great Britain. As a twenty-year-old student, Ms. Toth first went to London for a single summer, but she has returned again and again to the land of Shakespeare, sheepdog trials, royalty, and trifle. Exploring the countryside, traveling both second-class and in luxury, theatre-hopping, ghost-hunting, spending her doomed first honeymoon, or shepherding students through a touring seminar.

Walking the Yukon by Chris Townsend
Leaving Skagway, Alaska, in June 1990, Townsend followed the footsteps of the Klondike goldrushers across the Yukon’s rugged mountains, wild rivers, and muskeg swamps. Focusing on the Yukon’s history, geology, and wildlife, Townsend finds reminders of the gaunt men chronicled by Robert Service almost a century ago.

The Lost World of the Kalahari by L. Van Der Post
The distinguished explorer and writer recounts his rediscovery of the Bushmen, outcast survivors from Stone Age Africa. Faced with constant attack from all the peoples who followed them, the last of the Bushmen have retreated to the scorching depths of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. After a gruelling trek, van der Post finds the Bushmen, thriving in one of the world’s most inhospitable landscapes, with their physical peculiarities, their cave art and their joyful music-making intact.

A Year of Sundays by Edward Webster
People-pleasing travel memoir in which the author and his wife take a year’s sabbatical with their 16-year-old cat to do the grand tour of Europe.