World book day, Día del libro, Sant Jordi, doesn’t matter how you call it, what matters is to celebrate a beautiful day devoted to one of the best things in the world: reading.
Here I’m sharing with you the travel/place related books (essays about places of fictions where the place is a clear character of the book) that I have in my (very incomplete due to several movings) library. And a couple of minimaps that will guide you to the best bookstores in Paris according to me (the map was beautifully illustrated by Charlotte) or the most charming bookstores in Madrid, according to Ramón (with a lovely map illustrated by Victoria).
The books are:
- NW by Zadie Smith. A way of feeling and getting the North of London.
- Hopscotch (Rayuela, is the original Spanish name, oddly enough I don’t have the Spanish version with me) by Julio Cortázar. Paris and Buenos Aires via one of my favourite writers of all times.
- Off the Map (Fuera del mapa, the Spanish Edition by Blackie Books is the one pictured) by Alastair Bonnett. A peculiar account of lost spaces, forgotten islands, and invisible cities.
- Love in the Time of Cholera. (El amor en los tiempos del cólera, the adorable and unique Spanish edition by Literatura Random House illustrated by Luisa Rivera is the one pictured). Besides being a beautiful classic, this book will take you to the Colombian Caribbean, and for me is very close to home 😉
- Walden by Henri David Thoureau. (The 200th Anniversary Spanish Edition by Errata Naturae is the one pictured). Well, because it is curious how easy is to identify ourselves with what Thoureau exposes in 1845. Are we really focusing our lives on the right things? It is worth read and re-read from time to time (definitely more than watching Marie Kondo on Netflix).
- Londoners by Craig Taylor. Well, the subtitle of this book pretty much sums it all: “the days and nights of London now—as told by those who love it, hate it, live it, left it and long for it”. A modern classic.
- The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers. It’s not pictured because I lend it, but is the best non-fiction book I have read this year. Not only it is written with mastery you’ll learn tons about the world of coffee and the wonderful, and sadly ravaged, country that is Yemen, proud place of origin of coffee.
Also here’s the link to the Bookstores with a Charm Madrid Minimap:
And here’s the link to the Paris is for Reading Minimap:
Do you have any favourite travel-ish related book? Place do share it with us!
