source
I have linked these books to Amazon.
On the road you can find a lot of books oriented toward travelers. You tend to see the same titles over and over again. Pirated copies are available on the street for a couple of bucks. The larger bookstores have many titles.
Books I've read on the road
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Author: Jon Krakauer. ISBN: 1400032806
I picked this up at the airport in DC the day I left the U.S. in February, 2006. I finished it in March in Goa. I saw in the news today, September 4, 2006, that the leader of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs, has been arrested.
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Author: Douglas Adams
I picked this book up in March 2006 in Goa. The edition I read is actually the first four books in the series. (The link above is six books). I had read them many years ago and they served as a fantastic escape from whatever I was doing in my life. I thought it was appropriate to read this book at the beginning of my trip and get me in the travel mood.
Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
I read this book while traveling through Rajasthan. The story begins in Pondicherry in India. The author is an excellent crafter of words and story.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Author: Arthur Golden
Very good. Almost too good. But it kept me reading. I read this in the Himalaya mountains in Himachal Pradesh.
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Author: Paulo Coehlo
Someone was throwing this book out at a guesthouse in Vashisht, Himachal Pradesh. Fifty pages into the book, I understood why.
Mr Nice
Author:Howard Marks
The story of how a nice Oxford grad became an international hashish dealer by asking friends and family to do odd jobs such as air-shipping hashish from Pakistan to England.
Engrossing. Fascinating. Amazing.
I read this book in Manali in Himachal Pradesh in July 2006.
An Ordinary Person's Guide To Empire
Author: Arundhati Roy
Whatever you may think of her opinions, she is hard to put down. Although some of her questions are rhetorical and occasionally she gets a cheap shot in, her ease of covering the breadth of modernity and the connections between different parts of the world is striking.
Losing My Virginity
Author: Richard Branson
This is an autobiography by Richard Branson of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic. He is also famous for attempting to balloon around the world. I like his optimistic approach to new ventures.
