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Which books will make my trip to Europe awesome?

Sometimes I read books that make me desperately want to visit the place in which they're set. Wolf Hall made me want to go to London. The Shipping News made me want to go to Newfoundland. Mutiny on the Bounty made me want to go to Tahiti.

I just bought tickets to go to Switzerland, France and Spain next month.

What books should I read to get psyched for my trip?

DrewCourt asked in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report

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    mishalibrarian

    For Spain:

    The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: This is a literary mystery that starts in a rare books room. I still remember reading this in Barcelona while sitting on the roof of the Gaudi apartment building.

    Or for a hardboiled mystery set in Barcelona, Dog Day by Alicia Gimenez Bartlett

    I really enjoyed these two international bestsellers that are set in Paris:

    Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda: A story about broken people who find one another.

    The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery: I wrote about this one here.

    Happy travels!

    mishalibrarian answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Subcultureoftwo_small
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    The first part of Philippa Gregory's "The Constant Princess" focuses on Katherine of Aragon's early upbringing at the Alhambra in Spain. Good stuff.

    For France, some of Joanne Harris' works, like "Five Quarters of the Orange" or "Chocolat." And definitely read some of David Sedaris' essays about living in France in "Me Talk Pretty Some Day."

    Sacrelicious answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report
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    I have a wonderfully vivid memory of reading Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast in the library of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. This loving memoir of 1920's Paris will make your mind salivate. Additionally, a visit to Shakespeare & Co. should absolutely be on your itinerary if you are in Paris.

    For a slightly more rural atmosphere, Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence paints a loving and often hysterical portrait of his first year living in a 200-year-old French farmhouse in the Luberon region with his wife and two dogs.

    Nothing fired my blood to seeing the Pamplona "Running of the Bulls" quite as much as another Hemingway classic - The Sun Also Rises, and leaves a faint taste of paella in your mouth.

    Kim answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report
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