When it comes to selecting reading material, I am open-minded.  Though I have my favorites (travel memoirs, contemporary fiction, Haruki Murakami, and books on running), I will pick up nearly anything from Stephen King to Jane Austen to Patrick Rothfuss to Reni Eddo-Lodge.  Last year I read some fantastic books and a few mediocre books.  Below are five books that I read last year that I would definitely pick up to read again. And if you’ve never read any of these… here’s your sign to order a copy of one today!

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

Setting: Italy

If you’re like me, you worry about the hype some books—especially those that have been adapted for the big screen—get, and if said book will live up to it.  This is probably why I put off purchasing Call Me By Your Name for so long.  From the first chapter, I didn’t want to close this book until I finished.  It was so raw, so beautifully written, I couldn’t believe anyone could articulate emotion so well.

GoodReads Synopsis: “Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks’ duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy.”

Quote: “He came. He left. Nothing else had changed. I had not changed. The world hadn’t changed. Yet nothing would be the same. All that remains is dreammaking and strange remembrance.” 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Setting: Spain

This book was a gift, so I began reading it without any clue as to I would find. The Shadow of the Wind is undoubtedly one of the best books that I’ve read in the last five years!  It was an absolute joy to read, so much so that I would often reread sentences and pages over and over just to appreciate their beauty. Sometimes I would just put it down and sigh. Because how is it possible to string words together so beautifully? Warning: this is book one of a series. Once you finish the first one, you’ll be running out the door to buy the next.

GoodReads & Back Cover: “Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets–an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.”

Quote: “Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” 

Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson

Setting: Australia

Tracks had been on my TBR list for years when I received it as a Christmas gift while living in Australia (how perfect?)! A memoir about a woman who goes on insane solo journey during a time when women weren’t even encouraged to travel alone? Sign me up. This book was everything I had hoped for and more.

GoodReads Synopsis: “Robyn Davidson opens the memoir of her perilous journey across 1,700 miles of hostile Australian desert to the sea with only four camels and a dog for company with the following words: “I experienced that sinking feeling you get when you know you have conned yourself into doing something difficult and there’s no going back.” 

Enduring sweltering heat, fending off poisonous snakes and lecherous men, chasing her camels when they get skittish and nursing them when they are injured, Davidson emerges as an extraordinarily courageous heroine driven by a love of Australia’s landscape, an empathy for its indigenous people, and a willingness to cast away the trappings of her former identity. Tracks is the compelling, candid story of her odyssey of discovery and transformation.”

Quote: “The two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the first decision.” 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

Setting: New York

It’s safe to say the phrase ‘breakfast at tiffany’s’ rings a bell for most people. Whether it conjures the image of eating a croissant in front of Tiffany’s in New York or countless vintage images of Audrey Hepburn in the iconic black dress. When I finally cracked open a Penguin vintage copy of this book, I had no ideas I would be enthralled by each page. It’s short and sweet and wonderfully written.

(Photo & Art by @TheJulietReport)

GoodReads Synopsis: “It’s New York in the 1940s, where the martinis flow from cocktail hour till breakfast at Tiffany’s. And nice girls don’t, except, of course, Holly Golightly. Pursued by Mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires, Holly is a fragile eyeful of tawny hair and turned-up nose, a heart-breaker, a perplexer, a traveller, a tease. She is irrepressibly ‘top banana in the shock department’, and one of the shining flowers of American fiction.”

Quote: “Everybody has to feel superior to somebody,” she said. “But it’s customary to present a little proof before you take the privilege.”

The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country by Helen Russell

Setting: Denmark

Since reading this book, I’ve physically passed it on to three others who have each read and loved it. Helen Russell is terribly witty, which caused me to laugh aloud countless times while reading. Now that I’m based in Scandinavia, I find reading more on the lifestyle in this corner of the world interesting.

(Photo by @TalkWordyToMe_)

Further Reading: 6 Hours in Copenhagen

GoodReads Synopsis: “Denmark is officially the happiest nation on Earth. When Helen Russell is forced to move to rural Jutland, can she discover the secrets of their happiness? Or will the long, dark winters and pickled herring take their toll?

The Year of Living Danishly looks at where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves.”

Quote: “Being an immigrant is not for sissies.” 

Let me know if you enjoy these types of lists!  Friends and family are always messaging asking for book recommendations either for their next read or for gifts and composing a list specifically based on their needs is one of my favorite things to do. This page does have some affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Read To Travel!