just joined....

When I saw Wilifred Thiesiger and Ibn Battuta in the same group, I knew this was for me...So I just signed up. Hope to participate more fully in future.
Would like to put in a plug for Mark Twain's books on traveling - highly entertaining with snippets of wisdom!

Innocents Abroad was one of my all time favorites.

Yes, Innocents Abroad - I agree! I should read that one again.

Mark Twain's Roughing It is wonderful too - and side-splitting. Stage-coach era travel in the Wild West.

Cleopatra's Wedding Present by Robert Tewdwr Moss, a very fine book about Syria, which mentions somewhere Agatha Christie's Come tell me how you live, still on my TBR-list...

Regarding Agatha Christie and her middle east experience, I can recommend The 8.55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames with enthusiasm!

Welcome Seajack!

I'm looking forward to your participation, this has been a fairly quiet group since I joined. I took a look at your profile and see that you have a lot of reviews, I got an error trying to look at them so I'll have to go back later and take a gander.

I'm also fairly new to this group...sorry I didn't come by and say 'hi' sooner.

Hi just joined myself. Travel Literature is one of my obsessions. I am currently reading Golden Earth. Check out my collection so far here. I also have a website called A Long Desire that lists some of my personal travels.

Welcome David!

I enjoyed taking a look at your website, we have traveled to some of the same locales...my last trip, last fall, started in Vienna to Melk to Munich for Oktoberfest to Eger (northern Hungary) to Budapest and back to Vienna.

Good to meet a fellow traveler and reader.

it's Dennis but thanks anyway. ;-). I would simply die if I couldn't read or travel. In fact as many of you i always come back with more books than I had left with!

Oops, sorry Dennis...I'm having some lack of sleep issues lately and it makes me a little dyslexic.

Yes, I bring back books from my travels too...unfortunately, sometimes they are not in english so I'm limited to looking at the pictures!

Some strong recommendations (not on my shelves here as they were library books):

No Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through The Odyssey by Scott Huler
Traversa by Fran Sandham
Misadventure in the Middle East by Henry Hemming

Misadventure in the Middle East ... sounds familiar. I wish our politicians would do a little more reading.

Hi,

Just discovered the group myself as I'm on something of a travel book jag. Just finished Travels with Charley in Search of America and moved straight onto The Great Railway Bazaar.

I've just joined. I enjoy travel books that are full of local colour and are at times, amusing! I have read all of Bill Bryson's on travel, and just Mooched a book by Eric Newby. How do others regard these authors? Any other recommendations?

> 15 If you like those two, I bet you'll like Paul Theroux. Not as funny, but he's so grouchy that that makes amusement - and excellent descriptions.

> 14 Have you heard that Theroux has done an update to Great Railway Bazaar where he revisits that journey? I haven't got it yet but it sounds interesting.

Am sure I read Theroux years ago when I was at university (make that decades). I do have one of his in my TBR pile, so will have to give it a perusal. Thanks LyzzyBee!

I'm a new member. I also love travel books. One of my favorites is Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon

Welcome Mamalaz!

I added Blue Highways to my wishlist, thanks for the suggestion.

Innocents Abroad -- the best Middle East travelogue I've read. A little tough to get through at times, but Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence is also brilliant. Baghdad without a Map is also great, but in a different, lighter way.

best,
Ben

Ben Orbach
author of Live from Jordan
www.benjaminorbach.com

Welcome to the group Ben!

It sounds like you have had some interesting times and travelled to interesting places. It will be good to have your input on this group.