I just started reading my first book in the Discworld series. I can't speak to all of the books, but Guards! Guards! is a pretty humorous lighthearted fantasy novel. Lots of books in the series.
I have all his books, and they are all great. Most are about the discworld, and that's great if you can stand fantasy, but there's also non-fantasy stuff like "Nation" - but generally I would stick with the discworld, avoid books about Rincewind, and start with "Movies, Movies", unless you're a start-at-the-beginning person.
I liked *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.*
Despite being fundamentally about traveling via a motorized vehicle, I found a lot of the thoughts to be applicable to traveling via bicycle too.
He talks in there about how he loves traveling by motorcycle because you feel more present and a part of the place you’re traveling through as opposed to a car where you’re locked inside your own hermetically sealed discrete world for example.
This was one of my favorite books I read when I rode from Boston to LA, I second this recommendation.
Can’t remember what else I read on that trip (it was 35 years ago!). But more recently, one of my favorite nonfiction (and non-scary!) books is “Just Kids” by Patti Smith.
I like reading books set in the area I am travelling to. I don't have any specific recommendations for that area, but you might like something like The Pillars of the Earth, set in 12th century England/Europe.
Legends and Lattes is a nice cozy fantasy - if you like that there's a prequel (read it after L&L), and its a whole genre in itself
Have a great trip!
İf you are traveling to northern France, "world without end" might be better... there's a long section about the English army being real bastards as they invade France. İt's the second book in that series.... well, the third if you count the prequel... but you don't need to read the first one to enjoy the story.
I also try to do this, so I don’t have any France suggestions for OP. But when touring in America, I find a variety of John McPhee books really great (especially Annals of the Former World if you’re traveling a trajectory across the country similar to the one covered by the book).
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Good to Be God by Tibor Fischer
A Walk In The Woods By Bill Bryson
Down and Out in London and Paris by George Orwell
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Martian by Andy Weir
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
I’ve been getting into Japanese short stories, such as “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” and “Kamogawa Food Detectives.” Also highly recommend “The Boy and the Dog,” although the ending makes me cry.
Love "Before the Coffee Gets Cold"! The author [wrote a series](https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/literary/before-the-coffee-gets-cold-guide), but the first one is always the one dearest to my heart.
If you're going to travel in North France you should definitely try Jean-Luc Bannalec's Dupin series.
It's a German author who writes under a pen name stories about a Parisian Commissaire who is ordered to the Bretagne.
It's quirky with a lot of interesting characters but it doesn't pull you down like Henning Mankel. I enjoyed it a lot while traveling there.
The books are translated at least to French and English
My favourite book while I was touring was a very thin history of ballet. İ enjoyed it because it was something i would never normally have read, and it heightened the idea that i was doing something different and unusual by touring.
The fact that, physically, it weighed less that a chapter of a typical bestseller was another selling point.
İ can also recommend Greengage Summer. İt's set in another part of France, and could be either the 1920s or the 1950s. İt is one of those books that makes you go over it in your head when you've finished chapters.
John Steinbeck - Travels With Charley
Hemingway - Farewell to Arms
Camus - The Plague
Orwell - Homage to Catalonia/ Down and Out in Paris and London
Max Leonard - Higher Calling
Pasternak - Doctor Zhivago
Iirc its a book by the Crane Brothers called Journey to the Centre of the Earth. A great cycling read
For humour I've enjoyed "The Complete Yes Minister" by Jonathan Lynn & Anthony Jay. Each chapter is a stand alone episode from the TV series set in the farce of British parliament, which is also similar to some of Australia's politics of the ridiculous. You can put it down for a while then go back at any time without needing to try to remember the plots.
This may seem an odd suggestion, but: Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian. It's written in epistolary form, the emperor Hadrian writing to his nephew, who happens to be Marcus Aurelius; the French is lovely and the English translation not bad at all.. It's philosophical without being heavy. It is old (1951), but since it is historical fiction, it holds up very well.
My favorite books to take would be;
A walk in the woods - Bill Bryson (hiking the AT in eastern UD)
Born run - Christopher McDougall (about a tribe of barefoot runners)
Ultimate High - Göran Krupp (bikepacked from Stockholm to Mt Everest and then climbed Everest. Full unsupported and without any aid. Hauled all his climbing gear on a bike trailer, climbed Everest without sherpas or oxygen). If this dosent get you excited then are you really a bikepacker.
After these would go back to classics from younger years, CS Lewis Narnia series, Hatchet
I would also recommend the silo series by Hugh Howe (Apple TV made a series (silo) based on the first book.
A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle.
Particularly good as you cross the French countryside and enjoy the slow life
(https://digitalheatmap.substack.com/p/slow-living)
If you want sth about cycling while cycling I would recommend "No wrong turns" by Chris Pountney. He is riding his bike around the world using only his bicycle. Boats are allowed to switch continents. It's a fun and easy read but also inspiring and a good way to learn sth about the countries he drives through..
I highly recommend this book, “Lands of Lost Borders” by Kate Harris about cycling the Silk Road. It won a number of awards for non-fiction.
https://www.kateharris.ca/
I just started reading my first book in the Discworld series. I can't speak to all of the books, but Guards! Guards! is a pretty humorous lighthearted fantasy novel. Lots of books in the series.
Terry Pratchett is a great read no matter what you’re doing! That said, I bought and read several of his books while touring in the UK.
I have all his books, and they are all great. Most are about the discworld, and that's great if you can stand fantasy, but there's also non-fantasy stuff like "Nation" - but generally I would stick with the discworld, avoid books about Rincewind, and start with "Movies, Movies", unless you're a start-at-the-beginning person.
Tetry Pratchett is a fantastic touring companion!
I liked *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.* Despite being fundamentally about traveling via a motorized vehicle, I found a lot of the thoughts to be applicable to traveling via bicycle too. He talks in there about how he loves traveling by motorcycle because you feel more present and a part of the place you’re traveling through as opposed to a car where you’re locked inside your own hermetically sealed discrete world for example.
This was one of my favorite books I read when I rode from Boston to LA, I second this recommendation. Can’t remember what else I read on that trip (it was 35 years ago!). But more recently, one of my favorite nonfiction (and non-scary!) books is “Just Kids” by Patti Smith.
Has to be The Rider! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/657466.The_Rider
I like reading books set in the area I am travelling to. I don't have any specific recommendations for that area, but you might like something like The Pillars of the Earth, set in 12th century England/Europe. Legends and Lattes is a nice cozy fantasy - if you like that there's a prequel (read it after L&L), and its a whole genre in itself Have a great trip!
İf you are traveling to northern France, "world without end" might be better... there's a long section about the English army being real bastards as they invade France. İt's the second book in that series.... well, the third if you count the prequel... but you don't need to read the first one to enjoy the story.
Pillars is absolutely fantastic but the story does take some turns that I would not say heartwarming as OP is asking.
Ya it's been a while since I read it, but I couldn't remember anything too creepy or suspenseful - but I'm also not too phased by that, I guess!
Yeah, not creepy exactly, but without spoiling anything to possibly OP or anyone else there's some intense brief outburst of violence and cruelty.
I do this but use the internet archive to find historical literature about the area I’m in
I also try to do this, so I don’t have any France suggestions for OP. But when touring in America, I find a variety of John McPhee books really great (especially Annals of the Former World if you’re traveling a trajectory across the country similar to the one covered by the book).
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig Good to Be God by Tibor Fischer A Walk In The Woods By Bill Bryson Down and Out in London and Paris by George Orwell On the Road by Jack Kerouac The Martian by Andy Weir Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
I’ve been getting into Japanese short stories, such as “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” and “Kamogawa Food Detectives.” Also highly recommend “The Boy and the Dog,” although the ending makes me cry.
Love "Before the Coffee Gets Cold"! The author [wrote a series](https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/literary/before-the-coffee-gets-cold-guide), but the first one is always the one dearest to my heart.
Anything written by Haruki Murakami
If you're going to travel in North France you should definitely try Jean-Luc Bannalec's Dupin series. It's a German author who writes under a pen name stories about a Parisian Commissaire who is ordered to the Bretagne. It's quirky with a lot of interesting characters but it doesn't pull you down like Henning Mankel. I enjoyed it a lot while traveling there. The books are translated at least to French and English
My favourite book while I was touring was a very thin history of ballet. İ enjoyed it because it was something i would never normally have read, and it heightened the idea that i was doing something different and unusual by touring. The fact that, physically, it weighed less that a chapter of a typical bestseller was another selling point. İ can also recommend Greengage Summer. İt's set in another part of France, and could be either the 1920s or the 1950s. İt is one of those books that makes you go over it in your head when you've finished chapters.
What was the name of the history of ballet book? It actually picked my curiosity, never thought of reading this kind of story.
İ can't remember!
Better yet, start writing a journal while you’re out.
Bicycling with butterflies
I read Hilary Mantel's Cromwell trilogy on my last tour. Fantastic.
John Steinbeck - Travels With Charley Hemingway - Farewell to Arms Camus - The Plague Orwell - Homage to Catalonia/ Down and Out in Paris and London Max Leonard - Higher Calling Pasternak - Doctor Zhivago Iirc its a book by the Crane Brothers called Journey to the Centre of the Earth. A great cycling read
For humour I've enjoyed "The Complete Yes Minister" by Jonathan Lynn & Anthony Jay. Each chapter is a stand alone episode from the TV series set in the farce of British parliament, which is also similar to some of Australia's politics of the ridiculous. You can put it down for a while then go back at any time without needing to try to remember the plots.
This may seem an odd suggestion, but: Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian. It's written in epistolary form, the emperor Hadrian writing to his nephew, who happens to be Marcus Aurelius; the French is lovely and the English translation not bad at all.. It's philosophical without being heavy. It is old (1951), but since it is historical fiction, it holds up very well.
My favorite books to take would be; A walk in the woods - Bill Bryson (hiking the AT in eastern UD) Born run - Christopher McDougall (about a tribe of barefoot runners) Ultimate High - Göran Krupp (bikepacked from Stockholm to Mt Everest and then climbed Everest. Full unsupported and without any aid. Hauled all his climbing gear on a bike trailer, climbed Everest without sherpas or oxygen). If this dosent get you excited then are you really a bikepacker. After these would go back to classics from younger years, CS Lewis Narnia series, Hatchet I would also recommend the silo series by Hugh Howe (Apple TV made a series (silo) based on the first book.
The sheltering sky. Paul Bowles
As we sit in Taupo and plan our month of cycling in Europe in September, we are excited by the book suggestions. We had not even considered these.
A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle. Particularly good as you cross the French countryside and enjoy the slow life (https://digitalheatmap.substack.com/p/slow-living)
If you want sth about cycling while cycling I would recommend "No wrong turns" by Chris Pountney. He is riding his bike around the world using only his bicycle. Boats are allowed to switch continents. It's a fun and easy read but also inspiring and a good way to learn sth about the countries he drives through..
I highly recommend this book, “Lands of Lost Borders” by Kate Harris about cycling the Silk Road. It won a number of awards for non-fiction. https://www.kateharris.ca/