The Thoughtful Travellers Book Club for 2020

One of my goals for the year is to read 12 great travel books, and what better way to make sure I do than lead a book club doing just that, right?

Over on the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group, I asked for some ideas for which books we should read (and I’ll continue to ask and add to this list throughout the year, with some votes in there for which books come next – I’m very democratic like that!).

How does the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club work?

This is going to be a very informal book club, and you won’t need to pass a tricky quiz to prove you read the book or get deeply analytical or anything! Mostly, it’s a way to be accountable to actually read some great books, and to learn about even more great books from the other members.

At the start of each month, I’ll announce the new book both in this post and in the Facebook group (I’ll use the hashtag #bookclub in the Facebook group so you can more easily find relevant posts).

At the end of each month, I’ll post some thoughts of mine and tag everyone who’s been reading the book to chime in with their thoughts, too!

So, what are we reading? I’m glad you asked!

Thoughtful Travellers Book Club Book List 2020

January 2020: We are starting with a modern classic: Alain de Botton’s The Art of Travel. I read this quite some years ago and have been wanting to re-read it for ages, so this is my chance!

February 2020: Next, by popular vote amongst three great choices, is Helen Russell’s The Year of Living Danishly. I read this about a year back prior to my trip to Denmark but having now been there, I can’t wait to re-read it and compare what I learnt on my trip to what I read about ahead of time; if you haven’t had the pleasure of a Danish trip yet, it’s still a fascinating insight into a quite unique country and its culture.

March/April 2020: Executive decision by me for this month because it’s my special celebration month – my birthday AND the fourth birthday of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast – so I’m picking the travel writer who really set me off on this whole journey, Paul Theroux. And because most people may not have read his newest, that’s the one for book club in March: On the Plain of Snakes.

May 2020: While we’re all grounded at home and not travelling, it’s a good time to think about some more sustainable ways to travel, so I’ve picked a train book! Monisha Rajesh’s second book Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure, to be precise.

June 2020: Time for a classic – well, I think it’s a classic, and it’s a 1958 book that is still so readable today: Eric Newby’s A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush.

July 2020: If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been alternating between female and male authors each month – that’s important to me! So for July we have Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path, about Raynor and her husband’s long walk along the South West Coast Path in the UK. 

August/September 2020: For this month, our book is the autobiography of TV journalist Simon Reeve, Step by Step. He’s travelled through all kinds of adventurous places and I hear he’s turned these experiences into a fabulous book.

October 2020: Back to a classic as I’m exploring more of Australia myself and was keen to re-read Bill Bryson’s hilarious and insightful depiction of Australia – it’s variously called Down Under or In A Sunburned Country, depending on the location and edition.

 

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