Travels with Legible: Five Books to Feed Your Summer Wanderlust
by Tania Runyan
After quarantining for over a year, many of us are dealing with that pesky travel bug — maybe even a swarm of them. Though we may vary in our ability and willingness for travel this summer, there’s one thing as readers we can agree on: ’tis the season for adventure! Whether you’re getting ready to hit the physical road or just looking for a mental escape (is that not the best kind?), you’ll find plenty of inspiration on Legible’s shelves.
How to Travel Practically Anywhere: The Ultimate Planning Guide, by Susan Stellin. “Wait, what’s this traveling you speak of?” If you’re feeling a little bit rusty, or have never gained confidence with today’s reality of being your own DIY travel agent, this helpful guide should get you going. Travel reporter and New York Times contributor Susan Stellin will help you navigate the vast landscape of online resources, plan your perfect itinerary, get logistics under control, save money with bookings, plan for the unexpected, and more. Bon voyage!
The New Granta Book of Travel, by Liz Jobey, ed. Is your travel bucket list sloshing over the edges? Can’t decide between the Congo, Mississippi, or Siberia? The New Granta Book of Travel, a collection of nearly two dozen travel essays by some of the genre’s most celebrated authors, will transport you to the ends of the earth with vivid, engaging prose that will make your favorite hammock or reading chair your ultimate destination.
Changing Planes, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Perhaps the uncharted territory of alien worlds is more your thing. You’re in good hands with sci-fi tour guide Ursula K. Le Guin, who helps you soar to unimaginable heights in fifteen linked short stories following Sita Dulip and her ingenious method for “changing planes.” Stuck between flights at a chaotic airport? Up too early with jetlag? Take a break with a bite-sized escape that will make you feel both far, and sometimes a little too close, to home.
To Dakar and Back: 21 Days Across North Africa by Motorcycle, by Lawrence Hacking. You may think the title says it all, but not until you dip a sandy toe into this intense motorsports memoir will you get a true sense of the blood, sweat, and tears shed on the ten thousand kilometer trek known as the Paris-Dakar Rally. Canadian adventure racer Lawrence Hacking recounts his adventure across the Sahara Desert with his trusty hog and (if you can believe it) lives to tell about it.
200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments & Trims: Fresh Looks for Roses, Daisies, Sunflowers and More, by Claire Crompton. Well, of course this is a travel book. For any crafter who has taken a road trip, waited for the laundry to finish at a campground, or patiently tried to pass the time on a family trip that involves a lot more TV news shows than was bargained for, a portable project is a lifesaver. Celebrate the colors of summer by making your own crochet flowers on the go. When you get home with your creations, embellish your collars, curtains, necklaces, scarves — the possibilities are endless!
Because Five Is Such a Lonely Number
Here are five additional books to have on your nightstand or in your suitcase no matter where you hang this summer.
- Life on Route 66: Personal Accounts Along the Mother Road to California, by Claudia Heller and Alan Heller
- To Run Across the Sea: Selected Pieces, by Norman Lewis
- Round the Fire Stories, by Arthur Conan Doyle
- Leading the Blind: A Century of Guide Book Travel, by Alan Sillitoe
- The Stone Raft, by José Saramago
Browse All of Legible’s Travel Books
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Tania Runyan is the author of the poetry collections What Will Soon Take Place, Second Sky, A Thousand Vessels, Simple Weight, and Delicious Air. Her guides How to Read a Poem, How to Write a Poem, and How to Write a Form Poem are used in classrooms across the country. Her poems have appeared in many publications, including Poetry, Image, Indiana Review, Atlanta Review, and The Christian Century. Tania was awarded an NEA Literature Fellowship in 2011.
