I came across this list rather accidently, via Writtenroad.com - a website devoted to travel and writing, which I happen to consider two of my most significant passions. The article is from Conde Naste Traveler magazine, and discusses 86 Great Travel books. (I recommend clicking "print" button to get a single-page view.) I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I've only read 3 books on the list, though due in part to a big Paul Theroux push at the moment, I have another 4 books with me, as of yet unread. The only problem is that the queue on that particular list is frighteningly long.
I was particularly happy to see Bill Bryson's book on Australia (In a Sunburned Country), which I read within my first 2 months in Melbourne, on the list. It's a quality book, as is Theroux's Dark Star Safari, which is one of my most recent reads (and a wonderful gift to receive before I left on my present Australian adventure). It has had a lot to do with some of the "big picture thoughts" I've had recently about the direction that I see myself going after this...that particular question is a hopelessly unanswerable one at present, stuck as I am in the interim between the heady enthusiasm and uncertainty of early PhD candidature and the unimaginable stress and soul-searching panic of pre-submission. While I suppose I should be enjoying this uniquely liberating time - as busy and imminently combustible as it feels - the big questions never seem far away. Such is the life of the student, I suppose, particularly one that is one a path designed for professional advancement within a particular field. On the positive side, it allows a calendar and lifestyle oriented along the University calendar, which can be quite a positive thing. This was undeniably a key component of my own decision-making process in wondering whether I wanted to be part of the University community again.
I'm not sure that posting twice within 12 hours makes up for a month's silence, but I hope that it helps...present reading includes a Paul Theroux novel about the British handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese(Kowloong Tong), and listening to a fair amount of The National and Aussie favorite Missy Higgins - you have to be in the right mood to listen to either, but if you are, the results can be quite incredible...
