Journey Woman - Best Books

Get Personal with Journeywoman Travel Books

Woman Bookworm Karen Dougherty

The experience of travel is different for everyone: for some, it is about facing one's fears; for others, about experiencing new sensations; and for still others, about escape and anonymity. We at Journeywoman are always on the lookout for books that give us insight into the reasons people travel.

At the very least, we know that travel adds much zest to life. Keeping this in mind, Journeywoman suggests the following excellent--and highly personal--travel memoirs, essay anthologies, and short story collections. We hope you find them as tasty as we did.

Her adventures are ours...

**Kite Strings of the Southern Cross: A Woman's Travel Odyssey**
**Author: Laurie Gough**
This first book by Laurie won Foreword Magazine's Silver Award for Best Travel Book of the Year. Marvelously written, it is a journey of love and discovery. Beginning on a remote Fijian beach (with her Fijian lover) and moving ever onward and outward (without him), our heroine meets adventure, mishap, and romance on several continents. From the introduction: "Writing, like traveling, deepens my life, and writing about my travels gives them new meaning. Sometimes, it even allows me to live those journeys over again, minus the mosquitoes and sunstroke." Thanks, Laurie! We like living them, too. P.S. If you're shopping in Canada, you can also look for this book under its Canadian title, Island of the Human Heart.

Take it with you...

The Power of Travel: A Passport to Adventure, Discovery & Growth
Author: Steve Zikman
The author of Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul brings us a new collection of inspirational and often humourous advice. In brief, reflective essays, Zikman asks and answers the oft-heard question "Why travel?" Whether a weekend jaunt to the country or a six-month tour of Asia, The Power of Travel shows how any trip can be an adventure. This little gem is small enough to take along in even the most over-burdened knapsack.

Women on women...

Women Travel: First-hand Accounts from More than 60 Countries
Editors: Natania Jansz, Miranda Davies, Emma Drew & Lori McDougall
Just the kind of thing we like at Journeywomen: stories about women traveling by women traveling. Interested in what it's like to backpack around India with your mother? Want to know how to set up a writer's retreat in Antarctica? Care to peek in on a girls' night out in the Kalahari Desert? Over 80 writers, journalists, travelers, and dreamers from around the world contributed to this nightstand essential.

Oh, Africa...

African Nights
Author: Kuki Gallmann
For anyone interested in the Dark Continent, here is a lovely collection of stories by the author of I Dreamed of Africa, now a major motion picture starring Kim Bassinger. African Nights, Gallman's second book, offers a rare glimpse of the continent from the 70s into the 90s. Gallman is a gifted storyteller who shares her personal journey, both painful and joyous. Readers meet Osman, a camel handler of the Boran tribe; Sheela, an Indian priestess known for her spectacular fire ceremonies; and Julius, a Kikuyu boy with a gift for music. A story of strength and indomitable spirit, African Nights is not to be missed.