A book can be a traveler’s best companion, whether for long airport waits or relaxing beach lounging. This summer’s notable reads include several in translation, as a few U.S. publishers welcome writers beyond those whose first language is English. Let these diverse books—fantasy, history, memoir, and nature studies, among them—provide a much-needed change of scenery, wherever you are in the world.
The Great American Retro Road Trip by Rolando Pujol
- Location: Contiguous USA
- Type: Pop culture/Photography
- Buy now: bookshop.org
Journalist Rolando Pujol takes readers on a nostalgic trip across the USA, using stories and photographs of roadside attractions. Pujol is an enthusiastic guide prone to exaggeration—much like what he’s writing about. A big, red script Pepsi advertisement in Queens is “one of the greatest signs in existence.” Maybe you don’t think of the New York City borough as road trip territory, but the focus here is on big and bold. The author includes an omnivorous range of signage for motels, drive-ins, bars, and movie theaters. He arranges the photos and informative text by geographical region and themes. (“Mainstays of Main Street” and “Roadside Eats” among them.) Quirky roadside figures include giant cowboys, lumberjacks, and dinosaurs. This salute to 20th-century America might propel your next road trip.
The Art Spy by Michelle Young
The Art Spy by Michelle Young
Courtesy of HarperOne; design by Stephen Brayda
- Location: Paris
- Type: Biography/History
- Buy now: bookshop.org
Although the story of Nazis looting art across Europe has been well told, this new biography of unlikely heroine Rose Valland, an art historian and museum curator, shows how one civilian fought back during World War II. In anticipation of Germans attacking Paris, the city fills with smoke as diplomats burn paper in the streets and destroy gas reserves so they won’t fall into enemy hands. At the Jeu de Paume museum, Valland took many risks to safeguard its treasures and record the massive plunder of artwork across France. Michelle Young, a professor of architecture at Columbia University, also follows the war’s impact on Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg and his family, another target of voracious Hermann Göring and his ilk.
Living Night: On the Secret Wonders of Wildlife After Dark by Sophia Kimmig, translated by Ayça Türkoglu
- Location: Europe/International
- Type: Nature
- Buy now: bookshop.org
Biologist Sophia Kimmig describes how the other half lives in this wonder-filled look at wildlife most active in the dark. From the captivating prologue set in Berlin to the frank and personal epilogue, the book explains why it’s important for humans to preserve darkness. For readers, animal nightlife will no longer be foreign territory. Kimmig focuses on six night-dwellers—among them bats, possums, and owls—as well as insects and ocean dwellers that are often hunted to extinction, killed on highways, or impacted by light pollution. Humans rarely shine here. Yet this account, peppered with observations by poets, is as hopeful as its subtitle and is a pleasure to read.
Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en; translated by Julia Lovell
Monkey King by Wu Cheng’en
Courtesy of Penguin Classics
- Location: China and India
- Type: Fantasy novel
- Buy now: bookshop.org
To be fair, this isn’t a new book, but it’s a fresh translation of a 16th-century epic fantasy by Julia Lovell, a British professor of modern Chinese history and literature. Monkey King is a classic of Chinese fiction: a high-spirited tale loaded with humor and timeless characters. (It’s also an abridgement, about one quarter of the full text.) Lovell’s introduction helps put the book in context; once you start reading about Sun Wukong, aka the trickster Monkey King, it’s clear the tale remains relevant today—main characters include rival leaders with wonderfully pompous names battling for power. Pigsy is among the memorable comic foils on the long quest to India to achieve immortality. Let Lovell’s translation of Wu Cheng’en transport you to another time and place.
Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai‘i by Sara Kehaulani Goo
- Location: Maui
- Type: Memoir
- Buy now: bookshop.org
What happens when family property in Hawai‘i, owned since the mid-19th century, gets a 500 percent tax increase? Pay, fight, or sell? It’s not that simple, journalist Goo reveals, as she dives into the long history of her family’s legacy. She starts fittingly with a family tree of several generations. The text uses many Hawaiian words (and gives their pronunciation, plus a glossary at the end), such as kuleana, which refers in part to responsibility, especially in terms of caring for the land. Despite overly detailed text, this highly personal account reveals the universal nature of such fundamentals as family and land ownership. The book will appeal to readers who enjoy multi-generational family sagas and want a closer look at the complicated history of Hawai‘i.
Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth
Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth
Courtesy of Crown Publishing
- Location: Eastern Europe
- Type: Nature/History
- Buy now: bookshop.org
This talented British journalist retraces the route of a young wolf that scientists named Slvac, who journeys from Slovenia and crosses the Alps to arrive in Italy. Weymouth’s trip occurs a decade after Slvac’s original four-month trek over more than 1,000 miles. How is this possible? Scientists at the University of Ljubljana collared Slvac with a tracking device and mapped his entire trip. As wolves are making a comeback across Europe, Weymouth talks with locals and presents the challenges of the animal’s not-always-welcome return. As the reader, it’s hard not to root for these canny survivors.
Strange Houses by Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion
- Location: Japan
- Type: Mystery
- Buy now: bookshop.org
Expect all sorts of strange events in this off-beat mystery that combines elements of the locked room, noir, serial killer, and amateur investigator genres. It’s full of floor plans and told in a deceptively straightforward manner. As three people with remote connections to a house try to solve two brutal murders, the story becomes increasingly complicated and implausible, evolving into a fable about a cursed family. An inventive, quick read, the story is essentially a puzzle. This is the second installment in the series; Strange Pictures, the first book, and it were bestsellers in Japan.
Stone: Ancient Craft to Modern Mastery by Richard Rhodes
- Location: Italy/International
- Type: History/Architecture/Memoir
- Buy now: bookshop.org
What are travelers admiring in ancient Egyptian ruins, Southeast Asian temples, and medieval cathedrals? Stonework. Countless pop culture books proclaim how various inventions or materials (salt, the zero, glass, etc.) “transformed” the world. Instead, Stone offers a fresh, comprehensive appreciation of a common substance whose importance we take for granted. Richard Rhodes, the sole foreigner ever allowed to join the historic Freemasons Guild in Siena, Italy, discusses the once-secret/sacred guiding principles of stonemasons, called the Rules of Bondwork. They’re straightforward—“build on a good foundation,” for one—but involve far more than common sense. Well-illustrated with the author’s photos of ancient constructions, the text is both technical and philosophical. Rhodes is direct and engaging, such as his reference to European cathedrals as “the graphic novels of the day.”
A Year With the Seals by Alix Morris
A Year With the Seals by Alix Morris
Courtesy of Algonquin Books
- Location: Northeastern USA
- Type: Nature
- Buy now: bookshop.org
As the author reminds us, seals—with their big eyes—are adorable. The book’s subtitle, “Unlocking the Secrets of the Sea’s Most Charismatic and Controversial Creatures,” may be a tad hyperbolic. Still, Morris explains why the resurgence of gray and harbor seals in the waters off Maine and Massachusetts is not welcome by fishermen; seals also are blamed for increases in shark activity along coastal beaches. As she unravels how the marine mammals and humans interact, readers meet individual seals, including the unforgettable Hoover (a talker) and Andre (a long-distance traveler). The book is an informative, entertaining account of what can happen when conservation efforts succeed.
Hunger Like a Thirst by Besha Rodell
- Location: USA & Australia
- Type: Memoir
- Buy now: bookshop.org
Hitch a ride with Australian restaurant critic Besha Rodell to the United States and back to Oz (many times) through the culinary landscape that shaped her. It’s a journey full of detours and moments of serendipity. Brought up by parents who cooked but lacked money, Rodell entered the restaurant world as a waitress in North Carolina, then New York City. She describes how she was going nowhere fast, living on food stamps with a baby at her hip, when her first writing assignment—ironically about truffles—opened many doors. A James Beard Award winner, Rodell proves an entertaining guide to the often unglamorous worlds of fine dining and journalism.
Check out Afar’s 2024 summer book picks for more inspiration.
