9 Spectacular Destination Books to Cure Your Wanderlust

A good book is a perfect way to explore new vistas and is certainly one way to cure your wanderlust. With titles that will make you happy to stay inside, you’ll be adding these titles to your booklist next! These destination books will bring spectacular landscapes to your living room.

1.Eat Pray Love by Elizebeth Gilbert

As a New York Times Best Seller for over three years, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia is the perfect book to kick off this list. The autobiographical story follows 34-year-old author, Elizebeth Gilbert, as she rebuilds herself out of the ashes of her past.

The lessons she learns as she spends months in three countries and learns how to find balance. This book explores Italy, India, and Indonesia as well as the philosophical themes of happiness, spirituality, and balance. If you are looking for a soulful read, you’ll enjoy this journey that delves into romantic love, self-love, and healing.

2. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by  Deborah Moggach

We all know the troubles of dealing with difficult in-laws, however, London doctor Ravi Kapoor has his work cut out for him. Fortunately for Ravi, his cousin is creating a London inspired retirement home in India. Unfortunately for Ravi’s father-in-law, development is falling far short. And other prospective residents are due to arrive imminently.

While the resort fails on promises to its inhabitants, the story delivers everything from humor to morality. If you are looking to be transported from London to the mountains of India, then this book is just what you need to cure your itch to travel.

3. Night of Rain and Stars by  Maeve Binchy

Join an ensemble of characters in Greece as a strange riverboat disaster brings their lives together. The book opens with a Grecian tour boat, the Olga, on fire in the bay. Several of the strangers had just been on it the day before. As the group gets to know one another and the small village, they discover the more they open up with each other, the more the village opens up to them.

With themes of generosity, friendship, and intimacy from tragedy. Join these dynamic characters as they journey into each other’s lives, loves, and losses.

4. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Somewhat less popular than it’s sequel — The Davinchi Code — Angles and Demons still holds its own in crime adventure books. Join the scholarly Robert Langdon in Vatican cities as he helps look for a weapon of mass destruction. With threats to the Catholic church while voting for a new pope and a crazed killer terrorizing the city, the scholarly Robert is taking his knowledge into the field.

This book contains detailed descriptions of locations all around Vatican City, Rome, and Italy.

5. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Travel to the low country of North Carolina as the locals investigate the murder of a local man. Pinning the blame on “The Marsh Girl,” an intelligent recluse named Kya Clark, this is a coming of age tale for lovers of contemporary fiction. 

Mingling romance, mystery, and murder all against the backdrop of a small coastal town will have you reflecting on abandonment, nature, and relationships. With Owen’s elegant prose, you will almost be able to smell the ocean air.

6. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is one of the best mystery writers the world has ever seen. In this story, she entangles readers in the complex relationships between one detective and the passengers on the Orient Express. As the name suggests, the Orient Express is an express train taking passengers from Syria to Istanbul and —as protagonist  Hercule Poirot points out — is strangely crowded for a midnight trip. Join him as he slowly pulls the thread on the tapestry of a convoluted murder plot across the Turkish mountainside. The chilly setting is perfect to add to your stack of destination books.

7. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

An undisputed American literary classic, Moby Dick is still influencing readers and appearing in pop culture, even lending a character name to one of the most popular coffee chains, Starbucks. Join Ismael on the open sea as the Captain slowly descends into obsession and madness as he fiercely pursues the white whale that took his leg.

Explore themes so prominent they nearly become characters themselves while you read through the inventory logs of the Pequod as the captain and crew venture farther and farther into peril.

8. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Sticking with the nautical theme, The Life of Pi is both a fantasy and adventure novel that follows young Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patelas as he fights to survive a deadly shipwreck. Oh, and did we mention he must share a raft with a full-grown tiger that grows hungrier each day?

Filled with literary Easter eggs for the well-read bibliophile, this tale explores the themes of the shipwreck narrative itself. Ultimately, it is a tale of making the story of your life into what you wish it to be.

9. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Want to travel? How about reading something completely out of this world? With this avant-garde classic by Ray Bradbury, you travel through several generations to the surface of Mars and see how the planet, the Martians, and humanity itself is altered over the course of a planet’s history. 

Though a classic, this book is not for every reader as the closest thing to the main character is the titular red planet, seasoned with a sweet melancholy flavor. If you enjoy probing at the nature of humanity, war, and rebirth, then this little history might be the read for you.

The Benefit of Destination Books

Whether the weather is bad or your budget is tight, destination books allow you to visit different places and experience different cultures without leaving your home. Not to mention, books give you something to talk about to stay social.

Looking to put down the destination books and flip the pages of something a little more educational? Check out our free A to Z Guide to learn everything about aging well. 

Life Enriching Communities is a collection of continuing care retirement communities located in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, with independent living homes, assisted living, rehab services, and more. We’re focused on supporting the vibrant and active lifestyles of our residents so they can age well. For more information, contact Life Enriching Communities online or at 513-719-3510.