Book Review: "Book Lust to Go" by Nancy Pearl

Although I love books and reading, I sometimes get stuck in a book rut. Despite having a towering “To Be Read” pile, I will have a problem finding anything that suits my fancy. Thankfully, that is when Nancy Pearl’s invaluable Book Lust series comes into play. Her latest addition is Book Lust to Go, a book full of recommended reads dealing with a variety of locales ranging from Baltimore to Berlin and Verona to Vietnam.

Like the other Book Lust books, Book Lust to Go is arranged according to theme, with most of these themes pertaining to the location in question. These themes (mostly) make sense, even when Pearl decides to use quips or puns (think “Just So Much Greek to Me”). Besides countries, the book includes sections dedicated to hiking (hilariously titled, “Hiking the (You Fill in the Blank Trail”), mountains, and bodies of water (separated into “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” “See the Sea,” and “Water, Water Everywhere”).

Far from just relying on the ubiquitous travel guides, this collection includes novels, memoirs by travelers and native authors, and other pieces of non-fiction. Regardless of what you are in the mood for reading, chances are that you will find something to satisfy your literary craving. The breadth of literature represented in this book is all the more impressive when considering the fact that Pearl judiciously tried to avoid repeating books from her three previous Book Lust forays.

Overall, Book Lust to Go is the perfect resource not just for the armchair adventurer or the reader struck with wanderlust, but for people who are going on a trip but is at a loss for what to read. Not only will Book Lust to Go give them a wealth of suggestions to help them pass the time while traveling, it will (more often than not) offer them book ideas that will give them better insight into the place they are going.