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You are here: Backpacker Resources > Travel Books > Top 5 Books for August 2009

Top 5 Books for August 2009

1. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai
   

   It’s been a while since I blew through a book like this but Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard is just one of those reads. Literarily it’s a light as a soufflé and as a far as the meat and potatoes of the plot are concerned, it fills you up without any bloating. Your main man is Sampath Chawla – a boy born to a less than ordinary mother in Shakot, India during a time of drought and famine. You presume his birth coinciding with the arrival of a Red Cross food parcel is a portent of great things to come, but beyond pseudo religious career changes later in life, it aint’ that spiritual. Growing tired of the nine to five grind in the post office, Sampath lines up a spectacular dismissal and proceeds to take up a residency in an abandoned guava orchard. His unusual behaviour and his intimate knowledge of local affairs from years of steaming open letters, results in Sampath becoming something of a revered holy man, come advisor. A great choice for the beach.

   Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai is published by faber and faber (paperback; £7.99). It is also available through amazon.com and all good booksellers.

2. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
   

   This is a charmingly comic piece of fiction that kicks off when our dear old British Queen has a chance encounter with Westminster’s travelling library. After a rather awkward initial withdrawal, Queenie develops a voracious appetite for reading and begins to neglect her official duties. Said neglect doesn’t go unnoticed by the monarch’s staff who diligently plot away to remove this new threat to the traditional status quo. The Prime Minister also weighs in when he finds the Queen doling out what he considers to be burdensome reading assignments at their weekly meetings. You can get through this one in a day and if you don’t catch yourself smiling at the cross over between the great authors of the twentieth century and the Queen’s extensive, and historic social calendar, then you might want to get yourself looked at.

   The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett is published by faber and faber (paperback; £6.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.

3. The Rough Guide to California
   

   With the American tourism boards launching a major new offensive to win back recession battered world travellers, I though it appropriate to do a little research into Terminator Arnie’s sunshine state. For anyone set to hit the west coast this Rough Guide title is a great starting place with a full spectrum of accommodation hot spots for all budgets, the tip top attractions and the national parks that you as a responsible, and inquisitive traveller, simply cannot afford to miss! The outdoor activity suggestion section is pretty extensive too and the bright, colour coordinated pages make this brick of a book, that much easier to navigate - compared to its black and white predecessors. A perfect potential companion should you ever choose to throw caution to the wind and take that road trip down High Way One.

   The Rough Guide to California is published by Rough Guides (paperback; £14.99). It is also available through roughguides.com and all good booksellers.

4. Coastal California Travel Guide from Lonely Planet
   

   Speaking of coastal road trips down High Way One, this specifically car orientated guide offers some corking itineraries and you can even test drive a selection of sections for free, on the wonderful Lonely Planet website. The 500 mile San Francisco to San Diego suggestion is particularly appetising and the rather informed authors even suggest appropriate wines, dress codes and forays into beach socialism, just to make sure you blend in as much as you humanly can. This badger even goes as far as to put forward a top ten California themed playlist for your trusty travelling iPod and also, a reading list to orientate you with the great sights, and writers, of America’s west coast. Thankfully Steinbeck’s Cannery Row makes it on to said list, thereby getting a big, endorsing thumbs up from yours truly. Set in the Monterey of yesteryear, Cannery Row a top read that was written to be timeless!

   Coastal California Travel Guide is published by Lonely Planet (paperback; £12.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.

5. The Offa’s Dyke Path by David Hunter
   

   OK – stop sniggering you juvenile backpacking monkeys. This travel guide is in no way related to the derogatory lesbian colloquialism – it is in fact a collection of top tips for hikers set on conquering the welsh marshes between Prestatyn and Chepstow. Popular with backpackers the world over, this route covers the best woodlands, rocky crevices and spots of astounding natural beauty, only to be found in Wales. The 1:25,000 maps make moor navigation easier than ever – so if you’ve never completed a Duke of Edinburgh, you need not worry. My favourite route in this read has to be Pandy to Hay-on-Wye, on page 81. The foot by foot account is enough to make any reader don a pair of hiking boots!

   The Offa’s Dyke Path by David Hunter is published by Cicerone (paperback; £12.95). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.

- Rob Savage