Like music, reading is a huge part of who I am. Growing up, I was always yelled at for reading under the covers with a flashlight while my sister tried to sleep in the bed across from mine. Also like music, reading and travel go hand-in-hand. Nothing is a better cure for a never-ending bus trip or lazy night in the hostel common room than a good book. Over the last six months of travel, I plowed through about 10 books (not including the Lonely Planet guides used along the way). Most of what I read tends to be nonfiction, though I did catch a few thoroughly enjoyable novels while traveling.

The best parts about reading while on the road are the discussions and book trades you make along the way. Upon finishing my first book, I made a pact to myself to leave a note and my blog link ( a la PostSecret.com-style) for the person to pick up my book after I’ve left it behind. The following are some of my favorites; the books that inspired me to keep traveling and soak in as much history as possible:

John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman – Of all the works I’ve read on the Beatles, this is easily the most exhaustive and comprehensive, weighing in at nearly 900 pages. Initially written with the blessings and cooperation of both Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney, it has been reported they were unhappy with the end results. In his biography, Norman is able to strip away the martyrdom and the controversy that oft surrounds Lennon to bring to light the good, the bad, talented and tortured.

The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss – The jury’s still out on how much I liked this one. While I can certainly appreciate the ideals of a four-hour work week and location independent lifestyle, it is not for everyone and I think that’s where my feelings are lost on the self-help book. Ferriss needs to work on finding a better balance between helping those who want to make the actual concept a reality and those interested in making simpler lifestyle changes. I most enjoyed answering the thoughtful questions at the end of chapters and working on my personal Dreamline Worksheet.

The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton – You can read my review of this book here.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss – The first of the two fiction works I read while traveling, Krauss’ novel was like fulfilling a sweet tooth. It offers the entwined story of a young girl trying to help her translator-mother find love again and the secret behind a book that holds great family meaning. The book within the book tells of a Holocaust survivor’s story of lover lost.

First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung – Ung throws the reader right into the Khmer Rouge’s regime by writing in the present tense, as if she is still the young girl working to survive her family’s hardships under Pol Pot. While this narrative offers insight to what happened during the Cambodian genocide, it left me wondering how legitimate some of her accounts are, as the title itself is misleading.

The Posionwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – This best-selling novel is the best fiction work I’ve read in a long time. It’s engaging, clever and heartbreaking all at once. The Price family of six (led by a Baptist missionary father) relocates from Georgia to the Belgian Congo during the country’s emergence into a post-colonial era. The historical fiction story is narrated by the women of the family, as their lives parallel the tumultuous time in of The Congo during the 1950s and ’60s.

The Girl in the Picture by Denise Chong – This biographical and historical work traces the life story of the child in the infamous picture of the young girl running naked during the Vietnam War, Kim Phúc. It follows her life from before the attack and into present day (1999). The work also focuses heavily on relationships between the Vietnamese and Americans during the war, examining ideas of war, political turmoil, international relations and racism. A heavy, but worthwhile read.

Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India by Rory MacLean – I bought this book on a whim nearly a year ago, before the prospect of world travel was even on my radar. I was drawn to its lime green cover and eclectic hippie drawings, but then forgot I even had it. In this little-known travel narrative, MacLean retraces the eastward path traveled by the enlightened, the spiritual and the adventuresome in the 1960s and ’70s. The so-called Intrepids — fueled by gurus like Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — are the backbone of modern day backpackers, though much of the initial purpose (to “observe and absorb” other cultures) has been lost. This was hands-down my favorite book of my travels, and maybe one of my favorites of all time.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Relin – After a failed attempt to summit the world’s greatest peak, K2, Greg Mortensen turns the page from mountain man to philanthropist. In this man-versus-the-world story of Mortensen’s attempt to build schools and educate girls in Afghanistan, culture prejudices, poverty and the Taliban are revealed in an alarmingly accurate and sometimes unfortunate manner. The recently-released follow up, Stones into Schools is on my list of to-reads.

Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin – In the last days of George Orwell’s life, he returned to his earlier ones in Burma/Myanmar for inspiration. The result is an unfinished manuscript and pages of notes. Larkin follows Orwell’s footsteps and trio of novels (Burmese Days, Animal Farm and 1984) in Burma/Myanmar, discovering that his time in Burma may have been the inspiration for 1984 and that the country, where he is revered as “The Prophet,” still bears an eerily close resemblance to the story written so many years ago.

• Stones into Schools by Greg Mortensen
• The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want and Change the World by Chris Guillebeau
• Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne
• You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
• The Glass Palace by Amitav Gosh
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
• The King Never Smiles by Paul M. Handley

Read any great books lately? Leave them in the comments, as I’m always looking for suggestions!