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Travel to Exotic Countries

1. Tiger’s Curse (The Tiger Saga, #1) by Colleen Houck

   A white tiger, mythology, and a travel to India and through its jungles – that is a mix of awesome! I love love love the setting of this novel. The atmosphere is incredible. Everything is so lush and vivid, I felt like I would be there along with Kelsey – just to be reminded that I was not when she ate all this incredible Indian food. I was so jealous. Indian cuisine is my favourite! It was perfect – until Ren’s brother is introduced. This foreboding of a love triangle really crushed my good mood. At least the setting remained magnificent.

2. Die Rose von Arabien by Christine Lehmann [TT: The Rose of Arabia]

   This one takes the reader to Dubai and the Arab world and it could be a fairytale of The Arabian Nights. I really liked to get to know Arab culture, traditions, and rules.  It was a fascinating and informative read – but unfortunately, the story is far from great. The romance between Finja and Chalil is instalove at its best. Finja is sixteen and knows Chalil for a couple of weeks, yet she loves him so much that she wants to give up everything she knows in order to be able to marry him: her home, her world, her traditions, and her religion. But hey, the travel destination was awesome!

Travel via Magical and Mundane Transportation

3. Im Schatten des Elfenmonds by O.R. Melling [OT: The Hunter’s Moon (The Chronicles of Faerie, #1)]

   Ireland! That’s the only word you need to get my attention. Throw in a bit of mythology and I’m sold. The cousins Gwen and Findabhair (guess who’s the one from Ireland) are on a backpacking trip through the country when Finn is abducted by the King of Faerie. Now Gwen is desperately trying to get her back before it’s too late. Of course, she stumbles from one adventure to the next meeting a couple of interesting and/or magical characters on her way. I adore this book and have read it at least three times already.

4. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

   The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

   This novel was … interesting – in a good way. I cannot really describe how I feel about it. It was fascinating, with an amazing writing style that makes the tents pop up out of the pages, all black and white like the ink on the paper. It is eerily beautiful and magical and tragic – just as the story of a travelling circus that, at the same time, is the venue of a magic competition ought to be. If you don’t want to be spoiled try to avoid the blurb. It gives away the main mystery of the novel.

Travel in Space

5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide, #1) by Douglas Adams

   This is one of my feel-good books. It’s so funny and strange and brilliant it will turn you into a total nerd constantly quoting passages like a maniac since it has the answer to every possible question in the universe – because if you can’t think of any answer, then it just has to be 42. That’s a law! If you want to be one of the people who dream of having a Babel Fish, celebrate Towel Day, know how to mix a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster to have “your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick” and try to kill every white mouse in the universe, then you should definitely read this gem.

Travel in Fantasy Worlds

6. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

   Listing books about travel without naming at least one high fantasy novel would be blasphemy. The Hobbit stands for all the great novels about questing heroes travelling up and down their fictional lands in order to fulfil their destiny. You might wonder why I chose Mr Bilbo Baggins to have the honour of representing this genre. Well, The Hobbit was the first high fantasy novel I’ve ever read and his more or less voluntary travel turned adventure to the Lonely Mountain represents high fantasy travel at its best.

7. Der Kuss des Kjer by Lynn Raven [TT: The Kiss of the Kjer]

   Lynn Raven is one of my favourite authors and I love her High Fantasy YA to pieces although they are not flawless. Still, I adore her worlds and characters and her writing so very much. Of all her novels I’ve read so far, this one is my favourite. Lijanas is kidnapped by the most feared and ruthless warrior and his gang to be turned into a sacrifice. Fortunately, this sacrificial altar is far away which makes for quite a long journey. Naturally, this results in many twists and turns, dangers, chases, fights and some romance. And nothing is as it seems. I really want to re-read it soon.

Travel on Horseback

8. Anna zu Pferde by Max Kruse [TT: Anna on Horseback]

   This is NOT one of ‘those horse novels’! Well, at least not only. It is first and foremost a historical novel set against the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. After her parents are killed, Anna in disguise of a boy sets out with her mare Jasmin to find her brother who is fighting in the Protestant army. On her way there, Anna has to face many dangers but also makes new friends like an artist who creates a painting of Anna and her horse, which gives this book its title. When she finally finds her brother, things turn out rather unexpected and Anna flees home but soon gets into the grips of the inquisition accusing her of being a witch. I really loved it. It had just the right amount of horses, history, and romance. My edition has a much prettier cover than the one above, but I couldn’t find it anywhere and I don’t have my copy at hand.

9. Der lange Ritt nach Hause by Diana Pullein-Thompson [OT: The Long Ride Home]

   In the German translation, the protagonist is called Cara (which is my name btw). Naturally, I had to have this book and I love it and have read it over and over again. Cara has some kind of illness, probably epilepsy, which causes her to black out if she doesn’t take her pills. She is supposed to spend her holidays on an island with her pony and a half-sister, who conveniently is a nurse, she’s never met. But things get out of hand when Cara discovers that her sister is involved in a smuggler/drug dealer ring. Together with her pony and her dog, she flees the island chased by the smugglers. On the way to her grandma’s she is confronted with many difficulties and adventures.

10. Wir reiten, Midi! by Katrin Dillenburger [TT: We’re Riding, Midi!]

    I can’t really remember the details since I’ve read this a couple of years ago but I really enjoyed it. It is the story of a girl who gets the Camargue mare Midi and her foal for some reason I cannot remember while she is in France. Since she cannot pay for shipping her horses back home, she decides to cross half of France on horseback. It was a beautiful and interesting story against the wonderful setting of the south of France.