Results tagged “Reading” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Our beloved book critic Don George is back this month reviewing the latest tome from Peter Mayle, a writer who first inspired us to pack our bags two decades ago with his best-selling A Year in Provence. His latest, The Vintage Caper, revisits Provence through a story of a multi-million-dollar heist of French wines from a Hollywood collector. "As our protagonists track the precious bottles, the trail leads--naturellement! --through a succession of excellent repasts and leisurely ambles, which Mayle depicts with painterly ease and signature savoir vivre," George writes.

Check out the full review here. 

Renting a villa in Umbria this summer? Perhaps you're hiking in Nepal or just lazing on a Bermuda beach. Or you may be taking the kids on their first U.S. road trip. Whatever your plans, we have a book for you, selected from Traveler's online Ultimate Travel Library of classic and new reads with a great sense of place. Each of these books will illuminate your destination, give you unexpected tips on what to see and do, and keep you turning pages during that long flight or that sunny poolside afternoon.

[50 Books of Summer]

Photo by Hans F. Meier/iStockphoto.com

In his latest column, our book critic Don George reviews the new title, Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, by Geoff Dyer, about a British art journalist sent to cover the Venice Biennale. In it, George writes, the main character Jeff Atman's exploits are both dizzying and quintessentially Venetian:

[His] Bellini-fueled adventures offer artful angles from which to appreciate anew Venice's enduring attractions: the canals, palazzos, gondoliers, and vaporetti; the crumbling pastels, illusory waterways, and century-spanning bells. Through Atman, Dyer touches the elusive soul of Venice, the unexpected beauties of glass and grave, the way you can get lost at any minute and then, after wandering for an hour, suddenly appear at the doorway to your hotel, miles from where it was supposed to be.

Read the rest of George's review here, plus more book picks from Mexico, Australia, and Pakistan. And learn more about Venice from our Places of a Lifetime series. 

Photo: Jimmy Leo