Here are most of the books we read on the trip.  If you want to buy one, click on the appropriate link, and Amazon will throw a few cents our way. 

Books We Read:

1. Travel books
2. Travel-related books
3. Electronic books
4. Fantasy & Science Fiction (Tom)
5. General reading

Travel books

• Footprint’s South American Handbook - Excellent!  Absolutely indispensable for travelers in South America.  This was our main resource for five months!
  
• Fodor’s South America - Terrible
  
• Rough Guide Guatemala & Belize - Our friend had Lonely Planet and together they had enough information.  Each on their own were lacking.
  
• Lonely Planet Patagonia Hiking Guide - Good descriptions of the hikes, if you have time to explore Patagonia then this book is very helpful
  
• Exploring Cusco - Peter Frost - Very Good.   Specific book about the Sacred Valley.  He provides more detail than many of the local guides.  Seems to be only available in Cusco.
  
• Green Guide to Ecuador - Good.  Suggested places that we would not have known about otherwise.  We definitely got off of the beaten track.  I can't seem to find this anywhere on the Internet, though.
  
• The Amazon – The Bradt Travel Guide - Did not use much
  
• Lonely Planet Norway - Fair
  
• Footprint’s Israel Handbook - Good
  
• Footprint’s Egypt Handbook - Outdated, but complete
  
• Fodor’s China - Terrible
  
• Lonely Planet Vietnam - Fair.  It seemed we always needed to get more information than the book provided.
  
• Lonely Planet Vietnamese Phrasebook - Good
  
• Lonely Planet Cambodia - Good
  
• Diving Indonesia - Fair
  
• Lonely Planet Indonesia - Good
  
• Footprint’s India Handbook - Very good! More information than we needed! 
  
• Rough Guide Nepal - Fair.  The Lonely Planet that our friend had was better, especially the trekking guide version.
  

Travel-related books

• Conquest of the  Incas    John Hemming    Very Good.  Excellent history of the Spanish conquest of northern South America.  While very historically accurate the book reads well.
• From Beruit to Jerusalem    Thomas Friedman    Excellent! Provides interesting anecdotes and great insight into the tension in the middle east.
• The Source    James Michener    Very Good.   Provides an interesting historically based view of Israel.
• Paradise of the Blind    Duong Thu Huong, Phan Huy Duong, Nina McPherson, Thu Hng Dng    Very evocative account of life and change in Viet Nam, told from the perspective of a young woman.  We loved this book, but forgot the title until Tom found it on Amazon
• Three Moons In Vietnam    Maria Coffey    Fair.  A husband and wife travel by bicycle in Vietnam the summer of 1994.  Interesting vignettes, but outdated.
• The Death and Life of Dith Pran (The Killing Fields)    Sydney Schanberg    Excellent.  The classic book about Cambodia in the dark years. 
  
• Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Hart of Guns, Girls and Ganja    Amit Gilboa    Fair. Wild tales about modern day Phnom Penh.
  
• Children of Cambodia’s Killing Fields    Dith Pran    Good.  Had potential, but poorly written
• Are you Experienced?    William Sutcliffe    Poor. Childish book about university graduates traveling in India.  Has about one redeeming page.
• Understanding Vietnam    Neil Jamieson    Highly recommended to us, but we did not read it.
• From the Lexus to the Olive Tree    Thomas Friedman    Very Good. 
  
• In Patagonia    Bruce Chatwin   
• The Making of Modern South Africa    Nigel Worden   
• In Rajasthan    Royina Grewal   
• God of Small Things    Arundhati Roy   
• What Color is Your Parachute    Richard Bolles   
• Endurance     Alfred Lansing   
• Neither Here Nor There    Bill Bryson   
• Exodus     Leon Uris   
• The Quiet American     Graham Greene   
• Teach Yourself Spanish     Juan Kattan Ibarra

Electronic books

• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Companion (#1 Hitchhiker’s Trilogy)    Douglas Adams
  
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (#2 Hitchhiker’s Trilogy)    Douglas Adams
  
• Life, the Universe and Everything (#3 Hitchhiker’s Trilogy)    Douglas Adams
  
• So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (#4 Hitchhiker’s Trilogy)    Douglas Adams
  
• Mostly Harmless (#5 Hitchhiker’s Trilogy)    Douglas Adams
  
• Wizard of Oz series    L. Frank Baum
  
• Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus    Orson Scott Card
  
• Anne of Green Gables    Lucy Maud Montgomery
  

Fantasy & Science Fiction

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire    JK Rowling
• Shardik    Richard Adams
• Star Wars: Episode One the Phantom Menace     Terry Brooks
• Friday     Robert Heinlein
• Beaker's Dozen    Nancy Kress
• Beyond Lies the Wub    Philip K Dick
• Battlefield Earth    L. Ron Hubbard
• Wizards First Rule     Terry Goodkind
• Excession     Iain Banks
• Inversions     Iain Banks
• The Venging    Greg Bear
• Otherland: City of Golden Shadow (Otherland Volume 1)    Tad Williams
• Return to Mars     Ben Bova
• Araminta Station (Cadwall Chronicles book 1)     Jack Vance

General reading

• Without Remorse    Tom Clancy
• Intensity    Dean Koontz
• Gypsy One    Alistair Maclean
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason    Helen Fielding
• Fist of God     Frederick Forsyth
• The Devil’s Alternative    Frederick Forsyth
• The Power of One     Bryce Courtenay
• Tandia    Bryce Courtenay
• Amazon.com: Get Big Fast    Robert Spector TERRIBLE!
• The Bear and the Dragon    Tom Clancy
• The Lion's Game     Nelson DeMille
• The Right Stuff    Tom Wolfe
• The Potato Factory    Bryce Courtenay

Revised: February 12, 2001 on www.shieldsaroundtheworld.com.
Copyright © 2000 Tom & Louisa Shields. All rights reserved.