Here are 100 books that Hand Luggage Only fans have personally recommended if you like Hand Luggage Only. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman's Journey to Every Country in the World

Tonia Hope Author Of Traveling Europe on a Budget: An Insider's Guide to Finding Hidden Gems, Avoiding Tourist Traps and Having the Vacation of Your Dreams on the Cheap

From my list on inspire your next travel adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Travel has always been more than just a passion for me; it’s a way of life. As a travel content creator and author, I’ve explored countless destinations, immersing myself in different cultures and uncovering stories that often go untold. I believe in traveling with curiosity, finding hidden gems, and experiencing places beyond the typical tourist spots. My journeys have taken me across Europe and beyond, and I love sharing practical tips and personal insights to inspire others. Travel should be exciting, accessible, and deeply enriching, and I hope this list helps spark that same sense of adventure in you.

Tonia's book list on inspire your next travel adventure

Tonia Hope Why Tonia loves this book

I could not put this book down because it made me feel like I was traveling alongside Jessica Nabongo, seeing the world through her eyes. Her storytelling is raw, inspiring, and filled with moments that made me pause and reflect on my own travels.

I loved how she brought each destination to life, not just through its landscapes but through the people she met and the lessons she learned along the way. Her journey of visiting every country in the world as a Black woman is not just impressive; it is deeply moving and reshapes the way we think about travel, identity, and belonging. If you have ever dreamed of exploring the world, this book will ignite that spark more.

By Jessica Nabongo ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Catch Me If You Can as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this inspiring travelogue, celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo-the first Black woman on record to visit all 195 countries in the world-shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections.

It was a daunting task. But Jessica Nabongo, the beloved voice behind the popular website The Catch Me if You Can, made it happen, completing her journey to all 195 UN-recognized countries in the world in October 2019. Now, in this one-of-a-kind memoir, she reveals her top 100 destinations from her global adventure.
Beautifully illustrated with Nabongo's own photography, the book…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of An African Abroad

Tonia Hope Author Of Traveling Europe on a Budget: An Insider's Guide to Finding Hidden Gems, Avoiding Tourist Traps and Having the Vacation of Your Dreams on the Cheap

From my list on inspire your next travel adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Travel has always been more than just a passion for me; it’s a way of life. As a travel content creator and author, I’ve explored countless destinations, immersing myself in different cultures and uncovering stories that often go untold. I believe in traveling with curiosity, finding hidden gems, and experiencing places beyond the typical tourist spots. My journeys have taken me across Europe and beyond, and I love sharing practical tips and personal insights to inspire others. Travel should be exciting, accessible, and deeply enriching, and I hope this list helps spark that same sense of adventure in you.

Tonia's book list on inspire your next travel adventure

Tonia Hope Why Tonia loves this book

I loved this book because it felt like traveling the world through the sharp, witty, and fearless eyes of Olabisi Ajala. His journey across continents was not just about adventure but about challenging stereotypes and embracing the unknown.

The way he navigates different cultures with humor and resilience made me reflect on my own travels in a whole new way.

By Olabisi Ajala ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked An African Abroad as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When he's not breaking through security to shake the hands of Nikita Khrushchev, he is crashing his scooter through a border between Jordan and Israel in the then partitioned Jerusalem, amidst a hail of gunfire, escaping an assassination attempt in Jordan, or dodging the bullets of eager security agents around the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney. When he's not trying 'African ju-ju' on pretty Russian girls, he's enjoying a tense audience with Golda Meir in Israel and hobnobbing with Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kútì in Moscow. One-man daredevil-traveller, Mashood Ọlábísí Àjàlá saw and did it all, and lived to tell the tale. Now…


Book cover of Black Girls Take World: The Travel Bible for Black Women with Boundless Wanderlust

Tonia Hope Author Of Traveling Europe on a Budget: An Insider's Guide to Finding Hidden Gems, Avoiding Tourist Traps and Having the Vacation of Your Dreams on the Cheap

From my list on inspire your next travel adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Travel has always been more than just a passion for me; it’s a way of life. As a travel content creator and author, I’ve explored countless destinations, immersing myself in different cultures and uncovering stories that often go untold. I believe in traveling with curiosity, finding hidden gems, and experiencing places beyond the typical tourist spots. My journeys have taken me across Europe and beyond, and I love sharing practical tips and personal insights to inspire others. Travel should be exciting, accessible, and deeply enriching, and I hope this list helps spark that same sense of adventure in you.

Tonia's book list on inspire your next travel adventure

Tonia Hope Why Tonia loves this book

This book is the kind of book I wish I had earlier. Georgina Lawton fills every page with encouragement, practical advice, and the kind of stories that make you feel seen. It’s more than a travel guide, it’s a call to adventure, a reminder that the world is ours to explore too. If you’ve ever felt like solo travel wasn’t for you, this book will change that.

By Georgina Lawton ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Black Girls Take World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Black Girls Take World is the global travel bible for adventurous explorers and travel newbies looking to engage with the concept of solo travel.

Packed full of inspiring essays, advice on budgeting, eating alone, reducing carbon footprints and dealing with passport privilege and discrimination, as well as Q&A's with travel leaders such as Jessica Nabongo (the first black woman to travel to every country in the world) Annette Richmond (founder of Fat Girls Traveling), and Rhiane Fatinikun (founder of Black Girls Hike), this book is for the conscientious and the curious.

Black women understand innately what it means to feel…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of Go Girl!: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure

Tonia Hope Author Of Traveling Europe on a Budget: An Insider's Guide to Finding Hidden Gems, Avoiding Tourist Traps and Having the Vacation of Your Dreams on the Cheap

From my list on inspire your next travel adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

Travel has always been more than just a passion for me; it’s a way of life. As a travel content creator and author, I’ve explored countless destinations, immersing myself in different cultures and uncovering stories that often go untold. I believe in traveling with curiosity, finding hidden gems, and experiencing places beyond the typical tourist spots. My journeys have taken me across Europe and beyond, and I love sharing practical tips and personal insights to inspire others. Travel should be exciting, accessible, and deeply enriching, and I hope this list helps spark that same sense of adventure in you.

Tonia's book list on inspire your next travel adventure

Tonia Hope Why Tonia loves this book

This book is a celebration of adventure, resilience, and the power of seeing the world through your own eyes.

I loved how each story brought a different perspective, from exhilarating journeys to deeply personal reflections on what it means to travel as a Black woman. It is inspiring, affirming, and a reminder that the world is ours to explore.

By Elaine Lee (editor) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Go Girl! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Go Girl: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure, edited by Elaine Lee, is the first travel book by and for African American women. Its an anthology of 52 riveting traveler's tales by writers such as Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, Jill Nelson, Alice Walker and Pearl Cleage.


Book cover of Witch-Hunting in Scotland: Law, Politics and Religion

Malcolm Gaskill Author Of Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy

From my list on witch hunting in Britain and Europe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at the University of East Anglia and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. I taught history for many years at several UK universities, and I was the Director of Studies in History at Churchill College, Cambridge. I am the author of six books, including Hellish Nell: Last of Britain’s Witches and Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction. His latest book, The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World, will be published in November by Penguin. I live in Cambridge, England, and I am married with three children.

Malcolm's book list on witch hunting in Britain and Europe

Malcolm Gaskill Why Malcolm loves this book

The distinctive selling-point of this work is summed up by its sub-title: a focus on law, politics and religion as causal factors, not just for humdrum witchcraft accusations but for major, sustained witch-hunts. Brian Levack has made a huge contribution to our understanding of witch-hunting, and here brings his specialist expertise to bear on Scotland, which experienced the most intense, and devastating panics anywhere in the British Isles (and worse even than most places in continental Europe).

Historians have long learned not to see witch-hunts as hysterical spasms of pre-Enlightenment ‘superstition’. Demonology was a serious subject in the sixteenth and seventeeen centuries, and was logically coherent within the mentalities of the time. Witchcraft, then, wasn’t some insane sideshow to the dominant legal, political and religious issues of the day, but central to those issues.

Embedding witchcraft in these mainstream contexts is essential to understanding what it once meant, not just…

By Brian P. Levack ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Witch-Hunting in Scotland as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Shortlisted for the 2008 Katharine Briggs Award

Witch-Hunting in Scotland presents a fresh perspective on the trial and execution of the hundreds of women and men prosecuted for the crime of witchcraft, an offence that involved the alleged practice of maleficent magic and the worship of the devil, for inflicting harm on their neighbours and making pacts with the devil.

Brian P. Levack draws on law, politics and religion to explain the intensity of Scottish witch-hunting. Topics discussed include:

the distinctive features of the Scottish criminal justice system the use of torture to extract confessions the intersection of witch-hunting with…


Book cover of Tenement Kid: From the Streets of Glasgow in the 1960s to Drummer in Jesus and Mary Chain and Frontman in Primal Scream

Pete Elderkin Author Of Sugar, Gravy, Pleasure: An Indie Odyssey in Peterborough

From my list on British rock music icons.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like many others, I had an early fascination for pop music, which moved on to rock music as I grew older. I would love to know more about the artists or music figures who made such emotional and stunning music that made the world better and more exciting. British rock and roll music has made a massive impact on the Western life that we all know and love. These five books are the best ones for me, and while all are unique, they have humor and interesting details and let me gain knowledge about these iconic figures.   

Pete's book list on British rock music icons

Pete Elderkin Why Pete loves this book

I loved this book because I was able to find out more about this lynchpin of the indie music World of the 80s and 90s that I grew up in. Primal Scream was responsible for some iconic tunes, and learning more about Bobby was insightful and entertaining. I discovered so much that I didn’t know about the band’s musical journey and Bobby's influences.

By Bobby Gillespie ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tenement Kid as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

ROUGH TRADE'S BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Gillespie is rock and roll's Oliver Twist. A punk rock fairytale, razor sharp on class struggle, music, style, and a singular view of the world resulting in one of the world's great bands. Couldn't put down' Courtney Love

Born into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1961, TENEMENT KID begins in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in Edward Heath's brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work as a printers' apprentice, Bobby's rock n roll epiphany arrives like a bolt of lightning shining from Phil Lynott's…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

Tom Keymer Author Of Jane Austen: A Very Short Introduction

From my list on stories written before 1800.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been researching and teaching the history of the novel since I was a graduate student in Cambridge in the late 1980s, and along the way, I’ve published trade editions of several classics beyond those recommended here, including Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Richardson’s Pamela, Fielding’s Tom Jones, and Beckford’s Vathek. It’s a great opportunity to take a break from specialist academia and reach a broader community of readers, as I’ve also tried to do in a recent introductory book about Jane Austen. I now teach at the University of Toronto, where I’m blessed with amazing students on two of my favourite undergraduate courses, “The Rise of the Novel” and “Austen and Her Contemporaries.”

Tom's book list on stories written before 1800

Tom Keymer Why Tom loves this book

Tobias Smollett, Scotland’s greatest novelist before Scott and Stevenson, was dying in a villa on the Ligurian coast when his masterpiece Humphry Clinker came out in London in 1771. Yet every page is written with astounding verve, immersing readers in the vibrant chaos of eighteenth-century Britain, the sights and sounds of its teeming cities and health resorts—even, in several virtuoso passages of gross-out description, its nauseating smells and tastes. Like Richardson before him, Smollett gives his narrative over to multiple voices, this time to riotously comic effect. Five Anglo-Welsh tourists (splenetic Bramble, scathing Tabitha, witty Jery, romantic Lydia, their hilariously unpredictable servant Win) travel the length and breadth of a nation in the throes of urbanization and commercial modernity, by turns disgusted and enchanted, constantly failing to agree on what they see. Illicit romances play out in the background, but Smollett’s main interest is in the turbulent dynamism of four-nations…

By Tobias Smollett , Paul-Gabriel Boucé (editor) , Lewis M. Knapp (editor)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Expedition of Humphry Clinker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

William Thackeray called it "the most laughable story that has ever been written since the goodly art of novel-writing began." As a group of travellers visit places in England and Scotland, they provide through satire and wit a vivid and detailed picture of the contemporary social and political scene.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to…


Book cover of The Thirty-Nine Steps

Ray C Doyle Author Of Defection in Prague

From my list on mystery thrillers ripped from news headlines.

Why am I passionate about this?

I guess my real interest in writing about the good and bad in crime and politics and the good and bad characters involved started with my first job as a junior in a local newspaper. The 60s was a time of great change. I was in the right place at the right time and got involved in reporting local government politics. I graduated later to cover Britain’s role within the EU in Brussels. I was fascinated, not so much by the politics but by the politicians and fellow news reporters involved. They inspired the creation of my fictional character, Pete West, a hardboiled political columnist. 

Ray's book list on mystery thrillers ripped from news headlines

Ray C Doyle Why Ray loves this book

Read as a teenager, this book hooked me into mystery thrillers. It has everything from murder to political intrigue to a spy ring.

The book is a chase thriller with twists, turns, and surprises. Written in 1930, the work had the feel of a ‘boy's own’ adventure story with a man on the run hunting German spies and clues leading to the 39 steps and victory.

Great story!

By John Buchan ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Thirty-Nine Steps as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot which could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his courage and ingenuity to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.


Book cover of Maggie & Me

Richard Glover Author Of Flesh Wounds

From my list on weird families and how to survive them.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an Australian writer and journalist. I’ve written several humour books, as well as a history of Australia in the 1960 and 1970s called The Land Before Avocado. I also write for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Washington Post and present a radio show on ABC Radio Sydney. Of the books I’ve written, the one that’s closest to my heart is my memoir Flesh Wounds.

Richard's book list on weird families and how to survive them

Richard Glover Why Richard loves this book

A young boy, already knowing he’s gay, is growing up in a Scottish slum. The rest of the household consists of people who are drunk, violent, and unemployed. Then, watching the TV, tiny Damian sees Margaret Thatcher, the then British Prime Minister, emerging from the smoke and destruction caused by the IRA’s bombing of the 1984 Conservative Party Conference. Maggie doesn’t have a hair out of place. This little ill-treated boy, sitting on his filthy couch, thinks: “If only she could come here, she’d sort this lot out....” Maggie & Me is so fresh, unlikely, and hilarious, I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be moved by the story.

By Damian Barr ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Maggie & Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A unique, tender and witty memoir of surviving the tough streets of small town Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher years ________________________ 'Shocking and funny in equal measure, and will have you weeping with laughter and sorrow' Independent on Sunday 'A work of stealthy genius' Maggie O'Farrell 'Certain memoirs catch a moment and seem to define it, bottle it ... hugely entertaining' Sunday Times It's 12 October 1984. An IRA bomb blows apart the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Miraculously, Margaret Thatcher survives. In small-town Scotland, eight-year-old Damian Barr watches in horror as his mum rips her wedding ring off and packs…


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Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Anna of Denmark: The Material and Visual Culture of the Stuart Courts, 1589-1619

Susan Doran Author Of From Tudor to Stuart: The Regime Change from Elizabeth I to James I

From my list on the reigns of James VI of Scotland and I of England.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Professor of early-modern British History at the University of Oxford and a Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford, who was a specialist in the Tudor period, especially the life and reign of Elizabeth I. However, while doing research over the past six years, I became excited by the politics, religion, and culture of the Jacobean period. James I’s reign had been a topic I taught in a week to undergraduates, but I realised that I didn’t do justice to this rich and important period. Not only is it fascinating in its own right, but James’s reign had a huge impact on a long stretch of British and world history.

Susan's book list on the reigns of James VI of Scotland and I of England

Susan Doran Why Susan loves this book

I like to get stuck into specialized studies to extend and deepen my historical knowledge. This recent monograph, based on research in Denmark, England, and Scotland, taught me a great deal about how Queen Anna used visual and material culture to forge her own identity and bring prestige to the Jacobean monarchy.

I very much enjoyed reading Field’s descriptions of Anna’s clothes, jewelry, and collecting practices, all of which displayed the queen’s pan-European identity and interests. As a scholar, I am particularly interested in the public image of kings and queens, so this book greatly appealed to me. 

By Jemma Field ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Anna of Denmark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Approaching the Stuart courts through the lens of the queen consort, Anna of Denmark, this study is underpinned by three key themes: translating cultures, female agency and the role of kinship networks and genealogical identity for early modern royal women. Illustrated with a fascinating array of objects and artworks, the book follows a trajectory that begins with Anna's exterior spaces before moving to the interior furnishings of her palaces, the material adornment of the royal body, an examination of Anna's visual persona and a discussion of Anna's performance of extraordinary rituals that follow her life cycle. Underpinned by a wealth…


Book cover of The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman's Journey to Every Country in the World
Book cover of An African Abroad
Book cover of Black Girls Take World: The Travel Bible for Black Women with Boundless Wanderlust

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Scotland, Wales, and the United Kingdom?

Scotland 355 books
Wales 65 books
The United Kingdom 597 books