100 Books Like My Journey Begins Where the Road Ends

A classic American story following Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery from Virginia to the Pacific Coast and back again in the very early 1800s.

This book needs to be read not only by those interested in history but by all who would understand the origins of our nation. The complex personalities of Lewis, Clark, and Thomas Jefferson, who envisioned the journey come through in living color. 

Just a great novel – you will fall in love and empathize with the characters.

As always, Irving mixes in life and death making the fiction feel real. Irving has a way of surprising the reader. Each plot turn will bring out a new emotion. The reader will feel sorrow, anger, and love while identifying with the characters.

Most importantly, Irving has a real touch with making me laugh at the twists and turns of life.

Jim Harrison's book is a masterpiece. I love how Harrison crafts Dalva's character; she's simultaneously tender and tough, with a complexity that resonated deeply with me. I found myself completely immersed in her world. The bold narrative structure, especially the contrasting voice of Michael, thrilled me as a reader. I love how Harrison fearlessly explores themes of loss, resilience, and self-discovery through Dalva's journey.

The vivid portrayal of the American West and its history added layers that I found fascinating. What I appreciate most is Harrison's prose—it's so powerful that I often find myself rereading passages just to savor the language. This book touched me profoundly.

A creative non-fiction work that brings the native folk hero alive in spirit while following the modern-day hero Leonard Peletier and the AIM resistance.

Again, the landscape descriptions take the reader away into the land once travelled by Native Americans. Matthiessen’s literary touch lends an almost novel-like thread by comparing the legends of Crazy Horse, perhaps the most revered of Lakota warriors, who becomes more than an historical figure in support of the fight for Native American rights and dignity in the American West of the 1970s.

I was drawn to this book by the title but also the subtitle: The intermingling of fishing and writing in a novelist’s life.

As a fly fisherman and writer myself, I have often thought about the connection between fishing and writing, and more particularly, the similar experiences that come from both, so when I learned about this book, I had to read it. Craig Nova does not disappoint.

Fishing is about good stories, and Nova tells them in this book, but he also reveals how fishing and writing have common needs, such as the need to be in the moment.

He also is honest about the challenges of being a writer and he uses the stream to remind us that when, as he says, “the literary weather is going to take a turn for the worst, what is needed, more than anything else, is the ability to calm down.” 

I was approached by Jerry Pushcar's brother when he first published this book, and I agreed to take a look, but was skeptical, being as it was self-published. But when I read it, I was blown away.

Not only is the writing beautiful and literary, but the journey is hard to believe: paddling 9,000 miles over three years, from New Orleans, up the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, along the shore of Lake Superior, over the Grand Portage, across Canada and all the way to Nome, Alaska. If you're wondering what that was like, you'll have to read along.

Set in the 1990s, this very engaging novel tracks the arrival of a young, angry, and confused Tara Marconi to a southeast Alaska town and then follows her as she matures alongside a set of memorable and often damaged characters.

The depictions of small-town life and the fishing industry are well-wrought, as are the conflicts that many Alaskans face with themselves, their pasts, and the environment. This counts as a coming-of-age story but is unique in its depiction of a strong, smart, and adaptable young woman finding her true, independent self in a place where self-realization is not just allowed but encouraged.

At its most basic, The Alaskan Laundry is a testament to how places and spaces shape us, and how we find where we belong. 

Dahr Jamail’s End of Ice threads his life experiences as a prized reporter, mountaineer, and climate activist, sharing personal human stories and experiences that reveal the difficult, cold, and hard evidence showing us that our cryosphere is irreversibly changing before our eyes. His easy-to-read prose, supported by well-researched and irrefutable science, gives us a unique introspection into the Anthropocene, chronicling the profound changes we are witnessing to Mother Nature and the demise of our frozen resources. I was enthralled by Jamail’s reflections on the end of ice.

Brian and his wife Marie (pronounced Marry) embark on a two-year epic road trip around Europe in Gemima the Hymer, an RV who would definitely have preferred to stay at home.  

Even without a Camper Van of Doom, resilience and a sense of humour are essential travel companions. With the scrapes these two get in, they needed plenty of both. I laughed out loud at the imaginative turns of phrases used to describe the tribulations, destinations, and people they met. This book stands out as one of the funniest I’ve ever read.

Each book listed – including mine – was a top-three finalist for the Burt Award for teen/young adult Caribbean fiction. Children of the Spider stands apart as a blend of fantasy adventure and Caribbean folklore, its teen protagonists on their world-saving mission. It moves from the jungles of Guyana to the city, which is another kind of jungle, and has a fresh take on the legendary West African demi-god Anansi. These kids (a girl who makes a desperate leap between worlds, a boy not slowed by his handicap, and a boy from the streets) have nothing but each other and a trickster spider, maybe, as they face down monsters which seem to be everywhere. It’s an adrenaline rush across a magical landscape. It’s the Anansi reboot for me!