Here are 100 books that The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer fans have personally recommended if you like The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Gravel Roads

Mike Nixon Author Of Life Travel And The People In Between

From my list on travel lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ultimately, I’m someone who enjoys a good adventure. Prior to the age of twenty, I had never gone on a vacation or been camping, and the only place I saw Mickey Mouse was on television. Determined to experience a more fulfilling life, I set my sights on becoming a world traveler. I’ve done almost everything to transform the dream into a reality. I’ve studied abroad, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, worked for an international NGO, served in the U.S. Navy, and done some off-the-grid exploring. After spending nine years abroad and visiting thirty countries, I’m finally a published author. Life Travel And The People In Between is my debut memoir.

Mike's book list on travel lovers

Mike Nixon Why Mike loves this book

When faced with heartbreak, Ryan Crain questions his will to continue living. Feeling a tremendous amount of grief, Ryan quits his job and decides to circumvent the world in order to find his inner person. This book is more than just a travel story. Gravel Roads is about taking risks, challenging those who don’t understand our purpose, and choosing to live a life without any regrets. Despite the risks and costs, Ryan proves that pursuing the journey to find inner peace is worth everything! 

By Ryan Crain , Kayla MacArthur ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

By thirty years old, Ryan Crain had everything he thought he wanted—a steady career, a budding relationship, and a high-rise apartment in downtown Oklahoma City. Then, an unexpected phone call he received while backpacking through Europe uprooted it all—everything that had defined him. In a desperate attempt to save his life, Ryan made a bold promise—he would use adventure to climb out of the dark trenches of his grief.

In the most mysterious of ways, this one decision would lead him to set foot on every inhabited continent during a round-the-world journey of epic proportions. From windswept beaches in Portugal…


If you love The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Book cover of Not That Anyone Asked: A Travel Memoir about Sex, Drugs, Love, and Finding Purpose

Mike Nixon Author Of Life Travel And The People In Between

From my list on travel lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ultimately, I’m someone who enjoys a good adventure. Prior to the age of twenty, I had never gone on a vacation or been camping, and the only place I saw Mickey Mouse was on television. Determined to experience a more fulfilling life, I set my sights on becoming a world traveler. I’ve done almost everything to transform the dream into a reality. I’ve studied abroad, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, worked for an international NGO, served in the U.S. Navy, and done some off-the-grid exploring. After spending nine years abroad and visiting thirty countries, I’m finally a published author. Life Travel And The People In Between is my debut memoir.

Mike's book list on travel lovers

Mike Nixon Why Mike loves this book

Not that Anyone Asked is a story about Travis King who literally personifies the idea of a person who is just trying to make it in the world or, better yet, around the world. While some of his adventures are as wild as the title implies, they are not a turnoff. Travis is honest and his stories are real so almost anyone can relate to them. From being down to his last dollars, experiencing heartbreak, and ending up in prison, all while abroad, Not that Anyone Asked is entertaining, funny as well as purposeful. By the time readers get to the end of the book, they’ll be asking themselves, why didn’t they discover the book sooner?

By Travis Wesson King ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Not That Anyone Asked as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Travis’ path was similar to most other suburban-raised, middle-class white kids from Milwaukee—that is, until he found himself in Colombia, making his own cocaine with one of Pablo Escobar's former top scientists. After finishing a Master’s Degree at the age of 28, Travis couldn’t bring himself to follow the blueprint laid out for success in the U.S., so he took off to South America. That first flight was the start of an adventure around the world—an adventure that his friends didn’t understand and of which his father openly disapproved.

Over four years and four continents, Travis chased a different version…


Book cover of Three Weeks with My Brother

Mike Nixon Author Of Life Travel And The People In Between

From my list on travel lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ultimately, I’m someone who enjoys a good adventure. Prior to the age of twenty, I had never gone on a vacation or been camping, and the only place I saw Mickey Mouse was on television. Determined to experience a more fulfilling life, I set my sights on becoming a world traveler. I’ve done almost everything to transform the dream into a reality. I’ve studied abroad, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, worked for an international NGO, served in the U.S. Navy, and done some off-the-grid exploring. After spending nine years abroad and visiting thirty countries, I’m finally a published author. Life Travel And The People In Between is my debut memoir.

Mike's book list on travel lovers

Mike Nixon Why Mike loves this book

I must admit that I didn’t know who Nicholas Sparks was prior to reading this book. Had he stuck to romance novels, I would’ve never discovered his amazing life story. Three Weeks with My Brother is so unique that it’s almost unfitting to call it a travel memoir. Instead, it’s a heartfelt international journey down memory lane as Nicholas and his brother Micah take the reader through the ups and downs of their lives. Readers not only get to experience an adventure around the world, but they also encounter a story filled with love, tragedy, success, and everything that makes a person who they are. In this case, that person is Nicholas Spark, a best-selling author, and screenwriter. 

By Nicholas Sparks , Micah Sparks ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Three Weeks with My Brother as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The story of two brothers deeply bound by love and tragedy and an extraordinary chronicle of a life-affirming trip

In January 2003 Nicholas Sparks and his brother Micah set off on a three-week trip around the world.

An adventure by any measure, this trip was especially meaningful as it marked another milestone in the life journey of two brothers who, by their early thirties, were the only surviving members of their family. As Nicholas and Micah travel the globe, from the Taj Mahal to Machu Picchu, the story of their family slowly unfolds.

Just before Nicholas' marriage he and Micah…


If you love Eric Hansen...

Book cover of Coyote Weather

Coyote Weather by Amanda Cockrell,

Coyote weather is the feral, hungry season, drought-stricken, and ready to catch fire. It’s 1967, and the American culture is violently remaking itself while the country is forcibly sending its young men to fight in a deeply unpopular war.

Jerry has stubbornly made no plans for the future because he…

Book cover of From Excuses to Excursions: How I Started Traveling the World

Mike Nixon Author Of Life Travel And The People In Between

From my list on travel lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ultimately, I’m someone who enjoys a good adventure. Prior to the age of twenty, I had never gone on a vacation or been camping, and the only place I saw Mickey Mouse was on television. Determined to experience a more fulfilling life, I set my sights on becoming a world traveler. I’ve done almost everything to transform the dream into a reality. I’ve studied abroad, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, worked for an international NGO, served in the U.S. Navy, and done some off-the-grid exploring. After spending nine years abroad and visiting thirty countries, I’m finally a published author. Life Travel And The People In Between is my debut memoir.

Mike's book list on travel lovers

Mike Nixon Why Mike loves this book

From Excuses to Excursions is the story of social media influencer, Gloria Atanmo. Trust me, it’s not just a highlight reel turned into a couple of hundred pages. What I enjoy most about this book is the way that it’s written. It makes you feel like you’re listening to a best friend telling you about her interesting life which includes some fascinating travel experiences. I fell in love with Gloria’s wit and sense of humor, and I was inspired by her courage to travel. While this is not the kind of book that may earn a Pulitzer Prize, it’ll definitely win your attention and keep you engaged from beginning to end!  

By Gloria Atanmo ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked From Excuses to Excursions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From Excuses to Excursions: How I Started Traveling the World chronicles the life of a girl who grew up with a colorful imagination but not nearly enough funds to support it. The book is broken up into four parts: The Dream, The Journey, The Adventure, and The Destination. Each details the struggles, victories, and natural consequences of life when you put yourself out there and find the universe will often reciprocate your boldness. This book will take you on a vicarious adventure and have you rethinking the life you thought you wanted and replacing it with one that's much more…


Book cover of Transit of Venus: Travels in the Pacific

Simon Michael Prior Author Of The Coconut Wireless

From my list on remote tropical islands.

Why am I passionate about this?

Simon Michael Prior loves small islands, and has travelled to remote countries in search of unique island experiences. He inflicts all aspects of life on himself so that readers can enjoy learning about his latest exploits. During his forty-year adolescence, he’s lived on two boats, sunk one of them; sold houses, street signs, Indian food, and paper bags; visited fifty countries, lived in three; qualified as a scuba diving instructor; learnt to wakeboard; trained as a Marine Rescue skipper, and built his own house without the benefit of an instruction manual.

Simon's book list on remote tropical islands

Simon Michael Prior Why Simon loves this book

Julian Evans takes us on a personal tour through the islands of the South Pacific, a region for which I have my own fondness. As well as places I know and love such as Tonga and Vanuatu, Evans visits harder to reach places: The Marshall islands and the Gilbert and Ellis group. Encountering natives, visitors, political and geographical challenges, his story is told with good humour and adventure.

By Julian Evans ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The Pacific Ocean calls to mind a world of fabulous kingdoms and noble savages, guilt free sex and gin-clear lagoons, and a perfect idleness fed by lush fruits and fish-rich seas. Ever since Captain Cook first went to Tahiti in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus across the sun, this dream of the Pacific has not lost its force. But Julian Evans's journey through the island archipelagos of the Great Ocean was also informed by a quest into our more modern myths - such as Peacekeeper missiles and nuclear bombs being tested by the US Army. With humour and…


Book cover of A Walk Across America

Margaret Meps Schulte Author Of Strangers Have the Best Candy

From my list on getting you talking to strangers.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a youngster, my parents took me on 6-week journeys across the United States by car. We'd stop in a small town each night, and I would explore on foot and meet other kids at the swimming pool or ice cream shop. That slow mode of travel has become my default, and I've spent years exploring back roads, small towns, and bywaters by car, bicycle, and sailboat. I write about the strangers I've found and the "candy" I've gotten from them: strangers have lessons for all of us and are not as dangerous as we've been told.

Margaret's book list on getting you talking to strangers

Margaret Meps Schulte Why Margaret loves this book

Peter set out during the Vietnam War era to walk all the way across the United States with only a camera, a backpack, and a dog. His books, which I read as a teenager, brought fascinating strangers into my world and taught me how much those strangers can change our lives. Thanks to Peter's writing, I've always felt safe talking to strangers, and I seek them out to find out who they are and what their lives are like. 

By Peter Jenkins ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Walk Across America as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Twenty-five years ago, a disillusioned young man set out on a walk across America. This is the book he wrote about that journey -- a classic account of the reawakening of his faith in himself and his country.

"I started out searching for myself and my country," Peter Jenkins writes, "and found both." In this timeless classic, Jenkins describes how disillusionment with society in the 1970s drove him out onto the road on a walk across America. His experiences remain as sharp and telling today as they were twenty-five years ago -- from the timeless secrets of life, learned from…


If you love The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer...

Book cover of Temple of Dreams: A Novel of Now and Then

Temple of Dreams by Carolyn Mathews,

Homeless following the death of his adoptive parents in a car crash and the subsequent loss of their farm tenancy, Seb decides to enrol as a residential student at the Asklepios Foundation, a College of Natural Medicine, boasting a sanctuary modelled on an ancient Greek healing temple. Spending a night…

Book cover of Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Eileen Kay Author Of Noodle Trails

From my list on memoirs with heartwarming travels.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve wanted to travel the world since I could look out a window. It’s been an honor to spend my life exploring this planet, despite some of its inhabitants. I knew I’d write books about it, even before I could write my own name. It’s a joy to realize such a deep and early dream. My books are love letters to places I’ve lived and people I’ve met, plus some joking around in order not to scream or weep at some of what’s out there. I’ve been a teacher, film editor, comedian, librarian, and now writer.  Wherever you are, on whatever path: happy trails to you. 

Eileen's book list on memoirs with heartwarming travels

Eileen Kay Why Eileen loves this book

How perfect to go on a road trip with one of my favorite writers plus his gentlemanly, loveable dog!

I smile just thinking about this book. I was delighted every step of the way. I felt like I was in the passenger seat, handing biscuits to Charley, stopping to meet strangers, and ruminating on how the USA has changed over the decades.

I loved hearing his thoughts in his older, wiser years, after his great successes, but still passionate, or slyly ironic, on so many topics. I love that he’s matter-of-fact in discussing disillusionment, loneliness, racism, or anything – but he’s hopeful in the end, always.

I want to buy a stack of these and hand them out as gifts.

By John Steinbeck ,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Travels with Charley as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An intimate journey across America, as told by one of its most beloved writers

To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light-these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.

With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility,…


Book cover of A Nail Through the Heart: A Novel of Bangkok

Patrick Forsyth Author Of Once A Thief

From my list on surprisingly unconventional crime.

Why am I passionate about this?

I worked for many years in business consultancy (writing many books like the bestselling “Successful Time Management [Kogan Page]) before branching into other genres, including fiction and light-hearted travel writing (e.g., Beguiling Burma [Rethink Press]). My five novels all involve ordinary people caught up in situations that involve mystery or crime (or both). Like most fiction writers, I find it difficult to recognize where ideas come from, though I do draw on various aspects of my own life; for example, Long Overdue [Stanhope Books] involves sailing and a missing person. Certainly, I relate to sailing and, for many years, owned a boat. 

Patrick's book list on surprisingly unconventional crime

Patrick Forsyth Why Patrick loves this book

I love this author whose books are full of wonderful quirky descriptions and dark humour unusual in this genre. I love the unusual characters and setting. A writer living in Thailand and getting to grips with the culture and people as he also gets caught up in criminal activity.

This title is the first of a series (best read in order)–I have enjoyed reading all of them enormously as the long-term story has developed alongside clever page-turning standalone plots.

By Timothy Hallinan ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Nail Through the Heart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Travel writer Poke Rafferty was good at looking for trouble - so good that he made a little money writing a few offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored. But that was before Bangkok stole his heart. Now the expat American is happily playing family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and with Miaow, the wary street child he wants to adopt. Yet just when everything is beginning to work out, trouble comes looking for Poke in the guise of good intentions. First he takes in Miaow's friend, a troubled and terrifying street urchin…


Book cover of Fresh Air Fiend: Travel Writings, 1985-2000

Patrick Forsyth Author Of Smile Because It Happened: Antidotes to Melancholy in Thailand, the Land of Smiles

From my list on feeding your lust for travel.

Why am I passionate about this?

I worked for many years in business consultancy before branching into other genres, including fiction. Through working regularly in Singapore I was able to travel around the region, finding I loved that part of the world. I came to regard Thailand as the jewel of Southeast Asia. I continue to visit and aim for my light-hearted travel writing to encourage others to enjoy the area and be ambitious in their travel plans. I regard my book as an invitation to share my love of a unique place and was delighted when one reviewer described my writing of it as “Brysonish.”

Patrick's book list on feeding your lust for travel

Patrick Forsyth Why Patrick loves this book

Paul Theroux has long led the field of travel writing and is a favourite of many.

This book is untypical in that it is a series of essays and articles and thus provides a broad introduction to his writing and surely an encouragement to read his other books. It demonstrates for me the power of shorter pieces to give a real flavour of places and their character.

A great read, the sort of book I keep by the bed and love dipping into rather than reading straight through.

By Paul Theroux ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fresh Air Fiend as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Paul Theroux's first collection of essays and articles devoted entirely to travel writing, FRESH AIR FIEND touches down on five continents and floats through most seas in between to deliver a literary adventure of the first order, with the incomparable Paul Theroux as a guide. From the crisp quiet of a solitary week spent in the snowbound Maine woods to the expectant chaos of Hong Kong on the eve of the Hand-over, Theroux demonstrates how the traveling life and the writing life are intimately connected. His journeys in remote hinterlands and crowded foreign capitals provide the necessary perspective to "become…


If you love Eric Hansen...

Book cover of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS by Amy Carney,

When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…

Book cover of Slow Boats to China

Patrick Forsyth Author Of Smile Because It Happened: Antidotes to Melancholy in Thailand, the Land of Smiles

From my list on feeding your lust for travel.

Why am I passionate about this?

I worked for many years in business consultancy before branching into other genres, including fiction. Through working regularly in Singapore I was able to travel around the region, finding I loved that part of the world. I came to regard Thailand as the jewel of Southeast Asia. I continue to visit and aim for my light-hearted travel writing to encourage others to enjoy the area and be ambitious in their travel plans. I regard my book as an invitation to share my love of a unique place and was delighted when one reviewer described my writing of it as “Brysonish.”

Patrick's book list on feeding your lust for travel

Patrick Forsyth Why Patrick loves this book

This book and its sequel were an early read in my love affair with travel writing–I love the concept of slow travel by unconventional means, and I love all the descriptions along the way.

I first read this before I had ever traveled to China or, indeed, anywhere in the East, so it was one factor in developing an interest and love of the region. Though the journeying is slow it is written in a way that I regard as a real page-turner.

By Gavin Young ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Slow Boats to China as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Seven months and twenty-three agreeably ill-assorted vessels are what were required to transport Gavin Young, by slow boat, from Piraeus to Canton. His odyssey teemed with excitement, adventure and colour. Gavin Young's account memorably distils the people, places, smells, conversations, ships and history of the places he encountered in what is his most famous book.
The sequel, Slow Boats Home, is also reissued in Faber Finds.

'An unusual and fascinating book.' Hammond Innes, Guardian

'Storms, fleas, pirates, bad food and bureaucrats ... My Young suffered what he did to entertain us.'
Anthony Burgess, Observer


Book cover of Gravel Roads
Book cover of Not That Anyone Asked: A Travel Memoir about Sex, Drugs, Love, and Finding Purpose
Book cover of Three Weeks with My Brother

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