92 Books Like The Island of Missing Trees

I found this book to be a fascinating journey into realms of the world below the surface I had never thought about or even known existed. Cave diving is my worst nightmare, so one particular section stands out about the wild, terrifying, and utterly unrelatable passion of cave divers and the perils one faces when stuck very, very underground.

The mixture of purely natural environments and human-created ones, such as underground tunnels and cities, all held my attention as pieces of information I had read very little about in the past, all collected into one unifying theme. Having such a broad but specific topic all in one read was a fun, dynamic journey. 

I love this book because it tells the well-known stories of the early Greek gods and investigates many of their mythology's lesser-known aspects.

Furthermore, the book is written in a witty and entertaining style whilst simultaneously remaining erudite and deep–a difficult balance to achieve. This is a perfect complement to Fry’s equally brilliant The Ode Less Travelled, and it left me wanting to know more.

"When you step into a jungle, unless you have been conditioned against it, you start to breathe, perhaps for the first time in your life.” This classic 1965 book will make you see the jungles as you never have.

When I started writing my adventure series, the setting came naturally to me. It had to be about forests and wildlife. What I needed though, other than my own experience of the wild and imagination, was a lot of information about the actual characteristics of the rainforests. This book bubbled up in my memory from my father’s excellent collection of books on wildlife and natural history. As I reveled in the accounts of the explorer and naturalist Ivan T. Sanderson, it helped me greatly to shape Iora’s enchanting rainforest, which is an amalgamation of all the rainforests of the world.

Another book (1958 edition) from my father’s fascinating library. 

When I began penning my first book, I wanted to be as true as I could to a rainforest and bring forth the actual characteristics and legends of the jungles. On the Track of… gave me ideas for unusual creatures, instead of the normal elves and dwarves and fairies of fantasies. I came to know about the less-known local legends, ‘hidden’ animals, and strange creatures from the remote wild corners of our planet, be it tatzulwurms or Kongamato, the last flying dragon.  

The author has combined zoology and cultural anthropology in a captivating account.

500 square miles of terror. 125 deaths. One hunter. 

The Rudraprayag man-eater’s reign of terror went on from 1918 to 1926. 

The remarkable hunter cum conservation Jim Corbett’s inimitable style, simple language, and unadulterated love for the forests will keep you hooked to this gripping tale of true adventure as he follows the footsteps of the leopard in the wild mountains. What makes Corbett special is that he empathised with not just the plight of humans, but of animals too. “(The crime) of the leopard was not against the laws of nature, but against the laws of man,” the hunter wrote in his book. 

Corbett was a real-life hero and an inspiration for my father. And subsequently for me too.

The Colossus of Maroussi is a book all wanderers and visitors of Greece should dip into at least once.

It’s a travelogue that drips with humour from the brilliant Henry Miller. It is a collection of fantastic prose inspired by the islands and mainland that Miller visited in the early 20th Century. It offers great wit and wisdom as well as cultural insights that still feel incredibly relevant to Greece today, despite the book being published in the 1940s.

When I think of great travel literature, this book is a classic. It speaks on the Greek people - their strength, stoicism, and humour - and chronicles a time in Greece before mass tourism descended and changed the islands forever.

This is a book that still makes me sob, even on the third, fourth, and fifth read.

Louis de Bernieres’ love story set during the second world war on the island of Kefalonia is more than just another beach read. It chronicles the tragedy of the events of the second world war, holding a microscope over the island of Kefalonia and homing in on an imagined love story between Pelagia, a local girl, and Captain Corelli, an Italian soldier stationed on the island as part of the Italian occupation of Greece.

Yes, this is a piece of fiction but I love that also it manages to paint a picture of life under occupation in Greece during the 1940s. De Bernieres captures the light, the scent, the very essence of this Greek island, and the fire of an incredible love affair in his beautiful prose, while also commenting on the atrocities… show more.

This book is pure poetry to me. It follows the lives of three sisters on the precipice of adulthood during 1930s Greece.

I love that when it was published in the 1940s here in Greece, it was seen as a scandalous piece of literature. I can see why - Liberaki writes fervently and openly about the trials and tribulations of female teenhood, detailing gossip, romance, and even the loss of virginity with such poise and vim that it is still relevant and relatable to women today.

It was the kind of book that my own Greek Yiayia (grandmother) was absolutely not allowed to get her hands on. This book, for me, has it all. It’s bucolic, romantic, and oozes beautiful imagery of the hot, dry summers in Athens and the surrounding countryside. A perfect character study.

This is a brilliant book. Mike Shanahan has done a wonderful job, weaving his meticulous research (he has a doctorate in rainforest ecology) into a highly engaging description of the importance of fig trees around the world, both in terms of their vital ecological functions and their importance to people.

It’s full of fascinating information: from the role figs have played in world religions and human cultures, to the raw materials they supply and the fact that they support more of the world’s animal and bird species than any other trees. 

Illustrated with beautiful black & white drawings, it explains why fig trees are so important to life on earth and how, with their extraordinary capacity to restore degraded lands, they can help create a better future for us all.

This book was a Rosetta Stone to my own life and, ultimately, my book. In it, Blackie describes what I had been engaged in doing ever since my parents died, without having the "lingo" to talk about it. In other words, Blackie didn't show me what to do here so much as alert me to what I was doing. And once I understood what I was doing, everything clicked into place about why it mattered.

My own book then came into clear focus. This is a lyrical prescription for moving more beautifully in the world that many of us may have come to see as ugly and well-lost.