95 Books Like The Romance of Ballooning

I was already a fan of Holmes’ The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, and there was some overlap in this book, in the best sense—since what could be more wondrous or terrifying than humans taking flight for the first time. Falling Upwards became the definitive history for me while I researched my book for younger readers. It captures the human experience of flight in a lively, character-rich narrative with philosophical heft, straddling—as did early ballooning—science and spectacle. It’s an elegant, rollicking story built over a scaffold of sound scholarship. I couldn’t put it down.

I love the gossipy tone of Fulgence Marion’s 1870 tribute to aeronautical history and its heroes. It’s a lofty enterprise (anchored to the authorial “we”) but somehow feels intimate or even snarky at times, as if the author managed to be on hand for each ascent. You can almost imagine him peering over the shoulder of the aeronauts, explaining or challenging the flight “science” all the way. Wikipedia notes that Marion was the pen name of French astronomer and science fiction writer Camille Flammarion, a contemporary of Jules Vernes, which makes sense, but I can’t confirm it, so let’s just say that Marion (and/or his translator) is a wry observer, and the stellar line art is worth the price of admission. 

Also a bit gossipy or wink-wink in tone, Wright’s feminist take on early flight is good fun. She narrates the hair-raising adventures of female pioneers of balloon flight—from feisty French teenager Elisabeth Thible, the first woman in the air, to charismatic British actress Leticia Ann Sage, whom one newspaper credited with “that manly fortitude which constitutes the heroine.” Wright presents a memorable cast of women who were all willing and well able—whether for a day or for decades—to brave life in the upper stories. She narrates, too, how they did it despite danger and scandal, at a time when women had few options or outlets for challenging themselves personally or professionally.

Now for something completely different. My own book is for middle-grade readers, so I wanted to include another younger title, and it was perfect timing that this rollicking adventure crossed my path when it did. Hilariously droll, Phelan’s illustrated fiction stars characters lauded for their pivotal role in early flight—the three barnyard aeronauts who made the very first ascent in a hot-air balloon. But their career didn’t end there: the sheep, the rooster, and the duck went on to battle injustice, defeat dastardly villains, and expose nefarious plots against society. Phelan’s extraordinary farm animals are more than fearless aeronauts: they’re covert superheroes in a world of sinister secret societies, Benjamin Franklin, and the world’s first heat-ray. High-flying fun!

Howard Gossage was not your typical ad man. He was cut from a different cloth. His love/hate relationship with the profession led to some innovative ad campaigns. He once ran an ad that ended mid-sentence (people were dying to know what happened next). He advertised Finna Gas by offering free balloons - filled with PINK air. He was part troll, part genius. And his style and flair are things I try to emulate with my own work.

You’ll eventually get to a point in your copy career where you feel jaded. Where you’re tired of selling your soul one sentence at a time. When you reach that point, this book will bring you back to life. That’s what it did for me.

From a wild sheep chase to a grand old treasure hunt that gripped a nation, the Quest for the Golden Hare tells the real-life story of one of the most famous book-related escapades in recent memory. 

In 1979, British artist Kit Williams published Masquerade – a cryptic storybook containing clues to the whereabouts of an 18-carat gold hare trinket that Williams buried somewhere in the English countryside. Author Bamber Gascoigne was the only other person present at the burial, and was tasked with documenting the frankly bonkers lengths the crazed fans would go to uncover it.

I’m loath to mention the pandemic again, but in these times, when most of us are going stir crazy and are itching for an adventure, this book might just be the next best thing. (Bonus points if you can source a copy of Masquerade while you’re at it, which I believe has been… show more.

Written by legendary Saturday Night Live writer Jack Handey, this is a trippy book dense with hilarity, quite literally joke after joke, which still somehow flows into an actual story, albeit a weird one. I’d suggest that you only need to read the first sentence of the blurb to know if it’s for you or not. "Are you a fan of books in which famous tourist destinations are repurposed as unlivable hellholes for no particular reason? Read on!"

Years ago, my family took an unforgettable road trip to Utah to visit all the National Parks there. Something Wilder was the perfect way to revisit this area. In this adventure-romance, Lily Wilder, daughter of the late treasure-hunter Duke Wilder, spends her days leading tourist expeditions on horseback through the beautiful red rock canyons of Utah. When she gets saddled (literally) with her ex on one of these trips, they not only rekindle their feelings for each other, but also get caught up in a treasure hunt with some nasty villains. Not only were the descriptions of canyon country breathtaking, but the puzzles and plot twists in the story reminded me of National Treasure, but with a romance that was far more satisfying. 

Almost all the Tintin books are a delight, but this one has always been my favorite. It gets the mixture of suspense and humor just exactly right. In this one, Tintin stumbles into a mystery, which starts small and grows into a terrific hunt for a lost pirate treasure. The everyman who’s pulled into adventure by coincidence or mistaken identity is something that appeals to me because it reminds me that even if we’re not private eyes or secret agents we’re constantly adventure-adjacent! The Secret of the Unicorn reminds me that adventure is largely a matter of attitude: Tintin ends up at the center of adventures because he’s always curious and game – are you?!

Can our happiness be stolen? The creator of Lemony Snicket gives us a laugh-out-loud immersion into the life of a contemporary American family headed for disaster as seen through the eyes of Phil Needle and his fourteen-year-old daughter, Gwen, arrested for shoplifting. I’m laughing but it’s an ugly laugh, and uneasy. This is definitely not a children’s story, nor is it “YA” but it is about coming of age in a piratical society. Arrrrgh – beware the barbed humor! The author breaks the rules, runs up the black flag, and I’m on the deck, bleeding with laughter. Yes, Handler’s gotten excessive, this is a farce, now he’s gone overboard dragging me along with him and suddenly it’s not funny anymore. Wait – this isn’t the cruise I signed up for – but it's too late, I’m hooked. Ultimately, there is no treasure, but the words are worth their weight in… show more.