/ Books on wheels

Whether you’re planning your next trip or just dreaming with a wanderlust of far-off places, these travel book recommendations by our readers will take you on unforgettable journeys—one page at a time. From classic travelogues to the best epistolary novels, here are six essential books that will fuel your passion for adventure.

The Historian

Elizabeth Kostova
A young woman embarks on a perilous journey across Eastern European churches, cathedrals, ruins, and universities, following her missing father’s trail. Her father’s relentless pursuit leads him to the perpetrator of her mother’s murder—Vlad Tepes, the historical figure who inspired the enduring legend of Dracula.
Recommended by Sarazeen Saif Ahana
The Braided River: A Journey Along the Brahmaputra
Samrat Choudhury
In The Braided River, journalist Samrat Choudhury embarks on a journey to follow the river’s braided path from the edge of Tibet, where it enters India, down to its confluence with the Ganga, near Bangladesh’s largest red-light district. Throughout his travels, he has had several fascinating experiences—from encounters with suspicious Indian spies to visiting a shelter for baby rhinos and elephants in Kaziranga and moving between river islands and riverside towns, engaging with the locals. These vibrant tales delve into the history of the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh and the formation of the Assamese identity, a topic highly relevant to the National Register of Citizens, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the ecological threats posed by proposed dams.
Recommended by Sharmee Hossain
Truckbahone-McMahone
Nabaneeta Dev Sen
This travelogue is an account of Nabaneeta’s impulsive trip from Jorhat in Assam all the way to the Indo-Tibetan border’s McMahon line. During her journey, she encounters numerous ordinary people, and captures their reactions to a middle-aged woman embarking on a solo road trip across India in 1977. As extraordinary events unfold along the way, the narrative of her travel, both reflective and humorous, explores her feelings of liberation.
Recommended by Shararat Islam
Deshe Bideshe
Syed Mujtaba Ali
Syed Mujtaba Ali’s Deshe Bideshe is a classic travel memoir. Based on the writer’s experiences in Kabul from 1927-1929, where he worked as a teacher, including his journey from Peshawar and Khyber’s Pass, this travelogue is filled with sharp observation and wit—as Syed Mutaba Ali navigates the Afghan society of that time. Ali finds himself reflecting and questioning his own identity while navigating throughout the book, finding similarities and dissimilarities between Bangali culture and customs with that of Afghanistan.
Recommended by Sabrina Sazzad
In Xanadu
William Dalrymple
As he waits for the results of his college exams, William Dalrymple decides to take a trip on his summer break. However, this is no ordinary student vacation—he decides to follow the iconic journey of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Xanadu, the ruined palace of Kubla Khan in the north of Peking. For the first half of the trip, he travels with Laura, whom he met at a dinner party just two weeks before he had left. In the second half, he is accompanied by Louisa, his very recent ex-girlfriend. In Xanadu is a sharp and witty example of travel writing at its finest.
Recommended by Zarif Faiaz
Letters to a Young Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke
In 1903, a military academy student sent his poems to a renowned Austrian Poet, seeking an assessment of their value. The established artist, Raina Maria Rilke, responded to the young poet with a series of letters—an incredible archive containing profound insights into Rilke’s greatest poetry. The 10 letters included here were written during a pivotal period in Rilke’s artistic development and feature the themes that would later appear in his best works. Rilke himself had later remarked that these letters embodied a part of his creative genius, making this volume a must-read for scholars, poetry enthusiasts, and anyone interested in Rilke, German poetry, or the creative process altogether.
Recommended by Tahsinul Islam Aurko
To read the rest of the recommendations, keep an eye out for Saturday’s Star Literature page.