Book tips from travel bloggers

Name: Menorca Chaturvedi
Age: 27
Occupation: Researcher
Blogging since: 2013
Most recent trip: Lugano and Ticino, Switzerland
Next trip: Ljubljana, Slovenia 
Blog: Europediaries

 

Deutsche Welle: Which book helped you plan and prepare your journey?

Menorca Chaturvedi: I personally found a great companion in Mark Twain's "A tramp abroad" after moving to Germany. I admire his writing as well as his sense of humour and this novel took me on a virtual journey across Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Not only was I able to get insight into many of the mythological and legendary stories, but I also got to know a lot about the history and the lifestyle of the people a couple hundred years ago. It was particularly of interest to me as he spent a lot of time in Heidelberg before travelling to Switzerland, and I was in Heidelberg myself, preparing to move to Switzerland.

Which book did you take along on your last journey? 

I got hold of a copy of Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" and am glad to have taken it along on one of my recent travels. He is an inspiring writer and this book had me hooked, right from the introduction itself. Through stories of a small Italian village and mass-migration to the US to examples of professional athletes and scientists, it gives insight into factors leading to success and gives you a lot of food for thought. 

Which book has saved the day for you at some point? 

It probably has to be "The Interpretation of Murder" by Jed Rubenfeld. This incident took place right after I had started working full-time in a new foreign city. At the end of one of my work days, I was particularly feeling down and depressed. All I wanted to do was get some fresh air, walk around and calm my mind. A bit of human interaction and friendly conversation might have uplifted my spirits, but I did not necessarily want to rant to my friends, who were spread across the country and the world. That is when I happened to walk past a book store that seemed to sell English novels. It had been quite long since I had come across such a store and my joy knew no bounds! All my woes disappeared when I found myself surrounded by that many novels. I walked back home with a couple of books, including this particular thriller based on Sigmund Freud, and a packet of Gummy bears. When I thought money couldn’t buy happiness, I hadn’t thought of this. This was happiness undefined for me.