12 Travel Books I Read in 2024

Hi, folks!

Earlier this year, I made it my goal of reading more– not only that, but I also aimed to read books from different parts of the world, to push myself to find works from authors I wouldn’t have otherwise found or let alone have been interested in reading. That said, I set out on this reading challenge for 2024, and I can confidently say that, as of last weekend, I finally accomplished it!

When I set out on my reading challenge, I gave myself certain criteria. These included:

• One book= one country per month (12 books total)
• The book needed to be set in the country or the author is from that country
• The book needed to be contemporary (2010 or newer– just a personal preference)

I did my best to vary my pickings, as I didn’t want too many of them focused on Western countries– while not perfect, I believe I did a decent job of choosing books from all corners of the world. The stats:

• Africa: 2 (Nigeria, South Africa)
• Asia: 4 (Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam)
• Australia: 1 (Australia)
• Europe: 4 (Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the UK)
• North America: 1 (Haiti)

I started the year with several books lined up to read, so the first quarter of 2024 was pretty smooth-sailing. However, I did struggle to find books once summer started and not only that, but I also began to lose steam on finishing the books I’d chosen. There were moments when I was too busy or unmotivated to read, which truly made it a challenge– however, I would manage to pull through by the end of the month. I especially had a deadline with my final book in December, as I wanted to write my review and publish this post before the year’s end. I made it!

That said, here are the 12 travel books I read for 2024. Perhaps you’ve read some of them before, some not. All the same, I hope you enjoy my reviews, and here’s to another year of reading and adventure! 🙂

12 Travel Books I Read in 2024

January

The House of Doors (by Tan Twan Eng, 2023)– Malaysia 🇲🇾

My partner had recommended The House of Doors, and it turned out to be a very apropos read, as I was traveling in Malaysia that month (including Penang, where it’s set)! I listened via audiobook and what I loved was that the narration is incredibly atmospheric: I really enjoyed how vibrant and richly-painted the scenes were, evoking the essence of a paradisical, tropical Southeast Asia. Some might call the long, drawn-out descriptions of Penang indulgent, but I loved it.

However, my gripe was that I found the critiques of British colonialism and Sun Yat-Sen’s revolutionary arc to be tenuous and, well, not really there. The story is told through white characters, but written by a Malaysian author; I would’ve expected the author to have a more critical lens of British colonialism, but it never was made evident. That said, the ambiguity of the author’s stance made it hard for me to really care about the characters and the story. All in all: excellent, atmospheric writing, not-as-strong storyline 8.5/10

February

The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living (by Meik Wiking, 2016)– Denmark 🇩🇰

At first glance, The Little Book of Hygge looked cute, as it was small and adorably-illustrated. My partner ended up buying the book, but I actually listened to it via audiobook, narrated by Wiking itself. Besides the charming and lilting Danish accent wafting in my ears, the audiobook definitely evoked a calming and cozy vibe, as if curled up by a fireplace with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa, on a winter’s day. As Wiking would describe it, that’s very hygge (“hoo-gah”).

Basically, The Little Book of Hygge is an introduction to this distinctive part of Danish culture, which emphasizes the feeling of coziness and how it has made Denmark one of the happiest countries in the world. I enjoyed learning about hygge, but after some time, I found the chapters to become repetitive, as each was just saying the same thing about hygge— I could count the numerous times Wiking would describe fireplaces, candles, and mulled wine before I started getting bored. The audiobook was only 3 hours long, but it felt like it dragged. Overall, I think it’s a quaint coffee table book to peruse, but nothing too deep 7.5/10

March

Scatterlings (by Rešoketšwe Manenzhe, 2020)– South Africa 🇿🇦

I stumbled upon Scatterlings while looking for the next book to read following my February read. After reading the synopsis and the first few pages of the book, I found it promising and decided to give it a try. I started with the novel, but I ended up finishing with the audiobook, narrated by Christel Mutombo, who’s South African. Mutombo was a great narrator, very lyrical and spiritual in her interpretation of the book– and listening to her South African accent was just so awesome– very soothing and very rad!

Scatterlings is written in prose, almost a poetic style: the format is reminiscent of African oral storytelling, and Manenzhe even brings in some traditional folklore. While I enjoyed the poeticism, I also felt it became a hindrance– I got lost many times as to what exactly was happening, as the prose overpowered the plot. It got to the point where I just couldn’t follow, which unfortunately made me lose interest. It was a slog finishing it, and although I appreciated the effort Manenzhe made with combining African oral tradition and a personable history regarding South Africa’s Immorality Act of 1927, it just didn’t do it for me 6/10

April

Sweet Bean Paste (by Durian Sukegawa, 2017)– Japan 🇯🇵

April’s read had me returning to Asia, specifically Japan. Even more so, it’s about food! As the title shows, it’s about sweet bean paste, i.e. adzuki beans, which are commonly used in Japanese desserts. In this book, the beans are used in dorayaki, a sort of pancake sandwich– it’s a treat I’ve had before, so I wanted to give Sweet Bean Paste a go. I found the storytelling simple, but also very philosophical as it delved into themes of loneliness and ostracization, but also about hope and resilience against a superficial, judgmental society.

Sweet Bean Paste was originally written in Japanese; I don’t know if it’s the author’s style or if something got lost in translation, but the tone felt a bit cold and detached. It also had this sense of melancholy throughout, which made the pacing meticulous. Tone aside, I enjoyed seeing the story unfold of an unexpected friendship among three people from different walks of life: a lost, aimless teenager, an ex-felon turned dorayaki maker, and an elderly, disfigured woman with an extraordinary gift. While I found the ending very sad and tragic, I also felt it inspiring and uplifting in its message to remember and cherish the good moments, to remember that we’re all outsiders to some extent and to embrace it all the same 8/10

May

If I Had Your Face (by Frances Cha, 2020)– South Korea 🇰🇷

Staying in Asia, If I Had Your Face is a dark, biting, sometimes humorous take on female beauty in Korean society, and how it empowers and enslaves the women in it. The novel tells the story of four women who navigate through it all, from plastic surgery to prostitution (“room salon girls”) to workplace misogyny. I’ve been fascinated by South Korea’s beauty industry (because of K-pop), so I wanted to give this book a go.

I was immediately hooked: the characters are all very different, but each offer a unique voice that touch on impossible beauty standards in Korea. The stories are disturbing, but intriguing that I wanted to keep reading. The writing is straightforward and conveys the sadness and despair that Korean women face in a misogynistic, anti-feminist society. The book is depressing as hell, but I did like the bit of hope in the end (no spoilers)! My main criticism is that the novel spread itself too thin on too many themes, and I think Cha could’ve removed one of the characters (e.g. Wonna) to focus more on the theme of beauty, and perhaps write a second novel dedicated to Wonna’s story. Other than that, it was a captivating novel that left an impression on me 8.5/10

June

Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent (by Dipo Faloyin, 2022)– Nigeria 🇳🇬

Shifting back to Africa, Africa Is Not a Country is a work of non-fiction that discusses complex issues of the politics, colonialism, and the resilience that the people, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, experienced to become what they are today. While Nigerian-raised author, Dipo Faloyin, does focus a tad more on Nigeria’s legacy, he mainly talks about the various African countries, and how we (as Westerners) should not oversimplify the continent and its people.

Although I’ve read some literature and history about the colonialism of Africa, I still learned lot more through Faloyin’s work. The author himself has done his research and presents his audience a vast array of examples of how many countries in Africa have, unfortunately, been subjected to European power and the awful stereotypes that the West portrays Africans in mainstream media. The subject matter can be difficult to swallow at times, especially about the genocides and slavery that afflicted many of the nations and the racist trope of the people being “corrupt, bloodthirsty savages.” However, I really enjoyed the read, as it gave me a more-detailed, critical look into how we see Africa as a whole, and to get away from the prejudice that does harm to its citizens today 8/10

July

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine (by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, 2019)– Haiti 🇭🇹

Besides being my first Caribbean novel, Dear Haiti, Love Alaine was also my first young adult (YA) novel that I read this year. Written in a combination of epistolary form via text messages and journal entries, it recounts the tale of Alaine Beauparlant (what a name!) as she spends the second half of her senior year in Haiti due to school suspension, and along the way reconnects with her family and roots.

The novel is fairly hefty at over 400 pages (or 10.5 hours on audiobook), and I admit, it was a slow start for the first two hours of listening, as it was bringing us into the “life and times of Alaine Beauparlant” (trust me, it was a lot of that)! It wasn’t until maybe the 4th or 5th hour that the story started to pick up, once Alaine arrived in Haiti– from there, it was a pretty fun read. However, I think the epistolary format made the plot feel a bit disorganized and I had a hard time following what was going on, which character was which, and so on. I also understood that it is a YA novel, but I still found the language and tone to be a bit too juvenile for me. Overall, though, it was a breezy and cute summer read, enough to keep me entertained for the month of July 7.5/10

August

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (by Benjamin Stevenson, 2023)– Australia 🇦🇺

Shifting across the world, I turned to Australia for the month of August. Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is actually a sequel to another of Stevenson’s book, which I haven’t read, but it’s written in that the sequel can be a stand-alone novel, give or take a few references to the first book. Centered around the “very reliable” (not) narrator-character Ernest Cunningham, it follows a contained murder mystery aboard a train across Australia– much of the tone is very humorous and tongue-in-cheek, as Cunningham frequently breaks the fourth wall for readers.

While I found the “meta-ness” of the novel cute and quirky at first, I think the novel started to over-rely on it, which got kind of annoying and didn’t advance the book as much as I would’ve liked. It wasn’t until halfway through that it started to pick up speed, with less fourth-wall breaking and more plot as the mystery unraveled and I started to learn more about the suspects and their motives for murdering the other characters on the train. The pacing could’ve been better, but the twist towards the end was pretty brilliant (no spoilers!). Overall, EOTTIAS was a fun read– somewhat a victim to its own cleverness (pun intended)– but breezy, albeit forgettable book 7/10

September

A Bánh Mì for Two (by Trinity Nguyen, 2024)– Vietnam 🇻🇳

We return to Asia, this time focused on Vietnam. I got a hardcover of A Bánh Mì for Two a few weeks after it released, as I’d been hearing about it for months and was very excited for an Asian/foodie/queer romance (you don’t see those books often)! Even cooler was that I met the author, Trinity Nguyen, at a book launch, where she graciously signed my copy! It’s a short read at a little over 200 pages, and I breezed through like no other.

ABFT is about Vivi, a Viet-American girl who goes abroad to Saigon to find her roots and ends up finding love in Lan, a local girl who sells bánh mì. The novel really brought me through the vibrant world of Saigon, from the motorbike-filled streets to the delicious Viet dishes. The romance between Vivi and Lan was adorable, and it was refreshing to read a queer novel that wasn’t focused on its queerness, but as a love story that just happened to be between two women. However, the pacing of the book could’ve been better, as too much was focused on the lighthearted, foodie adventures that the Vietnam War/boat refugee discussion towards the end felt rushed, and it made the ending feel rushed, too. As it’s a YA novel, the language also felt a bit too juvenile for me, but overall, it was a cute read and I enjoyed it! 8/10

October

How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are: Love, Style, and Bad Habits (by Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, Sophie Mas, 2014)– France 🇫🇷

October’s read is about France, but more specifically, it’s capital Paris. It’s a “how-to” guide of how to embrace your inner Parisian through fashion, food, and lifestyle. At just a little over 200 pages, How to Be Parisian offers short blurbs and vintage-like photos that evoke the romantic image of the French capital, which in turn makes you want to turn the page until, before you know it you’re at the very end.

While the title is pretty self-explanatory, I was surprised to find the book very humorous. It’s tongue-in-cheek and satirical, written by a group of Parisian women who are poking fun at themselves. How to Be Parisian is not to be taken seriously (although it’s scary to think some readers might read it unironically), offering a bit of truth and fantasy to the allure of Parisians for an outside audience to read. Even though I found it to be a coffee table kind of book, it was light and fun, a quick read to pass the month with. 7.5/10

November

Searching for Sylvie Lee (by Jean Kwok, 2019)– the Netherlands 🇳🇱

Searching for Sylvie Lee was a unique read– while it was about a Chinese-American family, much of the backdrop was set in the Netherlands (specifically, the Amsterdam area). It made for a fascinating read, with a tri-cultural blend of Chinese, American, and Dutch culture all into one. Given I’ve visited the Netherlands, it was nice reading about the canals and sites I’d gone to (including Winkel 43, for its iconic Dutch apple pie), and to relive the romantic experience of it all.

The novel itself is a mystery-suspense, which isn’t usually my genre, but I found myself reading more and more (a page turner, even though I was reading via audiobook). As the title suggests, it’s about searching for Sylvie Lee, a young, Chinese-Dutch woman who goes missing while in the Netherlands, and it’s up to her sister, Amy (a Chinese-American) to find her. Each chapter is told from the perspectives of Sylvie, Amy, and Ma (their mother), weaving an intricate, inter-generational story of this immigrant family. There are a few twists and turns along the way, and the ending, while devastatingly sad, also resolves a lot of loose ends. While I did feel that the novel was slow-paced and could’ve benefitted from cutting it down by an hour or two, I still thoroughly enjoyed the novel and its distinctive look into Chinese and Dutch culture 8/10

December

I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You (by Miranda Hart, 2024)– the UK 🇬🇧

For my final book of the year, I opted to read Miranda Hart’s memoir. Hart is a British comedian, and I love her work, so I was interested in giving it a read. I listened to her memoir via audiobook, and it was nice hearing Hart herself narrating. Her memoir is about her diagnosis of Lyme disease later in life and how she learned to live with it through a combination of psychological theories and finding and embracing her true authentic self.

I found many moments in Hart’s memoir very sweet and full of heart, especially as she tells us MDRC (“my dear reader chums”) how she got through the worst of Lyme disease through self love and how she (spoiler!) ended up finding true love in the end. My gripe, though, is when Hart waxes self-help, pulling research from health experts that claim positive thinking can cure illness– besides promoting misleading theories, it becomes didactic, and I wasn’t there to be preached at. I also found the audiobook, at over 10 hours, too long; I think the memoir would’ve benefited from trimming it by an hour or two. All the same, while the memoir wasn’t perfect, I enjoyed the feel-good message in the end about loving yourself 7.5/10

…and those are all the books I read for 2024! I found this to be a fun challenge, and I’m glad I made it to the end. I plan to do another reading challenge for 2025, perhaps with US states…we’ll have to see!

What books have you read this year that you loved? Thanks for reading, and have a great day! 🙂

— Rebecca