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Travel Library

When covering thousands of miles over land, you have plenty of time to read. On my journey I will read some of the bestsellers I’ve missed during the past years and I also want to read some classic books since I have not done so since I left school. I also asked my friend Anita, who is reading a lot, which books are “must reads”.

On the other side it is also not feasible to carry lots of books with you since your backpack easily gets too heavy. Therefore, I decided to take an Amazon Kindle e-book reader with me and store all books on this device. Unfortunately not all books are available as a Kindle version so my choice was limited to those books which are available on the Kindle, either in German or English language. Below you can find the list of books which I’m taking on my first journey from Cairo to Nairobi. Some of the books are from German authors and I provided a link to the English version as well in case there is one available:

Die Kunst, kein Egoist zu sein (Richard David Precht) – German only
Liebe (Richard David Precht) – German only
Hoehenrausch und Atemnot (Johannes Kaul) – German only
Ich bin dann mal weg (Hape Kerkeling) – German version
I’m Off Then (Hape Kerkeling) – English version of the book above
Eine Billion Dollar (Andreas Eschbach) – German only
Deutschland schafft sich ab (Thilo Sarrazin) – German only
Die Vermessung der Welt (Daniel Kehlmann) – German version
Measuring the World (Daniel Kehlmann) – English version of the book above
Extrem laut und unglaublich nah (Jonathan Safran Foer) – German version
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer) – English version of the book above
Drachenlaeufer (Khaled Hosseini) – German version
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) – English version of the book above
Die Chemie des Todes (Simon Beckett, Andree Hesse) – German version
The Chemistry of Death (Simon Beckett, Andree Hesse) – English version of the book above
Zwei an einem Tag (David Nicholls) – German version
One Day (David Nicholls) – English version of the book above
Gut gegen Nordwind (Daniel Gattauer) – German version
Love Virtually (Daniel Glattauer) – English version of the book above
Alle sieben Wellen (Daniel Glattauer) – German only
Feuchtgebiete (Charlotte Roche) – German version
Wetlands (Charlotte Roche) – English version of the book above
Schossgebete (Charlotte Roche) – German only
Ich. Darf. Nicht. Schlafen. (S. J. Watson) – German version
Before I Go to Sleep (S. J. Watson) – English version of the book above
Die Ernaehrungsluege (Hans-Ulrich Grimm) – German only
Der Antichrist (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche) – German version
The Antichrist (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche) – English version of the book above
Schuld und Suehne (Fjodor Dostojewskij) – German only
Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) – German version
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) – English version of the book above

I also carry two books with me which were not published in a Kindle version. One is a book on physical workouts only using the weight of your body and the other one is a kind of extended manual for my camera.

Lastly, I have one book from a German author with me which I will swap against other books whenever I run out of reading material. I decided to take the following book for swapping because I really much enjoyed reading it two years ago:

Wer bin ich – und wenn ja wie viele? (Richard David Precht) – German
Who Am I and If So How Many? (Richard David Precht) – English version of the book above

I still search for good books to read on my upcoming journeys throughout the next year. So please post you reading tips here. Which are excellent books from all over the world which I must have read?