Must Read: Books about travel

Every Wednesday on the Sarah Brett show we hear about some of the best books around.

This week Katy Guest, commissioning editor from publishing company Unbound, brings us her top four books about travel.

Have you read any of these books? Do you have a favourite travel book you'd recommend?

Killing My Own Snakes by Ann Leslie

"Killing My Own Snakes is a memoir from the classic days of Fleet Street. As a woman journalist at that time, [Ann Leslie] must have broken down so many barriers - but she doesn’t really talk about that, she seems to take it all in her stride.

"This memoir is full of anecdotes about the time she was flashed by Salvador Dali or the time she punched Muhammad Ali on the chin... and there’s this amazing story about when she was sent to interview Indira Gandhi when she was the Indian prime minister. 

"Ann was really sick with some form of vomiting bug at the time but you can’t lose the story when you’re a reporter like that and you’ve buttered up who knows how many people to get in the prime minister's room.

"She was pretending not be [ill] while conducting the interview, but Indira Ghandi was so sweet to her, sang her a lullaby and lay her down on a chaise lounge and took care of her! 

"I'll never forget this memoir as Ann is such a good storyteller."

Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson

"Notes From A Small Island was the book that really made Bill Bryson famous in this country. It was published in 1995 which makes me feel old, I remember reading it at the time.

"I think British people love being told about ourselves, especially by Americans, and Bill wrote this book about how he is considering moving back to the US with his family. He goes on this last trip around Britain to tick off all these places he hasn’t been to, and to laugh at the silly place names.

"He talks about how he moved here in 1973 and straight away he’s talking about meeting a sky that looked like a pile of wet towels – all you need to know about an American's view of Britain! He arrived to the three day week and petrol rationing, then Britain entered the common market.

"In the book he talks about our attitude to Europe and how we like to pretend it’s not really on our doorstep, and how we’re actually a part of America, really. 

"There’s no writer like him, and now he’s writing books about the Universe and he’s got one coming out this autumn about the human body. Everything he puts his pen to is a work of beauty and humour and mickey-taking that I really enjoy."

From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple

"In this book, Dalrymple follows in the footsteps of two monks in the year 587 AD who travelled across the ancient Byzantine world from the Bosporus to Egypt.

"He writes about how the interaction between different people with differing religions living together has shaped the region.

"It's absolutely fascinating and he's a fantastic writer."

A Year In Provence by Peter Mayle

"If you haven't already read this book then you are in for a treat. It's about a guy living in a foreign country who is interacting with the locals and trying to speak French, make a living and a home in this old farm.

"The book was so influential that it has created a genre and now feels at times like a cliche, but it wasn't at the time.

"It was followed by books such as Driving over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia by Chris Stewart, which was a similar idea of living somewhere, he was in Spain, and finding that life abroad isn't as easy as you might think when visiting on holiday."

Listen: Author and comedian Dom Joly speaks to BBC Radio 5 Live

One final suggestion for your travels is The Hezbollah Hiking Club: A Short Walk Across the Lebanon by Dom Joly. Click below to listen to his conversation with 5 Live's Sarah Brett.