Novels of Vigor in Far off Lands: Best Books 2021

Cover of the novel Sharks in the Time of Saviours


The best novels of 2020 featuring exotic destinations. Quench your thirst for a life of adventure!


1. Sharks in the Time of Saviours by Kawai Strong Washburn (Canongate)

- Novel set in Hawaii


2. His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie

- A young woman from rural Ghana who enters an arranged marriage with the scion of a wealthy family and moves to the capital city of Accra


3. Real Life (Daunt) by Brandon Taylor

- A science graduate student in the American midwest


4. Rendang by Will Harris (Granta)

- A journey in poetry from West Sumatra to King’s Cross to the fictional planet Mongo 


5. A Saint from Texas (Bloomsbury) by Edmund White

- Life stories of twin sisters from Texas


6. How Much of These Hills Is Gold (Virago) by C Pam Zhang

- A retelling of the American west from the angle of Chinese immigrants


7. Cleanness (Macmillan) by Garth Greenwell

- An exploration of foreignness, obligation, and desire during a young American teachers making and remaking of himself in Sofia, Bulgaria.


Discover these great titles here >

Sponsored link


Hike, Drive, Stayin' Alive!

by The Raven Brothers

On Amazon >

Out of shape and unprepared, The Raven Brothers return to the road in a collection of ten quests to travel to their dream destinations against all odds! After two decades pioneering new routes across the globe, you would expect the authors of 'Driving the Trans-Siberian' to be hotshot explorers, with a sixth sense and an ability to survive in almost any situation. Think again! With virtually zero knowledge of the workings of the internal combustion engine and very limited skills of wilderness survival, Simon and Chris struggle into their hiking boots and power across three continents by river, tarmac and trail.

Venture to the top of Norway, cruise the road to Damascus, hike the Camino trail into Spain’s Wild West, row the Ganges, explore Frida Kahlo’s world in Mexico City, hangout with the dead in Sicily’s eerie catacombs, crawl deep inside Bolivia’s notorious silver mine, seek lions in Gujarat, wellness in Berlin and journey into the Naga Hills where tribal kings still rule.

Noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”, 'Hike, Drive, Stayin’ Alive!' signals a return to the duo writing “buttock clenching” travel comedy with the first in a series of candid stories of adventure by The Raven Brothers.