Books like 'Country Driving'
Readers who enjoyed Country Driving by Peter Hessler also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure journalism politics journey humor
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Forest of the Gods by Balys Sruoga
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBalys Sruoga was a well-known Lithuanian poet, dramatist, and literary critic. In 1943, professor of Vilnius University, he was deported to Stutthof concentration camp (along with other professors, under the charge of campaigning students against joining the Reich troops)... -
![Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas And Other American Stories by Hunter S. Thompson]()
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas And Other American Stories by Hunter S. Thompson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDr. Thompson made the list of inspirational scribes when I polled in a recent writing workshop, and why not? Back in a spiffy Modern Library edition, replete with additional essays, I find in this iconographic work that HST both invoked--and provoked--an era that was not so much the '60s proper, but rather the mean, shadow-filled death of that time, which is still playing out... -
![The Defiant Wife by Jess Michaels]()
The Defiant Wife by Jess Michaels
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe second book in this sparkling series by 10 time USA Today Bestselling Author Jess MichaelsPippa Montgomery never thought her life would go like this. When she found out her late husband was a bigamist and had been murdered, she thought nothing could ever be the same. When she met his brother Rhys, the Earl of Leighton, she knew it... -
![Pereira Declares: A Testimony by Antonio Tabucchi]()
Pereira Declares: A Testimony by Antonio Tabucchi
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsDr. Pereira is an aging, overweightjournalist who has failed to noticethe menacing cloud of fascism overSalazarist Portugal, until one day hemeets an aspiring young writer andanti-fascist. Breaking out of his apolitical torpor, Pereira reluctantly rises to heroism... -
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![The Duke's Virgin Sister by Caroline Lee]()
The Duke's Virgin Sister by Caroline Lee
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThey haven’t quite managed to tame her wild streak. It is to be The Match of the Season. At least, that’s what Lady Carlotta Merritt, sister to the cool and aloof Duke of Cashingham, has been told repeatedly by her mother. The Dowager is beyond thrilled about her daughter’s engagement to Society’s most eligible bachelor, Lord What’s-His-Face... -
![My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad, Azar Nafisi]()
My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad, Azar Nafisi
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA teenage boy makes the mistake of falling in love with the much-protected daughter of his uncle, mischievously nicknamed after his hero Napoleon Bonaparte, the curmudgeonly self-appointed patriarch of a large and extended Iranian family in 1940s Tehran... -
![A Season of Love: A Christmas Anthology by Carla Kelly]()
A Season of Love: A Christmas Anthology by Carla Kelly
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJoin master romance writer Carla Kelly in this joyful celebration of the most wonderful time of the year. Set in regency England, these Christmas tales will take you from dangerous adventures on snowy roads to cozy little cottages filled with holiday mischief...Categorized as:
humor journey action-adventure adult anthologies fiction historical historical-fiction -
![A Warriner to Protect Her by Virginia Heath]()
A Warriner to Protect Her by Virginia Heath
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn heiress in distress and an earl in disgrace… When heiress Violet Dunston escapes from an abduction, she finds an unlikely protector in Jack Warriner—a member of one of England's most infamous families... -
![A Shrine of Murders by Celia L. Grace, Paul Doherty]()
A Shrine of Murders by Celia L. Grace, Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen a series of murders paralyzes the town of Canterbury in the fifteenth century, physician and chemist Kathryn Swinbrooke, assisted by bumbling Irish soldier Colum Murtagh, searches for a killer with literary tastes and rather personal motives... -
![The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami]()
The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn international bestseller available in English for the first time,a story of forbidden love set against the background of Arabic culture and endless feuds between clansA dead man hangs from the portal of St Paul s Chapel in Damascus. He was a Muslim officer and he was murdered... -
![Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins]()
Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRosie the hen is enjoying a leisurely walk around the farm, but the stroll isn't nearly as pleasant for the fox who is trying -- unsuccessfully -- to navigate the obstacle course Rosie is unknowingly leading him through... -
![Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord by Louis de Bernières]()
Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord by Louis de Bernières
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIn this iridescent gem of a novel, Louis de Bernieres returns to the territory he mapped so well in The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, a South American country of resplendent eccentricity, gargantuan corruption, and terrifying violence, where the ordinary machinery of government has rusted and the only thing that works is magic... -
![English Passengers by Matthew Kneale]()
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1857 when Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley and his band of rum smugglers from the Isle of Man have most of their contraband confiscated by British Customs, they are forced to put their ship up for charter. The only takers are two eccentric Englishmen who want to embark for the other side of the globe. The Reverend Geoffrey Wilson believes the Garden of Eden was on the island of Tasmania... -
![Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer]()
Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShortlisted for the Booker Prize, Under the Frog follows the adventures of two young Hungarian basketball players through the turbulent years between the end of World War II and the anti-Soviet uprising of 1956... -
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![An Unmistakable Rogue by Annette Blair]()
An Unmistakable Rogue by Annette Blair
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAlt Cover for ASIN: B006YGEAAU This highly-anticipated third in the award-winning Rogues Club Series, is the story of Reed Gilbride, and his quest for the proof of his birth, and Chastity Somers, the annoying, but desirable, obstacle in his path. Reed’s proof is said to exist on the Sunnyledge estate, which Chastity occupies and expects to keep... -
![State of War by Ninotchka Rosca]()
State of War by Ninotchka Rosca
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn endless festival amidst an endless war is the central image of this stunning novel about the Philippines of the Marcos era, a time of brutality, treachery, and betrayed passion.As the novel opens, our focus, in the Book of Acts, is on three young people—Eliza Hansen, Adrian Banyaga, and Anna Villaverde—as they arrive on the island of K_____ for the annual festival...Categorized as:
journey politics fiction historical-fiction magical-realism war historical 20th-century -
![The Highlander's Excellent Adventure by Shana Galen]()
The Highlander's Excellent Adventure by Shana Galen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJust because they've run away...Ines Neves and Emmeline Wellesley have both run away. Ines hid in a carriage from a tedious suitor, only to find, too late, the carriage had traveled out of London, not just around the block. To make matters worse, the carriage is that of a stranger: a handsome Highlander... -
![The US Capital Commotion by Josh Greenhut]()
The US Capital Commotion by Josh Greenhut
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStanley on parade Stanley has been chosen to receive a medal of honor in the nation's capital But once in Washington, DC, Stanley is swarmed in a crowd and separated from his family. Now he's on the run in a city filled with monuments--and with shadowy figures on his trail... -
![The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman]()
The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe jolly and exciting tale of the little boy who lost his red coat and his blue trousers and his purple shoes but who was saved from the tigers to eat 169 pancakes for his supper, has been universally loved by generations of children... -
![Little Man, What Now? by Hans Fallada]()
Little Man, What Now? by Hans Fallada
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis is the book that led to Hans Fallada’s downfall with the Nazis. The story of a young couple struggling to survive the German economic collapse was a worldwide sensation and was made into an acclaimed Hollywood movie produced by Jews, leading Hitler to ban Fallada’s work from being translated... -
![The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston]()
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA mystery and a love story spanning five decades, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams is an epic portrait of passion and ambition, set against the beautiful, brutal landscape of Newfoundland... -
![Beer In The Snooker Club (New Writers S) by Waguih Ghali]()
Beer In The Snooker Club (New Writers S) by Waguih Ghali
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSet amidst the turbulence of 1950s Cairo, Beer in the Snooker Club is the story of Ram Bey, an over-educated, under-ambitious young Egyptian struggling to find out where he fits in... -
![Gate of the Sun: Bab Al-Shams by Elias Khoury]()
Gate of the Sun: Bab Al-Shams by Elias Khoury
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDrawing on the stories he gathered from refugee camps over the course of many years, Elias Khoury's epic novel Gate of the Sun has been called the first magnum opus of the Palestinian saga.Yunes, an aging Palestinian freedom fighter, lies in a coma. Keeping vigil at the old man's bedside is his spiritual son, Khalil, who nurses Yunes, refusing to admit that his hero may never regain consciousness... -
![The Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker]()
The Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEnduring friendships and long-held vendettas come alive against the splendor and decadence of eighteenth-century Venice. In 1775 Venice–known to outsiders as “the brothel of Europe”–the tradition of mask-wearing has allowed adultery and debauchery to flourish... -
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![The Slaughterman's Daughter by Yaniv Iczkovits]()
The Slaughterman's Daughter by Yaniv Iczkovits
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn irresistible, picaresque tale of two Jewish sisters in late-nineteenth-century Russia, The Slaughterman’s Daughter is filled with “boundless imagination and a vibrant style” (David Grossman)... -
![Youngblood by Matt Gallagher]()
Youngblood by Matt Gallagher
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJarhead meets Redeployment in a suspenseful and smart fiction debut that has been called "thrilling, tragic, and darkly funny" by National Book Award-winning author Phil Klay.The US military is preparing to withdraw from Iraq, and newly-minted lieutenant Jack Porter struggles to accept how it's happening - through alliances with warlords who have Arab and American blood on their hands... -
![Devil's Valley by André P. Brink]()
Devil's Valley by André P. Brink
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Flip Lochner, a seedy, tired journalist fleeing a failed marriage, sees a beautiful woman with four breasts in Devil's Valley, he thinks it's a mirage. But then a man called Lukas Death stands before him. So begins Lochner's search for "the truth" first hinted at by a young student in Cape Town who was mysteriously killed... -
![Bound for Eden by Tess LeSue]()
Bound for Eden by Tess LeSue
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe first novel in a new western historical romance series that will take readers for the ride of their lives on the Oregon Trail. Alexandra Barratt has found the perfect man—it's a shame he thinks she's a boy... Fleeing from the murderous Grady brothers, Alexandra disguises herself as a boy and joins a frontier party heading West, with her brother and sister in tow... -
![The Lotus and the Storm by Lan Cao]()
The Lotus and the Storm by Lan Cao
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA lyrical novel of love and betrayal in the aftermath of the fall of Saigon—from the author of Monkey Bridge A singular work of witness, inspiration, and courage, The Lotus and the Storm marks the welcome return of Lan Cao’s pitch-perfect voice, telling the story only she can tell...Categorized as:
politics journey fiction historical-fiction war historical poc-author literary-fiction -
![A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe]()
A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the renowned author of The African Trilogy, a political satire about an unnamed African country navigating a path between violence and corruptionAs Minister for Culture, former school teacher M. A. Nanga is a man of the people, as cynical as he is charming, and a roguish opportunist... -
![My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran by Kader Abdolah]()
My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran by Kader Abdolah
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen he was a boy, Aga Akbar, the deaf-mute illegitimate son of a Persian nobleman, traveled with his uncle to a cave on nearby Saffron Mountain. Once there, he was to copy a three-thousand-year-old cuneiform inscription—an order of the first king of Persia—as a means of freeing himself from his emotional confinement... -
![The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch]()
The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe year is 1965. The fiercely nationalistic government of the god-king Sukarno has brought Indonesia to the brink of chaos. Engulfed in the violence are Guy Hamilton, a Western journalist; Billy Kwan, his Chinese-Australian cameraman; and the young British woman they both love... -
![Burmese Days by George Orwell]()
Burmese Days by George Orwell
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsSet in the days of the Empire, with the British ruling in Burma, Orwell's book describes corruption and imperial bigotry. Flory, a white timber merchant, befriends Dr Veraswami, a black enthusiast for the Empire, whose downfall can only be prevented by membership at an all-white club...Categorized as:
journalism journey politics 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
![The Traitor's Niche by Ismail Kadare]()
The Traitor's Niche by Ismail Kadare
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE"An extraordinary and complex novel whose time has come . . . 40 years after its initial publication [in Albanian]." —The HeraldAt the heart of the Ottoman Empire, in the main square of Constantinople, a niche is carved into ancient stone. Here, the sultan displays the severed heads of his adversaries... -
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![After Midnight by Irmgard Keun]()
After Midnight by Irmgard Keun
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDepicting a young woman's life in Nazi Germany, a masterpiece from the author of Child of All Nations'I cannot think of anything else that conjures up so powerfully the atmosphere of a nation turned insane' Sunday TelegraphNineteen-year-old Sanna just wants to drink her beer in peace, but that's difficult when Hitler has come to town and his motorcade is blocking the streets of Frankfurt... -
![Believe in Me by Ella Quinn]()
Believe in Me by Ella Quinn
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEven the Worthington least likely to wed may find her perfect match . . . Marriage has worked out quite nicely for her older sisters, yet Lady Augusta Vivers is certain it would end her studies in languages and geography, and stop her from travelling... -
![The Old Man and His Sons by Heðin Brú]()
The Old Man and His Sons by Heðin Brú
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThese are the Faroe Islands as they were some fifty years ago: sea-washed and remote, with one generation still tied to the sea for sustenance, and a younger generation turning toward commerce and clerical work in the towns.At the post-hunt whale-meat auction, Ketil enthusiastically bids for more meat than he can afford. Thus when Ketil is seventy, he and his wife struggle to repay their debt... -
![Jia by Hyejin Kim]()
Jia by Hyejin Kim
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe first novel about present-day North Korea to be published in the West.A moving and true-to-life tale of courage in the face of oppression and exile.Hyejin Kim’s Jia follows the adventures of an orphaned young woman, Jia, who has the grace of a dancer but the misfortune of coming from a politically suspect family...Categorized as:
politics journey fiction historical-fiction historical literary-fiction psychological children -
![A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd]()
A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the small African republic of Kinjanja, British diplomat Morgan Leafy bumbles heavily through his job. His love of women, his fondness for drink, and his loathing for the country prove formidable obstacles on his road to any kind of success... -
![Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian by Aleko Konstantinov]()
Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian by Aleko Konstantinov
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA comic classic of world literature, Aleko Konstantinov’s 1895 novel Bai Ganyo follows the misadventures of rose-oil salesman Ganyo Balkanski (“Bai” is a Bulgarian title of intimate respect) as he travels in Europe. Unkempt but endearing, Bai Ganyo blusters his way through refined society in Vienna, Dresden, and St. Petersburg with an eye peeled for pickpockets and a free lunch... -
![Roughing It by Mark Twain]()
Roughing It by Mark Twain
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsRoughing It is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature written by American humorist Mark Twain. He wrote it during 1870–71 and published in 1872, as a prequel to his first book The Innocents Abroad (1869). This book tells of Twain's adventures prior to his pleasure cruise related in Innocents Abroad... -
![Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe]()
Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the fictional West African nation Kangan, newly independent of British rule, the hopes and dreams of democracy have been quashed by a fierce military dictatorship. Chris Oriko is a member of the cabinet of the president for life, one of his oldest friends... -
![My German Brother: A Novel by Chico Buarque, Alison Entrekin]()
My German Brother: A Novel by Chico Buarque, Alison Entrekin
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn uproarious novel about a man’s often sordid, lifelong search for his possibly imaginary half brother My German Brother is the renowned Brazilian musician and author Chico Buarque’s attempt to reconstruct through fiction his obsessive lifelong search for a lost sibling.In 1960s São Paulo, the teenage car thief and budding lothario Ciccio comes home each day to a house stuffed with books... -
![The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda]()
The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn a new novel by one of the premier writers of the ''new'' South Africa, an exile returns from America--where he fled during the apartheid regime--to find his newly democratic country in a shambles... -
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![The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa]()
The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAt the dawn of the 20th century in Pakistan, Freddy Junglewalla moves his family — pregnant wife, baby daughter, and Jerbanoo, his rotund mother-in-law — from their ancestral forest home to cosmopolitan Lahore. He opens a store, and as his fortunes grow, so does the animosity between Freddy and his mother-in-law... -
![See How Much I Love You by Luis Leante, Martin Schifino]()
See How Much I Love You by Luis Leante, Martin Schifino
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Wholly entertaining . . . a novel that hooks you in from the first line. An original and dramatic love story set in an innovative context.”—Mario Vargas Llosa“With vivid imagery of desperate village life and keen insight into multicultural influences, Leante’s rich, often poetic novel of romance and international politics evokes a sensuous yet savage period in this region’s tumultuous history... -
![The Warlock Wandering by Christopher Stasheff]()
The Warlock Wandering by Christopher Stasheff
Rated: 3.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOn the magical planet Gramarye, 500 years from their own time, Rod and Gwen Gallowglass are held captive in an alternative universe--a world where purple-skinned, fur-kilted men challenge them in primitive battle. Lost within time and space, and unable to communicate with the combative natives, Rod and Gwen must fight for their freedom and survival... -
![Tomato Rhapsody: A Fable of Love, Lust & Forbidden Fruit by Adam Schell, Адам Шел]()
Tomato Rhapsody: A Fable of Love, Lust & Forbidden Fruit by Adam Schell, Адам Шел
Rated: 3.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA village in Tuscany is the setting for this joyous debut—a novel that defies all our expectations as it puts a fresh, clever, captivating spin on the age-old tale of forbidden love... -
![The Colonel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi]()
The Colonel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
Rated: 3.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA pitch black, rainy night in a small Iranian town. Inside his house the Colonel is immersed in thought. Memories are storming in. Memories of his wife. Memories of the great patriots of the past, all of them assassinated or executed. Memories of his children, who had joined the different factions of the 1979 revolution. There is a knock on the door...Categorized as:
journey politics action-adventure adult anthologies fiction historical historical-fiction -
![The Death of Napoleon by Simon Leys]()
The Death of Napoleon by Simon Leys
Rated: 3.76 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsAs he bore a vague resemblance to the Emperor, the sailors on board the Hermann-Augustus Stoeffer had nicknamed him Napoleon. And so, for convenience, that is what we shall call him. Besides, he was Napoleon. . . .Napoleon has escaped from St. Helena, leaving a double behind him...
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