Like many of you, I’m fond of books.
I rely heavily on the library for supplying my addiction, er, reading needs. It is not unusual to have a stack of 40 or more tomes piled up by my chair with another dozen or so on or by my bedside table, and a few others scattered around the house. Many of these will be “research” related: for an upcoming trip, a creative project, a work need, my latest curiosity. Others (much fewer, alas) will be novels or other forms of fiction.
I leverage the library not because I’m cheap (OK, not just because I’m cheap), but because most of the books I read, I read in part. I finish most novels, but it is a rare business book that I’ll consume in whole. That’s in part because I find most business books—a good deal of nonfiction in fact—would make great articles, but the authors pad them with excess stories and happy talk to add pages that don’t add much value to me.
When I find one that delivers the goods, I’ll purchase it. But over time, most of those become obsolete or have served their purpose. Thus, we routinely have to purge our shelves and give away copies to make room for more current volumes.
However, there are some we hold onto. These include some classics and favorite novels or nonfiction works that are timeless. But what I’ve noticed lately is that even with these, I rarely ever re-read them except for one specific kind of book: those with pictures.
Perhaps I’m reverting to my youth, but I find that books with photographs or illustrations appeal to me over and over. Many of these are instructional, books on watercolor painting, sketching, photography, etc. Others are educational: books about particular artists and their works. But a third category are ones for whom the artwork was created or used for the book itself.
The best example of these are illustrated children’s books. When pondering why certain books for kids still appeal, I realized it was because of the artwork. Which then made me wonder if there were illustrated books for adults. While not as common, they exist. And so, I decided to review all the illustrated books that still appeal to me and to share some of those with you.
This is not an exhaustive review. It’s not entirely a logical one either meaning that I have assigned books to categories with questionable reasoning. This isn’t even my top ten list because I don’t want to rank these. Besides, I know there are many others that I have loved over time and haven’t included here.
What I will share with you are just some of my favorite books in the categories of travel-related, art, architecture and design related, literature or writing, and then ones specifically for children that still appeal.
For today, here are ten of my favorite travel books. These aren’t travel guidebooks or destination reviews (many of which can be quite lovely). They are ones loosely related to journeying to other places, most of them related to sketchbooks of artists and travelers. Here goes…
Explorers’ Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure (Artist Sketchbook, Drawing Book for Adults and Kids Exploration Sketchbook) by Huw Lewis-Jones (Author), Kari Herbert (Author), Chronicle Books, March 28, 2017
This and the next two books come from the creative mind of Huw Lewis-Jones who has a knack for finding old journals and bringing them to life. Here are some sample pages from this book of journal illustrations of explorers and adventurers over the centuries:
The Sea Journal: Seafarers’ Sketchbooks (Illustrated Book of Historical Sailor Explorers, Nautical Travel Gift) by Huw Lewis-Jones (Author), Don Walsh (Foreword), Chronicle Books, February 11, 2020
Similar to the previous book, this one focuses specifically on sketches from those on, at, or near the sea.
Archipelago: An Atlas of Imagined Islands by Huw Lewis-Jones (Editor), Thames & Hudson, October 15, 2019
This final selection of works by Huw Lewis-Jones is quite different and consists of illustrations created by artists of places they have made up. It’s quite inspiring both to read through and to encourage your own imagination as to what your own made up land might look like.
Loire Valley Sketchbook by Jean-Paul Pigeat (Author), Fabrice Moireau (Illustrator), Didier Millet,November 16, 2012
I love the work of artist Fabrice Moireau. Here are two of my favorites of his (though if I’d had more space, I would have included his Venice Sketchbook as well). The first is my favorite of all because I’ve never been to the Loire Valley in France, but after looking through this book, I really want to go there.
Paris Sketchbook by Mary Kelly (Author), Fabrice Moireau (Illustrator), Didier Millet, November 16, 2012
If you love Paris, you’ll love this book because he captures both famous and hidden places.
An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers by Danny Gregory, HOW Books, 2013
I credit Danny Gregory as getting me into sketching because he showed me that you don’t have to have everything perfect to have a good sketch. The artists in this book show a wide range of styles which will inspire you if you’re a sketcher, or make you want to travel to these places if you’re not. A more recent book that also shows a wide range of travel sketches is The World of Urban Sketching: Celebrating the Evolution of Drawing and Painting on Location Around the Globe – New Inspirations to See Your World One Sketch at a Time by Stephanie Bower, Quarry Books, November 29, 2022. If you like travel sketching, definitely check out that book as well. I wish I had more room to show some here, but these following images are from Danny Gregory’s book.
How to be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith, Penguin Books, 2008
Keri Smith’s book is quite different, but like many of her books, this one is made to be used, not just looked at. However, just glancing through it will inspire you to get out and go explore the wonders in the world all around you.
Hidden Places: An Inspired Traveller’s Guide (Volume 3) (Inspired Traveller’s Guides, 3) by Sarah Baxter (Author), Amy Grimes (Illustrator), White Lion Publishing, March 3, 2020
There’s something both inspiring and comforting about the illustrations in this book that highlight places around the world you may never have heard of, much less visited.
Island Dreams: Mapping an Obsession by Gavin Francis, Canongate Books, February 23, 2021
Full confession: I have only just started this book. But what I have read, I find intriguing as the author explores the allure of islands, both to us as travelers as destinations, and to our imaginations.
The Artist’s Sketchbook: Inside the Creative Mind by Jenny Gaschke (editor), Thames & Hudson, 2024
This book is very similar to the first one but includes sketchbooks of all kinds of artists in different contexts. However, a great deal of sketching occurs while traveling, even for artists known for work closer to home. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the thinking, as well as the sketching, of these artists from different countries and times.
Stay tuned as I’ll be sharing other illustrated books from other genres soon.
