Literary Escapes: books that celebrate our favourite destinations.

Looking to crack open a new book on vacation? We selected our favourite page-turners from every country Out Adventures visits.

Antarctica

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard recounts the storms, blizzards and whale attack the late explorer Robert Falcon Scott experienced on his fatal journey to the seventh continent.

Canada

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood largely takes place in 1930s Toronto. The novel weaves together gothic suspense, romance, and science fiction.

Chile

My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel is a queer romance unfolding around the 1986 assassination attempt of Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet.

Cambodia

First they Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung is a memoir about the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. The novel was recently adapted to the big screen under the directorial eye of Angelina Jolie.

Croatia

My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci is a fluffy piece of fiction that begins with a Bosnian exile meeting a talking cat in a Finnish gay bar (trust us).

Cuba

Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas powerfully recounts the author’s journey from poverty-stricken child to rebel fighter during the Castro-revolution and subsequent imprisonment as a homosexual.

Iceland

The Little Book of the Hidden People: Twenty stories of elves from Icelandic folklore is rife with tales of the hidden people that inhabited hills and rocks in the landscape.

India

The Boyfriend by R. Raj Rao is a tragi-comedy about an unexpected inter-generational gay encounter that examines caste, class, religion, masculinity and India’s gay subculture.

Laos

Thirty-Three Teeth by Collin Cotterill takes place in newly-communist Laos. The fantastical thriller follows Dr Siri Paiboun, the country’s national coroner, as he unravels a series of mysterious deaths. He is aided by the spirits of past victims.

Morocco

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs is considered one of the most influential novels of the past century. It was written in a seedy flat in Tangier, Morocco as a series of vignettes depicting drug abuse, gay sex and prostitution.

Nepal

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen is a relatable reflection on life. Both vivid and introspective, it will strengthen the spirit for anyone considering Everest Base Camp.

Peru

Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams is a ‘fascinating and funny account’ of the Lost City by an ‘unadventurous adventure writer’ who had never slept in a tent.

Portugal

Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier follows a Swiss grammar-school classics master on a journey to live the life he never could. The novel takes place in Portugal’s capital during the volatile ’30s.

Slovenia

They Would Never Hurt A Fly by Slavenka Drakulic, asks, “Who were they? Ordinary people like you or me—or monsters?” of the people behind the war crimes that tore apart Yugoslavia.

South Africa

In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut is a short, yet powerful novel about a nomadic gay South African who continues to make relationships on the road that – for better or worse – have lasting impressions.

Sri Lanka

Funny Boy by Sri Lankan-Canadian author Shyam Selvadurai is a collection of six vignettes about a young gay Sri Lankan growing up in Colombo before the 1983 riots.

Thailand

One-Fourteenth of an Elephant: A memoir of life and death on the Burma – Thailand Railway by Ian Denys Peek, takes an unflinching look at the treatment of prisoners of war.