Best travel books to read during summer adventures

Tourists usually take electronic gadgets with them when traveling, but there are many who prefer to read paper books. This can be a good opportunity to distract yourself during long journeys and even while relaxing on the beach.

Atlas Obscura has compiled a list of the best travel books to take with you on the road, Atlasobscura writes. Among them is a book about the British explorer Percy Fawcett, who made seven trips to the Amazon rainforest.

During these journeys, Fawcett became increasingly obsessed with the legendary Eldorado, and was convinced that he had found evidence of the ancient shining city. His obsession ended in tragedy in 1924 when he went into the woods and disappeared with the rest of the expedition. In 1925, Fawcett, still missing, was declared dead. Almost a century later, writer David Grann decided to find out exactly what happened to Fawcett and his group. Drawing on his own travels in the Amazon, Grann reflects on what drives us to explore the unknown.

Immerse yourself in Japan's extraordinary food culture in an innovative guide that combines history, culture, and centuries-old culinary traditions. The book, written by one of the co-founders of Roads & Kingdoms, covers everything from humble noodle shops in Kyoto to Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo.

Another book worth checking out is the story of how, while visiting a textile exhibition, the English writer Victoria Finlay and her mother saw a crimson-red patchwork quilt that a widow had made shortly after her husband's death. A few months later, Finlay's mother dies. Then, shortly thereafter, her father dies. What follows is a story of grief and recovery told through the secret histories of textiles: from how the Vikings used thread to convey someone's fate, even a tragic one.

Another edition contains inspirational adventures. The two New York Times bestsellers take you to little-explored corners of the world, from Shackleton's Antarctic hut to Turkmenistan's fiery The Darvaza gas crater, as well as to unique dishes and delicious culinary traditions: from Ugandan Rolex (aka "rolled eggs") to Colombian boiled hot dogs with pineapple salsa.

Approximately 35,700 years ago, humans crossed an unknown, uninhabited land across a bridge that connected their Siberian homeland to Alaska. The ancient explorers were heading into a dangerous land full of saber-toothed tigers, giant bears, and elephant-sized ground sloths. Many of them did not survive. Author and wilderness guide Craig Childs traces the most likely routes these early human travelers would have taken on their journey to America. Combining personal narrative with science and history, he tells a different kind of travel story that reveals the humanity and resilience of North America's first people.

Assassination Vacation is the funniest book about dead presidents ever. With her trademark wit and historical know-how, writer and editor of This American Life magazine Sarah Vowell travels across the United States to the sites of political bloodshed. She delves into the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley, exposing how politics, history, and tourism have capitalized on some of the country's most famous tragedies.

Slovenology: Living and Traveling in the World's Best Country is about a country that sits between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea and has everything from towering snow-capped mountains to quaint coastal towns. Written by Atlas Obscura course instructor and trip leader Noah Charney, Slovenology is part guidebook, part memoir, and the perfect companion to understanding this little-known corner of Europe.

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty, illustrated by Landis Blair, tells how other cultures care for their dead. This is the main question at the heart of the New York Times bestseller. Doughty, a friend of Atlas Obscura, explores how different cultures respect and care for the dead: from skulls that grant wishes in Bolivia to elaborate 12-day funerals in Indonesia.