Australia
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Nonfiction
This is the first Bill Bryson book I listened to on audio and it is my all time favorite. I learned that everything in Australia is actively trying to kill you.
Oceania
Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When the writer Donovan Hohn heard of the mysterious loss of thousands of bath toys at sea, he figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, and read up on Arctic science and geography. But questions can be like ocean currents: wade in too far, and they carry you away. Hohn’s accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive world of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories.
Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony Horwitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Two centuries after James Cook’s epic voyages of discovery, Tony Horwitz takes readers on a wild ride across hemispheres and centuries to recapture the Captain’s adventures and explore his embattled legacy in today’s Pacific. Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Confederates in the Attic, works as a sailor aboard a replica of Cook’s ship, meets island kings and beauty queens, and carouses the South Seas with a hilarious and disgraceful travel companion, an Aussie named Roger.
Antarctica
Antarctica on a Plate by Alexa Thomson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Imagine you are a young woman with a stellar career but an increasing dissatisfaction with life. Imagine that your idea of a remote location is the distance between a taxi rank and a shoe shop. How do you shrug off your growing ennui? Simple. You apply for the position of cook in the coldest place on earth: Antarctica.
Looking for even more recommendations? I belong to the Around the World in 80 Books Goodreads group. They have compiled a list of every book that people have claimed for every country. It is an amazing resource.
I need to read more books set in Australia and New Zealand. That part of the world is severely lacking in my reading.
Moby Duck is a very catchy title 🙂 Thank for the Antarctica recommendation and the resource of the Goodreads group list!