Auckland Council Libraries: Unlikely fictional road trippers

Unlikely fictional road trippers

Kāhore pea he kaihīkoi paki

​I blame my mother. While hunting for books for her, I ended up with a run of books featuring 'unlikely road trippers’ – so I hunted out some more, and now it is a real book list! Some of them are funny, some are heart-warming, some are heart-wrenching. But all of them feature unexpected characters doing unexpected road trips on, sometimes, unexpected travelways. 

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The little Paris bookshop

Nina George

Book

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels and mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself.

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The buried giant

Kazuo Ishiguro

Book

A couple sets off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years. Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Ishiguro's first novel in a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge and war.

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Etta and Otto and Russell and James

Emma Hooper

Book

Etta's greatest wish is to see the sea. And so, at the age of 82, gets up very early one morning, takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 2,000 miles to water. She leaves only memories to the people who love her.

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The little old lady who broke all the rules

C. Ingelman-Sundberg

Book

79-year-old Martha Andersson dreams of escaping her care home and robbing a bank. She has no intention of spending the rest of her days in an armchair and is determined to fund her way to a much more exciting lifestyle.

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The delight of being ordinary

Roland Merullo

Book

What happens when the Pope and the Dali Lama decide they need an undercover vacation? During a highly publicized official visit at the Vatican, the Pope suggests an adventure so unexpected and appealing that neither man can resist.

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The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared

Jonas Jonasson

Large Print

Allan Karlsson escapes his 100th birthday and begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police.

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Mrs Queen takes the train

William M. Kuhn

Book

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is growing increasingly disenchanted after decades of public service and years of family scandal. One day, the Queen takes things into her own hands and decides to leave the palace alone and incognito.

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The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Rachel Joyce

Book

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. All he knows is that he must keep walking to save someone else's life.

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The curious charms of Arthur Pepper

Phaedra Patrick

Book

Sixty-nine year-old Arthur Pepper is mourning the loss of his wife. What follows is a surprising adventure that takes Arthur from London to Paris and India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife's secret life before they met.

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Lost & found

Brooke Davis

Book

Brought together at a fateful moment, three people embark upon a road trip across Western Australia on a mission.

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Book list by:

Anne Coppell.

Annie

LibrarianHelensville Library

Auckland Council Libraries:Book list Recommended reading lists about different topics and genres to help you find new books to read.