What is a good book to read about a journey on the Camino?

[Claireabella]

Hello pilgrims!

I am doing the Camino in 2017 and i am busy getting as much information and reading about it. I would like to know can anyone recommend a good book on the Camino. Whether it is a pilgrim's journey or factual information. That would be much appreciated!

 

[pastorsharon]

I read quite a few books before our camino but my favorite continues to be "To the Field of Stars" by Kevin A. Codd. I'm re-reading it right now on the first anniversary of our pilgrimage and am enjoying it even more... Because I can now relate!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J1EU2MC/?tag=casaivar02-20

 

[GettingThere]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J1EU2MC/?tag=casaivar02-20

Yes! I loved this one. You may also find it with the title "Spanish Steps" - UK editions I think.

 

[Walking by faith]

The Pilgrimage from Paulo Coelho is the one I read, and it was really inspiring.
But good advice is also to not read excessively, because I felt that to experience the unknown, to encounter some good and bad surprises on the way, and to have a need to talk to local people and ask for help, was an important part of an experience. ...

 

[Jacobus]

Hello pilgrims!

I am doing the Camino in 2017 and i am busy getting as much information and reading about it. I would like to know can anyone recommend a good book on the Camino. Whether it is a pilgrim's journey or factual information. That would be much appreciated!

All The Good Pilgrims by Robert Ward. Accurate portrayal of the Camino as experienced by the author. Well written and humorous in places. Written by a Canadian journalist who also wrote a more serious book about the significance of the Virgin Mary as related to the Camino.

 

[GAUVINS]

Really depends what you are looking for. If you want travelogues, you'll find many interesting blogs.

If you want to start planning, the two most useful titles in English on Kindle were, for me :

1. The northern caminos (really excellent introductory chapters covering a wide range of questions)

2. Pilgrim tips (no nonsense, very good read)

If you want to plan your detailed logistics

3. Brierley is the rock star in this business (bought it but will not use it)

If you can read French
4. Clouteau is the French equivalent, in some way, of Brierley. But is unorthodox. The guy has walked all over Europe with his donkey, Ferdinand. Mode d'emploi is tops. (Clouteau edits the Miam Miam Dodo series, a stage oriented guide. Mode d'emploi is about the Pilgrim experience.)

 

[clearskiescamino]

Well, as you're Irish, you could start closer to home and read "Buen Camino" by Peter and Natasha Murtagh https://books.google.ie/books/about/Buen_Camino.html?id=Fiw7YgEACAAJ
also a fellow forum member Terry McHugh who has just finished a second camino, wrote a day by day guide which you can buy for kindle..http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500997242/?tag=casaivar02-20

I love both of them.

 

[Claireabella]

Well, as you're Irish, you could start closer to home and read "Buen Camino" by Peter and Natasha Murtagh https://books.google.ie/books/about/Buen_Camino.html?id=Fiw7YgEACAAJ
also a fellow forum member Terry McHugh who has just finished a second camino, wrote a day by day guide which you can buy for kindle..http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500997242/?tag=casaivar02-20

I love both of them.

Thank you good pilgrim. I will look them up.

 

[fjvjess]

For spiritual prep, "Walk in a Relaxed Manner" by Joyce Rupp

 

[clearskiescamino]

There are literally hundreds of books out there @Claireabella so you won't go wanting.
Enjoy!

 

[newfydog]

The last chapter of James Michener's "Iberia". He drives the camino, but he packs so much well written history and local color into that chapter, that I have yet to find anything better.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

This one is not about the Camino but about Spain (Barcelona) in the 1300-1400s, by Idelfonso Falcones. A bit of a Count of Monecristo a la Spanish and interesting in part because of its description of how cathedrlas are built, the power of the Church, the relationsh between nobility, peasants and craftmen, all elements that still transpire daily as we walk the Camino. It's a good 800 pages and I had it on my Ipad on this last Camino. Nice afternoon read.

 

[mgnswaus]

'The year we seized the day' by Elizabeth Best and Colin Bowles is a somewhat irreverent account of two authors undertaking the Camino. So funny and so true....... Enjoy their journey and then enjoy yours.

 

[WandererJolie]

I'm re-reading "The Lord of the Rings" - Frodo's journey will make mine (eeek, three weeks away!) look like a walk in the park!

 

[Lyndale]

"The Way, My Way" by Australian writer, producer and film director Bill Bennett is hilarious at times, hard to put down. The memoir follows his journey from St Jean to Santiago and is packed with humor and pain but also weaves in the stories of the "camino family" he made. Very well written. If you are interested in taking good pictures along the way, he has also written "Photo Camino: A Personal Guide To Photography on the Camino". Being a film producer and director, he knows how to get the best shot.

 

[wawpdx]

My all time favorite is Fumbling by Kerry Egan. She writes about her own emotional journey and includes background information such as the legend of why chickens are in the church etc. I liked this book before I walked and enjoyed it just as much after I walked. It is the only Camino book I have given as a gift to family members and a friend. I liked her as a person and I enjoyed her writing.

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

i'm currently enjoying alejo carpentier's 'camino de santiago'