12 classic road trip books to take you on a ride this summer

There are plenty of road trip books coming out this summer but there are also similarly themed books from the past that are well worth revisiting Here are a dozen older titles that tell stories inspired by the streets and highways of the world Imogen Binnie Nevada Courtesy of the publisher Imogen Binnie Nevada Binnie s novel was published by an indie press in but gained much more attention when it was reprinted by Farrar Straus and Giroux nine years later The book follows Maria a transgender New York bookseller who sets out for the American West after a painful breakup Gabriela Cabez n C mara translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre The Adventures of China Iron Courtesy of the publisher Gabriela Cabez n C mara translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre The Adventures of China Iron The English translation of Argentine author Cabez n C mara s novel was a finalist for the International Booker Prize A retelling of Jos Hern ndez s epic poem Mart n Fierro the novel follows Fierro s abandoned wife as she travels across the pampas with a new friend a Scottish woman named Liz Jade Chang The Wangs vs the World Courtesy of the publisher Jade Chang The Wangs vs the World Chang s comic debut novel follows Charles a cosmetics entrepreneur who lost pretty much everything in the financial dilemma and who takes a road trip with his wife and kids in tow from Bel Air to upstate New York where another one of his children lives Jennifer Dugan Melt With You Courtesy of the publisher Jennifer Dugan Melt With You Fans of young-adult literature might want to stop the world and pick up Dugan s novel about two young women who have stopped speaking after an ill-advised hookup but who are forced to work together in an ice cream truck that they take to a series of food festivals across the country Jack Kerouac On the Road Courtesy of the publisher Jack Kerouac On the Road One of the foundational works of th-century American literature Kerouac s novel follows a series of road trips taken by the characters Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty based on Kerouac and Neal Cassady respectively It remains the best-known book associated with the Beat Generation William Least Heat-Moon Blue Highways A Journey Into America Courtesy of the publisher William Least Heat-Moon Blue Highways A Journey Into America Least Heat-Moon s advance memoir chronicles his travels across the country in which he visited a series of small towns New Hope Tennessee Simplicity Virginia Remote Oregon and more and met various people along the way Valeria Luiselli Lost Children Archive Courtesy of the publisher Valeria Luiselli Lost Children Archive Mexican author Luiselli s first book written in English follows a couple who take a road trip with their two children from New York to Arizona and try to address their fracturing family The novel won the prestigious Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction as well as the Writer s Prize Riley Sager Survive the Night Courtesy of the publisher Riley Sager Survive the Night For those who prefer their road trip novels terrifying Sager s novel follows Charlie a college scholar in who meets fellow candidate Josh on a campus ride board and agrees to voyage home to Ohio with him Charlie soon individuals that Josh might well be a serial killer John Steinbeck Travels With Charley In Search of America Courtesy of the publisher John Steinbeck Travels With Charley In Search of America Road trip books don t get much more classic than Steinbeck s account of his -mile trip across the U S with his beloved standard poodle I was born lost and take no pleasure in being determined the California literary legend memorably wrote in the beloved book Candacy Taylor Overground Railroad The Green Book and the Roots of Black Journey in America Courtesy of the publisher Candacy Taylor Overground Railroad The Green Book and the Roots of Black Voyage in America The first Green Book which listed safe places for Black motorists across the country was published in Taylor s book is a history of the books with forays into music venues and Course and an exploration of how things have changed and have not changed over the past years John Waters Carsick John Waters Hitchhikes Across America Courtesy of the publisher John Waters Carsick John Waters Hitchhikes Across America Filmmaker Waters brings his signature offbeat sense of humor and a touch of warmth to his account of hitchhiking from Baltimore to San Francisco accepting rides from drivers who took his I m Not Psycho sign at its word They perhaps never saw Pink Flamingos or they would have had questions