Books and Films

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” -
Jorge Luis Borges

Both of us love reading and watching world cinema films. We would like to the share books and films that we have enjoyed, been inspired by, or have read/watched when we have been on holiday. All these books and DVDs are available on the Amazon.co.uk link below. If you click on the link and purchase any items we will receive a small percentage.

    

Cycling Nomads Book List

Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook by Stephen Lord. A useful guide with tips on routes, equipment and planning for cycle touring.

Why don’t you fly? Backdoor to Beijing – by bicycle, by Christopher J. A. Smith.

A 16,500 mile adventure from UK to Beijing.

Miles from Nowhere, by Barbara Savage.

A 23,000 mile global adventure, 25 countries in two years during the late 1970s.

The Trail to Titicaca: A Journey Through South America, by Rupert John Attlee.

Three untrained cyclists set out to cycle from Tierra del Fuego to Lake Titicaca.

“You can’t ride a bike to Alaska. It’s an island!” by Mickey Thomas.

A once-in-a-lifetime 3,400 mile bicycle ride from Montana to Alaska.

Odysseus’ Last Stand. The Chronicles of a Bicycle Nomad, by Dave Stamboulis.

The story of a seven year and 40,000 kilometre journey around the world.

Discovery Road by T. Garratt, A. Brown, and Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

This is a fast moving tale of self-discovery; it is full of adventure, conflict, humour, danger and a multitude of colourful characters. Much more than a travelogue, it proves ordinary people can chase great dreams.

Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes.

If you need inspiration to get off the sofa, buy this book. Makes running a marathon look like a piece of cake.

Moods of Future Joys by Alastair Humphreys.

Moods of Future Joys is the first part of Alastair’s 4 year cycling adventure around the world.

Thunder and Sunshine by Alastair Humphreys.

This is the second part of Alastair Humphreys' round the world journey of 46,000 miles from Cape Town he cycles the Americas and then through Russia, Japan, China before cycling home.

 

Left for Dead: The Untold Story of the Tragic 1979 Fastnet Disaster by Nick Ward and Sinead O’Brien.

An amazing sea survival story.

A Place to Cycle by Rob Penn.
A Place to Cycle features 25 of the world's most beautiful cycle routes. Each one has been independently selected for their exceptional beauty and stunning scenery en route, and graded from an easy, leisurely ride, to more challenging terrain.

 

News from Tartary by Peter Fleming.

This is one of Kelly’s all time favourite books. It describes an undeservedly successful attempt to travel overland from Peking in China to Kashmir in India in the 1920s. The journey took seven months and covered about 3,500 miles...With masterly understatement Peter Fleming begins this account of what is one of the true epics of adventure.

 

Living Dangerously, by Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Dave first read Ranulph Fiennes’ autobiography when he was sixteen and this inspired him to lead a life of adventure and overcoming challenges.

 

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing.

If this weren't a true story you would consider it too far fetched. The determination to survive in the face of extreme hardship is mind blowing. Shackleton's leadership skills are unparalleled and could be applied to many other areas of life.

 

Rough Guides

From Amsterdam to Zanzibar, Rough Guides publish over 200 guidebooks, maps and phrasebooks to over 300 destinations worldwide. Make the Most of Your Time on Earth!

 

Around The World On Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry’s Extraordinary ride. By Peter Zheutlin

The story of Annie Kopchovsky’s attempt to circle the world by wheel has been lost to history. How did she manage, in the 1890s, to make a trip around the world by bicycle? How did she free herself from the social constraints that surrounded women of the Victorian era to undertake such an adventure?

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

One of Kelly’s favourite books. Saleem Sinai was born at midnight, the midnight of India's independence, and found himself mysteriously 'handcuffed to history' by the coincidence. He is one of 1,001 children born at the midnight hour, each of them endowed with an extraordinary talent - and whose privilege and curse it is to be both master and victims of their times.

 

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

This is a story of young twins Rahel and Estha and the rest of their family. The God of Small Things is at once exotic and familiar to the Western reader, written in English, that's completely new and invigorated by the Asian Indian influences of culture and language.

 

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

One of Dave’s favourite books.

A fable about following one's dreams, listening to one's heart, and reading life's omens.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The life of Pi concerns the oceanic wanderings of a lost boy. After a colourful and loving upbringing in India, the Muslim-Christian-animistic Pi sets off for a fresh start in Canada. His blissful voyage is rudely interrupted when his boat is scuppered halfway across the Pacific, and he is forced to rough it in a lifeboat with a hyena, a monkey, a whingeing zebra and a tiger called Richard.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.

Interweaves story and dream, past and present, and philosophy and poetry tale of two couples--Tomas and Teresa, and Sabina and her Swiss lover, Gerhart. The essential question asked by this book is, is it better to be weighed down by responsibility, or to chose the unbearable lightness of being where our actions are "as free as they are inconsequential"?

Anything by Milan Kundera is awesome.

Cycling Nomads Movie List

Into the Wild

Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. (English language)

La Lengua de las Mariposas.

A beautifully shot, perfectly paced film set in a small town during the months leading up to the Spanish Civil War. This harrowing but uplifting tale concerns a schoolteacher and his 8 year-old pupil. (Spanish with subtitles)

The Motorcycle Diaries

In 1952, two young Argentinian men, the medical student Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and friend Alberto Granada set out on a road trip to discover the real Latin America. Guevara's own journals form the basis of Salles's film of this journey of self-discovery as the two experience the region's rich and varied life and landscape. Gorgeously filmed, it avoids overt politics while leaning towards Guevara's later political life. (Spanish with English subtitles)

Bombon El Perro

When a middle-aged mechanic made redundant after 20 years helps a stranded motorist he is paid with a purebred Dogo Argentino named Bombón, a dog almost twice his size. He begins to dream of a different life after his dog wins first prize at a local dog show and, aided by a trainer, he discovers the world of dog shows, where he reclaims his dignity and discovers a new calling. A simple, lovely film from the director of Historias Minimas. A film from Argentina (Spanish with English subtitles)

Historias Minimas

Aka Minimal Stories. A Patagonian road movie and an affectionate portrait of three small town heroes pursuing their dreams. Beautifully shot. A film from Argentina (Spanish with English subtitles).

 

City of God

Perhaps the most exhilarating film of 2003, and one which takes street crime in the shantytowns of Rio as its subject. The slum is the battleground between rival gangs and corrupt cops. It's a story served up with passion and energy but which is also full of social and political insights. A Brazilian film (Portuguese with English subtitles).

Central Station

Aka Central Do Brasil. A film which will win many hearts. Dora, a crusty middle-aged spinster, unwillingly becomes responsible for a small boy, Josue, when his mother dies, and the film charts the adventures and disappointments in the mini-Odyssey of this odd couple, as they travel to find Josue's long-lost father. A Brazilian film (Portuguese with English subtitles).

Nine Queens

Set in Buenos Aires over the course of 24 hours, this is a taut heist thriller in which nothing is what it seems and no one can be trusted. A naive young con artist teams up with an experienced master criminal for what could be the crime to end all crimes. An Argentinean Film (Spanish with English subtitles).

Amores Perros

Voted best film by the critics at Cannes 2000. Amores Perros explodes onto the screen with a bone-crunching car crash. The lives of its three victims are then imaginatively interwoven in this visceral eulogy to life and loss on Mexico's mean streets. A Mexican film (Spanish with English subtitles)

Pedro Almodovar Box Set

An excellent collection of recent films from the inimitable Spanish director. Features All About My Mother, Bad Education, Live Flesh, Talk To Her and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (Spanish films with English subtitles).

La Comunidad

In Madrid, Julia (Carmen Maura) is a property broker of fifty and something years, trying to sell an old apartment. Julia finds a neighbor, an old man, dead in a very dirty apartment, along with three hundred million pesetas in his apartment. She becomes trapped by the other weird neighbors that want to get the old man's money for themselves. This tale is one of suspense and greed. A brilliant black comedy. (A Spanish film with English subtitles).

Volver

One of the most acclaimed films of 2006, Volver has been seen in many quarters as Almodovar's masterpiece. Penelope Cruz has never been better than as Raimunda, a hard-working woman whose life is a mess. Her sister, meanwhile, is shocked when their mother (Carmen Maura) returns to lend a helping hand. A warm, delightful film with strong performances (the female protagonists shared the Best Actress award at Cannes) (Spanish with English subtitles)

 

Amelie

Aka Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. Innocent young Amelie discovers that her true vocation in life is to right wrongs and to help others find love and happiness. However, something is missing from her own heart, and when a mysterious photo album land at her feet, it sets her on a delightfully twisted path through Parisian streets to meet its handsome, mysterious owner and her own destiny (French with English subtitles).

Paris Je t’aime

20 directors, 20 short films, 20 vignettes about life and love in one of the greatest cities on earth, with an international cast including Steve Buscemi, Gaspard Ulliel, Miranda Richardson, Willem Dafoe, Juliette Binoche and Nick Nolte. There's something for all tastes here, and as ever with such collections, there's much enjoyment to be had from seeing the undoubted successes side by side with the films that don't quite come off (French with English subtitles).

 

Kolya

When a financially strapped former symphony cellist, now making a meagre living by playing at funerals, gets pressured into a paper marriage with a friend's single-mother niece, his roving-eye bachelor life is turned upside-down. Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. (Czech with English Subtitles)

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

Johnny Depp, Leonardo Di Caprio, Juliette Lewis Meet Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) a young man who lives in Endora, lowa population 1,901. "Describing it", says Gilbert, "is like dancing to no music." Gilbert lives with his mother, whose 36 stone frame is slowly destroying the fragile Grape homestead, his brother, Arnie (Leonardo Di Caprio) who was never expected to survive childhood.

 

Trainspotting

A true classic not to be missed.

Quadrophenia.

Franc Roddam's terrifically energetic movie, set to music from the Who's Quadrophenia, is--at the very least, the best film ever based on a rock album

Pulp Fiction

 

What would you do if you had a dead man in the back of your car? A girl overdosing in your passenger seat? Or a hitman staring you in the eye whilst reciting the Bible? If you like crisp dialogue, gangster cool and an intelligent story, Pulp Fiction has your answers. Tarrantino took 90s cinema in a new direction with Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. It's fast and furious, but doesn't just hang on violence. It has a lot, lot more.

 

The English Patient

Winner of nine Academy Awards and almost every critic's heart, The English Patient (based on Michael Ondaatje's prizewinning novel of love and loss during World War II) is one of the most acclaimed films of modern times.

 

21 Grams

A freak accident brings together a terminally ill mathematician, a grieving mother and a born-again ex-con. A gripping story that takes them to the heights of passion, the depths of obsession and sees the promise of revenge...

The Sea Inside

Javier Bardem gives a remarkable, unforgettable performance in Alejandro Amenabar's gripping drama about dying with dignity, THE SEA INSIDE. Thirty-five-year-old Bardem plays 55-year-old Ramon Sampedro, a Galician who broke his neck as a young man and has spent more than a quarter of a century as a quadriplegic, confined to bed. Reflecting on his past and considering his future, he chooses to die, petitioning the courts for permission to be euthanized. (Spanish with English subtitles)

 

Y Tu Mama Tambien

This beautifully filmed, expertly acted film about two 17-year-old, middle class Mexican boys on summer break is deceivingly complex (Spanish with English Subtitles).

Filmmaker Bigas Lunas is one of the most successful filmmakers to emerge from his native Spain. His films often mix humour and eroticism, are sometimes brutal, yet always original. This collection includes four of the director's most well-known films: GOLDEN BALLS, JAMON JAMON, THE TIT AND THE MOON and THE AGES OF LULU (Spanish with English Subtitles).

 


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