Have an adventure...without ever leaving your home!

I get it - travel is expensive! But while you're saving up for your dream trip, what can you do to keep that adventurous spirit alive?

My solution is often reading a good book.  So here's a list of five of my current favorite adventure novels and their destinations. (If you click on the titles, it will take you to each book's Goodreads page for more information.)

1. Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase 

Destination: Egypt

Okay, I'll admit it - I love historical romance novels.  This book by Loretta Chase is actually #2 in a series, but you don't have to read the first in order to follow along with the second.  It features a kickass lady archaeologist deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics who is chasing down her kidnapped brother, who publishes her work under his name.  No one will believe that he's been kidnapped, so Daphne (our heroine) hires Rupert (our hero) to be her muscle in her quest to chase down her brother. It includes:
- cruising down the Nile!
- shootouts!
- more kidnappings!
- our hero and heroine trapped in an ancient grave site!
- arson!
- several daring rescues!
- a pet mongoose!

But seriously, I love this book. Go read it.

2. City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte

Destination: Prague

I bought this book on a whim from the sale aisle at B&N and ended up really liking it.  Sarah Weston is working cataloging Beethoven's manuscripts at a castle in Prague. (Archivists for the win!) Strange things start to happen...paranormal things. Sexy things. Time-traveling things.

It has a sequel, but I haven't read it yet.

3. Juliet by Anne Fortier

Destination: Italy

When Julie Jacobs' Aunt Rose dies, she cuts Julie out of her will - leaving her only a mysterious key to a safety deposit box in Sienna.  As Julie tracks down information about the mysterious contents of the box, which all seem to pertain to the story of Romeo and Juliet, it leads her to a legendary treasure known as Juliet's Eyes, and a strange secret about her own family.  Is history repeating itself? Is Julie destined to be the next ill-fated Juliet?

4. Abarat by Clive Barker

Destination: Abarat

This one is obviously about a fantasy land - but it has to be one of the most fascinating fantasy lands I've ever read about.  Abarat is divided into 25 islands - one for each hour of the day, plus the mysterious 25th Hour.  Candy Quackenbush, an ordinary girl from a Midwest chicken town, finds herself swept into a budding revolution in the strange yet oh-so-familiar Abarat.

This is the first in the trilogy.  I highly recommend finding a hardcover copy if you can, because Barker made all his own illustrations for this story and they are amazing.

5. The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

Destination: South Africa

I had to include this book - it's where the title of my blog comes from! Anne Beddingfield takes off to South Africa, trying to solve the mysterious death she witnessed on the tube platform in London.  Along the way, she meets several interesting characters, and finds herself entwined in a much bigger scheme than just murder!