Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Himalaya Map
by Nelles
A colorful regional map of the Himalayas at a scale of 1:1,500,000, including Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and Sikkim.
The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
The most perceptive, acutely observed and personal of all his books, Matthiessen's account of a five-week journey through Nepal with naturalist George Schaller combines their quest for the elusive cat with a moving introduction to Buddhism and the people and culture of the Himalayas.
Buddha's Orphans
by Samrat Upadhyay
This novel by Samrat Upadhyay (Arresting God in Kathmandu) sets Nepal’s political upheaval as a backdrop to the love story of Raja, an orphan boy, and Nilu, a daughter of privilege. Their story transports readers across generations and explores family connections.
Radio Shangri-La
by Lisa Napoli
Napoli's memoir of her time working on a fledgling Bhutanese radion station. She writes with frankness and clarity about the contradictions, poverty and reality of much mythologized Bhutan.
Fortress Monasteries of the Himalayas
by Peter Harrison
This slim book recreates the dramatic and colorful fortifications of Tibet, Ladakh, Nepal and Bhutan, recounting their history through foreign incursions, religious conflicts and civil wars to the Tibetan uprising and flight of the Dalai Lama from Potala Palace in 1959.
My Journey to Lhasa
by Alexandra David-Neel
Dressed as a humble pilgrim and traveling under the cover of night, the indomitable 55-year-old David-Neel and her young companion climbed mountains and tricked soldiers to ultimately reach Tibet's forbidden capital. Originally published in 1923, her account stands as a riveting portrait of early 20th-century Tibet.
Bangkok 8, A Novel
by John Burdett
Burdett explores the criminal underworld of Bangkok -- and mysterious deaths by snakebite.
So Close to Heaven, The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas
by Barbara Crossette
Asia correspondent for the New York Times, Crossette portrays Bhutan and neighboring Ladakh and Sikkim as strongholds of Tantric Buddhism in an increasingly homogenized world.
Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas
by Bikram Grewal
A pocket guide to 250 birds found from the foothills up to high elevations ranging from the Hindu Kush and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayas. With brief descriptive information, maps and 260 full-color illustrations.
Lonely Planet Bangkok Encounter
by Lonely Planet Publications
With a section of not-to-be-missed highlights, pullout map, and a calendar of annual events.
Bhutan, The Land of Serenity
by Matthieu Ricard
A Buddhist monk, photographer, and French interpreter for the Dalai Lama, Ricard draws on his time in Bhutan over the last 25 years for this intimate portrait. With illuminating chapters on the remarkable Khyentse Rinpoche, sacred art, architecture, dancing monks and ceremonies.
Essential Tibetan Buddhism
by Robert Thurman
The foremost Western scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, Thurman has chosen well from that tradition's sacred literature and helpfully includes suggested further reading, explanatory notes and a directory of sacred sites.
What Makes You Not a Buddhist
by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse
Born in Bhutan in 1961, a Tibetan lama and filmmaker (Travellers and Magicians), Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche gives a decidedly modern take on dharma, happiness, suffering and enlightenment in this engaging primer.
The Circle of Karma, A Novel
by Kunzang Choden
The first novel by a Bhutanese woman, this lyrical coming-of-age story explores the rituals of daily life in Bhutan. When Tsomo's mother suddenly dies, the young girl must travel alone across Bhutan and into India.
The Skull Mantra
by Eliot Pattison
The first in Pattison's series of superb political thrillers set in Tibet. When a headless corpse turns up on a Tibetan mountainside, veteran police inspector Shan Tao Yun is released from prison to investigate the crime, and he quickly uncovers a conspiracy involving American mining interests, corrupt Party officials and Tibetan sorcerers.
Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment, How to Stay Healthy at Altitude
by Stephen Bezruchka
Bezruchka, a mountaineer and M.D., includes case studies, frequently asked questions and simple methods of diagnosis and treatment in this indispensable pocket guide.
The Folded Earth
by Anuradha Roy
Tiger man Jim Corbett, Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru all make a cameo appearance in Anuradha Roy's second novel, marvelously populated with a host of characters and beautifully set in Ranikhet, a hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas, where the author makes her home part of the year.
The Soul of the Rhino
by Hemanta R. Mishra
Mishra writes of his long career in conservation and particularly his work with the endangered Asian rhino at Royal Chitwan in this absorbing memoir, marvelously subtitled A Nepali Adventure With Kings and Elephant Drivers, Billionaires and Bureaucrats, Shamans and Scientists.
To a Mountain in Tibet
by Colin Thubron
The intrepid, soulful Colin Thubron journeys from Nepal to Kailas, the revered mountain, "source of the universe, created from cosmic waters and the mind of Brahma" in his most revealing book yet. A New York Times Notable Book and Longitude favorite of 2011.
The Blessings of Bhutan
by Russ and Blyth Carpenter
Head-over-heels in love with Bhutan, the Carpenters introduce their adopted home, its people, customs, religion and history.
