Books

On this page, I've compiled a list of Camino related book suggestions. This list is by no means comprehensive although I update it from time to time when worthy candidates are discovered. Although my selection criteria is, in the end, somewhat subjective, I do strive to select titles that are well written, well organized, generally have good reviews, and have generally stood the test of time in terms of availability.

The book list is organized into 3 categories:

  1. Academic/Reference
  2. Guidebooks/Maps
  3. Personal Accounts / Travel Essays

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Books – Academic/Reference

•          The Pilgrims Guide to Santiago de Compostela (by William  Melczer; Ithaca Press; New York 1993) - this is an English translation of a portion of the Liber Sancti Jacobi also known as the Codex Calixtinus

 

•          The Pilgrim’s Road to Santiago, The Complete Cultural Handbook (by David Gitlitz, David and Linda Davidson; St. Martin’s Griffin; New York; 2000)

 

 

Books – Guide/Map

 

•          The Camino Frances (by the Confraternity of St. James) – this is the simple by adequate guidebook I used for my journey – www.csj.org.uk. In my opinion, the Confraternity offers the best selection of inexpensive guidebooks on the Camino.

 

 

Books – Personal Accounts / Travel Essays

 

Note – the personal accounts below are all well written; however, with the exception of Laffi’s account, most are deeply introspective and do not offer a glimpse of the more practical aspects of Camino life.  

 

•          A Journey West: The Diary of the Seventeenth Century Pilgrim from Bologna to Santiago de Compostela (by Domenico Laffi, translated by James Hall; Primavera Press, 1997 Leiden) – a wonderful personal account of a priest walking the Camino in the 1800s; unfortunately, it can be difficult to find in print.

 

•          El Camino: Walking to Santiago de Compostela (by Lee Hoinacki; University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996) – a well written personal account, highly introspective (this guy kept to himself on the Camino); also the authors on-going tirade against technology was distracting.

 

•          Journey of the Spirit (by Shirley MacLain; Atria Books, 2001)

 

•          Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago (by Kerry Eagan; Doubleday Publishing, 2004)