The travelburro Reading List

An incomplete list of nonfiction, action-packed, bottom-up, Latin America-related reads designed to make you wanna head south.

True Tales from Another Mexico, by Sam Quinones
The guy's a master storyteller. And with topics like the narco-saint Jesus Malverde, transvestite prostitutes in Mazatlán, Tepito, the Oaxacan migration to San Quintin in Baja California; and corrido king Chalino Sanchez – how can you go wrong?

Narcocorrido, by Elijah Wald
Cuerno de chivo, tres animales, contrabando – so that's what the highest selling musicians in the Spanish speaking world are singing about.

Tropical Nature, by Adrian Forsyth & Ken Miyata
For those of us who ain't biologists but wonder what the hell's going on in there, this is the book on tropical ecology. Those rain forests are fucking amazing!

Almost an Island, by Bruce Berger
If you're going to Baja California, read this. Seriously.

The Fruit Palace, by Charles Nicholl
A reporter dives into Colombia's cocaine underworld and surfaces with tales of many sorts.

Marching Powder, by Thomas McFadden and Rusty Young
Adventures from inside a Bolivian jail. Goddamn those Brits are crafty.

Open Veins of Latin America, by Eduardo Galeano
Classic. Best general read on Latin American history.

The Panama Hat Trail, by Tom Miller
Ever wonder where Panama hats come from? Not Panama.

Living Poor, by Moritz Thomsen
Nails the life of coastal Ecuador – whoa.

Savages, by Joe Cane
How oil is wreaking havoc on Ecuador's Huaraní and the rainforest. Serious and funny.

Tropical Truth, by Caetano Veloso
Music and revolution in Brazil? Now we're talkin'.