Books like The House on First Street by Julia Reed

Roald Dahl’s humorous memoir of his early years, from birth through his time at an English boarding school and his first job at Royal Dutch Shell.

Peter Mayle shares the joys and quirks of settling into a 200‑year‑old stone farmhouse in the Luberon, Provence, exploring local customs, seasonal rhythms, and the region’s culinary delights.

An engaging blend of river history, Twain’s early steamboat memories, and humorous sketches that inspired his classic "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," offering readers a lively portrait of the Mississippi and its people.

Sarah Turnbull swaps Vegemite for vichyssoise in this witty travel memoir, documenting her whirlwind week in Paris and the cultural clashes, couture, and charms that captivate an Australian journalist.

Charles Dickens’s 1841–42 American journey, as recorded in "American Notes," chronicles his travels from the eastern seaboard through the Great Lakes states, offering his observations on slavery, customs, and the social life of the United States.

A humorous and true account of Susan Jane Gilman and friend Claire’s 1986 backpacking adventure in China, detailing their encounters with culture, government surveillance, and unexpected challenges while exploring Shanghai and beyond.

American Elizabeth Bard recounts her transformative week in Paris, where she falls in love with both a Frenchman and the local cuisine, exploring food, romance, and cultural immersion in the city’s markets and bistros.

Available for the first time in enriched e-book format, this edition offers visual and historical insights into Susanna Moodie's writing via electronic weblinks. Like a full-colour footnote, select words and phrases throughout the book are links to websites that contain a wealth of additional information, pictures, definitions and historical information that gives context to the text. Now, with the click of a mouse, you can investigate the world of Moodie's Upper Canada without having to leave your screen.Roughing It in the Bush, first published in 1852, helped to destroy British illusions about life in Upper Canada. Susanna Moodie described a life of backbreaking labour, poverty, and hardship on a pioneer farm in the colonial wilderness. Her sharp observations, satirical character sketches, and moments of despair and terror were a startling contrast to the widely circulated optimistic accounts of life in British North America, written to entice readers across the Atlantic.The spontaneity, wit, and candour of Moodie's account of life on a backwoods farm give Roughing It in the Bush enduring appeal."Roughing It in the Bush" is an extraordinarily detailed record of pioneer life. It is also a journey of exploration and revelation into Moodie's own character, as we watch her grow from ill-prepared immigrant to spirited survivor."—Charlotte Gray

Rosamond Halsey Carr recounts her decades of life in Rwanda, from her early arrival as a fashion illustrator in 1949 to her role as a plantation manager, witnessing wildlife, colonial collapse, and the Hutu‑Tutsi genocide.