Book choices based on travel

When I was younger I used to go through books at a rapid clip (and my wife still does), but between work and family life I no longer have as much time to read. Often I’m choosing what to read from an accumulated backlog of things I decided to read at some point and just haven’t gotten to yet. But the book I just finished and the book I’m reading now are recent choices based on summer travel.

When we were finishing up our Paris vacation, Amazon had a Kindle Daily Deal for The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure, and on a whim I picked it up (it was, after all, roughly the same price as the baguette I bought from the boulangerie across the street). It was enjoyable, if not particularly deep. A good summer read, I would say.

And then on a work trip to Hong Kong in July I happened to remember James Clavell’s Asian Saga, much of which I read as a teenager. In particular, I remembered that Tai-Pan took place during the founding of Hong Kong. While only loosely based on actual history, I decided it might be a fun re-read (although to be honest, it’s been long enough since I read it that at this point it’s almost like reading it afresh; I barely remember any of the details). So far it’s been enjoyable, but then I’ve only just started to get into it. I’m curious how my perception of it will differ, if at all, now that I’ve actually visited Hong Kong.