30 Camino de Santiago Books: Inspiring Stories, Tall Tales and Practical Tips

What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim: A Midlife Misadventure on Spain’s Camino de Santiago, Jane Christmas

Christmas is supposed to be leading a group of squabbling mid-life women on the Camino but after the group splinters, her real adventure begins. Her opinions are unvarnished and show the difficult side of doing the trail.

“A pilgrim life is largely an artificial one: you exist in a bubble of camaraderie, pain and poverty of shared purpose.”

I’ll Push You: A Journey of 500 Miles, Two Best Friends, and One Wheelchair, Patrick Gray and Justin Skeesuck

If you think doing 500 miles of trail with a backpack sounds hard, try doing it while pushing your friend in a wheelchair. This Camino de Santiago book is as much about their strong commitment and friendship as it is about the trail. You can also watch I’ll Push You as a documentary on Amazon Prime video.

“There’s no limit to what we can provide for others, or what others can provide for us.”

Buen Camino!, Natasha Murtagh and Peter Murtagh

This daddy-daughter duo tackled the Camino together and you get their story from both points of view. They talk about their shared experiences and also their encounters with fellow pilgrims.

“It’s about family and friendship and camaraderie.”

The Pilgrimage, Paul Coelho

This book won’t be for everyone. In fact, the reviews are very polarized. Coelho has written this book in the style of a parable, or moral tale. It’s part self-discovery, part adventure yarn and it reads like fiction.

“The book is a reminder that life is brilliant and that we are capable of so much more than we believe we are…”

I’m off Then, Hape Kerkeling

“Overweight, overworked, and physically unfit, Kerkeling was an unlikely candidate to make the arduous pilgrimage…”

Hmm, sounds like he was talking about me. But I managed it and so did Kerkeling. This book is great for readers who want an honest account of the pitfalls, sufferings and rewards to be found on the Camino.

Walking the Camino: A Modern Pilgrimage to Santiago, Tony Kevin

Kevin chose to take the longer and less popular Via de la Plata route to Santiago. It winds through some of the most interesting and historical cities in Spain, including Sevilla and Salamanca. Kevin’s memoir is unique in that it covers both his experiences as well as the cultural history of the regions that he walks through.

“The Way encompasses many places and reminders of Spain’s past, both dark and dazzlingly bright.”

A Furnace Full of God, Rebekah Scott

This book is not about Scott’s experience on her first Camino. But rather, it’s about what she and her husband chose to do after coming home from it. They sold up and moved to Spain, purchased a farm and offering lodging to pilgrims. In the book, she shares a year of that life, which occurred during one of the holy years, a popular time on the Frances.

“But at the base of me, in my heart, is a furnace full of God. That’s the way he made me, and I am beautiful just the way I am.”

The Walk of a Lifetime: 500 Miles on the Camino de Santiago, Russ Eanes

Eanes hit 60 with an empty nest and a two decade yearning to do the Camino. He realized that the time was now and so he took a year long sabbatical from his job and took the pilgrimage. His intention was to slow down and consider a change. If you are an impending retiree or someone who has been longing for change, this book would be a great read for you.

“For Eanes, the trip was never about the actual walking – although this is a man who clearly loves the outdoors. Gradually, his mind slows down, matching the rhythm of his walking and the Camino itself.”

In Movement There is Peace, Elaine Orabona Foster and Joseph W. Foster

She was a doctor suffering from an anxiety disorder and he was a restless wanderer. When Elaine resigned from her practice so that she could deal with her anxiety, Joseph suggested doing the Frances. After deliberating the wisdom of walking 500 miles with no planning or physical conditioning and little religious faith, they took their “no plan, plan” to Spain.

This book would be a great read for someone planning a Camino as a couple and it’s a great lesson on how the Camino persistently drip feed enlightenment all along The Way.

Spanish Steps: Travels with My Donkey, Tim Moore

Because of course you take a donkey on the Camino! Moore’s donkey Shinto, is like a Sancho Panza straight man, providing ballast to Moore’s hilarious questing.

“Quirky one minute. Cranky the next.”

The Year We Seized the Day: A True Story of Friendship and Renewal on the Camino, Elizabeth Best and Colin Bowles

This funny and brutally frank Camino de Santiago book shares the perspective of two authors; who were friends before they went. However, the Camino tested them as individuals as well as their friendship. They were both under-prepared and the Camino worked its magic on them the slow, hard way.

The book is “… more about what happens when you have the time and space to look within yourself.”

The Way, My Way, Bill Bennett

Bennett is a Bill Bryson doppelganger and his self-deprecating humor serves him well as he walks the Camino in his own way. His story is moving, insightful and is frank about how his pilgrimage had no small amount of suffering.

“…the Camino gives you what you need just when you need it. I think that Bennett discovered that, on his own terms.”

Dispatches Along the Way, Prioleau Alexander

Alexander packed a lot of humor into his Camino backpack. In this book, he lightheartedly explores his hairbrained Camino adventure. He brings both humor and humility while asking questions about what it means to “have it all” with insights into the truth in simple living.

To the Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago de Compostela, Kevin A. Codd

This Camino de Santiago book is highly recommended in the Camino forums. Codd talks about his physical and spiritual experience walking the pilgrimage. He shares the stories of others and the challenges and changes that he experienced on the trail. He’s a Catholic priest but secular or skeptical readers can enjoy the book at well.

“Codd offers a delightfully honest and yet thoughtful memoir–one of the best I’ve read”

Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino, Joyce Rupp

Rupp is a nun and she traveled with a priest, but this book keeps the religion low key. This book doesn’t follow a linear narrative but rather, is focuses on the lessons that she learned during her pilgrimage.

“Struggles are the fertilizer for spiritual growth.”

The Camino: a Journey of the Spirit, Shirley MacLaine

MacLaine has been on an extended spiritual journey for eighty years and the Camino was an important pit stop on that road. The book covers her time on the Camino but also places her pilgrimage in the context of her larger life’s journey. MacLain’s woowoo brand of spiritualism isn’t for everyone, but this book can be a great read for seekers.

“Without the recognition of the soul’s journey within us, we are lost and only part of what we were intended to be.”

Walking Home: A Pilgrimage from Humbled to Healed, Sonia Choquette

Choquette embarked upon the Camino after a devastating series of life turns that included death, divorce and disappointment. She is a spiritual teacher and set out in the pilgrimage to regain her spiritual footing.

“…in the end, she found her way back to grace…”

The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred, Phil Cousineau

In this book, Cousineau is talking to the traveler who finds themselves at a crossroads in life and those who seek to make their travel more meaningful. The book has stories, myths, parables, and quotes from famous travelers of the past with advice on how the modern traveler can focus on purpose and meaning.

“If it weren’t for this book, I may not have completed the Camino. While I prepared myself physically (training/walking) and mentally (research), the pilgrimage is really about the inner journey.”

We Are Pilgrims: Journeys in Search of Ourselves, Victoria Preston

Preston covers all of the reasons why humans go on pilgrimage. She explores factors like kinship, survival, faith, wonder, solace and gratitude. She offers examples from many different locations and cultures and how these factors come into play.

The book is particularly useful if you are trying to examine just exactly why you are interested in the Camino…or perhaps why you find yourself compelled to return to it (as I have).