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Lewis & Clark. Sir Edmund Hillary. Christopher Columbus. Captain Cook. Marco Polo. Explorers whose names are still in the history books, even as we question the way some of them treated the native peoples they encountered. My description is obviously centered on European(ish) males, but please feel free to include explorers from all cultures. Vote for your favorite nonfiction about explorers and/or their travels here.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
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4.23 avg rating — 66,827 ratings
score: 398,
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4 people voted
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| 2 |
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Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
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4.04 avg rating — 10,404 ratings
score: 297,
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3 people voted
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| 3 |
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In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
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4.29 avg rating — 25,064 ratings
score: 267,
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3 people voted
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| 4 |
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The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey
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3.86 avg rating — 13,395 ratings
score: 256,
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3 people voted
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| 5 |
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Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West
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4.25 avg rating — 2,452 ratings
score: 197,
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2 people voted
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| 6 |
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The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes
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3.98 avg rating — 1,932 ratings
score: 196,
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2 people voted
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| 7 |
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A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World
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3.97 avg rating — 9,340 ratings
score: 192,
and
2 people voted
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| 8 |
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Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842
by
Nathaniel Philbrick (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 6,809 ratings
score: 172,
and
2 people voted
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| 9 |
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The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
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4.34 avg rating — 21,621 ratings
score: 162,
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2 people voted
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| 10 |
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The Mapmaker's Wife : A True Tale of Love, Murder and Survival in the Amazon
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3.63 avg rating — 1,830 ratings
score: 100,
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1 person voted
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| 10 |
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A Maverick Inuit Way and the Vikings: How to connect with the peoples of the North
by
Mary Jane Walker (Goodreads Author)
3.44 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 10 |
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Mind Over Matter: The Epic Crossing of the Antarctic Continent
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3.97 avg rating — 341 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 10 |
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The Story of Marco Polo
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3.94 avg rating — 32 ratings
score: 100,
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1 person voted
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| 10 |
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Land of Tears: The Exploration and Exploitation of Equatorial Africa
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4.02 avg rating — 87 ratings
score: 100,
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1 person voted
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| 10 |
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Exploring with Frémont
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4.60 avg rating — 10 ratings
score: 100,
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1 person voted
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| 16 |
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My Journey to Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City
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3.98 avg rating — 2,331 ratings
score: 99,
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1 person voted
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| 16 |
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The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World—and Globalization Began
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3.68 avg rating — 1,858 ratings
score: 99,
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1 person voted
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| 16 |
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Captain Cook and the Voyage of the "Endeavour", 1768 1771
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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 19 |
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The Horse of the Americas
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3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 19 |
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Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World
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3.73 avg rating — 6,518 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 19 |
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Expeditions Unpacked: What the Great Explorers Took into the Unknown
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4.06 avg rating — 66 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 19 |
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The golden age of the galleon
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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 23 |
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The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America
by
Russell Shorto (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 11,243 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 23 |
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Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America
by
3.73 avg rating — 2,299 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 23 |
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The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats
by
3.94 avg rating — 3,626 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 23 |
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General at Sea: The Life of Admiral Robert Blake
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
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My Life as an Explorer
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4.03 avg rating — 391 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
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River Master: John Wesley Powell's Legendary Exploration of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon
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3.71 avg rating — 58 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
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Marco Polo: Voyager to the Orient
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3.33 avg rating — 6 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 30 |
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Against All Opposition: Black Explorers in America
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4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 30 |
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The Vast Unknown: America's First Ascent of Everest
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3.98 avg rating — 195 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 30 |
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Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration
by
Fergus Fleming (Narrator)
4.07 avg rating — 138 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 30 |
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A Sailor with Captain Cook
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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
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Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali
by
4.28 avg rating — 145 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
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Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales
by
M. Mark Miller (Goodreads Author)
4.02 avg rating — 63 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
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Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air
by
Stewart Ross (Goodreads Author)
4.23 avg rating — 293 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
|
Who'd Believe John Colter?
by
3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 38 |
|
Darwin's First Theory: Exploring Darwin's Quest for a Theory of Earth
by
Rob Wesson (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 85 ratings
score: 93,
and
1 person voted
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| 38 |
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Where Did Sacagawea Join the Corps of Discovery?: And Other Questions about the Lewis and Clark Expedition
by
Linda Gondosch (Goodreads Author)
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 93,
and
1 person voted
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| 40 |
|
Explorers' Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure
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4.39 avg rating — 248 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
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| 41 |
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Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback
by
3.93 avg rating — 17,350 ratings
score: 91,
and
1 person voted
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| 41 |
|
Pioneer Girl Perspectives: Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder
by
3.91 avg rating — 128 ratings
score: 91,
and
1 person voted
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| 43 |
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The Plant Hunters: The Adventures of the World's Greatest Botanical Explorers
by
3.93 avg rating — 91 ratings
score: 90,
and
1 person voted
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| 44 |
|
A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier
by
4.08 avg rating — 1,268 ratings
score: 89,
and
1 person voted
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| 45 |
|
To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration
by
3.65 avg rating — 808 ratings
score: 88,
and
1 person voted
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| 46 |
|
Drawn to the Deep: The Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles
by
4.29 avg rating — 34 ratings
score: 87,
and
1 person voted
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| 47 |
|
The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons
by
3.91 avg rating — 2,006 ratings
score: 86,
and
1 person voted
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| 48 |
|
My Life as an Explorer
by
3.77 avg rating — 291 ratings
score: 85,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 49 |
|
The Explorers: A Story of Fearless Outcasts, Blundering Geniuses, and Impossible Success
by
Martin Dugard (Goodreads Author)
3.70 avg rating — 621 ratings
score: 84,
and
1 person voted
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| 50 |
|
On Top of the World: Five Women Explorers in Tibet
by
4.02 avg rating — 385 ratings
score: 83,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 51 |
|
Exploration and Discovery: Treasures of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
by
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 82,
and
1 person voted
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| 52 |
|
Jefferson's America: The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation
by
3.87 avg rating — 317 ratings
score: 81,
and
1 person voted
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| 53 |
|
Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration
by
3.88 avg rating — 4,992 ratings
score: 80,
and
1 person voted
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| 54 |
|
The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Exploration of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568
by
4.18 avg rating — 17 ratings
score: 79,
and
1 person voted
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| 55 |
|
Vanguard of Empire: Ships of Exploration in the Age of Columbus
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 78,
and
1 person voted
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| 56 |
|
First Encounters: Spanish Explorations in the Caribbean and the United States, 1492-1570 (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series)
by
Jerald T. Milanich (Editor)
3.38 avg rating — 8 ratings
score: 77,
and
1 person voted
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| 57 |
|
The Men Who United the States: America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible
by
3.86 avg rating — 4,270 ratings
score: 76,
and
1 person voted
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| 58 |
|
A Dog's History of America: How Our Best Friend Explored, Conquered, and Settled a Continent
by
3.50 avg rating — 96 ratings
score: 75,
and
1 person voted
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| 59 |
|
Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier
by
4.23 avg rating — 66,827 ratings
score: 73,
and
1 person voted
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| 60 |
|
Exploring for Shipwrecks
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 72,
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1 person voted
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| 61 |
|
Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game & the Race for Empire in Central Asia (Cornelia & Michael Bessie Book)
by
3.87 avg rating — 706 ratings
score: 71,
and
1 person voted
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| 62 |
|
Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu
by
3.85 avg rating — 3,220 ratings
score: 70,
and
1 person voted
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| 63 |
|
The Travels of Ibn Battutah
by
3.91 avg rating — 2,727 ratings
score: 69,
and
1 person voted
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| 64 |
|
Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun
by
4.32 avg rating — 171 ratings
score: 68,
and
1 person voted
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| 65 |
|
The Last Place on Earth
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4.35 avg rating — 3,514 ratings
score: 64,
and
1 person voted
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65 books ·
13 voters ·
list created July 1st, 2018
by JG (Introverted Reader) (votes) .
JG (Introverted Reader)
4347 books
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Clare
8341 books
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Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
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Chris
11 books
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Jan
5076 books
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Deb (Readerbuzz)
8007 books
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Karen
1276 books
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Tyler
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