Book Day: Discover 5 Books to Travel Through Peru’s Landscapes

In Peru, International Book and Copyright Day is celebrated every April 23 and aligns with the global observance established by UNESCO to promote reading and honor great writers. Additionally, this day commemorates authors such as Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.

On this day, book fairs, talks, presentations, and book-giving campaigns are organized. For example, the National Library of Peru and the House of Peruvian Literature prepare activities to encourage more people to read. UNESCO adopted this celebration in 1995. Therefore, the date also aims to pave the way for culture through books. Likewise, reading is highlighted because it helps shape better citizens, sparks creativity, and strengthens cultural identity. In this context, institutions such as the Ministry of Culture and the House of Peruvian Literature often present special programs.

Here we share five books that let you discover places in Peru and around the world through photography. Each work invites us to look at landscapes, customs, and scenes that we often don’t see up close.

Five Book for Discover Places in Peru

• In Piura, by Juan Guillermo Hare Calle—known as Billy Hare—brings together 65 photographs capturing the daily life and customs of the people along the coast and in the highlands of Piura. The book also features black-and-white images taken in places such as Catacaos, Huancabamba, Ayabaca, and Morropón. There, we see rituals, work, and everyday moments that showcase the region’s richness.
• Surprising Peru, by Ezio Macchione, presents 72 images of landscapes and little-explored nature in the country’s jungle, highlands, and coast. Furthermore, the reader discovers a different perspective because the author chooses scenes and angles that showcase the enormous diversity of Peruvian territory. The photos reveal remote and surprising corners. In this way, the book brings us closer to spaces that amaze and welcome those who dare to explore them. The author took these images over the course of seven years. He then organized them into four sections: highlands, jungle, desert, and coast.
• Eliana Vásquez, by Mariana Montalvo Man, offers a comprehensive look at this photographer’s work. Furthermore, the book pays tribute to her work and allows us to explore landscapes and remote places through her lens. Her photos stand out for their composition, color, and the way they depict spaces and structures in carefully considered light, inviting both reflection and imagination. The book is divided into three sections. These feature the places the author has visited, her photographic techniques, and the visual stories behind the images. These sections are titled Black-and-White Landscapes, Obelisks and Structures, and Halo, the Landscape of Color.
• Nature Photography, by Iñaki Relanzón Aria, shares the author’s passion for the natural world. Furthermore, Relanzón is a highly recognized figure in photography and nature conservation. In these 50 images, he showcases his experience, his technique, and many of the moments he captured during his travels throughout Spain and other parts of the world.
• Animals – Animal Magnetism, by Steve McCurry, reveals a different side of the famous photographer. In this book, the author also observes with great sensitivity the relationship between animals, people, and the environment in which they live. Thus, the work functions as a travel journal and also as a moving tribute to the living beings with whom we share the planet.