The Singular Pilgrim

This good read covers 6 pilgrimages; I read parts of this before heading out on a pilgrimage myself. This was my first time reading this author, and I think her descriptive talents are interesting and powerful. I like Mahoney's style, which is sparse but direct and true. She mixes interesting observations with solid research. Her accounts of visiting pilgrimage sites are excellent travel accounts (good description of settings, excellent interactions with people, and some generally thoughtful spiritual wonderings).
First, she takes two pilgrimages (one Catholic, one Anglican) to Walsingham, England, then visits Lourdes on the way to walking El Camino de Santiago from France into Spain. Following a lengthy sojourn in Varanasi, India, she spends Christmas in Bethlehem and Nazareth after a brief visit to Jerusalem. Finally, she travels to Ireland for three days on Lough Derg, performing a strictly scripted penitential rite in St. Patrick's Purgatory. While Mahoney's detailed descriptions of the people she meets and the landscapes she sees bring the reader along on her travels, it is her explorations in search of her own belief that many readers will find familiar.