The Lonely Planet Walking Guide to Spain has a good section on the Camino - rip out all but the Camino pages. Note: for our 2001 walk we used the 2nd edition, published in July 99.  Nancy Frey and Jose Placer did the Camino part.  A 3rd edition is now out with the same authors - as far as I can see, mostly cosmetic changes, maps are a little easier to read, mileages changed slightly, now takes 30 days instead of 28. There is a summary list of all the refugios at the beginning. The refugio info will get more and more out of date as we move beyond 2003. The Camino section authors have a well regarded walking tours company  www.onfootinspain.com that offers Camino tours of various lengths. 

William Melczer - The Pilgrim's Guide The first English translation of the original 12th century guidebook to the Camino. This 345 page book is heavily documented with notes, introduction, thumbnail descriptions of saints and place names. The actual Codex Book 5 translation is 50 pages. Excellent after Camino read for history, or a before read if you have a good memory for facts.

Kathy Gower - Her doctoral dissertation on how pilgrims incorporate their pilgrim experience into their daily lives is good reading. You can find it in the Yahoo Group Santiagobis files section.

Elyn Aviva - Following the Milky Way - A Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago - 2nd edition. This is a combination of day by day trail journal and historical guide based on Elyn's 1982 pilgrimage - a more primitive and demanding experience than faced by current pilgrims. An introduction to the 2nd edition covers the elapsed 20 years and discusses some of the pre Christian Camino legends. Good reading and place by place historical information. For me, more of a read before or after rather than carry with you book.

Kerry Egan - Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago. The author has a way with words, a book you read for pleasure, or after your pilgrimage to relive the experiences. Thirty one episodes. Not a daily journal, a roughly sequential series of episodes and essays of the Camino experience.

Jim and Eleanor Clem - Buen Camino. A enjoyable day to day account of their hike in 2003 - over 160 photos help the reader visualize the highlights of each day. This is one of the few Camino accounts where most of the nights are spent in small hotels. They have a small but good forward on preparation. I enjoyed their daily accounts but the highlight for me was the well composed photos. This is a new edition. I have just seen the original edition where the photo printing quality was not good.

Joyce Rupp - Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino. The reflections of this Catholic sister, as she walks the Camino with friend who was the semi retired priest of her parish. The journey of these two people of faith met with all the challenges the Camino can offer. Joyce started out as what I call an overachiever, and Tom as a steadying influence. I enjoyed this thoughtful book. A couple concepts stuck in my brain from chapters of this book. Enjoy existential friendships.  Return a positive for a negative. Negative things do happen, but Joyce would make a determined effort to see the positive - a concept I accept, but sometimes have difficulty applying.

Arthur Boers - The Way Is Made by Walking: A Pilgrimage Along the Camino De Santiago. I saw favorable comments on some blogs, and just recently read it. The author is a pastor and is among the fifty percent of pilgrims doing the walk for religious purposes. His faith comes through clearly, and I think that active Christians would particularly enjoy this search for spiritual renewal.

Edward Stanton - Road of Stars to Santiago. Fluent in Spanish, and a scholar of Spain, this professor of Spanish faces a time of when life's pressures demanded that he walk to Compostela. Written in first person present tense, he carries you along with his day to day adventures and encounters, and gives you a flavor of an earlier Camino, before the popularity of today. This book, published in 1994, doesn't give the year he walked, but it has the sound of those who walked in the late 80s or early 90s. This book has a cover endorsement by James Michener, who's book Iberia is a favorite of mine.

Roger and Nancy Rhoades - Santiago de Compostella - - Journal of Our Camino. This understated narrative is Roger's journal from their April 2004 Camino walk, supplemented with insets on the history along the way. Roger lays out the day by day facts of their not easy trip, and you get some glimpses of the tensions that come up. I'd like to have heard more from Nancy. Couples considering the Camino could get some pointers from this book.. This is available as an Ebook at http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/191449-ebook.htm - it originally was paperback, so you may find a copy somewhere, but not in Amazon.

Elyn Aviva - Following the Milky Way - A Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago - 2nd edition. This is a combination of day by day trail journal and historical guide based on Elyn's 1982 pilgrimage - a more primitive and demanding experience than faced by current pilgrims. An introduction to the 2nd edition covers the elapsed 20 years and discusses some of the pre Christian Camino legends. Good reading and place by place historical information. For me, more of a read before or after rather than carry with you book.

Brandon Wilson -  Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace - Brandon has walked the Camino, but this book is about his walk for peace from France To Jerusalem. Enjoyable Reading.