Broken April by Ismail Kadare is the most widely read Albanian novel in translation — a story set in the northern Albanian highlands, but essential context for understanding Albanian culture. Kadare grew up in Gjirokastër, two hours east of Saranda and worth combining.
The Accursed Mountains by Robert Carver (1998) is a travel account of Albania in the mid-1990s just after the collapse of communism — chaotic, vivid, and the best English-language account of Albania in that extraordinary transitional period.
Albania: A Modern History by Miranda Vickers is the most accessible academic history of the country, covering the Ottoman period through to post-communist reconstruction.