As we mentioned last week: IT loves to escape into a good travel book (andTraveler's new book columnist, Don George, has promised us a bevy of great titles). This weekend provided a bounty of other great travel reads, from the Washington Post, who reported on a new selection of green guidebooks, and whose Book World went literal this weekend with its roundup of 25 books that span the globe. The New York Times Book Review's cover story featured The Discovery of France and an inside review of two New York City-centric titles from Times reporters. The Economist's Furthermore blog has been posting a guidebook roundup with a quickness that impresses, and our friends at Gadling always add to our reading list with their "One for the Road" posts (and thanks for the "Trip Lit" shoutout last week!). But that wasn't enough for us, so we polled the office to learn what books are on our nightstands, helping to seed great travel dreams:
Editor-in-Chief Keith Bellows: I'm reading Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. Set in Bombay, it's an extraordinary true story of an Australian on the run who steps into the maelstrom of the chaotic world of the Bombay streets. Atmospheric, bang-on evocation of Bombay and filled with picaresque characters and a plot that is by turns unbelievable and riveting.
Assistant Editor Amy Alipio: Since I was in Manitoba recently, I am reading Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw, by Will Ferguson. He's a Canadian humorist and it's a collection of essays about his travels to the little known or undervalued bits of Canada: Churchill, Manitoba; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; Thunder Bay, Ontario. If you like Bill Bryson you'll like his stuff, but even more than that he looks at the bigger picture: What is Canada? What does it mean to be Canadian? Since as an American, I tend to know a lot more about exotic destinations like Hungary than our neighbor to the north, I find it an interesting read.
Geotourism Editor Jonathan Tourtellot: The Summer of My Greek Taverna, by Tom Stone. Great insight into what really goes on behind the scenes by a writer who chefs at one of those idyllic Aegean tavernas.
Assistant Editor Janelle Nanos: I, along with every other woman on the subway, have just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Perhaps it's the idea of leaving my life behind for a year to "search for everything," or the succinct way she linked the stories together in her prayer-bead theme, but I was smitten with the food, people, and places she encountered.
Online Editor Kathie Gartrell: I'm reading The Palace of the Snow Queen by Barbara Sjoholm. The book caught my attention because the author travels to Lapland in the winter, which is the time of year I visited Finland. Like her, I traveled above the Arctic Circle, saw reindeer herds, and got to meet some of the Sami people and witness how they handle the very short days. I'm looking forward to reading the chapter on Santa's Post Office, which was one of the highlights of my trip.
Senior Researcher Marilyn Terrell: I just finished Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh, which made me want to travel to Oxford in the 1920s, and to English country houses, and to hang out in a palazzo in Venice.
Senior Editor Sheila Buckmaster: I read A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century by Andrea Di Robilant last year and underlined (in pencil) Venetian places mentioned and easily located. Maybe I will tap out the entries on my computer, print out, and pack. This sad love story is true; the book is based on letters found in an ancestral home in Venice.
Senior Editor Norie Quintos: I've been enamored of Kenya ever since I did a work-study stint there in college, and West With the Night has got to be one of my favorite books. The author, Beryl Markham, was a contemporary of Isak Dinesen and one of the few female aviators of the time. Her depiction of life during the waning era of British colonialism puts you right there. I'm surprised they haven't made a movie of it.
What's on your nightstand? Let us know what book is inspiring your next trip in the comments below.
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