As the end of the year approaches, we are in a reflective mood. Truthfully, we’re also getting a little nervous about holiday shopping. So, for something a little different, we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite books that feature the destinations near and dear to our hearts; any of them would make a great gift for a friend or family member who loves traveling as much as you (and we) do!

PS. Longitude Books is a great company specializing in books for travelers; visit them online at www.longitudebooks.com for additional recommendations and excellent reading lists by destination.

Leslie Overton recommends:
Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu by Ted Lewin
I’m a mother of two determined not to let my kids stop me from going on international vacations – I just take them with me! To get my daughters excited about our trips, I try to pick out a couple of fun books before we go to help them learn more about the destination. This was one of three books I chose for our trip to Peru last year and both my kids (ages 3 and 7) loved it. The illustrated account of Hiram Bingham’s accidental “discovery” of Machu Picchu really makes the story of the ruins come alive – even I found the historical details helpful! When we finally got to Machu Picchu, my kids were really excited because they knew so much about it and they couldn’t wait to run around making their own discoveries.

Natalie Nevares recommends:
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
This fascinating novel is primarily set in Kerala, a state on the Malabar coast of southwestern India. The family described in the book comes from a complex and syncretic cultural tradition that is parts Christian, Indian, Communist, Portuguese and Jewish. Roy’s poetic prose transports readers to a steamy, tropical land, where the coconut curries are spicy – and the Malayalam names have too many syllables to remember! I think one of the neatest aspects of this book is that much of the action takes place in a compound the author refers to as “History House,” an actual building that is now part of the Coconut Lagoon Resort – so readers can visit the place featured in the book on Absolute Travel’s “South India Temples & Culture” tour!

Ben Macrory recommends:
River Town by Peter Hessler
This stirring account chronicles the two years Hessler spent teaching English in the mid-1990s in Fuling, a small Chinese city on the Yangtze River. Hessler writes beautifully, and his observations on Chinese culture during a period of intense change are trenchant and insightful. Any traveler sailing down the Yangtze today will find added poignancy in the fact that the Fuling Hessler describes now lies underwater as a result of the Three Gorges Dam Project. The residents were relocated to higher ground and a gleaming new town now perches several hundred feet above its waterlogged predecessor – a fitting postscript, considering China’s race to modernize by any means necessary.

Daniela Bonanno recommends:
Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux
As he travels from Cairo to Cape Town on an array of vehicles, Theroux meets locals and tourists, and learns a great deal about the history and politics of the continent. This is a sober and sometimes cynical examination of a very large and complex area but Theroux has an extremely evocative style of storytelling. I loved his vision of travel as a sort revenge on the trappings of our modern technological lives of cell phones, fax machines, and e-mail – for him, travel offers a way of disappearing from our digital lives while enhancing and enriching our personal lives. At the end, the reader is left with a stark yet romantic – and very memorable - vision of Africa.

Sasha Lehman recommends:
Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
Both literary history and travelogue, this book follows Larkin’s journey to learn more about George Orwell’s experiences as a young officer in colonial Burma, which inspired much of his later writing, including 1984. Larkin’s investigation takes her into local Burmese tea houses and homes, and illustrates well how prescient Orwell’s writing was: ruled by an oppressive 40-year-old military regime, the Burmese today live in truly “Orwellian” conditions. Through this book we are given a privileged view of a resilient people for whom the outside world exists only through the prism of the regime. Thankfully, travelers like Larkin do venture to Burma to see for themselves what is going on, and offer news (and hope) from the outside.