Top 5 Traveller Reads February
Rough Guides - Italy
French school children are lucky enough to have Italy on their itinerary of summer trips. Pasty faced British kids were lucky if they got a day trip to Skegness. Such deprivation only made me more determined to visit the playground of the ancient Romans and this guide is just the ticket for narrowing down the who, the what, the where and the how much of things. Thanks to the updated pages of this 1224 beast I now know I only have to spend two days of my hard earned holiday leave in Pisa - and that if I drive from here to Florence, I will be scenically rewarded. The highly refined guide to pasta and footballing scandal is a hoot too.
Rough Guides - Italy is published by Rough Guides (paperback; £15.99). It is also available through roughguides.com and all good booksellers.
Quotable Love by Milly Brown
A little while ago I featured Quotable Animals as a hang over friendly, no-brainer of a book and a lovely interlude to the hectic landscape of backpacking life. In a similar vein and as a compulsory, token Valentine's Day gesture for the romantic readers in the crowd, I give you Quotable Love. If you hate the commercialisation and the romantic, vomit inducing fixations of February 14th, then look away now. If however you want a heart string tugging, collection of happy syntax - then give this a go. Some of the quotes even manage to defrost the outer edges of the most hardened hearts.
Quotable Love by Milly Brown is published by Summersdale (hardback; £5.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.
Ireland by Lonely Planet
Like it or lump it, today is an age of environmental awareness and sustainability. PR companies have also jumped on this band wagon and it can be hard to separate public image from genuine planetary care. Fortunately this Lonely Planet clearly falls into the latter camp and includes the first ever Greendex. In non hyperbolic English this is a list of attractions and accommodation - based on sustainable resources. Before flipping through these fine pages I had no idea that Ireland's carbon footprint is more than double the global average – but fear not. Things are getting better. Give it a read if you're curious about how.
Ireland by Lonely Planet is published by Lonely Planet (paperback; £14.99). It is also available through shop.lonelyplanet.com and all good booksellers.
Dictionary of French Medical Terms – Edited by Richard Whiting
This is a random but potentially life saving book for backpackers. Imagine if you will that tu ne parles pas francais and you fall ill in France. Now imagine that the doctors treating you don't speak a word of English. Do you panic? Of course not – you just pull out your handy copy of French Medical Terms. For example if you wanted to convey that you've contracted Mad Cow Disease, all you have to do is say: “Moo…maladie de la vache folle...moo.” Joking aside, this is practical stuff and if you are planning a potentially hypochondriac trip through the country of snails and champagne, then it might just pay to take this along.
Dictionary of French Medical Terms – Edited by Richard Whiting is published by Summersdale (paperback; £9.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.
The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
This is a random selection, thrown into the mix after Simon Littlefield - one of this month's extraordinary interviewees, selected it as a top five read. In a very condensed and understated nutshell this is a 1930s prediction of what life might be like in the twenty-fifth century. The setting is a land where technology and economics are actively discouraged and where the intellect rules supreme. The didactic vein of how unwise it is to be cut off from the full spectrum of life - is a little bit heavy, but overall this is a stimulating and enjoyable read. In other words it's a library coffee shop read - that may improve your brain and may improve your image.
The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse is published by Vintage (paperback; £8.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.
- Rob Savage
