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Reading Around

Turkey

Istanbul by Ohran Pamuk

Crystalline recollections of growing up in a great world city that exhibits a personality disorder mirroring that of his own unhappy family. Pamuk, a Nobel Prize winner, is alternately in love with and distressed by his city, just as he is often an unhappy observer of life within the walls of parents’ home. More ›

Japan

Learning to Bow:
Inside the Heart of Japan
by Bruce S. Feiler

After his graduation from college, Feiler joins an exchange program sending Americans to Japan to teach English language and literature. His assignment to a junior high school in Sano, about 20 miles north of Tokyo begins a year of learning experiences every bit as enlightening for the teacher as for his students. More ›

Mumbai

Maximum City:
Bombay Lost and Found
by Suketu Mehta

Mehta, now a New Yorker, makes the overwhelming complexity of his native city not just comprehensible, but appealing in its own way. Everything and every way of life is found in Bombay in overwhelming numbers, from great wealth to numbing poverty, although far more of the latter. Despite their great need,  the city’s slum dwellers manage to create a life filled with worship, friendship and festivals. More ›

Pyrenees

The Basque History
of the World
by Mark Kurlansky

The Basques, living in a small enclave of Spain and France, are the world’s oldest nation, yet never have had a country of their own. Their language, Euskera, is the oldest in Europe, related to no other in the world. These facts led Kurlansky, a seasoned investigative journalist, to undertake this engrossing enquiry into the Basques – their long history and their unique culture. More ›

Chair Miles

As armchair travelers know, there are always more places to visit than one can manage to see.

In the event your air miles have not yet taken you to Asia, Europe or points beyond in recent weeks, then use "chair miles" in their place. Send the dog for your slippers and cozy up with something authentically escapist.

The Peace Correspondent

by Garry Marchant

Garry Marchant, a seasoned travel journalist, describes himself as a “peace correspondent” specializing in Asia. When he sets off to unfamiliar lands, his goal is not to report on conflicts, but rather celebrate the uniqueness of his subject and build connections with the local people. His many visits to Asia throughout the years have enabled him to record a wealth of entertaining and enlightening stories.

Marchant’s travels take him from Mongolia to Indonesia and points in between. He climbs mountains and crosses rivers, sleeps in tents, dines on snakes and mountain cats, and meets many colorful characters along the way. Regardless of where he is or what he encounters, Marchant maintains his gift for describing his experiences with an enlightened interest and compassionate humor.

Published by Earnshaw Books, $19.99. Available at Amazon.com.

Hungry for Paris:
The Ultimate Guide to the City’s 102 Best Restaurants

by Alexander Lobrano

An American who has lived in Paris since 1986, Alec Lobrano seems to have eaten in just about all of the city’s estimated 8,000 restaurants. His extensive familiarity the Parisian culinary scene, his comprehensive knowledge of French culinary practice and his deft writing style make this book a pleasure to read in addition to being an entirely trustworthy guide to the city’s best tables.

A series of delightful essays cover various aspects of dining in Paris, including “Table for One” (how to eat alone), “The Four Seasons” (the best seasonal eating in Paris), and “Eating the Unspeakable” (learning to eat what you don’t think you like). All restaurants are keyed to helpful maps, and the book is generously illustrated with beautiful photographs.

Published by Random House, $16. Available at Amazon.com.

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank

by Thad Carhart

An intriguing episode in the life of an American expat living in Paris with his wife and two children. This well-told story details how the discovery of an unassuming storefront piano shop rekindled the author’s former intense love for the instrument. In the process, he and we learn a great deal about pianos, while Paris comes alive as a place where people go about their everyday lives quietly and happily. More ›

Shadow of the Silk Road

by Colin Thubron

Making his way across China, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey by local bus, truck, car, donkey-cart and camel, Thubron spends eight months covering the fabled route that brought the riches of Asia to the western world.

Evidence of commercial travel and transactions along the several routes that collectively are known as the Silk Road goes back to at least 1,000 B.C. Thubron is a splendid writer who effortlessly blends his own experiences into the stories of centuries of Silk Road travel. More ›