Want to know what we're reading this month? Here are our favorite travel books:

Bruce Chatwin was an art dealer-dropout-turned-nomad. The Songlines describes his journeys through central Australia in search of traditional Aboriginal routes, at least on the surface. Songlines represents a complex mixture of musical and storytelling narratives, cultural motifs, and travel routes to native Austalian peoples. This book is also poetic investigation of Australian history and mythology, and of what it means to be human. Chatwin's eccentric and interesting approach makes this a fascinating, wide-ranging and fun read.

Michael Ghiglieri is a true Grand Canyon devotee (I submit as evidence that he named his children Cliff and Crystal), a professional river runner, and a dedicated amateur naturalist. This book combines his many trips down the canyon into a single narrative that works both as an adventure narrative and a cultural history of the canyon. Some of his descriptions stick in my mind years later. When he describes rowing into the headwinds below Lees Ferry, "like rowing a Caterpillar bulldozer through sand," I can feel the grit stinging my face. Canyon is a fine read for the armchair adventurer, and highly recommended to anyone comtemplating a commercial or private trip down the Colorado.

The high Arctic is a remote, inaccessible region most of us will never see. Barry Lopez won the National Book Award in 1986 for this lyric, painterly, and yes, scientific description of a land of fierce, lethal, and sublime beauty. Lopez manages to engage the senses while he tells his stories. He can be a bit solemn and philosophical, but the writing is breathtaking again and again. This is not a fluffy read, but it is both a celebration of a far away land and a book that change can the way you see your world. Among other things, whenever I see sundogs, I imagine Barry Lopez watching them in Los Angeles, and look for the complete set.

Many of the places he chronicled will have changed perhaps beyond recognition in the 20 years since this book came out, but the insightful and hilarious commentary that Pico Iyer offers on the quirky intersections of East and West never gets old.

Admittedly, I am stretching the travel genre a bit, but this is a wonderfully funny and insightful tale of a monk and the supernaturally powered, kung-fu fighting trickster monkey that guides him from China to India to fetch the Buddhist scriptures. There are two great one-volume versions, the classic translation by Authur Waley here or the recent effort by Anthony Yu.

This is the only acceptable guide to England, and it will be well-worn and dog-eared after your trip. The maps are specific and helpful for each section, and they tailor options for every kind of budget. Includes hotels, tips, restaurants, nightlife, day activities--the usual stuff, but better with greater detail. If I go anywhere else in the world, I'll be sure to use a Rough Guide!

This is an incredibly tense novel about three travelers who are searching for the ultimate getaway from the usual tourist spots in southeast Asia. The narrator, Jim, is given a map by a mysterious stranger, and the three follow this map to an island that is supposed to be uninhabited. There they find a thriving subculture of travelers like themselves, living together after building a community from the ground up. Everything seems to be paradise on The Beach, until human nature--the complexity of power struggles and relationships--takes its course, leading to a terrifying conclusion. I love how Garland poetically explores our constant search for that little piece of paradise that we can call our own, and the question of whether paradise is still possible in our fast-paced, developing world.

What discussion of travel books could possibly be complete without Douglas Adam's definitive guide to traveling the galaxy?

A romp through the heart of America tagging along with half-forgotten gods.

Good resource and travel guide book for anyone interested in the history of the civil rights movement. The commentary for each site is thoughtful and provides a unique perspective.

If you are from or have visited anyplace in this area of the country, you will find this book entertaining. You might find a story about your own home town that you never heard before.

The ultimate road trip. Travel adventure writer Tim Cahill narrates his nearly month long journey with driver Garry Sowerby from the southern most point of South America to a frozen road in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska with the goal of earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Any summer road trips you plan with the family will seem tame and quiet in comparison.