Travel & Adventure

Mount Tamalpais is the landscape of my childhood. A beacon of majestic beauty located in the heart of Marin County, the peak is an optimum subject for Killion’s intricate, beautiful woodcuts, coupled with Snyder’s wry poetics. The two artists in collaboration produce a book that celebrates nature’s compelling presence in Northern California. The work is also infused with selections from other Tamalpais aficionados, including Kerouac and Rexroth, giving the mountain the literary shrine it has long deserved. I sometimes take pause in admitting I’m from Marin; Tamalpais Walking is encouragement to take pride. —ZGR

For anyone who is a fan of Bill Bryson, here is another travel writer who manages to instruct us about a place and culture through humor, self-deprecation, and adventures we’re glad to read about but grateful we don’t have to go through ourselves. Lost on Planet China details Maarten Troost’s journey from Beijing and Shanghai to the Gobi Desert and the constant winter of Tibet (and, yes, the live squid he manages to eat—more than once—along the way). With an insightful eye and cutting wit, Troost tells an adventure story, but he also shows us the complexities of a region of land that is on the brink of change. A fascinating read. —SMC