Visit Sunny Chernobyl, by Andrew Blackwell

Excellent and interesting disaster tourism. Blackwell visits some of the world's most polluted areas, and tries to figure out what kind of legacy and meaning the idea  of "unspoiled nature" still has- given that it is ALL SPOILED, jesus christ, so let's look at the really bad things and see what beauty or meaning can be salvaged.
From the fishing in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, to sightseeing in Alberta's oil sands to the foul sounding Yamuna River in India, he hits some amazing little-seen sights, and although his own personal heartbreak takes his writing off course, still a great read.

Talk to the Snail, by Stephen Clarke

Another book by Stephen Clarke, but not nearly as funny as his novels. In this one, he offers insight and jokes about understanding French society, but his own voice is not nearly as enjoyable as his fictional alter-ego, Paul West. Fun, but I hope there will be another Paul West book at some point.

A Year in The Merde, by Stephen Clarke

SO funny, and so out of control, this was a re-read that I enjoyed and will look for his next book, In The Merde For Love, right now. Ludicous fictionalized look at trying to start a chain of English style tea rooms in France.

Holidays in Heck, by P.J. O'Rourke

Unpleasant book by the increasingly unlikeable P.J. O'Rourke. Holidays in Hell was a hell of a funny book, Holidays in Heck, he comes across and the right-wing asshat that he is. Oh well.

Everything is Going to Be Great, by Rachel Shukert

Very funny narrative of Rachel Shukert's "underfunded and overexposed European tour"- laugh out loud funny in parts. Her adventures when travelling through Europe and then settling in Amsterdam after the theater troupe she was with left are raunchy and hilarious.

Getting Stoned With Savages, by J. Maartin Troost

Fantastic narrative non-fiction travel writing. Well, almost travel writing- Troost and his wife lived in Fiji and Vanuatu for a year and a half, and Troost took the time to write about living on Kiribati, in The Sex Lives of Cannibals. He also took the time to travel to outlying islands, and to develop quite a kava habit, a drinkable drug that sounds revolting, but interesting! Funny and insightful- I love the way he writes.

Up the Amazon Without A Paddle, by Doug Lansky

Very funny collection of travel essays. My favorite was definitely the Jordanian Border Control story, but all were interesting and thought provoking, especially the Disney one. I'd like to read more of him. Reminded me (vaguely) of Bill Bryson and J. Maartin van Troost.

Ghosts Along the Road - An Offbeat Look Off the Beaten Path in a Special Part of Rhode Island and Connecticut, by Rona Mann

Quick quirky read. Very very quick- in a twist I have never seen before, the author left a whole bunch of blank pages at the end for the reader to "write their own chapter" which is either charming, or extra lazy! lol

Some fun bits, and it's just not that often that you get to read a book that even tries to talk at length about Perryville, Usquepaugh or Shannock.

The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner

This was very cool.

Eric Weiner travels to places that rank highest (Bhutan, the Netherlands) and lowest (Moldova, Qatar) and tries to figure out what makes them so. Swiss contentment, British stiff-upper lips, Thai laissez-faire sexual mores are all (in varied degrees) sampled, and he's a good writer. This was a good read.

I'm seeing it on a lot of best-of-the-year lists, but I'm not sure it's going to make mine, but it really was good.

I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do): Living in a Small Village in Brittany , by Mark Greenside

Oh, zut alors. This tapped into my every daydream.

Writer Mark Greenside plans to go to Finistere, Brittany, France for 8 weeks with his then girlfriend, another writer. Over the course of those 8 weeks, he and she break up, but he falls in love with France. He ends up buying an 18th stone cottage, and living there, and it sounds like paradise.

Oh, the food, the langoustines, the baguettes, the moules, the sausages.

The descriptions of how the tides run and the little villages where there's a cafe, a tabac, the weekend markets with the flower sellers and the home grown vegetables still with dirt on the roots.

Oh, man, if I ever can, this is where I would go.

In French, this area of Brittany is known as Finistere- meaning "the end of the world". That was (not really) (but kind of) an added attraction for me in my doomish sense of humor way. But you know what? In Breton, it is called Penn Ar Bed - meaning "the beginning of the world". Now that's a lovely duality. With langoustines, oh my word.
And crepes. He even wrote about going to a creperie in Locranan, I wonder if it was the same one we went to- it was utter bliss. And so beautiful.

Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small Town America, by Bill Geist

Sweet, fast and fun book.

One of those 'quirky towns and people' things, that I almost always enjoy. In fact, I also just re-read Bill Bryson's Thunderbolt Kid (will add to list now) and in that he talks about the Butter Cow, and Way Off the Road actually had an interview with the sculptor of Butter Cow AND a photo. So yay for spending too much freaking time reading about people's experiences at the Iowa State Fair.

I love funny narrative travel books. Looking forward to reading The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner.

The Grand Tour, by Tim Moore

Interesting, but LONG European travel book. Writer Tim Moore follows the footsteps of a Thomas Coryate, who first used foreign travel as a way to increase his status at court in 1608. Moore follows his trail, in modern times, and his snarkiness reminded me of Bill Bryson. I really liked this book, but I'm not sure why it took me so damn long to read it.