This first book by Laurie won Foreword Magazine's Silver Award for Best Travel Book of the Year. Marvelously written, it is a journey of love and discovery. Beginning on a remote Fijian beach (with her Fijian lover) and moving ever onward and outward (without him), our heroine meets adventure, mishap, and romance on several continents. From the introduction: "Writing, like traveling, deepens my life, and writing about my travels gives them new meaning. Sometimes, it even allows me to live those journeys over again, minus the mosquitoes and sunstroke." Thanks, Laurie! We like living them, too.

The author of Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul brings us a new collection of inspirational and often humourous advice. In brief, reflective essays, Zikman asks and answers the oft-heard question "Why travel?" Whether a weekend jaunt to the country or a six-month tour of Asia, The Power of Travel shows how any trip can be an adventure. This little gem is small enough to take along in even the most over-burdened knapsack.

Just the kind of thing we like at Journeywomen: stories about women traveling by women traveling. Interested in what it's like to backpack around India with your mother? Want to know how to set up a writer's retreat in Antarctica? Care to peek in on a girls' night out in the Kalahari Desert? Over 80 writers, journalists, travelers, and dreamers from around the world contributed to this nightstand essential.