Travel Book: Tell My Horse

In honour of Black History Month in the US, put Tell My Horse into your travel book rotation. Written by anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, well-known African American author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tell My Horse is an account of her travels to Haiti and Jamaica in the 1930s to investigate voodoo culture.

The book is decades old, but having spent some time in Haiti in 2003, I know that voodoo beliefs are still very much alive, especially in the rural areas. The book is a fascinating mix of travelogue, anthropological study, and political analysis that is all the more interesting when you take into account the constraints placed on Hurston by her predominantly white audience and patron.

Verdict: Borrow it

Travel Book: Holidays in Hell

There are places that even adventurous travellers fear to tread, but American comedy writer PJ O'Rourke has managed to create a hilarious travelogue out of truly horrid trips to destinations like Lebanon, Poland, Panama, South Korea, Palestine, Disneyworld, and others. His timing is always impeccable, arriving in time for military coups, political protests, and Jerry Falwell.

Written in the 1980's, the political references might seem a bit dated at times, but the author's humour will strike a chord with anyone who has ever been made to travel someplace they didn't necessarily want to be.

Verdict: Borrow it