CHECK IT OUT:You can travel the world without leaving home

Are you making vacation plans? Then again, why leave the glorious environs of Newport Beach — land of surf, sail and sun? If you have a hankering for far-flung adventure but prefer the armchair variety, the Newport Beach Public Library has the perfect remedy for you. Here is a small sampling of the can’t-put-it-down variety of travel titles that, in some cases, will have you glad someone else did the traveling for you.

“Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine” by Holly Morris: This collection of travel stories explores women and their lives in extreme circumstances. Traveler Morris left her publishing job, and with her mother explores remote countries to track down “unsung visionaries” who are changing their world. Although popularly known from their television documentaries, this book details trips to Iran, India, Cuba and New Zealand.

“The City of Falling Angels” by John Berendt: The author of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” sets his sights internationally on Venice in a vivid description of Northern Italian social life, customs and travel. Focusing on the aftermath of a 1996 opera house fire, Berendt uses his investigation of the tragedy to delve into the local peoples’ lives and their rich Venetian history and culture.

“The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria” by Marlena de Blasi: Continuing the story of her life in Italy after “A Thousand Days in Venice,” the author and her temperamental Italian banker husband search for the perfect home. They find it in the lovely hilltop town of Orvieto in a 15th-century palazzo, but all is not as it seems. Feuding families, her less-than-perfect Italian and other issues are presented so clearly that the reader comes away with an understanding of what lies behind the sumptuous walls and delicate art.

“The Places in Between” by Rory Stewart: Usually the words “travel” and “Taliban” are not linked in the same sentence — especially by a Western author. But Scotsman Rory Stewart, who embarked on a death-defying walking tour of Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban’s fall, offers readers a poetic and sparse narrative about his journey from Herat to Kabul. Armed only with knowledge of local politics, history and several Persian dialects, this former fellow at Harvard’s JFK School of Government provides the literal groundwork for his later book, “Prince of the Marshes,” which details his diplomatic residency in Iraq.

“Istanbul: Memories and the City” by Orhan Pamuk: Translated from the original Turkish, this is a portrait of one of the world’s most complex and diverse cities. Formerly known as Constantinople and named after the Roman Emperor Constantine, Istanbul — meaning simply, “the city” in Turkish — is presented against the background of its fascinating history as the author reflects on contemporary landmarks, fabulous art, its people, institutions and unquenchable vitality.

“The Best American Travel Writing 2006” edited by Tim Cahill: This is a perennial favorite and is duly purchased every year; however, the latest issue features guest editor Tim Cahill, a favorite of this writer’s travel authors. One of Cahill’s criteria for inclusion is the notion that the best travel writing is done in the first person, and what a group of talented writers he has assembled from a wide variety of sources. Whether it’s P.J. O’Rourke’s appraisal of the enormous Airbus A380, George Saunder’s junket to Dubai or David Sedaris’s flight to Raleigh, armchair travelers will appreciate the perceptive observations culled from magazines, newspapers and websites.

is written by Newport Beach Public Library reference librarian Mary Ellen Bowman. Use your Newport Beach Public Library card to reserve these titles at www.newportbeach library.org or call (949) 717-3800 and press 2.