I'll begin with recommended books that I have already read -- many of which I contemplated including in my own top 10 list. I'll include readers' comments where appropriate.

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Four books were nominated by two readers apiece:

"Desert Solitaire," by Edward Abbey. "This is a fiery, passionate evocation of the beauty of the Southwestern desert. The book is balanced almost perfectly between the author's disgust at the perpetual drive to develop and commodify wild nature and the deep stillness and calm created by immersion in the desert landscape. There are many books of this sort (personal essays describing some natural setting, with an environmental/preservation bent), but along with John Muir, this is one of the first and best. Abbey never takes himself too seriously and lets his own ornery, eccentric personality shine through, which puts him a leg up on all the solemn Gaia-heads eager to lecture us about the Earth."

"Blue Highways," by William Least Heat Moon. "A Native American liberal arts college professor loses his job and his wife and sets out in his white Ford van with $900 to drive a circle around the United States without getting on the interstate, driving down the highways marked in blue on the map, in search of five-calendar cafes with signs that say air-conditioning in letters dripping with stylized icicles. His encounters with the people he meets, almost always cordial and generous -- which surely says something about the author's demeanor -- lead to thoughts about how things are and were, how they are changing, along with tidbits of history and lore."

"Road Fever," by Tim Cahill. "The rollicking tale of a mega-long-distance driving competition, told with Cahill's signature style and sense of humor and humanity."

"Seven Years in Tibet," by Heinrich Harrer. "Yes, it was made into a movie, and it lost a lot in translation. And yes, Harrer may not be the most admirable person in many ways, but this is still a wonderfully sensitive book about travels into the unknown. His friendship with the Dalai Lama and his descriptions of postwar Tibet are well worth rereading."

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