Narrative or creative nonfiction is somewhat newly recognized genre. Naturally, as librarians we have a great appreciation for the research, the primary source documents and interviews, but it is the narrative, the skillful pacing, the phrasing, and the insight that make it read like a thriller that set these books apart from other nonfiction. For this week's readers advisory practice we decided to pay tribute to the talented authors who do this well. We received such a strong response to the call out for favorites that we divided the list into four categories: journalism and social science, travel and adventure, science, and memoir. This is the travel and adventure edition of our salute to great narrative nonfiction.

Isak Dinesen's (Karen Blixen) Out of Africa brings you to her coffee plantation in British colonial Kenya. I found myself longing to lounge around her house and soak in the atmosphere first person. More recently, Philip Hoare's The Sea Inside took twists and turns with whales and birds around the globe and traveled through time to discuss man's relationship with the sea. Swimming, biking, boat riding… it is all very cathartic. —Jessica Cline, Mid-Manhattan

The Wild Trees by Richard Preston takes us into the heights of the Redwoods and the peculiar lives of a group of driven climbers. —Jeremy Megraw, Billy Rose Theatre Division

I love the travelogues of Paul Theroux, particularly The Great Railway Bazaar, which I read during a trip through Southeast Asia, and ignited a passion for train travel. The passages about the Trans-Siberian Express, the landscape around Lake Baikal, and especially Theroux's interactions with staff and passengers are priceless glimpses into a bizarre, hermetically-sealed universe. —Sherri Machlin, Mulberry Street

A great getting lost in the woods tale is A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson. In between laughing until my eyes teared up, I enjoyed the fascinating history of the beginnings of this monumental tribute to the great outdoors and volunteerism and the story of what it took to actually get the trail finished as Bill Bryson attempts to walk the trail from start to finish. —Maura Muller, Volunteers Office

I used Bill Bryson’s In A Sunburned Country as a travel guide when I stayed in Australia for a month and I saw things I never would have thought to without his book (like a dual pet shop/porn shop). His audiobooks are high entertainment as well. —Leslie Tabor, Assoc. Dir. Neighborhood Libraries