My family and friends have discovered a sweet spot these past several years when it comes to giving me Christmas presents. Apparently my widest grins appear when I unwrap either books or chocolate. Who would have guessed?

Last year, one friend hit a grand slam by giving me a map of the continental United States crafted of 100 percent dark chocolate. I ate most of the East Coast on Christmas morning.

Since Mercer Islanders are an unusually erudite population, I’m guessing that more than a few of your received either books or, better, gift cards or certificates for books at Barnes and Noble, Borders, or Amazon.com among your holiday treasures. If that’s the case, and you love travel, here are my suggestions for good travel-centered books for your 2007 readings.

“A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration,” by Michael Shapiro.

This recently published book of conversations with the most-published travel writers of the past 40 years opens the door to views of the world by extremely thoughtful souls. Seattle’s English ex-pat Jonathan Raban and New York’s Arthur “$5-a-Day” Frommer talk about how travel has evolved. Tim Cahill and Bill Bryson will keep you chuckling with their offbeat, humorous mis-adventures. Isabel Allende and Frances Mayes treat us to international perspectives. Edmonds’ favorite son, Rick Steves, comes in from his “back door” to talk about why travel has the ability to change the world.

This book goes behind the scenes and into the heart of why we travel. It is a great introduction to a world of travel and the best of travel literature.

“Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die,” by Steve Davey, and published by Firefly Books.

More than a coffee-table book, this wonderfully photographed list of the world’s best places gives compulsive travelers like me a mission. See Machu Picchu. Experience Zanzibar.Go to Dubrovnik.Get to Venice one more time.

Author Davey offers some new tasties for us: Jaisalmer Fort in India. Aitutaki of the Cook Islands. Old Havana in Cuba. Drakensburg in South Africa. Guilin in China. Or Monet’s Garden in Giverny, France.

“Unforgettable Journeys to Take Before You Die,” by Steve Watkins and Clare Jones, published by Firefly Books.

This book is even better than Firefly’s “Places” book. The point is that the “going” is at least as good as the “seeing.” To paddle the length of the Yukon River in a kayak is not only do-able, but unforgettable. Imagine tracking mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Or walking in the footsteps of Wordsworth in England’s mystical Lake Country. Or driving your own horse-drawn caravan in rural Ireland. They are all there for you to do now. No excuses. Go for it.

These trips of a lifetime are photographed so gorgeously that you, too, will be inspired to walk the “Camino de Santiago” in northern Spain, to take the Trans-Mongolian Railway, or to trace the life and works of Gaudi in his beloved Spain.

“The Good Rain” and “Lasso the Wind,” both by Seattle’s Timothy Egan.

For almost 20 years, Egan has covered the Pacific Northwest and the Western half of the United States from his base here in Seattle for The New York Times. He’s the best non-fiction writer in our state in my opinion.

“The Good Rain” was published 15 years ago. It tells the stories that tie our Pacific Northwest together. One example couples the rural electrification of the Okanogan Highlands with the brutal murders of the Peter Goldmark family in Seattle’s elegant Madrona-Washington Park neighborhood on Christmas Eve. Another piece details the loggers-versus-marijuana-growers war for turf in southern Oregon’s rugged Siskiyou Mountains.

“Lasso the Wind,” published seven years ago, extends Egan’s themes of protecting nature, reverence for our aboriginal Americans, and capitalistic exploitation throughout the West. From the developers of Las Vegas who suck the Colorado River dry to the Copper Kings of Montana who have created the poisonous lakes of Butte, Egan spares no one. Especially poetic are Egan’s stories of the recent “lynchings” in Joseph, Ore., and raising ostriches along Colorado’s Front Range.

If you use Amazon for book buying, these two books are available for under $3 used. Every lover of the Pacific Northwest should add each to their library.

“The Great Towns of America: A Guide to the 100 Best Getaways for a Vacation or a Lifetime,” by David Vokac.

Author Vokac is a San Diego geographer who applies his educated analysis to naming the 100 best towns in the US with populations under 50,000. With week-by-week analyses of rain and temperatures; as well as with thoughtful explorations of housing costs, political persuasions, education levels, and crime statistics, this book is a valuable resource for every traveler in the 48 states.

Of his 100 favorite towns, a good 50 were ones I had never heard of. But having enjoyed this book for over five years now, I’ve visited half of the 50 unknown towns, and am delighted I did in every case.

Whether you are a vacationer looking for new ideas for different getaways or strategizing for retirement retreats, Vokac’s “Great Towns” will have a pay-back by the second page. Each town comes with a discussion of best dining, best lodging and best ways to enjoy the area. This book is available through Amazon at reduced prices as well.

“The Best American Travel Writing,” edited by Jason Wilson

Every year for five years now, this has been my favorite holiday gift. Each year, a new collection of travel pieces is reviewed and chosen among the best travel writing from publications like Outside, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, Slate.com and the Washington Post. What you get is the best 25 travel stories of the past year. Current, topical and always interesting, these stories by 25 different authors are as short as four pages or as long as 40. That’s perfect for readers like me with short attention spans.

The breadth of the selections makes for fabulous stories. Skiing in Kashmir, on horseback with Argentine gauchos or protecting gorillas from poachers in the Congo are just several of the pieces. In each case, these travel pieces are not intended as “travel guides” but are well-crafted stories that grab you and take you along for the ride.

“The Best American” series also includes a series on Sports Writing, another on Short Stories, another is a collection of the best essays, and another series gathers the best American writing of science and nature.

Bill Morton can be reached at www.secondhalf.net.