Whether it’s cooking up a winter feast or re-discovering Australia’s favourite cities, this is the month to take time out

GREAT JOURNEYS

Penguin’s giving you the chance to travel the world in 20 (short!) books. The Great Journeys series features some of the world’s best classic travel writing, extracted into small books you can whizz through on a short-haul flight. Let Marco Polo impress you with the maharajah’s riches in The Customs of the Kingdoms of India, or find out Anton Chekhov’s take on the Russian wilderness in A Journey to the End of the Russian Empire. It’s a great way to journey into the past while you’re en route to the Blue Mountains or Brisbane or the Barossa – or wherever tickles your fancy this June. Published by Penguin Group. RRP AU$12.95.

WINTER IN THE ALPS: FOOD BY THE FIRESIDE

“The Alps are… a concentration of the [winter] season, the full and complete experience,” according to author Manuela Darling-Gansser. She should know: Darling-Gansser was born in the Swiss Alps, where her great-grandfather opened a restaurant 120 years ago. While Winter in the Alps is almost as much about the beautiful region as it is about the food, the book’s 65 easy recipes, featuring robust soups, fondues, stews and warming drinks, will feed the family nicely this winter. Add wood to the fire, sit back and tuck in! Published by Hardie Grant Books.
RRP AU$59.95 ISBN 9781740664806

THE BLUE ZONE

Sometimes all you need for a great holiday is a fast-paced novel filled with smoking guns and more twists and turns than a Grand Prix racetrack – and The Blue Zone certainly fits the bill. It’s the debut solo effort of Andrew Gross, who co-wrote five New York Times number-one bestsellers with James Patterson, and revolves around Ben Raab, a state witness against a drug cartel who disappears into the FBI’s witness protection program with his family. You won’t be able to put it down until the unexpected ending! Published by HarperCollins. RRP AU$32.99 ISBN 9780007242528

ROUGH GUIDES 25S

For its 25th anniversary, Rough Guides is giving you 25 reasons – in book form – why you should drop everything and get on the road. These 25 glossy, magazine-style pocket guides cover 16 destinations, including Australia, South-East Asia and the USA, as well as eight special themes like ethical travel, islands and wildlife adventures. One of the “ultimate experiences” listed in Australia is a 10-day 120km white-water rafting trip down the Franklin River, in Tasmania’s Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. Be inspired! Published by Rough Guides. RRP AU$4.95

SHOWBIZ, SEXY SPECTACLES AND SIDESHOWS

Now it’s easy to explore the hidden Melbourne, with one of the ABC’s free Melbourne Podtours. “Showbiz, Sexy Spectacles and Sideshows”, presented by radio personalities Red Symons and Myf Warhurst, is one of four great podcasts available so far to give you a whole new angle on the city. Spend a leisurely hour or so wandering the town with the Podtour map and your mp3 player, stickybeaking at spots where amazing stunts took place – did you know that in 1910, the great escape artist Houdini dived into the Yarra River with shackles on? Or that action movie star Jackie Chan staged a fight scene on Swanston Street? We didn’t! Download from
www.abc.net.au/melbourne/podtours