Puffin Stuff on Iceland’s Rugged Cliffs

ICELAND, LAND OF THE SAGAS photographs by Jon Krakauer, text by David Roberts (Villard, $19.95, paper).

Puffins are said to taste like goose. Roasted, they’re delicacies in fancy restaurants in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. Catching the black-and-white birds with the multicolored beaks has obsessed Icelanders for centuries, even the ones who are now lawyers and programmers.

Puffin hunters conceal themselves along steep, wind-swept cliffs above the ocean. When a bird flies by, they leap up and swing a long fiberglass pole with a net on one end, hoping to nail the bird and keep their balance.

She-trolls, on the other hand, must be hunted down in their caves and fought to the death. That’s not easy because these ogresses “tend to be huge, filthy, silent and inhumanly strong.”

Such are the real and mythic details, snapshots modern and ancient, that Roberts, a longtime Outside magazine contributor, weaves into his complex portrait of this rugged country. Krakauer, best known for writing the bestseller “Into Thin Air,” clicked the accompanying photographs of Iceland’s beauty: waterfalls, wildlife, people, cozy-looking towns.

THAT RIBBON OF HIGHWAY I: Highway 99 From the Oregon Border to the State Capital and THAT RIBBON OF HIGHWAY II: Highway 99 From the State Capital to the Mexican Border by Jill Livingston, photos by Kathryn Golden Maloof (Living Gold Press, P.O. Box 2, Klamath River, CA 96060; $14.95 and $15.95 respectively).

Route 66 got the song. California Highway 1 gets all the publicity. But California 99 in many ways was the state’s backbone, or, as the author calls it, “the Main Street of the heart of California.” These volumes discuss the creation and ongoing elimination of this often-overlooked highway.

Historic photos show early 20th century snowplows clearing mountainous stretches, and Maloof’s black-and-whites focus on abandoned gas stations, small- town downtowns and lots of architecturally ambitious old bridges.

The book probably will be most appreciated by folks of baby boom age and older, who will recall the street-spanning signs announcing such towns as Orland and Yreka; the creepy old neon-lighted motor courts; and the olive, orange and date shops that punctuated those grueling trips up and down the state. (Ah, for a fresh date shake!)

Quick trips

TRAVEL WITH OTHERS--Without Wishing They’d Stayed Home by Nadine Nardi Davidson (Prince Publishing, $16.95).

Getting into a fistfight with your travel partner outside the American Express office may amuse passersby, but it will likely diminish the overall pleasure of your trip. According to this guide, there are nine types of travelers: the Enthusiast, the Adventurer, the Sportsman (or woman), the Relaxer, the Beach Bum, the Culture Seeker, the Culturalist, the Shopper and the Discoverer.

Harmony among these disparate breeds can, allegedly, be achieved.

THE BUSINESS TRAVELER’S WORLD GUIDE, Key Information on More Than 150 Cities Around the World by Philip Seldon (McGraw-Hill, paper, 19.95).

Globalization has changed the nature of business globe-trotting. This guide packs in details about everything from the local customs and political climate of Azerbaijan to the vaccinations required for visiting Vietnam.

THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S TRAVEL GUIDE TO MEXICO’S BEACH RESORTS by Edie Jarolim (Macmillan Travel, $16.95, paper).

From the first chapter, “Weighing Your Options,” the advice is comprehensive, precise and user-friendly. Among the pros and cons for Manzanillo, for instance: “a quiet, warmly welcoming vacation spot that’s good for families and older adults,” but “there’s not a whole lot going on at night.”

Books to Go appears the second and fourth Sunday of every month.