I like to take books on vacations that I think with both last me the whole trip and also be possible to finish in the time that I'm gone. It's a delicate balance to strike as it's difficult to tell exactly how long it'll take you to read a book before you even pick it up as it could be rubish or it could be so good that you don't want to put it down, breezing through it in only a couple of days. Well, when I packed 360 Degrees Longitude: One Family's Journey Around the World for a recent road...

As soon as I finished and put down The Best American Travel Writing of 2008, edited by Anthony Bourdain, I knew I had to pick up the 2009 edition. I enjoyed the previous one enough, my first taste at the series, and wanted to read more. Thankfully the 2009 book was already on the shelves so I could easily run down to the store to pick up a copy. But, I didn't do this without some trepidation.

So many great books I've read, or movies I've seen, have been followed up with flop sequels. Of co...