Nick's Pick for October: The Places in Between

Nickspick, originally uploaded by ubs_blogger.

Every month, our own Nick DiMartino chooses his favorite recent title and crafts a more indepth review than our regular staff favorites.

His October pick? The Places in Between by Rory Stewart.

Here's what Nick says about it:

Trusting in Muslim hospitality, Rory Stewart walks across Afghanistan.

Rory Stewart is the smart person’s hero, a brave and well-informed 30-year-old Scotsman determined to complete his walk across all of Asia. Two weeks after the Taliban falls he’s ready to cross Afghanistan. So what if it’s winter?

This is travel writing at its best. As he follows in the footsteps of Babur, the first Emperor of Mughal India, he stops in over 500 village homes, talking with people of all ages, from soldiers to shepherds.

Best of all, in a land where dogs are considered unclean, he adopts a mistreated old war dog, names him Babur, and determines to take the dog with him all the way back to Scotland. Join Rory for a walk worth taking – see Afghanistan in all its complexity in the company of a superb writer and a fine human being.

The Places in Between is on sale now for only $11.20!