Best of the rest

A Savage Dreamland David Eimer

Bloomsbury, £20

What happened during the 50 years Myanmar (Burma) was in isolation and locked into a military dictatorship? David Eimer sets out to find the answer, as well as what came next, in his latest book. Veering north from Yangon to the Burmese Himalaya and down to the jungles of the south, he sees Myanmar flicker to life through the voices of royalty, monks and refugees, to sketch a portrait of a country trapped in the delicate twilight between reality and dreams.

My Midsummer Morning Alastair Humphreys

William Collins, £15

Some adventures are so inspiring that we can’t help but repeat them. In his latest, Alastair Humphreys does that, as he takes to busking on Spanish roads in search of the rich and tangled lives that his idol Laurie Lee painted so vividly 50 years ago in As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning. In doing this, his journey takes on a personal edge, as he wrestles with what he really wants from the world – a settled life or one of adventure? Honest, revealing and funny, it’s a beautiful love letter to a much-loved classic.

Just Another Mountain Sarah Jane Douglas

William Collins, £15

After losing her mother at the age of 24, Sarah battled drift by focusing on one thing: Munros (Scottish mountains over 3,000 feet/914m). She duly conquered them all, chronicling the achievement in a successful blog, with the peaks becoming a constant presence in her life – much like a parent. Her journey takes her from Ben Nevis to Nepal in the kind of prose where you hear the gravel crunch underfoot, in an often raw recollection of a life lived on two feet.

Time Out City Guides Various authors

Crimson Publishing, £15

They’re back. And it’s business as usual for Time Out Guides, who after four decades of hip, street-wise advice, seemingly shut its doors for good in 2016, after becoming one of the most high profile victims of the move to digital. Thankfully, another publisher has picked up the baton. Style-wise, there’s still the same lust for the latest trends, cool hotels and arty scenes, albeit with a Euro-centric focus.