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"My Kind of Place: Travel Stories From a Woman Who's Been Everywhere" (Random House, $24.95)

Susan Orlean is best known nowadays as the author of "The Orchard Thief," which was made into the wildly inventive film "Adaptation" (her character was played by Meryl Streep). But before Hollywood discovered her, literary folks long admired her writing in The New Yorker, from which most of the essays in "My Kind of Place" are taken. These pieces are not your typical examples of travel writing. Rather, they are a collection of pieces "about journeys" -- unusual pieces oftentimes about less-than-exotic places: oil fields on the outskirts of Midland, Texas; a World Taxidermy Championship in Springfield, Ill.; an independently owned grocery store in Jackson Heights (Queens), N.Y. Orlean is a travel writer at heart -- she admits that she looks at all stories as journeys, no matter where the destination. It is this generosity of the spirit that allows her to see the character of even the most mundane locations. She not only discovers new things about the world when she travels, she also learns new things about herself. During a skeet-shooting session in a medieval castle in Scotland, for example, she feels a rush of excitement after she pulls the trigger of a double-barreled shotgun.

"Why Americans Zigzag When They Eat: A Miscellany" (Cadogan, $12.95)

Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls are travel writers who began writing the Cadogan Guide series nearly 20 years ago. They have now put together this little book, which explores historical, cultural and travel trivia from around the world. Among the questions they answer: What happened to the Seven Wonders of the World? What is the origin of playing cards? Why do more than 30 percent of the world's drivers stay to the left? The authors also feature a list of patron saints. Some of the more unusual ones include funeral directors (named in honor of Joseph of Arimathea, who buried Jesus), house hunters (for Joseph) and migraines (for Gereon, who was, ouch, beheaded). There's even a method to the madness of the book's title: The switching back and forth between knife and fork when Americans eat can be traced back to John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Co. *

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