Yet More Good Reads

Here’s the final installment of our holiday book reviews. For the past week, we’ve featured mini-reviews of a few of the more interesting boating books that have come out this year. Books still make great gifts, and none of these will break the bank — only one is over $30. All will add a personal touch to your gift giving, some will fuel your sailing fires, while others will remain useful long after that necktie has been relegated to the back of the closet.

• Foremost in the ‘why didn’t we think of this’ category is Kathy Parsons’ Spanish for Cruisers (Aventuras Publishing, $31.95). Organized into color-coded sections on "Cruising" (navigation, emergencies, harbor communications, etc.), "Ashore" (shopping, banking, directions, etc.) and "Technical" (tools, engines, repairs), she lays out words, phrases and sentences applicable to virtually any situation you might find yourself in when cruising a Spanish-speaking country. This is the second edition of this nifty book, substantially expanded with 10 new categories requested by cruisers.

• Fixing Positions — Trailer Sailing the West (Sheridan House, $23.95) reminded us a bit of Travels with Charley. Not because author Matts Djos writes like John Steinbeck — although he elicits a few deja vu moments — but because of the subject matter: discovering America (and Mexico) by trailering his Balboa 26 over 25,000 miles over the past two decades to sail lakes, rivers and seas. Strange as it might sound, after reading this sailing book, it may be the road that beckons as much as the sea. The canine companion is optional.

• We generally avoid mention of cruising cookbooks, but A Cruising Cook’s Guide to Mexico (Seaworthy Publications, $24.95) is so tailor-made for boats headed to manana-land that, well, it may be the only cookbook you will need. In addition to many recipes, the book addresses how to provision in Mexico, where to provision in the bigger ports, how to adapt favorite recipes with Mexican ingredients, even how to mix a proper Margarita.