There are definitely different types of travel books. The most common are guidebooks packed with basic where-to-go and what-to-see information. Others, such as Daniel Everett's Don't Sleep, There are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle are more literary efforts that give readers a personal view of one person's experience.

This $26.95 Pantheon Books hardback allows Everett to tell his story after he spent the past three decades living with and studying a remote tribe of 350 people -- the Piraha -- who live deep in the Brazilian rainforest.

The book traces Everett's experiences, which range from a desperate trip up the Amazon to save his malaria-stricken wife and daughter to encounters with anacondas, the mysteries of the forests and years spent learning a language that defies linguistic theories.

Everett first traveled to the Amazon with his wife and three children as an evangelical missionary, but discovered a culture that challenged his own cultural, religious and linguistic beliefs.

On the Web: It's easier to navigate at Cruise West site

Cruise West, a global leader in small-ship exploration voyages and the largest American-owned cruise line, has recently redesigned its Web site, www.cruisewest.com. The new site offers improved consumer appeal and streamlined navigation designed to be more user-friendly, offering easier-to-access information with one or two clicks. Cruise enthusiasts can now search by destination, interest, departure date, duration of cruise and ship.

Top 10

Top travel stories of the year:

Travelers pay steep fares to fly.

The search for missing adventurer Steve Fossett

Destination China.

Seesawing gas prices.

Trekking the campaign trail.

Airline inspections and cancellations.

Attacks on tourist destination in Mumbai.

A surge in public transit.

Staying home and cutting back

Planning inauguration vacations.

Source: ABC News