In the past few years, my long-standing interest in Antarctica has broadened to encompass the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions as well. I've been reading about Iceland recently - and now I've moved south-east, about halfway between Iceland and the Shetlands, to the Faroe Islands, a remote but rather wonderful collection of islands settled a couple of hundred years before Iceland. This book is a very interesting guide to the history, culture and geography of the Faroes. Recommended if you're interested in travel (including armchair travel) or geography. ( )

A must-have for every international island hopper - and do take the challenge of going over the sea to Faroe ( )