Until a week ago, when I flew to Cyprus for a family wedding, I hadn’t been on a train or a boat, let alone a plane, for a long time. But I’ve still been travelling — thanks to the transporting power of words on paper. If you’re in need of a virtual escape, or something to read on a real one, you might find it among some of this year’s best new books on travel and place, which I covered in a roundup last weekend for Telegraph Travel.