Say you want to get away but don't know where to go. You're looking for ideas but don't want to invest a lot of effort researching destinations. Well, you're in luck. A new crop of books tailor-made for busy people (or maybe just those with short attention spans) is out in time for 2007 vacation planning.

"Reaching Climax and Other Adventures Along the American Highway" by Gary Gladstone; Ten Speed Press, $19.95

This quirky collection of photos and essays might be the ideal guidebook for listless retirees pondering where to steer the RV next. But it's also a delightful read for those who have no intention of making a detour into Big Ugly, W.Va.; Honey Hole, Penn.; or Climax, Minn.

Following the success of "Passing Gas," a similar book featuring small, peculiarly named American towns, photographer/writer Gary Gladstone is back with profiles of 55 oddly named spots that leave you wondering, "What were they thinking?" In the text, Gladstone recalls his encounters with his subjects, which often lead to humorous exchanges about how their towns came to be called Dismal or Podunk or Idiotville.

In Cheeks, N.C., for instance, he snaps a shirtless septic-tank installer named Mike Cheek. When Gladstone asks if he's a descendent of the 18th-century Cheek family that settled the place, he replies, "I'm not sure, but I think I'm a different set of Cheeks."

"Lonely Planet Bluelist: The Best in Travel 2007," Lonely Planet, $19.99

Readers love lists. So for the second year, staffers at Lonely Planet, the popular guidebook series for independent travelers, have enlisted readers to submit recommendations for what's hot in travel.

The editors concede the most sought-out destinations aren't particularly new — Australia, New Zealand and the United States top the list of 11. Still, the book mines a wealth of travel ideas by ranking places in dozens of cleverly selected categories.

Some take the broad view: For example, there's "Cities on the Rise" (Chongqing, China; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Tallinn, Estonia, lead the pack). Other topics are more focused, such as "Most Beautiful Buildings." (Frank Gehry's Museo Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, is No. 1.) Other rankings, such as "The Best in Slow Travel," are conceptual: Top choice for slow going is dog sledding in British Columbia.

"The Book of Cities" by Philip Dodd and Ben Donald; Pavilion, $24.95

"Real cities have something else, some bony structure under the muck," wrote Raymond Chandler. And it's in that vein that authors Philip Dodd and Ben Donald embark on this global romp that aims to reveal more about essence than appearance.

It's an ambitious undertaking that touches down briefly in 250 locales, from Paris to Ulan Bator.

Some town and place names inevitably raise the question: What were they thinking?