As the holiday season recedes and thoughts turn to adventures ahead, we do some footwork for the armchair traveller – transporting you to some of the hottest and coldest corners of the earth and the literary imagination.

Noor-Saro-Wiwa talks about her new book Looking for Transwonderland, which took her back to confront the colour and chaos of Nigeria for the first time since her father was executed there for his political activism. And as we approach the centenary of Captain Scott's arrival at the South Pole, travel writer Sara Wheeler explores the continuing magnetism of polar literature.

Reading list
Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa (Granta)
The Magnetic North:Travels in the Arctic by Sara Wheeler (Vintage)
Terra Incognita:travels in Antarctica by Sara Wheeler (Vintage)