By Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

If you’re a map geek – and many travelers are – you may wish to avert your eyes. Two books – one new, one renewed – are here to tempt you as the holidays approach.

As these volumes show, maps can be deeply addictive because each one is a new worldview, with its own style and grammar.

Depending on who has designed it (and toward what end), a map can bring elegance from chaos and lead you to places you’d never have gone otherwise.

Conversely, a map can blunt your curiosity, twist the truth, break your spirit.

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