This Creative Book Takes Travelers ‘Around The World In Los Angeles’

Writing a book about the diverse communities of Los Angeles came naturally to long-time resident Ruksana Hussain. In Around The World In Los Angeles, she shares stories of the history of its people and places that made the City of Angels what it is today. She has covered and celebrated the city’s communities and cultures in her work as a journalist, and she shared with me that her book was a natural progression of her work.

I was delighted to discuss this fun book with the author, and I learned about some exciting things I must do next time I’m in Southern California.

“I enjoy sharing the stories of others. A general curiosity for people and places and experiences has always had me asking questions and seeking answers to better understand the world around us,” Ruksana shared. She started writing when she was a child, something she said was “fueled by a voracious reading habit.”

“I am that child that borrowed too many books at the school library, and went to a library even during vacations so I could borrow books. The travel bug was planted when my family moved to Oman, and I spent my formative years there. Travel by air every few years between there and India, and road trips to other parts of the Middle East were my first tastes of travel.”

Hussain didn’t travel too much growing up, though. She added, “Most travel was restricted to going home to India from Oman every few years to see family. Within Oman, there were road trips aplenty to other cities like Sohar and Salalah, or parts of the United Arab Emirates such as Dubai. Within India, we’d sometimes travel to smaller towns and villages to visit extended family. But a vacation to Malaysia and Singapore probably was the one that did me in, and the yearning for travel was planted strong.”

Enamored with both traveling and writing, she built a career as a dynamic travel writer, and this book was an extension of her successful career. For this book, which was published by Reedy Press, she became, in a sense, a tourist in her own city. What she found there surprised and delighted her.

Amanda E. Doyle, the Author Liaison at Reedy Press, told me, “Early on in the acquisitions process, I spoke via email with Ruksana about her experience and interests, and we coalesced quickly on this book concept. ‘Around the World’ in a specific city was an idea that had been percolating around Reedy Press for a bit, but we needed the perfect city and the perfect author to pilot it for us. Enter Ruksana, whose passion for unearthing the diversity and authenticity that are kind of hiding in plain sight in many cases, came through immediately in our conversations.”

“She took such care to find out everything she could about the different communities highlighted in her book, and the relationships she cultivated while doing the research really make all the difference in how the book is being received,” Doyle added.

When I asked what might surprise readers about Around The World In Los Angeles, the author shared, “The fact that there are some communities that are so well-represented, but we might not know of because they are dispersed across the larger metro area and not focused in one specific neighborhood or established ethnic enclave.”

Hussain loved the “stories of how some of these communities came to LA, their rich history and heritage, and the many ways in which they are preserving their cultures in the city is quite fascinating. I picked up more than one surprising nugget of information for every single chapter.”

One thing the author is certain of is that a single visit to Los Angeles is not enough. She says you really need to visit the city multiple times, adding, “Even as I wrote the book, so much changed. So, approach the city accepting that not all can be achieved in one day and sometimes, what you plan for might not be the plan you end up following. That’s just the nature of the beast that is LA.”

She has a passion for the city that fed her inspiration throughout the writing of the book. She said, “There is so much happening every day, multiple events vying for your attention and diverse venues enticing you all the time. As someone who loves experiencing and learning as much as I can, that’s an aspect of Los Angeles that I believe is truly unrivalled.”

Around The World In Los Angeles is a great place to start whether you are planning your first or your tenth trip to the city. The book is now available on paperback.