Travel Books

I am using this textbook for my Nutrition class at the International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. It makes class so much easier for me. The instructor speeds through the lessons and luckily for us all she uses the text as her guide. Without it, I would not continue to be a top student.

The Food Service is each day an wide open door for nutritionists. This book in particular is very helpfull on understanding the basic and advanced qualities needed for a professional acting in this area.

I was assigned this text in my nutrition class in culinary school. The book was a joy to read because it was fun and easy to read. I really liked the section on vitamins and food sources of each vitamin. However, if you really want to know the type of questions asked in nutrition class in culinary school get the following. "Nutrtion Study Guide for Food Service and Culinary Professionals: Key Review Questions and Answers by Melissa Heilman. The isbn of this book is 1933023058. This book is right on with the type of questions that I accounted on my tests. With the help of these two books getting an "A" was quite easy.

Very knowledgable book on nutrition including information for children and older adults. As a culinary professional I wanted to read up on the latest nutrition especially on soy and to improve my diet. I am also considering taking some courses, one of them is Sanitation. The Study Guide for the National Servsafe Exam by Dr. Leonardi was a book I found also very knowledgable and I am certain that it will help me with my exam once I decide when to take it.

This book was exactly what I needed. It contains all the information I needed. A great learning tool. The part of the book I am most impressed with is the section of infant nutrition. It explains month by month what you can feed your infant. An example is the 4th month of life, you can start your child on iron enriched cereals.

Full of good ideas, good list of tour groups (must go on a tour) especially locally owned. Good information on what to do, costs, etc.

I bought this guide before my first trip to Bhutan, and it helped me immensely in planning my tour. It contains detailed information about the country--history, culture, geography, and facts for travelers. And it gives accurate information about the trekking routes and cultural tours. As is typical for Lonely Planet publications, this one is interesting and well written, and I found the information to be relevant to my trip. It is not easy to travel to Bhutan (there are many government restrictions), and this book made everything easier. I had such a successful, fun trip that I've been back several times (www.jachungtravel.com), and I still refer to this edition of the guide. It's packed with good information, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Bhutan.

Lonely Planet is unbelieveable! They continually pump out the HIGHEST quality guidebooks, and they've done it again with this edition covering Bhutan. I have spent a good portion of my life researching, and hording information on Bhutan, and have found Lonely Planet's guidebook to contain everything and more that the traveller could ever want...with two exceptions. I think that the lack of the U'cen script in the language chapter is a serious mistake. Lonely Planet has the capacity to print in the U'cen script as they did so in their Tibet edition. My other qualm is with the sparse coverage of the smaller and admittedly FAR less visited dzongkhags (districts) (i.e., Daga, Samdrup Jongkhar, Pema Gatshel, Zhemgang, Tsirang, etc.). Lonely Planet, resolve these issues and your book will be the best it could be.

In anticipation of a trip to Bhutan in 2008 I was looking for a travel guide and opted to buy Lonely Planet's. I read it cover to cover and found to contain very good information, advice, tips, descriptions, recommendations, etc. I travel extensively worldwide and Bhutan will be a novel adventure. It brings back memories of my trip to Tibet in 2000. I highly recommend this guide.

Hello!

I'd been searching for a book on Bhutan which could provide me with a little bit of everything about the country viz. the history, geography, people and the culture. I have searched for books on Bhutan in several book stores around. It was so hard to find one in English but I think this one will do.

May be, finally......... I have found the book I'd been looking for.

This is a beautiful book, very nicely done. But, having already read quite a bit about color management and inkjet printing, I was hoping for more specific technical details. The author makes many statements which I'm sure are true (I do believe he knows what he's talking about), but aren't illustrated with examples. For example, he says 200 to 360 ppi is the ideal range when sizing an image for printing, and that going over 360 can actually be detrimental. Ok -- how about an example to show exactly what the effect would be? Yes, I can spend the time (and cost) to run my own tests to see, but the book should have done that for me.

If you are looking for the intricacies of the different Epson Printers and their output, like I was, this is not the book. For Beginners in Ink jet printers it is good.

This is one of the relatively few books out there that I can say, without reservation, that I completely enjoyed to the least and last ... even the somewhat whimsical final chapter about the caterpiller.

Others have already reviewed the book in considerable detail, so I'll just add a few short tidbits that stood out for me in particular ...

* I absolutely adore Ms. Dunlop's adventerous spirit. Theodore Roosevelt's famous "man in the arena" speech somes readily to mind.

* I also admire, and heartily agree with, Ms. Dunlop's astute observations regarding certain silly and deeply ingrained western culinary biases ... such as a general dislike or aversion to rubbery textures, bone-in cuts, offal, bitter vegetables, etc. I also share her love for adventerous dining ... and her disapproval of those who conspicuously indulge in endangered species.

* I also deeply appreciate her efforts to not just share her culinary travels, but also her insights, immersive personal experiences, and the socio-political context of her travels ... it greatly helps to humanize the book for the reader. Disappointingly few authors succeed in that vein. Some successful examples (of fully immersive travel memoirs) are Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence", and Joseph Campbell's "Sake and Satori". Both are highly recommended - the latter in particular, for those who enjoy high-brow reading.

My one minor nit with this book are Ms. Dunlop's recipes ... she does a wonderful job in leading up to the recipes themselves in order to give full weight and background to her personal experience and attachment to each (something too few cookbook authors do in their headnotes). However, the recipes themselves are somewhat imprecise in places ... such as omiting the recommended knife-cuts to use (ironic after having learned so many in her culinary schooling), or neglecting to explain some of the more esoteric or hard to find ingredients to her western readers. I also found myself occasionally pining for some of the photographs her memoir mentioned ... none were included.

Highly recommended !

I look forward to exploring Ms. Dunlop's other published works.

I just had to add my opinion to all the excitement about this book. I struggled to complete it. Halfway through I was bored. I never felt connected to the author or felt that I really got to know the people she met. Her excuses for eating fancy food and endangered species were bogus. Some chapters read like essays which she probably already had published in periodicals and was merely recycling. And I hope the recipes were meant as jokes: bear paw! She was a braggart, too. Her stories about travel were about the only parts I liked. I suggest those who like travel memoirs try Paul Theroux and those who like food memoirs read Julie Child's book about her years in Paris.

This is a must read for any and all cooks, anyone interested in foreign cultures, travel devotees and especially those who want an authentic journey through China. As someone who does not cook and does not like to cook I was not sure this was the best book for me, however, it provides a truly indepth understanding of the foods, customs, habits and daily life of the citizens of China. And the author's journey into various restaurants, private kitchens and cooking schools makes even this non-cook long to walk in her shoes. This is not just a story of cooking, but a history story, a love story, a travelogue, a diary, and much, much more. How do the Chinese live, work, eat, play and study? The answers are here, written with great respect and love for the Chinese.

Superb! Fuchsia Dunlop writes with precision, clarity and humor. The best book on Chinese food to come down the pike in a long time.

At this point in my life I'm certain that I will never get the chance to visit China. If by some miracle I get there, I will never be able to have the experiences that Fuchia Dunlop had, and so beautifully wrote about. I have to admit that I am very envious of her gastronomic adventures!

She was able to immerse herself in a completely different culture, and conveyed the sights, sounds, tastes and feel on each page of her book.
I enjoyed each and every chapter. She was honest about her experiences, how she actually ended up in China, and at the end finally found balance in an ever changing country. I highly recommend this book.

This book was very hard to find. At one time the publisher said it was out of print. However, good old Amazon came through one more time. I now have a very happy 7 year old grandson. Thanks again Amazon.Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House, No. 3)

If you are interested in fantasy fiction books like this one, read this review. At the beginning of the story, Jack and Annie go to the pyramids of Egypt. In the middle of the story they find an Egyptian ghost from the past. She is trying to look for four egyption symbols. To find out what happens to Jack and Annie, read this book. I gave it 4 stars because of it's mysterious ending.

Mummies in the Morning, by Mary Pope Osborne
If you're interested in fantasy fiction books like this one then this is the book for you. At the begining of the story Jack and Annie go into the treehouse and wish to go the pyramids of egypt. In the middle of the story they find a egyption ghost from the past. she is trying to lookk for four egyption symbols. To find out what happends to Jack and Annie, read this book. I gave it five stars because of its mysterious ending.
By Matthew Broome

The purpose of these little books
Is to encourage reading
And judging from the ones I've seen
They seem to be succeeding

A tree house filled with many books
That's like a time machine
To travel to another place
Just wish, and choose a scene

This third book's set upon the Nile
Inside a royal tomb
Two children help a Queen to find
Her book with spells of doom

Hieroglyphs and secret doors
A mummy's face up close
If you hate rotting bandages
You might think this one's gross

Through the eyes of these young kids
The reader will discover
Learning can be lots of fun
Once you open that cover




Amanda Richards, April 7, 2007

I can't believe that no one has commented on the subject matter of this book being highly inappropriate for young children, and entirely unsuitable for young Christian readers. I am not one to shun children's fantasy books, and we've enjoyed the other Tree House books, but this one is not for a five year old. Jack and Annie help a ghost queen find the "Book of the Dead," containing magic spells that will help her pass through the underworld (a place of horrors with lakes of fire, monsters and demons). The ghost queen has been roaming around for a thousand years trying to find this book. This nonsense, along with detailed descriptions of rotting mummies, make this book one to skip in the series.

As with most DK publications this book provides excellent information and fantastic illustrations and maps.

I just got back from Italy and the Greek Islands and I used this book and other Eyewitness books to learn about each one I visited. The Eyewitness series has a lot of great information about the history of the area and points of interest including lots of gorgeous photos. However, I wish the Eyewitness series would include more "survival" type information such as transportation, restaurants, etc. so that they could be the only guide I need to take. I felt like I needed another guide for that type of information and I did not want to carry more books!

We have used the Eyewitness Travel books for many years, and they just seem to get better and better. They aren't the only sources we consult, but they are the only one's we actually bring with us on vacation, as they seem to cover so many different types of places and activities well.

DK Eyewitness travel guides are the best on the market and this one does not disappoint.

Loved the book! Had all of the infomration that we needed. Book was loaded with history, maps, key points of interest and interesting facts. It was an excellent guide for us as we toured the greek islands and gave us the best and key points to visit which helped us use our time most efficiently. Loved the Greek islands!

Overall, we got a lot of use out of our book and I would HIGHLY reccomend it!

This book has beautiful pictures and good writing. I got one for my 5th grader, and another as a gift for a friend. Unfortunately, both copies were somewhat damaged (one copy had a crease in the front, and the other copy has a slit in the middle). I think the production/ manufacture of this book is not perfect. What a shame as it is truly a beautiful book to be treasured.

Stunningly beautiful photos ... well-organized chapters ... plenty of information on many aspects of Chinese culture. I gave this book to my 11-year-old nephew for Christmas, so he will begin to appreciate that China is very much more than a supplier for Wal-Mart!

I had been going to China on business for nearly 15 years now and this bewilderingly vast nation has always fascinated me, but I had never really taken the time to really dig into the nation's history and culture - until now. I'm starting out with this handsome book and 'China Road' by Rob Gifford and I'm already getting a good feel for what the country is like in ways that I was never able to during my various visits on business trips. I reckon I had spent over 30 weeks in China on business over the years, but all those trips were for what they were: business - visiting factories, meeting with factory owners and managers, going to nice restaurants, and doing a little sightseeing on the few days I'd have off. I never felt like I ever got to know the people of China. I was always in a hurry to get in, in a hurry to get the work done and then hurry to get out. Now with this book, I can contemplate about what daily life is really like for the people from all walks of life and also get some grasp of the mind-boggling size of China.

The book is neatly divided by subjects covering China's stunningly varied geography, just as diverse groups of people and ethnicity, its fascinatingly rich culture and its long and amazingly tumultuous history. It's a great starting point to understand and absorb the next world superpower that is becoming more and more important in our daily lives in the West and all around the world. It's hard to comprehend or make sense of a nation that has a population much larger than the US and all of Europe combined. I travel around China and I'm just dumbfounded by the sheer size of the land and, of course, the mind-boggling population. It's like, "How do you govern or manage a nation of this size?" But somehow, despite all the myriad problems that are hard to fathom, China goes on and now it's growing at a breakneck pace - on pace to become the world's largest economy in 20 years or so and be twice as large as that of the US by the middle of the century. On the surface of things, it seems this century is for China to make theirs.

This book gives you a good general overview with excellent photos throughout and superb layout with good informative content that gives the reader an insight into the mind of the Chinese people. As an Asian-American of Korean descent, China is not as foreign to me as it'd be to most Westerners, but it still holds what Westerners and even other non-Chinese Asians may consider to be many mysteries and odd or strange cultural practices and traditions. And the diversity of the Chinese people and its geography may be something many people in the West haven't thought about. China can be viewed as a continent in itself - like Europe with many different languages and cultural heritage. But it is united and the nation has gone through many wars to tear itself apart and to re-unite again over the course of its long history. China is indeed much more complex and misunderstood than most Westerners would care to admit. This book goes a long way in helping you understand that complexity of this most fascinating nation and growing world power. If you need only one book about China, this is the one to get.

I visited China earlier this year on business, so I was intrigued when I came across this book. When I opened it, I was not disappointed. This book celebrates China and its variety of culture, art, landscapes and rich history with beautiful photography and educational text.

The beginning section of the book draws you in with page after page of beautiful photographs of different landscapes in China, sprinkled with verses from Chinese poetry (translated to English, of course). It makes the reader aware of the varied landscapes (snow to desert, mountains to plans, forest to fields) that make up the vast country of China. Truly a treasury of photos!

The next section explains Chinese history, complete with a timeline. The information is provided in titled short paragraphs and articles so it is easy for the reader to get a glimpse of the history and read quick pieces for more detail. Small articles include items such as "The Grand Canal" and "The Boxer Uprising". All are sprinkled with old photographs and pictures of paintings and artifacts.

The most delightful section of the book is "A Day in the Life" which is a collection of stories about daily life of particular people in different areas of China. There's the life of a student in Shaanxi, a Chinese herbalist, a Buddist Monk, a Cricket Seller, and a farmer, just to name a few. The photos and text provide a window into the lives of the people of China to let the reader see life from their eyes.

There is also a section on Chinese Culture, which includes articles on philosphy and religion, painting, literature and Chinese opera.

The last segment of the book is entitled "Architecture" and contains pieces on various types of building styles, both old and new. From modern buildings such as the 88-story Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai to an old Buddist Monastery in Hebei, this chapter contains a wealth of information and beautiful photography. The Jin Mao Tower is truly stunning inside (I wish I had gone to see it while I was there!). The Couple's Garden is typical of the gardens in Suzhou that I visited while there. One of the most beautiful places shown in called the "Temple of Heaven" with colorful painted decor and detailed stonework.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about China and its culture. It is not only informative, but makes a beautiful "coffee table book"!

An absolutely beautiful book. The binding is gorgeous and the photography outstanding. Very interesting to read. Obviously a country and people with 1000s of years of history can only be perceived in a glimpse in just one book, but what a beautiful glimpse this book gives the reader! And more than just beautiful photos it contains very interesting history. A great overview of such a vast and interesting country.

This book is difficult to pin down. Is it a record of travels in Mexico? Is it a social commentary? Is it a personal journey for unknown reasons? Yes, to all the above and still more. It reads as the saga of one man driven to travel in the very dangerous region of the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico.

I enjoyed reading it, although the conditions described in Mexico's Sierra Madre region were discomforting, to say the least. The author is British, but the way he write and thinks indicates that he is pretty Americanized in his thoughts. I kept thinking this was an American writer, only to have him mention his British nationality every few pages.

This book is an account of the author's travels, trials, and travails in the Sierra Madre region of Mexico. I found the descriptions of Mexican culture, including the large amount of corruption and "machismo" to be fascinating. Like the author, I became tired of the culture after a while. But it was eye-opening to see just what people have to contend with "south of the border". The status of women in the region is deplorable, and thus the book might be of interest to Feminist readers.

Filled with facts and well written, the book unfolds steadily. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in Mexican culture.

The author is quite frank in presenting his emotions; there is a bit of language and a lot of mature themes in this book - not recommended for kids.

The cover of Richard Grant's book God's Middle Finger describes his travels as being "into the lawless heart of the Sierra Madre." That is an extremely accurate depiction of what he did. He had always had an urge to travel extensively throughout the Sierra Madre, plus he liked to live life on the edge and found that a sense of boredom crept into his daily life if adventure was not a part of his activities. Well, the travels he covers in his book go way beyond what most of us would find to be an acceptable level of adventure.
Early on Mr. Grant solicited advice from experienced Sierra Madre travelers. Most of them said he was foolish for even considering such a trip. The primary recommendation was to stay home. The mountains were rugged. Conditions were tough. Most of the area had no law enforcement and was controlled by narcotics syndicates. Marijuana ranches were common and were heavily guarded by well-armed, heavy-drinking cowboys who basically had no respect for life. Weapons were everywhere - rifles, pistols, AK-47s, etc.
However, the author decided to take his chances. He improved his Spanish and his horseback riding skills. He made connections with people in the Sierra Madre whenever possible because the appropriate introductions often could be lifesavers. Then off he went. During his trip he was prescribed rattlesnake pills for insomnia: he searched for buried treasure: he watched bizarre religious ceremonies; basically he did things that the average person would not. It all makes for fascinating reading.
Mr. Grant is particularly good at increasing the level of tension in the book as he goes along. He begins with a tease of a time when he was chased at night by two heavily armed, drunken cowboys who wanted nothing less than to kill him just for the pure fun of it. For the resolution of this situation, the reader has to wait until the last chapter. However, all the chapters in between are packed with extremely detailed descriptions of characters and the amazing landscape of the Sierra Madre.
God's Middle Finger is an excellent book. I have no desire to go to the parts of the Sierra Madre that the author visited, but I found it extremely interesting to read about them.

For reasons unknown, Richard Grant decides to travel the length of the Sierra Madre in Mexico. This is dangerous country for outsiders, not least because of the drug trade. A friend tells him to learn Spanish and learn how to ride a horse - - he does the former, while the horse-riding seems irrelevant.

Grant seems to be good at meeting people, and he's certainly good at not getting himself killed by the violent people he meets. He's happy to kick back a lot of alcohol and the occasional line of cocaine. Unlike some of his gringo predecessors who have wandered the Sierra Madre, he doesn't hang out with prostitutes, or at least doesn't admit to doing so.

It's a crazy kind of journey, but the people he writes about are even crazier than he is. This eventually becomes the reason for him to end his journey: he can no longer stand the violence, the surrealism, the insensitivity to other people, and the extreme machismo.

Before then, his story is a wild and often funny ride, with cross-dressing cowboys, crazy drunks, and a saint's statue with blue Smurf stickers over his eyes. It's also sad, as most of the Mexicans he meets are trapped in a cycle of violence and cruelty. Grant doesn't spend a lot of time with women, but it's clear that they are (as usual) the worst victims.

Whether you'll like the book depends on your tolerance for the behaviors I've described in the previous paragraphs. Grant's a very good writer, so if you like this sort of travelogue, you'll have a great time.

What an eye opening story into the dangerous, bizarre and yet amazingly scenic world of northern Mexico. Part adventure travel, part history and 100% worth the read. Highly recommended.

This is an interesting book. It's written well and certainly held my attention. I accept the author's claimed experience as true and have concluded that this is not a trip I'd care to make. Unlike Sebastian Junger, it never occurred to me to stop reading and go see for myself, just as it never occurred to me to put his book down and go fishing in a hurricane.

There are enough reviews here already to describe the book from cover to cover. I'll only add that I read books like this to see how things are elsewhere. In this case, I consider the author a credible, skilled narrator. Consequently, I can't blame him for its characters

OK first of all let me say for the record what we all know to be true. There are no such things as Ghosts. Every single solitary unbiased examination has proven this to be the case. That being said we all love a good ghost story being told and this book has a number of really fun and enjoyable ones to tell around the campfire on a dark night. Weird Hauntings has a number of fun and enjoyable stories, none of which I would take too seriously.

The authors do a good job of making these stories seem real because in many cases there is enough information given to make the story seem juicy but of course just enough so it can never be verified. All of these stories are full of crimes and lives cut short but at some point in the past that can never be proven. So none of them are at all credible but you are not reading this because you believe it is a text book. You're reading them in a dark room to scare yourself! For that alone it's worth reading!

I enjoyed reading this book very much. The book has great artwork. Just a great book all around!

I found this book to be quite disappointing. It begins well with a very readable and page-turning first chapter but from there on things just go downhill and never really recover. Every now and then an interesting and believable scary story pops up but mostly it seems just like what you could expect to encounter if you took a class entitled Creative Ghost Story Writing For Beginners 101. It seems that an awful lot of the tales stem more from the imagination of the narrator than from some otherworldly realm. And not a few times I cringed in embarassment when a paranormal suggestion or explanation was offered for events that were so obviously nothing of the sort. If you like your ghost tales served up with credibility and objective research and investigation then this book is definitely not for you. Spared from a single star rating only by the heroics of Chapter One.

Weird Hauntings by Joanne Austin is quite good for a book of ghost tale compilations. This is from the same team that does the entire "Weird" series of books (Weird U.S., Weird Arizona, etc.), and reminds me of the best of the books that I would find at my local library as a child with a voracious appetite for the macabre. Off the bat, the introduction by Ryan Doan in which he relates the fact that his father used to hide under his bed as a child starts off the bizarre proceedings on a wonderfully weird note.

In particular, another value in the book is that it details investigations or stories from individuals that have not been repeated ad infinitum in other books on the subject. There is also mention of a few famous areas such as Alcatraz or Gettysburg to keep one interested as well.

Well done: 5 out of 5 skulls

I enjoyed reading this book, very interesting as it leads you to different places and each author has his/her own story to tell. The table of contents was organized from haunted houses, historic haunts, terrifying travels, the otherworldly outdoors and so forth. It was a well-researched book with detailed events. Some of the photos of places and people were such a good addition that made the book more interesting to read. Although I'd like to add that some of these photos were edited to make them look more scary. One of the exceptions is the main photo for pages 214-215 (Eerie Eateries, Spooky Salons), it was a bit cheesy and tacky. The Graphic Artist/s could have done a better job than that and made the images look more realistic and believable. I am a Graphic Designer and I saw the flaw in this book. I gave the review 3 stars because with all these edited photographs, the authors could have used the space for more text and information. I will give the authors credit for the great content of the book. Overall, the book is more interesting than scary.