Travel Books

Tania Aebi's book is a truly inspirational story. My wife and I read it simultaneously and we argued about whose turn was it all the time! Tania's story leaving NY at a very early age in a Contessa 26 for a two and a half years around the world trip without much sailing experience is amazing. Since I like sailing I enjoyed it as a sailing adventure but I was equally engaged with such personal inspirational story. We "traveled" with her and admired her courage every mile she did. If you don't sail, you will enjoy it too.
When we finished the book, both my wife and I, had the sad feeling that only a reader can understand..."I wish I wouldn't have finished it yet!"
We followed up looking for more books and end up finding what was of her life and learned that she'd been cruising with her two sons 22 years later to expose them to such amazing experience. She was the first woman who did a circumnavigation solo despite her record (for which she didn't care) was not granted because of a very small cross between two islands that she did with a friend. I am sure she is perceived as the first woman who solo circumnavigated and that's when you understand that the record was the less important part of her journey. You will love this book and if you are a sailor, you will start dreaming about doing it yourself.

I was really excited to start reading this book, but as soon as I started I knew it was not going to be what I thought. There are very many nautical terms that if you are not familiar with, may be confusing at times. The author switches from one setting to another very quickly. I can't say this book is the most disappointing book I have read in my life, but it certainly is amongst the top ten. If you are familiar with nautical wording, then this book would be fine for you. I was not so therefore, was expecting a different type of story.

Very happy with the book. Very well written and a delight to read about this interesting girl sailor. Service was excellent arrived on time and in the codition stated.

This book has never ceased to amaze me. Everytime I pick it up to read, I feel like I have put it down too soon. I only wish I could keep reading and finish this beautiful tale that includes a hint of romance, plenty of insight into dysfunctional relationships, pure miracles, and of course a healthy dose of adventure. This book is non-ficton but sure reads like an adventure novel. Tania's story is truly amazing and this book is now on my list of favorite books of all time.

this is a re-read for me. I bought this book to share with a friend. Loved it!

I am planning to walk the Camino de Santiago next May and found this guide to be outstanding. It is light enough to add to my 20 pound pack. The only addition that I would like is an honest description of the refugerios so that I know ahead of time what to expect. I would highly recommend this guide.

I did not like this book as a guide to the camino although many may find it interesting to read before or after walking. Directions were vague and inaccurate in several spots. A couple of times I wondered if the author had ever even been there. Some spots were detailed too much and other sections were skipped over. Not a dependable directional guide.
Very much about the author's personal journey with some interest from that perspective.

This guide to the Camino came highly recommended to us, and it is the best I've seen! It includes a brief summary of the history of Spain, and the front cover unfolds to show little maps that outline the trail. Each of the 22 sections has a detailed map. Each map covers about 15k noting the various trails, villages and districts, and for each map a short chapter on what to see and pictures of hostels on that particular map. Each section has a blank page for notes so you can journal your thoughts. The book is skinny (though a little bit weighty), and would fit nicely into a backpack. Definitely a good source.

The book was everything I expected that it would be. It contains great maps and detailed descriptions of the villages visited; distance between them; accommodations and more as one travels the Camino de Santiago.

I am walking the Camino this coming Xmas. I will bring the book with me as guide. It looks very well done and easy. I like also the inner jorney that it suggests. Unfortunatly there is no information about doing the Camino in Winter.
Luciano Aimar

got the regular lonely planet egypt book - that was good enough. i didn't really use this book during the trip. flipped through it once while on the plane there but that was about it.

I love this book! For those who are more visually oriented than phonetically inclined, this is a life saver. Makes Arabic easy and fun.

I have all but worn this book out. While it's dictionary isn't exhaustive by any means, it has an ample amount of key words. And the phrase book section is excellent, even when talking to speakers of other dialects such as Gulf Arabic. Finally, the brief but complete section on grammar in the front of the book is fantastic. This book is with me at all times!

I ordered this book 2 years ago just before going to visit my in-laws. My Arabic is still not to the point where I can hold a decent conversation, but thankfully some of the family spoke English. This book definitely helped when we were all at a loss for words because it contains both the transliteration and the Arabic script. Even if you're not familiar with the sounds of the Arabic letters, you can always just show someone the book and they can read it and perfectly understand what you're trying to say.

I really love this book and recommend it to all my friends who are traveling to Egypt.

This is a very well thought out and nicely organized book. Any student of Egyptian Arabic will like this phrasebook, and the illustrations inside of the book offer casual entertainment while the reader continues to learn Egyptian Arabic. I admit that I was disappointed to read that the author started to include sexual words and phrases, then backed out of doing it. It really would have been a lot of fun to learn how to say some of those things that were deleted from the final text.

I have now almost worn out my second copy of this book and have been thinking I need to invest in a third. This is THE best travel guide to New Orleans (actually, to any destination, come to think of it) I have ever read. I bought three or four different guides before my first trip to New Orleans; this is the one that made the others unnecessary. Many NOLA trips later, this book that still goes with me every time I return. In this Frommer's edition, Mary Herczog's voice is not so much that of a travel expert--although she is indeed that, and her advice is thorough and invaluable. But reading her pages is like having a friend in New Orleans--a native who knows all the good stuff, has all the real stories, knows the places YOU would want to visit. Her style is warm and conversational; her knowledge exhaustive, well-organized, and accessible. I've made so many margin notes "in answer" to her entries that my book has become as much a dialogue as a guidebook. Ten trips later, I am still learning from it.

I purchased this book for a recent trip to New Orleans and found it a valuable resource, both for myself as a somewhat frequent visitor to the city and for my boyfriend, who was experiencing this wonderful place for the first time. We were guided to some absolute restaurant gems, both inside and outside of the Quarter, and to some fabulous music venues. We also spent our days on the recommended walking tours (the book pays for itself in walking tours alone--you will see and learn about a great deal of history and beautiful architecture at your own pace without being stuck in a group). The post-Katrina information was helpful and up-to-date, especially considering that so many businesses and services are still in a state of transition. The Frommer's guide enhanced our New Orleans experience immeasurably, and I would recommend it to anyone planning a trip to the Big Easy.

This guide provides a variety of interesting facts about New Orleans, its culture and history, as well as information for selecting activities, restaurants, tours, and other in and about New Orleans. Very helpful as a pre-trip planner, and its maps assist getting about while there. It also gives a brief section about Katrina's impact.

Shirley MacLaine is ever the entertainer in recalling her trek across Spain on the Camino. The physical descriptions about her voyage are inspiring, and her determination to succeed in completing the journey is admirable.

The most interesting part of the book for me was the journey itself. It succeeds in making you want to try it yourself if you have a month to spare.

The spiritual aspect of the book is thought provoking, if nothing else. Shirley doesn't withhold and for some, I'm sure it's a little bit hard to digest, but you have to admire her honesty.

I thought the ending would have been more glorious. I would like to have seen a moment when she paused and reflected at the end of her journey, but instead she rushed through it like it was something to get over. All in all, it was a good read.

As a longtime reader of Shirley's book's, this was the next one for me. I learned alot and at this time, learning is very important to me.

Since marrying a Spaniard, most of our vacations have been to Spain. As a result, I tend to key in on books dealing with Spain. When I picked up "The Camino", I anticipated a quirky tale on hiking the Camino (i.e. an entertaining quick read). The book initially met my expectations. She explained her Camino decision and within a few pages was starting her pilgrimage on the trail. As expected, she meets some "unique characters" along the way and provides insight into the trail conditions (or lack thereof). However, the book slowly turns into a "vision quest". As you progress through the book, descriptions of the trail and modern day pilgrims are replaced by detailed descriptions of dreams and visions as well as her run-ins with the Press. The ending is anti-climatic and rushed. If I had paid full price for the book, I would be kicking myself for the purchase. Fortunately, I found the book in the bargain bin. Ignoring the purchase price, was the book worth reading? I did gain insight into the Camino trail conditions. However, I paid a high price for that insight. Only my determination to not leave a book half read got me through this relatively short book. All in all, I cannot recommend this book.

Interesting read until she got into her dream visions about the beginning of time and adam and eve and paradise, etc... I mean, yes, possible but it sounded too cookie cutter to me. Like she made it up and tried to make it fit into a mold we already know and threw some sparkles in there for good measure. I like Shirley and have believed what she's been through in the past but now I have my doubts. I think the experience of the camino and her dealings with her environment there is a much more interesting read. She should have stuck to that.

I've read this book twice. I don't know if I believe everything that Ms. MacLaine claims but it was a fun read and I enjoyed every bit of her journey.

This book is amazing. First time using a guidebook and first for the Lonely Planet. Will definitely buy more. Maps wonderful, chinese names for everything and very good restaurant recommendations. Found a tiny restaurant off a back alley and was amazing for a great price. Wonderful spend and would recommend to everyone!!!

This book gives ou a nice overview of the region, and incredible specific tips for visiting Shanghai.

I have read this book cover to cover in anticipation for my trip to Shanghai. I am hoping that it will save me time and money by giving me a view of the city and details that would take many months to aquire. It was an easy read and well organized. I would however recommend that you do a search online for hotel rooms as there are many deals in the hotel market that were not even mentioned in the book. Happy Trials, BB.

As of June 2007, this book has become out of date. Many of the shikumen houses that I went to visit have been torn down in Shanghai in an effort to modernize the city by 2010 for the World Expo. Maps of the metro subways are also out of date. The book currently has partial maps of the 2 lines. There are now 5 different subway lines and still many more to be built. This book is a great introduction to Shanghai, but it is out of date (just like pretty much all the other books on the city).

To sum it up, pretty good book, but just don't count on the book being your only source of information on Shanghai.

I recently returned from a trip to Shanghai and thought this was a great guide to the city. Although I love to explore most places on my own, I found Shanghai to be slightly intimidating (especially with all the ongoing construction), so I was definitely thankful I had this book with me.
Pros:
* Up-to-date information
* Offers a lot of good insight into Shanghai and the Shanghainese. I found the sections like identity, cuisine, economy, and architecture to be quite readable and interesting.
* Good maps
Cons:
* I was surprised by the other reviews, as my edition has Chinese for each address mentioned in the book. I agree that you initially expect the Chinese to be in the text (next to the romanization), but it's actually on the map keys. This is a minor flaw but did not affect me, as I often looked at the maps when I decided where to go. I guess if you never consult this section however, you might not realize that it's there.
Bottom line:
This was the most up-to-date guide I saw, and (as far as I know)is the only one with comprehensive listings in Chinese--they got me where I wanted to go every single time I took a cab. Good job.

"This is the ONLY book you need to move to Costa Rica. It is jam-packed with practical information. It helped me make the move and find happiness here. I highly recommend it to anyone thinking of living or investing in Costa Rica."

I had a hard time reading this book because it needed a lot more proofreading and editing. The information will prove useful, I'm sure, but the organization of the book made it a little difficult for me to follow.

A MUST HAVE BIBLE OF INFORMATION. IT GIVES SPECIFIC DETAILS ON THE TRANSITION PROCESS NEEDED TO SUCCESSFULLY MAKE THE MOVE OF LIVING YOUR DREAM.

I have lived in Costa Rica for over 12 years and have worked extensively in the areas of tourism and real estate. I recommend this book to PEOPLE OF ALL AGES with an interest learning about every possible area of LIVING and INVESTING here. I have read all of the other books about making the move and Mr. Howard seems to have a BETTER FEEL for the country than any of the other authors. Perhaps this is because he is the ONLY one of them who has lived here FULL TIME during the last 27 years. Therefore, it is not surprising that he displays GOOD COMMON SENSE and possesses INCREDIBLE knowledge of how things REALLY WORK here. NOBODY seems to have the network of CONTACTS that Mr. Howard has made over the years.

For example, he has met with Noble Prize winning president of Costa Rica on several occasions to discuss retirement and other important issues. Mr. Howard even has access to the president's private cell phone number and is one of the FEW Americans who can contact the president anytime. This says a lot about Christopher Howard's respectability.
In over a decade, I have seen him work with literally hundreds of people. He has never failed to be fair, honest and sincere. If he is in the least bit unsure of an inquiry, he will verify the answer with several sources. He never quits studying and expanding himself through self education and information that comes through his connections. To keep himself aware and up-to-date is a job he takes seriously, but enjoys doing.

chris howard the author knows costa rica. i am a long time resident of costa rica and you can take my word chris howard tells the truth. his is the best book out on costa rica.

This book is the right size for taking it with you, and all the information you'll need for a successful visit. Lots of great photographs.

Having traveled to Sicily, and researching more than 7 different travel guides, DK is far and away the best one. My second choice would be the National Geographic guide of Sicily, which I own, but it is clearly second to DK. The color and detailed diagrams of buildings are simply beautiful. There is so much info packed into each page, yet the information is well presented.

We've used these Eyewitness Travel books before and love them. They are great if you prefer a lot of pictures and illustrations instead of pages and pages of raw text.

I have several Eyewitness Travel Guides. This guide has useful Tourist sections, wonderful photos and divides the island into sections for easy reference.

This book is very detailed and helpful, the only problem is that much of the information has not been updated for quite some time. There are many places listed that are no longer in existance (restaurants, banks, etc) and many new places that are nowhere to be found in the book. It says it was updated in 2007 but I was in Ghana in early 2008 and most of these things I am referring to have been around (or not been around) for quite some time. Also, the prices mentioned in the book are about 50% lower than what can be expected when you go to Ghana, and perhaps even more given the rapid rate of inflation there; the prices of almost everything went up at least some amount during my 4-month stay there, from beach fares down to avocados at the fruit stands.

A few nitpicky details:
The book recommends against taking public busses without air conditioning (and therefore does not give schedules for them). However, on a tight schedule or budget (or even not) the non-air-conditioned busses are more than comfortable.
Also, the book says that a taxi ride to Mole National Park from Tamale should take about 2 hours (or 2.5, I can't remember). This is WRONG, it takes about 5 hours.
The fee to get into Labadi Beach was 2c on weekdays, 4c on weekends and holidays, not the .50c that the book cites. (This discrepancy is probably due to the general unreliability of prices/rapid inflation mentioned earlier.)
The book mentions Macumba nightclub as a popular place in Accra. I lived across the street from Macumba, and the only people for whom it is popular are hookers and the creepy men looking for hookers. To be fair, the book does allude to this. Other popular nightspots that aren't mentioned in the book include Cinderella's, The Office, Tantra, and Aphrodesiac.

Overall, the book is certainly the best on the market as far as Ghana travel goes, if not solely for the reason that it is the only book that I am aware of dedicated to Ghana and not just West Africa with a tiny section on Ghana. It provides reliable enough information to be able to get around the country, as well as valuable background information on Ghanaian culture and history. Travellers should simply be forwarned that not everything in this book can be taken at face value, and travel plans (and budgets) need to be flexible enough to accomodate for this fact.

i have found this book thorough and trustworthy - and definitely much better than the lonely planet. recommended for independent-minded travellers

This is a great travel guide. I recommend it to anyone traveling to Ghana.

As I write I am currently traveling in Ghana. The Bradt guide is incredibly thorough and up to date. I have traveled to many different regions relatively hassle free. That is it to say, Ghana works at a very different pace but the Bradt guide helped prepare me.

One note: Buy a map of Ghana and Accra, it will be very helpful. Accra is cluttered and confusing and demands more detail than the 2 page map in the Bradt guide.

Either way the book couldn't be much better.

This book (I actually own the earlier edition) literally saved my life and made my trip to Ghana last summer life-changing. Phillip Briggs offers uniquely funny and truly insightful advice about not only how to get around in and get the most out of this amazing country, but he also thoroughly reviews all the best accommodation, sights, places to eat, and activities at every budget. A complete work. The best guidebook I ever purchased.

China has the world's most rapidly changing large economy, Fishman details how hundreds of millions of peasants have migrated from rural to urban areas to find manufacturing jobs, providing an unlimited, low-wage workforce to power China's economy. "No country has ever before made a better run at climbing every step of economic development all at once," he writes, in China, Inc. China invites large corporations to manufacture their products in their country--simply put, American companies can't compete with wages as low as 25 cents an hour and lack of regulation and oversight, so are forced to move their operations to China or completely change the focus of their business. Once the companies are in China, within a few months are the Chinese are copying and competing against the same companies they attracted.

China is currently the largest maker of toys, clothing, and consumer electronics, and is swiftly moving up the ladder in car production, computer manufacturing, biotechnology, aerospace, telecommunications, and other sectors thanks to low-cost, high-tech factories. China is also where the world is investing. In 2004, for instance, the city of Shanghai alone attracted over $12 billion in direct foreign investment, roughly the same amount as all of Indonesia and Mexico received. In tracing China's ascendancy over the past 30 years (with annual growth of an astonishing 9.5 percent), Fishman presents a flood of facts, figures, forecasts, and anecdotes and examines the implications of this unprecedented growth for China, the U.S., and the rest of the world. A great read and again exposes some of the themes brought brilliantly by Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World.

Great service, the book came in perfect condition and just in time to use for my paper. Thanks :-) !!!

Never mind what Ross Perot once said about that "sucking sound" coming from Mexico. Now it's coming from across the Pacific Ocean, where the world's most populous nation puts their Communist heel to the capitalist pedal, leaving everyone else behind.

That's a slightly overstated version of the premise offered by Ted C. Fishman in "China, Inc." a 2005 examination of the Chinese challenge to American economic hegemony. Fishman makes a solid argument for China's more-than-likely eventual supremacy. Yet for all the compelling points he makes, his dry and detached writing style makes it hard to care about the advancing macroeconomic apocalypse.

That's especially true in the first half of the book, when Fishman takes us to Shanghai, a southern city growing so fast an entire floor of one skyscraper houses, in its entirety, a scale model of the city.

"The banks of the Huangpu River running through Shanghai don't just bend," he writes at the outset, setting an early benchmark for clumsy prose. "They mindbend." Bad puns co-exist with shallow observations; a subchapter entitled "Shanghai Sex and the City" informs us that Chinese men like the company of hot young women.

An utterly mundane shopkeeping family, the Lis, is discussed in detail, to the point where Fishman seems to have interviewed no other Chinese. Instead, he presents the world's largest national population in bold strokes: "Now energy is Shanghai's drug, craved more powerfully by a population pouring into the city to seize its supercharged moment. Shanghai's young glow with an optimism..." And so on.

But Fishman has a point regarding the co-existence of the Chinese economy with the United States, and after getting past the first 100 pages, he makes them with a care and urgency that belies the book's soporific start. China's low-cost manufacturing operations are not just changing the playing field in the ways Perot once envisioned Mexico would. It's also creating what Fishman calls "the China price," setting a price benchmark so low that manufacturers in other low-cost sectors of the globe must do likewise. Fishman notes there is a real benefit and cost to this, which he explains quite well.

Meanwhile, the Chinese appetite for spiraling U.S. debt has resulted in a kind of Catch-22 suicide pact: "Without the United States to buy Chinese goods, China cannot sustain its growth; without China to lend money to the United States, Americans cannot spend," Fishman notes. "Without the twin engines of the United States and China stoking the fortunes of other nations, the rest of the world might also sputter."

Throughout, Fishman makes interesting side points; some of the best of which come in his endnotes and footnotes. It's surprising how much better Fishman reads when he is condensing his points rather than expanding upon them.

Those arguing Fishman is making a case for shutting China out of the U.S. market aren't reading his book. He even makes a case for intellectual piracy, the truest black mark in China's rise, as just desserts for a century of harsh colonial treatment by the West. "China, Inc." seems solid and fair that way, like a government white paper. Pity it reads a lot like one, too.

Fishman's book is aimed at people who have not closely followed China's recent economic miracle. It provides both statistical, eyewitness, and anecdotal information about the size, breadth, and seeming inevitability of the impact of China's booming manufacturing economy in the entire world. These impacts include everyone from rural Chinese who are engaged in an urban migration of unprecedented proportion to third-world businesses whose low wages and efficiency are not enough to stave off aggressive Chinese competitors to multinational business executives who are impelled to quickly get into the China game. The totality of all the facts is a bit overwhelming.

While the waxing of economic might brings with it greater political power, the reader can only wonder how this power will be used. Certainly it will be used to continue to feed the economic machine, but what is left of the almost 60-year-old revolution? It seems it is only a latent Chinese nationalism, and no longer a Communist agenda. The author seems to suggest that America's and the world's greatest anxiety should be over getting out-hustled by Chinese entrepreneurs who at first worked around a government hostile to private enterprise and now work in concert with a government committed to build world-class prosperity by every means of fair and unfair competition. It raises the question of how we expect American companies to compete when they face burdensome regulations, high labor and benefit costs, indifferent employees, and costly consumer lawsuits.

Fishman's work is thought-provoking, but does not go too far at suggesting where current trends may be taking us all. Perhaps no one really knows, since extrapolating trend lines indefinitely always leads to error. While free trade produces efficiencies that lift everyone's standard of living, it also is likely to levelize our incomes. While the Chinese will move to a more prosperous lifestyle in emulation of the West, our lifestyle may change to become more like that of the Chinese. In a few years an updated account by Mr. Fishman would be an interesting new snapshot.

China, Inc. is primarily a compendium of facts, figures, stories, and statements that give the reader a sense of the amazing and overwhelming growth and change that is taking place in China. It is worth absorbing all the information to better understand the economic forces that are changing our lives, and those of people throughout the world, in irreversible ways. And the reader is left with the correct impression that this is only the beginning. What product will NOT be made in China in a few years? In the long run, other than natural resources, what CAN we sell back to China so they don't use all those dollars to simply purchase large pieces of America? Political and economic realities aside, we have to be impressed with the accomplishments of the people of China. Motivated by a desire for a better life the Chinese people are creating a new society at warp speed using an almost-forgotten tool: Hard Work. Members of Western entitlement societies may want to sit up and take notice. The author points out that the jury is still out on how China's capitalist-like economic life ultimately will affect the monolithic political structure of the country. In the competitive international marketplace, there will be winners and losers. For now, the Chinese are on a winning streak, and our response should be more than complaints that they don't always play by the rules. Americans are losing high-paying manufacturing jobs to China, while "saving money" buying more goods imported from China.