Travel Books

MY HUSBAND AND I ARE PLANNING A TRIP TO MAUI THIS COMING NOVEMBER, AND I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO THE FOOD. JUST READING THROUGH THIS BOOK IS FUN, AND FULL OF INFORMATION THAT ONLY SOMEONE WHO REALLY KNOWS MAUI'S GOOD, BAD, EXCELLENT PLACES TO EAT WOULD BE ABLE TO SHARE. I APPRECIATE HOW THEY BREAK THE RESTAURANTS DOWN TO AREA, MAKES IT EVEN EASIER TO PLAN.

CAN'T WAIT TO TRY ALEXANDERS FISH AND CHIPS!!!!

great reviews of maui restaurants. we've been fooled in the past and valued this guide.

I have been going to Maui every summer for the past 21 years and am always in anticipation to discover which restaurants have closed and which have sprung up in their place. I am a huge "foodie" who looks forward to eating great meals out while on vacation. I have bought several other guide books that claim to be updated and am continually disappointed. Either the restaurant has gone out of business or the review is completely inaccurate, but not with James and Molly's book. This is truly THE BEST restaurant guide for Maui. And what makes it even better is the free updated download you get. You can purchase the book months in advance and not worry about things changing because you can check out any updates for free. I would recommend this book to anyone visiting Maui, from first timers to life longers, from tight budgets to no budgets. This is the book for you!

We have vacationed in Maui for a week or two for a number of years and thought we knew the restaurants pretty well. Guess what, we had a lot to learn. We used this well written book to try many new places and were not disappointed with any of them. The recommendations were excellent. We also avoided going to places where we would have been unhappy. Having this book made our trip to Maui this year even better than in the past. I hope the book continues to be updated as it is now.

This book was convenient for finding great food in the different parts of Maui. We are staying in Western Maui and the book lists all the food by location and favorites so now we know where to go for great tapas! The 4 category reviews are extra helpful when deciding where to go whether you are looking for a value or a great view.

I so enjoyed this book that I've ordered more. Lynn Kurland's books are romantic yet action packed. A great read

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. It was a little slow in some spots. I still cried and laughed, so it wasn't a complete loss. However, I just finished reading When I Fall in Love, before this one. Now, that book received a lower rating from the average reader, but I thought it was more romantic than this one. That one would definitely get more stars than this one, still a good story though...add it to your collection.

This was okay. I've read better time travel novels. But when you've got nothing else to do, this will kill time and will make the time passable.

This is the story of Patrick MacLeod, who was the first of the MacLeod's to discover the time traveling portals that has spawned several books based on their clan's travels. Patrick lives in present day but lives in an ancestoral castle. Patrick was married once, but his wife Lisa was pregnant by another man and when her lover abandoned her, she killed herself. Lisa's father Gilbert believes Patrick murdered her because Patrick never told them the details of Lisa's death in the attempt to save them pain. Patrick has shielded his heart since then and can't believe it when he feels a connection with the American he sees on Culloden field. They seem to share the time lapse experience of seeing the real Culloden battle but Patrick runs her off with his rudeness. He decides to track her down and apologize because he can't shake the feeling they are somehow connected.

Madelyn Phillips is an out of work attorney who was dumped six weeks before her wedding. Her ex fiance Bentley has gotten her fired, and ruined her finances. Madelyn decides to go on their honeymoon trip to Scotland by herself since it was prepaid and she has dreamed of going to Scotland all her life. When Madelyn arrives at the Bed and Breakfast in Scotland run by Robby MacLeod it is to find Bentley has arrived before her and stolen the reservation. Robby is offended by the arrogant Bentley and offers Madelyn another room free of charge. Determined to have Madelyn under his thumb, Bentley steals her suitcase, then has her credit card cancelled and her rental car taken away. When Robby helps her with transportation, Madelyn goes to Culloden field and is stunned to find herself in the middle of a real battle, when her mind clears she is back in present time and she sees a gorgeous Scotsman (Patrick) standing in the middle of the field. Madelyn approaches him determined that he is her soulmate but his rudeness changes her mind. When Patrick tracks Madelyn down and finds out what Bentley has done he offers his services as a tour guide. Patrick finds himself drawn to Madelyn like no other woman and starts fantasizing about a future with her. Madelyn hates being a charity case, but she finds herself drawn to Patrick. She fantasizes about him being her Scottish Laird hero but knows real life will soon step in and she must find a job and pay off her student loans. When Bentley continues to pursue them, Madelyn attempts to run away and finds herself transported back in time. She is captured by the enemies of the MacLeods, the Fergussons. Patrick knows he must go back in time and rescue Madeline and wishes he would have pledged his love beforehand. These two must face several obstacles, the Fergussons, Gilbert, Bentley and both families in order to find happiness. This is an interesting story with ghosts, history and intrigue. If you're looking for a lot of sex scenes, you will be disappointed. Lynn Kurland is not much for the sexual details found in most romances, she leaves more to the imagination. She does however, take great pains to develop the characters and their relationship to where you don't miss the physicalness of the relationship. Great job Miss Kurland. I would love to see a story about Madelyn's sister Sunny.

While I am a fan of Lynn Kurland's writing, I am also getting tired of reading the same book over and over, just with different characters. That feeling of sameness is heightened by the similarity to Devereaux's KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR. As reviewer N. Hall of Chicago noted, the heroine's predicament here is awfully similar to that of Douglass in that book.

Another problem is Bentley. It's one thing to have an obnoxious character to stand in counterpoint to the hero but it's another to have his actions make no sense whatsoever in terms of human motivation or reality. In what universe would stealing your former fiancee's violin make her want to get back with you? And I'd second the point that, for a supposedly competent lawyer, Madelyn is awfully incompetent at taking care of herself.

These aspects - the copying of Devereaux's set-up, the inexplicable actions of Bentley, the incredible weakness of the heroine and the similarity to prior Kurland books - really undercut my enjoyment of this book. On the other hand, I did like Patrick, especially his love of fast cars (a legacy of his love of fast horses), even if six years did seem too long to keep grieving.

For an original time travel romance, give me Linda Howard's SON OF THE MORNING.

Lily Hamlin has traveled back in time to Scotland, 1654. She meets Ewan Cameron, who isn't at all surprised she is from another time.

I'm slightly torn on this book. Ms Wolff's writing style leans toward literary. If you prefer books that are filled with narrative and details, you will love this book. If you are looking for a light romp through Scotland, this book isn't for you.

The book begins with many pages of backstory. Because of the author's overuse of narrative and detailed description, I felt like I was sorting through wrappings in search of the story.

Lily is introduced to another time traveler in the castle. I expected her to spend a lot of time with him, comparing notes, in search of a way to return home. There isn't even a small amount of curiosity, which I found odd because I thought she had a science background.

I never warmed up to any of the characters and when Lily and Ewan professed feelings for each other, I was shocked.

Overall, I was determined to finish, and did, but with a headache.

I was excited to find a new voice in Time Travels but within the first 25 pages ( which should have been cut) it clearly wasn't this book. The author's excessive use of narrative is what slows the pace of an otherwise good premise for a story. She never lets the reader have a visual of the setting through the actions of the characters. Too much narrative and at places silly head hopping takes away from the pace of the story slowing it down to almost a crawl. One has to wonder where the editing was on this by the publisher. Way too much telling and not nearly enough showing by her characters. The story started at the wrong place with too much back story that could have been told in other places and been just as effective

The main protagonists were cardboard people who the reader spends more time in their heads than actual action of the story. Not sure if the author wants to write mass market fiction or literary work? Ewen was at least an interesting character who acted and sounded like a romance fiction Highlander but Lily came off as a witchy modern woman who through her supposed inner strength, was really kind of brash and bit of a pain in the arse and not a heroine that endears herself to readers. She was biting one moment to the hero and in love with him the next? There was no reason or event that would cause the reader to see this transformation so the supposed love between them fell very flat for this reader. There was absolutely no sexual tension; it was all in their head, which never seems to materialize in their actions until the consummation scene . This was the biggest disappointment in the book for this reader.

On the plus side she did incorporate Latin and Gaelic in the story without it being overdone. And this was clearly not a "canna/danna" Scots story, her dialogue was well done. She clearly knew the story of the Cameron clan and it shows in the story plot, I especially liked some of her foreshadowing that might allow for a future story from her. And her use of the song/poem did move the story forward and give the story some backbone to build on but even this seemed to be rushed over, just sitting on the edges of the story.

This author may need to look at the market and decide if romance is really what she wants to write, literary fiction may be more her forte in the future.

******On a side note to the Publisher/Berkley Presentations: Stop being so darn cheap and increase the size of the font of the words on the page. Forty lines to a page results in very small print and takes away from the enjoyment of this book because of the strain for eyes to read it. Sure you wanted to save some pages but your could have done that by better editing and at least provided the reader with a book that could be read more easily.

While hiking through the countryside of picturesque Scotland searching for another ideal drawing spot, Lily Hamlin discovers a stone maze. She enters and soon becomes lost walking through it's winding corridors. Then she feels the ground quake beneath her feet and everything goes black.

Ewen Cameron has just met with General Monk, the head of the English Army. Monk wants Ewen to swear loyalty to the English Parliament and cease fighting them. Ewen has no intention of ever giving in to the English. As he travels home he spots a woman, clearly wounded and strangely dressed. Ewen takes her home with him and tends her wounds. Lily awakens in the year 1654. As she and Ewen begin to piece together what happened to her, Ewen recalls the prediction told by a witch named Gormshuil. Gormshuil said that someone would be coming. Apparently, that someone is Lily. Lily wants to go home and Ewen promises to help her but as the days pass they grow closer and soon even with war eminent, Ewen wants Lily to stay. Surrounded by danger, Ewen and Lily fight for their new found love.

Time travel historical romances are fun to read. Master of the Highlands is no exception. It has action, sensuality, and many good characters. Ewen is a stoic warrior. Lily is sweet and funny. She brings out the best in Ewen. Master of the Highlands is a story filled with magic, romance, and danger.

Nannett
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This is one of the best Scottish time-travels or historicals I've read in a long while. I loved the whole concept of modern day Lily getting lost in a maze and traveling back in time to the 17th century Scottish Highlands. Ewen is a wonderful example of a Highland chief who leads his people with strength and intelligence. I fell in love with him. The secondary characters are also fantastic, including Ewen's son as well as his stepbrother, Robert. This story was a wonderful adventure!

Ewan was a great hero, and Veronica does a beautiful job in describing him. His motivation for holding back from falling in love was well drawn and believable. The maze was a fascinating time travel device as well, which I would have liked more detail on. I also would have liked to have seen more of the "falling in love" action on the page--otherwise an enjoyable read. Lots of authentic detail, too. Great first effort!

This book covers the places like area 51, army bases and the fenced off area the goverment owns.It is scarey what goes on there and a few of the goverment programs that went on and what they cost, like when the govermentdecided to see if they could use atomic bombs for excavation and the insane results a normal person would expect .They did it more than once!!!!!

When looking at the description before ordering the book I was expecting more of a "hands-on" travel guide. By this I mean more of a personal journal of visiting (or attempting to) the sites. The book is more like a series of 2-3 page encyclopedia entries with a few photographs and black, line art type maps. Most entries lack even a photo which was disappointing.

I actually was amused at the tongue-in-cheek style and was not put off by it. The lack of even a basic list of sources renders the information suspect without further investigation yourself. Despite this, I took the history and anecdotal stories at face value and just enjoyed the quick read.

I would say the book serves as a quick overview that may entice a reader to dig on the internet for more information about the sites. I had already heard about most sites listed so there was little "new" information contained inside. What was "new" is, as mentioned above, not backed by any sort of source so it takes some of the shine off the book in my opinion.

If you want a book that is easy to read in short sections and does contain some unusual tidbits of history about these places and are not put off by a bit of coarse language then you'll get what you pay for. If you are looking for actual accounts of a personal visit to each site with lots of pictures you are looking at the wrong book.

This is a really good book for those 'out of the way' vacation spots. No matter where you want to go on your vacation, there's an interesting 'little known' place nearby!

I expected a lot more from this book. It's not really a travel guide, although it does give crude maps and textual directions to each place. There are very few pictures, and most of those are for Area 51. The text is very entertaining though, but not very useful. Each site gets at least a couple pages, but there's nothing in-depth about any site. I'm not sure how much of the information comes from the author's experience visiting the sites and how much is just hearsay. He told only a few stories about his own experience, and I would have liked to read more of a travel diary about the author's experience going to each site, even if just to look from far away.

Although the book presents nothing that you can't legally get on your own, I would have liked to see an appendix listing the source material, contact information for public affairs officers, websites, and so on. There's no bibliography for further reading on any particular site. The book's best use is its table of contents. You're going to have to do more research on your own anyway.

At times the language is coarse and I think the book would have been better served without sarcasm, but I think the author was pandering to his audience. Some naïve politcal commentary creeps in as throw-away jokes, and might have been more appropriate if the author fleshed out the history a bit more.

Despite being disappointed in the marketing and categorization of the book, I did have a good time reading it, just like I occasionally need to watch a UFO show on TV.

No wonder the publisher or author doesn't offer a "Search Inside This Book" link. If you were able to read the table of contents of this book you would see everything you've probably already seen or heard of and lots of large military installations that aren't really secret or hard to find at all. Being an Air Force brat my entire childhood and then serving in the Army myself for six years, I've been to over a dozen of the installations listed in this book and not only are they widely visible and accessible to military members and their families, they also give tours to the public and have a large civilian workforce inside them. Been inside "Cheyenne Mountain", been underground at the former "SAC headquarters" and even to this very day I do work in and around various naval facilities including a nuclear submarine base, only having to show my drivers license, signing in, letting them search my vehicle and getting an I.D. tag. Next thing you know I'm 50 feet away from the flight line or looking inside an F/A-18 hanger. No "top secret" clearance or elusive James Bond tactics necessary.

There are tens of thousands of places across America that have restricted areas regardless of what they are or what activities they do. Our local utility company's headquarters building for instance has very tight security, many restricted areas and armed guards to protect from sabotage, terrorism and people pissed off about their electric bills but that doesn't and shouldn't automatically qualify it as a "top secret" destination. There's nothing new or exciting listed at all in this book unless you haven't watched the Military or History Channel or have been without internet access for the past fifteen years. There's absolutely nothing, not one thing like, "the dark brown building downtown by the post office and next to the river, the one with no windows or markings, it's actually a top secret munitions cache and surveillance center". No under your nose type stuff that the book's description implies. Instead you get stuff like what's in the "Florida" chapter of the book. There's only one entry for the entire state of Florida and it's the "Wackenhut Corporation", nothing else period. Most any Florida resident, military, civilian or even a rest stop janitor could and would point you to better places like Eglin AFB, CENTCOM or the military section of the Kennedy Space Center instead of a "rent-a-cop" headquarters.

Buy it used or even better, do a Google, Wikipedia or search any property appraiser's website for any US city for this kind of stuff and you'll get better results. Example, the current Rachel, Nevada (Area 51) official home page (Amazon doesn't allow posting links) tells you there's no gas anymore in Rachel and the next closest station is 60 miles away. Do your own homework and you'll come out ahead, trust me.

And since I totally expect the author to cry foul about this review, maybe even write himself another 5-star review (anyone else notice that?) I challenge him to post the table of contents online and let you, the would be consumer decide.

This book contains good enough information, but for a "field guide" it is surprisingly cumbersome to carry around and leaf through. (A pocket-sized, spiral-bound book would have been a better design choice.) 99% of this info is available online, so next trip I will just create and print my own checklist for a family scavenger hunt.
Also, while the definition of a "Hidden Mickey" can be somewhat subjective, I personally don't think the Mickey imprint on merchandise in a shop should count.

After reading Disneyland's Hidden Mickeys and taking it with us on our vacation to Disneyland I found the guide bood to be very useful in finding hidden Mickey's. If finding hidden Mickeys is what you like to do, I would recommend this book. If you do not want to find hidden Mickeys do not get this book.

Enjoyed the book! Handy to carry in the park and fun to hunt. It gave my family a whole new dimension during our last visit to Disneyland. I appreciated the two sections, an easy section giving away hints--easier to find the Mickeys, and a more difficult section for those who want a challenge.

An inexpensive book that gets to the point. Great first book because there are still so many more undiscovered hidden mickeys and definitely more will be created by Disney's imagineers as the Disney Resort keeps evolving. It's a great beginner's guide to Hidden Mickeys, although half the fun is discovering one on your own. Its small size is great to take along with you while traversing through the resort. Overall, a good buy.

My family have passes to Disneyland and we're there often enough. I have heard about the Hidden Mickeys and have found some on my own. When they had the 50 Mickeys for their anniversary my young sons had a ton of fun looking for and finding them. It's a lot of fun for those of you with young children who love scavenger hunts! It's a way to pass the time while waiting for rides or walking around.
I highly recommend the web site that goes with the book as there are many more that are not listed in the book. But it's a great "beginner" book to the whole Hidden Mickey thing and is great if you're only there for the day.
It's definitely worth picking up!

Plain and simple,..a must-have book. The recipes are well written and clear, the authors stories about their travels through the sub-continent are interesting and lend to their credibility, and they also have fantastic pictures, as well as information as to where to buy some of the more exotic ingredients...this book lacks nothing.

A beautiful book that can be a coffee table book, cookbook, and an adventurous travel read. It has gorgeous colorful pictures with short vignettes about the recipes and people of India. It will transport you to a different world and the cooks will not be disappointed with the unique recipes.

I've had this book for about three months, and have flipped through it many times, but this weekend I finally bought the staple ingredients that many of the recipes needed, and tried out three of them. They all turned out delicious! Don't be put off by strange ingredients, they were all very cheap, and easy to cook with.

I just got this book yesterday and I'm already planning my week's meals based on the recipes! :)
I've made Andhra Style Scrambled Eggs so far and they are DELICIOUS, especially served with plain basmati rice, ghee and pickle.
All the recipes in here sound very interesting. The dal recipes(tok dal and mountain dal) look like they'll turn out great.
Being an Indian, I can certify this book contains authentic recipes that people cook and eat everyday at their homes in India. This is what makes this cookbook different from the other so called Indian cookbooks....the other books just offer a westernized Indian selection while this book focuses on home cooking that is prevalent in India.
The previous reviewer perhaps eats Indian only at restaurants where everything is over spiced and the delicate flavor is lost. I just came back from visiting India and I saw that very less spices and masalas are used in rural Indian homes.
I LOVE this book and will always refer to it when I'm in the mood for some different Indian food...although I cook mostly Indian at home, this book offers a lot of different recipes and variations from various local regions....so much so that I'm sure I'll be proficient in Indian cooking in no time!

UPDATE: These are all the recipes I've tried from their book so far
1) Scrambled Eggs (5 stars)
2) Cachoombar (3 stars)
3) Cauliflower Dum (3 stars)
4) Tamarind Pulao (3 stars)
5) Bangla Dal with a hit of lime (4 stars)
6) Tilapia Green Fish Curry (5 stars)
7) Karnataka Chana (2 stars)
8) Hot Cucumber Salad (2 stars)
9) Fish Bolle Curry (3 stars)
10) Chappatis (3 stars)
11) Prawn White Curry (4 stars)
12) Eggs with curry leaves (4 stars)

The pictures and stories of the travels through the region are fabulous, but if you are looking for good instrutctions and pictures of the recipes, this is not the cookbook you are looking for.

For those of us who are fascinated by the women of the South and the unique lives they lead, Julia Reed's Queen of the Turtle Derby is the ideal book. A senior writer at Vogue and a contributing editor at Newsweek, Reed grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, and still spends half her year in New Orleans. She knows the South, its women and its men, as well as I know the back of my hand. And she isn't shy about telling it like it is.

I laughed on almost every page. At times, I thought I was reading about a foreign country. The manners and mores of the characters are so different than my own. Yet at times, I could imagine myself living there because I love the friendship of women. The women Reed writes about are utterly loyal and devoted to one another, no matter how diverse their personalities or how much they gossip about one another.

Many years ago, I was a guest in the home of a friend from Jackson, Mississippi, for only a week. I was reminded of my time there when I read the notion of the author's columnist friend who says that to successfully adjust to living in the South, just "Don't think you know what is going on." That was a feeling I had frequently during my week with my friend. I was there. I was showered with gracious attention; yet I couldn't help but feel very much the outsider.

Reed reminds us that the rules and regulations in the daily life of every young Southern woman are entrenched traditions which must be followed to the letter of the law. However one might feel about them. For example, "Memphis girls don't wear a lot of black and they wouldn't be caught dead in public without their makeup." At the same time, she tells us that Southern belles are tough as nails and hold every bit of power over their spouses...that all their "softness" (of which they are so proud and go to such lengths to maintain) is little more than a veneer...a veneer to let the fellows feel they are the ones in charge. Talk to any Southern belle, Reed says, and she will tell you it works.

Another fact I read with interest is that the FBI has released statistics which show Southerners to be the most violent people in the country. Apparently, they own the most guns and will shoot one another at the drop of a hat. One example we are given is the stabbing of a husband by his wife on Thanksgiving Day. "They had been fighting over the last piece of turkey, some dark meat, and the victim had made the mistake of taking it."

The author provides many other examples of their trigger happiness, which, henceforth, might make me think twice before disagreeing with anyone from the South. "The South leads the nation in murders of lovers, spouses, and other relatives (though we don't kill our children any more than most people do)," her source assures us. "But really, we'll shoot just about anything." At the same time, Southern women are the most church-going people in the country.

Another fun subject is Southern food. A homecooked dinner might consist of fried catfish, okra, turnip greens, lima beans, green onions, potatoes, cornbread, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob and tea. Not just some of these, but all. Reed also explains which foods "must" be served at funeral receptions--hams, roasts and, of course, tenderloins, not to mention dozens of casseroles topped with crushed Ritz crackers, crushed potato chips or canned Durkee's fried onions." She is appalled when families resort to Chinese takeout or deli sandwich platters on plastic trays. I doubt that my daughter, who insists that her children eat only organic and wouldn't dare touch anything resembling a potato chip or anything out of a can, would last even a day in that part of the country.

Then there is the matter of drinking. Reed once asked a friend why he thought Southerners drink so much. "Because we lost the War," he said. But the author insists that Southerners drink less than the national average, and she points out that their rate of suicides and mental illness are lower. Though she readily admits that the definition of mental illness in the South is given a great deal more lattitude than in the North.

These are only a few examples of this author's heartfelt appreciation of what makes her countrymen/women different from the rest of us. Indeed, they have their own special genre of unconventional behavior--a love of food and partying, a zest and passion for life that is as endearing as it is often "over the top." I suspect that if I lived in the South, I would be watching from the sidelines with great pleasure.

by Duffie Bart
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

By now, is there anyone alive who doesn't know Southern men like their guns, while their women like big hair and wear lots of makeup? Judging by this mundane ( the nth Scarlett O'Hara deconstruction), repetitious collection of vignettes (see the German model story), there is truly nothing new under the southern sun. The recipes ( except for the frozen tomato - and who would really serve that?) are familiar. Sure, it is a comfort to know that in the South losing one's mind isn't all that big a deal. It also helps to have housemen, plus maids and cooks to fry up all that great chicken, raise up the kids and allow that steel magnolia (what else?) grandma to keep looking so immaculate while doing years of exhaustive note-taking at the "closed" Belle Meade Country Club - and Julia and friends attend a "racist" boarding school.

We know there really are wonderful cooks and writers to experience in the female South. For fun and style in writing, Florence King was there first. Her books are much more satisfying.

Well, having recently finished Celia Rivenbark's 'We're Just Like You Only Prettier', which was very amusing, I figured this book would be similar to that one. The reviews said it was very humorous, and entertaining. I'm sorry, but I do not agree. Julia Reed is a Vogue writer living in New York City, but she's from Mississippi. Now, I felt that at times when describing the silly ways of the southern women's traditions, it was almost like she was making fun of them. But then when she would bash the Yankees (which I happen to be, and am darn proud of it) she was all for her southern heritage.

I love southern books, and I've always had this fascination with the south. I truly hope one day to live there when my husband retires. I have always admired southern women, their traditions, their tight family bonds, and the land itself. Ms. Reed made these women sound ditsy, and shallow, while making us Yankees sound like ignorant, clueless slobs. And she made the area (the south) sound like pure hell to live in.

I gave this 2 stars because there were some interesting facts in it, and some of the events that go on down there were really neat to learn about, and all the food she talked about, sounds delicious! But overall I'd just like to forget this book. It has in no way changed my opinion of southern men and women, or the south itself, and I can only hope they don't look at the Yankees the same way Julia Reed does. If you're looking for a funny book on the 'ways of the south', pick up Ms. Rivenbarks book, that one won't disappoint.

There's plenty of laugh-out-loud fodder in this little book of short essays. Nothing is quite as funny as the human condition, observed and considered. At this, the author excells.

What astonished me was that I turned the last page of the book with the realization that race seemed to be completely omitted from the narrative, except where one could infer the presence of a non-white in the kitchen or as a maid. For a book of the 21st century, this is beyond startling to me. A subtitle of "Other (White) Southern Phenomena" might have been more on point.

Consider some of the topics. I know that debutantes, for instance, are not only white girls, but the writing about debs and their parties and their season is about a particular kind of girl whose lineage goes back to before -- well, you know. Think about the ubiquity of queens in places like Mississippi and Alabama and the picture that will come to your mind is not one of diversity. If the author's country club experience includes a racially integrated membership, this certainly would have happened not only in her lifetime, but probably since she has become an adult. But there's no mention of that reality, only of a particular kind of food available to those privileged few -- though I suppose that the included recipes purport to allow us to elevate our experience.

The essay about Scarlett O'Hara goes some distance toward explaining what it is so many white women find so endearing about Scarlett: her pluck, her determination, her sauciness. It overlooks entirely that Scarlett, even in Margaret Mitchell's rarified imagination, did not save herself without a "mammy". I don't get Gone With the Wind and probably never will. What I got from the essay was a point of view blessedly or infuriatingly disconnected from decades of social criticism.

The adage that people who like this sort of thing will probably like this seems quite apt. If you are interested in a funny, fairly unnuanced view of the upper-middle class white experience of a Southern woman born in 1960, here's your book.

Wow, where do I start? I read this book in one sitting and laughed and cried while I was at it. Being from Arkansas myself, I cannot tell you how many times I have heard, "What would people think?" It was a mantra in my household, particularly when I was trying to do something as outrageous as leaving the house without lipstick. I turned about every other page over to show my husband later, so he would understand me better!

I felt Ms. Reed presented both sides of the South well... the backward (and oft times embarrassing) ways, and the strong traditions and attitudes that make a real (positive) difference in a person's life. I bought it for my mom and her three sisters, as I knew they would laugh as hard as I did at how she nailed so many aspects of Southerners. I've also given this book to several young women, as I think it portrays the strength of Southern women. Ms. Reed finally gave me a way of explaining to blue-state Northerners (where I live now) why I'm so proud of being Southern.

I have lived in CA all my life and this book helps me find new great things! I highly recommend this book for those who love to find the best things about our great state.

I also purchased Frommer's San Francisco 2008 and I tend to have similar tastes with those authors. Since the San Francisco excerpt of this California guide was written by those authors, I highly recommend that section. However, my tastes greatly diverged from those of the author/authors of the Monterey and Carmel-By-the-Sea sections of the book. Their reviews of attractions and restaurants did not lead me to fun excursions or delicious meals.

I was born and raised in California and live here with my 2 school-age kids. I bought this book for ideas for summer day trips and longer weekend excursions. Somewhat favors Northern California in its thoroughness, and it does cover No. Calif. very well. Good coverage of Los Angeles and surrounding area, with a lot of good notes on places a little more off the beaten path, as well as the "must-sees". Orange County is completely glossed-over -- as if it consisted solely of Disneyland and the beach, with trite references to out-dated stereotypes. Coverage of San Diego and the So. Calif. Desert are covered, but definitely not with the same level of attention devoted to No. Calif. areas. Still a good overview of the state, but if your trip is solely within Southern California, this probably isn't the book for you.

I needed to plan a 3-day visit to the San Francisco area, and this book proved to be perfect for that. Far better than random information available on the web. I chose a wonderful small hotel from the book and loved it. Also chose restaraunts, grand and small, with excellent results. Chose a variety of sites to visit as a tourist from the book's descriptions. Also charted a 1-day trip through Sonoma valley from the guide, ending up at the Point Reyes Pacific coast and beautiful views. The book also provides site addresses (wineries, for example) useful for tapping into the GPS navigator in the rent car. Too large to carry on a walking trip, but otherwise absolutely a perfect guide for my needs.

Totally freaky and as far as I know, 100% true. The book opens with case after case of Satanism, portals to Hell, etc. After you pass this "test" then the authors and contributors let you onto some really cool and unbelievable stuff, like, who really has Royal claim to the North American continent. Ha!

This is a great book if you plan to travel. It shows all the great places to stop at.

If you buy this planning to go on a wierd US tour, you'll be disappointed, because the directions to each place aren't very well documented. If you want to visit any of these weird attractions, plan to make copious use of the Internet to search out better directions so that you don't get lost on the way.

The layout of this book is gorgeous, and while it may not be worth the original B&N price, the Amazon marketplace price makes it a steal. The pictures are just fabulous. I love the personal narrations by different authors, but some other reviewers have noted mistakes, so they need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Apparently, I must be somewhat weird, because this last Christmas, I was given four copies of this book by four different people. (And then, coincidentally, three of my friends got this book for their birthdays....)
This book is loaded with weird facts, legends, lore, people, photographs, ghost stories, haunted places, supernatural figures, terrifying ruins and tunnels and forests and abandoned buildings, tall tales, odd museums, and answerless mysteries.
I've travelled a lot around America, and I've come across a lot of strangeness that's not in this book--I always ask people, "What's the strangest thing you've ever seen?"--but what it is here is entertaining and unique, if occasionally doubtful. The book deals more with the East than with the West, and as a result of that a lot of cool stuff is never even mentioned that could be. There's only one or two items from New Mexico, and nothing at all on skinwalkers--the creepiest lore there is.
Some parts of the book are actually frightening though--like phantom clowns!--and would be even scarier if read during an actual visit to these places.
I recommend this book highly--it's very readable, though I wish it had maps or directions to the places it describes--and I will probably buy any sequels.

This is the kind of going down a deserted road and then-AHHH!! reading, not Hollywood, this is what we have all experienced at one time or another.It will keep you up reading it all night,but maybe not on Halloween? Must have all the other books in this series, a must read!!