Travel Books

This is an excellent and informative book. I was however quite surprised that Checchino, which I believe has 1 Michelin star and is possibly the best known restaurant in Rome, doesn't rate a mention, especially as it certainly fits the Slow Food motives.

This book was an invaluable resource. Perfect for those who cherish great meals and good wine. We toured Italy from Lake Como to Verona, Venice to Florence and Bologna. In each city we made a point to eat at a site mentioned in this book. Every meal was unbelievable !!! We would love to see more Slow Food guides for other cities around the world.

We brought this book prior to an '07 three week trip to Northern Italy. It is based on the 'Slow Food' movement now going on in Italy. We purchased a number of other books to supplement this one. This book is excellent for people who want to "go" the way the Italian do, i.e., good food (a must for them)at a reasonable cost and small hotels/B & B types without all the hype. We are now using it again for a late '08 trip back to Northern Italy. As a side point - there are also Slow Food shops in Italy where you can purchase quick meals or food items to take away - all of the highest quality and fair price. Remember this "Slow Food" movement was started by Italians for their own people - the main idea was for top quality food and reasonable accomodation at a fair price and they have achieved it. Remember to look for the "Golden Snail"

An essential handbook for anyone with dreams of eating their way around Italy. The descriptions evoke strong images of romantic nooks with sumptuous offerings - all supporting the Slow Food philosophies of local quality ingredients prepared by passionate gastronomes. Included are accommodation options covering 3-star hotels to intimate farm stays. I won't travel to Italy without it.

I almost hate to recommend this book since the Italian language editions have been sort of our secret for many years. Now anyone can find these wonderful places to enjoy authentic regional foods and wines in the REAL Italy! We've been to many, many of these places over the years and the descriptions of them are spot-on so I'm confident that the places we have yet to enjoy will be equally as good. Be patient though, just because the book is in English does NOT mean the folks at these wonderful eateries speak the language. The glossary helps a lot in this regard.

So you live in Southern California and want to take your dog for a good walk in the out of doors. Where do you go? This is a problem that came up for me when my relatives from out of state visited and naively assumed they could take a dog pretty much anywhere. There are so many restrictions on dogs in this state that it can be downright daunting to take your four legged friend on vacation with you. Happily, you can find dozens of wonderful hikes in Allen Reidel's new book. You and your pooch are more than welcome on all of them.

Not surprisingly, this book does list some of the "dog beaches" where you can actually walk with your pet (unlike the remaining 99% of the coast), but the thrust of this book describes the many wonderful hikes open to your dog in the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests. The multiple use policy of the forest service is much more open to pets than the other major state and national land agencies. And in Southern California, national forests offer some of the premier outdoor recreation in the state. Reidel includes some classic hikes in these areas: Knapp's Cabin, Mt. Baden Powell, and the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area are just some of the popular trailheads he describes. However, hikers will also find some remote and spectacular hikes to share with their dogs that are rarely mentioned in other guidebooks. Black Mountain, Cleghorn Mountain, and Kitchen Peak are some of my favorite trails. You can easily find yourself enjoying solitude on these trails even on weekends.

In all, this is an excellent book. I do have a few concerns however. In a few cases, I think mileages are too short. Also, Reidel suggests you should not walk your dog in areas with bighorn sheep. He then lists two trails (Baden-Powell and Toro Peak) where bighorn frequent. I'm not sure I understand that. But what I really don't understand are the policies that make a book like this necessary at all. Unfortunately, national parks and California State Parks have adopted an anti-dog (really anti-people) attitude about recreation. Their rationale is that dogs disrupt the "natural" wildlife in an area. And this is simply untrue. Dogs (wild and domesticated) have been around for thousands of years and they are a part of the environment. If anything, it is "unnatural" for dogs not to be in the wild. So, as you use this book to find wonderful adventures for you and your pet, consider a little political activism on behalf of "man's (and woman's) best friend." Maybe this state will eventually adopt a more enlightened policy and future editions of this book could simply be titled "Best Hikes in Southern California."

Fantastic account of an Englishman's desire to be Irish. Hilarious.
The account link's historical fact with whimsy and is soul searching at the same time. It captures the essence of the Irish Pub.

The delivery and price were fine, but the pages in the middle of the book are all scrambled up and I had no patience to deal with it.

It took me a while to finish this book, not because I didn't enjoy, to the contrary, I wanted to make it last as long as possible, so I rationed out 10 or so pages a day and would get my fill of laughs and insight into traveling in modern Ireland.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - Mr. McCarthy's humor and insight into the factors and foibles of humans had me laughing through each chapter. Bravo!

After reading the negative reviews of this book (and there aren't many), I wonder two things: did those reviewers read the same thing that I did and, if so, do they have any appreciation for good writing?! McCarthy's book is excellent, and his sharp wit and superb sense of humor come across brilliantly throughout the pages. On my first visit to Ireland in December 2006, I stopped by several of the places that he describes, including Abeystrowry, Dursey Head, and MacCarthy's bar. They were made all the more special by knowing that I was trodding in Pete's footsteps. His book is well worth the time and money you'll spend, and you may find yourself reading it again and again (as I have). Ignore the negative reviews (there will always be boorish morons in the world), and treat yourself to a fantastic read!

My 21 month olds enjoy pointing at the various animals and objects on each page. Later on, I'm quite sure they will be more interested in the names of the different places in Chicago. Good book to add to your collection.

While the book isn't as good as Good Night Moon, it is a good representation of Chicago and a fun way for little kids to learn about the city.

La Linea has opened my eyes to the hardships and horrific sacrifices that emmigrants must go through to escape destitution when they cross the borders of the United States. The Mexican people come to America full of hopes and dreams - hopes and dreams that we as Americans often take for granted. This story has truly inspired me to be more compassionate for the emmigrants that I meet in this country, especially the children that I work with in my school. I highly recommend this book.

This was a great story and one adults should read also. Comparing it with adult books I normally read, I would give it 4 1/2 stars.

I have family members that have expierienced this adventure of "crossing the wire". It is not only hard but its also sad, sad because not only are you suffering but you see other people suffer and that ther can get really tough. This book goes in detaial what one person, Victore Flores had to do to cross. Now if whatever happend to him in the story affects you in any way, just think about all the people that are crossing just to see how it is like here, or even to get money for their family. I think they deserve a little simpathy. Overall this book is a great book to read, you'll get addicted i guarantee it.

As an author, I was freaking out about how timely this book was, given all the talk of illegal immigration, etc. Then I read it, and was even more impressed. This is a terrific book, far more interesting than a lot of news stories I've read on the topic, from a master of the genre. I fear it won't get the attention it deserves, solely because it's a YA book.

Once again Will Hobbs has put together a boy's story that leads the reader not only on an adventure but also gives insight into ways of life in which most of us are unfimiliar. Overwhelmed in the knowledge that his mother and little brother will soon end up living on the streets the young lad of Crossing Jordan decides that he must sneak across the American border where there is hope he can make enough money to send home. The adventure is the telling of all the efforts, and failures, the boy must go through to accomplish such a feat.

Mr Hobbs presents a compelling drama that will help young readers understand why so many young Mexican men and boys are willing the risk everything for a better life. Without being preachy he helps the reader understand how some American policies actually force many Mexican farmers into poverty. He presents the risks these people must take. He exposes the corruption of those who offer these poor people a way across the border. Then, when one might expect American border guards to be presented as evil, Mr Hobbs gives us characters who are understanding, yet do a job that they are hired to perform.

Please read this book. Or if you have teenage children, or younger even, have them read it. Not for the sake of taking sides on the immigration issue. But to understand it. To see that there are two sides that need to be seen. CROSSING THE WIRE is one of those books that you read, put it away and figure you'll probably not open it again. BUT, after time it begins to grow on you. You want to read it again.

We purchased this book for our 20 month old son and he loves it! He picks it out over and over again! Great book!

This book provides great pictures and a fun way to share a special city with my daughter. Some of the text is a bit silly, but overall I have enjoyed this book along with several others in the series.

The Good Night... series are good books for young kids to read or to have read to them. It includes basic words and gets the kids interested in different travel locations.

This travel book was great when traveling throughout Portugal. Had lots of information on what to do and see. The pictures are great.

With too many pictures and graphics, and too little text, this guide wasn't much of a help when I visited the Algarve. For the Porto region it was better, although some more text would have been nice.

With history, culture, regions outlined in this book, this is the way I want to see a new country

This book looks impressive, but when I tried to get down to details of actually traveling in Portugal, they just weren't there.

The maps are such high level they are worthless for actual navigation. There is no information on where to find the train stations, bus stations. The information about hotels and restaurants are laughable. In Oporto, the book says you can take river trips upstream, but gives no information about where they originate or where to find the boats.

I suppose this book might be useful if you just like to look at pictures, and your travels are all organized by a tour bus operator.

The old standby, Lonely Planet, is a much better choice.

I have just returned from a 10 day trip to Portugal during which this travel guide was a valuable companion. The layout of the book is easy to use and it is chocked full of extra information on wine regions, the making of port, cork and regional food. While I did not use the guide to select hotels, it was great for information at the various stops. Highly recommended!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher when I was teaching a university course on cartography. The textbook for the semester had already been selected, so I used this book originally as a second resource while preparing lectures. By the end of the semester, I found myself using this book as the primary source for topics and explanations and suggested it be used in future semesters.

This book explains concepts such as projections and coordinate systems in ways that are easy to understand, particularly for new students. The explanations are thorough without bogging down in details. The figures are large, many take up a full page. They are helpful, relevant, and excellently reproduced. The chapters on terrain representation, contours, and topographic features are exceptionally good (there are almost 40 examples of terrain representation) The remote sensing and GIS chapters are brief and introductory, but those are topics best left for other books.

I was a little skeptical when I first saw this book, since it appeared to be a somewhat thin, and we were using Robinson's book, which is basically a standard. But, I would recommend this to any map student, teacher, or user. It packs a lot of information in its pages. I still use it as a reference (...).

When you've been working in a field for 30 years it's really difficult to drag yourself backwards and review data you already know, so when I signed up for a GPS (Global Positioning Sattelite) software course I looked at "Map Use & Analysis" by John Campbell as something I could just skip over, but since it was required reading I finally got it out. I was really pleased with the depth of material and the extremely clear explanations of all those mystifying cartography words. Anyone who has no idea about mapping or is a begining student will be able to use this book. The format is excellent with terms higligted and the index and dictionary are well coordinated. I feel that this book is such an excellent reference that I am buying a copy for myself. The only negative thing I have to say is that the illustrations, which are plentiful seem to wander several pages ahead of text, but they are carefully numbered and correspond exactly to the descriptions. Well done! Les L. Johnson

If I were stuck on a deserted Island like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, and I could only have one book, it would be this one. It would help me to get off the island and determine my global positioning! Lots of help.