2 comments about Knopf Guide: Italy (Knopf Guides Italy).

1. You picked up a few travel books while planning that trip several months out-and this one was among them for its beautiful color photographs on every page, but it is chocked full of itineraries and info. Three months later, boning up on the real things you need to know-in order to keep up at dinner with your host in Milan, or not embarrass yourself by steering your travel companion in the wrong direction-this veteran traveler was THRILLED to find the complete history of Italy in the first few pages, the customs, art appreciation, and reminders of treasures found on previous trips. If you can only have one guide book, this is it. It can also double as your souvenir.



2. I can't say enough about this book or reccomend it enought to my friends traveling abroad. It is a very extensive guide book in a very compact size. It has very indepth information from the evolution of the physical city to the natural flora and fauna! It covers a wide variety of art and architecture along with all the tourist hot spots. This beats Eyewitness guide hands down! I still treasure my Rome guide from my travel over there years ago.

1 comments about Hot Sun, Cool Shadow: Savoring the Food, History, and Mystery of the Languedoc.

1. Essential reading for anyone planning a trip to the Languedoc. Part guidebook, part history, part culinary journey, part cookbook, it's also the story of a couple who actually did what many of us dream of doing: finding a second home somewhere warmer, sunnier and more relaxed, with, in this case, better food.
   Angie Murrills is a vivid writer with a keen eye, a warm heart and an insatiable appetite for food and food history. Each chapter ties a food - cassoulet, confit, anchovies, cheese - with a Languedoc town or region, illustrated with small, charming ink drawings by Peter Matthews.
   I dare you to read this and not start planning a lazy trip boat trip down the Midi Canal, or a trip to the Camargue, to see a bloodless bull fight in Stes. Maries de la Mer.

5 comments about A Month of Sundays: Villa Life in the South of France.

1. "A Month of Sundays"is a joyous, witty and humorous read about the adventures of a busy American couple who spend four weeks each year in their "dream villa" in the South of France--sharing in what the French call "Farniente "--better known as "studying the inside of your eyelids". Each chapter is accompanied by by charming sketches which help tell the story. If you have been to the South of France --you will know that the Spectors are right on the "mark" or should I say "franc"--if you have never been there --the book will transport you --via your armchair-- to share in the wonderous adventures and misadventures of Americans on French turf. I liked this book so much, I gave copies to a number my friends and relatives who are now trying to "study the inside of their eyelids" to learn the Spector way to peace, tranquility and bliss.



2. Thanks for a delightful visit to the South of France...I`ve always wanted to go there...so glad that I did not have to pack. It`s easy to imagine this book as a comedic movie. I chuckled and smiled all the while reading this witty account of a American couple discovering Southern France. Hopefully looking forward to more adventures with this husband-wife writing team ...perhaps Italy next time.



3. Although I am only up to page 78 of this book, I felt compelled to share with any potential readers what a joy this is! So far I have laughed out loud, sighed in envy (it has always been my dream to relocate permanantly to the South of France) and eagerly savored each page. Peter Mayle first whet my appetite for happy tales from Provence, but Ira and Barbara Spector solidified my dream. One of the reviewers on the back of the copy said it all "Absolutely Charming From the Get-Go!" This is a Keeper! I'll recommend it to all my friends, but they have to buy their own copy!



4. Book was as described and in perfect condition - buy with confidence from this seller.



5. Having bought this book on the strength of the reviews on this page, I feel compelled to give another point of view. This book just proves that anyone can write and publish a book. It was insipid, self-absorbed and very simply written. At the same time I also bought Susie Kelly's "A Perfect Circle" which is a real gem. She is actually interested in the places she goes to and the people she meets.

2 comments about Let's Go 2008 Spain & Portugal (Let's Go Spain and Portugal).

1. This book is packed full of information. It's also large. However, the maps it provides are both truncated and not in color. The layout of the articles on each city are not as well formatted and readable as other guide books. The "Rough Guide to Spain" is by far a better buy.



2. Very disappointing. Let's go team has been sitting on their laurels. They don't even bother to check if the information they publish is still valid year after year. I was in Seville in 2008 and the book mentions a campsite near the airport, well according to the gypsies who took over the site, the campsite has been closed for more than three years. How come the information hasn't been revised. Let's go team is asleep at the switch. There are many many errors and inaccuracies, don't buy !!!

1 comments about Connemara: Listening to the Wind (Connemara Trilogy 1).

1. From botanical treasure troves to pre-historical geology lessons, then onto oral history, social history and biography; this book of Robinson's ranges as widely and wildly as he does around Connemara, its past, present and future. This book is packed extraordinarily with facts, historical references and anecdotes woven together very deftly. Gladly it also includes an index and its sources are well referenced. This artfulness is possibly due to the author having such a wide range of interests and understanding that he is able to bring together and focus carefully and sharply on the area he now calls 'home'.
   
   There are wonderful diversions that provide their own intriguing association with the history of this part of Ireland. For example references to the Braun-Blanquet system of classifying plant communities and the "skirmish in the centuries-old philosophy wars between anglophone empiricism and continental metaphysics" (p233) and to Richard Berridge (an absentee landlord in Connemara) whose will included the princely sum of £46,000 in 1887 that went to the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine (flourishing still today) and £4,000 to The National Health Society to "collect and diffuse sanitary knowledge, and all other knowledge bearing on the physical and moral welfare of all classes of society;" (p352).
   
   For those that like a meandering tale teller, who packs his stories densely with research references and refrains from overwhelming you with their experience or perspective, these are stories to slowly but surely, work your way through. Robinson draws the reader along in a way that perhaps he also wends his way through the landscape he has settled in. In sharing his thoughts, learnings, the anecdotes of others and his passion for mapping, the writing is easy (in that the reader doesn't labour with it) and the reader is gently drawn into his learning and learnedness. In describing the effect of scientific mapping and investigation Robinson rather uncannily reflects his own approach to his storytelling of Connemara and its past:
   
   "The patient eyes of science disentangle the chaos of phenomena, naming, classifying, hypothesizing causal connections, reconstituting it as a highly individuated organic whole, fragile but adaptive, simultaneously rivalrous and convivial. Some may feel that this intellectual process distances one from reality, or reduces it, drives the spirit out of it, frightens the cuckoo out of the wood. But I have always found it a form of awareness, an introduction to wonder." (p383)

4 comments about Great Monasteries of Europe.

1. Lots of beautiful and new photos of old cloisters: consisting in good panaromic views and details. Well presented with a brief history of Europe and brief theological explantions of monastic life. Descriptions are simple and short enough for the off-hand reader. The book is huge and heavy; more for desk reading rather than in bed.But it served my purpose of historico-monastic information blended with architectural purposes.



2. The book has lots of good pictures. Excellent presentation and selection (altough I would exclude some minor monasteries and include others, like Mafra, Montserrat and Guadalupe). The only complaint I have is in regards of the short explanations of some monasteries.



3. This book is not only an informative and carefully researched volume, but is also a fine addition to the coffee table. Each monastery is photographed either as a general view or some wonderful detail area is chosen and shown in its beauty. Not only a collection of handsome photos, the book contains thoughfully written descriptions and stories of the monasteries- to the point, yet interesing.



4. This is the best art book I have bought in a long time. The photographs are superb, perfectly framed and perfectly lit; and the monasteries, especially the mediaeval monasteries of the Iberian peninsula, and those of the baroque period, are absolutely breathtaking. Everything in color and full page - large, large pages! The only regret is that it leaves you wanting many more images of each monastery, but with the size of the book, this would have required six volumes. That being the case, I would buy each and every volume if it maintained this visual standard. The text was informative, although again necessarily limited given the scope of the work. A wonderful, wonderful book.

1 comments about London Then and Now (Then & Now).

1. This book contains some beautiful illustrations of London, together with much interesting information. The "then" photos seem to date mostly from 80-150 years ago. I learned several things from the commentaries, even though I lived in or near London for many years, and made every effort to learn about the city! However, the choice of subject for many of the comparisons seems less than ideal. Surely, in a "Then and Now" book, we want to see how much things have changed over the years, don't we? Hence, we don't really need to see locations where the comparative photos prove that very little has changed! For example, do we really need to see "then and now" pictures of Westminster Abbey, just to confirm that it really has NOT changed perceptibly during the past hundred years or so? I don't think so. In a world-class city where so much has changed, via either redevelopment or wanton destruction, there are many fascinating locations that should have been afforded priority in such a book, but which are omitted altogether. Examples: the South Kensington Imperial Institute/Imperial College site (actually mentioned in the book's Introduction), Holland Park House, etc. I can only imagine that the author was forced to draw on a limited stock of "then" photographic material.

5 comments about Betsy and the Great World (Betsy-Tacy).

1. I have read "Betsy and the Great World" so often that I know much of it by heart. When I travelled to Italy this spring, and stepped into St. Mark's Square, I could hear the Harvard Man yelling at Betsy's "tourist trick" with the pigeons. And when I went on a gondola ride, Betsy and her Marco were in the gondola that floated by on the other side of the Grand Canal. Any author who can make her characters live so completely deserves to be read. It takes a very special young woman to understand the pleasures of a simple life well-lived, but for her, this series will provide richness and memories to last a lifetime.



2. I'm kinda getting too old for this series, but I can't stay away from it. I'm a sucker for history.



3. I was a bit disappointed when I opened this book up, and read the first sentence. I didn't think it was right of Mrs. Lovelace to just skip college, to think we missed it! So, I had to imagine college and Bob, and the relationship between Betsy and Joe.
   Not only do you miss out on what happens in college, but it's somewhat odd to be going from high-school Betsy, to grown woman. I kept on wondering why there wasn't at least one book made about Betsy going to college.
   Although I said this, I would still suggest reading this book, it's a great book, and Betsy doesn't change too much. But through the whole book I felt weird. It didn't matter how many friends and 'crowds' Betsy made, or how many admirers she gained. The original crowd just wasn't there.
   But don't worry, Betsy is still pretty much the same, she makes friends, and there is quite a bit of romance in the book.



4. Wonderful way for children and teens to learn about the life of children and teens in the early 1900s. I fully recommend it!



5. This is the eighth book in the Betsy-Tacy series, which follows Betsy Ray from kindergarten to marriage at the turn of the 20th century. Betsy, now in her early twenties with two years of college behind her, finally realizes her dream of traveling through Europe. The story unfolds in four main acts/settings: the voyage across the Atlantic, study and friendship in Munich, romance in Venice, and the inauguration of war in London. Artfully and intimately told, the story is also rich with cultural details that I appreciate more now than I did reading this book as a child: Betsy's excitement about gaining weight, her careful circumspection with regard to proper ladylike behavior, her sweet and chaste romances - all of this combined with a zest for life and an indefatigably adventuresome spirit.

No comments about Europe by Eurail 2009: Touring Europe by Train (Europe By Eurail).

1 comments about Let's Go Ireland 13th Edition (Let's Go Ireland).

1. This book is amazing and unlike any other travel book I've seen. It is geared toward students and young independent travelers and those who really want to get immersed in the culture of the country/area they are traveling to. It focuses on doing things cheaply (but safely) so that you can still have an amazing trip regardless of your budget. This adds to the books overall goal because staying in hostels and B&Bs will allow you to meet more people and learn more about the country you are in. One thing I really like about this book is that it tells you what you absolutely must do/try based on how long you will be in the country, so even if it is a short trip, you can maximize your time there. It also gives you tips on packing, airline tickets, public transportation of the area, advice on car rentals, information on currency and the safest ways to keep your money, and other features standard of any travel book. And at least for this book, it gives you some basic tips on how to fit in with the culture (tipping is condescending, don't make this hand gesture, don't call a money-belt a fanny-pack, etc.) and it gives you some common Irish phrases and how to pronounce them so you can really impress the locals.
   
   This book probably isn't the best choice, however, for older, wealthier individuals who don't need to worry about a budget on their trip and/or can afford a travel agent to set them up in nice hotels and guided tours. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It's just that most of the fun and usefulness of this book is in planning a budget trip by yourself in such a way that, by the time you leave, you take a piece of Ireland with you.