No comments about National Geographic, Trails Illustrated, Haleakala National Park: Hawaii, USA (Trails Illustrated - Topo Maps USA).

No comments about Sailing in the Wake of the Ancestors: Reviving Polynesian Voyaging (Legacy of Excellence).

No comments about Zagat Hawaii Guide.

No comments about Lei Aloha: Flower Lei of Hawaii.

No comments about Hawaii at Play.

1 comments about Oahu Hikes: The Best Hikes and Walks on the Island (Lone Pine Guide).

1. I have just come back from Hawaii and used Oahu Hikes as my primary source for hiking around Oahu. I found it bit ironic that the author is from British Columbia while I am from Alaska, writing this review about a hiking book on Oahu!
   
   There are several good things about this book that I liked. I found the writing easy to read, the book comes with many nice colorful photographs, great looking hiking maps blown up so we can see better and they are all on contour maps. The book is well organized and I found it easy to find the trails I like to do. The author also does a pretty decent job telling the reader how to get to the trail heads although some of her directions is slightly outdated. On this, I don't blamed the author as traffic environment on Oahu is an ever changing evolution. The author also included some side information on Hawaiian history, plants and other assorted facts connected to the trails that I found interesting.
   
   As good as all that sounds, I also found many troubling elements about this book that resulted in my two star rating. For one, the book really doesn't tell you anything about the trail, the steepness of the hike, what kind of trail profile to expect or the general nature of the hike. The author's rating system is so subjective, it relatively meaningless. What may be easy to her may be terribly hard for others and vis versa. Some of the trails listed can be outright dangerous when it wet or muddy while others may not. The book tells you how to complete the hike but nothing more.
   
   Many of the information given about the trails are badly outdated for a book that came out in September of 2007. Good examples can be found where the author stated that flashlights may be needed in the dark places like the spiral staircase along Diamond Head trail hike as you hiked into the military bunker complex. Anyone who done this hike during the past couple of years knows that Hawaii State Park puts lights into these dark places (tunnels and staircases) and nobody,,,nobody uses or bring flashlights to this hike anymore. I done this hike over 50 times during the past 4 years and I have never seen anyone uses or bringing a flashlight unless they came before dawn to see the sunrise. Even then, the lights were working inside and the flashlights were for the outside. The lights came on line in 2004!! (It probably don't help that the section where Diamond Head hike is described, there is a very nice photo of a great view - from Makapu'u Point. Obviously a wrong photo inserted there.) Another outdated fact lies in another popular tourist hike, trail to Makapu'u Lighthouse. Here the book tells you that you have to park along the highway to get to the trail Another sheer silliness since there is a nice large parking lot off the highway next to the trail-head. I first notice this during my visit in March of 2006! There are many more like this throughout the book but obviously, it is questionable when or if the author ever hiked these trails recently. (Recently would be within the past two years of the publication date.)
   
   Some of the mileages given also appears to be very questionable. Prime example is the Kaunala Loop Trail where she gave a "3 miles" of total hiking while most of the other Oahu hiking books gave it close to 4 to 5 miles of total hiking. Why is this? I figured out that the author only counted the loop itself and nothing more. While this may work if the author only wrote about the loop, her section on this trail have her starting out at the parking area next to the Boy Scout camp where you have to walk around or over two gates to get on a four wheel drive road that will take you to the loop. That is still a good amount of walking before you get to the loop. All other books counts those distance as part of the hike but this author does not even although she start her description from the parking lot. This is misleading as I was led to believed that the entire hike from the parking area and back was "3 miles" as stated when it was more closer to five miles. This type of misinformation is not very helpful to anyone.
   
   I also thought it was funny that the author in her section on Kaena Point trail (south), she did not mentioned the erosion of the trail that have totally eaten away the entire section. That part of the trail could still be crossed during the recent years but with certain amount of care. Now, in my recent visit (two weeks ago to this writing), additional part of that erosion have been lost and locals been hiking over and around it that part, creating a goat trail. (This is not the sea cave part that the author described in the book.)
   
   Overall, it is hard to recommend this book to anyone looking for a good hiking book on Oahu. My basis for this is clear, I am not really sure if the author actually hiked these trails and if so, when. Her information is often outdated (for Sept 2007 book) but also inaccurate and misleading. There are several good books out there that may not be as colorful as this one but it probably is more accurate and describes the trails in greater details.
   
   (In fairness though, I do admit that her information on Manoa Falls and Maunawili Falls trails appears to be accurate enough.)

No comments about Xavier and the Laughing Xoxos (AlphaPets).

4 comments about Street Names & Picayune Histories of New Orleans.

1. This small book offers both the tourist and historian insights on little known facts about the origin of street names for the tour of historic New Orleans. It is written with humor and history. Excellent for one's first or tenth trip to this wonderful city. Map of the old city is helpful.



2. Mardi Grais takes on new meaning when you know the history and importance of the places and people of old New Orleans. This pocket size handy guide helps one come away with a sense of the importance of this place in our American history.



3. Every visitor going to New Orleans should take this book along. There is a quick, easy to read history of the city filled with many pictures of important people, flags flown over New Orleans and a map. There is a lot of information put into this small book. I found that it added a lot to read it just before we visited New Orleans.



4. At $7, this is a rip. For just $5 more, you can get the excellent Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children: And Other Streets of New Orleans that will tell you the story of the city and its nomenclature since the Choctaws were first annoyed by the French. I am terribly disappointed in this purchase and will likely return it. Anyone who knows the city will see this slim offering as a tourist bauble.

1 comments about Tropical Family Vacations: in the Caribbean, Hawaii, South Florida, and Mexico.

1. Tropical Family Vacations gives a nice introduction to family travel in Florida, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Mexico. For each island or place, the author provides an overview with a description, visitor information, language and currency. All the listings--resorts and attractions--are oriented toward families. I was pleased to find both 800 numbers and web addresses. The descriptions are writtenin a pretty objective fashion. Expect description rather than evaluation. If you (and your kids!) know you want a warm vacation, but don't know where to go, this is a good first step in planning.

1 comments about Hawaii by Bike: 20 Tours Geared for Discovery (By Bike).

1. Slavinski's books describe bicycle touring in a way that most closely approximates my own rhythm and pace of cycling. The experienced cycle tourist will know what I mean. I recommend newcomers who want a book to try one of Slavinski's, as well as books by other cyclists. Perhaps you'll discover a writer who "speaks" to you. If not, then you may end up writing your own. Or you may become a truly independent rider--no books, *no* maps. Try it!