1 comments about A Photographers Life with Disneyland Under Construction.

1. A great record of this amazing place - will buy the others

1 comments about Greenopia: The Urban Dweller's Guide to Green Living Los Angeles (Greenopia series).

1. I have been wishing for a book like this to come along. It is extremely helpful in allowing me to live the way I want to live (ethically and organic) without having to call each business and ask. They have a handy rating system, too, that tells you just how "organic" each business is. That way you can decide if you want just 50% organic or 100%. I've already used it twice and found a great restaurant near my house.

3 comments about Architecture Tours L.A. Guidebook: Silver Lake.

1. These are great guides to view all the architectural gems in my neighborhood and surrounding areas. Highly recommended for locals or people who visit Los Angeles often. You wouldn't think there are so many historical houses and buildings to see in this town, but Laura Massino Smith has compiled them into these handy books with great photos as well.



2. A lot is packed into a great "carry with you as you tour around the hard to fully describe area of Silverlake". I give my `I keep in my car' copy to visiting out of towners so they don't have to figure out what the big deal is; it's all in the book and they can then see it for themselves right in front of them. A wonderful series of architecture books for both natives and visitors of Los Angeles.



3. If you'd like to take any of several self-guided automobile tours of Los Angeles and nearby areas, Laura Massino Smith's books are excellent. Each tour book has clear directions and easy-to-read maps, lots of fascinating notes and information, plus photos of what to look for. I've lived in LA for over twenty-five years, and Smith's books have surprised me with things I'd never seen or hadn't noticed. There are three of her books in my glove compartment so far (Hollywood, Silverlake, and Hancock Park/Miracle Mile) and I'll be getting the rest as well.

5 comments about Resident Tourist: Los Angeles.

1. This is a truly funny book. After living in LA for 10 years, I found some new and interesting places to visit. I never would have found some of these in a standard travel book.



2. I didn't find this funny. I thought it was superficial, sloppy and dumb. The number of places reviewed seems very slight, and their descriptions are overly long, as if they were trying to pad the book.



3. I bought this book because I am leaving LA in a few months after living here for 4 years, and wanted to get the most out of my time left. I am glad I got it. Not only is it worth much more than the price (it's so cheap used!), but the descriptions are quite entertaining.
   
   I do agree with a previous reviewer who disliked the relative paucity of items / places described; I felt there could be more. And some of the chapters read more like magazine articles than tour guides. I also was a bit offended by the first chapter, "Adult Los Angeles." Why did it have to be in the book? Why did it have to be the first chapter? But the other insights and the enthusiasm of the book are useful and compelling. I've enjoyed both reading the book and visiting the places it recommends (besides those of the first chapter, of course).



4. Perhaps all guide books should be destroyed as soon as they are six months old. I don't know, I just returned to LA after a 16 year absense, and I ordered a bunch of guide books to help me make the best out of this new adventure. This book really doesn't have much to offer.



5. This is a great sampling. I am a hotel concierge and I'm always looking for new/overlooked places to impress the guest who thinks he's done it all. This book has great listings, but doesn't give enough of them. I know things change around here, so keeping up isn't easy. I would like more options per neighborhood.

No comments about The Thomas Guide Easy-To-Read 2008 Los Angeles County: Street Guide (Thomas Easy to Read).

5 comments about God and Mr. Gomez: Building a Dream House in Baja.

1. Easy to read, funny, absolutely right-on account of what happens when American meets Mexican culture. Smith recounts his constant frustrations, surprise, and delight at the Mexican way. I worked in Mexico for 4 years and can vouch for the veracity of Smith's observations. Very sympathetic and respectful of Mexican culture and habits for the most part. Smith is a very talented writer.



2. After reading God and Mr. Gomez, my boyfriend and I decided to drive to La Bocana de Santo Tomas, to visit the Jack Smith house and see for ourselves what this majical place was all about. 6 months later we purchased our own casa down the road from the original Smith house, and even got married on our deck there last year. You never know when you pick up a book just how it may affect your life...



3. I first read GOD AND MR GOMEZ as a child, in the Reader's Digest COndensed Books my parents ordered so faithfully. I was enchanted with the beauty of Baja, and the friendly, welcoming way Mr. Gomez encourages Jack to relax and become part of the culture he's living in. His house may not have been built quickly, but it will stand for a thousand years, thanks to Mr. Gomez:)



4. There's a good reason this book is still in print after 30 years. An incredibly funny account of Smith's adventure in building a vacation house in Baja California. Hilarious and also touching; a clash of cultures between the linear thinking Smith and Mr. Gomez, who seems unreliable, illogical, and capricious to Smith. Smith tries to change Mr. Gomez's way of working and thinking, and Smith ends up being changed himself, discovering that Gomez was right about a lot of things after all. I can't imagine anyone that wouldn't enjoy this book. Buy it.



5. Both Jack Smith and Mr. Gomez have passed on from this life. Thanks to Jack's gifted writing ability, you can experience the culture, beauty and patience pace still to be found in Baja California. I have been there and seen the house, the road, the federalli check point, the cliffs and the fishing village. I have had the good fortune to have stayed in a home near Jack's and met others who followed Jack's column in the LA Times during those years of construction of his "mansion". I have searched used book stores and bought on-line used copies while new books have not been published since 1997. I am so glad it is back in print so I can recommend it to my friends. Great reading and funny too!

2 comments about Hidden Coast of California: Including San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, and Mendocino (Hidden Travel).

1. Ray Riegert has devoted a lifetime to travelling the coast of California and finding favorite restaurants, bed & breakfast establishments, and cataloging some of the finer museums and beaches. This book has a little something for everyone, but a lot more if your idea of hidden travel is visiting the large cities of the California Coast. San Francisco receives nearly 100 pages of coverage alone and the clear emphasis is upon urban areas. In these places, Riegert has found some of the best eating establishments, listed the finest gay friendly nightclubs, discussed local parks, and, of particular interest to me, included a number of popular and classy neighborhood bookstores. However, what I consider California's truly hidden coast, its wild and scenic parks and open space areas, receive decidedly less coverage. A few trails are listed, though the trailhead locations are not identified, and only Point Reyes National Seashore gets the full coverage it deserves. On the positive side, Riegert does not neglect the many rural hostels of California where budget travellers can stay often at cheaper rates than at nearby campgrounds.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   The reason I am giving this book 3 stars is that it has a lot of text, well over 500 pages, and all of it is in small print. This makes for difficult reading. The lack of photos also detracts a bit from a travel guide. On the whole, I think the author tried to be a little too comprehensive with the book and the result is that while everything was mentioned, almost everything could have used a fuller description. Still, if you want 3 day weekend tours of California's largest cities along with adequate descriptions of nearby smaller tourist destinations (Laguna Beach and La Jolla in southern California, Big Sur, Mendocino, and Eureka to the north) this is a nice book.



2. There are enduring reasons why California has been a premier tourist destination for more than a hundred years. A compact, easily portable, 550-page travel guide specifically focused on its Pacific shoreline communities and environs, "Hidden Coast Of California" by travel expert Ray Riegert is a superbly organized and comprehensive compendium of information that includes recommended historic inns, scenic drives, beaches and parks, weekend getaways, prospecting opportunities for gems and precious metals, and even whale-watching! Covering the sights and recreational opportunities of San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, and Mendocino, "Hidden Coast Of California" is illustrated with occasional maps, peppered with traveler tips, provides an 'Outdoor Adventure Symbols' chart for ease of use, and so much more. Of special note is the opening chapter covering a variety of issues ranging from California coast geology, Native Americans, coastal plant life, animals (both on land and in the ocean), a calendar of events, visitor centers, traveling with children, disabled and senior travelers, women traveling alone, foreign travelers, camping, permits and more. Now in an expanded and updated eleventh edition, "Hidden Coast Of California" is the ideal resource for planning itineraries and for taking maximum advantage of what California has to offer travelers and vacationers along it's spectacular coastline. Also very highly recommended for both personal and community Travel Guide reference collections is Ray Riegert's companion book from Ulysses Press: "Hidden Southern California: 10th Edition" (9781569755396, $19.95).

2 comments about Hidden Southern California: Including Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Palm Springs (Hidden Travel).

1. I checked out several tour books before we left for our southern California vacation, but chose the Ray Riegert book for it's unique suggestions for food, lodging, and tourist site recommendations. The book is well organized. We followed the chapters from San Diego through the beach towns all the way to Los Angeles. We were delighted with all of the "hidden" restaurants that we tried. It helped that all of the information was current too. Riegert's suggestions for interesting routes and parks led us through some of the most beautiful country imaginable - places we would never have seen if it were not for this book. Hidden Southern California is a great resource that we will use again and again.



2. While the guide may review restaurants, hotels or museums that are not typically covered in other guides, its failure to address local activities was disappointing. Information on bike rental shops, scuba shops, fun tours or other things are absent. If you want a guide to more than hotels, restaurants and museums you might want to reconsider this purchase.

No comments about Zagat Los Angeles/So. California Restaurants 2009 (Zagatsurvey: Los Angeles/Southern California Restaurants).

2 comments about Where We Live: Photographs of America from the Berman Collection (Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum).

1. I saw this show at the Getty Museum in LA and it was one of the best contempory photography show I have seen. the book is great!



2. The 198 photos in the book are part of the 450 that have very generously been given to the Getty by LA collectors Nancy and Bruce Berman. This lovely book was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the photos at the museum in 2006 and 7. The twenty-four photographers featured are probably the leading contemporary exponents in the US of this landscape image capture and one reason I like this type of book is that I get to discover photographers I was not aware of. My main discovery here was Jim Dow. In the back of the book there is an excellent biography of the photographers which nicely lists their books, I've already got my eye on one by Mr Dow.
   
   If you are familiar with recent landscape photography (and I think it's worth stating that this means the man-made landscape rather than natural) you'll most likely have seen some of the photos included: 'Petit's Mobil station' by George Tice, 'Red building in forest' by William Christenberry or '2nd Street, Ashland, Wisconsin' by Stephen Shore are three I've frequently seen but I feel the strength of the book is the opportunity to compare how these twenty-four photographers interpret the same subject.
   
   The impressive page size: about eleven inches square, screen: 250dpi+ and quality paper and printing mean the photos sparkle on the page though I did wonder if maybe a few images had been taken from chromo prints rather than the original transparencies. I noticed a softness and lack of detail in a Stephen Shore photo of Easton, Pennsylvania for instance.
   
   The book cannot be considered a definitive survey of contemporary landscape photographers, only those in the Getty Collection have been included so no Lewis Baltz, Jeff Brouws, Gregory Conniff or David Graham for example but those that are presented are clearly part of the top creative interpreters of man-made America
   
   ***FOR A LOOK INSIDE click 'customer images' under the cover.