No comments about Fodor's Los Angeles' 25 Best, 5th Edition (25 Best).

No comments about City of Angels: In and Around Los Angeles.

No comments about Only in Los Angeles.

1 comments about Los Angeles: A Photographic Portrait.

1. After living in LA for over eight years, it's easy for me to take for granted much of what the city has to offer. Stephen Bay's spectacular photography reminded me of the many aspects of this city that make it great- far beyond the usual Hollywood hype. Venice Beach, Little Tokyo, Watts, Olvera Street, and Koreatown among many other neighborhoods are highlighted through Bay's eye-catching photography. For a true photographic tour of LA, it doesn't get better than Bay's work.

1 comments about Best Places Los Angeles.

1. Excellent guide to LA. I had bought 4 other LA Guide Books and this was the best and most used. I went everywhere and I was never dissapointed. It was like as if I had lived in LA all my life. It didn't waste my precious vacation time and my vacation money. It is also excellent if you are a LA resident and you would like to know about things to do, and places to see in LA that you never knew about. My cousins who live in LA were amazed by this book.

1 comments about Insight City Guide Los Angeles (Insight Guides).

1. For first time travellers to Los Angeles this book gave a wonderful insight into the city and helped greatly with our planning. Gave heaps of information on all aspects of the city not just on the 'Hollywood' side. Would recomend it to anyone visiting LA.

No comments about La ciudad de los ángeles caídos (Literatura Mondadori).

2 comments about The Rough Guide to Los Angeles 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. The fourth edition of the Rough Guide to Los Angeles lives up to the outstanding reputation of the travel publishing company. One of the best features of the Rough Guide is its crystal-clear yet fine type, printed on durable and thin pages, so that a ton of information get packed into a compact format. This is all accompanied by a glossy front section providing an overview of the highlights of the City of Angels.
   
   The Rough Guide sticks to a tried-and-true format, starting with the basics, then providing detailed coverage of ten sections of the city (including Orange County, which probably doesn't want to be considered a part of LA). Inland coverage extends only to Pasadena, so this is a better bet for coastal travel than it is for going into the eastern portions of the Los Angeles area. The last third of the book contains listing for accommodations, restaurants, bars, shopping, and activities. The selection of budget motels is a bit limited (beyond Motel 6), so anyone looking for a good deal on accommodations should head towards the Internet for a search. The restaurant and bar listings (organized by region and also indexed by type) are comprehensive and provide a good starting place to finding the spot to fit a traveler's mood.
   
   The book concludes with contextual information about Los Angeles, including history essays, references to LA in film, and books set in LA. As a reader, I appreciate that the basic must-have facts are in the front, with the optional history section relegated to the back of the book. The maps are second to none, with exquisite detail and major areas of interest well-identified.
   
   The Rough Guide to Los Angeles is a worthwhile investment for any pleasure-seeker, business traveler, weekend tourist, and even the hardened local who would like to know a bit more about the multitudes of activities LA has to offer.



2. I always buy the Rough Guide series when I'm traveling to a new city. It's English perspective is refreshing and the books are always well written. The problem with this writer is an obvious disgust with America and even more so he makes a trip to Disneyland sound like a visit to a landfill. My wife's spirits were crushed when she read his condescending, dim, hateful view of American Legend Walt Disney's magical park nearly ending our vacation there. Walt just wanted the huddled masses to enjoy his work...make us all feel better. This writer does not. After reading this book for 5 minutes you will be likely to cancel your trip. Too bad because most of the Rough Guide travel series is top shelf.

5 comments about Newcomer's Handbook for Los Angeles.

1. The Newcomer's Handbook for Los Angeles not only gives helpful advice and tips for people relocating to LA, but is also an invaluable resource for people already native to this wild and crazy city. The Handbook gives wonderful infomation about the different section of LA, the nightlife, places to go just to relax and enjoy nature (yes, LA does have natural resources), and lists the popular annual events of LA. The Newcomer's Handbook for Los Angeles covers everything from where to move in LA, what to do in LA, and how to accomplish all this and not stick out as tourist looking for movie stars.



2. Wow, this book was helpful. I'd only been to LA a handful of times before making the big move, so needless to say I was totally stressed out about the whole thing. A friend recommended the Newcomer's Handbook and said it would give me all the info I needed to get settled, and she was right! This book had everything--how to get my phone and cable set up, where to buy household items, even what the local radio stations are (very important to know, especially in LA traffic). The best part, though, is that there's a map for each area (which even directionally challenged people like me can figure out), and a detailed description of practically every neighborhood in the whole city, which was really helpful for figuring out where to live and how to get around. And now that I'm here, I still use it. I've discovered some really cool things that I never knew existed, like Silent Movie (the last remaining silent movie theatre in the country). Anyhow, suffice it to say that I can't recommend the book enough. I feel like an LA native now (minus the big hair)!



3. I recently decided to relocate to L.A. from the Midwest, and of the three or four books I bought on the area, this was the one I kept referring back to. The neighborhood descriptions are invaluable, and unlike "Relocating to Los Angeles and Orange County," the book provides helpful tips that are specific to L.A. ("Relocating to..." has a huge section that's generic moving information repeated verbatim in the other books in their series.) The authors of the Newcomer's Handbook tell you what you need to know. They also list a service I didn't see listed anywhere else -- Personalized Relocation Management (...) which helped me find a great place in Santa Monica within 24 hours of landing at LAX. I highly recommend both the book and the service they list. Armed with both of these tools, and a Thomas Guide, you're sure to find what you're looking for with ease.



4. ... come on, you can tell that the reviews are written by the author or the publisher or friends thereof.

   This book is pretty much a hastily put together collection of stuff you can find in the Yellow Pages or boring informational websites. Waste of money.




5. You have to be totally out of this country and dumb to find enything interesting in that book. No street map included. Better read a telephone book, more information and much interesting, and it may be free.

3 comments about Chinese Food Finder: Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.

1. I was very excited to get this book, since San Gabriel Valley is littered with way more Chinese restaurants than I could ever try personally. I imagine it was a tough job, especially in the fast-paced Chinese restuarant scene where stores pop up and die overnight. (And a few listings have already gone out of business.) The book succeeds at providing a good overview of the various regional cuisines, and I did enjoy reading about unfamiliar foods and their history.
   
   However, a little more detailed information about the specific restaurants and more write-ups would make this book even better. For example, there are tons of dim sum places in the Valley, but only a handful are written up and Carl was lukewarm toward all of them. Where is a great dim sum place? Maybe descriptions of how the dim sum offerings might differ from say Mission 261 and Ocean Star (both are mega banquet room sized, but Ocean Star offers far more food variety than Mission 261). The Hong Kong style coffee shop listings also felt thin, leaving out alot of the tasty and popular spots that dot Valley Blvd. like OK Cafe and U2. And how about writing up the best place for roast suckling pig or squab?
   
   Despite these shortcomings, I would still recommend this book as a solid introduction to LA Chinese cuisine.



2. well written, accurate, helpful, and there is nothing like it on the Internet or in print



3. This book is both more useful than you'd expect, and less. The lesser part is because many of the restaurants listed in the guide no longer exist. A guidebook like this one needs to be updated every couple of years for it to fulfill its purpose. There are too many restaurants listed that have since closed and too many new restaurants that should be in here that aren't, but that goes with the territory of writing restaurant guides.
   
   On the other hand, this book provides an excellent introduction to the regional cuisines of China, with detailed descriptions of the kinds of dishes to expect at various types of Chinese restaurants. This book can be a handy tool for ordering a meal at any authentic Chinese restaurant regardless of what city it's in. Even though I'm quite familiar with Chinese cuisine, I often bring this book with me for mealtime inspiration when I'm traveling to any city with a Chinatown--I even brought it with me on my most recent trip to Hong Kong & Guangdong.
   
   Reviewed by Barbara Strother, author of Moon Living Abroad in China (Living Abroad).