No comments about The Little Black Book of Washington, D.C.: The Essential Guide to America's Capital (Little Black Book Series).

No comments about Edisto Island: A Family Affair (SC) (Images of America).

1 comments about Brazilian Portuguese In Your Pocket (Globetrotter In Your Pocket).

1. This little book is packed with all the basics you need to get around Brazil. It is well organized and each section is a different color for quick look up. I was impressed with how much information is in this book and it fits in my pocket. I will be returning to Brazil next month and this is the only language book I'm going to take. In a book this size it's impossilbe to get all the words in the dictionary in it so you might want to take along the Collins dictionary. Muito Obrigado!

2 comments about Mexican Mornings: Essays South of the Border.

1. This is Dr. Michael Hogan's latest book, a collection of essays written over the past decade while the author has lived and taught in Guadalajara, Mexico. This is quite possibly his best book, displaying a wide range of topics and an incredible maturity and intelligence that only comes when one's perspectives have been expanded. In one essay, "Letter to a Troubled Student," he deals with the Zapatista uprising of Chiapas, Mexico, telling his student that it is not scary that a group of Indians are taking on the Mexican government, but that, in any war, the truth is always the first victim. To him, and to a lot of us, that is truly scary. Through this essay, marked for its open-mindedness and its intelligence, Hogan is able to explain how his fears transcend the egocentric level, acheiving a greater understanding and universality.
   This is the modus operandi for the rest of the book, which is a collection of essays written in Mexico over a period of the past ten years. They relate the expatriate experience, but they differ from other expatriate books because these essays are observations told through the eyes of a person who is committed to the lifelong quest of knowledge, a person who is committed to learning about his surroundings. All the essays are examples of a deep thought process, and one gets the realization that the author is just as much the teacher as he is the student.
   One of the best examples of this, and also one of the defining elements of the book itself is the obvious influence that Mexican Poet Octavio Paz had and still has on Hogan's life. Paz's presence is everywhere in the book; the musicality of his poetry helping Hogan the young boy overcome his stuttering problem, the incisive nature of his essays helping Hogan the teacher in teaching the Odyssey to his ninth graders, the profound depth of his social critiques helping Hogan the human being understand humanity and the Mexican better.
   This book is a deep, insightful study into the psychology of the expatriate. In my opinion it is a peer to that other great book about the human condition, "The Labyrinth of Solitude." It is also the only expatriate book that is fully able to document the reasons why a person chooses to leave his home country. It interacts with the reader on many levels, displaying intelligence, while appealing to the poets, the teachers, the scholars, the human beings in all of us. It also displays a deep love for a country that is not the native land for the author, nor for many expatriates. And it is this love that makes the book, and the essays within so compelling. I am reminded at this point, while searching for the place to end my review, of some lyrics from the song "Atlanta" by the Stone Temple Pilots.
   
   "Visions of Mexico seduce me,
   It goes to my head so carefully."



2. I am always skeptical about books written on Mexico by foreigners. However, Michael Hogan who has lived in the country for more than a decade is a careful, although often critical and sometimes humorous, observer. He also has an obvious love and affinity for the Mexican character and writes about it accurately and well. The book contains observations on the effect of globalization on the Mexican economy, a night at a Mexican concert with the Tigres del Norte, a revolution in Chiapas, a university riot,a meeting with Fidel Castro when he comes to Guadalajara, as well as more tranquil moments riding in the forests or hiking the mountains.
   The book is far better than any tour guides I have read, especially of the Guadalajara area, both with its descriptions of the people and the flora and fauna. It is an expatriate equivalent to the Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz, who by the way, is an inspiring presence in several of the essays.
   For someone visiting Mexico for the first time, this is a valuable handbook. For someone who has chosen Mexican as their adopted country it provides clear evidence that it was a correct choice. For all Mexicans living outside the country, and for those who have visited and not yet returned, it clearly evokes the love and the longing that so many have for this land south of the border. Hogan writes lovingly of the person and the poetry of Richard Shelton here as well. For those, like myself, who are enarmored by the Tucson poet, it is a refreshing visit to an old friend who also has strong conenctions to Mexico. All in all, a wonderful read. Hogan has an accesible style with occasional flashes of brilliance and a quiet but poignant wit.

5 comments about America as Seen by Its First Explorers: The Eyes of Discovery (Dover Language Books and Travel Guides).

1. The text is quite easy to grasp and makes for easy reading. Focus is on what the thoughts of the individual explorer are as it relates to animal, plant and land forms. The avid and experienced reader will be a bit dissapointed with this work.

   Several key explorers are not included which is a suprise. Written at a 7-8 grade level.




2. A roughly chronological arrangement of chapters on the first-hand experiences of several explorers, both famous and lesser-known. It is very interesting to read the thoughts and observations (liberally quoted in the idiosyncratic spelling of the era) of the first encounters with people, animals, and plants of the Americas. The illustrations are from the period, though one might wish for a few modern maps to help illustrate the wanderings of some of these explorers. There are a few well-known explorers omitted, but that does not detract from what is included. Still, those who enjoy their history first-hand, and especially those interested in the natural history of North America, will find this book compelling reading.



3. This is a documentary history of the discovery and exploration of our American continent written from the perspective of those Europeans and early Americans who saw the land as it was while it was still pristine and unspoiled. Although history, I appreciate this book more as an ecological treatise telling us what we destroyed as we settled and developed our nation. The disparity between what we found and what we have left contradicts the whole concept of 'PROGRESS'. While reading this book, I can't get out of my mind the image of Iron Eyes Cody from the '70s anti-littering campaign on television, with tears running down his face, as he surveys what has become of America's natural resources and beauty. The descriptions of the untamed wilderness and bucolic scenery are almost poetic. The variety and abundance of wildlife then is almost unimaginable to those of us today whose most likely daily interaction with non-domesticated animals consists of encounters with pigeons or roadkill. This book should help us appreciate more and perhaps not be so quick to "improve" the natural wonders and resources we still have left.



4. While this book is probably accurate, it is not a particularly interesting read. Of course, whether it is interesting to you or not depends on what you are looking for. If you want first hand accounts of what the Explorers saw and what their thoughts were then it can be interesting. On the other hand, you have to understand that when they wrote their thoughts the purpose was to record what they saw and not to create a story for an average reader. They were not concerned with reading style or any other similar information. It reminds me of the translations of the Journals of Columbus. Interesting at times, but pretty boring at other times. Of course, those probably were pretty boring days spending day after day on the ship.
   Things that I did like were some of the descriptions of natural wonders, animals, plants, etc. It includes a liberal sprinkling of period maps and illustrations that make it interesting to see the difficulties that they were facing with so much information yet to be discovered. I also liked the great number of quotes from original texts complete with misspellings and syntax problems.
   I did not find it particularly interesting and had difficulty working my way through it. There are other books that cover this subject in a better writing style.



5. While not exactly edge of your seat reading, this book depicts the ravages of human activities on our land from shortly after the early days of exploration up to modern times.
   This is an atypical glimpse into the past on what our first explorers witnessed in the different types of land forms, animals, plants, native peoples, natural resources, etc. and how that has dramatically changed since those days. Many of these particular land forms from Maine to Washington, from California to Florida and all points in between have been altered one way or another due to human endeavors such as:
   Colonization; agriculture in the form of farms, ranches and grazing; damming, draining and irrigation of rivers; the careless introduction of weeds and insects; lumbering and deforestation; hunting and fishing; mining; petroleum production; etc. have all influenced the way we see the country now as opposed to our first adventurers.
   We read of the early Spanish explorers venturing in the southwest and southeast, the English and French in the northeast and northwest; the lands, also in terms of flora and fauna, were drastically different in size and abundance, some taxonomic species are now extinct, some now more numerous due to open fields from tree removal; certain birds, fish and mammals filling in ecological gaps, etc.
   The explorers, to mention a few that are covered in the book, would be:
   Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, Cartier, Champlain, the Verendryes, Verrazano, LaSalle, Marquette and Jolliet, Boone, Drake, Vancouver and of course Lewis and Clark.
   It is an insightful look into how the continental United States land area has changed in 500 years. Makes one wonder what the future holds.

No comments about Iguazu & the Jesuit Reductions/ Iguazu & Las Misiones Jesuiticas.

5 comments about Valverde's Gold: In Search of the Last Great Inca Treasure.

1. this is perhaps the most disappointing book i have read in years. i have always loved treasuer hunts but this is just a terrible account of one. the author lays out the basics about the capture of the inca king and all that, but then it disloves into loose ends. he hunts down various people who have information and maps but he seems to alienate them so quickly that he fails to get any helpful data and most of them will speak to him again. further he goes on a trek with a drunk and comes back more than empty handed. a terrible book and a total waste of time and money. wait for the movie "how not to find a treasure for dummies". dgs



2. This book is pretty disappointing. Whilst treasure hunts are inherently interesting (and this one is the biggest of them all), following Honigsbaum is more often than not utterly boring. In each chapter his quest for the lost Incan treasure diverges into a new dead-end avenue, and his research is so hodge-podge that it is difficult to follow.
   
   Much of his prose is boring and ought to have been cut short. For instance, he spends a chapter detailing his study of old Spanish documents in Seville, despite the fact that he finds absolutely nothing of import. Historical research is not exactly something one needs to read about in detail. His prose reads something like, "And suddenly, I put a new search term in the computer! I waited, as the hourglass turned on screen for what seemed an eternity. Then, just as I thought I was about to find the key document, my search came back! 'No Documents Found,' it said." He might then look over an unrelated document, and spend a page talking about a story that has no bearing on the treasure or anything to do with it; it just seems to fill up space in the book.
   
   Overall, the author seems out to intrigue his audience enough to buy the book, but that's the extent of his effort. It's like a bad movie in which the preview only shows scenes with pretty girls and cars blowing up. Suck the audience in, because once you've got their money, what do you care? As I labored to get through Valverde's Gold, all I could think was, "I know exactly how this ends... I mean, if he found the treasure, would he really have written this awful book?"



3. I must agree with another reviewer... all that is required of this book is the first and last chapters.
   Instead of high-level adventure or life threatening exploits into the mysterious, the reader is best to settle for historical research of past attempts to locate Ecuador's legendary Inca treasure. No Indiana Jones script here.
   
   With such an entanglement of characters past and present, along with weak geographical perceptibility due to a map which is certainly difficult to interpret, the discourse turns into muddle.
   
   The subject at hand is simply overdone to the point of exhaustion.



4. Nothing I've read in the last several years has got my imagination churning like this book. To me the dead-ends, the chaotic assortment of characters, and even the dull frustrations of this real-life treasure hunt make this an endlessly fascinating book.
   
   I stumbled across, purchased, and read this book before reading anything about it here on Amazon, and after I was finished I was shocked to see that it had received such varied and poor reviews. It's not a fictional thriller. I can understand how some readers might be disappointed if they pick it up expecting an action-packed adventure with a climatic conclusion.
   
   I really enjoy good fictional thrillers too, especially those that use historical facts as a foundation or a jumping off point, but I have returned to Valverde's Gold several times as an engaging alternative that in many ways is more satisfying than a novel. It quickly pulls you into a real, vivid world of remote Ecuadorian landscapes, history (spanning four centuries), eccentric individuals, lost documents and hidden treasure. I highly recommend this book.



5. Valverde's Gold is a very readable book. Having lived in Ecuador as a Peace Corps volunteer I think Mark captures the feel of being in Ecuador as a visitor, which he is honest about. He came to research as much as to search for he lost Inca treasure. I would recommend this book and in fact plan to read "The Fever Trail". I only gave it a three because I wanted more time spent on the "feel" of being in Ecuador and journeying through the mountains and less on the past treasure hunters. It is what it is.

5 comments about Adventure Guide Tampa Bay & Florida's West Coast (Adventure Guide to Tampa Bay & Florida's West Coast) (Adventure Guide to Tampa Bay & Florida's West Coast).

1. A full update of this guidebook, previously called the Adventure Guide to Florida's West Coast. This book takes in all the cities, towns, nature preserves, wilderness areas and sandy beaches that grace the Sunshine State's western shore. Covers Tampa Bay to Naples and Everglades National Park to Sanibel Island. Canoeing the Everglades, hiking on Gasparilla Island, exploring the history of Tampa's Ybor City - it's all here! Plus it has good town and regional maps.

   "These useful guides are highly recommended... " Library Journal "[Adventure Guides] direct you away from the theme parks and into the great outdoors... the information on trekking routes, canoeing, wildlife refuges - even golf courses - is well researched." The Sunday Telegraph "...intended for the adventure-minded travelers with special affection for the outdoors and nature. Each Adventure Guide packs in outdoor-oriented activities set in different regions. There's something for nearly everyone." Midwest Book Review




2. A full update of this popular guidebook, previously called the Adventure Guide to Florida's West Coast. This book takes in all the cities, towns, nature preserves, wilderness areas and sandy beaches that grace the Sunshine State's western shore. Covers Tampa Bay to Naples and Everglades National Park to Sanibel Island. Canoeing the Everglades, hiking on Gasparilla Island, exploring the history of Tampa's Ybor City - it's all here!



3. "This second edition of Walton's comprehensive guide... is a must for visitors." Bon Voyage



4. Chelle Koster Walton's third edition of Tampa Bay & Florida's West Coastis out, and it updates all the basics on accommodations, restaurants, natural areas and historic sites alike. This adventure-oriented guide outlines the best in inland and water trips, includes museums and shopping, and provides an outdoor focus and budget-minded focus which will appeal to trip planners.



5. It was very knowledgeable. Told about most of the activities going on in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

No comments about The Amazon: Land without History (Library of Latin America).

1 comments about Mysteries of Ancient South America (The Atlantis Reprint Series).

1. This old book, originally published in 1947, investigates the legends of Brazil, Peru with a little bit on Haiti. Author Harold Wilkins didn't have much patience with academic archaeologists and with those who claimed that civilization began no earlier than 5000 BC. According to ancient Indian traditions, civilization in South America dates back to antiquity to the time before the moon (the "evil planet") arrived to orbit the earth and when the position of the planet Venus was different to how it is now, and before an ancient catastrophe that caused massive upheavals that can be seen now in Peru, e.g. ancient seaweed on the shores of Lake Titicaca (12500 feet above sea level!). Topics covered include missionary men in black, extensive subterranean tunnels and legends associated with these, jungle lights that never go out, the mysterious fate of Col Percy Fawcett and tales of 18th century treasure hunters who returned starving hungry, but with incredible tales to tell of magnificent, abandoned lost cities. I'm looking forward to reading Mr Wilkins' sequel, Secret Cities of Old South America. This reprint doesn't include the index and bibliography of the original, nor a treasure map that Wilkins said is in the end paper, so if a cheap copy of the original edition is available I would recommend that instead.