5 comments about Frommer's Portable Savannah (Frommer's Portable).

1. This book gives a nice review of Savannah, from history, to where to stay, what do do, where to eat. It's very compact and will be easy for us to carry along on our trip next week to Savannah.



2. Recently did a girls trip - the guide was very helpful. We planned lots of our trip prior to our arrival - restaurant suggestions were particularly helpful.



3. This is supposed to be a travel guide, but is actually more of a disguised advertisement for the book and movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Within the first 118 pages, the authors make no fewer than 45 references to the story, its characters and places, and glamorization of their alternative lifestyle.
   
   If you've never been to Savannah, this book will lead you to the conclusion that it was nothing prior to the book and movie. Or that all of its history exists only as a backdrop for the book. Save your money.



4. I just returned from Savannah, and took this guide along. It fits very nicely into a back pocket or purse. It provided a great overview of the area with maps and good descriptions of many of the restaurants (including dividing them into price ranges).
   
   The author couldn't have been more spot-on in describing one River St. bar (hint: they specialize in frozen drinks), and the description made my wife and I laugh out loud.
   
   We followed one of the mapped out walking tours described in the book and it made for a wonderful Saturday afternoon. Given its portability, it can't cover every restaurant, bar or shop, but if you cross-reference what the author recommends against others' opinions- SouthernLiving.com, connectsavannah.com (Savannah's alternative news weekly), and TripAdvisor.com, you'll find many of the same restaurants listed, with similar descriptions.
   
   Purchase the book in advance of making your lodging reservations, as there are a number of bed and breakfasts listed, as well as many hotels.
   
   Yes, there are many references to the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," but given how much it's helped tourism in the area and how many people want to see the places described in that book, the author is just giving the people what they want. I enjoyed the references: I wanted a guide that covered those locations, but not one that focused solely on "The Book" (as it's known to many locals), and this guide provided a nice compromise.
   
   The only drawback I found is that it doesn't list as many restaurants as I'd have liked, but again, given the space limitations, it couldn't. As you walk the streets, you'll stumble across some great little places on your own, and that's half the fun of "exploring" the town.
   
   I consider the guide to be money well spent.



5. I found this book very useful and helpful with my planning of a trip to Savannah in the near future. I enjoyed getting some "heads up" on various locales (and restrictions) having to do with the John Berendt novel "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"...which is of particular interest to me. Also appreciated the price guides for restaurants, and the hotel reviews, which included if the rooms were smoking, restricted smoking, or non-smoking. Will be packing this little book with me when I do go on my "dream trip" to the coast of Georgia!

1 comments about Frommer's Arizona 2008 (Frommer's Complete).

1. This was an excellent guide for people who have never been to Arizona. You can't get lost with it. The way it's organized makes it easy to read. You can go directly to the section you need without wasting time flipping the pages.

5 comments about Crossing the Wire.

1. Once again Will Hobbs has put together a boy's story that leads the reader not only on an adventure but also gives insight into ways of life in which most of us are unfimiliar. Overwhelmed in the knowledge that his mother and little brother will soon end up living on the streets the young lad of Crossing Jordan decides that he must sneak across the American border where there is hope he can make enough money to send home. The adventure is the telling of all the efforts, and failures, the boy must go through to accomplish such a feat.
   
   Mr Hobbs presents a compelling drama that will help young readers understand why so many young Mexican men and boys are willing the risk everything for a better life. Without being preachy he helps the reader understand how some American policies actually force many Mexican farmers into poverty. He presents the risks these people must take. He exposes the corruption of those who offer these poor people a way across the border. Then, when one might expect American border guards to be presented as evil, Mr Hobbs gives us characters who are understanding, yet do a job that they are hired to perform.
   
   Please read this book. Or if you have teenage children, or younger even, have them read it. Not for the sake of taking sides on the immigration issue. But to understand it. To see that there are two sides that need to be seen. CROSSING THE WIRE is one of those books that you read, put it away and figure you'll probably not open it again. BUT, after time it begins to grow on you. You want to read it again.



2. As an author, I was freaking out about how timely this book was, given all the talk of illegal immigration, etc. Then I read it, and was even more impressed. This is a terrific book, far more interesting than a lot of news stories I've read on the topic, from a master of the genre. I fear it won't get the attention it deserves, solely because it's a YA book.



3. I have family members that have expierienced this adventure of "crossing the wire". It is not only hard but its also sad, sad because not only are you suffering but you see other people suffer and that ther can get really tough. This book goes in detaial what one person, Victore Flores had to do to cross. Now if whatever happend to him in the story affects you in any way, just think about all the people that are crossing just to see how it is like here, or even to get money for their family. I think they deserve a little simpathy. Overall this book is a great book to read, you'll get addicted i guarantee it.



4. This was a great story and one adults should read also. Comparing it with adult books I normally read, I would give it 4 1/2 stars.



5. La Linea has opened my eyes to the hardships and horrific sacrifices that emmigrants must go through to escape destitution when they cross the borders of the United States. The Mexican people come to America full of hopes and dreams - hopes and dreams that we as Americans often take for granted. This story has truly inspired me to be more compassionate for the emmigrants that I meet in this country, especially the children that I work with in my school. I highly recommend this book.

3 comments about Good Night New York City (Good Night Our World series).

1. The Good Night... series are good books for young kids to read or to have read to them. It includes basic words and gets the kids interested in different travel locations.



2. This book provides great pictures and a fun way to share a special city with my daughter. Some of the text is a bit silly, but overall I have enjoyed this book along with several others in the series.



3. We purchased this book for our 20 month old son and he loves it! He picks it out over and over again! Great book!

2 comments about Good Night Chicago (Good Night Our World series).

1. While the book isn't as good as Good Night Moon, it is a good representation of Chicago and a fun way for little kids to learn about the city.



2. My 21 month olds enjoy pointing at the various animals and objects on each page. Later on, I'm quite sure they will be more interested in the names of the different places in Chicago. Good book to add to your collection.

1 comments about Best Hikes With Dogs: Southern California (Best Hikes With Dogs).

1. So you live in Southern California and want to take your dog for a good walk in the out of doors. Where do you go? This is a problem that came up for me when my relatives from out of state visited and naively assumed they could take a dog pretty much anywhere. There are so many restrictions on dogs in this state that it can be downright daunting to take your four legged friend on vacation with you. Happily, you can find dozens of wonderful hikes in Allen Reidel's new book. You and your pooch are more than welcome on all of them.
   
   Not surprisingly, this book does list some of the "dog beaches" where you can actually walk with your pet (unlike the remaining 99% of the coast), but the thrust of this book describes the many wonderful hikes open to your dog in the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests. The multiple use policy of the forest service is much more open to pets than the other major state and national land agencies. And in Southern California, national forests offer some of the premier outdoor recreation in the state. Reidel includes some classic hikes in these areas: Knapp's Cabin, Mt. Baden Powell, and the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area are just some of the popular trailheads he describes. However, hikers will also find some remote and spectacular hikes to share with their dogs that are rarely mentioned in other guidebooks. Black Mountain, Cleghorn Mountain, and Kitchen Peak are some of my favorite trails. You can easily find yourself enjoying solitude on these trails even on weekends.
   
   In all, this is an excellent book. I do have a few concerns however. In a few cases, I think mileages are too short. Also, Reidel suggests you should not walk your dog in areas with bighorn sheep. He then lists two trails (Baden-Powell and Toro Peak) where bighorn frequent. I'm not sure I understand that. But what I really don't understand are the policies that make a book like this necessary at all. Unfortunately, national parks and California State Parks have adopted an anti-dog (really anti-people) attitude about recreation. Their rationale is that dogs disrupt the "natural" wildlife in an area. And this is simply untrue. Dogs (wild and domesticated) have been around for thousands of years and they are a part of the environment. If anything, it is "unnatural" for dogs not to be in the wild. So, as you use this book to find wonderful adventures for you and your pet, consider a little political activism on behalf of "man's (and woman's) best friend." Maybe this state will eventually adopt a more enlightened policy and future editions of this book could simply be titled "Best Hikes in Southern California."

4 comments about Scenic Driving Utah, 2nd (Scenic Driving Series).

1. I went on the Grand Cirlce trip (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, and Glen Canyon/Lake Powell) and found this book very helpful in planning my trip. I gave it a 4 star only because it doesn't give the time required for each trip. For example, for the drive to Temple of Sun and Moon, from the book, it seemed like a 30 minute trip. However, from a separate source, it said the drive takes 2-3 days to finish. Nevertheless, still a good source.



2. We traveled all over Utah with this book and started to think of it as the Bible of Traveling Utah. Would highly recommend. Saw places that we would have missed if not for this book. Used it daily to plan our days.



3. I used this book on my recent driving trip to Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands. It was a real highlight on the trip. My friend, who was navigator, used it for "color commentary" on the drive. It's also a great supplement to other guidebooks such as Frommer's and Lonely Planet.
   
   My only criticism is that the maps and illustrations would be better in color and the text is a bit verbose. In spite of those bits, it's still five stars.



4. We just took a motorcycle trip through parts of Utah, with this book in our saddlebags. It was excellent with ideas, maps, town and even historical descriptions. We only wish we had purchased it a couple of months earlier for our Southern Utah trip. But it has us excited to take future trips in Utah.

5 comments about Not for Tourists 2008 Guide to Seattle (Not for Tourists Guidebook).

1. I gave the book, 'Not for Tourists' as a gift and it was received with much interest and delight. The book is very informative, covering various districts in and around Seattle. The information is very detailed and acurate, with good readable maps, great information about the many areas that it covers and a fun book to browse through. I've lived in Seattle for many years and it was great fun reading through this delightful book. I will be purchasing 'Not for Tourists' for my self.



2. I would probably rate this 4.5 stars if I could, but I like it enough to round up. This is an excellent way to learn about the city. The book is divided into chapters that cover neighborhoods. It doesn't focus on the hottest new restaurants/clubs, instead it gives you the feel so that you have a basis for exploration. As the title indicates, this isn't the right book for a weekend tourist but it is great for new Seattle inhabitants.



3. I'm a Seattle mostly-native (been here for 20 years) and picked up this book so that my guests from couchsurfing.com might be able to use it to get around the city. I used the Not For Tourists New York to get around while visiting there, and figured the local one might be handy too.
   
   It's great! It truly does cover the city from the perspective of a local person, including witty and accurate comments about neighborhoods, restaurants/bars, etc., useful information about how to get around the city and to other nearby cities via public transportation, cool local places that are beautiful/unique but not touristy, etc.
   
   In fact I'm so fond of it that sometimes I carry it around and read it myself for fun even though I'm quite familiar with the city already. It's entertaining for natives and informative for transplants/visitors too. I would definitely recommend it for someone who's just moved here.
   
   Even though it's called "not for tourists", I think that really depends what kind of tourist you are. If you're someone who wants to hang out in the places where local people hang out and do the things they do, I still consider it very useful. None of the tourist books have maps of neighborhoods outside the central tourist area of downtown, so if you want to go beyond the beaten path this is a fine way to do it. The book doesn't have reviews of tourist spots but you could always combine it with a more tourist-y book. I bought some other more touristy books too and found the Lonely Planet to be the best of those.



4. I think this book may be good if you are not a tourist (hence the name). The maps are good, but it does not give you an idea of what to see when you are there. It got such good reviews even as a tourist book that I ordered it. For vacationing there, I'd rather stick with Frommers or Fodors.



5. Erica Asahan wrote:
   
   Well, I lived in Seattle for years, this book is great to have! She has so many points and venues I did not know existed! Great reference book to have.

3 comments about Archer's Quest.

1. I just cannot for the life of me figure out what to do with Linda Sue Park. Some authors write books that are spot-on gold all the time. Others can't churn out a decent title no matter how hard they try. Then there's Linda Sue Park. Garnering a coveted Newbery award early in her career, Park has had the unenviable job of showing the world that she remains worthy of that honor with every subsequent book she writes. I liked "A Single Shard", but somewhere in the back of my brain was the niggling suspicion that since I'm twenty-seven-years-old my response probably would have been different had I been a ten-year-old who had to read it in school. Ditto my response to "The Mulberry Project", in which silkworms, rather than pottery, were the name of the game. As if hearing my silent plea, Park has now come out with the far more kid friendly (but still darned informative) "Archer's Quest". The set-up is good, the story interesting, and the book a short sweet ride. You'd think I'd be in seventh heaven. Instead, I'm torn. On the one hand, it's difficult to criticize an author who takes as much time and attention as Ms. Park does with her work. On the other hand, something about "Archer's Quest" failed to grab me right from the get-go. Maybe it's the fact that Park has written a story found in so many other children's books. Maybe it's the low-key action. Whatever the case, "Archer's Quest" makes for a mighty fine read. It just didn't have that extra little oomph it needed to make it beloved.
   
   You think your day's been crummy? You've got nothing on Kevin. Sure, today was a half-day at school, but is he able to appreciate it? Not a chance. The year is 1999 and Kevin is bored out of his skull with only a bouncy ball to keep him company. Next thing you know Kevin's cap is hanging from an arrow sticking straight out of the wall. The arrow, in turn, belongs to a very oddly dressed man who is eyeing Kevin suspiciously and has his next arrow aimed at the boy in question. Turns out that the man is the great Korean historical figure Koh Chu-mong. Part Robin Hood part King Arthur, Chu-mong has somehow landed smack dab in Archie's bedroom some 2,054 years into the future. Kevin, may be of Korean descent, but he doesn't sufficiently know his Korean history to know enough about Chu-mong (who requests that he be called Archer, shortened by Kevin to "Archie") to help him back to his own time. Together the two must discover everything they can about Korean history, magic, the Chinese Zodiac, and some basic math before the year of the Tiger is up. And the year ends that very night!
   
   In a way, "Archer's Quest" is a historical novel. Sure it takes place in 1999, but that still places it firmly in the past. Park starts with a particularly interesting situation. You're in your bedroom, bored, and suddenly a hero from the past is looking to put an arrow in your heart. A great start, but a difficult one. Since the story must take place in the course of a single day, and since Kevin is such a realistic character that Park's afraid to ever put him into too much trouble, the story's action is downplayed. The most we get is an encounter with a real tiger, a race from a negligible enemy, and a run across a highway when the traffic has already been stopped. Her "villain" isn't even that villainous. Just misguided. Of course, limiting the action is Park's style. Therefore, if you've a kid who really got into "A Single Shard" or (more logically) "Project Mulberry", they are bound to enjoy this story just as much, if not more.
   
   The concept of a historical or fictional figure bumming around the present isn't new, of course. Everything from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" to "Inkheart" has used it to their advantage. Where Park diverges from the ordinary is in making her hero a Korean folk-hero. Kids who've never had the opportunity to learn of the adventures of Chu-mong will find much to learn about here. In this way, the book pairs nicely with another recent historical-man-to-whom-folk-tales-have-been-attached character, Dick Whittington, in Alan Armstrong's, "Whittington".
   
   Ever attentive to supporting her stories with fact, Park includes a section on math in this story, while another attends to details involving Chu-mong, tigers, and RIT, and a bit on the zodiac. A Chinese Zodiac is located at the end of the book, and here I had a real problem with the book. Some children's books that discuss the Zodiac do what "Archer's Quest" did here and include each year with the dates ascribed to that year. For example, "The Rooster's Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac" by Eric A. Kimmel, includes a bunch of dates that fall within different animal years. The book is useful because these dates go a decade or two into the future. "Archer's Quest" on the other hand, stops at February 4, 2000. That's all well and good if the kiddies want to know what animal is ascribed to the year of their birth, but does absolutely no good if they want to know what the current year in the zodiac is. Obviously it stops around 1999 because that's when the story takes place. However, it would be heads and tales more interesting if it bothered to go a little bit into the future. Even if it were just a decade.
   
   None of this is to say that the book doesn't make for a good read. Linda Sue Park is first and foremost a premier children's book author and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I just wish that this book had gotten a little more work done on it. It reads beautifully and will give a lot of enjoyment to some kids with the whole time-travel aspect. For others it will start out well, then peter off into the dull. A nice title but not my favorite Park accomplishment.



2. Kevin is a young boy, Korean-American, who is just following his normal routine of doing his homework--his boring, irrelevant history homework--when history comes to visit him in a quite unlikely way. His baseball hat is quite literally lifted off his head by an arrow of a strange visitor who insists that he just fell off a tiger's back. Unsure whether to call 911 or assume it's a bizarre dream, Kevin goes along with the odd man's requests. As he begins to explain modern life--glass windows break when you try to shoot arrows through them--he determines that the only way to make his life return to normal is to figure out WHO this guy is and WHY he's suddenly in his room. This leads him to do research both online and in person.
   
   The 'quest' is to find a way to send him back to his proper time. The solution--critical thinking skills, communication, math, and cultural research.
   
   While ARCHER'S QUEST is not my favorite Linda Sue Park novel. I think this modern-fantasy tale may prove interesting to some young readers.



3. This is a good light read. It never did say why Archer came to the different time period however I would still recommend this for fun. This book isn't extremely exciting but good enough to keep your interest.

5 comments about Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West (Bloody Jack Adventures).

1. I discovered the "Bloody Jack" series through my female students, who were lining up to get a hold of them - not something I usually see as a high school English teacher. I read the series (mostly backwards) at the suggestion of the students, and loved them! "Mississippi Jack" is the last book in the series (so far) and relates Jacky Faber's adventures as a showboat captain on the Mississippi. The novel is adventuresome, fun, and honest - told from Jacky's point of view. This series is very enjoyable, easy to read (for pre-teen/teens/adults like me), and are hard to put down. I highly recommend them, especially as they've taken my students by storm.



2. My daughter loves this series and was delighted with this recent book. It is long, but she had it read in a matter of days - couldn't put it down! Great to have a book with a girl as a pirate!



3. Truly this is a great read that should appeal to girls as well as boys, teens to seniors. Lovers of historical fiction will note that the perils Jacky faces were quite real to the time period; violence brought about by greed, streets paved more by treachery then gold. This time especially Meyer's has outdone himself with characters that make us cringe or perhaps laugh out loud each time they walk, or stagger, across the page. They are all there, the river men and women of the time, all races, all walks of life, all brought to us through the eyes of a teenage girl who has had to live by her wits, dreaming her dreams, while facing each day with courage and determination.



4. Jacky's adventures continue to get better and better. Never a dull moment when the notorious Bloody Jack is around. From stealing a river boat to ending up in the arms of another dashing military man to tar and feathers, it amazing the girl ends up in one piece at the end of the day. Jacky also manages to add to her on going repertoire of names, whether it's from mates, Indians, or lovers. Don't miss this exciting tale into the further trouble makings of Bloody Jack!



5. Well, Jacky isn't your usual heroine. You know that right from the start of Bloody Jack. And, now she's taken to swindling swindlers, card sharping and pushing the limit of even her wide bounds on propriety. All I have to say is, "Thank heavens!" Anyone sick of simpering, sweet, self-deluded heroines need not dip into the tales of Mary "Jacky" Faber. But, those girls who have longed for a heroine who gets into some sticky situations and manages through brains and cunning and good friends, to save herself and others along the way, this is your kind of series. Mississippi Jack also gives us a look into the trials of her mostly betrothed, Jaimy. He may be an officer of the British navy, but he sometimes slips morally lower than Jacky and yet she's the one always apologizing. All in all, it's a very, very good read. Let's hope L.A. Meyer has more up his clever sleeves!