5 comments about Travels with Charley in Search of America: (Centennial Edition).

1. (4.5 stars) When John Steinbeck obeys a life-long urge to drive from coast to coast in 1960, he little anticipates the variety of the "American experience." Beginning in Maine and traveling along the northern states through Wisconsin, the Badlands, Montana, and all places in between, to Washington and Oregon, Steinbeck then decides to visit his childhood community of Salinas, in northern California. After meeting with friends there, though many have died, he then drives southward through the length of California and then eastward through the southwest desert to Texas, Louisiana, and eventually up to Virginia before returning to New York.
   
   Carrying the reader along with him as he reconstructs this journey for publication in 1962, Steinbeck observes people and human nature, being careful not to draw conclusions about an entire area based on the individuals he meets along the way. Often it is their reactions to Charley, his aging standard poodle, which stimulates their conversations and allows Steinbeck glimpses of their thinking and ways of life. From the terminally gloomy waitress in Maine to the evil-looking mechanic in Oregon (who turns out to be the kindest and most generous of men), Steinbeck explores attitudes toward life (and strangers). Steinbeck's high school buddy (who almost comes to blows with him) shows him that you really can't go home again, and "the cheerleaders" of New Orleans, a group of white-supremacist women who taunt and scream obscenities at a tiny black girl integrating one of their schools, shows him how much work the human race still has left to do.
   
   As he travels in his truck with a house attached to its bed (a pre-camper invention), he notes the changing landscape, the disappearance of treasured aspects of the environment, and the growth of new trends--including the increasing popularity of the mobile home and the contemporary loss of "roots." He is genuinely frightened by the Badlands, until night falls, when it becomes beautiful. He adores Montana, and he hurries through the almost blank southwestern desert where he learns something new about shooting. Though Steinbeck gets tired of travel before the end of the trip, he still manages to record signal moments which resonate with the reader.
   
   What elevates this book especially is the glimpses it gives of Steinbeck himself, a far more upbeat man than one would expect from novels like Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath. His observations of life in the early 1960s capture the country at pivotal moments of history--the time of Sen. John Kennedy and freedom rides. In this respect, Steinbeck creates a time capsule for future generations and a picture of himself that lovers of his writing will treasure. n Mary Whipple
   
   Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition)
   John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography



2. In this book, John Steinbeck shows patriotism at its best. He travels through the United States, and experiences all the beauties of this nation in a marvellous way. He shows no arrogance as he appreciates his homeland. Instead, he shows this nation's beauty and riches in an amicable way, and invites others to travel and experience the beauty of this nation. The hymn "America The Beautiful" comes to the reader's mind.



3. TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY gives us a chance to move to an up-close-and-personal position with the aloof, John Steinbeck, At the age of 60 in the fall of 1960. Steinbeck acquired a primitive pickup-style recreational vehicle, packed up a few belongings, and loaded his faithful poodle. He drove throughout the United States to reconnect with the inhabitants of the nation.
   
   Like any other tourist who travels too far too fast, he was unable to see everything, and he skimmed over many details in his tale. He delineated some of his stops in sufficient detail. Most of the travel log is a glazed-over account.
   
   Steinbeck wrote with the voice of a mature senior citizen, who was disappointed with much of what he saw in the nation. When I first read this book, I was in college. Now that I am in the age group of Steinbeck when he wrote it, I wonder what he would think of our nation today. He showed some of the good, such as the idyllic farms with friendly people, and some of the bad, such as people who were prejudiced and unkind. I believe if he could see our country today he would find something positive. He always expressed trust in the underlying goodness of our people.



4. In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck is on a journey to discover if he still knows the country he memorializes in almost all of his other works. Steinbeck manages to express in this memoir of his journey through America a whole host of emotions that many of us still feel today, a conflicting love for our country and disgust with our countrymen, appreciation for our past and worries about what we have become. Like all of his best works, the writing is natural, warm, and often funny. This is a beautiful book that captures America, both the good and the bad, in it's pages.



5. Steinbeck's Travels with Charley was his last book I believe. This is a memoir of John Steinbeck's drive from Long Island, New York to the tip of Maine to California and back to Long Island. Of course it's well written, as you'd expect from any Nobel Prize winner in Literature, but it also captures that turbulent time in the early 1960s when Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to achieve Civil Rights and Khrushchev was banging his shoe in the United Nations.

5 comments about Buffalo Before Breakfast (Magic Tree House #18).

1. Would you ever want to be chased by a big buffalo? I read a book about two kids that did. It is called Buffalo Before Breakfast by Mary Pope Osborne. This book is about a boy named Jack, a girl named Annie and a dog named Teddy. They travel back in time. This story is also about the buffalo and Native Americans. This is a really cool book. One of my favorite parts is when they saw a huge heard of buffalo. I also liked this book because I am a child and I would like to travel back in time. In this book I think that the author wants to share what Native Americans used to do. You should read this book to see if Jack and Annie, along with Teddy, get back to their own time!



2. Magic Treehouse books have been an excellent incentive for my 6 year old to read. At first I was reading them all to him, now he's reading them for himself. They are the perfect combination of adventure, education, and danger! This particular one is one of his favorites.



3. My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!



4. I hated this book!!!! It's just about 2 kids and they wonder from place to place. This book is about Jack and Annie who go to the native times. It's not that interesting. But the series is that they just have to point to the book cover and say " I wish we could go there". Then the tree house teleports to the same place. There is a woman named Morgan who sends them there to find things like ( the four M's. Or 4 gifts). Then of course there going to find it and return home but....... when they come home time hasn't changed a bit. They go home and sleep. If you want to read the worst book ever in the world pick up this book today and you'll hate it. But if you want a good book then pick up " Magic Tree House #32" or anyother book in the "30's".



5. My four year old son is in love with this chapter series! A friend suggested it to us since he seemed ready for a more advanced reading material at bedtime. My husband reads him a chapter every night...sometimes more because they don't want to stop. It's become a great tradition for them, and something they both look forward to. We love that there are so many in the collection! Start with number 1 and just continue. :)

5 comments about Hamburger America: One Man's Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation [DVD].

1. I first saw Motz's documentary Hamburger America (which is included with the book) and was amazed on how he captured more than just places that serve a mean hamburger. Every place he went in the film gave you a look at different types of Americans, their history, their future and all held together by the love of America's favorite food. The book builds upon that. Each entry is written with admiration for the burger, the restaurant and the people that cook them. By visiting different cities, cultures, races, and histories of the many burger joints in this book, Motz is able to bring them altogether on one theme: they all make a great burger. And isn't that what America is about? This hodgepodge of cultures in one place looking for the dream, can all be united by ground beef in a bun. Forget the mass produced fast food chains. It's the local mom and pops, diners, decades old places that Americans hold true to their heart. It was written that if you don't claim your hometown greasy spoon as serving the best burger, then you're a wimp. Well this book covers many of those hometown favorites. Even if you do not especially like hamburgers, this book is essential for reading on American folk-life and its wonderful people.



2. More American than Pizza and the Hot Dog, is the Hamburger. "Hamburger America: A State-by-State Guide to 100 Great Burger Joints" is a guide to finding the simply the best burger one could find in any corner of the country in any state of the union. Covering these burger joints who have stood strong against the juggernauts of McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy's, on the sheer quality of their food alone. Enhanced with a full color map reflecting the locations of these burger joints across the nation and a accompanying DVD, "Hamburger America: A State-by-State Guide to 100 Great Burger Joints" is highly recommended for any lover of the hamburger who also loves traveling.



3. this book was really fun to read and so much information about the best hamburger places in the country. Makes you hungry the minute you start flipping through it. The DVD that came with it was a great bonus and very entertaining. This is a great buy.



4. I love this book! I've been obsessed with Hamburger America since I saw the documentary on the Sundance Channel. The documentary makes most of the content tackling similar subjects on the Travel Channel, Food Network, History Channel, etc., seem like insipid, dumbed-down crap. It is beautiful to watch the small-time, low-key purveyors of American tradition talk about the simplicity of what they do. The book is a great read, with beautiful photographs and loving tributes to a vanishing America that's rapidly becoming standardized, corporate-ized,bland-ized, Wal-Martized, Starbucksized, Bush-ized, and stupid-ized. I keep it on my bedside.
   
   I am tempted to take off a star because this sampling of American tradition was actually printed IN CHINA! Nothing against the Chinese, but this seems sad, in a way.
   
   Reading the book and watching the video makes me hungry, but if you eat enough of this stuff, it will probably kill you.



5. I got this book for my husband for Father's Day. He has been on a little search of his own for the best burgers around. He loves the book and we can't wait to try some of these on our travels this summer.

5 comments about The Devil's Arithmetic (Puffin Modern Classics).

1. I used this as a literature circle book for my 6th graders. You could have heard a pin drop whenever it was read silently, and students had a hard time not reading ahead when they needed to stop. It is a traumatic story, but one that needs to be told. It brought up a wealth of questions from students. The Holocaust is a difficult subject, no matter how it is told. As a parent, I will have my children read it, but with guidance so I am there to answer their questions about this horrible event in history. Jane Yolen is truly amazing.



2. I absolutely could not put this down. I highly recommend it for young readers who are wondering about this event in our history.



3. Hannah has better things to do that spend the annual Seder listening to her grandparents go on about the Holocaust. However, when she is chosen to perform the ritual of opening the door to welcome the prophet Elijah, she is transported back to Poland in the 1940s. Everyone calls her Chaya and she begins to forget about her life as Hannah. It isn't long before Nazis take the small community to a concentration camp. While there, Chaya/Hannah becomes friends with Rivka, a 10-year-old girl who has lost everyone in her family except her brother. Rivka teaches Chaya and her friends the best ways to survive the horrors of the camp. However, no one is ever safe in the camps.
   
   Writing about the Holocaust for children is especially difficult, given the disturbing subject matter and lack of reason. Yolen's book is able to portray the insanity of life in the concentration camps while also showing how survivors maintained their individuality. Hannah/Chaya's voice is wellwritten and, by having Hannah lose herself in Chaya's life, Yolen creates a sense of suspense. Readers will learn about the Holocaust from Hannah's experiences, but will also learn about the importance of remembrance.



4. THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC by Jane Yolen is required reading at my school, as it is in many middle/junior high schools across the country. I've been meaning to read it for several years but never did, until my son read it this year as an eighth grader. He insisted I read it. How could I resist that?
   
   Hannah is celebrating Passover Seder with her family. It's the same thing every year. Grandpa will get all worked up over old photos on TV, shaking his fist, screaming about the numbers on his arm, and Aunt Eva will calm him down as she always does, laying a hand on his arm, leading the same old Jewish prayers as Hannah mumbles along. But this year will be different. Hannah's brother, Aaron, will get to hide the afikoman, Hannah will get to taste real wine, and then she'll get to open the door to symbolically welcome in the prophet Elijah.
   
   But when she opened that door, she had no idea just how different this year's celebration would be.
   
   Instead of seeing the hallway in front of her as she expected, she sees a man coming her way, crossing a field. Confused, she turns back to her family and instead sees a strange woman, dressed even more strangely, kneading dough on a wooden table. Hannah's confusion grows as she hears herself referred to as Chaya, and discovers that these two people believe themselves to be her Aunt Gitl and Uncle Shmuel. More unbelievably, they talk about her parents' deaths, and that she herself had nearly died, sick for weeks.
   
   Feeling like she's in a dream she can't wake up from, she finds herself pulled into wedding festivities, which includes walking to a nearby village for the celebration. There, her dream turns into a nightmare. Hannah is slowly disappearing as Chaya is loaded onto trucks with the other villagers. Then, later, they are prodded like cattle aboard boxed railroad cars with no ventilation, and they travel, standing, for four days and nights without food or bathrooms. What follows is days, weeks, maybe months, in a Jewish concentration camp.
   
   Jane Yolen's telling of the Holocaust is chilling. She gathered information from survivors, those heroes who remember so that the atrocities of the past will never happen again. Ms. Yolen writes in her final pages to the reader, "That heroism - to resist being dehumanized, to simply outlive one's tormentors, to practice the quiet, everyday caring for one's equally tormented neighbors. To witness. To remember. These were the only victories of the camps."
   
   This book is incredibly powerful. The way Ms. Yolen weaves the past and present together forces the reader to make personal connections. She makes the reader think and ask questions. How could society have allowed such a thing to happen? And, more importantly, how can we assure that it will never happen again? I truly hope THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC will remain required reading in schools. Each new generation must bear the weight of those lost souls upon their heart. They must believe that such devastating events can, and did, happen. Only in believing and remembering can we move forward to a better society.
   
   Thank you, Ms. Yolen, for this riveting and thought-provoking book.
   
   Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger



5. The Devil's Arithmetic is a remarkable book about a horrid event in our history. For naysayers, it provides a mountain of evidence that must be heralded. For the rest of us, it is a reminder that we must in fact remember the atrocities of the Holocaust so that they are not repeated.
   
   Yolen weaves together the tales of Hannah/Chaya in this historically fictional book. Hannah, a modern-day teenager, is 'tired of remembering'. Her family's rituals at Passover bore her and like any typical teen, would rather hang out with friends. That is, until she is chosen during the ritual, to open the door to Elijah the Prophet. When she does, she steps back in time and morphs into Chaya, a young girl who eventually is sent to one of the dreaded concentration camps. While Hannah/Chaya stuggles with the reconciliation of what she knows from the future and what she is living in 1942, the horrors of the Holocaust and Hitler's Final Solution surround her.
   
   If this is not required reading at your school, it most certainly should be. I know I will be recommending it to my students when we return to school in August.

5 comments about One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey.

1. This is a must have for any handyman, outdoorsman, alaska lover, etc. You will be amazed by what this man does and the age he does it at!



2. I read this book cover to cover in less than two days - it's excellent!



3. Sometimes you have to do what you need to do solo to get what you want from life. An inspirational journey into ones limits and dreams.



4. This book is great! As close to the wilderness as you can get. If you find you can never make it to Alaska, read this and you can say how close you were.



5. This book is written "by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Richard Proenneke" - so although I read it and visualized the events within as if it had all been written by Richard Proenneke, it wasn't. Sam Keith tells us in the preface: "Using Dick Proenneke's rough journals as a guide, and knowing him as well as I did, I have tried to get into his mind and reveal the "flavor" of the man. This is my tribute to him, a celebration of his being in tune with his surroundings and what he did alone with simple tools and ingenuity in carving his masterpiece out of the beyond."
   
   I've seen the PBS presentation of "Alone in the Wilderness", which uses selections from the text of this book along with movie footage of Proenneke building his cabin and living there. Those selections are read by someone other than Proenneke, but the voice is a perfect fit to the text and image. Because the text is not exactly Proenneke's and the voice of the video isn't his either, our experience of the man is filtered though these interpreations. Sam Keith hasn't shown us any unedited examples from the "rough journals" he used to compose the book, so it's difficult to know how far this beautifully crafted language matches the character and psychology of Richard Proenneke.
   
   It is an extraordinary book and was a great pleasure to read. I recommend it without reservation.

5 comments about the Next EXIT (The Next Exit).

1. My husband and I love this book. We travel in the winter and find this to be so helpful as we travel on interstates mostly. There are no guesses as to what's at an exit. We know!! We had a 2000 version and found we needed to get the newer book. It's an invaluable tool.



2. It's a shame that other BETTER interstate travel guides are out-of-print and thus not 'updated', such as the original "The Next Exit Guide: North Atlantic Region." The Next Exit Guide: North Atlantic Region was much more advanced-ahead of its time, organized by interstate rather than by state, had boat loads more information (contact, phone #, points of interest, etc). Even with some non-updated information, I find it still is better. And then I use this book as a backup for changes.



3. We just came back from vacation, this book came in very handy when we wanted to settle in for the night. We would look to see if the hotel we wanted was at that exit and what restaurants were around it.



4. Purchased this book just before our month long cross-country trip (May 9 - June 7) towing our 18' travel trailer. It was very helpful. Second would be Trailer Life, Woodall's and finally AAA Tour Books.
   Read the reviews before purchase, had no trouble using the information whatever direction we were going. After all, it's not rocket science or brain surgery.



5. Do not travel without this book, unless you have time to waste looking for places to refuel your car, your stomach, or your backsides. dbw

5 comments about The Best Things to Do in New York City: 1001 Ideas.

1. Do you marvel at how sometimes, a complete foreigner knows more about your city than you ever cared to know? I have lived on the outskirts of Manhattan for my entire life: Brooklyn, Queens, and mostly Long Island. However, I made many frequent forays into Manhattan on the weekends, and I considered myself not the complete tyro regarding the nooks, crannies, and interesting activities that 'The City' had to offer. This book was recommended to me by a Russian immigrant, who had come to New York 10 years prior. I often marveled at all the interesting places she went, and how she knew so many good places to eat. It turns out that this is the secret! Although some of the 1001 ideas are very touristy, the vast majority are applicable to even native New Yorkers. So far I've had free hot dogs with my pints of red beer, had the strongest shots I've ever had (watermelon-flavored too!), spent more on one meal than I usually spend in one month, and I plan on doing so much more. This book doesn't only give you interesting things to do and see, it also stokes your curiosity to discover things on your own. I'm not a great reviewer, but I want to get across the point that I did thoroughly enjoy this book, and I plan on checking off the vast majority of things listed!



2. This book is right, the things to do in New York are endless. My family and I have made many trips to New York, everytime we go we find something new to do. I enjoyed taking my daughter to see the Rockettes at Christmas time and then taking her on a carriage ride. Last Thanksgiving we went to see the Macy's Day Parade and it was incredible. Always something exciting to do in the Big Apple. Read the book and then take your family on a new adventure!!
   
   Billy Wannyn



3. I got this books as a gift for someone and it looked good but there were no pictures and everything just seemed the same.



4. I bought this for my sister based 100% on these reviews. She loved the book and is very excited to start trying some of these activities. She lives in Queens but works in the city and is always looking for new things to do...this book helps her take advantage of all NYC has to offer.



5. I purchased this book for a friend who has a daughter going to school in NYC. She and her husband were visiting their daughter quite often and I thought this book would help them discover fun things to do in the city. Their reviews have been great and this book has been a real resource. I would purchase again for travelers to NYC.

5 comments about Zagat 2008 New York City Restaurants (Zagatsurvey).

1. Where would we be without Zagat? I don't always agree with their reviews, but it's somewhere to start. After you read the review you can always check out the web site. If anything the reviews are more critical than they need to be. I have never been disappointed.



2. This book is awesome!! If you like to go out to eat and try new things this is the book to help guide you. I get one every year and use it all the time. I recommend this book to anyone who goes out to eat in NYC!



3. i have been to new york city several times and always consult my zagat guide. it has never let me down! i would not dream of not going without it!



4. If you are planning to take a trip to New York City, be certain that you have the latest copy of Zagat's with you. It will totally enhance your dining experience. don't leave home without it.



5. Everyone who wants to eat well in NYC needs a Zagat guide. It lists almost every kind of cuisine, price level and restaurant location in the city. The reviewers are people just like you and me, they like to eat and they are willing to share their experiences. If you are visiting NYC for the first time, or for the 20th time, you need this book.

5 comments about Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers.

1. This book is awesome! The maps are at first difficult to understand but after flipping through a couple of them are actually exactly what you need. The information provided is excellent and points out things to not miss in every state. Look forward to using it on my Route 66 Journey.



2. I purchased "Route 66: EZ66 Guide For Travelers, I think mainly because of the spiral binding which it advertized would be easy to lay open as one was driving the road. I would say that was a plus. I drove the road with my wife from Ash Fork, AZ to Barstow, CA. It was a lot of fun and the EZ66 Guide was integral to the trip. It had larger section maps of the journey and smaller detail maps of tricky stretches. It's narratives provided valuable background information about each town along the way and fun descriptions like the berm between Essex and Amboy Calif where travelers have left messages using rocks and bottles, and the shoe tree near Amboy. Since this book was written in 2005 and 'bra' tree has now appeared down the road from the shoe tree. Fun stuff. I highly recommend this book for anyone planning a trip down the Mother Road.



3. I am planning a Route 66 trip - back to the 50"s and 60"s.
   
   Thanks for the book and the info in the book
   
   Jayne



4. Lots of information on what to see an do along Route 66. Maps are a little hard to follow.



5. We could not have followed route 66 without this book. Our vacation was absolutely wonderful and we stayed on the original route most of the way.

5 comments about The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir.

1. Anyone born in the 50's can relate to the experiences of Bill Bryson. I began reading this book on an airplane and was laughing so hard, the people around me were smiling. Bill Bryson uses excellent humor to bring his story to life. You feel as though you know him or someone like him. Memories of my own childhood came flooding back. Excellent read. Never dull.



2. Bill Bryson writes of bygone days during his middle-America, middle-class childhood in the 1950's. Many hilarious vignettes sparkle, including "the toidy jar," getting permission from the teacher to go to the bathroom (Number 1 or Number 2??) and his friend Willoughby who ran the scan involving bugs and pond water in his restaurant food to get free meals.
   
   There were times I was doubled over in laughter. You may get a few belly laughs too, especially if you grew up in the 1950's.



3. There are over 200 reviews for this book that attest to really how good it is.
   
   What's most enjoyable is that if you lived during the 50s, Bryson has brought back to you many of the memories all of us enjoyed. This book is laugh-out-loudable while tickling your memory. If you enoy Jean Sheppard and his tales (A Christmas Story), then you are guaranteed to enjoy the Thunderbolt Kid. I was there wish there was a sequal... there certainly was back in the day!!



4. As I finished this amazing book Des Moines made the news by flooding today. Even though I have never been to Iowa, I felt sad due to having just read this memoir of Bill Bryson's who is from Des Moines. This is a wonderful valentine to Iowa and to Bill's childhood growing up in Des Moines. It is so funny that you will find yourself laughing so hard and so loud. I was born the same year as Bryson and could relate to everything he recalls while growing up in the strange world of the 1950's. He brings back what a very strange time the 50's were. How did we ever become such an interesting generation after a decade of jello,black and white westerns on TV,Dick and Jane books, sci-fi badly made movies and a long list of ridiculousness that our parents and government held up as rules for the good life in America. Bryson's talent of looking at things that at first seem funny(ha-ha) but underneath those events or things lie a lurking dark side of reality that is anything but funny.



5. I was very fortunate to grow up in this period in a small town. It was amazing that the kids in Iowa were doing the SAME dumb stuff as we did in Texas. I had the electric football game and never could figure out how to have fun with it. We went to the local fair and got into the stripper tent at age 15 (true). The stripper in Texas was probably on a circuit that went to Iowa. All in all, a fun book to read for anyone of that era. All the buildings are now gone, but the memories still remain. Bill did a great job bringing those back to life.