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Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia 1692 reviews
Elizabeth Gilbert
Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007
Eat, Pray, Love
The book is excellent, and a good read that's hard to put down. Elizabeth Gilbert did and excellent job in sharing her journey to get closer with God, in this book. This book has change my views on the day to day stressors and how I handled them. My development with God has truly been changed in reading this book, I have found God to be so wonderful and exciting and my life has truly changed for ...
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Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes 1 review
Maurice Isserman, Stewart Weaver
Yale University Press, 2008
The Age Of Adventure
Mountain climbing has always had a last frontier quality. The race to the North and South Poles ended in the early 1900's, Africa and South America were explored by the 1930's, leaving the Himalayan Mountains as the last challenge for adventure. Mr. Isserman and Mr. Weaver has written a comprehensive history of the conquests of the world's highest peaks. Starting from the competitive nationalist ...
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Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar 20 reviews
Paul Theroux
Houghton Mifflin, 2008
ghost train to the eastern star
Anyone who enjoyed Paul Theroux's "The Great Raiway Bazaar" will find this book a faszinating read.In his attempt to retrace the train journey he undertook more than 30 years ago we learn about the great changes Europe and Asia have undergone ,and the changes he himself experienced in that time.His great curiosity and eye for detail make him the most interesting and -in my opinion -the greatest ...
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Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips 24 reviews
National Geographic
National Geographic, 2007
Well worth the price!
This book was purchased as a gift for someone who travels around the world. I was not disappointed! The quality of the book is great! The pictures are beautiful. There were so many different suggestions of places to travel. I was very satisfied!
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The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World81 reviews
Eric Weiner
Twelve, 2008
A very funny grump, if he insists on calling himself a grump!
Excellent writing. I loved every chapter and giggled when he unexpectedly whipped in an amusing quote, a witty word, or added his funny explanatory words in parentheses. I loved his descriptions. Had the fortune of traveling some of the places and thoroughly enjoyed his insights, saying ahhhhhh to myself when he again hit the nail right on the head. My two favorites were the chapters on Iceland ...
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Rediscovering God in America: Reflections on the Role of Faith in Our Nation's History78 reviews
Newt Gingrich
Thomas Nelson, 2006
Great History Teacher!!
We really are impressed with this tour thru History! Bought it so our grandchildren would always be able to hear truth as our educational systems are changing true history!
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In a Sunburned Country402 reviews
Bill Bryson
Broadway, 2001
Great intro to Australia and Australians
I read this book on the way to Sydney a couple of years ago at the beginning of a project assignment which called for me to spend about six weeks there. I enjoyed the author's writing style much more than a typical travel book. However, despite the light tone and the many humorous anecdotes, I found that Mr. Bryson really did effectively capture a "feel" for the culture. Time and again, as I ...
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State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America17 reviews
Matt Weiland, Sean Wilsey
Ecco, 2008
pleasure to the arm chair traveler
As I suspect most will when they first pick up this book, I turned to the state I know best. There I found no reference to anything I remember about the state where I grew up. It was much more interesting. I grew up in Jackson County Missouri. All of the "Missouri" chapter is about the changes in St. Louis during the last 20 years or so invigorated by a growing community of refugees from ...
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A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World36 reviews
Tony Horwitz
Henry Holt and Co., 2008
journey long and strange
great research and well written. Our children should be doing this history reviews, if not through this book then through other text books. It is time to change our view of North American History.
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A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail66 reviews
Bill Bryson
Anchor, 2006
Great for all ages
My entire family - adults and teenagers, thoroughly enjoyed this book. We even took us with it when we went back east and my daughter INSISTED that we find a portion of the AT so that we could get a feel for the trail. We found it in PA and walked it for about an hour. Bill, thanks for sharing all of your adventures!
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China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power58 reviews
Rob Gifford
Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008
True through not flattering picture of China
The author has painted a sympathetic picture of China, more realistic of the existent problems facing billions of Chinese people, instead of sticking to the useless ideological issues like social system, etc. The book tells readers the best things that the government has done regarding human rights is to make sure billions of people are free from cold and starvation. People do not need empty ...
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Shadow of the Silk Road (P.S.)23 reviews
Colin Thubron
Harper Perennial, 2008
Love World Cultures
I am actually only half way through this book. I became interested in travel writings after reading all of Ryszard Kapuscinski's reportage/diaries, also a world traveler who writes with exquisite decorum. I enjoy objective, beautifully written prose which is the flavor I find in Colin Thubron's book. I like his humanity, curiosity, and tolerance of the people he meets. This book will transcend ...
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The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific100 reviews
J. Maarten Troost
Broadway, 2004
THE ULTIMATE IN A TRAVEL BOOK
I would not advise the reader to travel to Kiribati, but the book is a must read for those who've never really left their comfort zone in the U.S. The author paints a beautiful picture of the riveting blue ocean, the palm trees, the colors of the sunset. But he also paints a vivid portrait of a land that the world has forgotten; the terrible conditions that the natives endure daily, the lack of ...
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The Places In Between153 reviews
Rory Stewart
Harvest Books, 2006
Outstanding Must Read book
This is an extraordinary book. How many people do you know who would set off alone on foot across Afghanistan just after 9/11 armed with a stick? I had just read Three Cups of Tea so it was not unlikely for me to gravitate to this book, after seeing Rory on a CNN interview. What I did not expect was the sheer grit of the book and the man. This is not a comfortable book to read. It's a highly ...
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One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey (Annivers102 reviews
Sam Keith, Richard Proenneke
Alaska Northwest Books, 2003
Very inspiring book
Excellent book to read. I believe everyone will enjoy this and the story of this amazing person. Easy to read diary-like story of Dick Proenneke's 16-month life alone in a beautiful wilderness of Alaska. Page by page you'll be thrilled to continue on reading and it even gets better at the end. You'll probably stand up and clap your hands to this amazing man.
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Quiet Corners of Paris13 reviews
Jean-Christophe Napias
Little Bookroom, 2007
Not your usual Paris sights
A friend gave us this book before we left for a month's visit to Paris. We had been there, done that three times before, so we welcomed a guide to the kinds of places we had overlooked on previous visits. This book accomplished that. We visited more than half of the places and enjoyed almost all of them immensely.
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Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance3 reviews
Mark Richardson
Knopf, 2008
Sweet, well-written. Insightful
Saw the author speak at his first book event last night, purchased the book there, and stayed up all night reading it. Like many, I know now, I couldn't get through Zen and the Art.. during my first read as a teenager. I also didn't know the author was from St. Paul (where I live). This book gives great insight into Pirsig, but also into Richardson.
It's so well written and, by it's very ...
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Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S.)24 reviews
Peter Hessler
Harper Perennial, 2007
Cannot Recommend This Book Highly Enough
This is an excellent book that should be read by anyone curious about present-day China and the economic juggernaut that they have become. The author looks at their situation not from the macro side (the big picture - China's economy is thus and thus, growing from this to that in X amount of time, etc.) but rather he looks at it from the micro side: through the stories of everyday folks who are ...
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Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America53 reviews
Lynne Cheney
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2006
Geography & History
Teachers will love this book! It puts facts into a child's perspective
instead of just memorizing facts.
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Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most ...23 reviews
J. Maarten Troost
Broadway, 2008
Witty and informative - great book!
I have been a fan of Maarten Troost's funny, informative writing style since his first book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which up to now had been my favorite book of his. Lost on Planet China has now taken that spot. I haven't traveled to China and so have no first-hand knowledge of the country; my learnings are limited to friends and associates who have taken packaged tours. I truly enjoyed ...
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