Reference Books - Page 4

Get Lost! The Cool Guide to Amsterdam

Joe Pauker, Joe Joe Pauker

List Price: $13.00 By: Get Lost Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $4.69

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Subjects -> Reference -> General
Subjects -> Reference -> General AAS
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Netherlands -> Amsterdam

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Well organized and not cluttered 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

A great guide for finding your way around Amsterdam. Unlike other guides, the descriptions and information are very opinionated and to the point--don't expect 12 page picture tours of museums. There is a decent section on "coffee houses" (High Times recommends Barney's), but very little attention is given to the oldest profession. Pauker does recommend some escort services that don't exploit women (for the socially conscious individual) and a few voyeuristic experiences such as live intercourse. And although this guide may be geared toward the college student or other individuals with similar tastes, the suggestions for breakfast, late night snacks, quick eats, shopping, and hanging-out in general will benefit even the most conservative traveler (though she'll probably be annoyed by the author's naive understanding of economics). Definitely worth the $10, though I recommend that you accompany this book with a mainstream detailed supplementary guide such as Frommer's, which also comes with a good map.

Editorial Review:

This ultimate listing of most underground places in Amsterdam is better than ever--completely revised and updated. For travelers who want to go beyond convention and sample real life in the world's hippest city, it lists bars, music clubs, cannabis cafes, movable restaurants and other enticing attractions that "Grandma's Guidebook" never considered. This legendary guidebook, written by an Amsterdam resident, leads alternative travelers to the real thing.

Toujours Provence

Peter Mayle

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Vintage Amazon Marketplace: 464 new & used starting at $0.01

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Subjects -> History -> Europe -> France -> General
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> France -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Affectionate Portrait of Provence 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Slowly, I'm working my way through Peter Mayle's books though these books could more rightly be described as his love letters to Provence.

Toujours Provence begins where his first book A Year In Provence ended. Now a seasoned resident of this region of France, he broadens his view to give us an affectionate portrait of the French in all their regional peculiarities.

At once amusing and educational, this book gives the reader the sense of what it would be like to see France as a resident, not a tourist.

I know I've entertained daydreams of living in France of Italy, at least for a summer. Mayle's books make me want to act upon that fantasy.

This book is my perfect choice for bedtime reading. Not because it's boring and makes me sleepy. Not because it's easy to put down when sleep calls. Reading this book is a calm interlude in my busy life. Mayle has a droll humor and a flair for understatement of the incongruous situations that develop. I find myself smiling, and I can feel the stress melting away.

Toujours Provence, like its predecessor A Year In Provence, is the perfect armchair vacation.

Editorial Review:

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Taking up where his beloved A Year in Provence leaves off, Peter Mayle offers us another funny, beautifully (and deliciously) evocative book about life in Provence. With tales only one who lives there could know—of finding gold coins while digging in the garden, of indulging in sumptuous feasts at truck stops—and with characters introduced with great affection and wit—the gendarme fallen from grace, the summer visitors ever trying the patience of even the most genial Provençaux, the straightforward dog "Boy"—Toujours Provence is a heart-warming portrait of a place where, if you can't quite "get away from it all," you can surely have a very good time trying.

Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home

Phil White, Carol White

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Rli Press Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $10.50

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Transportation -> RVs
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Boomers, Gen-Xers, Seniors and more everyone has a dream of that long trip that they ve had in the back of their mind. If so many dream it, why do so few do it?

Authors Phil and Carol White believe it is not only fear of the unknown, but more importantly, inertia. It takes a fair amount of thinking and planning to take off for an extended period says Carol, but the rewards of working through your issues and actually getting out of town to see our country or another place, will be with you forever. Don t wait for some other time start planning now.

The White s award-winning, how-to book, Live Your Road Trip Dream is now released in its second edition after a very successful three printings of the first edition. Due to the popularity of road tripping, but not just amongst the retired set, the White s have included expanded coverage of topics of interest to the younger generation.

Today s younger generations aren t waiting until retirement to hit the road says Phil, they want to do it now if they can figure out how. With our expanded sections on sabbaticals, working on the road and road-schooling for children, we ve covered many of the topics that we get asked about frequently.

And the Whites do get asked often. As National Spokespersons for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, they speak at such prestigious conferences as AARP s Life@50+, and attend national conventions like The Good Sam Club s Great North American RV Rally, and talk to the press frequently as experts on road tripping. The Whites are also frequent guests on TV and radio and have been featured speakers for AAA in their home state of Oregon.

Live Your Road Trip Dream is more than an inspiring adventure, more than an information-packed how-to guide to help you turn your personal travel dream into reality it is the ultimate handbook to turn your wanderlust into action.

Trans-Siberian Handbook (World Rail Guides)

Bryn Thomas, Athol Yates, Tatyana Pozar-Burgar

List Price: $17.95 By: Trailblazer Publications Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $1.93

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Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> Russia -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Preferable to the Lonely Planet guide. Indeed, one of the best travel guides I've ever encountered 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

For passengers on traveling on all or most of the Trans-Siberian Railway and visiting the cities along it, there are only two English-language travel guides. The Lonely Planet guide appeared in 2003 with a second edition in 2006, while Bryn Thomas updates his guide almost yearly and in 2007 it reached its seventh edition. I'm a two-time veteran of the Trans-Siberian, using the 1st edition of the Lonely Planet on the eastbound Trans-Manchurian route, and the 2nd edition on the eastbound Trans-Mongolian. When I recently discovered Bryn Thomas' guide in the local library, however, it struck me as the guide that I wish I had had on the trip.

The Lonely Planet guide and Thomas' have much in common. Both include a history of Russia in the Trans-Siberian era and general information about culture. They both give sightseeing guidance and lodging listings for the cities along the way. The LP sticks to the three traditional routes between Moscow and Beijing or Vladivostok, but Thomas has now added Yakutsk, soon to be accessible by rail) and other possible rail terminus cities like Prague and Hong Kong.

What makes Thomas' guide real special is his enthusiasm for the train journey itself. Unlike the LP guide, he gives timetables for the route, truly equipping the reader to prepare for the trip without having to look for too much information outside the book. Thomas discusses in detail the layout of carriages, specifics of what the carriage attendant can do for those under her charge, and things to look out for at kilometre markers along the way. The LP guide has little about the journey itself, and what little interesting information it did have in the first edition disappeared in the second.

Thomas' tone is also much more pleasant to read than in the common guidebooks for independent travelers. He doesn't try to sell you places you have already decided to visit with an overuse of words like "vibrant" and "spectacular". I also admire that he succeeds in writing for a general audience. While some of the accomodation listings are pricey, it doesn't feel like he is dismissing backpackers like certain sell-out guidebook lines.

I don't think I will ever travel the Trans-Siberian all the way again. While still fairly low considering the distance, fares are rising and I usually have the three free weeks needed to hitchhike from Europe to Ulan-Ude or Vladivostok. Nonetheless, I'd certainly recommend this to travelers planning a trip that is well-worth doing at least once.

Editorial Review:

This new edition of the guide to the world's longest rail journey is packed with practical information on planning the trip and booking tickets. Background information is also included on Siberia's infamous past and the history of the railway. 30 color photos.

Rick Steves' German Phrase Book & Dictionary

Rick Steves

List Price: $5.95 By: John Muir Pubns Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $4.83

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Foreign Language Fiction -> General AAS
Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> Foreign Language -> German
Subjects -> Reference -> Etiquette -> Conversation

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great, but one caveat 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a very useful phrase book, which i have used successfully in germany. it's fresh and fun, unlike other phrase books i have used. i very much agree with other reviewers: this is the best phrase book i have seen, of the 5 or 6 i have used. but, for me, the book is missing what i think could have easily been included: article and gender. the book doesn't list what article (the/a) goes with a noun (masculine, feminine, or neuter; der, die, das/ein, eine, ein). for those with no experience in german this lack may seem like no big deal. but article/gender plays a critical role in constructing sentences--adapting what rick steves provides--because word endings change according to gender.

Editorial Review:

From chatting with waiters about the house specialty to requesting a room with a view of the local castles, this commonsense phrase dictionary was written with the budget traveler in mind. It's the linguistic equivalent of a four-wheel drive to navigate through German, Austrian, and Swiss culture.

Pole to Pole With Michael Palin: North to South by Camel, River Raft, and Balloon (Companion to the Pbs Series)

Michael Palin, Basil Pao

List Price: $18.95 By: Bay Books Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $0.01

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Subjects -> Science -> Earth Sciences -> Geography -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Michael Palin opens the world. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

What can one say about Mr. Palin and his enlighting series of discovery and adventure. Pole to Pole and Around The World In 80 Days were the eye opening quests that brought a new look at adventure and the world around us. I first saw these at University and just new I wanted to see the world as Mr. Palin has. Which I now have. He takes the journeys beyond the documentary range of The National Geographic. His, take things as they come and if it can go wrong it mostly likely will, coupled with his wonderful sense of humor. Can only lead one to smile and laugh. His style taught me the value of adventure and that all folks are just folks. Give respect and most of the time you get respect in return. Thanks to this gentleman the world is a little closer. Enjoy Pole to Pole and go see for yourself. It's all an adventure. Thank you Mr. Palin

Editorial Review:

In the tie-in to the Spring PBS series, the British actor details his adventures around the world as he and his film crew travel logitudinally from North Pole to South Pole. Original. TV tie-in. 25,000 first printing. IP.

Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide to Venice (Eyewitness Travel Top 10)

DK Publishing

Amazon Price: $9.60 List Price: $12.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: DK Travel Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $2.55

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great to carry on the go 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

My wife and I love the Top 10 series. We always buy a Frommers or Rick Steves book for the trip's planning, but the Top 10 is a must for the trip itself. It'll fit in a pocket (a long one), and will provide quick and easy references to the most important sights, as well as maps and public transportation routes.

Take this with you! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is ideal in many ways. Read it before you travel - it reviews all of the highlights that you'll want to see while in Venice. It also explains and diagrams the public transportation system, a useful thing to know in advance of your arrival.
This book is a great size to take along while touring the Venice area. I referred to it often because navigating Venice can be a lot like trying to find your way around a labyrinth!
A nice feature of this book is that it cross-references topics in a variety of ways. If you want to see sights in a certain geographic area, you can look things up that way. However, if you have a special interest, like churches, art galleries, or whatever, the book is organized so that you can easily look up your specific interest and locate the sights you want to see throughout Venice. The book lists the entrance fees to the major attractions, as well as the days and times when they open and close.
Another nice feature of this book is the variety of historical information it contains on all manner of things Venetian - from gondolas to glass blowing. My husband and I used this book on our first trip to Venice and truly found it invaluable. I highly recommend it.

Phaidon Atlas Of Contemporary World Architecture: Travel Edition

Editors of Phaidon Press, Phaidon Press Inc.

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Phaidon Press Amazon Marketplace: 54 new & used starting at $9.55

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Museums & Collections -> Museums -> Exhibition Catalogs -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> General AAS
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> International -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture, Travel Edition presents all of the best works of architecture completed in the last five years in an ultra-convenient mini-format, perfect for the holiday or business traveller. Each of the 1,052 projects from the comprehensive edition are included with a single image per building and a short text to help the traveller recognise it. The project entry gives the name of each building and its architect, the location, and the address, if visitable, as well as the telephone number, where appropriate. There is also a system to indicate which projects are open to the public. In addition to the forty two regional maps from the comprehensive edition, there are an additional 27 new city maps which locate the buildings in more built up areas The book provides a unique opportunity to visit 1,052 works of contemporary architecture in all parts of the world, from the Arctic Circle to the African deserts and beyond. The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture, Travel Edition is an essential companion on the travels of all those interested in gaining a first hand understanding of contemporary architecture around the world.

Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Language Survival Kit)

Kam Y. Lau

List Price: $5.95 By: Lonely Planet Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $2.99

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Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> Foreign Language -> Japanese
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A must buy 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I found this very easy to understand, as did my husband who had no prior knowledge of the Japanese language. I read it many times before our trip, in order to remember important basic words.
We referred to it many times during our trip, and it was very usefull. I would suggest everyone purchase it.
Its small size is also great, easy to put in a pocket, backpack or handbag.

I was able to communicate!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I feel this book is not only usefull for comunication with other people during my travel but also very well prepare to be user friendly. It was exellent in my trip to Japan have it with me.

Very good in the beginning, but after that, it's ok 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Just like I said. The first part of this phrasebook helps you understand grammar, small phrases, and many words, but after that it just tells you a lot of the things like sentences and more questions and answers.

I recommend this if you are travelling, but if you are just trying to learn the language, I would not recommend it because it's hard to remember all of the questions, answers, and phrases it contains from about the 1/4 to the end of the book.

But it was really good in explaining grammar, pronouns, and many other things. So buy it if you want.

Editorial Review:

For those interested in learning to speak basic Japanese, this guide introduces all the important phrases one needs during common situations. Ideal for both vacationers and business travelers, Japanese Phrasebook includes sections on greetings, accommodations, small talk, getting around the city and country, shopping and more.

Rick Steves' Spanish Phrase Book and Dictionary

Rick Steves

Amazon Price: $7.95 List Price: $7.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Avalon Travel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $1.72

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Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> English (British)
Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> Foreign Language -> Spanish
Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great little phrase book 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This phrase book was a great resource. My Spanish is okay, but not stellar, and this book gave me the extra that I needed to feel comfortable with my spoken Spanish. When I needed to know how to say something, I was always able to either find it, or piece it together from this book. The organization of the book made sense to me, making it easy to find what I was looking for as quickly as possible.

Editorial Review:

From ordering tapas in Madrid to making new friends in Costa del Sol, it helps to speak some of the native tongue. Rick Steves, bestselling author of travel guides to Europe, offers well-tested phrases and key words to cover every situation a traveler is likely to encounter. This handy guide provides key phrases for use in everyday circumstances, complete with phonetic spelling; an English-Spanish and Spanish-English dictionary; the latest information on European currency and rail transportation, and even a tear-out cheat sheet for continued language practice as you wait in line at the Guggenheim Bilbao. Informative, concise, and practical, Rick Steves' Spanish Phrase Book and Dictionary is an essential item for any traveler's mochila.