Directories Books

As is typical of his work, Don O'Briant has filled his latest book with humor, insight, creativity and accurate information. He's a well-known Atlanta journalist and has a reporter's discerning eye. But he's also a philosopher and a warm and sympathetic observer of the human condition. Gratefully, his restaurant reviews aren't like other people's. You feel like you're really there and can experience for yourself the people, smells and sights he describes. The inclusion of comments by notable Southernors is an original and effective device. You can tell that he is a down-to-earth (but incredibly observant) person who genuinely likes the places he went and the people he met. And, best of all, he's a great judge of food. Zagat, take notice! I recommend the book highly.

I have used this book extensively in my travels throughout the South. In fact, I have planned some of my trips so that I can sample the delicious food found at the country cafes recommended by the author. My only complaint would be that the author has not come forth with a second book; I have some nominees for him!

Found out about the book - People to People, Poland - by accident. Before we left England on a tramp steamer I phoned a fellow mentioned in the book from Gdansk who offered such hospitality to my self and my friend. We were accepted as guests by his family for two days. Without the book we wouldn't have met some splendid people and wouldn't have had our eyes opened to their warmth and generosity. This experience has been repeated time and again.

I knew I would be going to Lithuania for a dance festival that occurs every 4 years. This was the first time (in 1994) since the country was returned to freedom from behind the Iron Curtain. It was also the first time my mother returned after 50 years! I picked a few people from different cities based on a few characteristics listed in the book: age, what they like to do, and how much Enlish they knew (my Lithuania is quite basic). My longest pen-pal, now friend, have been corresponding for years. She invited me to stay in her empty flat for all three weeks! She even met us at the airport when we arrived with an armload of flowers - a big tradition in the eastern bloc countries. She showed us many places, we met with her family, we went to her beach house on the opposite side of the country. I visited other people I met in the book in other towns. One person gave me ideas of places to go, another I met in the town where my mother grew up. My mother and I met up with some relatives of ours in other towns, went driving to many smaller places and really learned a lot about how life has changed since the forties, and since the Soviets were driven out. I picked people who from their 20s to their 40s. One was an artist, one a translator, a student, a newspaper writer, a homemaker, and a teacher. Two did not write back, but I made many friends a learned a lot about the people of Lithuania and how they lived. To me, that is more important than sitting in a hotel room, or taking a bus tour; it is the people who make up a country. This book provides a way for People to meet People. I highly recommend it, or others in this series. Poland is next for me.

I am surprised there are no other reviews for this book. My daughter is a senior and we have been using this book for over a year now. All but one of the colleges she has looked at is in the book. Its best feature? It describes colleges that cost a little less than the biggies - most in the range of 20-25 k including room/board. That is very important for me since we have three kids to send to college. I don't expect much financial aid so we will be on our own except for some merit money. My daughter wants a small school, not in the city. She does very well in school but is not very competitive. So this range of colleges is perfect for her. I recommend it even if you are looking at some of the more prestigious schools (some of those are in here too). The other great thing is that the description of each college is very lengthy, some are 4 pages long.

This book is very helpful. My granddaughter must be very cost conscious about where she attends college. This definitely helped her narrow her choices. It also made me aware that college costs in our state schools are much more than most other places. If you have several children to send to college, it could be a wise move to relocate! This book could help you make that kind of decision.

I have ordered this publication for the past three years and find it a terrific resource on all major and minor leagues. i travel extensively and use this book to tell at a glance where the home team is playing. I would highly recommend this resource for the true minor(or major) league fan. Great book!

This book is the only one of its kind that I know of. It contains schedules, ticket info, ballpark addresses and directions, phone numbers, and lots of other great stuff for every major league team and most minor league teams. It's perfect for the traveling baseball fan who might be interested in catching a few games while on the road. It's small so it's easy to take along with you; it's well organized so it's easy to find things; and, as far as I can tell it's 100% accurate. It hasn't let me down yet. My only (minor) complaint is that it's not a very rugged book. I got so much use out of mine last summer that I totally wore out the binding! All in all, it's a wonderful book. I can't wait for the 1997 edition to come out so I can help plan some trips for next summer.

My wife and I used this book as a guide on travels to the West Country. We had a very enjoyable time. Very unique experience.

This book is highly informative and accurate. It is well written and descriptive. We have yet to be disappointed.

However, it may need to be updated since now over five years old.

I will agree! I have used this guide (different editions each time) over and over on multiple trips to England, Scotland and Wales and have NEVER gone wrong. We have found multiple delights and often the B&B is one of the highlights of a wonderful trip. I heartily recommend it.

We have used "The Best Bed and Breakfast in England, Scotland and Wales" as our guide for two trips to the U.K., and have never been disappointed with our choices. On our most recent trip, this spring, we revisited one of the places, "The Brick House" in Redwick, Wales, and found it to be as delightful as the last time. We enjoy bed and breakfasts as opposed to hotels for the personal touch. The hosts at each of the several places we visited were all very cordial, had good suggestions for places to visit, places to eat, etc. and lived up to the descriptions in the book. We have looked at other guides with very nice places listed, but often were way beyond our budget. The prices in this book are not the cheapest, but certainly within most budgets. If you like staying in unique places, often with lovely gardens, interesting architecture, and, above all, a warm welcome, you'll find this guide will fill all your needs.

We used "Best Bed and Breakfasts" on a recent trip to England and Wales and found the places we stayed at to be clean, attractive, and affordably priced. We can't wait to try some of the others on our next trip! We also enjoyed getting acquainted with our hosts and having the chance to meet others staying in the place. We highly recommend "The Brick House" in Redwick, South Wales, and "Aberconwy House" in Betys-y-Coed, North Wales.

My husband and I recently traveled to England and Wales. We stayed in several of the houses mentioned in this book and everyone was wonderful!! I recommend the Pentre Bach in Wales, and Cinderhill House in England (near Monmouth!) I was amazed by the accurate pictures and information provided in the book!! Very trustworthy!!!

While the Google search engine is very effective in searching for material on the Internet, the order of the responses is sometimes questionable and why some responses are included will always puzzle you. Furthermore, in a world where not everyone is honest, some sites are not exactly what their keywords claim to be. Finally, it is also difficult to determine whether a site is appropriate for children to visit. We have all been suckered into visiting a porn site that appeared to be something quite different.
All of these reasons are why I like having a book where valuable Internet sites are listed according to alphabetized categories. This book is one that I keep close to the computer that I use for accessing the Internet. There have been many times when I have been working on a research problem and had a need for information of a type that I have not needed before. My first reaction is to reach for this book and it has almost always pointed me in the right direction. When my children need information for school, I have them look in this book before they go online. Since the site reviews include icons noting the suitability for children, I am saved the trouble of having to examine the site before allowing my children to see it.
Over the years, I have found the annual editions of this book to be very helpful, and this one continues that tradition.

Arranged in 26 chapters, A-Z, Joe Kraynak's 424-page Best of the Internet, 2005 Edition, is a directory thousands of websites. The book lists the "best" websites for topics from Abortion to Zoo. In between are categories like Dinosaurs, Education, Finance, Health, Jobs, Pets, Track and Field, and War - far too many to list them all in a review. Alphabetical margin tabs ease finding the desired section, and a detailed index, with cross references, facilitates finding topics and sites. Kraynak provides a brief, clear, informative description of each site.

The Best icon mark selected sites as Best of the Best. The Child Rating icon indicates if a site is appropriate for children, followed by the age level of children for whom the site is appropriate, or "not for kids." The E-Commerce icon marks sites that process online transactions. The best sites on Abortion, for example, are Abortion Clinics On-Line, ACLU Reproductive Rights, Ethics Updates, Marie Stopes International, National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America - the best of the lot, Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, and Teenwire, another Planned Parenthood site. Only the three Planned Parenthood sites are appropriate for children, and they only for children age 14 and over. Only the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate site processes online transactions. Kraynak briefly describes the content of each site.

Scanning through the book allows users to decide quickly which site to navigate to, and that is the key value of this book. Taxes provide a timely example. Best of the Internet lists Bankrate.com, Citizens for an Alternative Tax System, eSmart Forms, Essential Links to Taxes, H&R Block, IRS.gov, IRS.com, Kiplinger.com, TaxProphet.com, TaxFoundation.com, TaxHelpOnline.com, TurboTax.com, United States Tax Code Online, and Yahoo! Tax Center. Search engines will of course pull up all these sites and more on the topic, or on some other topic, but checking each site in an effort to find what you seek can be very time consuming. Kraynak tells the reader that H&R Block has the best of the best tax sites, and why - tax calculator, status check on refund, tax news, tax dates, forms, IRS publications, and tax tips, and the absence of the E-Commerce icon means free access to these resources. And he says why the other listed sites are good too.

Best of the Internet is not encyclopedic, and Kraynak provides hints for searching the Internet in his foreward to the book. Nonetheless, using this book reduces the time spend searching for specific information. None of the six best Hunting sites is appropriate for children, whereas the Games, Kids, and Museum sections list lots of resources for children. General topics have subsections; for example, the music section includes buying resources, information and news, lyrics, MP3, music events, music genres (alternative, bluegrass, Christian, classical, country, jazz, pop, rap, rock and roll), software, instruments, and radio sites. Travel similarly has many subsections. The detailed index lists all the sites covered in the book, so it is easy to see if a site you know is among the best and whether other sites on the topic may interest you.

When I agreed to review this book, I thought I could quickly dismiss it. After all, I can use a search engine, even a metasearch engine, and I know various search techniques. But having used the Best of the Internet now for a while, I am adding it to my desktop library. This book saves time! It gets me to where I want to go without detours and deadends. Time previously spent searching the Internet can now be used to exploring useful sites. I like the Best of the Internet!

I really like the way this book lays out information about bisexuality and people who are bisexual. I like both the personal stories and poems, but the facts are also fascinating. It taught me a lot. I will recommend it to everyone--especially those who have teenagers in the home so that they might learn more about themselves and others and, thus, not feel so alone should they decide that they are bisexual!

A nice little introductory guidebook to the world of bisexuality. Also, a good resource book for your shelf except for some dated information. Sensitively presented. Celebrates an exciting, alternative lifestyle. (Why sit on the fence when you can straddle it?

You know I could tell you whether or not this book was good if I had it. But, I can't because this book is ridiculously high! I highly doubt this book would get a lot of sales. How about slicing the price in half at least?

"Your directory just came, and it looks great. One of our librarians said: "we don't have anything like that", and of course she's right! I hope lots of branches will buy it; it is a most welcome reference book to have! Best to you." Helene Mochedlover, Fiction, Literature, and Language, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA