Guides and Directories Books

Overall, this is a good book and worth getting. It's valuable to me, a local; but more-so to people traveling in the area.

It gives good stats on the brewpubs (and beer bars) including beer lineups, hours, brew system specs and capacity, directions, nearby attractions, etc...

Then there's bios on the breweries, a bit on the brewers, and the beer, obviously.

If there's a downpoint, it's that the author was a bit generous with the beer criticism. He didn't slam certain beers or breweries as hard as I would have. I've tasted many infected or downright horrible beers from some of the places he praises.

I purchased this volume, unread, as a gift. Therefore, I cannot offer first-hand testimony (hence, my four stars). The recipient, however, vouches for its accuracy and usefulness.

This book is the best of its type. I also own the "Beer Lovers Guide to the USA" and "On Tap New England". Those books are ancient now unfortunately. This guide is their replacement.

I found this guidebook very well organized with very good recommendations. I've been to a few of the pubs in the book and so far, so good. (i.e Vermont Pub & Brewery, John Harvards, Barrington Brewery, Woodstock inn, & Gritty McDuffs). The author lists his personal favorite, the flagship beer (which is usually different from his favorite), and a ton of other facts.

I only wish I could have joined him in writing this book. Must have been a drunken good time!

Highly Recommended.

This book is the definitive guide to all New England breweries and is a great book for people into local brewers. The author set up each entry in such a way that you can use the book as a road map to breweries across New England. While there are a few things out of date in this book (Pittsfield Breworks is not included and Southport Brewing has been offering beer to go in growlers for a little over a year for example), it is as accurate as a book can be about the everchanging landscape that is craftbeer. The author also seems spot on about his impressions of these different brewers as I found myself agreeing with just about all of the entries of brewers I have visited myself. One thing the book does not include that I would like to see in future revisions (assuming there will be a second edition) is when he was there (day of the week, time of the day, and date visited). This would give us a better understanding of his impressions. Nevertheless, I consider this book an indispensable resource.

I enjoyed this book very much since I travel around the world and stay in different Monasteries. This book is set up in such a way that I can gather a lot of information about specific Monasteries that interest me versus those that might not be what I am looking for in terms of accommodations.

Truly a worthwhile purchase.

Rhonda

Another way to travel if you are Catholic or interested in a different way to see France.

LODGING IN FRANCE'S MONASTERIES - $22.95 Anacapa Press

Travel writer Barish adds a third volume (along with Spain and Italy) to her series on unique and inexpensive accommodations in monasteries, convents and religious guest houses, many of which are located in some of the most beautiful towns and villages in France. Travelers can stay, for example, in a 16th century building just a few feet from Chartres Cathedral or in a former castle in the village of Moulins-les-Metz in Lorraine. Most of the more than 150 institutions profiled accept guests without any religious obligation but some of them offer only spiritual retreats. Each entry includes information on the number of rooms, amenities, cost, availability of meals, any special rules, directions and contact information, and two to four pages on local tourist attractions. The average cost per person per night is $30 (meals may add $5 to the cost) and some monasteries ask only for a donation. Barish has also included a reservation form letter in English and French. This is a worthwhile addition to any travel collection and will intrigue travelers on a strict budget and those who want a holiday with a twist. Linda M. Kaufmann, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

This book has obviously taken a great deal of work to put together, so it's a pity that the final result is not as polished as it could be. It provides travellers with a long list of monasteries in France that provide accommodation, including contact info and pricing where available. But where if falls short for the prospective traveller is in not giving much information about the accommodation, the buildings in which the accommodation is provided, pictures of the accommodation, or location maps - all the things that readers would expect from a travel guide.
Descriptions would have been more helpful if they had been organized under heads in a more systematic manner - like LOCATION, HISTORY, ACCOMMODATION, LOCAL AREA, ETC. At present they tend to be long and rambling and focus mainly on the history of the monsatery and the town which, interesting as it is, really misses the point - the accommodation. There are lots of black and white pictures, often of mixed quality. These frequently relate to the town or local sights and numerous entries fail to show, or indicate the accommodation. This is not much help if you want to see where you are going to be lodging. So it can be a question of taking pot luck! Having said all this, the book does give one a useful starting point.

This is a well-written, entertaining look at academic publishing that is filled with valuable advice. Luey breaks down the processes involved in different kinds of academic publishing into steps that are easy to understand. What is particularly valuable is the perspective that she provides on how the publishing industry works, answering typical author questions such as "Why does it take so long to get a response?" and "Why do academic books cost so much/ make so little money?" Her practical information about how royalties work is worth the price of the book alone, as is the extremely helpful section on the difference between a dissertation and a book. Highly recommended for any academics worrying about publishing (and who isn't?).

This is a useful book, although I think that the title is somewhat misleading. The book covers a very specific topic: the many details of submitting and publishing an academic book. It does not cover writing for peer-review journals and thus will be rather unhelpful for the academics in fields where articles rather than books are the royal road to tenure.

What Luey covers, however, she covers very well. She comes to the topic with a wealth of experience -- true "insider's knowledge". She edited scholarly books and textbooks for a decade; she's taught scolarly editing and publishing; she even formed a small publishing company. All in all, as she puts it, she's been an "editor, indexer, publisher, production manager, and shipping clerk."

Luey covers the details of publishing scholarly books from start to finish, including specific types of books such as textbooks and multi-author collections of articles or essays. Financial details, such as royalties, are explained from the point of view of both author and publisher. Luey is very helpful in giving professors a sense of publishers' pressures and business considerations. She discusses how to consider which publisher is most appropriate for submitting a proposal as well as the form and mechanics of submissions. She describes contracts and tells what to look for before signing. She tells how to prepare the typescript and illustrations professionally. I thought that her explanation of why the prices of academic books varies was an interesting topic.

I am a professional counselor and coach to junior faculty and graduate students and I'm very glad to have found this book. I will definitely recommend it to the people I work with who are in the process of revising their dissertations to be published. Her explanations of how the content and style of a dissertation must be transformed in order to publish are excellent. This chapter, "Revising a Dissertation" and will be especially useful to junior academics in humanities and social science departments in which turning the dissertation into the first book is an expected prerequisite of tenure. If you are working on your first scholarly book Luey's advice will help you through the process.

This is a good book, just not what I needed. (I was looking more for information on copyright rules.) But for an academic author learning the ropes, it has some solid information.

Very comprehensive, especially, of course for the American market. I bought it because I wanted to have ideas about how to find a publisher after I had all but finished my book; but I wish I had seen it before I started writing, because it makes many technical points about how to prepare a typescript. It will take a fair amount of time to adjust my script to satisfy the technical requirements publishers apparently make.

Terrific book great for helping to get a finance job! Accurately describes recruiting process. A must buy for any MBA.

I help manage the career center an elite business school in the Northeast - and this is one of our most popular books. Along with the VaultReports.com Guides, this book is essential preparation for a career in investment banking.

Terrific book great help for getting a job in finance. Great information direct for a huge number of the top finance firms.

Just a Q&A with the companies, so you get only their side. I thought the VaultReports.com guide was more objective and also had actual finance interview questions. Overall, though, the Harvard guide is still useful. There are also good Web sites out there on Finance jobs.

Many of my friends will not leave home without their dogs, so when I discovered this book I knew I had found the perfect pet lovers gift. The feedback has been excellent -- they report that the information is up-to-date, accurate, and easy to use. Dogs and their drivers are both well-served. Now all I need is my own dog...

Mostly hotels not really camping which I was looking for. But it's great for hotels if you need something for that.

HAVE DOG WILL TRAVEL NORTHWEST EDITION includes Oregon, Washington and Idaho and has been newly updated to list over 2,100 dog-friendly accommodations throughout the Pacific Northwest. This isn't just a plain listing of dog- friendly hotels: it tells where in the building the pet is welcome, any restrictions, deposits, price ranges, and general room descriptions. From cabins to resorts, motels, and chain hotels, HAVE DOG WILL TRAVEL comes packed with plenty of specifics suitable for touring.

Now in a newly updated edition, Have Dog Will Travel: Northwest Edition by Barbara Whitaker is the a practical guide for dog owners and dog lovers to hassle-free traveling. Have Dog Will Travel: Northwest Edition features over 2,100 canine-friendly accommodations in the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Addresses, phone numbers, rates, web sites, and brief summary of basic information concerning each lodging fill the majority of the pages; with an additional sections offering basic advice concerning everything from first aid for a dog to types of available ID tags and how to best go about cleaning up after one's pet. Have Dog Will Travel: Northwest Edition is especially recommended for dedicated dog owners in the Oregon, Washington, and Idaho area.

This book came in super handy upon arrival to JFK with no place to stay and no idea how to get there! the best thing was the fact it's up to date- no problems with calling locations that no longer exist.

This is an excellent guide. I travelled around America with it and it was indispensible. It's current and comprehensive, without useless reams of information (which any backpacker will tell you is the last thing they need!) The guide gives you the basics - location, phone number and price. It's also ludicrously cheap - $3!!!! - and fits snuggly in your pack without taking up too much room. Loved it!!

I bought this book based on the strength of its reviews and in preparation for my first vacation. I wasn't all that impressed with it because it doesn't fit into my travel style. The listings did tell me all I needed to know, but not all I wanted to know. I browsed through the book a few times before giving it away and turning to the internet to map the hostels listed in the book against attractions and local transportation stations. For someone only visiting a few cities, this book (and the shipping charge doubling the price) just isn't worth it. You're better off visiting your local library or checking the internet.

In 1998 while travelling the USA for the first time, I
first heard about this hostelguide from other travellers who recommended it as the best guide in the USA for hostellers.
It is small and compact, doesn't take much space, with all
the information you could ever wanted on affordable accomodation, travelling the USA on a budget. I have been travelling the US once a year ever since and came along countless of other budget travellers praising this guide.

James has done a good job of cataloging all of the major Howard Stern-related sites on the 'net. Well worth the money!

What a pleasant surprise to find my site mentioned in this book. It is a fantastic compilation of information for those of us that are Stern addicts. A must have for the library. Thank's to the author for adding our Stern shrine... don't F' Jackie, he chats with us and gives away autographed prizes!!!

Stern's popularity more than justifies such a volume, but most of the sites contained within the tome are either no longer linked or made up of address strings so long as to be ungainly. It's a great idea for a book, but would have made a better website. Also lacks a lot of background of the show that other books have in spades.

For fans, but few others.

This book is really worth buying if you a dedicated Stern listener. It has many outrageous links about the show and guests who have been on it. It really rounds out the collection of Stern books already out there.

As someone that travels with dogs a lot, I am always interested in books that will help me keep the dogs happy and comfortable.

The introduction is the best stuff I have seen written to help you plan ahead and have a good trip.

The resources section with plenty of phone numbers and web sites is excellent.

Everyone that travels with dogs (or cats) should have this book.

Joel Walton (author of Complete Idiot's Guide to Labrador Retrievers) does lots of doggy driving!

You just drove 16 hours straight, you're completely exhausted, and the only hotel in town won't take dogs. Enjoy sleeping in your car. As you fall asleep on your steering wheel, remember that you could have avoided all of this by getting this book in advance. My husband and I are planners by nature and the job of deciding where to go with our two Rotties isn't easy. You want to know where in the world you're going and not only that you'll find a place to stay with your dogs that's not a dive, but that you'll be able to have fun on vacation. I usually read up in the library before going on trips, but this was a book I broke down and bought. It stays in the glove compartment next to the Triple-A book!

I just bought Mobil's pet travel book which is essentially a compilation of their existing 4,400 pet-friendly properties. While the ratings are helpful, I found the number of accommodations too limiting - too many chain hotels and too few bed and breakfasts and inns. Most of the other national pet travel books contain just over or under 20,000 listings as well as much of the same information contained in Mobil's appendices. Perhaps I'm too choosy, but I would have preferred a pet reference guide written entirely by experts in pet travel and one that offers a wider range of possibilities for both my dog and me.

"Mobile 99: On the Road with Your Pet" is an essential guide to traveling with your pet.

Andrea Arden not only lists more than 4,400 quality, pet-friendly hotels, motels, resorts, and inns nationwide, she provides two very helpful Appendixes: The first is a concise A-to-Z of health concerns, and the second is a highly-interesting combination of National Pet Resources and Places to Visit with Your Pet (yes, there is a dog lovers bookshop in Manhattan).

Arden's Introduction is must-reading for anyone who is contemplating traveling with your cat, dog, or any other animal companion. The author covers everything from what to pack and when to travel to pets that shouldn't travel by plane and pet stress (watch not only for your pet avoiding eye contact, but yawning!).

This is book is a much-needed resource.

Not as in depth as I wanted, but I had high expectations. Good as a starting point only, tends to repeat "common knowledge."

As a NYC K-12 educational consultant, I frequently listen to parents' worries about entrusting their children to the New York City public schools. This is unfortunate, because some local public schools are excellent.

Hemphill's book is extremely valuable because she identifies top schools and demystifies the admissions process for zoned and out-of-zone students. She also explains admissions to gifted and other special programs...

This book has helped me to make up my mind to move back to NY--helped me understand the byzantine system, and highlights specific schools that I would never have heard or read about otherwise.

Hemphill is an argument for how one must look at specific schools under particular leadership in a finite time period, instead of generalizing. And instead of unproductive nostalgizing, "schools were better in earlier days..." Really, some schools can go downhill, but others have gone uphil, and there is a need to constantly reassess.

My only gripe is that the author didn't (couldn't?) review all schools, or more schools. If a school isn't mentioned, then is it totally hopeless? Or were there page number constraints?

There is no other book like this. Every city should have a Hemphill book.

I agree with both previous reviewers. I am so glad this book exists because there are many wonderful public elementary schools in NYC. (My son's at one!) But this book does not always contain the very latest information, such as a change in principals. (Principals are very important.) Use this book as a starting point and then talk with as many parents, teachers as you can for the latest developments in the schools you're considering.

It's at once too detailed and not detailed enough. For instance, Palo Alto is spread out on something like 6 pages. It makes it terribly difficult to figure out driving directions anywhere, flipping around all the time. It's extremely detailed, but less useful because of that.

If you need to know any particular local area very well, this is your map. If you need to travel around the Bay Area, not so much.

It would be very useful if they had intermediary maps... maps that showed overviews of areas as well as street level details.

Exactly what I wanted, at a very attrative price. Quick reply and shipment. Will definitely use Amazon.com again when making any book or periodicaly purchase

This guide is indispensable for pinpointing streets and locations, and finding jammed freeway detours. I began using it the first day. The ring binding makes it easy to use and long lasting. I haven't even used the CD yet, but that further enhances its usefulness. I'm a AAA member and have relied on its individual maps for years; they're still more useful for intermediate distance viewing, but the Thomas Guide is the one I'll be using regularly from now on.

The Thomas Guides are the most comprehensive, easy to read, and easy to use city street atlases produced, no matter what geographic area they are covering. The Bay Area Thomas Guide is no exception.