Budget Books

I loved the movie so I just had to read the book. It mostly consists of the screenplay for the film but also includes sections that were deleted from the final film. Even someone who has not seen the movie will be able to follow the story easily and for those who know the movie the extras are an interesting addition. Also included are some great stills frrom the movie and an introduction from the authors explaining their motivations behind writing the screen play. I'm sure anyone who liked the movie or has an interest in Ed Wood will enjoy this book.

A very well-written book that traces Domenici's rise to Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Wonderful insights into campaign strategies as well.

I found this book very informative, and it is making planning my trip to Europe so much easier. I recommend this book for anyone who wishes to travel within Europe on a limited budget.

The market has changed a bit since Harmon first wrote about packaging but the basics are still in effect. She offers a lot of detail about "selling" your movies before you make them, which is the only recourse for a lot of micro-budget filmmakers.

A marvelous guide book that is easy to use. What I liked best about it was that it was up to date, something very important when traveling in Mexico. The maps were easy to use and the grading system for hotels and resturants was very reliable. This book really did help make my trip special!

I found this book to be pretty helpful to cross reference with other travel aids during a recent trip to Mexico. Although it claims to fit all budgets it seems to lean more towards the high end traveler, although this could just be state of tourism now. They cover all the major geographic regions with a heavy emphasis on all the popular destinations. There are plenty of tidbits for the road, several maps, the brief history of your destination and the impact of tourism in recent years. It's all here, emergency numbers, car rentals, taxis, air travel, tours, boat and ferry information, travel agencies and visitor information, and for those like me that need a cyber fix , internet providers! Really there is probably more information than you'll need but I guess they try to cover all the bases. They even provide a rudimentry vocabulary lesson in a section that has other "smart tips." The format is simple and pretty accurate with restaurants being rated for your pocketbook with $-$$$$. All the symobls used are pretty self explanatory but for those that need an explanation there is a key to the symbols used. One complaint I have is that I wish it were a bit more visual with scenery or drawings of the place you are thinking of venturing out to. In defense of the book they do provide a series of color photos in the beginning of the book that covers the major destinations. All in all this is a recommended book for the traveler to use along with some other books or internet research. Hey, if nothing else it makes for good traveling reading if you can't make a certain pit stop along your journey you'll at last know about it and maybe go next time. With tourism such a big part of the Mexican economy there are lots of choices in every town or city and this book wil help you sort through the tourist maze. There are many suggestions for your travel dollar and undoubtedly this book will leave you well prepared for that trip to Mexico.

Fodor's "South America" is a comprehensive guide to all 10 countries of that continent, which concentrates on cities and major attractions, in 653 pages. It is arranged logically and uniformly, with an index and table of contents that make it easy to locate information.

The yellow-tabbed pages upfront contain smart travel tips for South America in general, and the book is then divided alphabetically by country, with sections dedicated to 2-7 of each country's major cities and regions. Although it is a good guide for large cities and major tourist sites, it deals with outlying areas with a broad brush, if at all.

Each city or region's section contains extensive listings under the headings of Top Attractions, Lodging, Dining, Museums, Nightlife, Shopping (including flea markets), Outdoor Activities, Day Trips, and those wonderful City Walks that Fodor's designs. Following all of those headings is the "A to Z" section for each city, where one can quickly find information on how to get to hotels from the airport, bus station or port; how to get around within the city; locations and hours for banks, post offices, etc.; tour operators and where to find tourist information.

Listings are of the type that would interest those who enjoy accommodations that are cream of the crop in their price categories, good dining, the arts, and shopping, with cost not being the first consideration.

On the down side, as with any comprehensive guide to a vast area, details are not as extensive as they would be if the entire book were dedicated to one country. However, if you plan to cruise or fly to several South American capital cities and only want to stuff one guidebook in your bag, this is a good bet.

On the other hand, if you dream of off-the-beaten-track places and your budget calls for you to eat, sleep, and travel on a shoestring, or if you're looking for student hangouts and hostels, you should keep looking.

...but could include more trip planning information (before you go). Other than that, it is a very complete guide on how to enjoy a vacation in the Orlando/Central Florida area.

Fodor's is a good all around travel guide, but I think the author of this D.C. guide emphasize art and sculpture way too much. The sites that the book recommend usually have something to do with the art, sculptures, and freizes contained within the building. I'm not a lover of the arts, but I still know that there is much to do in Washington that I can really enjoy. One thing that really disheartned me was the side mention that the National Archives received. It was described as the "nation's basement." The original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are not something that any American should regard as basement material.
I thought the book lacked on the little known sites around D.C. I knew of most everything that was listed in the book.
With all this said, the book was a great reference and the city and Metro maps are very handy. The iteneraries are great and even tell you what time of the day you should see the monuments close to the Mall. The information in the book sometimes gives you enough material to skip the tour of a site...a real time saver in a city with so much to see and do.

I purchased the A Series of this collection of small paperback booklets in May 2007 at the 1798 Heritage Center located in Enniscorthy, Ct. Wexford. I think I paid 5 Euros; the wrapper around the package of five booklets was marked originally £7.50. (Obviously, the price tag survived conversion from the Punt to the Euro.) The back cover of each booklet states that there are two additional series: B Series and C Series. The Foreward of each booklet states, in part, "This booklet is just one of a series describing the various battles that took place in the South East in 1798. The purpose of these booklets is to educate the public in general about the events that happened almost two hundred years ago."

At the time only the A Series was available in the bookshop.

Most of the information in the booklets is available from other sources (e.g., Thomas Pakenham's The Year of Liberty, The Great Irish Rebellion of 1798; Daniel J. Gahan's Rebellion! Ireland in 1798). However, there is a charm to this series of works because they seem to be written from a local-to-the-area perspective. They also cite sources that would be interesting to read for their period insights (e.g., "Memoirs of Miles Byrne," who was a survivor and wrote his memoir in "his twilight years"; Nicky Furlong's "Fr. John Murphy of Boolavogue").

Unfortunately, Series B and Series C collections were not on the bookshelf at the heritage center's gift shop. Seeing the "hardcover" listing on amazon's web site aroused my curiosity whether a hard cover printing of the three series really exists. The prices listed on the web site (in excess of $100.00) seem a bit steep, too. Moreover, the accompanying description does not indicate whether the complete series of 15 booklets--three booklets in each series--is included.