Travel Books

A Camus-like romp through the twisted fantasies of a totally narcissist middle-aged Romeo. A fun read.

I had no expectations when I first started reading Confessions of an Internet Don Juan, other than being amused by the title. However, I was immediately drawn into the story of Cast Hughes due to Cameron Chambers' direct (and sometimes raw) writing style. Hughes is an interesting, seemingly honest character who shares his experiences with on-line dating. Throughout, his vices and skewed sense of reality are in a constant struggle with his compassion and need for human attachment. Hughes talks about sex more than your average college fraternity - but he is likable. His exploits, no matter how bizarre and tawdry, still make him seem like an underdog who actually wants a meaningful relationship. For this reader, it is not clear if Cast Hughes gets the "happy ending" that he is looking for... Well done, Mr. Chambers.

Having read Cameron Chambers' prior books, I can say that I've enjoyed this one the most. By laying his main character (with all his endearing qualities and faults) bare, you feel you know him, and agonize at times over Cast Hughes' sometimes desperate and dangerous attempts to find true love. Great attention to character development is what I enjoy best about Cameron Chambers' writing.

The author does a more than adequate job of taking the reader along for a funny ride on the journery of a philanderer with a heart and a computer. This story made me laugh -- sometimes with and sometimes at the main character and his many online dates. I liked how each chapter was almost a self-contained novel or thought, while still working to tell the overall story. Made it fun summertime reading... and the sex didn't hurt either.

Confessions of an Internet Don Juan is certainly a different and most entertaining read. It's definitely fiction, but I don't know that I would call it a novel - certainly not in the traditional sense. It is instead a series of confessions (I would call them vignettes because the word "confessions" implies a degree of guilt over improper behavior) by which our narrator, Cast Hughes, describes all of the post-divorce adventures he has had via Internet dating. For a self-described middle-aged failure with a history of mental illness, it's rather astonishing to learn that he has scored more often than a young Wayne Gretzky in Edmonton, mainly with foreign women. Cast does go into some detail on the roller coaster relationship ride he embarked upon after finally divorcing his ex-wife (who was apparently trying to poison him in the last year of their marriage). He doesn't proceed in a purely chronological order, but the overall structure of the book does lead us to an ending - at least insofar as our character's Internet dating days are concerned. There's a lot of humor in this book, as Cast encountered many a freak over the weeks and months following his divorce, from the sad and pathetic waif to outright liars to scam artists - and even a few women whose company he truly enjoyed. I'll just go ahead and tell you that there will be sex scenes, but I found nothing too terribly lurid.

I found Cast to be a somewhat slippery character to grab on to. I can't say I approve of his sowing his wild oats in such a wide-ranging number of fields, and I never got a firm handle on the true nature of his mental problems (although the reader certainly runs into a number of plausibly causative issues in his past). Even when he found the relationship he was after, love in the traditional sense seemed to be something of an after-thought in the story. On the other hand, he's a fairly decent guy for the most part, pretty sympathetic due to his past problems, and refreshingly honest. His humanity is easily revealed upon many an occasion. There is, for example, the case of the glamorous model who turned out to be a poor, starving mother with a disabled child. While he admittedly froze upon discovering this particular situation, Chase does make an effort to help them - and then wonders if he should have done more after the fact. Another poignant scene involves his interaction with a stranger he recognizes as mentally ill in some fashion, forging a connection with a man most of us would ignore. Cast can be naïve, though, sometimes sending money or plane tickets overseas to women he has never met, inviting them to visit him in Florida. This continues even after he's learned a lesson or two about scam artists and their techniques (it's never a good thing to learn that the woman you've been chatting with is the equivalent of a prostitute or - what's worse - a man pretending to be a woman).

Cast has a wonderful and telling theory or summation of men, and I imagine many will think he really hits the nail on the head when he talks about the two driving forces in most men's lives. He does wax philosophical from time to time, offering up several bits of the wisdom and perception he has gleaned from experience. So, as you can see, Confessions of an Internet Don Juan is not some shallow piece of tripe chronicling the sexual conquests of a modern-day great lover. I found the book candid, but not shocking or offensive. Yes, Cast has sex with more than his share of women, but I wouldn't call him a reprobate, and he's certainly no kind of sexual predator. Cast views women as beautiful creatures, not as objects. Shoot, the man doesn't even hold a grudge against his ex-wife, even after she tried to poison him.

In my opinion, the heart of this book isn't about sex at all; instead, it is about the need for companionship along life's journey. As such, you're going to get a lot more food for thought than you might be expecting from these pages, so don't judge this book by the title alone. Confessions of an Internet Don Juan is really a surprisingly worthwhile read.

The irrepressible Helene Hanff finally gets to visit London after the publication of 84 Charing Cross Road. This is the diary of her stay in this richly historic and sublimely cultured City. She is suitably amazed by London and the English countryside, and understandably confused as to why lifelong Londoners don't appreciate the beauty by which she is surrounded.

Helene's love affair with London and specifically, with Russell Square, is breathtaking in its specificity. She meets some fantastic people. It would be difficult to forget, if I had any desire to do so, the lovely interactions with Pat Buckley, Joyce Grenfell, and The Colonel.

I'm luckier than most. I don't have to pack a bag to visit Helene's London - I live here. I'm off to visit Russell Square in order to view it through her eyes.

Finally able to visit London, the author leaves the states
and describes vividly her experiences there. Lively, fun
and brief. Quite satisfying.I felt I knew Helene....

Years ago I read 84 Charing Cross Road,as a Reader's Digest condensed book found in a flea market cheap...Later, loved the film with Anne Bancroft..then fairly recently saw there was a sequal... Hooray she got to England.. I enjoyed the adventure as much as she did..Lovely little book ~

for anyone who's read 84 charing cross road, this book is a delightful follow up to the original. you will come away loving helene hanff, and wishing you could have her as a friend.

For those readers panting to find out what happens to Helene after the publication of her wildly popular "84 Charing Cross Road", this book will satisfy you. HH's romp through London is rewarding, for those of us who are loyal fans know how desperatly she wanted to go there.

This book is well written and easy to read. We are planning on living abroad for 2 years and it was very useful to ready about other families that have also done similar trips. Lots of great practical advice.

This book is a must read if you are planning a sabbatical or being dragged into one. The FAMILY SABBATICAL BOOK is filled with well-researched information about the nitty-gritty details of what to do, but it is also a well-articulated emotional testament about the journey. Perhaps we'll never take a sabbatical, it is my husband's dream, not really mine. But if indeed we go, I will have a much better handle on preparation. And if we don't make it, I have lived vicariously through the hard work preparation and steep learning curve journey documented in this book. Clearly people who take sabbaticals are way cool...and out of their minds.

I'm reading this book and saying, "Why didn't I have this book ten years ago??" It answers so many questions and makes the difficult seem entirely possible. It's well-written and a good read, enlightening about foreign travel in general. I often find this kind of "how-to" book sort of clunky and irritating, but this was a joy to read.

I was so happy to find this book as I was planning a sabbatical from my university to teach overseas in a developing country with my family. The book is amazingly detailed, and provides lots of great lists that I am comparing with my own lists. The discussion about the benefits about taking the kids abroad is fantastic! I really appreciate the details that the author provides, and the story of their family's extended stay in Mexico. While this book is the best one I've found, it very much is geared toward adults who are planning on taking a complete sabbatical - not people working, volunteering, etc. overseas. The book talks about difficulties in meeting locals, boredom, the excessive socializing with ex-pats, etc. I think a lot of that can be resolved by choosing specifically where you go (perhaps not going to a place with a huge ex-pat community) and giving back to the communities you are living in through working or volunteering with local organizations. A sabbatical doesn't simply need to mean a year of rest - but can also mean a year's break from one's routine. This book is an excellent resource and a delightful read, but the options of a sabbatical year can really be thought of much more broadly than it is portrayed.

Perhaps I took too seriously the book's cover and title. Bills itself as "explore the world," "Let ... 15 ... families who lived in Europe, China, and South America show you ..."

But the proper title and the proper cover blurbs ought read: Wanna live in an impoverished third world country? You can! Or, perhaps, "How you and your children can live in impoverished Mexico." There is not one word about China or Europe in the book.

Perhaps a better title might be: "Living in Mexico for a year-and-a-half on $35,000 savings, with tips for having fun with your young children"

Here's what I get from the book: Step 1: don't buy a new car and save like heck for a few years until you've saved $35,000. Step 2: ask your young children's teachers what they should cover during their year living in Mexico (the book is solely about Mexico); Step 3: rent your house while you're gone; Step 4: play with your children and anticipate that they will need your love and support during the first few months in a third world country where they don't know anyone or the language; Step 5: learn the language while you live there, and have fun; but don't expect the telephone to work. There's an oddly unfinished story about how the author's friends pestered phone company authorities to get service restored. We learn only that the person at the phone company who said she would help left town for a two week vacation. Did they eventually get their phone service restored? We never find out. Instead, there's a sentence about how bribing a policeman in a corrupt country 100 pesos can get you out of a parking ticket. Just what one is supposed to do with these anecdotes is unclear.

Since I'd believed the title and the book's cover honest, I was enormously disappointed to find no words about how to live in Europe--where England costs about 4 times the U.S. (after factoring in exchange rates and actual cost of living in much of the country). The rest of Europe is also dear these days with the Euro at near-all-time highs. And, as mentioned, there's not a word on China.

Please re-title and re-blurb this book. Living in a third world/developing country/Mexico is, compared to U.S. living, affordable, and one should nurture and love one's children, but I simply must disagree with the others who have reviewed this book. Proceed with caution.

Book in great condition,
came in great packaging.
Delivery time was great.
I am very happy with this
transaction
thank you... AAAAAAA++++++++

One more notch in Madeline's 'Great Novel Post'. This was a Super read.
I highly recommend this book Feather in the Wind (Leisure Historical Romance) for all Historical Romance lovers.

Good from beginning to end. I like my romances a bit more sensual with longer love scenes, but Madeline Baker's writing makes up for it.

Everything the other reviewers said is true about this book. Even though it took be 3 days to finish it, I didn't want to put it down & see it end.

I don't know weather there is a story for Black Winds uncle, that preceded this one, but if there is i'd love to read that one too.

This is the 1st. timetravel by Madeline but it won't be my last. I am just about to start "Under a Praire moon" & shall be searching for her other stories.

I love anything written by Madeline Baker and this book is no exception. It was Romantic, exciting and just plain sexy. I loved the hero and heroine they were so in love even time couldn't keep them apart.

This book is really good. however my main problem with is that it is mainly good for the American resort market, and not so useful in European circumstances speciall in smaller individual cityhotels.
I have to stress that it is very well written but not what i was looking for.
It is also abit dated. nevertheless I think everyone working this field shoud read it!

Great to read. very good book.

Just finished it. Had to write a review. In summary: The Best Marketing Book Ever!

Very interesting and helpful
From real pro!
Not a textbook, fun and easy to read

I normally don't take the time to write book reviews, but this book was so amazing that I felt obligated to comment. It is succinct, well-written, and extremely easy to read. The ideas in this book can be applied to any type of hospitality product. Mr. Raza supplements the text by giving links to websites the readers can visit to obtain more information.

The chapters:
1) Hospitality and Marketing
2) The Market
3) Products
4) Branding
5) Advertising
6) How to Create Better Brochures and Collateral Materials
7) Public Relations
8) Promotions
9) 25 Proven Ways to Reach Travel Agents
10) Coop Marketing: How to Get the Best Results from Marketing Through Wholesalers and Tour Operators
11) Internet Marketing
12) Loyalty Marketing
13) Marketing Operations
14) Behind the Budget
Appendix: The Marketing Plan

If I were stranded on a island, this book better be stranded with me. You can never feel alone when reading this book. Tara Leigh's distinct tone screams and whispers with a voice and spirit that is contagious! Here's to Hindsight is a full of personality galore. Tara Leigh Cobble's take on life embodies emotion, wisdom and halarity. Her incredible heart seems to "tell it like it is", exposing truth in a genuine and unique way. There is something fearlessly fun about this book, and many times I had to stop myself from making conversation with the pages as I turned. Tara Leigh's words push me to look back on my own journey thru this crazy world, with a eagerness to see the details of God in my life.

A friend gave me this book several months ago. I'm just sorry that I didn't read it sooner than July/August. Here's to Hindsight is a great read as the author honestly represents herself as a Christian and details her path. Tara is both encouraging and inspiring. A good reminder that we are never alone.

this book is amazing. I have literally read it 11 times since it came out in october of 2006. it is great for everyone. i have given out at least 25 copies as well. I am a huge fan of this book and this author! i can't wait for her second book!!

Here's to Hindsight is one woman's refreshingly honest look at herself and Christian life. In reflecting on her music career so far, Tara doesn't shy away from difficult subjects, which makes her book all the more valuable. It is also super funny - she's got a great sense of humor and irony. If you're looking for a good read and an inspiring story that will make you laugh and cry but still never gets too sappy, go for it. Here's to Hindsight is really fabulous! And so is Tara Leigh. :)

Awesome!! This book touch my spirit in a profound way because Tara Leigh is refreshingly honest and her wonderful sense of humor will make you laugh out loud. This book has so much to offer for everyone because so many people can relate in one way or another. Have you ever been in love? Have you ever had a broken heart or faced with trials that you did not think you were going to survive or challenged physically, mentally and spiritually? Then You can relate!! It is a great "MYTHBUSTER" to what some think that the "perfect" christian walk is like, circumstances are not always pleasant however with God by your side you are never alone and He always makes a way through when there is no other way when you trust in Him and this book brings that point home quite nicely.

You will walk with Tara Leigh through times of great happiness in life to being stretched through painful trials, it will touch every emotion that you have but more importantly it will minister to your spirit. It will cause you to think about your own life and leaves you with a question, are you trusting God? When times are great or not so great God is always there and He will never leave you. I strongly recommend not only the book but the CD's as well You will be blessed immensely. Tara Leigh, what an awesome woman of God and you will be blessed through her sincerity, humor and her faith in Christ. If you ever get the chance to meet her at one of her concerts your life will be changed!!

This is a well written & nicely illustrated book about how common items may come from far away, exotic lands. If you enjoyed this, you may also like Cocoa Ice by Diana Karter Applebaum - written for slightly older readers about two little girls whose families harvest and trade cocoa beans and ice.

This is an excellent teaching resource for second person point of view. It is an excellent story and the children enjoy it!

This is a wonderful book with lovely illustrations. It is a favourite of my daughter's since childhood and she was thrilled to have her own copy for her 16th birthday!

Good book for teaching the natural, human, and capital resources used to produce the apple pie. Identifying the types of transportation used by the baker in gathering the resources for her pie. Trace the route of the baker as she travels around the world. A skit can be made from the book also.

We had so much fun with this book! We used it with the Five-in-a-Row Homeschool curriculum and enjoyed it so much. Besides being a really neat children's book in general, there is a lot to learn about geography and language and other cultural benefits in this book. I recommend this one for any kid who likes to read or be read to. We have enjoyed it very much - it is one we had to have in our home, not just borrow from the library! Can't say enough!

For most of us the best indicator of what tomorrow or next year will be like is to look at yesterday or last year and just project it out. More of mostly the same. We let our responses to the normal events of the day define our experience. Many hopes and wishes just remain hopes and wishes. These two decided very purposefully that they wanted something different. They decided this at the beginning of their eighth decade of life, and produced a written plan of just they wanted from their next five years and how they would do it.

Their goal was to experience the daily life and the culture of several locations in Europe The path to that goal included selling a home, disposing of years of accumulated stuff, renting an apartment, making the travel plans, and dealing with health issues along the way.

It is a story written from each of their perspectives giving some history of their families, what brought them to this decision, the challenges they faced and a description of their stays in European. Their descriptions are personal and delightful. Those who have traveled even briefly in similar style will be reminded of their own frustrating mishaps that then became fond and some of the best recollected memories.

You'll likely end the reading of their story wondering about your own next few years and maybe even getting out a pencil and paper.

Ron Skrabut, Harrisburg, PA

Most people shudder at the thought of relocating anywhere and International moves are known to be fraught with more complications than most. Not considered so by Don & Dana Manges, a couple who, at age 72, spontaneously agreed to eschew the classic retirement life of napping and rocking precious days away but instead to sample living for a time in four major European cities.

Don & Dana record their impressions of the cultural offerings of each sojourn, the places and events savored and the pleasure of forming new friendships. They've described frustrations encountered with language whilst settling into each place but even those hiccups were viewed as amusing episodes .

Leaving Home at 72 details these two years through alternating essays written in Don and Dana's individual, whimsical, thoughtful styles that reveals much about their personalities and enduring interests. It's apparent that both thoroughly enjoyed the going, seeing, doing and laughing at the peculiarities of living abroad. Best of all, they bring to the reader an awareness that life after 70 affords a special opportunity to plunge ahead, to act on a dream and "to boldly go" to parts not yet explored.

What fun to read and reread the story of this wonderful couple's adventures. It should give all of us who are over 65, courage and hope. It fill me with new energy for what lies ahead.

Here exposed are our crushed, red-faced, travel humiliations, misunderstood language blather, and misinformed directions together with quaint chambres, unforgettable meals, and new found friendships. Subtly illustrated and printed in a fun graphic style, the authors' experiences courageously revealed as few of us would ever admit to our mothers.

Leaving Home at 72 is a charming and delightful saga of an imaginative couple's joi de vivre as they explore the beauty of Europe in a fascinating time aboard. A wonderful read for anyone who loves to travel.

I don't fall asleep while reading. When I get sleepy, I put the book aside, turn out the light, and pull up the covers. How anyone can fall asleep with a book in their hands and the light on is beyond me--or at least it use to be. Candie Moonshower's The Legend of Zoey was so compelling that I simply couldn't bear to put it down. I knew I was growing sleepy, but I couldn't stop reading. So finally, I have the experience of falling asleep while reading thanks to Zoey.

The Legend of Zoey is the story of two thirteen year old girls who meet under strange circumstances--strange because they're living two centuries apart! Zoey, your average, mouthy twenty-first century gal boards a school bus for a class outing and finds herself in 1811. She meets Prudence and her mother struggling to survive the wilderness while the man of the house is off converting Indians to Christianity. You'd think that was enough turmoil for Zoey, but no, she picked the months the New Madrid fault took bites out of the Mississippi Valley landscape to time travel!

Clearly, the time traveling is a clue that the book is fiction, but the story's non-fiction details add charming pieces of reality. You aren't just reading a book--you are a young girl traipsing through the wilderness with a very pregnant and grouchy woman you barely know. You hear the leaves crackling under your feet. You feel the cold wind bite at your nose, fingers, and ears. The campfire stings your eyes as it gradually thaws your tired, aching body. You will experience this book, not just read it.

Moonshower does what every author sets out to do--she tells a story so vivid and so captivating that once it's over, the characters live in your head for days. I am especially grateful to the author for allowing Zoey to have a real experience. Moonshower didn't sell out in the end.

Almost all the characters are female, so this is probably a girl's book. However, Moonshower weaves those females into real events and traditional stories about the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. For that reason, it should be an easy choice for students studying the event--boy or girl.

I loved so much about this novel, The Legend of Zoey by Candie Moonshower. These are the things I enjoyed the most:

1. Candie blended the past and the present so well together . . . they literally tied into one another. That was a really good move.

2. The two girls (Zoey and Pru) both faced similar problems in their lives, one with modern conviences and one without.

3. Zoey was not interested in the past, but when she had to go to the past she wished she'd paid more attention in her history class.

4. I actually felt at times as though I'd traveled back to the past with Zoey and it made me wonder if I could have been as brave as she was about the time difference.

5. Candie didn't make the kids sound stupid. That's always a plus.

6. The comet! The comet was an awesome detail. I loved how it became sort of like this invisible bridge, and similarity between the two worlds, past and present.

7. I loved the description and close detail Candie used throughout Zoey. Great job!

8. For someone like me, who hated having to study Arkansas history and American history, made history just a little more interesting. Even though the story was about Tennessee history. I actually had very little knowledge of what happened with New Madrid and everything that occurred, so I learned something. :)

9. The novel was very believable. Candie did a great job telling this story of Zoey and Pru.

This novel is a great choice for young adults and adults as well. Happy reading.

Candie Moonshower has seamlessly meshed the experiences of two girls in two different eras into a delightful tale. Against the background of real events, she has written a fun and at times, poignant story and manages to teach the reader, too. Writing about time travel and using two points of view can be tricky, but Moonshower makes the transition between points of time and view with ease. I look for more great books from Candie Moonshower.

I love Zoey's strength and the way she always tries to figure out a solution, rather than just sitting and giving up. Also, it was a nice change to see the main characters aware that Zoey was from another time, rather than the usual dance around the truth and attempts to hide it. Most of all, I love that the links across time don't go away (I don't want to put in a spoiler!) after Zoey returns to the present.

Wonderful, lovely read!

The Legend of Zoey is a charming time travel novel. Candie Moonshower has done an exellent job of integrating the facts of the New Madrid earthquakes with an exciting story. It was a real pleasure to read about two wonderfully diverse characters. It works.

I love Disney world and I love love The Pirates Of The Carribbean! Great if you like both!

I really enjoed the first chapter on how the concept translated into the final product of a ride. Amazing how these things come together. The second chapter comparing the ride throughs between the four parks I found a bit frustrating - hard to really picture it unless you're there (for me). I was more interested in the ride portion than the movie chapter myself. Worth the buy (though I bought it used).

My daughter just loves all the background information. She's very happy with it.

Know this first: I'm a huge fan of all things Disney, especially POTC the ride.

Imagineer Surrell's book is very well-done. This is one of those (along with his earlier work on the Haunted Mansion) that I go to again and again, like watching a favorite movie or listening to a favorite album. Maybe I'll notice on the 50th reading ONE MORE DETAIL I somehow missed...
I especially enjoyed the look at the other parks' version of the ride. Rock on, Jason!

Con: Woulda liked it in HARDCOVER.

Now, as with any OTHER topical subject, some of the info goes out of date the day the book is published, and will continue to "go stale". The 2nd, 3rd, and even talked-about 4th movies are, of course, not included. The much-publicized ride rehabs are not either. This is the same with Jason's earlier Disney's Haunted Mansion book (a good companion piece, by the way). That said, the HM book goes off into a hopeful description of the actually-miserable HM movie, touting it as the best thing since Bela Lugosi. This was written well in advance of the actual public release of the HM movie, I guess, so they were gambling the public would love what turned out to be a huge embarrasment. ( When I need cheering up, I sometimes imagine HM Director Minkoff at what I hope is his new day job, asking people if they want to add a cherry turnover to their order for just 50 cents more ). Okay, here's your soapbox back.

They shouldn't have pushed the HM movie so hard in THAT book.

Not so in THIS book: Because they "got burned" on the HM movie, there's a decidedly less-throat-cramming push for Curse of the Black Pearl, which, of course, in hindsight, they could have laid on thicker, now that the movie has generated some kind of Star-Wars-level cultural shift.

Buy the book. You know you want it.

I know I want more books on CLASSIC Disney attractions, and I only want 'em writ by Jason Surrell. Amen.

As of November, 2006, a newer, updated version of Mr. Surrell's book is now available! Look for the version with the compass rose in the upper right corner of the cover.

Cheers!

Beck