Vacations Books

This book is fun and a great book for high school girls, or someone who remembers being a high school girl! [ ...or for guys trying to figure out the high school gilrs!!]

It's real life stuff-presented in a humorous and fun way!
Aly is not your typical heroine and that's great!!
Things are up and down and that's a real reflection of life.
The characters are interesting and the flow of the book is journal -like, so it is an easy read.
The language and incidents ring true and it makes it genuine.
I cannot wait to see the movie!

This book goes far beyond standard travel guidebooks. It provides subjective, yet accurate, ratings of condos in key island vacation spots. I have used the ratings to plan my condo vacations and have found the info to be very accurate. Hoever, it is getting dated. I anxiously await the next edition

I have never been on a cruise, but I know a lot about cruising. Why? Two reasons: Kevin Yano and his book, "The Cruise Companion".

Before I go on, however, I should make a full disclosure. I have known Kevin for several years and long before he wrote and published this book we would have long discussions about his adventures and the joys of cruising. He was so enthusiastic and his love of the cruising life was so infectious that I often encouraged him to write it all down so he could share his knowledge with all those people out there who may have been interested in taking a cruise but did not know where to start. Well, he did, and "The Cruise Companion" is the result. And a good result it is! A boon to anyone who has ever considered taking a cruise. Here is why:

Some of you may have been to seminars put on by cruise companies. You are deluged with information, some of which is given to you in written form for later reference, and a lot which is simply told to you and thus instantly forgotten, unless you have stenographic skills and thus can take notes while the salesman is talking at you. Plus you probably have a host of questions that never get addressed in the seminar because they never get asked by you or anyone else (since you are all too busy trying to digest what you are being told). "The Cruise Companion" is like being at a seminar where you get to ask all the questions that you could ever think of, even the most trivial yet essential ones that you may have thought of but would be too embarrassed to ask ('What are the real risks of fire or sinking?'-see page 86). The writing style is conversational: accessible and readable. The book's organization makes it easy to find the information that you need. You can read the book from cover to cover and learn about cruising from A (Why go on a Cruise?) to Z (Disembarkation and Return Home). Or you can skip through the book and cherry-pick the information that you need based on the particular questions that you have at that time. In addition, the appendix gives you a list of cruise web-sites, ship index, cruise itineraries, and a glossary for those baffled by some of the terminology (i.e. people like me). The emphasis is on information that is practical and useful, not just for those making a decision about whether to cruise and what do do or bring, but also for those who are already on a cruise and need a handy guide to what to do or expect while on the ship or ashore.

I have already bought copies and given them to friends and family who are interested in cruising or who (in one case) had already signed up for a cruise and needed some concrete information on what to expect and what to do to prepare. In this particular case they took the book with them on the cruise, as well as consulted it before they left. Their verdict: The Cruise Companion is the perfect resource for those who want to know about cruising but don't know where to start.

This book has been my "bible" for cruise planning over the past few months. Here's a layout of how incredibly organized this book will keep you!

Main Page - List your critical info, medical insurance & travel insurance info, emergency contact, etc.

Agenda/Planner - Lists day, day of week, date - your am & pm plans and what attire you'll need. List up to 31 days.

Packing - List of things you might want to take, then a two-page packing checklist organized by section. As I think of things I want to take, or think I want to take, I've been writing them in pencil and will update later.

Writing Home - Addresses / e-mail / phone for keeping in touch. I'm also listing ideas or requests I have from people for gifts underneath their name / address.

Homecoming Reminders - Things you need to do when you get home, for filling out on the cruise. Such as, pay this bill, pick up the dog, etc.

Daily Diary: Morning / Afternoon / Evening section - you list at sea or in port, where you ate, what you did. Then a big "More about this day..." section. In this section I'm listing the confirmation #s, contact #s, etc. that I need for the day.

The Ship - Info about the Ship that you can fill out.

New Friends Address Book

Purchases & Expenses - Log by category and date - 4 pages.

Also features Nautical Terms, world and continent maps, 10 pages for notes, a 2008/2009 calendar and a plastic sleeve for any tickets, tour vouchers, etc. you need to keep handy.

This book is so awesome - I highly recommend for your cruise vacationing, especially cruises of longer than 7 days or very port-intensive trips where you are doing a lot of non-ship shore excursions.

Before my last vacation, I bought three different travel planner/journals to try out; one was computer based (and I did use it for some data organizing but found that printing it out wasn't as handy or as easy to pack as a notebook) and two were notebooks. One of the notebooks is still buried at the bottom of some pile of papers while the CruiseMinder Journal became my constant companion. It took all my planning notes before the trip and became my journal during the trip.

Since I wasn't up to designing my own travel journal, CruiseMinder had the features I thought that I would want and use: places for organizing trip basics like emergency info, reservation numbers, phone numbers; a planner/agenda section for organizing day-by-day activities; packing lists; an addressbook; a place to keep track of expenses; a large section of formated journal pages with plenty of room for my own day-by-day notes.

The CruiseMinder is simple and practical. There are no avant-garde cutsey quotes or distracting artwork. The typefaces are simple and legible. There are ruled lines everywhere I need to write. The paper is heavy enough that 1)you can write in pen on both sides of the pages and 2) it doesn't pull out of the plastic coil binding. The fact that it is spiral bound made it a lot easier to stuff notes and receipts between the pages as the trip went on.

I am very disorganized so the CruiseMinder was very helpful for me to keep all the necessary information in one place. In fact, I'm here today buying another CruiseMinder for my next trip.

This book is not about "old people" - it is instead an extremely well written and informative book for people who just happen to be over 50, who want to go on a cruise, and have a LOT of fun. To quote the author ... "For this book, mature travelers refers to adults who know what they want, both from a vacation and from life. Some overworked forty-year-olds want to prop up their feet and unwind for seven full days while the active retirees water-ski." You want to dance up a storm all night? He'll tell you the ships that offer that kind of nightlife. You don't want to be around children? He'll tell you that, too. The author walks you through the entire process of identifying the right type of cruise for your personality, which ships give special attention to the older person who is traveling with a spouse or alone; how to book one, how to prepare for one, what to do once on board, and finally an overview of the various cruise lines and ship profiles. I have purchased 5 books about cruising this past month from Amazon. Some I found a little bland; some were too hysterical and overwhelming in their detail. This one and the Berlitz book by Douglas Ward were the best for me. I felt Mr. Smith gave me all of the necessary details but in a writing style that was far more personal and interesting. Please don't let the title turn you off - I was worried about it too - this book is terrific!

I was checking out, and sure enough saw them there! These cards are pretty cool, great design and idea.

Daytrips France (4th edition) was the best thing we had with us on our trip to Paris. My husband's uncle gave it to us when we took our daughter to Paris for high school graduation - he had been there before and knew it would be a help. It outlined daytrips marvelously and there was no way we could get lost using this book.

For easy-to-read books, you can't find a better bargain than the Hooked onPhonics books.
Except for the last two items on this list, all of the books are available for 1 cent.

The books in the Hop Book series take an adult reader from 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds to read.
These books are 24 pages long, illustrated with color cartoons:

15. Slam and Dunk and the Big Game (188794236X)
16. Slam and Dunk Go to the Moon (1887942378)
17. Slam and Dunk in the Dark (1887942386)
18. Skip and Spin Swim with Dolphins (1887942394)
19. The Race (1887942408)
20. Mad Dog (1887942416)
21. Whacky Jack! (1887942424)
22. Camper Kim (1887942432)
23. The Best Grandma Ever (1887942440)
24, The Very Hungry Bear (1887942459)
25. Cat Tricks (1887942467)
26. Night is Right for Me (1887942475)
27. The Cereal Box (1887942483)
29. A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse (1887942505)

Beginning with Level 2, the books are of a smaller size,
These books are 64 pages long with black-and-white cartoon illustrations.

Level 2 books take an adult reader a little more than 3 minutes to read.
1. Detective Dog and the Lost Rabbit (1887942564)
2. Detective Dog and the Ghost (1887942572)

Level 3 books take an adult reader a little more than 9 minutes to read.
1. Slam and Dunk Go to Hawaii (1887942971)
3. Detective Dog Goes on Vacation (1887942998) $8.24

Level 5 books take an adult reader less than 20 minutes to read.
2. Goblins (1931020035) $1.00

I read the book Doug Funny's Family Vacation. It was really neat!!!! The funniest part was when Doug and Judy were practically afraid of each other because they got really mad at each other and did weird things. When they had the baby and went to take a picnic Doug got afraid to go in the woods and after all it was o.k. they were acting weird on their trip! ButI still thought it was funny and a good book to read!!!

I bought this book for my daughter after hearing about the Dolly books from one of my friends (who also has a 31/2 year old daughter). She had told me about Dolly goes to the Supermarket (which I bought right away - and my daughter loved it!) When I heard that Dolly goes on Vacation' was available --I could not wait to buy it. It is wonderful! My daughter absolutely adores it. She dresses her doll in the included adorable dress and headband and uses the 'amazingly well made' tote bag to carry everything--she not only plays with the tote bag while I read the book to her - but she likes to carry it when we go out to the store or when visiting friends. The book is wonderful -it is filled with thoughtful and meaningful messages that 'suggest good behavior' rather than being preachy and boring. The illustrations are fun and engaging and my daughter always asks me to read the book over and over and over. After just a few readings, the little lessons in the book (that are so important and I completely agree with) are already taking hold. After mimicking the lessons in the book -my daughter is trying to act more responsibly. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I ONLY WISH THERE WERE MORE DOLLY BOOKS RIGHT NOW!!