Vacations Books

I did not like this book. I found the writing style to be tiresome and outdated; and the majority of the "information" to be useless. For example, who needs a 'movie list' of stale titles preferred by the author? I was looking for a book of practical, useful information and received maybe 4 pages worth in this book. The rest were useless antedotes and personal references pertaining to the author which although I'm sure were entertaining to her to see in print, was boring waste of time for me to read. You'll find my copy on Ebay.

Marylouise Oates has written "the book" on second home but in the process has filled the book with helpful hints for any home! I plan to leave my copy on the table for all my weekend guests to help them know good behavior! Her advice constantly reassured me of my own decisions on weekend entertaining and drawing the line. The book is extremely well written, funny and a must read. Hopefully the publisher will see the wisdom of a series of "Marylouise Books...". Move over Martha!

All this proves is that "ski style" is ANYTHING you want to build in a ski area. Some of the places have no "ski" feel at all.

I felt there was an unhappy overtone in 'skifanatic's review elsewhere. I guess I can remember feeling a bit like that when young and all I could do was covet. However, don't be put off. The photos in this book -- particularly the Alpine homes -- are a tribute to design, warmth, style, and beauty of traditional materials. And yes, they are also a tribute to money.
But take out the envy and you have examples of a most fabulous marriage between modern crafts and mediaeval styles, using wood, iron, glass, ceramics, cottons, furs, etc etc. Breathtaking homes -- though somewhat less so in the case of the modern-style, overly self-conscious designs.
I lived in a mountain village in the Swiss Alps for a couple of years in the 1960s, and still adore the warmth, solidity, simplicity of the homes there as well as the intracies of the wood structures, paneling and finishes. That was true even for (maybe especially for) the peasant chalets, such as those where I spent that time (skiing fanatically, I might add).
The homes in this book are a tribute to what great imagination, and great taste, based on traditional styles materials, and values can achieve. I was transported by the book and would love to own one of them -- if someone else would take on the upkeep and maintainance!!
Mr.'skifanatic' will get over his hurt one day I hope and may even get to enjoy such places -- while ignoring the fact that others possess them. We don't all have to live in the kind of crowd-accomodating ski barns that dot today's ski centers to be democratic. It is good that human achievement can reach the levels shown in this book. It keeps the crafts people up in the mountains where they surely have a place.

Again, Stephen Jones has dissapointed me. This is the third anthology I've tried by this so-called editor, and again I'm bored STIFF by what he considers "horror". The British obviously have a slower pace than us Americans!!! I bought this new in Borders and have been trying for over a month to push myself through it, just to get to the end. Horrible- don't buy this new! The stories are stale, slow and not very visceral. Most are more in the genre of Ray Bradbury, but without his quick wit and punch.

Stephen Jones's horror anthologies are always a worthwhile investment. What makes Summer Chills so fun is that it combines two of my favorite genres: horror and travel writing. This isn't that difficult as travel writing is endlessly malleable and many horror stories involve characters going to unknown lands. (After all, Bram Stoker wrote Dracula with a travel guide by his side.)

All of these stories involve travel, but not all of them are necessarily horrific. The term "horror fiction" is a bit of a misnomer in most cases; "speculative fiction" or "fiction of the macabre" would work better (Harlan Ellison's terms). As in every anthology, not all the stories will be to everyone's liking. I lost my patience with some of the stories, but perhaps that was my fault.

My favorite stories include:

"The Sun, the Sea and the Silent Scream," by Brian Lumley. This best captures the spirit of the book - a tropical vacation turned horrific. It encourages me to read more of Mr. Lumley's fiction.

"The Cave," by Basil Cooper. This is an exercise in terror by the use of understatement.

"Seeing the World," by Ramsey Campbell. Don't you just hate it when people bore you to death with their vacation pictures?

There are original stories and classics, such as "In the Hills, the Cities," by Clive Barker (has he retired or something?) In any case, this is a worthy investment for beach reading...but it is better read at night.

How can a book about great birding spots not have a single mention of South America?

Birders (a.k.a. bird watchers) can approach their hobby several ways. There's the backyard birder who enjoys feeding and otherwise attracting birds to his/her backyard. Then there's the lister, who keeps a list of species seen (whether in a time period such as a year or in a lifetime) and is always trying to see the next new bird. I feel that among listers there are several types, some who chase the rare (pronounced "lost") birds that blunder to a "migrant trap" near the birders' home, and others who'd rather travel to where the birds should be. This book is for the later group.

There are quite a few bird finding books out there, many good but perhaps none of them perfect. Some of them give detailed lists of what can be seen at each location covered. This one does not. However, that's not necessarily a strong negative because some of the lists in the other books seem to list lots of rarities. If you follow the lists blindly, you may find yourself searching for rarities rather than what is common at that locale.

This book is first and foremost a book for daydreaming. Sure, the advice is practical and you get a good idea of what to expect at each location. But the scope of the chapters range from specific sanctuaries to countries. You may end up getting practical advice about an outstanding sanctuary not terribly far from you and start day dreaming about a trip to Kenya "someday".

If you are a bird watcher who likes to travel, you will probably enjoy this book very much. In fact, you don't need to be an expert birder to enjoy this book.

I'm not writing to review this book, I'm writing to correct an error in the author's bio (The "corrections" section of your website did not have a space for this, so I'm doing it here). Joe Passov is the former editor of LINKS Magazine, not the current editor. Please do not post this message, just make sure the correction is made. Thank you.

Finally a travel guidebook that offers something other than meaningless fluff! Passov is a great storyteller who relates what's its really like to play some of the best golf courses in the eastern U.S. You'll want to clean the grass off your shoes after browsing the chapters. In addition to honest and informed opinions on the golf courses, Passov also provides an encyclopedic amount of information on resorts, restaurants, and other activities in the vicinity of the golf courses. If all guidebooks were this breezily written, entertaining, and full of hardore travel info, you'd never have a bad vacation or a disappointing round of golf. My only hope is that Passov will cover the rest of the country-- and the world-- soon so I know where to go next for a great golf vacation.

Not a bad book, but there are many better, more comprehensive books on the subject. This book was published in the 70's and is rather dated. If you're looking for a limited number of simple plans to build a small, simple cabin, its okay, but there are better books on the subject with more plans and at an economical price too.

This is actually an excellent little guide with practical choices of several simple but classic home styles. Based on the guide originally published in 1972, it gives all the required information (plan details) to build the homes included. There is not a lot of text or explanation of building techniques, only the plans, text with use and design considerations and plan details. I actually really recommend this book for those looking for complete plans for a vacation or small home they could afford to build

Way too basic. You can get the same information from your travel agent or on the various cruise boards on the Internet. I returned the book 15 minutes after receipt.

Easy reading and takes all the guess work out of getting ready for your first cruise

When Amy goes to visit her cousins over her summer break, they tease her into thinking there is a monster under her bed. Then one night Amy finds the monster, only it is a little different from what her cousins described.
A nice story about monsters under the bed, (they're not all bad), lovely illustrations.

This is written in the style of Lets Go and Lonely Planet covering two countries in the same size book that the others have for one. It doesn't have as many sub headings as it's competitors and each city reads like a chapter in a novel with limited subheadings. This can make quick searches for things take a bit longer. This book is more for the person who uses the book to read up and obtain information to plan their trip before travelling. For those who buy these sorts of guides just to find hostels, bus companies etc while travelling then Let's Go would be a better purchase. In fact Let's Go is better for the former person as well. This book is better than Lonely Planet Australia though but then hey anything is. Let's Go both Australia and New Zealand editions and Lonely Planet New Zealand are far better than this book and have heaps more hostel listings and information.

This humorous book was very enjoyable. The moral of the story is easily communicated and would be very appliciable for teens to read and apply (not that adults couldn't use it too.)

I smiled and laughed througout the book. Butterworth is great at his self-depricating humor.