Australia Books

I love these books. I have Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and France. The information is good and the pictures are great. I don't actually take these books travelling with me. I look at them before I go and plan what I want to do by the books. I highly recommend these books for anyone who wants a travelling guide or for people who just want to read up on a country. The books have a wide range of information.

My daughter found this book to be engrossing, and loves it. All the color pictures really enhance the book, and make the reading a pleasure. As she stated to me - all the Eyewitness books are so good, it's hard to put them down, and they are educational too!

My family loves these (Eye Witness brand) travel guides! They are VERY informative, very easy to follow, and include lots of good pictures. We've given them as gifts, and the recipients have always given us positive feedback. All of this, plus they are reasonably priced.

I had purchased a similar book for my son about France to help him with his French language courses in high school. I ended up spending more time with it than he did, and when I saw the other country titles, I decided to purchase a few more. The Austria book is excellent in that it condenses a lot of information into a very portable volume. The photos and illustrations are fabulous and the background historical and cultural information is superb. The listing of accomodations and restaurants also appears to be very well researched and provides a starting point for further Internet research. My favorite part of Austria is the Salzburg Region, and this book provides a genuine sense of what it is really like. I can definitely benefit from this book on future travel to Austria. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about the country, as well as for experienced travellers. Well done to the authors, editors, and publisher!

I love this brand of travel books. The images really help you to identify attractions, as well as the birds eye view maps. I also enjoy the "must see attractions" call outs within each section. This book helped make our trip through Austria more well informed and helped us plan our major stops. We also got one for Budapest which was equally great.

Wow! This book by Jean-Michel Cousteau & Mose Richards is amazing! The 120 full color photographs in here are some of the best i have ever seen. Truly breathtaking pictures of this awesome predator. This book chronicles the Cousteau team's extensive two-and-a-half years study of the great white shark at Dangerous Reef, Australia. After attracting the sharks, the research team would observe the sharks behavior underwater in specially built stainless steel cages and one made of Luxon(a clear, bulletproof plastic). They would then tag them and attach transmitters to follow their movements and patterns. A new understanding emerges of the great white and it's lonely, lifelong hunt for food.

Cousteau has truly captured my mind and allowed it to wander through the amazing pages of his book, COUSTEAU'S GREAT WHITE SHARK. I started adoring sharks at age 3, and have always dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. Cousteau has wonderfully made it possible for me to go after my dream without any worries. His book is truly inspirational and gracious. Thank you Jean-Michel!

This book is fascinating. What most do not know is that Mose Richards wrote this entire book, while Cousteau supplied the inspiration and pictures. This book has excellent writing and fabulous photography. An excellent read. Props to the author, Mose Richards!

For surviving for 400 million years. For refusing to submit yourself to mankind's aquariums and corporate SeaWorlds. For never allowing your secrets of mating or birth to become known to the prying eyes of man. For not even leaving a skeleton for science to attempt to examine. For being the Master of the Seas, without even using mechanical aids to assist you, like we, the Humans, the Wimps, the Know-Nothings, the Arrogant Pestilence of the World must resort to to even attempt to conquer you. Keep fighting, Terrible, Beautiful Lordly Ones. We offer you humble, unworthy obeisance in the form of this book, under the aegis of your most dutiful admirer, Jacques Cousteau, Poseidon rest his soul. Never has your grace nor your fearful symmetry appeared to such great advantage. Keep cruising. May your fins glide through the oceans long after the peasants have ceased to crawl upon the earth--or dared to trawl upon the waters!

A very informative book about the great white. The photos are amazing. This Shark is one of the most interesting animals alive. A real predator.

Author of the wonderful Power of One, Four Fires is about a family in a small town who consider themselves (as does the town) the bottom of their social world and yet as the novel develops turn out actually to be the best in every sense: adventurous, courageous, indomitable, imaginative and most of all -- unfettered and unbound by narrow social convention.

I'm writing this in the midst of California wild fire season (and, seriously, I only have to walk outside to smell the smoke) to recommend the most AMAZING novel I've read in months.

I can't say enough about how wonderful this book is. It's the story of a family in Australia who are at the very bottom of the social ladder (they are garbage collectors, and the dad is usually in jail) struggling to find a place in the world. The narrator is the youngest son (Mole Maloney), who, like his father and grandfather, becomes one of the most gifted bush firefighters in his region. He accompanies a slew of wonderful family members and close friends as he tells the story of his familly's adventures through the years between WWII and the Viet Nam war.

Each member of the Maloney family is a fabulous, admirable character. By the end of the book you just want to erect a monument to all of them. It's wonderfully moving, and quintessentially Australian. I can't rave about it enough. I cried multiple times when reading this book. It's just fantastic.

Bryce Courtenay's other novels are equally great, if you haven't read them.

This has become one of my favourite books. It is more than just the story of a poor family. It shows us the prejudices that live inside even the most honourable of people. It shows that strength of character and doing what is right can be the biggest challenge of all. These characters face incredible obstacles and get help from where they least expect it and turned away by people who should help them. It allows you a glimpse of the complex inner workings of a society as experienced by the characters. Ranks right up there with Bryce Courtneay's "Power of One". Excellent read! I couldn't put it down and I was sad when it was over.

Bryce Courtenay is such a great writer! I love the Australian history and the power of love Bryce often writes about. I wish he could write faster!

This book is a narration by Mole, an Irish Catholic kid whose mother is of such loose moral character that she has had 4 different children from 4 different men. BUT she does go to Church on Sunday which I guess is Mr. Courtenay's way of telling the reader that she is not a slut after all. Mole's father (or his stepfather I think) is what Australians refer to as a "Bludger Piss Artist' which means he doesn't work and spends most of his time in Prison or drinking.However every time there is a bush fire Tommy becomes the local Fire Fighting Hero and then EVERYBODY wants to buy him a drink at the Pub so he does have his 15 minutes of fame. Mole's sister has inherited her Mother's loose moral character and wants to go to University when she is pregnant. Maybe she wanted to study hard and discover JUST WHO the father of her unborn child was. This is a very disappointing effort from a writer who has produced better works than this which is why I give this book 5 stars.

Travelling with Michael is to say the least exhilarating, fun, adventurous and a journey of discovery. While many can only dream of actually making the trip, Michael Palins' books are the next best thing. It's not just where he goes, but how he does it and perhaps most importantly: seeing it through his mind's eye, which needless to say can make humor out of nothingness. All you need is to relax and have the urge to increase your imagination. A wild but educative ride!

Michael Palin does it again with Full Circle. Starting in Alaska Michael travels anti-clockwise around the rim of the Pacific Ocean visiting countries as diverse as Russia, Korea, Viet Nam, New Zealand, Colombia and the west coast of North American. He tells of his adventures getting to and exploring some fantastic natural wonders, visiting a Russian gulag with a former inmate, the relief of Japan, the Vietnamese reactions to a westerner, the biggness of Australia and the hardworking people of South America. The section on the United States is short and not always sweet. Palin is taken aback by the physical bigness of Americans, and rush, and loudness. By the time he reaches Canada and attends a "lumberjack" fair (no singing Mounties included!) he really "wants to go home". We also learn a bit about how the series and book were produced, his wife Helen and their children, and that being on a job for the BBC doesn't always mean smooth sailing! Michael's friend Basil Pao took the photographs - he also joined Michael on "Around the World in Eighty Days". I can highly recommend this book and not only to fans of Monty Python - it doesn't end how you might expect!

As always Palin has produced a great travel book and series... this I found better than his "80 Days". The other thing people might find interesting about this travel book is that it takes us to some places which are hard to reach even in this day and age, so this is the only way we can know them.

Also suggested- "Hemingway Adventure"

Full Circle is just as good, if not better then his othertravel/comedy books. It is simply magnificent.

I've seen the 10-part Full Circle tv series, and I had a serious addiction from the start. When it ended, I went through a withdrawl period. I silently rocked myself in a chair in my room repeating "I must get the book,... must find book...must read book." I've got it now and I'm back on a Full Circle high. The book goes into details that they never had time for on the series. It tells you everything that you would have noticed had you been in Japan or Australia or Chile.

Ahh... I can imagine myself right now on the streets of China getting a massage from a blind man.

We purchased this book on recommendation from a friend and have fallen in love with it. Many similar books into our search, this one provides plentiful beautiful and illustrative pictures to accompany well-written and knowledgeable prose. This combination and organization allows me to quickly introduce myself to a new wine or region, but also then spend more time to gain a greater insight should the need or desire arise. I would definitely highly recommend it!!

The book is a wonderful coffee table book with many pretty pictures, weighing better than 5 lbs. The accompanying CD is more or less useless as a wine guide or a wine record. The text is illegible. Very frustrating to work with.

This book is a treasure, and it lives up to its name as a global resource for wine. The book comes with a CD that is quite good, is organzed in a rational way, and designed for ease of access. The bright, clear, glossy photos in the book are truly exceptional, and they are suggestive of an attractive coffee table book. But behind the pictures is a throughly researched book. Essentially, you get a graduate level course on wine in 900 pages of readable prose. Of course everything about wine is about taste, and as tastes vary, so do opinions. The book has 36 contributors, so the reader enjoys a variety of views as well as a variety of writing styles. While most of the book is organized geographically, there is an excellent opening chapter titled "The World of Wine," which will tell you more than you ever thought you'd ever know about the winemaker's craft. Then follows the geographic chapters, where the jumping off point, appropriately enough, is France. By the time our journey is ended, we have met all of the wines of the world face to face. Well, not all, actually. The index omits many wines that are popular in their own backyards, but have yet to make in impact in the global marketplace. But overall, you cannot be disappointed with editor Peter Forrestal's monumental book. You'll be delighted by the book's complexity, balance, and clarity.

There are currently several major wine reference books available in the English language. Originally, there were the definitive Schoonmaker Encyclopedia of Wine and the entertaining Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits by Alexis Lichine. These were the reliable wine reference books 20-30 years ago. Then there were the beautiful World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson and the Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson., These were the standards 10-20 years ago. NOW THERE IS THE GLOBAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WINE which eclipses them all! Current, timely and with 33 diverse authors all respected in their fields. Complete with full color photos and maps as well as reliable wine ratings. This is the one book that can replace many wine books in your wine book collection.

I have always enjoyed drinking wine but I have never had the necessary
background and information about how to distinguish a good wine from a bad
one, which are the most famous wine regions in the world and what are the
most famous wine denominations. That was before my friend gave me this book
as a gift and I must say it was exactly what I needed.

It helped me understand about the different types of grapes and wines,
their specific characteristics, how to taste a wine, which wines are to be
consumed younger and which ones are to be left for aging. I also found out
about the influence of the soil on the vine's growing, the harvest time for
each type of wine, etc.

I think this book is a good start for someone who would like to be
initiated in the amazing world of wines and also for those who already know
well wines.

This book is very detailed and discusses every wine region of the world
(Europe, South Africa, Australia, new Zealand, South America, etc.),

mentioning its wine producers, the history of the area, the climate and in
certain parts it also gives suggestions about specific food that can be
combined with the wine of the area.

Regions like France, South Africa, Germany, USA, Australia, are very
detailed presented, with maps and informations about every single producer
in the area. If you want to take a vacation and visit some wine areas, this
book is everything you need.
Unfortunately, regions like Eastern Europe don't offer so much
information, despite the fact that they have a big potential, but are not
historically so well known.

This is not something to read once and then put it aside. It is meant to
be kept within easy reach and read from it every time you taste a new wine
and want to find more about its origin and history. Knowing all these
things, it will make you understand better its personality and perhaps you
will enjoy it more.

I'm sure you will like the experience of reading from this book.

Which book was Dr. Heller & wife promoting on Oprah's show? (so I'll know which one to order) I didn't see entire show , but what I did see was informative & INTERESTING.

I picked up this book while browsing in a bookstore and it changed my life. I started at 153 pounds and my goal weight was 118. I weighed 116 this morning. And I have more energy, am more mentally alert and upbeat than I ever have been. The book is very motivational. The rules and guidelines for the diet are spread throughout the book so you must read all before starting. Only criticisms are that it's wordy and most of the recipes are bland, but I believe it's the best of all the books the Heller's have written.

I picked up this book while browsing in a bookstore and it changed my life. I started at 153 pounds and my goal weight was 118. I weighed 116 this morning. And I have more energy, am more mentally alert and upbeat than I ever have been. The book is very motivational. The rules and guidelines for the diet are spread throughout the book so you must read all before starting. Only criticisms are that it's wordy and most of the recipes are bland, but I believe it's the best of all the books the Hellers have written.

When I began driving a truck I gained 30 pounds in the 1st month. Fortunately I found this book and re-learned how to eat. Doing this diet right is not the easiest thing, breaking food addiction is seldom easy, but if you read this book it will be easier to make happen. I've lost those 30 pounds and more, landing at an ideal wieght that I've never imagined being at again. Good luck, use this book - it's a great resource. Follow where it leads.

This is an excellent, simply written, but well researched, book on the dangers of bad carbs. I found it extremely enlightening and wondered if it was more than coincidental that Dr. Barry Sears, writes in an amazingly similar vein, in his book "Enter The Zone". It seems that more and more scientists, and doctors, are discovering that we suffer from an overabundance of bad carbs in our eating, and it's also imbalanced versus protein and fat intake.I would heartily recommend this book, and for more scientific corroborative data read "Enter the Zone". Combine this with the sensible exercise program outlined in "Body for Life" by Bill Phillips of EAS Inc., and you will do yourself a very large favour.

It's severly dated by today's standards, but what an excellent read, all the same. I look at it as the music industry version of Julia Phillips "You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again". Biting with sardonic wit, lots of muck-raking (most of it spot-on), and just a wee bit 'o' honesty.

How much of it is true, we'll never know. But the essential bits (the inception of the Boomtown Rats, their immersion into the music scene, other bands, Live Aid, etc.) are required reading for anybody who gives a damn about the music industry. There's loads of comedy as well as pathos, as well as some of the greatest quotes I've ever read in an autobiography.

If you can still find a copy, it's well worth owning.

A wonderfully crafted autobiography. Honest and personal, Geldof puts the first half of his life under the microscope and you grow to love him for his warts and scars.
A riveting book especially for those who recall the music of his era. You will laugh and you may cry even if it is only because the book ends years short of the present day.

This book is one of those books that will renew your faith in the ability of normal people to change the world for the better. It is also hilarious and a great read!

I don't usually read biographies books but this one is a very good one

Bob Geldof's book is a stunning odyssey into the mind of a rock star. he also happens to be a philanthropist who can teach a thing or two to the best of them. the man behind `live aid' not only collected hundreds of millions out of a telethon for africa's famine victims, but made sure they reached the right hands. his forthright language and no-holds-barred style are refreshing. if you must read an autobiography of a rock star, read this one.

Emily Rodda continues her sheer and most impressive imagination in this book that takes on the aura of a ghost story in the nautical sense with creativity and plot only seen in the best. Oddly (and I mean this as a compliment) I almost felt as if I were playing a fantasy video game as I read this.

The subject of the spooky is an old lighthouse that must always remain lit to assist travelers to Deltora. It is more than a job, it is a calling, and it is a crime of the highest to let the light burn out. So of course the answer is why? Why would anyone let the light go out?

The answer lies in paintings and glass windows on a haunted ghost ship that is mysteriosly attached to sneaky characters of Deltora.

Emily Rodda makes a story that relies so much on that eerie feeling to tell an already great story.

Rodda immediately captivates in this stunning third book to the Dragons of Deltora series. On thier way to destroy the third Sister Lief, Barda and Jasmine encounter a haunted house, a haunted ship, a haunted casino and haunted coins. And on top of all that the diamond dragon is dead. Jeez they can never catch a break can they?

I read Dragons of Deltora: Isle of the Dead by Emily Rodda. It is the third book of four in the mini series, Dragons of Deltora. The entire Deltora Set is comprised of three mini series, including Dragons of Deltora.

In the Deltora Series, the three main characters are Lief, Jasmine, and Barda. Leif is the young king of Deltora; Jasmine, the friend of Lief, grew up in The Forests of Silence; Barda, the head of Dels' guards, grew up in the palace when the Shadow Lord took power. They are on a mission to destroy all four sisters in Deltora who slowly poison the land.

In Deltora, there are seven dragons left, one for each gemstone of Deltora, diamond, ruby, amethyst, opal, lapis-lazuli, emerald, and topaz. Doran the Dragonlover, also known as Dragonfriend to the dragons, asked all the dragons to go into a deep sleep, until the king, wearing the Belt of Deltora, calls upon them.

Dragonfriend discovered the Shadow Lords plan of starving the people of Deltora using the Four Sisters. He tried to tell every one of the Sisters, but no one believed him. He left a map marking the locations of each Sister and went to the Isle of the Dead to find proof, but failed to complete his mission.

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine try to kill the Four Sisters, and in order to do so, they must awaken the remaining seven dragons. To be able to defeat a sister, they must have the power of a dragon and the power of a gem in the Belt of Deltora. The Shadow Lord found the map that Doran left behind, tore it into four pieces, and hid each piece in separate corners of Deltora. Lief found one of the map sections that led them to Dragon Nest, in the East. They woke the Ruby Dragon, slay the Sister of the East, and discovered a second quarter of the map, leading them northward to Shadowgate. In Shadowgate, they put an end to the Northern Sisters song, awaken the Emerald Dragon, and found the third portion of the map which leads them to the Isle of the Dead, and the Sister of the West.

In order to reach the Isle of the Dead, they must row to the Scarlet Island and cross by foot, over a bridge to the Isle of the Dead. They seek help from a blind prophet, by the name of Ava, to request the use of her boat. On the Scarlet Island, Lief finds the Diamond Dragon in an appalling state, and buried under her chin they find a little baby dragon egg starting to hatch, keeping the Diamond Dragon species alive.

With the Diamond Dragon, Forta, being only a baby, Lief can not depend on her help in killing the Sister of the West. So instead, he calls upon the old Amethyst Dragon, Veritas, but is not sure that he will be able to have the strength to fly to the Isle of the Dead to help defend against the Guardian of the West, and hell take down the West Sister. Is Veritas strong enough to fly from Dune Island, in amethyst territory, to the Isle of the Dead, in the diamond territory? Or will his lack of food in many years make him to weak? Or does the long flight make him too weak to fight? Read Dragons of Deltora: Isle of the Dead to find out the answers to these questions, and to find out the rest to the story, read the fourth book Dragons of Deltora: Sister of the South.

I really like the genre Emily Rodda uses. She takes dragons and magic and incorporates it with adventure. There are a lot of puzzles in the book, which are fun to figure out before finding out what the answer is. When a letter is received or a sign is spotted somewhere, instead of just describing the sign or reading the letter out loud, a picture of the letter or sign is put in the book. That way, if there is a hidden code in a letter that was sent, you get the chance to figure it out before the code is revealed. I like the adventurous plot in this book along with the constant puzzles, plus the traveling in different methods is cool, like flying on Toran magic or on a dragons' back. Another reason I like this series is because of the Belt of Deltora, which is made up of seven very magical stones. Each of the seven stones has different powers and abilities like different types of healing, warning, and cleansing powers. I think people who like magic and adventure would like this book.

This book was a really goog book and it exited me from the moment that I picked it up to the moment I finshed it I loved the way they got stuck In that ghost ship And how when they got off it followed them! But the ending wasn't that good but I still can't wait to read Sister of the south!

Lief, Jasmine and Barda are now on the track of their next destination, the Isle of the Dead.Their next quest will be their hardest and most quizical yet, losing track of their friend and companion, Jasmine, Lief and Barda find themselves in the middle of a mystery between a beautiful young girl with red hair, a lighthouse and his keeper and a ship called the Lady Luck.When they find themselves in the middle of the Lady Luck's gambling and game room, they find themselves in the midsts of many puzzles and secretive tricks.

Well done Emily Rodda!This book is definitely your best yet in your thrilling new series!I loved the dragons and the mysteries with exciting and deadly answers.I especially loved the wonderful secrets about Tom and his siter Ava.This is a magical new fantasy book to this award-winning series.

My two-year-old loves many of the "Mr Men" books, and Mr Happy is one of his two favorites (Mr Quiet being the other). I love reading this to him as well. In this book, Mr Happy in Happyland stumbles upon Mr Miserable and teaches him to be happy.

Roger Hargreaves' story is short, simple, and easy for kids to follow, with just enough alliteration to make it fun. His pictures are bright and bring the story to life.

My son so loves this book that every time he sees a "smiley face" he exclaims "Mr Happy in Happyland!"

I read this book and all the other Mr. Men books to my children 30 years ago. My children loved them and now so do the grandchildren.

this is the best piece of literature i have ever read!!! simply marvolous

His jubilant expression welcomes you into the world of Mr. Men, and no one -- NOT EVEN MR. MEAN -- can occlude Mr. Happy from enjoying his day, nay, HIS LIFE.

Perhaps you are low on happiness? Perhaps you seek meaning in a world of war and sadness? Mr. Happy is for you. Will he make you happy? Perhaps not. Yet he will teach you the ways of the happy man, and that is all you can ask of a Mr. Men book. They are small books that tell a small story, yet somehow, they are more vast than the ocean.

call me heathen, or anything. But you don't need the Bible. This book makes me tear, it makes my cry of joy because I feel proud to be human. Proud to be Happy. I am glad that we as a race made a piece with so much hope and jo. This, in my humble opinion, is the single best piece of literature ever made.

It really is just Life. Joy, just plain, simple, happy joy. I will always keep this book with me. Im confident that it is the single best way to live a nice, drawn out and good life. So simple of a lesson, such a primordial concept is woven into this book, it really is the one true good book.

And really, to everyone under our bright star, I wish a sunny trees and rolling grassy fields under kind yellow sunlight.

My life is attributed to the Sun, Joy, Life and Mr. Happy

These books are great! I can remember 20 years ago when I was sitting on the floor of my 2nd grade class in Illinios, my teacher would read these books to us!!! They are really cute and I recommend them highly!!

Back in college I got a job as a summer janitor at the local elementary school. One of the things I had to do was clean up in the library. I took this time as an opportunity to catch up on some reading... in the form of the Mr. Men series. Mr. Tickle is a great book about a man who likes to tickle. If you like to laugh, this book is for you. If you like to tickle, this book is for you. If you are a mean spirited and grumpy person, perhaps you should try another book

But BARELY #2.... (Mr. Strong being #1). For a while this was #1 though. Mr. Tickle is the hilarious story of a tickle (you didn't know that there was such a thing as a tickle did you?) on an adventure though town causing mayhem by tickling everyone! This is also a trip though memory lane for daddy as I grew up in England reading Mr. Men books. My copy of Mr. Tickle looks like in went through a war zone, lol.
The best part of the book is the game my son invented by asking me to tickle him every time someone in the book gets tickled. And by the last page he's ran of the bed hiding and giggling. You'll understand if you've got the book, it's got a GREAT ending!
If your kids like Mr. Men books and you don't have Mr. Tickle, what are you waiting for????

Mr. Tickle makes you laugh WILLINGLY.

I know, I know. You are saying, "But I don't like to be tickled. And I don't want my children to feel that tickling is socially appropriate."

I had similar reservations before approaching Mr. Tickle, but I ordered it anyway. Mr. Tickle gets his just rewards, let me assure you, but in the meantime, he seduces readers into the world of Mr. Men. He does not just Tickle the people in his town. No, that is more...Sesame Street (The Tickler, The Man Who Starts with the Letter T, Volume 13, I think, of The Sesame Street Library).

Mr. Tickle helps the people of his town BOND TOGETHER. He is that slippery sort of antagonist who acts as a protagonist. Britain called for a hero, and Mr. Tickle answered the phone.

I loved reading this book to my grandchildren. Even my husband was listening and enjoyed hearing this cute story. I shared it with my neighbor and her grandchildren wanted her to reread it over and over. Little Miss Mischief mentions Mr. Tickle also in the story and a great follow-up book to go along with it. All of the Mr. Men books are great fun to read, and I will keep them on hand for any little one who will sit still to listen to me read it to them. I enjoy the stories as much as the children do.