The Places In Between (Paperback)

by Rory Stewart (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 320 pages
* Publisher: Harvest Books (May 8, 2006)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0156031566
* ISBN-13: 978-0156031561
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
* Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers’ floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan’s first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.

Through these encounters-by turns touching, con-founding, surprising, and funny-Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map’s countless places in between.

The Places In Between Review
Mr. Stewart has written an entertaining account of his walk across Afghanistan in 2002. The country was in shambles, the Taliban had just fallen and the Twin Towers had fallen a few months ago. As a nation, Afghanistan doesn’t exist — just a collection of warlords ruling their fiefdoms and encroaching each other’s territories. So Mr. Stewart enters the county from Iran without a visa as if he was climbing Mount Everest — because it was there.
The author is a superb storyteller and once the book has started, the reader will not be able to put it down. His writing style is conversational, as if he just arrived home and is telling you of his recent adventures. Why Harvest Books did not put this book out in hardback is beyond me. The reader should be aware that his next travel book “The Prince of the Marshes,” will be out in August, 2006 where Mr. Stewart decided to move on to a less dangerous country than Afghanistan — he went to Iraq.

Writing with the understated humor in the best of Magnus Mills’ novels (Restraint of Beasts, All Quiet on the Orient Express), Stewart accounts his long, arduous trek on foot through the brutal landscape of Afghanistan. Thought to be a spy, he is often accompanied by mysterious “guards” hired by the new government to supervise Stewart’s meanderings. The conflict between Stewart and these guards provides much of the book’s humor. But then about a third into the book, Stewart is offered a dog, a huge bear-like creature who is described as wise and weary. The dog, whom Stewart names “Babur,” has been abused and neglected all his life and Stewart adopts him and determines to take Babur with him back to Scotland. For me, Stewart’s tender relationship with the endearing dog Babur is the heart of the book. It will make you weep. This storyline alone makes the book worth reading. Of course, this book is much more than a man meets dog story. It is a firsthand account of the grotequeries that seethe within a country in a state of violent upheaval.

Wow!!! I don’t have a great attention span but this book kept me glued to its pages. While Rory’s adventure to walk from Herat to Kabul in the footsteps of the Emperor Babur is an audacious one, he provides excellent insights into the cultural diversity that Afghanistan is, and the rich heritage that the country has. His walk, following those in India, Nepal and Iran is made difficult by the route he chooses to follow in the height of winter, through the central highlands of the province of Ghor which all conquering armies for the last 2,000 years have chosen to avoid. Yet, this land once became the seat of power in Afghanistan with its capital at the Turquoise Mountain. He provides an excellent account of the changing political landscape of the country by vividly providing accounts of the various people he met and dealt with, from feudal lords to mujahideen to servants and to ex-Russian allies.

Kindle Edition
The Places in Between (Kindle Edition)

A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee (Hardcover)

by Tom Coyne (Author)

Book Details
* Hardcover: 311 pages
* Publisher: Gotham (February 19, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1592404243
* ISBN-13: 978-1592404247
* Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
An epic Celtic sojourn in search of ancestors, nostalgia, and the world’s greatest round of golf

In his thirties, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was well familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it. And since Irish golfers didn’t take golf carts, neither would he. He would walk the entire way.

A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking- averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending sixteen weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland and often battling through all four seasons in one Irish afternoon. Coyne plays everything from the top-ranked links in the world to nine-hole courses crowded with livestock. Along the way, he searches out his family’s roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs. By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and a paean to the world’s greatest game.

A Course Called Ireland Review
Tom Coyne has not added to the landfill of ho-hum Irish travel and golf books. Rather, he has penned 300 pages of interesting, and often hilaroius, insights gleaned from walking more than 1,000 miles in the land of his great-grandparents with golf clubs strapped to his back.

While golfers will find plenty to love in Coyne’s four-month quest to play every one of the Emerald Isle’s links courses, the rest will laugh at his run-ins with mountain goats, Irish sausage and the British Army while gaining a better understanding for a people who have drawn the short straw throughout much of history.

Whether he’s negotiating a sideways rain with a 6 iron in his hands beside the Irish Sea or sitting at a dinner table with distant cousins he has never met, Coyne relays all the redeeming and regretful aspects of his journey with disarming honesty and great feeling.
“A Course Called Ireland” is a pleasure to read and I recommend it highly.

Kindle Edition
A Course Called Ireland (Kindle Edition)

Rick Steves’ London 2009 [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Rick Steves (Author), Gene Openshaw (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 464 pages
* Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing; illustrated edition edition (December 1, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1598801171
* ISBN-13: 978-1598801170
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
* Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
With Rick Steves’ London 2009, travelers can visit Westminster Abbey, explore the British Museum, and finish the day off at an Art Nouveau pub. Rick offers expert advice on both the big-name attractions and local favorites of this world-class city, from the London Eye to artisan cheese shops. With detailed walks through London’s famous districts, including Bankside and the West End, and complete tours of the major museums and historical sights, Rick Steves’ London 2009 is a tour guide that fits in your pocket.

Rick Steves’ London 2009 Review
I’ve traveled to Europe several times over the past 8 years and purchased various guide books for the planning of each trip and as a guide during the trip. By far the best and most reliable is the Rick Steves series. Factual information. I like it because he has a back door philosphy. I feel like I’m getting the background information from someone that has lived there for years. I also love how I’m able to use it as a guide once I’m there too. He has walking tours of museums – of course I typically purchase the musuem audio tours but in the random time that I don’t pay for it, it’s nice to have one in the guidebook. I like knowing the hours and cost of sites. Also the restaurants and hotels he has reccommeded have always been better than expected. I will always use Rick Steves whenever traveling to Europe. I know that he updates these yearly! I just wish he made these books for other parts of the world!

This book has been the most helpful of the three I ordered. I am looking forward to carrying it around London. His comments are always down to earth, just like his tv series. I know his information is current and is in common language that is easy to understand.

This book saves you lots of time and energy planning a trip. Steves even walks you through museums down to every corridor. Great book – we would have been lost without it!

Rick always comes thru with great information on where to go and what not to waste your time on. I enjoy the way that he suggests ways to immerse yourself in the culture of the place you are visiting.

Kindle Edition
Rick Steves’ London 2009 (Kindle Edition)

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Paperback)

by Eric Weiner (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 368 pages
* Publisher: Twelve; Reprint edition (January 5, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 044669889X
* ISBN-13: 978-0446698894
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches
* Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
Part foreign affairs discourse, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author’s case, moments of “un-unhappiness.” The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? With engaging wit and surprising insights, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions. (2007)

Review
If you’re looking for a definitive answer to the book’s premise, i.e., that happiness is about place, you might be disappointed. If, however, you are game for a journey about exploring that concept, Eric Weiner’s book is for you. At once intelligent and witty, Geography of Bliss takes the reader to unfamiliar places to meet strangely familiar people. That’s because the essence of what makes us happy (or unhappy) is basically the same everywhere, alloyed only by our culture and circumstances. It’s a book that will make you think and laugh on the same page. And, it might just make you happy.

Eric Weiner, a well known and amusing journalist, has produced one of the funniest and sharpest books on the market. The search for what makes people happy can easily become an exercise in tedious piety, a too earnest account that reads like an economic research paper. Not so with Weiner, whose deft touch amuses and enlightens, in precisely that order. By taking this wry approach, Weiner is rather more profound than he would concede, and less grumpy than he would like to appear. That is the beauty of “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World,” it is a very learned and intelligent book that wears its erudition lightly and communicates insights with skill and many wonderful laughs.

This travelogue by self-confessed grump Eric “Whiner” is a yearlong tour of a very unusual assortment of countries (sample: Holland, Qatar, Bhutan and Iceland), most of which have been chosen because they are home to some of the happiest resident populations in the world, (although a couple are chosen to present a contrast). There are some interesting conclusions drawn about what does and doesn’t make for happiness, about the importance of democracy and wealth (so revered in the US) and how they are part of the answer but far from being the solution.

Kindle Edition
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Kindle Edition)

Rick Steves’ Paris 2009 (Paperback)

by Rick Steves (Author), Steve Smith (Author), Gene Openshaw (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 544 pages
* Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing; 2009 edition (November 1, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 159880121X
* ISBN-13: 978-1598801217
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.5 x 1 inches
* Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the cozy crêperies of Ile St. Louis—Rick Steves’ Paris 2009 allows any traveler to experience all that the City of Light has to offer, from the big-name attractions to the local favorites. Rick covers the best of Paris, providing full tours of the museums and historic sights, detailed walks through various neighborhoods, and complete coverage of Parisian cuisine. Pick from over 400 types of cheeses at the fromagerie on Rue Cler or take a day trip to Versailles—it’’s all possible with Rick Steves as your guide.

Rick Steves’ Paris 2009 Review
I’ve traveled to Europe several times over the past 8 years and purchased various guide books for the planning of each trip and as a guide during the trip. By far the best and most reliable is the Rick Steves series. Factual information. I like it because he has a back door philosphy. I feel like I’m getting the background information from someone that has lived there for years. I also love how I’m able to use it as a guide once I’m there too. He has walking tours of museums – of course I typically purchase the musuem audio tours but in the random time that I don’t pay for it, it’s nice to have one in the guidebook. I like knowing the hours and cost of sites. Also the restaurants and hotels he has reccommeded have always been better than expected. I will always use Rick Steves whenever traveling to Europe. I know that he updates these yearly! I just wish he made these books for other parts of the world!

Rick Steves is a real-live “regular” traveler, who understands that most of us don’t stay at the Ritz Carlton, don’t eat at 3-star Michelin restaurants, and that we crave authentic travel experiences. His guidebooks are updated every year, and they are meant to be used and tossed. Try tearing out the pages you need for a museum or site, instead of taking the entire book–it’s liberating. You can also download free podcasts that will give you Paris tours! The advice is practical and affordable–with just one guidebook, you will have the best possible travel experience.

Just returned from Paris using this book – Rick Steves created wonderful walks that brought us to the best places. We had a wonderful trip thanks to the advise in this book. Highly recommend that you bring this book with you to Paris.

Kindle Edition
Rick Steves’ Paris 2009 (Kindle Edition)

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia (Kindle Edition)

by Elizabeth Gilbert (Author)

Book Details
* Format: Kindle Edition
* File Size: 339 KB
* Print Length: 352 pages
* Publisher: Viking (April 11, 2007)
* Language: English
* Rating:

Book Description
This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga-practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

Elizabeth Gilbert Book Review Eat, Pray, Love
This is quite honestly a true gem among many many publications that attempt to reach the heart of hurt people everywhere, trying to find their way. Gilbert is not only a fun read (her use of language, total humility and honesty, and allusions to pop culture as well as intellectual geniuses make the book fun to pick up, touching, hard to put down, and an instant classic), but she truly hits home and occasionally makes you think (as she says to Richard in the Ashram) “Stop walking around in my head”. If you haven’t read it yet, do yourself the favor and pick it up; it has the potential to be life-changing and even if it doesn’t strike a chord with you and help you heal, it’s a great story that’s well written to say the least.

This is a wonderful book for anyone on a peresonal journey into themselves. It begins with the seeming mundane and progresses into very important lessons that we all can learn. Very worthwhile read to deepen personal awareness and relationship with self, thus improving relationship with others.Very simply written with a deal of humour which is very importantwith such a “meaty” subject.

Beautifully written, inspirational, and funny. She makes spirituality seem like a crucial aspect of life that many of us abandon simply because we can’t all agree on the rules. Not preachy or overly.