The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir (Paperback)

by Bill Bryson (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 288 pages
* Publisher: Broadway (September 25, 2007)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0767919378
* ISBN-13: 978-0767919371
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
* Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as “The Thunderbolt Kid.”

Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Review
Even though this is the era in which my parents grew up, and not me, I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir and would recommend it to people of all ages. While I’m sure the baby boomer generation would really find this book resonating with their life experiences, I think its an intersting look at a unique and fascinating time in our country’s history and will appeal to a much wider audience, such as myself (I’m in my late 20’s). The author is hysterical and I found myself laughing out loud throughout the book. It was so interesting to learn about growing up in Des Moines in the 50s – everything from what people ate to how they shopped to the trouble kids and teens got into- it is indeed such a stark contrast to growing up in America today, regardless of where you live. I think this book would make a particularly great book club selection and would also be interesting reading for history classes or classes on American culture, etc. I HIGHLY recommend it!

I have read two other books by Bryson and enjoyed them but wasn’t sure I’d like this, probably because it was about being a child in the fifties (my childhood experiences were in the seventies) in Iowa America (I’m in Yorkshire, England) however I shouldn’t have doubted his talent for relating life experiences to just about everyone.
I laughed out loud at his father’s out of character taking the family to Disneyland as well as the motley crew of childhood relatives and friends he describes. He could actually be describing any of our childhoods, from teenage crushes, the hierarchy of a gang of mates, Saturday morning cinema, comics and school. Which ever western country you grew up in you no doubt learnt to read from a book where ‘Father’ always wore a suit and ‘Mother’ a frilly apron and everyone said “look” at the beginning of each sentence!!
As well as being informative about 1950’s America, it’s a really entertaining read for those who like to look back happily on their childhood.

Bill Bryson has long distinguished himself as a gifted writer with a knack for entertaining us as he takes us on his travels around the globe. So he does, as well, in his memoir, “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid,” although this time, it is time travel back to the 1950’s. It is very much a window into the time in which he–and I–grew up, a retrospective for Baby Boomers. He captures it perfectly, and were it not for the fact that his childhood was in Des Moines, it just as well could have been mine, in Chicago. I found myself chuckling with familiarity at his memories, which parallel my own in so many ways, from penny candy to reversible jackets, and from air raid drills to dentist drills–sans novocaine. His sense of amusement, cynicism and even awe at that which went on around him, along with his wry observations of the family he grew up in, has no doubt been seasoned by his age, maturity and reflection, but in many ways, it is also an unfiltered look at a simpler time, with the perspective of his years burnishing, rather than altering, what it was like to grow up in mid-twentieth century middle America. I recommend “Thunderbolt Kid” highly to all who relish the chance to sit down and savor what could just as well be their own family album, in words that could just as well be pictures. A thoroughly enjoyable and magical read.

Frequently Bought Together
Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors (Hardcover)

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Mass Market Paperback)

by Bill Bryson (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 397 pages
* Publisher: Anchor; 2nd edition (December 26, 2006)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0307279464
* ISBN-13: 978-0307279460
* Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
* Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaing guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way–and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).

A Walk in the Woods Review
Perhaps it was a fit of angst dealing with his own personal version of a mid-life crisis that led Bill Bryson to tackle the challenge of hiking the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail! It was certainly a solid understanding of his own personality and clear recognition of his own physical and mental limitations that prompted him to invite his friend, Stephen Katz, an overweight and out of shape recovering alcoholic with an inordinate fondness for snack foods and cream soda to accompany him on this daunting challenge. The demands of the AT ultimately proved too much for Bryson and Katz who sensibly (and with an almost relieved sense of philosophical acceptance) decided to abandon the notion of a complete through hike. But the resulting story, drawn from Bryson’s daily journal of the summer’s efforts, is an overwhelming success and pure joy in the reading.
“A Walk in the Woods” is an extraordinary, entertaining travelogue on both the AT – the Appalachian Trail – and the people and places of small town America that dot the trail’s path along the eastern seaboard from Georgia to Maine. At the same time, it is much, much more. Bryson is scathing in his political commentary and almost enraged criticism of the ongoing state of mismanagement and the sadly misguided policies of both the Parks and Forest Services of the US government. “A Walk in the Woods” is also a deeply moving introspective examination on the nature of friendship, family, perseverance, joy and despondency. As he and Katz amble along rock strewn trails dappled with sunlight broken by the leafy forest canopy, Bryson frequently, effortlessly and almost without our even noticing the change, wanders metaphorically off the main trail and onto a side path of lightweight but nonetheless informative and educational sidebars of nature writing on an amazingly wide variety of topics. Glaciation, bears, bugs, ecology, continental drift, hypothermia, hypoxia and weather are only a few examples of the topics which he elucidates for the lay reader with his clear, concise prose.

This is one funny book. I read it in early 1999 and have since picked up the tapes to listen to in the car to enjoy all over again. It is not a hiking guide although it might just inspire you to set off on a significant trip. It is just plain funny. I rank the first third of the book well over 5 stars for his entertaining description of the preparation and beginning of the trip. The middle dragged a bit for me, but perhaps I was just tired with them of the grueling hike. It finishes with almost the flair with which it began. This is a great read — well worth the time.

I am giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 only because I found the beginning part of the book (before they actually start hiking) to be slow and boring. Once they started the Trail, though, it was anything but boring. Not only were there constant laughs to be had and great stories of their adventures on the trail, but I am really thankful to Mr. Bryson for including so much of the environmental information that he did. It was really eye opening and incredibly sad what we are doing to our natural resources, and I think Mr. Bryson has found a brilliant way to use humor to share this information in a way that is not only accessible but enjoyable. Bravo, Bill!

Bill Bryson could probably produce a best seller if he did a detailed analysis of paint-drying and grass-growing, so it was certainly no surprise that this was a good read. While it doesn’t contain the constant hyperbolic hilarity of some of his other works, it is highly entertaining as well as being historically and geographically educational. Although Bryson’s creative genius is evident throughout, the second half of the book is somewhat more methodical than the first. A warning for parents: The language in some passages is PG-13 – at best. In the end, it’s an enjoyable adventure that teaches many lessons about HUMAN nature as well as nature in general.

Loved the book. And it reads really fast and funny!! Being a resident and hiker in western NC, I was disappointed that they skipped all of my area, which I think is the best and most beautiful part of the AT that I have seen. But having hiked many pieces of the AT, I surely can relate to his experiences.

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A Short History of Nearly Everything (Paperback)
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In a Sunburned Country (Paperback)

The Milepost 2009 (Paperback)

by Kris Valencia (Editor)

Book Details
* Paperback: 800 pages
* Publisher: Morris Communications Cor; 61 edition (March 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1892154269
* ISBN-13: 978-1892154262
* Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.4 x 1 inches
* Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
Buy this travel book during April and get an extra 50% off select travel and regional magazine purchase–that’s half off our already low subscription price. Pick from bestsellers like “Travel + Leisure”, “Spa” and more.

The Milepost 2009 Review
I have never seen anything as complete as this “bible” of everyting Alaskan. It is a travel guide, road condition guide, fisherman’s guide and anyting else you ever wanted to know about the state and surronding provinces. I used it two years ago on my first trip to Alaska, and would have missed many things without it. They do revise it every year; I checked and found some things different from my 2007 version to the 2009 one. It is laid out by highway with mileage to and from major points. In addition, side roads are integrated within the major highway listings with their own mileage markers.
Whether you are flying, driving, or going by ferry, it is a “gotta have”.

First, there are not many travel guides for the Alaska Highway and the other areas covered in this book. There is quite a bit of helpful information as is but not really enough. I feel that it really falls short and is not nearly as good as the Milepost editions of days gone by as I have been traveling this road off and on for the past 30 years.
Second, The information is way too tainted by who advertises in this travel guide. If they advertise there is info on gas, lodging, etc. If there is no one who advertises in a particular area then there is no mention of services for that area. To me that is incomplete information and really sucks! I also feel that there should be better info for the different seasons as to what is open and not open. Don’t buy gas at the fancy new lodge on Muncho Lake (Northern Rockies Lodge)!!! It is the highest priced fuel on the entire highway by an unreasonable margin and the people are just plain RUDE! Get fuel before leaving Ft. Nelson or after you get to Watson Lake. Make sure you are hungry when you get to Destruction Bay. Then you can eat the best food on the entire highway at the Talbot Arm Motel and Restaurant. I have always had great food for the best price anywhere here!!!

The 2009 edition of “The Milepost” is the current version of the most uniquely valuable travel guide to Alaska and Northwest Canada (British Columbia, Yukon, and Alberta Provinces). This guide is a must-have resource for the tourist, RVer, and North Country camper. Alaska and Northwest Canada cover a huge geographic area with significant terrain and weather variations and far less travel infrastructure than most travelers are used to in the lower ‘48 states. Travelers should not expect gas stations, restaurants, and franchise hotels at every exit off the main roads, nor should they expect that facilities or even roads are open year-round. Dangerous weather and driving conditions are possible to likely as much as six months or more of the year. In addition, travelers need to be alert to both the prospect of wildlife viewing and sometime close encounters in the road. “The Milepost” provides maps, diagrams, photographs, and most of all, an almost mile-by-mile travelogue of what to expect along the main roads in the North Country. This detailed information will allow the traveler to locate the next gas station, campground, hotel, or scenic spot in areas where signs and billboards may be scarce. The text is seeded with advertisements for many of the commercial establishments along the Alaska Highway in Canada and the limited major road network in Alaska, allowing travelers to plan ahead for scarce beds. Travelers can also plan ahead for fishing charters on the world-famous Kenai Peninsula or the operating hours of the few but often fascinating small museums and roadside attractions that can be found along the way. The annual updating of “The Milepost” assures the traveler of some advance notice for construction or major changes in the road network. “The Milepost” does include some information on the location of trailheads, but serious walkers, bikers, and snowmachiners should seek elsewhere for detailed information on off-road routes. This guide includes convenient scheduling information for the Alaska Marine Highway System and directions to the digital version of “The Milepost.” This publication is very highly recommended to both the resident and the visitor in Alaska and Northwest Canada, which are some of the most scenic parts of North America. Don’t leave the lower ‘48 without it.

Frequently Bought Together
Traveler’s Guide to Alaskan Camping: Alaska and Yukon Camping with RV or Tent (Traveler’s Guide series) (Paperback)
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Alaska Atlas and Gazetteer (Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer) (Paperback)

The Complete Walt Disney World 2009 (Complete Walt Disney World) (Complete Guide to Walt Disney World) (Paperback)

by Julie Neal (Author), Mike Neal (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 336 pages
* Publisher: Coconut Press; 3rd edition (December 31, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0970959680
* ISBN-13: 978-0970959683
* Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
The definitive Disney handbook
The only photo-driven guidebook to the No. 1 vacation destination, The Complete Walt Disney World 2009 is a must-buy for anyone planning a trip to Walt Disney World. Filled with over 400 photographs and packed with more factual information than any other Disney guide, the colorful book includes in-depth information on attractions, activities, restaurants and resorts that you just cannot find anywhere else.

Completely revised and updated
Though it does have all the latest Disney news, The Complete Walt Disney World 2009 is more than just an annual update. The new edition adds a eight-page What’s New summary right up front, as well as incisive articles on saving time and saving money. New At a Glance summaries make it easy to find what you need in each theme park chapter, while attraction articles now include hour-by-hour wait times as well as lists of Fun Finds, Fun Facts and Hidden Mickeys. Insider tips appear at the bottom of nearly every page.

Winner of four national book awards
In the past year alone the book has been honored with four national awards. It won the coveted Nonfiction Book of the Year award at the 2008 Writer’s Digest ISPBA and was named Travel Guide of the Year at the 2008 NIEA. It won Best Southeast Nonfiction (Silver Medal) at the 2008 IPBA and was named one of three finalists for Best Travel Guide at the USA Book News 2008 NBBA. The Walt Disney World Moms Panel praises the book for its “fabulous behind-the-scenes info about the parks.”

The Complete Walt Disney World 2009 Review
Julie Neal’s Disney World books are always the best. Nothing else compares for up-to-date information presented in an organized and reader-friendly fashion. But good as her earlier books were, this 2009 edition blows them away. I loved the book’s look, which makes it easier than ever to find what you’re looking for. The pages on rides and show have so many details — such as the HOUR-BY-HOUR wait times — we used them constantly, almost like a super park map, on our family’s trip to Disney last week (it was Christmas, and man if you ever go at that time of year be prepared for CROWDS!). With a mix of big color images and useful (and also entertaining) information, every single page of this book is a delight to browse through as well as read.

I just bought The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World and I am incredibly surprised by it! I thought it was going to be just a regular guide book, you know. Basic info that I might even be able to get off the web, but I decided to buy it because I figured it would be easier having it in book form and handy to take to the parks. But I was not prepared for ALL the GREAT info in it! I cant think of anything they left out. The pictures are beautiful, the descriptions of each park, ride and show so detailed, plus all the tips, resources, and just plain FUN tidbits. I started reading it from the first page, expecting to skip through a few pages here and there, but its written in such an entertaining way, I’m taking my time to enjoy it! I feel like I’m right there at Disney! I really recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a great Disney guide. It will make the planning almost as much fun as actually being there!

This book has a lot of good stuff in it. I will be using it a lot, not just for my family but for all the relatives who always seem to “drop in.” A common thing here in Orlando! The descriptions of the rides and shows start off with a very handy list of specifications, such as the length of the ride and how scary it is for children. My sister says she wished she had looked at it before she took my niece on the Tower of Terror! I also liked the list of character locations they include for each theme park. So handy, especially when you have a child who MUST meet Lilo! Now I know where she is! Well to sum up you should know I have bought many Disney World guides over the years, but there isn’t anything that compares to this new Complete Guide for helping you have fun and enjoy your visit. Better than ever!

Frequently Bought Together
The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2009 (Unofficial Guides) (Paperback)
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PassPorter’s Walt Disney World 2009: The Unique Travel Guide, Planner, Organizer, Journal, and Keepsake! (Spiral-bound)

The Americans (Hardcover)

by Robert Frank (Photographer), Jack Kerouac (Introduction)

Book Details
* Hardcover: 180 pages
* Publisher: Steidl/National Gallery of Art, Washington; Revised edition (May 30, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 386521584X
* ISBN-13: 978-3865215840
* Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
In 1958, the first edition of Robert Frank’s The Americans was published in Paris. Les Américains contained Frank’s 83 photographs in the same sequence as all subsequent editions, with the image on the right hand page, but juxtaposed with historical texts about American society and politics, gathered by Alain Bosquet. The following year, in the first American edition, the French texts were removed and an introduction by Jack Kerouac was added. Over the subsequent 50 years, The Americans has been republished in many editions, in numerous languages, with a variety of cover designs, and even in a range of sizes. It is the most famous photography book ever published, and it changed the face of the medium forever.

Robert Frank discussed with his publisher, Gerhard Steidl, the idea of producing a new edition using modern scanning and the finest tritone printing. The starting point was to bring original prints from New York to Göttingen, Germany, where Steidl is based.
In July 2007, Frank visited Göttingen. A new format for the book was worked out and new typography selected. A new cover was designed and Frank chose the book cloth, foil for embossing, and the endpaper. Most significantly, as he has done for every edition of The Americans, Frank changed the cropping of many of the photographs, usually including more information. Two images were changed completely from the original 1958 and 1959 editions.

The Americans Review
Like an elusive text in search of itself, Robert Frank’s 1958 book The Americans has changed format each of the four times it’s changed publishers. From the text heavy French version to the oversized aperture reprint, Frank has continued to refine his work each time it appears in print.

In the Scalo version, the place-name captions have been removed from the pages opposite the photographs and collected in the back of the book. Forget any ideas you might have of Frank’s book being a travelogue. In place of the itinerary, the Scalo edition finally establishes the ORDER of the book’s photographs as the crucial ingredient in Frank’s complex vision of America. The 83-photograph sequence cuts between elliptical narrative of the open road and comparative sociology of dead-end lives as Frank turns free association into inescapable logic and then back again. The result is the most masterful combination of photographs in book form.

The subjects of Frank’s photographs roam this fractured typology like prophets locked in an unstable time loop. Geography no longer takes center stage as the formative element of their photographic selves. In some small but significant way, the americans in the Scalo edition reclaim the intentionality of their sadness, anger, and alienation. The bitter and often unwilling nature of their engagements with Frank take center stage, each as profound an act of refusal as Frank’s own denunciation of the pasteboard optimism of ’50s America.

The book is a little smaller than the Delpine, but that’s the only real negative (if it is one) I can think of. The main thing to me is that the photos themselves are how Frank intended them to look. Gone are the overly-lightened faces that plague the Delpine book. This is a pet peeve of mine that kills many photos in this Photoshop age. This is very obvious in the New Orleans trolley photo. In the Delpine work, the faces of the white passengers are totally washed out, and the black faces are awkwardly lightened (someone apparently thought they were helping Frank’s work). That’s all corrected here. In this Steidl edition things are shown as they were intended. One can even see details in the face of the man at far left, even though it is partially obscured by a window reflection.

Hawaii The Big Island Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook (Paperback)

by Andrew Doughty (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 308 pages
* Publisher: Wizard Publications Inc.; 5th edition (May 15, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 098146100X
* ISBN-13: 978-0981461007
* Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
This all-new fifth edition is a candid, humorous guide to everything there is to see and do on the Big Island to plan your best vacation–ever. Best-selling author and longtime Hawai’i resident, Andrew Doughty, unlocks the secrets of an island so vast and diverse that many visitors never realize all that it has to offer. Explore with him as he reveals breathtaking trails, secluded beaches, pristine reefs, delicious places to dine, relaxing resorts, an active volcano and so much more. Every restaurant, activity provider, business and resort is reviewed personally and anonymously. This book and a rental car are all you need to discover what makes the Big Island so exciting.

Hawaii The Big Island Revealed Review
I personally have never gone wrong with these guides. My family and I have been visiting the islands for a few decades, and ever since we found these guidebooks, we have used them exclusively. I don’t know exactly how many years we’ve used them, but we’ve seen a few editions fill our book case.
While some people won’t necessarily have the same experiences as the author, all of our trips to recommended areas have resulted in enjoyment.

One thing to note, however, is that these guides were somewhat revolutionary in the extensive, unbiased reporting they provided when they first came out. Now that more people are using them and discovering the ’secrets,’ not every place is as private as they once were. The hidden gems are now “revealed,” so one might find less traveled paths a little more occupied. However, while there aren’t really new spots being pointed out (mostly just reiterations of old editions), they still are pretty spot on in the descriptions and suggestions.

Be sure to check the publisher’s website for updates, I mark them in my book to limit unwanted surprises each trip.

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed (Paperback)

by Andrew Doughty (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 260 pages
* Publisher: Wizard Publications Inc.; 7th edition (October 15, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0981461018
* ISBN-13: 978-0981461014
* Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
* Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
The finest guidebook ever written for Kauai and the only one written by a writer who anonymously reviews the island. He visits every beach, restaurant, activity and trail on the island. The result is this comprehensive, humorous and easy-to-read full color guide that will lead you to more adventures than any other book. A must for travelers.

The finest guidebook ever written for Kaua’i. Now you can plan your best vacation-ever. This all new seventh edition is a candid, humorous guide to everything there is to see and do on the island. Best-selling author and longtime Hawai’i resident, Andrew Doughty, unlocks the secrets of an island so lush and diverse that many visitors never realize all that it has to offer. Explore with him as he reveals breathtaking trails, secluded beaches, pristine reefs, delicious places to dine, relaxing resorts, exciting waterfalls, colorful canyons and so much more. Every restaurant, activity provider, business and resort is reviewed personally and anonymously. This book and a rental car are all you need to discover what makes Kaua’i so exciting.

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook Review
This is an outstanding guide book full of beautiful pictures and right on information. I picked up this book before my second trip to Kauai. We had visited the island the year before for our honeymoon. I really wish we had bought this book a year earlier!
There were so many things on Kauai that we didn’t even think of to do or see the first time and we bumbled around from place to place, seeing little of the island. The second trip, we used this guidebook and checked out some outstanding restaurants and beaches. Without the book, we never would have gone to JoJo’s Clubhouse for shave ice or found parking for Ke’e Beach.
Something we found helpful was the aerial photos of the resorts section where we got to see just how far the ocean is from where you are planning to stay. We were at the Hyatt for both trips and would readily make reservations there again in a heartbeat!

I’ve spent a total of 6 weeks on Kauai and while I’ve checked out 4 different guidebooks on Kauaii I have used this book exclusively while on island. The authors do a great job of making it quick and easy for you to experience the best beaches, hikes, and other activities — just turn to the section you’re interested in (”Beaches” for example) and look for the big fat diamond symbol indicating a “gem” of an item (I wish all guidebooks did this as concisely and well as these folks do). The pictures are great and really help decision-making. Only rarely have I disagreed with their advice. Some readers have complained about restaraunt and helicopter tour recommendations — but that’s such a small part of what the island has to offer, and frankly I don’t recall be led astray by the book in these activities. If you’re mainly concerned about restaraunts and helicopters, simply stay at the Hyatt Regency and have their concierge set up a helicopter ride for you (the Hyatt can’t be beat for all-around luxury, good restaraunts, and quality service). But if you want to explore, and get the most from, the glorious natural beauty of this island, this is, as others have said, the only book you’ll need. I only wish they had one for Maui — but I’m stoked they have one for the Big Island and am ordering it today.