Best West South Central United States Travel Books
Chef Folse's seventh cookbook is the authoritative collection on Louisiana's culture and cuisine.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Ok, this book surprised me."
"This is one of the best cookbook that I have. I have several cookbooks that have only cajun recipes, but this book puts them all into one big cookbook."
"My husband and I already have this book and use it constantly."
"I initially received this book as a gift and just replaced it due to a house fire."
"This book more then any other is the "unofficial" Cajun and Creole cook book."
"I bought this book for my husband who loves to cook."
"In it you'll find recipes for everyday products like chicken, pork, beef, and you'll also find recipes for some game animals as well."
"My husband and I were astonished that the first 100 pages+ are devoted to the different people groups that live in in La."
With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that illuminate every page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Japan truly shows you this country as no one else can. Series Overview: For more than two decades, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides have helped travelers experience the world through the history, art, architecture, and culture of their destinations. DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: the most maps, photographs, and illustrations of any guide. "Known… for its four-color maps, photos and illustrations, the [DK] Eyewitness Guides are extremely user-friendly for travelers who want their information delivered in a concise, visual way."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As is the case with all DK Travel Guides, it is very well organized by region of the country, after providing you with an overview of Japan along with some history and cultural topics. Then when you go to each regional section, the guide has numbered points of interest or suggested places to visit that are thoroughly explained and that are keyed to a corresponding number on a road map so once again you know where you are in Japan. Finally, they provide a fairly detailed section of Travel Essentials and thoroughly cover topics such as safety, how to get around on public or private transportation, currency, health and a host of other vital topics one must consider prior to any international trip."
"I love all the Eyewitness Travel series."
"Wonderful book and layout."
"I generally love the DK travel books, but this one is packed full of a lot of information without giving a proper sense of how to get around the country."
"It contains detailed descriptions by region and their areas, a great section on traveler's needs (where to stay, where to eat & drink, shopping, Onsen, Theme Parks, Sports & Activities, Special interests, and a great survival guide with practical information, travel info, a life saving phrase book and a great index, the book provides a "further reading" list for you if you want to read more but honestly, with this much information it should be more than enough for my 3 week trip to Japan."
"It's a good book though as a reference."
"The pictures and illustrations are great and I have bought DK series for over ten countries."
"this book is very informative and has beautiful colored pictures."
Do you see a yellow bird and don’t know what it is? Naturalist, wildlife photographer and writer Stan Tekiela is the author of more than 175 field guides, nature books, children’s books, wildlife audio CDs, puzzles and playing cards, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers and cacti in the United States.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Love the book but it came apart from the binding within a few weeks."
"I have both this book and the Peterson's book on birds of Eastern & central north america, and this book has color photos of the birds, not just color illustrations."
"Beautiful photo illistrated photo on opposite left page and all the important information on right page with notes."
"This was a gift."
"This book is designed for beginning birders, so it covers only the most common birds."
"I'd say that 80% of the birds in the California Guide were in the Texas guide. If you own "Birds of Southeastern Arizona" by Richard Cachor Taylor, you'll see that his guide is similar too, but he adds a cool feature that shows you where you will likely FIND those birds (he actually names the places… not just giving the habitat)."
Best Texas Travel Guides
It was a time before Terlingua Ranch and chili cook-offs, and you could drive a hundred miles without seeing another vehicle or another person. He also writes about the lower Big Bend as it is found now, and what one can still rediscover just over the next rise. An eighth-generation Texan, BEN H. ENGLISH was raised mostly in the Lajitas-Terlingua area.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Yonderings.. had me remembering great times, places, views, and feelings, many times throughout each chapter."
"Reading this book has made me homesick for Sanderson and that entire region of West Texas that I like to call No-Man's Land! With a book that is filled with adventure and with stories from Ben's history, this book is for anyone who is looking for that read that has Texas History mixed in with personal stories of a famous landmark in a part of Texas that isn't talked about much."
"As a child of the Llano Estacado, whose family drove through the Caprock to go just about anywhere else in the state, I've long been fascinated with the mysteries all the mesas, gullies, red dirt and mesquite brush it held. Then, as each chapter unfolds, the reader feels more and more connected with the area and all of its hidden treasures and threats, as well as with the author and his family and friends. I highly recommend this book for anyone with an adventurous nature, and for those who just dream of learning more about this beautiful, wild, surprising State we live in."
"“The untold numbers of forgotten souls who had lived and died within our purview had left no more visible mark upon the land than melted snow at the close of a warm spring day.”. First let me say, finally, there is a nonfiction book that has photos that go with the chapters they represent. He shares the history of the area from Terlingua to the mining operations for uranium, magnesium, cinnabar ore to candelilla wax. After reading English’s book I now want to visit the park again and especially to hike what is considered the most beautiful spot in Texas – the Chisos Basin South Rim trail. I can relate to why English concentrated so much on using topographical maps while hiking that region, as well as overstating in a gentle reminding way that you don’t go off a known path unless you know the area. I was laughing while reading that passage and imagining I was sitting on the hill with the author and that pastor witnessing the stupidity of that particular driver. If you love hiking and being outdoors then this book will take you a journey to parts of the Big Bend region less traveled."
Best Canoeing Travel Guides
In 1930 two novice paddlers—Eric Sevareid and Walter C. Port—launched a secondhand 18-foot canvas canoe into the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling for an ambitious summer-long journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. Nearly four months later, after shooting hundreds of sets of rapids and surviving exceedingly bad conditions and even worse advice, the ragged, hungry adventurers arrived in York Factory on Hudson Bay—with winter freeze-up on their heels. "Canoeing with the Cree is an all-time favorite of mine."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"First published in 1935, just five years after graduating from high school, the story recounts how the just-graduated young Arnold Eric Sevareid and Walter C. Port set out on a 2250 canoe trip from Fort Snelling in Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. What I find even more amazing was that the young Sevareid was able to write and publish his book covering this saga while still an undergraduate student at the U of Minnesota."
"Now to mark the 75th anniversary of Sevareid's journey, two Minnesota men plan to make the same trip." Tim Post. In 1930 two young men paddled their way from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in Canada. Eric Sevareid, then a 17 year old, fresh graduate of high school, and his best buddy, Walter Port, planned the entire trip. Their journey is documented by Eric Sevareid, who gathered the weekly diaries he sent to their local Minneapolis paper, and in 1935, he wrote this book. Sevareid who went on to become one of the most revered journalists of our time, wrote in an unpretentious manner, and we can feel the excitement of their adventures. They had no radio, no maps( this was uncharted country), little preserved food except for hardtack, but they had their ingenuity and the assistance of all of the people they met. As a matter of fact, most of the people they met were in awe of their journey and shared whatever food, equipment and conversation they were capable. This is not to lessen these young men's courage, but to think 78 years ago, this was accomplished with such primitive arrangments and care."
"It probably has something to do with today's prevalence of cell phones, GPS devices, sophisticated camping and outdoor gear, and most people's basic lack of first-hand experience of wilderness in general, that makes this story so remarkable and totally thrilling. You just can't believe what these two young men go through or how they can summon the fortitude to finish the over 2,000 mile long canoe trip, full of obstacles, one after another after another. Freezing cold, rain, so many mosquitoes they could kill a man, getting lost, no maps, no fire, unexpected Indian encounters--can they trust them or not?"
Best South Atlantic United States Travel Books
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018 explains how Walt Disney World works and how to use that knowledge to make every minute and every dollar of your vacation count. And because they've found that "spontaneity and self-discovery work about as well at Walt Disney World as they do on your tax return," The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is packed full of essential advice for anyone braving the frontiers of the mother of all theme parks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you’re lookin for info about making a trip to Disney World, this book is absolutely amazing!"
"You don't want a rained on Kindle (God forbid ) It seemed as thought there was a lot of "filler" in this book, I understand this is a subjective book , but just my opinion."
"If you get it, go ahead and spend the $10 for their online access (touringplans.com) - it's an essential piece to customize travel plans in the parks for what you want to see and when."
"However, many rides in WDW have been closed (Maelstrom, Backlot Tour, Pirates of the Caribbean, the sorcerers hat in DHS, etc) that are so significant they need to urgently put out a revised edition."
"This book was very valuable in planning our Disney World trip in March."
"So informative, it's insightful, and it's the go-to book for how to successfully navigate Disneyworld."
"I have used this book every time to help plan my trip. I have learned that if you do not plan a WDW trip as a "type A" personality, you will lose out not only on time, but money, and in the case of Walt Disney World....time equals your money spent."
Best East South Central US Travel Books
A CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ONE SUMMER Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. Dave Barry...[Readers] may find themselves turning the pages with increasing amusement and anticipation as they discover that they're in the hands of a satirist of the first rank who writes (and walks) with Chaucerian brio.” —The New York Times Book Review.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm a sexagenarian who, on a recent vacation, happened to walk out and back on the first three miles or so of the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail (Springer Mtn, GA) and, in a fit of exhilaration, decided then and there that I would, by golly, hike the AT before I died. As I was joyfully entertained by his incisive sense of humor, I was simultaneously and seriously learning history, biology, geology (and several other -ologies) as well as being discomfitted by Bryson's documentation of our culture's dismissive practices regarding ecology."
"Read one and except for a few events, you've pretty much read them all and almost any extended backpacking trip involves the same rigors, risks, weather and that mixture of misery and exhilaration."
"Bill's storytelling captured me immediately...I was taking every step he took, I enjoyed every vista he looked out on, I was eavesdropping on his conversations with his fellow hikers and feeling the spectrum of emotions held for his friend and hiking companion."
"An adventure that walks you experientially and historically through the nation's longest series of trails from Georgia to Maine while feeling every fear from blisters, hunger, thirst, wildlife, climate changes, man's limitations and nature's nuances, all the while trekking with a forty pound pack on your back, and any one of these could do you in, well it's a wonder why the wild is so compelling."
"After reading Bryson's African Diary, I had to continue on with this offering on the Australian state of affairs."
"With the film in theaters, I decided to pick it up and give it a go. I loved this book, and place it among Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild," Cheryl Strayed's "Wild," and Elizabeth Gilbert's "The Last American Man" in terms of well-written essays that explore our yearning to return to a simpler, untethered way of life."
"Unfortunately some of his stories about what happened to people along the trail, made me not that interested in walking any trail."
"I think Bill Bryson is an incredibly good writer whose humor extends to poking as much fun at himself as he does at others."
Best General Southern US Travel Guides
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018 explains how Walt Disney World works and how to use that knowledge to make every minute and every dollar of your vacation count. And because they've found that "spontaneity and self-discovery work about as well at Walt Disney World as they do on your tax return," The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is packed full of essential advice for anyone braving the frontiers of the mother of all theme parks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I got him to agree to following the plan until we took our break each day, and be a little more lax in the afternoons - he became a believer after a couple days. Unless you go to WDW regularly, and don't mind seeing just a a few things each day, you really need to plan your days."
"If you’re lookin for info about making a trip to Disney World, this book is absolutely amazing!"
"Recommend, if you are going to Disney."
"You don't want a rained on Kindle (God forbid ) It seemed as thought there was a lot of "filler" in this book, I understand this is a subjective book , but just my opinion."
"If you get it, go ahead and spend the $10 for their online access (touringplans.com) - it's an essential piece to customize travel plans in the parks for what you want to see and when."
"However, many rides in WDW have been closed (Maelstrom, Backlot Tour, Pirates of the Caribbean, the sorcerers hat in DHS, etc) that are so significant they need to urgently put out a revised edition."
"So informative, it's insightful, and it's the go-to book for how to successfully navigate Disneyworld."
"Just got back from my first trip to Disney, information made the trip much better."