Choosing Travel Guides

How do you choose travel guides? I've always been a big fan of the Eyewitness Travel Guides by DK Publishing. I like all the glossy pictures because they make me want to go see it for myself. And, to be honest, it helps me to be sure that I'm where I'm supposed to be when I get there. However, as I've been preparing to move to Istanbul (read about the whys and whens here), I've found that the Fodor's travel guide has been much more useful. I don't know if it's old age, or the fact that I actually need to know this information that has made me prefer a book bogged down with words and facts instead of pictures.

I've bought both the Fodor's Turkey travel guide as well as the Eyewitness Istanbul guide, but the Eyewitness one makes me feel like I have A.D.D. I can't concentrate on the words and find myself skipping through the book and only stopping to read the captions on pictures that catch my eye. The Fodor's seems much more informative, has plenty of tips, and gives readers the opportunity to send in their own opinions after they've been to the suggested places. I love anything that gives real people's opinions, especially when it comes to travel.

I've also been reading a Let's Go travel guide about Europe, which I have found to be quite helpful, yet brief. Granted, it's trying to cover some 24 countries in one book (1124 pages!) so brief is a good thing, but I feel like if it were the only knowledge I had of those places then I'd miss out on a lot. With the abundance of travel guides available out there, I find it difficult to know which ones to choose or trust, so I often end up picking them at random, which is why I'm curious about what you all think of the travel guide industry. What do yo do? Do you always buy the same brand? Do you even use travel guides at all? How do you go about choosing the best guide for your vacation?

Summer Reading!

OK, I'm officially back. School is now over and all I have to do right now is work and prepare for my move to Istanbul. I've already begun packing up my apartment, which began with packing up, giving away, and selling most of my books. The only books that have been spared from being stuck in storage for the next 9 months are language books, travel books and books that I think I'll have time to read before I leave (or while I'm there). So here's a little peak at the books I plan to read in the coming months:

First up is "Banned for Life," a debut novel by D.R. Haney that was released in May. I first heard about this book from reading this wonderful post by Haney on The Nervous Breakdown and I immediately fell in love with his writing. I received my copy of the book yesterday and cannot wait to begin reading it. Here's a little blurb about the book from Amazon:

For almost two decades, rumors have swirled around Jim Cassady, the quasi-legendary punk-rock frontman who disappeared without a trace shortly after his girlfriend’s apparent suicide. Though largely written off as dead, some claim to have had brushes with Cassady, now said to be homeless and bumming change on the streets of his native Los Angeles. Intrigued, Jason Maddox, a would-be filmmaker and Cassady fan, decides to investigate. But the man he eventually finds and befriends is damaged in ways he could never have imagined, and Jason’s own life begins to unravel as he tries to save the hapless Jim Cassady from himself.

A mystery wrapped in a love letter to overlooked American rebels, “Banned for Life” has already amassed a cult following in L.A.’s underground music scene, where D. R. Haney has long been a fixture.

Next up are a couple of books that I really should have read by now, but haven't because I've been inundated with grad school work. I mean, really, who hasn't read "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," and "The Year of Living Biblically" yet? Oh, me. So I'm going to finally get these two out of my TBR pile.

I'm also looking forward to finally reading "Radiant Days," a novel by yet another TNB author, Michael A. Fitzgerald. From Amazon: "FitzGerald's quiet debut centers on Anthony, a Gen X-er slacking away at a meaningless but remunerative Web producer job in dot-com–boom San Francisco. Anthony's life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Hungarian bartender Gisela at a local watering hole. Beautifully irresistible (and entirely untrustworthy) in the manner of all foreign femme fatales, Gisela quickly persuades him to travel with her to Hungary, supposedly so that she can be reunited with her missing son. In Budapest, the two meet jaded British war correspondent Marsh, a Graham Greene–like character who becomes the third leg in a rapidly evolving love triangle."

Next up is "Chasing the sea" by Tom Bissell, a book that I've owned for about five years and still haven't gotten around to reading. I picked up the book after reading an article by Bissell on the same subject. It's a fascinating story about an inland sea in Central Asia that all but disappeared because the rivers feeding into and out of it were overused for irrigation and what-not by surrounding cities. He travels to the now-abandoned fishing villages that surrounded the sea and discovers now-exposed shipwrecks. He also explains the ramifications of the drying up of the sea. It really does sound fascinating so I can't explain why it's taken me so long to get to it. But I'm really going to read it now that I'll be traveling to that part of the world.

Another book that's been biding its time for awhile on my shelf is "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck. I don't know how this never got assigned to me while I was in high school, but somehow I never read it. Steinbeck is one of my most favorite authors of all time, so I'm certain I'll enjoy this one.

A couple of others that made the list are "Say you're one of them," "Godless," and "Measure of the Heart."

The rest will be waiting for me when I get back from Turkey. By then, I'm sure I'll have added many a must-read to my pile.

How about you? What are the books you're looking forward to reading this summer?

Meeting Dooce

I've been bogged down with not-so-fun reading lately, but I'm still the biggest author groupie ever. I went to see Richard Price speak last month and saw Heather Armstrong last night. I didn't write about the Richard Price event because I actually slept through almost the entire thing. Some author's just aren't great at reading their own books aloud. His books are amazing though, so I highly recommend them. I'm reading Clockers right now by him.

But last night I got to meet Heather Armstrong, which was awesome. If you've never heard of Heather Armstrong, I highly recommend you check out her blog. I've been following her on Twitter for about six months and have been reading her blog for about a year. I love her voice and her point of view on so many things. Plus, she's pretty hilarious (in my book anyway). The best thing about going to see her though was that a bunch of my girlfriends actually wanted to come along. Most of the time they have no idea who the authors are that I go to see so they're not interested, but this time they were actually the ones who asked me to go to a book signing. As always, it was a treat to meet an author and Dooce was great at reading her own stuff. She's just as funny in person, but way taller than I expected. Seeing her come out was a bit of a shock to me, especially considering I'm only 5'1". I'm always shocked by tall people.

Anyway, Dooce's book, It Sucked and then I Cried, is out now. It's a story about her first pregnancy and the postpartum depression that followed. One of my friends has read quite a bit of the book already and says she's enjoying it so far. I'm going to be borrowing hers when she's finished so it may be awhile before you get a real review of it from me. Until then, feel free to check it out on Amazon.

Oh, also, my friends and I could not get over this sign posted at Books Inc., where the book signing was. Apparently they have a huge problem with cults in Mountain View (aka Yuppieville), Calif.

More book reviews to come soon, I promise!

Lush Life by Richard Price

I picked up Lush Life by Richard Price last week because it was the monthly selection for my public library's book club. It was the first time I had ever heard of Price, who is famous for writing Clockers, the screenplay The Color of Money, and for his work on the TV show The Wire.

This books is about the robbery and shooting in the Lower Eastside of New York City. We follow two detectives as they pursue one wrong lead that leaves them without any suspects for a couple of weeks. We see how it affects the police officers, the family of the victim, and the shooter.

It's not really a mystery novel because we know from the beginning who all of the players are, and you can pretty much guess who the shooter is from the background information Price gives us in the opening chapters of the book. The story is more about the characters and how cops work an investigation than about trying to figure out who did it. I'm a cop show junky though, so I really enjoyed this book. It was actually the first real "crime" novel I've ever read. I've read a lot of John Grisham's books, but I think of those as being more about lawyers than about cops. Does that make sense? Anyway, if you like Law & Order, I think you'd like this book. It was like reading the script of one of my favorite cops shows. Price does a wonderful job of creating the scene and making you understand where his characters are coming from.

There were mixed reviews at the book club meeting, with people being pretty divided over either loving it or hating it. I was obviously one of those who liked reading it. I felt like Price really knew his subject and did a wonderful job of creating memorable dialogue between his characters. I'm looking forward to reading Clockers next. The woman who runs the book club said she like it even better than Lush Life.

Also, on a side note, I know some of you worry about profanity in books. I didn't really notice it so much, but some of the women at the book club were really put off by the swearing in the book. I thought it helped to build credibility of the story. We're supposed to believe these are criminals talking, so I just don't think it would have been believable if they were replacing swear words with stand-ins like "freakin'" and what-not. Just thought I'd give you the heads up.

Oh, two last things: First, Richard Price will be here in Sacramento on March 12 at the Crest Theatre. I will definitely be there to author stalk him if anyone wants to join me. Secondly, I wanted to link you to The New York Times article about Lush Life from last year, in case you'd like a more in-depth look at the book.

Holy Contests Batman!

In case you haven't heard (which, how could you not have?), Lisa over at Books on the Brain is holding a ton of giveaways on her blog to celebrate her 100,000th hit! So, if you love free books (and who doesn't), then hop on over there and show Lisa a little love.

The future of publishing

Many of us who care about the publishing industry have already read hundreds of stories about authors who finally got book deals because they decided to self-publish and managed to become online successes. I think it's fascinating though that some authors have such faith in their work that they self-publish. I'm beginning to wonder if the publishing business model is changing to reject more manuscripts in the hope that the author will self-publish so the publishing houses can measure the book's success before investing in it. It's an interesting development in the publishing world. Anyway, I thought you all might be interested in this story in Time Magazine about this very topic.

Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

Although it has taken me forever to get through The Audacity of Hope, I really did enjoy it. Obama's perspective on the future of the United States is very optimistic in this book, especially in comparison to his first book, Dreams of my Father. Obama approaches a number of issues, including health care, race relations, and the Supreme Court. If you're at all interested in politics, I'd suggest reading this book, but be warned that much of it was discussed throughout the campaign. I think the reason it took me so long to get through this book was because I read it after the campaign and had already heard much of what Obama has to say. Still, it was nice to have a longer version of his goals and some clarification on what we can expect from our new president.

Also, for those of you who have a hard time reading nonfiction or political books, a friend of mine told me that the audio version of this book is actually read by Barack Obama and is wonderful. I think if I were to do it again, I'd probably get the audio version myself.