Venice & the Veneto


Susie Boulton - 1993
    With a stunning, brand-new look, Eyewitness Travel Guides are essential reading for vacation, business, or armchair travel. Consistently chosen over the competition in national consumer market research, Eyewitness Travel Guides include up-to-date information on local customs, currency, medical services, transportation, and much more.

Mary Berry's Cookery Course


Mary Berry - 1991
    Let Mary take you from new cook to good cook or from good cook to great cook with Mary Berry's Cookery Course. With delicious recipes from soups, starters and mains to bread, puddings and cakes, you can master the foundations of cooking and build your culinary repertoire under the guidance of Mary Berry. You can learn how to cook Mary Berry's favourite recipes with ease and find out how Mary gets her roast chicken skin so crispy and how she ensures her apple pie doesn't have a "soggy bottom". Perfect the basics of cooking with 12 classic 'master recipes' such as leek and potato soup, chargrilled salmon fillets and Victoria sandwich cake with step-by-step instructions. Then cook your way to success with over 100 fail-safe recipes with photographs of each finished dish so you know what you're aiming for each time. Mary also offers advice on ingredients and how to keep a well-stocked pantry as well as teaching kitchen techniques such as whipping egg whites to guarantee perfect results every time. Mary Berry's Cookery Course is perfect for all home cooks who want to learn to cook 'the Mary Berry way'.

Washington, D.C.


Alice Leccese Powers - 2000
    They have become renowned for their visual excellence, which includes unparalleled photography, 3-D mapping, and specially commissioned cutaway illustrations. DK "Eyewitness Travel Guides" are the only guides that work equally well for inspiration, as a planning tool, a practical resource while traveling, and a keepsake following any trip. Each guide is packed with the up-to-date, reliable destination information every traveler needs, including extensive hotel and restaurant listings, themed itineraries, lush photography, and numerous maps.

Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere


John Vigor - 1999
    But what was once fantasy is now reality. With a growing glut of good used boats on the market, its possible to sail around the world in a boat that costs less than a car. In this fascinating book, well-known boating author John Vigor turns the spotlight on 20 seaworthy sailboats that are at home on the ocean. These are old fiberglass boats, mostly of traditional design and strong construction. All are small their sizes range from 20 feet to 32 feet overall but all have crossed oceans. Many have circumnavigated the world. And all are inexpensive. There are many hundreds of small cruising boats sailing the seven seas at this moment. They explore everywhere, from the ice-bound shores of Antarctica to the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Most, however, ply the tradewind routes where flying fish play. The water is warm, and coconut trees line calm lagoons bounded by beaches of pure white sand. But choosing the right boat to cross an ocean or go around the world can be a confusing and exasperating experience, particularly if your budget is tight. Its well-nigh impossible to find objective comparisons. Vigor sets out to remedy that in this book. He compares the designs and handling characteristics of 20 different boats whose prices on the secondhand market start at about $3,000. Interviews with experienced owners (featuring valuable tips about handling each boat in heavy weather) are interspersed with line drawings of hulls, sailplans, and accommodations. Vigor has unearthed the known weaknesses of each boat and explains how to deal with them. He rates their comparative seaworthiness, their speed, and the number of people they can carry in comfort. If you have ever dreamed the dream, this is the book that will turn it into reality.

Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living


Linnea Dunne - 2017
     The Swedish concept of Lagom (pronounced "lah-gom") roughly translates to "not too little, not too much, just right." This charming book introduces readers to a new way of balanced living that promises happiness and sustainability in work and in life. Lagom provides simple solutions to juggle everyday priorities, reduce stress, eat well, and save money, with lessons on the importance of downtime, being outdoors, and Sweden's coffee break culture. Tips on removing clutter and creating a capsule wardrobe help readers achieve Sweden's famously clean and functional design aesthetic, while advice on going green and growing food gets their hands dirty. With seemingly endless financial, emotional, and environmental benefits, Lagom presents an accessible and all-encompassing lifestyle that is sure to inspire mindfulness, wellbeing, and contentment.

Indonesia


Ryan Ver Berkmoes - 2010
    A guide to traveling in Indonesia that provides information on sights and activities, festivals and events, where to eat and stay, entertainment, shopping, and getting around, and includes detailed maps as well as an overview of the country's history and culture.

Lonely Planet Peru


Carolyn McCarthy - 1996
    Trek the ancient Inca trail, puzzle over the mystery of the Nasca lines, wander the stone temples of Machu Picchu or indulge in local delicacies in Lima; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Peru and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet Peru: Color maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, cuisine, music, the arts, nature Over 70 color maps Covers Lima, Amazon Basin, Huaras, Cordilleras, Central Highlands, Chan Chan, Cuzco & the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Canyon Country and more eBook Features: (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones) Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalize your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Peru, our most comprehensive guide to Peru, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less traveled. Looking for just the highlights? Check out Discover Peru, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions. Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet. About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveler community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travelers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. *Best-selling guide to Peru. Source: Nielsen BookScan. Australia, UK and USA.

A Short History of Cambodia: From Empire to Survival


John A. Tully - 2006
    With energetic writing and passion for the subject, John Tully covers the full sweep of Cambodian history, explaining why this land of contrasts remains an interesting enigma to the international community. Detailing the depressing record of war, famine, and invasion that has threatened to destroy Cambodia, this discussion shows its survival to be a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's Trek Across the Rooftop of the World


Sorrel Wilby - 1988
    When she befriends some Tibetan nomads, her trek quickly evolves from a daredevil adventure to a journey of self-discovery and personal revelation.

Crossing the Congo: Over Land and Water in a Hard Place


Mike Martin - 2016
    Traversing 2,500 miles of the toughest terrain on the planet in a twenty-five year-old Land Rover, they faced repeated challenges, from kleptocracy and fire ants to non-existent roads and intense suspicion from local people. Through imagination and teamwork -- including building rafts and bridges, conducting makeshift surgery in the jungle and playing tribal politics -- they got through. But the Congo is raw, and the journey took an unexpected psychological toll on them all. Crossing the Congo is an offbeat travelogue, a story of friendship and what it takes to complete a great journey against tremendous odds, and an intimate look into one of the world's least-developed and most fragile states, told with humor and sensitivity.

The Best American Travel Writing 2016 (The Best American Series ®)


Bill Bryson - 2016
    While the various contributors to this collection all travel for different reasons, one thing is for certain—they come back with stories. Whether traversing the Arctic by dogsled, attending a surreal film festival in North Korea, or strolling the streets of a fast-changing Havana, their insights into the world and the human condition are illuminating and enthralling, providing an answer: This is why I like to travel.The Best American Travel Writing 2016 includes Michael Chabon, Alice Gregory, Paul Theroux, Dave Eggers, Helen Macdonald, Sara Corbett, Stephanie Pearson,Thomas Chatterton Williams, Pico Iyer, and othersBILL BRYSON, guest editor, is the best-selling author of A Walk in the Woods;  A Short History of Nearly Everything; One Summer: America, 1927; The Road to Little Dribbling; and numerous other books. JASON WILSON, series editor, is the author of Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits; Spaghetti on the Wall; and the forthcoming Why Wine Matters. He has written for the Washington Post Magazine, The New Yorker, the New York Times, and many other publications, and has won awards for Best Food Column from the Association of Food Journalists four times.

The Voyages of the Princess Matilda


Shane Spall - 2012
    We had underestimated the danger involved in going out to sea. We had no radio, compass, life raft or flares. In other words, we were a couple of idiots.'This is the story of Shane and Timothy Spall and their Dutch barge The Princess Matilda. After a summer on the Thames they head out to sea with only a road atlas and a vast amount of ignorance - and it is absolutely terrifying!On their travels, memories are triggered of childhood trips to the seaside, but also of more recent times. A decade before, Tim had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia and was given only days to live.Shocked at how life can pass you by they decided that when, and if, Tim got better, they would buy a boat.As Tim and Shane explore the coast from the Medway to Cornwall, eventually they start to wonder, could they make it out of England altogether? Could Matilda make it to ... Wales?!Taking over five years, The Voyages of The Princess Matilda is a minor epic,charting a very personal, moving and uplifting story of an everyday couple's adventure around their much loved homeland.

Hell of a Journey: On Foot Through the Scottish Highlands in Winter


Mike Cawthorne - 2000
    On one level it is a vivid and evocative account of a remarkable trek - never attempted before - on another it celebrates the uniqueness of the Highlands, the scenery and ecology of 'the last wilderness in Europe'. The challenge Mike Cawthorne set himself was to climb all 135 of Scotland's 1,000-metre peaks, which stretch in an unbroken chain through the heart of the Highlands, from Sutherland to the Eastern Cairngorms, down to Loch Lomond, and west to Glencoe. His route traversed the most spectacular landscape in Scotland, linking every portion of wilderness, and was completed in the midst of the harshest winter conditions imaginable. Acclaimed on its first publication in 2000, this edition contains an epilogue in which Mike Cawthorne reflects on his trek and wonders what has changed since he carried it out. He warns that 'wild land in Scotland has never been under greater threat'. Hell of a Journey is a reminder of what we could so easily lose forever.

St. Petersburg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)


Catherine Phillips - 1998
    With four new additions to the series, travelers can venture into new lands. The canals and waterways of St. Petersburg are present as well as famous museums, palaces, and churches. Cutaway artworks and full-color 3D maps combine with beautiful photography to highlight the essential elements of an area. Fully illustrated survival guide section. Accommodations, entertainment, and currency included.

Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey Into Bhutan


Jamie Zeppa - 1999
    Beyond the Sky and the Earth is an autobiographical work that details her experiences and transformations after spending three years in Bhutan. It is as much a book about Zeppa's day-to-day life in Bhutan as it is about the personal awakenings and realizations that she had while living there. Visitors to Bhutan, an increasingly hot tourist destination, are still few and far between, largely because of tight government restrictions on entry, visa requirements, and a law requiring tourists to spend at least $200 a day there. There aren't many books on Bhutan, and even fewer first-hand accounts of life there. Beyond the Sky and the Earth stands out as both an informative introduction to the people and culture of Bhutan and as a beautiful piece of travel literature set against the backdrop of one of the most remote and unspoiled places on earth. Zeppa recounts her experiences living abroad, such as learning to live without electricity and carrying on a forbidden affair with one of her students, in such a compelling way that even someone who has never left home will become entranced by her story and captivated by her unique experiences. Naturally, Zeppa experienced culture shock when she arrived in Bhutan. The hardships she encountered seemed insurmountable, and at first she thought she couldn't bear it and fantasized about returning to Canada. She had to learn a new language in order to communicate with her students, she had to learn to live on her own, and she had to learn to deal with homesickness. Perhaps her biggest challenge was learning how to reconcile her growing love for Bhutan with her nostalgia for her life in Canada, her family, and her fiancé. But after living among Bhutan's Himalayan peaks, lush valleys, colorful villages, and friendly people, and after gaining an appreciation for life in a place frozen in time, Zeppa realizes that she feels at home in Bhutan and wants to stay.Although to Zeppa Bhutan is a magical land, she cautions herself and the reader not to deem it "the last Shangri-La," as is often done by the lucky travelers who make their way through the red tape required for entry into the kingdom. Bhutan is not without its problems: it is an underdeveloped country plagued by the problems that affect many places cut off from modernity. There is infant mortality, illness, and poverty. There are also domestic and international tensions that stem from the government's stringent regulations intended to preserve the national culture. Among them are the prohibition of foreign television and a requirement that people wear the national dress, a kira for women and a gho for men.Few of us will ever get to see the place that was Zeppa's home. But her narrative is so clear and insightful that you easily feel as though you are sharing this portion of her life with her. Even if you haven't had the experience of living abroad, or if the prospect of a trip to the furthest reaches of Asia is not in your cards, Zeppa's book is a worthy read on many levels. From her powerful use of language to describe the superb beauty of Bhutan's landscape to her passionate description of her spellbinding relationship with her future husband, Beyond the Sky and the Earth draws readers in and takes them on her rocky ride to self-realization. When trying to explain to a friend what she finds appealing about Bhutan, Zeppa writes: "It takes a long time to find the true words, to put them in order, to tell the whole story. It is not just this or that, the mountains, the people, it is me and the way I can be here, the freedom to walk unafraid into the great dark night. It is a hundred thousand things and I could never trace or tell all the connections and reflections, the shadows and echoes and secret relations between them."But, in fact, Zeppa does tell the reader about these connections and reflections in a lyrical way. After reading the book, you will have a deep understanding, appreciation, and respect for Zeppa's strength of character and for the wonders of Bhutan.Beyond the Sky and the Earth is a delight to read in every way. Zeppa's beautiful prose, peppered alternately with funny observations and profound soul-searching, is a truly special and unique work that will leave you craving an adventure of your own.