Being from East Tennessee, all I've ever heard about was the Appalachian Trail. The AT is getting overcrowded. I was glad to see Johnny Molloy's book out there (He used to live here in Knoxville). His book gives alternative long hiking trails from Louisiana to Florida to up in my neck of the woods. The best part of the book is how he makes it so easy to plan a long trail backpack. Each hike gives detailed information getting there, and what you will find along the trail once your hike has begun. I can plan how far to hike each day, since potential campsites are detailed, along with where to get water, etc.

This book makes heading into the unknown a lot easier, rather than sticking with the overdone, and overhiked Appalchian Trail."

"I thought the Appalachian Trail was the only trail for long distance hiking. Boy was I wrong. This bookopened my eyes to all the long distance hikes I can go on, besides the overcrowed AT, including the Pinhoti Trail, my home state.

So get off the AT and travel not only the Pinhoti, but also such cool long distance trails as the Foothills Trail of North and South Carolina, where waterfalls and trout fishing enhace some bona fide mountain hiking. I'm looking forward to tackling the Floriada Trail this winter, especailly the part that traverses through the Bradwell Bay Wilderness.

There's over 600 miles of long trails detailed in this book, and I'm gonna try to tackle them all. "Wish me luck."

Hunt Cochrane, Birmingham, Alabama.

This is a very well thought-out text. The author states that it is not intended for self-study, but if you have a facility for languages, have studied an inflection-driven language such as Latin and have had a year of a modern language that uses the Devanagri writing system, you should be ok. The format is similar to that of Moreland and Fleischer's Latin text, with brief lessons covering single-serving chunks of morphology, followed by vocabulary and exercises in translation and composition.

Given that the book is a part of the "Michigan Papers on South and South-East Asia", I was a bit apprehensive about it being too scholarly and unsuitable for a beginner like me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it otherwise. The author has the rare combination of an authentic grooming in the traditional Sanskrit learning and a long experience of teaching the language in the West to western students, and this shows in the book to the reader's advantage. Nevertheless, it is a book that demands diligence and effort from the reader. I liked the way the book provides a set of relevant words in every chapter which are used immediately afterwards in the exercises, for this allowed me to quickly refer to them for their meanings. The exercises are also very well thought out, though I wish the author had provided answers to them so that a student could bolster his confidence by verifying his answers immediately, but all in all, the book is well worth the money I spent on it.

Did you ever wish you were the 19th-century Richard Burton, looking at the white spaces on the fringes of a map and wondering what lay inside them? I have; I suppose you have too. Those days are gone for good, though. Mark Elliott's book, however, turns that concept on its head. In it he presents a series of lovingly crafted maps of Southeast Asia, packed with enough information to get me there in the first place, yet vague enough to encourage me to explore it on my own. Some guidebooks can be so overwritten as to make me feel like, "Why bother going? I've already read about it." This book, though, sits inside my briefcase and tantalizes me. It's fun to read, too; I read it on the train and laugh out loud, and everyone in the car is shocked. It answers all the essential questions -- especially what to do if you just can't finish your dinner of dog meat. (Think about it!) What I've seen of Southeast Asia matches what I have read in this book. And for the places I haven't made it to yet, well, this book goads me into going farther.
If all a real sailor needs is a ship and a star to steer her by, then all a true traveler needs is a backpack and this book to journey by. Buy it -- you will not be disappointed!

This is a pretty unique travel book for low budget travelers. It takes all the practical information that you need to survive but then throws you in to explore for yourself showing you where to get free information rather than regurgitating the standard stuff that you get free anyway, yet taking great pains to show you money saving details like where the bus stop into town is when you arrive at any of Bangkok's bus stations. There are so many maps that it can actually be better (as well as much cheaper and lighter to carry) than a series of one country guides. One thing that takes a while to get used to is the icons which make the maps look wild the first time you look at them, but when you get used to them means you get info packed in a small space. In cities where there are loads of guest houses just a "traveler area" is marked which seems like a good idea. Transport is summarized not in words but in sort of spider-like schematic maps which show times, prices, etc and diagrammatically give a good idea of where in a town to find the bus in the first place. On the other hand if you want accommodation much above the budget level this is not the book for you. By the way with all the SARS paranoia it is a great time to be out here in SE Asia!

If you want to know how to cook Southeast Asian cuisine (and this is NOT the same as Chinese), this is the cook who knows. She knows her ingredients with an intimacy not present in most other cookbook writers of this region's cuisines. One factor critical to success in cooking SouthEast Asian fare is to know how to blend together the exotic ingredients for a particular dish. This is especially important for Malaysian/Indonesian cuisine -- and is not often done well enough. Ms Solomon certainly has the knowledge. In my opinion, this is the most valuable aspect of her book.

My grandma found this book at a rummage sale in Australia, and she brought it all the way to the USA for me. The first receipe I tried was such a success that I've been cooking from it ever since. This book is good for those of us who love a good receipe but haven't the time or patience to experiment. I especially like her use of substitutes and pay special attention to her remarks about a receipe. When charmaine says a receipe is good, it turns out spectacular!

The most detailed guide to the southern Atlantic coast of the Sunshine State - a magnet for hundreds of thousands of tourists. The Adventure Guide to Southeast Florida takes you beyond the high-rise condos and urban sprawl to find natural, beautiful South Florida at its best. As with all Adventure Guides, the emphasis is on outdoor activities - kayaking, canoeing, deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, turtle- and manatee-watching, and dozens of other ways to have fun. Many sidebar interviews with local experts and guides offer insights on everything from canoeing the Loxahatchee River to swimming with dolphins to seeking out great horned owls! Accommodations, restaurants and sightseeing too. Maps.

The authors bypass neon signs and designer boutiques in search of adventurous Florida... and they find it. Anton Community Newspapers

This book can help one build on what they learned in the Beginner series, or one can use this book and tape set, if they never studied under the first set to begin with. Tons of useful vocab, phrases, and contextual dialogues are in here. In real-life, you can use what you learn here, and the writing, reading, and listening sections will help a person adapt to the short and long vowels and tones quicker, it seems, than those who just work on the language on their own.

There isn't really much to say about the tapes themselves but I wanted to put my review here for people that weren't sure about buying the tapes without hearing them first. Well, there's not much to say. The tapes follow the book, first vocabulary then sentences, then a conversation just as in the book. And like the book, these tapes have a lot of information in a short amount of time. You'll need to listen and read along many times if you're not already familiar with what's being said. If you already have the book then you really should get the tapes, if you are trying to decide on getting the book and tapes or one of the other I would suggest this: If you only want to learn to speak and don't need to see it written on paper like I do then you can get by with only the tapes because it has the English first, then the Thai - except for the end of each lesson when you get into the sentences and conversations. If you want to learn to read then get the book too. Both are good alone but they are even better together.

I was in Key West Florida a few times. I found this calendar among many to be the most informative, useful and well designed. I had bought two calendars - one for myself as a souvenir and one for my daughter as a gift - she loved it. This is more than just a calendar - it's an information source, a guide and a collectable item. A very beautiful gift that I may buy more of for friends and familly in the near future.

as someone who tends to be an "impatient" reader and usually takes weeks to finish a book, i couldn't put this down and finished it in a day! each story has its own unique personality... sweet, funny, despondent, empowered, etc. the author's description of her surroundings and travels blends beautifully with the honest and raw accounts of her thoughts and feelings. i definitely recommend this!

Anyone living in the Southeast (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee) will find this travel book to be a practical and useful tool. The author, Eleanor Berman, pairs seasonal activities and local attractions with various locales. For me, this opened my eyes to the many enjoyable short trips my family and I can take without going too far from home. The book contains telephone numbers, driving directions and suggestions for accommodations and restaurants that I likely would never have discovered on my own. My family and I have stayed in several of the book's recommended bed and breakfasts and have been delighted. I keep this book handy to refer to for travel ideas. I reccommend it highly as a thorough and "user friendly" guide to travel in the Southeast.

Put Bruce Lombardo's "Chew Toy of the Gnat Gods" on the shelf right next to Edwin Waye Teale's "seasonal" nature books....but not until after you have had a great time reading this charming account of a year's observation of wildlife on the Southeast coast of the US. It's a must read for those of us who love the Georgia and South Carolina coast...and for those who have yet to discover the delights of this area.