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Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Elizabeth Gilbert

March 05, 2007
This is the most wonderful book I've ever read. She is whitty, charismatic and her insights and paths are so similar to mine I was able to relate on every page. Even if this is not similar to your path (some of my happily or newly married friends were not fussed by it) she stresses the importance of getting in touch with who you really are and how to find you. I have bought about 10 of these books and have given them to friends around the world from all walks of life. Amazing book I give it my highest recommendation.

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Stephen Fry in America

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Stephen Fry

October 01, 2008
So I found myself in Terminal 5 at Heathrow last week and in the process of getting psyched up for my week long European tour of my companies offices I decided to take Mr Frys book with me as a companion.

And, well, its a rather bitter sweet sort of read, leaving you simultaneously amused but short changed.

You see, the author delights you with a wonderful 7 page prologue, dripping in his trademark whit and informed conversation and you're set for the great mans perspective on all things american.

Except its exactly that same dialogue that is actually missing from this book.

What you get is 5 or 6 pages per state, usually with Mr Fry having some form of meal with "typical" residents of the State ... Read More:

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Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Tim Butcher

January 03, 2008
Full of insight into the Congo, its history and relationships with its neighbours. The author's personal story makes it a good read, thanks to his detemination, sensitivity and the hardship he endures. The information he includes gives it a valuable educational quality. At the end I was filled with frustation, a sense of futility verging on anger. Colonisation has left scars and horror everywhere. It is understandable that the Congo may want to forget all that it was as a Belgian colony. But what is in its place?
Reminiscent of the potential and beauties of Africa and its people, there is a seeming disabilty for the Congo to rise above its past and take control of its future. The author clearly makes the point that in other parts of the world, ... Read More:

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The Discovery of France

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Graham Robb

July 04, 2008
This is a superbly written history-cum-travelogue. Robb is known for his books on French writers (Balzac, Hugo and Rimbaud) but here he ventures into peasant France, riding on his bicycle to make the time for the small details of life in rural France. He writes extremely well about landscape, an the book throughout is enjoyable to read. Drawing on travelogues of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Robb accentuates the backwardness of peasant France - mainly for effect, it seems. I found this increasingly annoying. It is an imbalance in the book. The French peasants come across as a nation of troglodytes. The second half of the book is more conventional history on the theme of nation-building in the nineteenth century. This is perhaps better covered ... Read More:

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Friends Like These

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Danny Wallace

July 03, 2008
I almost set it down after 200 pages. But I decided NO... it will get better. It didnt, just rumbled on at the same old speed. Davina McCall describes Danny Wallace to be a genius- O dear, please.
NOT FUNNY!

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Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of 'The Great Railway Bazaar'

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Paul Theroux

September 04, 2008

If you want a book about how to travel by train, skip this one.

If you want a book about what you'll discover about yourself if you revisit old haunts, you may find this book intriguing enough to propel you back to your former hangouts and to review your memories . . . both painful and pleasant.

If you enjoy literary pilgrimages, you'll enjoy several entertaining moments.

If you want keen insights into nations you haven't visited, you won't find enough to warrant reading the book.

If you want a book of great writing, you will probably be disappointed. Mr. Theroux will wow you now and then with brilliant passages . . . particularly in the beginning and end . . . but mostly it's plain vanilla writing.

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Amazon

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Bruce Parry

October 09, 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

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Francesco's Mediterranean Voyage: A Cultural Journey Through the Mediterranean from Venice to Istanbul

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Francesco Da Mosto

July 10, 2008
The book's characteristics are the elegant, rich in historical and cultural content, insightful but witty and light in touch text and the beautiful photographs of landscape, seascape, buildings, monuments, ruins and works of art which are inextricably interwoven and mutually reinforcing;the impact on the reader is not merely additive but truly synergistic.

We travel with the author from the city of his birth, Venice aboard the Black Swan, a renovated 1899 yawl along trading routes of the Venetian Empire visiting the coastline and islands of the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean seas with Istanbul (formerly Constantinople)the final destination. Some of these lands were former colonies of 'La Serenissima' and we witness its legacy in the form of medieval fortifications and buildings, ... Read More:

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Yes Man

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Danny Wallace

April 06, 2006
Its very easy to say yes to everything when your backed up by an over inflated BBC salary, not funny, a couple of amusing situations, on the dance floor and waiting for the ferry in singapore. If id noticed that Davina Macall had said this man was a genius on the front cover I wouldn`t have purchased it(as she normally presents shows for those of an IQ lower than one). Its a poor read about an overpaid self pitying individual.

As much as I didnt like this book the underlying theme is really interesting and the Maitraya idea is genuinely thought inducing.

Wait for it to turn up at a car boot sale, dont buy it.

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By Any Means: His Brand New Adventure from Wicklow to Wollongong

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Travel Writing
by: Charley Boorman

September 25, 2008
there is definately a case to be made for the ratings of this series being boosted by friends and colleagues writing biased reviews. This book really is not a great read. You would have to ask how can it be? The TV series was muddled and acted as a self promotion for the 'director' - it really only work with Ewan - although Charlie is a VERY watchable chap he lacks the maturity to express himself on television and thus, in this book.