Travel Book Reviews

Review: Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo by Michael Pronko

Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo by Michael Pronko

Continuing on from his previous book, Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life, Michael Pronko presents more stories and snippets of life in Tokyo from the perspective of an expat American. Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo reflects on the unique flavors, distinct cultures, and the functional paradoxes of the Japanese capital in 42 more essays from Pronko’s 18 years of Japanese life. Altogether, the book provides a light, solemn, and amusing collection of autobiographical moments and views on the vibrant and fascinating Land of the Rising Sun.

Pronko has an intriguing outlook on his surroundings: […]

2019-02-11T09:26:00+02:00February 26th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Barcelona: A Photographic Tour by Alexandru Ciobanu

Barcelona: A Photographic Tour“Barcelona is the city of colors.” So begins Alexandru Ciobanu’s photographic travel guide, which certainly lives up to that first declaration. In vibrant color photography, Ciabanu covers the gamut in the city of Barcelona, from major attractions to hidden corners. Additionally, it’s a well-detailed travel guide, outlining the history behind each one of his pictures, in prose that’s both concise and informative.

Sometimes color photography can lose the timeless romance and detail of black and white photography, but such is not the case with Ciobanu’s photographs.  Ciobanu makes great use of vivid HD photography, which brings out texture and color. […]

2022-09-13T12:43:37+02:00February 5th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

Review: L.A.’s Lost Soul by Dominic Ryan

Review: L.A.'s Lost Soul by Dominic Ryan

L.A.’s Lost Soul is the engaging and spirited story about Dominic Ryan’s stay in Los Angeles from the U.K., while he spends seven months learning the ropes at an acting school. It’s an entertaining fish-out-of-water story exploring what it’s like to land in Hollywood with relatively little money, no contacts, and without even a place to live. It’s a pretty harrowing prospect, but Ryan faces it all with cheerfulness and optimism.

First, the title is a bit of a misnomer. “Lost Soul” suggests someone forsaken and unhappy, but that’s absolutely not the case for Ryan. He had his share of […]

2019-02-11T09:54:59+02:00October 5th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |

Review: From Chicken Feet To Crystal Baths by Ian Mote

From Chicken Feet To Crystal Baths by Ian Mote

If Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island is a love letter to the United Kingdom, then Ian Mote’s From Chicken Feet To Crystal Baths is a love letter to China. Most Westerners know little about China, and what we think we know is often wrong or at least badly incomplete. Here, Mote is our friendly, ever cheerful, indefatigable tour guide to the Middle Kingdom.

Besides being just a delightful romp, this book gives readers something travel books rarely do: a sense of the place from the POV of both tourist and resident. Mote takes us to Tiananmen Square and […]

2019-02-11T09:55:48+02:00September 24th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Travel Your Way by Robert W. Bauer

Travel Your Way

Travel Your Way, by Robert Bauer, strips away the glamor and glitz of travel brochures and gets down to the nitty-gritty of what it takes to plan a wonderful and memorable trip.

In today’s Internet world, travel opportunities seem endless. But how does one sift through all the online travel companies, service providers, travel agents, and tour operators to find the most reliable and best deals? Vacations can be expensive and not everyone is an experienced traveler. Not knowing the options and process can discourage many from going on a trip they’ve always dreamed about. Bauer’s book outlines the […]

2019-03-08T11:18:00+02:00June 30th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |

Review: The Demon Cat Of Calle Del Rio by Art Lester ★★★★★

The Demon Cat Of Calle Del Rio by Art LesterArt Lester’s travelogue is a fascinating and funny account of the author’s time in a tiny Spanish village in the mountains by the fictional name of Cantilla.

Books on Spain are always fascinating to other Europeans, and Lester’s book is no exception. I am a Brit, and an ex-pat in Spain, and I was keen to find out if all the foibles I had found further south of Andalusia in the province of Malaga held true for Lester in Granada, albeit some years back before flights to Spain were as common as ten a day per airline from the UK.[…]

2019-01-22T15:39:48+02:00May 4th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Beauty and Chaos: Essays on Tokyo Life by Michael Pronko ★★★★★

Beauty and Chaos by Michael PronkoBeauty and Chaos: Essays on Tokyo Life (also subtitled as Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life; full title 僕、トーキョーの味方です in Japanese) is a collection of writings by Michael Pronko on his experiences of the past 15 years living and working in Tokyo, originally published in Newsweek Japan, collected together here.

Born in Kansas City, and traveling across the world to places like Beijing, Pronko sets his view on Tokyo with the eyes of a writer well-traveled, but with an American-raised core to his ideas, his once-fresh eyes, and his general outlook.

These aspects are important in the consideration of […]

2018-09-05T12:36:25+02:00April 8th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Mongolia Monologues: One Woman’s Quest to Experience, Learn and Grow… by Joanne Nussbaum

Mongolia MonologuesMongolia Monologues is Joanne Nussbaum’s travelogue memoir about her time as a Peace Corp volunteer in Mongolia at the age of 53, following the death of her daughter. She wanted to work in sub-Saharan Africa, but instead was sent to Mongolia to work in youth community development. The book is a comprehensive overview of the whole trip – from applying as a volunteer, to the ins and outs of Mongolian culture, to the Peace Corps process, and the wisdom learned along the way. The memoir is told with good humor and optimism, even when things get tough.

There’s a refreshing […]

2014-11-26T03:14:03+02:00November 25th, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |
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