Insight Guides: Brazil

By Rachel Fox
"This guide covers the whole of the island, with full-color photographs and maps throughout. The Features section focuses on Brazil's turbulent history and diverse and colorful culture. The Places section covers the whole of the country in detail, from cosmopolitan Rio to the wilds of the Amazon jungle."  (Publisher Description)
Check Our Catalog 

Seasons of a Finger Lakes Winery

By John Hartsock
"June is a time when the vineyardist thins and trains shoots, which seem to grow inches a day. During thinning and training one learns intimately about the personality of the grapevine. It is a strange creature, and one can see why in ancient Greece and Rome it represented the cycles of life. The bark on the main trunk tends to be cracked and crumpled, hanging in threads in some places, and reminiscent of a withered old man. Its not pretty to look at. But the vine comes to life in the smooth brown canes that were young growth the year before, and then in the tender, rubbery green shoots of the current season. In 1998, Gary and Rosemary Barletta purchased seven acres of land on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. Descending to the west from the state route that runs along on the ridge overlooking the lake, the land was fertile, rich with shalestone and limestone bedrock, and exposed to moderating air currents from the lake. It was the perfect place to establish a vineyard, and the Barlettas immediately began to plant their vines and build the winery about which they had dreamed for years. The Barlettas story, as John C. Hartsock tells it, is a window onto the world of contemporary craft winemaking, from the harsh realities of business plans, vineyard pests, and brutal weather to the excitement of producing the first vintage, greeting enthusiastic visitors on a vineyard tour, and winning a gold medal from the American Wine Society for a Cabernet Franc. Above all, Seasons of a Finger Lakes Winery describes the connection forged among the vintner, the vine, and terroir. This ancient bond, when tended across the cycle of seasons, results in excellent wines and the satisfaction, on the part of the winemaker and the wine enthusiast, of tasting a perfect harvest in a single glass."   (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die, Updated Ed.

By Patricia Schultz
"The 1,000 Places to See books are pleasurable, inspiring, wondrous, a best-selling phenomenon and, yes, practical: Announcing the updated edition of "1,000 Places to See in the USA & Canada Before You Die," "The New York Times" No. 1 bestseller. Because USA & Canada is not only a wish book but also a guide, this information, including phone numbers, Web addresses, and more, is now completely revised and updated.
Just in time for travel season, for long summer weekends, for whenever the mood strikes to pack up the car and set out to discover a new piece of America (and Canada!), "1,000 Places to See in the USA & Canada" is a map to all the unique and wonderful places just around the corner: Sail the Maine Windjammers out of Camden. Explore the gold-mining trails in Alaska 's Denali wilderness. Collect exotic shells on the beaches of Captiva. Play tennis the way it was meant to be on grass at the lavish Victorian Newport Casino. Take a barbecue tour of Kansas City Arthur Bryant 's to Gates to Snead s. There 's the ice hotel in Quebec, the stalacpipe organ in Virginia, out-of-the-way Civil War battlefields, dude ranches and cowboy poetry readings, and what to do in Louisville after the Derby 's over.
More than 150 places are highlighted as family-friendly, and indices in the back organize the book by subject wilderness, dining, beaches, world-class museums, sports, festivals, and more."  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

Bradt Taiwan: The Bradt Travel Guide

By Steven Crook
" Written by an author who has lived in Taiwan for 19 years, Bradt's brand-new "Taiwan" explores the island's breathtaking mountains, bird-rich forests and quaint villages where folk religion thrives. Travellers are discovering there's much more to Taiwan than high-tech gadgetry and a difficult relationship with China. Author Steven Crook leads visitors through a land where Chinese tradition lives on like nowhere else against a backdrop of northeast Asia's highest mountains. Taiwan is one of the most crowded countries on Earth, but beyond the ocean of people and vehicles, far from the neon and noise that confronts new arrivals, there's another world waiting to be discovered. This book is the guide for individuals who want more than the treasures of the National Palace Museum, the beaches of Kending, and the well-beaten trails of Alishan. Whether they aim to rough it on mountain peaks, observe age-old rituals in tucked-away temples or wallow in five-star comfort, Bradt's "Taiwan" will lead visitors on an unforgettable journey through Asia's newest destination."  (Publisher Description)
 Check Our Catalog

Ireland Unhinged: Encounters with a Wildly Changing Country

By David Monagan
"A sometimes happy, sometimes blue story of how a transplanted American family experienced Ireland during the past decade.
Monagan (Jaywalking with the Irish, 2004) spent a year in Dublin in the early '70s and was taken by the vividness of life in Ireland. In 2000, he and his family moved from their home in Connecticut to Cork, amid the country's spectacular economic boom. Here the author looks back at the decade and the efforts he made to rediscover the "improvisational, wickedly fresh, and so very human" Ireland he knew. The process was a rediscovery because so much of what seemingly made Ireland special had been lost in the vulgar maw of the boom, "a litany of runaway materialism, instant gratification, increasing hooliganism, and excess of every stripe." Though certainly there is much left standing in Ireland—the loss of rural pubs, however, is alarming—Monagan was blessed to find a little slice of Old Ireland he could afford. The author and his family purchased a house along the Blackwater River, in Ballyduff, full of gardens and sky, rolling hills and forest and warm, welcoming neighbors. Writing with an unhurried and considered hand, his wryness evident but checked by a brooding malaise, Monagan visits with landscapes both sullied and unsullied, in search of Ireland's many silver tongues. There are great bar-side chats with anonymous pubsters, as well as a wonderfully anecdote-strewn day with author J.P. Donleavy.
A penetrating, droll embrace of an Ireland in the midst of tumult."  (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

Landfalls: On the Edge of Islam

By Tim Mackintosh-Smith
"In Travels with a Tangerine (2004) and The Hall of a Thousand Columns (2006), Mackintosh-Smith traced much of the journey of legendary fourteenth-century explorer Ibn Battutah, whose pilgrimage to Mecca became a 30-year journey through the medieval Islamic world and beyond. With his latest selection, Mackintosh-Smith follows IB, as he calls the explorer, on the final leg of his journey. Here, we pick up the voyage in a forgotten corner of Zanzibar before departing to the Maldives, where IB became a prominent local jurist and enjoyed as many as 10 wives; then, on to Sri Lanka and Hong Kong before returning to West Africa and, finally, Andalucia. It is, as always, a fascinating voyage. Though the enigmatic, larger-than-life IB only occasionally comes into crisp focusindeed, the trip seems to raise more questions about him than it answersthe real centerpiece is, in many ways, Mackintosh-Smith himself, whose witty observations and passion for capturing the fast and tangled flow of raw reality remind us that travel is about more than just changing ones location. As the world shrinks and a virtual visit to any of the worlds most exotic places is but a quick tap of a smart phone away, fear not: travel writing is alive and well." (Booklist)  Check Our Catalog

To a Mountain in Tibet

By Colin Thubron
"The mountain path is the road of the dead, writes Thubron (Shadow of the Silk Road) in this engrossing and affecting travel memoir that transcends the mere physical journey. In the wake of his mothers death, Thubron sets off to Mount Kailas in Tibet, a peak sacred to one-fifth of the worlds population and the source of four of Indias great rivers. Kailas has never been climbed: the slopes are important to Tibetan Buddhists who say the mountains guardian is Demchog (a tantric variant of Shiva). Along with two guides, Thubron embarks on a pilgrimage that begins in Nepal and crosses into Tibet, recounting not only his arduous journey but also the political and cultural history of Tibet and the Wests continued fascination with its mysticism. Along the way, he observes pilgrims of various religions converging on Kailas and the myriad monasteries, most of which were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and rebuilt decades later. It is the poignant evocations of his mother and sister (who died at 21), interwoven with his profound respect for the Tibetan culture and landscape that make Thubrons memoir an utterly moving read. "  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Frommer's Florida with Your Family (2ND ed.)

By Lesley Anne Rose
"Florida With Your Family" is a full-colour, practical and accessible book for independently minded families looking to make the most of their family holiday. The guide highlights the best opportunities for families in the region and offers expert opinion on where to stay, where to eat and where to spend your holiday time enjoyably.Details how to plan a trip a family trip to Florida with all the practical advice you need to know.Includes sections on child-friendly events & festivals, shops and activities, along with tips on getting the children interested before you go.The guide covers all the major attractions & theme parks on offer.Suggestions and reviews of the best family-friendly places to enjoy in Central Florida, Tampa Bay & the South West Coast, the North & Central East Coast, Miami & the South East Coast, the Florida Keys & Everglades and the Panhandle & Big Bend.Full-colour and packed with photographs and maps of the region."  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

Fodor's Around New York City with Kids, 5th Edition

" 68 great days with kids in a flash! Local mom Samantha Chapnick has handpicked 68 simply fabulous things to do in and around New York City with a child in tow. You'll look at old favorites in a new light, from the Statue of Liberty to the Bronx Zoo--and blaze new trails all over town, from Symphony Space to the New York Hall of Science. Every page is loaded with fun facts and helpful information. Flip art and games inside! Watch the Statue of Liberty become a ballplayer as you flip through the book. Keep waiting kids happy with our parent-tested games. And use the themed directories to plan with kids' interests in mind."  (Publisher Description)   Check Our Catalog