Comments

• 

  Cara Bertoia October 28, 2011 at 11:58pm

  I love books that tell a great story but I want to learn something at the same time. I knew that since Tripatini member Linda Ballou was a travel writer that I would learn about Hawaii but what I didn't realize is that she is a beautiful writer. This story takes place at the time in history where the Hawaiians are introduced to the Europeans as seen from the Hawaiian viewpoint. It is a story about a strong woman living in a country warlike country. Just get that picture of peaceful Hawaiians out of your head. She weaves a tale that keeps you intrigued all the way to the end. This is a great read about a fierce heroine. In fact, I liked the story so much I asked Linda to do an interview for my blog.  Follow this link to read her interview. http://thebesttravelnovels.blogspot.com/2011/10/travel-to-hawaii-wi...

   

  

  TRAVEL TO HAWAII WITH WAI-NANI HIGH CHIEFESS OF HAWAII: HER EPIC JOURNEY

  I love books that tell a great story but I want to learn something at the same time. I knew that since Linda Ballou was a travel writer that...
• 

  Terence Baker September 25, 2011 at 8:09pm

  Golly. I just finished reading Rebecca West's massive opus Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia, which comes in at an arm-breaking 1,150 pages. It is worth it, though. The scenery is lovingly and richly described, and the simmering tensions (often to explode) in the region, from Macedonia to the east to Slovenia in the west, are picked apart and related. These troubles as you know are millenia in the making, the region the pawn of empires such as the Ottoman, Roman and Austro-Hungarian and at times the strategic interest of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Venetian Republic. Written in the late 30s, just before European war broke out again, the writing in this book was on the wall, so to speak. And of course we all remember the breakup of Yugoslavia and the many years of civil and regional warfare. Fantastic book, but brace yourself for the long haul.
• 

  Cara Bertoia September 21, 2011 at 9:11am

  Here is the link to tge Kindle version of my book at Daily Cheap Reads, it was featured on Sep. 20th. 
  

   

  A fun read Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships featured today at Daily Cheap Reads http://dailycheapreads.com/2011/09/20/cruise-quarters-a-novel-about... 

  This is also a great site to find out about new books of all types.

  Thanks Cara Bertoia

   

  Thanks Cara Bertoia

   
• 

  Cara Bertoia August 27, 2011 at 1:45am

  Dear Travel Book members,

  I am starting a new blog, The Best Travel Novels. If you have a novel set in a far away land and would like to be featured please let me know.
  http://thebesttravelnovels.blogspot.com/  This is the link to the blog.

  Georgina Young-Ellis a fellow Tripatini member is my first interview, please check out her post about writing The Time Baroness.

  Thanks

  Cara B

  THE BEST TRAVEL NOVELS, MOVIES OR BOOKS

  Hi, my name is Cara Bertoia and I am the author of Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships. It is a story of the crew who work for…
• 

  Ed Wetschler June 6, 2011 at 2:55pm

  Terry, I'm in Maine, arguably the antithesis of the Grand Canyon, but I'm amazed by your story. I'm also flummoxed by the challenge of finding a really good book about the Grand Canyon. You probably already saw the following link. Moreover, I'm not sure it'll fill the need. But just in case...http://www.grandcanyonassociation.org/grand_canyon_bookstore_featur...
• 

  Terence Baker June 5, 2011 at 11:56pm

  My friend Alex and I just did a pretty mad thing. On May 21 (the day the world was supposed to have ended, remember?), we completed in 15 hours a run from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim...and back. It involved 42.2 miles and a net elevation of 10,360 feet. One of the most wonderful things I've done, but in parts the most hellish, too. The five miles from Roaring Springs back to the North Rim was a gruelling hike that I thought would never end, but with hindsight (as I believe is the case with most travel), the endeavour becomes even more wonderful.

  Which leads me to my question. I have just finished reading Travelers' Tales: Grand Canyon--Tales From Below the Rim, but it is inconsistent, mainly as there are many contributors and a little too much flowery language..."I left the canyon, but the canyon never leaves you...", that kind of awfulness.

  So, does anyone have a recommendation of a book on the Grand Canyon that really passes the test of time and good literature?
• 

  Sam Scribe May 6, 2011 at 5:07am

  Quite a recommendation, Terence. I'll have to get ahold of this.
• 

  Terence Baker May 6, 2011 at 4:54am

  Currently reading Norman Lewis' collection of travel essays, A View of the World. Lewis, who passed away at the age of 95 in 2003, is one of the finest, if not the finest, travel writers ever to come out of the United Kingdom, and there is some competition there. Try and pick up a copy of this for writing on banditti in Sardinia; Cuba in the age of Hemingway, Fleming and Castro; Naples; Ibiza; taking Cossacks back to Central Asia to a very grim future during World War II...and after all his adventures he went back to a small farmhouse in rural Essex.

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1436803/Norman-Lewis.html
• 

  Mark Mattson March 21, 2011 at 6:03pm

  TravelTools is the world's most advanced travel software featuring all back-end website features such as newsletters, maps, calendars of events, reservations, itinerary builders, custom itinerary maps, route planners, client admin panels, advertising, e-commerce, and a robust data-mining engine. TravelTools serves destination marketers by providing a link between points of interest and visitors. It also serves highly-differentiated affinity markets such as literary and book travels.
  

  
  
I am looking for investors and/or strategic marketing partners to expand our scope into all aspects of travel, point of presence advertising, and event support. Our fully-developed product includes full and innovative support for QR codes, Smartphones, and Social Media sites.

  
  
Interested and qualified parties must be willing to sign an NDA since our marketing plans and applications are far-advanced and ready to apply to the market. Interested parties must also be ready to attack the market since we are not interested in creeping forward and exposing our solutions without gaining a significant, first mover advantage. Please respond to http://www.tools-for-travel.com/contact.html

  
  
Our applications will change travel marketing and how travelers interact in space. Each of our applications are instantly monetized. They also develop robust and profitable data assets built on individual and aggregate user profiles and preferences.
• 

  Terence Baker March 2, 2011 at 4:15am

  Recently got back from a trip to Valencia.

  The most famous writer from there--at least one I have heard of--is Vicente Blasco Ibanez, who many people would be forgiven for not having heard of, Most have heard of his most famous novel, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (Los Cuatros Jinetes de Apocalipsis).

  He has a fairly wide road named after him in Valencia, and it is this road that the Valencia authorites want to lengthen so that impatient people can get to the Mediterranean Sea one minute quicker than they would have done otherwise, but the problem is to many that in order for this to be done it will have to wade through and destroy an area of the Roma/fishing village of Cabanyal, which I walked through for a wonderful two hours. Yes, it's crumbling, but money better spent than spent on needless roads could make the area amazing.
  Have a look at this site for more details:
  http://vidalondon.net/2010/10/10/valencians-fight-to-save-cabanyal
  Ibanez is perhaps a little wordy and dense for modern tastes (not yours of course, you read everything), along the lines of my favourite Spanish writer from that generation, Pio Baroja y Nessi, but worthwhile nonetheless.
  Valencia is always worthwhile, especially is areas of Cabanyal, El Carmen and Russafa, which is the wonderful Slaughterhouse bar/bookstore, quite the place to be.
  http://slaughterhouse.es
  Lastly, I wrote something a little more comprehensive on Valencia at
  http://allhallovians.blogspot.com
  As always, happy reading, happy travelling