Travel Book Reviews & Site News

Travel Book Reviews & Site News

We review and share excerpts from the travel books we've been reading. Plus we and write the odd self-congratulatory piece of fluff to pump up our fragile egos.




Travel Book Reviews & Site News Entries


SITE NEWS: Streamlined, Password-Free Checkout
SITE NEWS: Streamlined, Password-Free Checkout
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Mar 5, 2012 05:29:00 PM
Views: 190

Our robot monkey army has been working hard behind the scenes to improve our site. As most of our customers prefer to checkout without creating an account, we've decided to remove user accounts altogether.

This means no more passwords, logins, catchpas and all that annoying inter-gunk. Yay! This allows us to simplify the checkout process, and also reduces our administration and server load which helps us keep our prices down.

Apologies to any folks who like having an account and using the wishlist thingy. Somehow we'll find a way to blame it on the government.


Travel Book Review ~ Traveler's Tales China edited by Sean O'Reilly, James O'Reilly and Larry Habegger
Travel Book Review ~ Traveler's Tales China edited by Sean O'Reilly, James O'Reilly and Larry Habegger
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Dec 4, 2011 11:35:49 AM
Views: 209

True stories by Peter Hessler, Gretel Ehrlich, Mark Salzman, Tim Ward, Stephanie Elizondo, Zhang Zianliang, John Krich and many more...


Travel Book Review ~ Red Dust A Path Through China by Ma Jian
Travel Book Review ~ Red Dust A Path Through China by Ma Jian
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Oct 15, 2011 01:19:30 PM
Views: 402

For our upcoming trip  we're reading everything to do with China. One of the first travel books we picked off the shelf to read was Red Dust by Ma Jian. This book has been referenced in other travel books we've read and has been a popular, steady seller over the years.


Travel Book Review ~ Notes From An Even Smaller Island - Singapore Through a Young Brit's Eyes by Neil Humphries
Travel Book Review ~ Notes From An Even Smaller Island - Singapore Through a Young Brit's Eyes by Neil Humphries
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Apr 17, 2011 11:00:55 AM
Views: 661

A warm, funny and informative look at life in Singapore by an English expat.


Travel Book Review ~ Wrong About Japan - A Father's Journey With His Son
Travel Book Review ~ Wrong About Japan - A Father's Journey With His Son
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Apr 5, 2011 10:33:05 PM
Views: 706

A finely crafted travel memoir and exploration of Manga and Japanese culture by one of Australia's finest novelists.


Travel Book Review ~ Stasiland by Anna Funder
Travel Book Review ~ Stasiland by Anna Funder
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Apr 5, 2011 11:06:41 PM
Views: 2347

An amazing collection of interviews from citizens of the former East Germany.


Travel Book Review ~ Warrior Poets by Benjamin Gilmour - Guns, Movie-Making and the Wild West of Pakistan
Travel Book Review ~ Warrior Poets by Benjamin Gilmour - Guns, Movie-Making and the Wild West of Pakistan
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Apr 5, 2011 11:17:25 PM
Views: 685

Ben Gilmour travels to Pakistan to make a film illegally in the remote and very dangerous wild west of Pakistan. An incredible book, one of my all-time favourite books of any genre.


Travel Book Review ~ Antarctica on a Plate by Alexa Thomson - She Came, She Saw, She Burnt the Toast
Travel Book Review ~ Antarctica on a Plate by Alexa Thomson - She Came, She Saw, She Burnt the Toast
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Dec 5, 2010 02:20:22 PM
Views: 663

Antarctica on a Plate is a great travel and foodie book, one of my favourites. Author Alexa Thomson takes the plunge to be the cook for a camp in Antarctica. 


Travel Book Review ~ Snake Fang Salad - Culinary Travails in China by Greg Elms
Travel Book Review ~ Snake Fang Salad - Culinary Travails in China by Greg Elms
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 26, 2010 02:23:54 AM
Views: 484

In Snake Fang Salad photographer Greg Elms travels China photographing food for Lonely Planet. As an obsessed food blogger and travel nerd this is my dream job, or so I thought...


Travel Book Review ~ Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind by Carol Hollinger - An American Housewife's Honest Love Affair with the Irrepressible People of Thailand.
Travel Book Review ~ Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind by Carol Hollinger - An American Housewife's Honest Love Affair with the Irrepressible People of Thailand.
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 26, 2010 03:18:59 AM
Views: 577

Mai Pen Rai is a wonderful memoir of author Carol Hollinger's expat life in Bangkok in the 1960's. A travel classic.


Travel Book Review ~ Sleeping with the Dead by Marko Cunningham - A Kiwi Working with Bangkok's Bodysnatchers
Travel Book Review ~ Sleeping with the Dead by Marko Cunningham - A Kiwi Working with Bangkok's Bodysnatchers
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 25, 2010 11:32:25 PM
Views: 464

Sleeping with the Dead chronicles Marko Cunningham's work with Ruamkatanyu, a volunteer paramedic\ambulence\rescue organisation in Bangkok, Thailand.


Travel Book Review ~ Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne
Travel Book Review ~ Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 20, 2010 06:09:17 PM
Views: 537

A joyous book of travel, cycling, art, music and everything from David Byrne of Talking Heads fame.


Travel Book Review ~ Untangling My Chopsticks by Victoria Abbott Riccardi
Travel Book Review ~ Untangling My Chopsticks by Victoria Abbott Riccardi
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 08:21:09 PM
Views: 752

Untangling My Chopsticks is a memoir of Victoria Abbott Riccardi's year in Kyoto, Japan, mostly to learn about Japanese food, and in particular, Kyoto's chakaiseki (tea kaiseki) cuisine, a series of small dishes that accompany tea ceremonies. Some refer to kaiseki as the Japanese equivalent to French degustation. 


Travel Book Review ~ Where Underpants Come From by Joe Bennett - 'From Checkout to Cotton Field - Travels Through The New China'
Travel Book Review ~ Where Underpants Come From by Joe Bennett - 'From Checkout to Cotton Field - Travels Through The New China'
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 7, 2010 05:28:37 PM
Views: 527

I became an instant Joe Bennett fan just a a few pages into Where Underpants Come From. A charming and funny read of Joe's quest to trace his $NZ 8.59 pack of underpants from the store to the source.


Travel Book Review ~ Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) True Stories from a War Zone
Travel Book Review ~ Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) True Stories from a War Zone
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 5, 2010 09:26:44 PM
Views: 768

Emergency Sex follows the intertwining stories of three UN\Red Cross workers in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Somolia, Haiti and Liberia.


Travel Book Review ~ Marching Powder by Rusty Young - A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine and South America's Strangest Jail.
Travel Book Review ~ Marching Powder by Rusty Young - A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine and South America's Strangest Jail.
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 5, 2010 09:29:08 PM
Views: 1070

This travel\true crime book is a jaw-droppingly amazing read, the true story of an English inmate inside the bizzare San Pedro Prison in Bolivia, South America.


Travel Book Review ~ A LAND OF A THOUSAND EYES The Subtle Pleasures of Everyday Life in Myanmar by Peter Olszewski
Travel Book Review ~ A LAND OF A THOUSAND EYES The Subtle Pleasures of Everyday Life in Myanmar by Peter Olszewski
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 5, 2010 09:30:26 PM
Views: 739

A highly personal account of author Peter Olszewski's stint working for the Myanmar Times in Yangon. It made me want to go to Burma.


Travel Book Review ~ RULE NO 5 NO SEX ON THE BUS Confessions of a Tour Leader by Brian Thacker
Travel Book Review ~ RULE NO 5 NO SEX ON THE BUS Confessions of a Tour Leader by Brian Thacker
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 5, 2010 09:32:04 PM
Views: 806

Brian Thacker is one of the funniest travel writers around. Rule No 5 is one of my favourite travel books for a good giggle, in this book he spins yarns from his two years of leading Contiki style bus tours across Europe.


Travel Book Review ~ Do Travel Writers Go To Hell by Thomas Kohnstamm?
Travel Book Review ~ Do Travel Writers Go To Hell by Thomas Kohnstamm?
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Oct 4, 2010 10:45:01 PM
Views: 403

In Do Travel Writers Go To Hell, author Thomas Kohnstamm throws in his steady, boring, well-paying office job and Manhattan lifestyle to be a Lonely Planet travel guide writer, updating the book for Brazil.


Over 1,000 travel books listed - woohoo x2!!!
Over 1,000 travel books listed - woohoo x2!!!
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Aug 10, 2010 12:57:00 AM
Views: 386
Our robot monkey army has photographed, listed and described over 1,000 travel books on our lovely site - a few thousand more to go...

WOOHOO!!! We've upgraded our bookstore - welcome to the finest secondhand travel bookshop downunder
WOOHOO!!! We've upgraded our bookstore - welcome to the finest secondhand travel bookshop downunder
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Jun 21, 2010 08:26:37 PM
Views: 468
We've suped up our travel book store for a better bludging experience.

 Those smiley faces...
Those smiley faces...
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Jun 2, 2010 09:46:36 PM
Views: 429

Just who are those smiley little folks at the top of our homepage?


Travel Book Review ~ THROWIM WAY LEG by Tim Flannery
Travel Book Review ~ THROWIM WAY LEG by Tim Flannery
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 09:46:45 PM
Views: 570

A fantastic travel & biology book on New Guinea, a modern travel classic.


Travel Book Review ~ WILLIE'S BAR & GRILL by Rob Hirst
Travel Book Review ~ WILLIE'S BAR & GRILL by Rob Hirst
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 09:44:27 PM
Views: 614

A rock'n'roll tour of North America in the age of terror. A cracking read by the Midnight Oil drummer.


Travel Book Review ~ FACTORY GIRLS by Leslie T Chang
Travel Book Review ~ FACTORY GIRLS by Leslie T Chang
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 09:41:51 PM
Views: 561

Factory Girls is a fascinating book on the women who work in the factories in the industrial machine that is modern China.


Travel Book Review ~ EXPAT Opinionated Memories of Forty Years in Hong Kong by Wendy McTavish
Travel Book Review ~ EXPAT Opinionated Memories of Forty Years in Hong Kong by Wendy McTavish
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 10:01:29 PM
Views: 1022

A great memoir by an Australian Hong Kong expatriate, down to earth and honest.


Travel Book Review ~ Top Deck Daze by Bill James
Travel Book Review ~ Top Deck Daze by Bill James
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 09:59:14 PM
Views: 1193

One of my favourite travel books, the author tells of his time running bus tours in Europe in the 1970s, eventually leading to the creation of Flight Centre.


Travel Book Review ~ VERY THAI Everyday Popular Culture by Philip Cornwel-Smith
Travel Book Review ~ VERY THAI Everyday Popular Culture by Philip Cornwel-Smith
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 09:57:24 PM
Views: 663

Very Thai is our favourite book on Thailand Popular culture, a wonderful snapshot in time.


Travel Book Review ~ A House in Bali by Colin McPhee
Travel Book Review ~ A House in Bali by Colin McPhee
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 09:54:21 PM
Views: 612

An absolute classic Bali travel book, a wonderful look at how Bali was before us Aussies did our best to trash the place :-)


Travel Book Review ~ Bali Blues by Jeremy Allan
Travel Book Review ~ Bali Blues by Jeremy Allan
Category: Travel Book Reviews & Site News
Posted: Nov 10, 2010 09:52:26 PM
Views: 604

Quite an interesting and quirky travel book, just the way we like it. Bali Blues gives a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Kuta and the effects of the Bali Bombings on the local population.http://www.usedtravelbooks.com.au/bali-blues-by-jeremy-allan.html