Amber Books

In Buddhist Myths: Cosmology, Tales & Legends Martin Dougherty offers both a visual and informative look at Buddhism.

I have come to expect a nice mix of wonderful images and accessible text from Dougherty, his books on Hindu Myths and Roman Myths are equally appealing. This is enjoyable as a book to flip through and look at the photographs, letting the captions give just a bit of insight. Yet it is also a nice read, very accessible, with the pictures serving to enhance the text. This is NOT academic. There is a big difference between a book that is informative and one that is academic. Though if all you want is a picture book you will be disappointed, there are words.

While there are no notes or bibliography the way the book is organized lends itself very well to spurring further research, formal or informal. In my case I was curious about a few things and did some very basic searches, nothing particularly involved, and found some additional information which I found fun. This is an excellent introductory text and offers plenty of information that can be looked into further.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)

Florida by John Crippen is an addition to the Visual Explorer Guide series and offers both pictures and suggestions for anyone visiting, or even living, in the state to take in. Part of my review is going to be my opinion about this series in general.

I think these would make wonderful end table books. They take up less room (4.8"x6.3") than a coffee table book and are far more likely to be picked up and flipped through by guests. The size also allows for more, and more varied, books to be displayed without taking up all tabletop space.

Another thought about why this is such a handy book will probably date me. When I was younger and we travelled, we bought postcards. Some we sent back to friends, but we often would buy a book of postcards to keep as souvenirs. Granted, in those days pictures were taken with an eye toward how many were left on a roll and now we can take far more pictures, but the fact remains that we can only get the ideal angle or the perfect time of day so often. So this book replaces, for me, that book of postcards.

This also makes for a nice companion if you're going to be visiting Florida. This isn't really a tour guide since those usually include some kind of directions on getting places, this is more of a reminder of some of the sights you might want to take in. Organized by region this shows the various and varied parts of the state.

I have spent far more time in Florida than I cared to, some parts are wonderful while others I will and do avoid at all costs. Aside from my opinion of the state (which probably influenced my overall opinion of the book) there were a couple things about this volume that lowered my rating. The most irritating was the unusual number of errors in the captions. I'm not talking about usage differences between types of English, just plain grammar issues and/or missing words and phrases. This is very unusual for Amber Books volumes and may well be corrected before publication. The other thing was the heavy slant toward the superficial tourist traps, the Disneyworlds and such. They are obviously important to the state and should be included, but the various sites within the amusement parks can stay in their advertising literature. If multiple rides and sites within Disneyworld are more important than the many things left out, by necessity, of the book from other aspects of the state then that is all you need to know about the state. Orlando has been made into an ugly place as the tourism there grew, and now most of the state has become tourist traps rather than tourist attractions. The rest of the state is a big nursing home with lunatic fringe social and political ideas. But I digress. If nothing else, this book, because it is more explicitly an advertisement for the big business of tourism in the state, fits my idea of a book of postcards.

I would recommend this to those thinking of visiting as well as those who maybe want a few photographs they missed on their visits. Those living in Florida will probably enjoy it as well, especially if they love the amusement park aspect of the state.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)