Tag Archives: travel

Book Review: New Zealand (National Geographic Traveler)

Posted on May 17, 2024 by nathanalbright

New Zealand (National Geographic Traveler), by Peter Turner You would think that after all this time reading and reviewing books by the National Geographic that I would learn not to be disappointed by them, but I found this book disappointing. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: New Zealand (Culture Smart!)

Posted on May 16, 2024 by nathanalbright

New Zealand (Culture Smart!): The Essential Guide To Customs & Culture, by Lyn Mcnamee Although this book is written by a native kiwi, and is clearly written with the goal of informing other people about the customs and culture of … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Full Upright And Locked Position

Posted on April 26, 2024 by nathanalbright

Full Upright And Locked Position: Not-So-Comfortable Truths About Air Travel Today, by Mark Gerchick As a not terribly frequent but also deeply interested air traveler, I have long had an interest in the experience of flying, since the days when … Continue reading →

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Book Review: All Strangers Are Kin

Posted on April 16, 2024 by nathanalbright

All Strangers Are Kin: Adventures In Arabic And The Arab World, by Zora O’Neill My generally positive review of this book that I give is dependent on my reading of the author’s self-presentation as being deliberately critical. To the extent … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Scatter, Adapt, And Remember

Posted on April 13, 2024 by nathanalbright

Scatter, Adapt, And Remember: how Humans Will Survive A Mass Extinction, by Annalee Newitz Most of my way through this book, I was (wrongly) convinced that this book would be better than the usual fare of pessimistic, apocalyptic rants about … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Great Lodges Of The National Parks, Volume Two

Posted on March 25, 2024 by nathanalbright

Great Lodges Of The National Parks, Volume two, by Christine Barnes This book, in a roundabout and somewhat indirect way, indicates one of the main problems that this nation has with its public broadcasting. It is fortunate that this book … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Xenophon’s Retreat

Posted on March 11, 2024 by nathanalbright

Xenophon’s Retreat: Greece, Persia, And The End Of The Golden Age, by Robin Waterfield What is the value of a book like this, which seeks to summarize Anabasis by Xenophon, a classic work that had world-historical importance in showing to … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Taste Of Persia

Posted on March 7, 2024 by nathanalbright

Taste Of Persia: A Cook’s Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan, by Naomi Duguid It is tricky to ponder the structure of a book like this one. Cookbooks in general–as this one is–are often structured based on the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: British Language And Culture

Posted on February 26, 2024 by nathanalbright

British Language And Culture, by the Lonely Planet This guide is an immensely humorous and often irreverent guide to British language and culture, and so it certainly lives up to its name. Perhaps the biggest issue with the book is … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Ungrateful Refugee

Posted on February 25, 2024 by nathanalbright

The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You, by Dina Nayeri It is perhaps a bit ungenerous to say that a book called The Ungrateful Refugee would have been far better had it not been written by an ungrateful refugee. … Continue reading →

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