Time again to reclaim the desk from the encroaching stacks of recent titles. Every time we “clean house” like this, we’re just giving you an overview of these books’ content. We haven’t examined them thoroughly, as we do in the regular installments of Resourceful Traveler. So take what we say about the following books as neither rave nor pan, but as a glimpse of what’s new out there.
“Jerusalem Pocket Guide”
(Berlitz, $8.95)
This 144-page volume on Jerusalem is one of several new entries in Berlitz’s small-format guide books. How small? 4 by 5 3/4 inches. We’ve been impressed with the depth of detail, the quantity of alluring photos and the number of maps Berlitz has packed into previous titles in this series. And every page is printed in color on slick, durable, magazine-like paper. A lesson in just how inflated (price wise and size wise) many other travel books really are. Other new titles on “India,” 256 pages, $10.95; “The Lake District” in England, 144 pages, $8.95; “Las Vegas,” 144 pages, $8.95; and the “Cote d’Azur,” 144 pages, $8.95.
“Pelican Guide to the Bahamas”
(Pelican, $17.95)
The problem with a lot of travel guide books — especially those that cover destinations in Hurricane Alley — is that they are out of date on the day they’re published. There may be a lag of a year or more between the time the material is researched and the time you hold it in your hands. This third edition promises to be different: calling itself “the first completely Internet interactive travel guide,” something it apparently is able to promise because of the CD-ROM that comes with the book.
“Let’s Get Lost: Adventures in the Great Wide Open”
(Warner Books, $24)
The jacket of this hardcover is provocative: “Ever wonder what it might be like to be attacked by an orangutan in Borneo? Share drugs with a shaman in the Amazon?” Chances are, you probably had not wondered those things — until you were asked.
“Running Away to Sea”
(McClellan & Stewart, $24.95)
In this hardcover real-life adventure tale, Canadian author Douglas Fetherling answers a low point in his personal life with a four-month journey aboard a freighter. (416-598-1114)
“Avant Guide: San Francisco”
(Empire, $19.95)
Last year, we couldn’t stop turning the pages of Avant Guide’s title on Prague, or the more recent offering on New York. Given the tight writing, quirky photos and pink pages, the San Francisco book has an auteur feel. This fledgling series may soon do for travel guides what Hitchcock did for film. If the price seems high, it’s because Avant Guides studies its cities anonymously, pays regular price for everything and doesn’t take freebies.
French Minidictionary
(Oxford University Press, $6.50)
Actually, this is a French-English and English-French dictionary, and, according to the cover, a “Major New Edition.” The entertainment factor is low; this is, after all, a dictionary. The size is packable — just a hair over 3 by 4 1/2 inches — and there’s a 16-page phrase-finder in the middle of the book. But you’ll need a bag or big pockets to carry it with you; this thing’s 1 1/4 inches thick . . . and a magnifying glass to read the tiny print. Other new-edition Minidictionaries include Spanish-English, Italian-English and one for German-English that’s 1 1/2-inches thick.
“Fodor’s Egypt”
(Fodors, $19)
Gold pages in front give all the how-to tips. White pages list sights, hotels and restaurants city by city, with a scattering of black-and-white-and-gray maps. A separate chapter is devoted to Nile cruises and another to desert oases. This first edition is joined by “Fodor’s Indonesia” ($14) on the new-titles list.
“Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can’t Get Unless You’re Over 50”
(Contemporary Books, $11.95)
Must be doing something right here. This is the 11th edition. Lots of advice on tour companies, cruise lines, auto rentals, ski trips, lodging and learning vacations — all with a bent to discounts. Lots of listings and referrals to groups such as the Gray Panthers, AARP, Elderhostel and so forth.
“PassPorter Walt Disney World”
(Spread the Word Press, $19,95)
A thick vinyl cover conceals the spiral binding of this book that is part guide, part diary. The first, or guide, section looks to have plenty of tips, where-tos, star ratings and maps. The second, or diary, section is made of thick yellow “envelopes” with room for your personal notations and pockets for receipts and brochures. (877-WAYFARER)
“Walt Disney World for Mature Travelers”
(St. Martin’s Griffin, $16.95)
This guide may very well have some solid information in it. Trouble is, they’ve printed all 326 pages (no photos, no graphics) in a trendy type that’s hard to read.
“Secret New York”
(ECW Press, $17.95)
If this small-format book were bound in hardcover — and at this price, it ought to be — it would make a nice candidate for gift-giving. Subtitled “The Unique Guidebook to New York’s Hidden Sites, Sounds & Tastes,” it’s salted with prose by Village Voice restaurant critic Robert Sietsema and peppered with beautiful sepia-tone photography. Some of the subject headings are provocative — Secret Contraception, Secret French Fries, Secret Brooklyn Bridge — and may make the purchase worthwhile.
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Toni Stroud’s e-mail address is tstroud@tribune.com.
