which to me was even more compelling than the places he visited and the books he loved.
595129
What I appreciate of L'Amour's writing is his honest, straightforward way of telling his stories. His memoires are not different from his fiction: written with disarming directness, but colorful and with pathos, with lots of living to learn from. Here the reader is allowed into the head and heart of a master storyteller, learning about his steady approach to learning and writing - what to do and what not to do, which to me was even more compelling than the places he visited and the books he loved.
3663572
He could write a book a day and I would buy them all.  I love his writing style and the stories and the way the tie in together.
1769891
I felt that I was having a chance to peek over his shoulder as he wrote in his diary -- to walk along the roads with him.  His descriptions of the people he interacted with made me want to meet them, too.
The series of THE WALK was recommended to me by a friend and I'm glad I took her up on it.
4824460
The author, Jack Sauter, and I share many interests, so this book about his many travel adventures was particularly engaging. I really enjoyed reading about his travel experiences and found them to very often be precursors of my own experiences; he's a little older and was there before me. Actually this book was hard to put down. I always wanted to know what he did next, so I finished it very quickly. I always hear people complaining that a book or a movie was "too long". For me, a good book or movie is never long enough. This was one of those. If you're a traveler, especially to Europe, this is a must read.
4339047
After I have read Karl May's description of his life, I know now that he had read many books about geography, plant life, foreign languages etc. That is why the descriptions of his characters' travels seem so real.
3510014
I liked the way he grew up, Pretty much like you and me, but reading and buying books opened up doors into the lives of the affluent people. He said yes to any opportunity to serve, which led his early life into an affluent person. Cool.
4140854
A compelling and often thrilling walk through the days of a man who is too little known by those of our time. What a pity that someone so dedicated to service, whether military, political or human, his entire life, can never be replicated in another.

This book eloquently conjures who Churchill really was, often in his own words and frequently those of his famous contemporaries over 9 decades and more. The timeline alone is amazing, but what this man really did with one life through peace, war and preparation for both, including well-known triumphs and even crushing and enduring defeats, is explained in clear terms and handled with fairness.

Martin Gilbert's writing, balanced and informative, yet reveling in many "little" details of Churchill's  own balance between the great and small things of life, reminds me that we have but one life - made up of moments - and that those moments, whether spent with family, with friends, in traveling, conversation, painting, in writing, in enjoying music, the arts, food, libations or companionship - are ours to make the most of. And Winston Churchill surely did - a long and fascinating life dedicated to the tremendous service of us all - through several generations during his time on earth as well as those still to come.
1412538
I immensely enjoyed reading Off the Record.  The stories were intriguing and, as a lawyer practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area during much of the same time frame as the author, it was particularly interesting for me to try to guess the identities of the judges and lawyers and to compare the author's experiences with my own.  However, the tales told by the author would be equally intriguing to strangers to the area and to readers outside the profession.  The client/court imagery was very strong - I experienced the sounds, smells, and emotions of "being there."  The personal touches about the author's father's investment in his future and the references to his wife were very compelling as well.  I am looking forward to the next collection!
4318672
His second book, A Gentleman In Moscow, is clearly the better of his two books.
1952245
Having galloped my way through both books "The case of the Missing Servant" and "The Man Who Died Laughing" as it has such page turning appeal, I have now re-read both and possibly enjoyed them even more. I might not have had the thrill of suspense this time around, but it has made the armchair travelling to India, mouth watering food descriptions and the social commentary all the more delectable. I also found myself really believing that the events had truly happened, so skillfully has Mr Hall blended fiction with reality.
A wonderful read and re-read!
76105
`Between the Woods and the Water' is a delightful travelogue, even though the sites and sounds are long gone.  Fermor paints a picture of the life every young man wants to lead - well-funded itinerant travel, nearly effortless sociability, and a seemingly endless nightlife.  This is the ultimate "Wish You Were Here" card, well worth the read for anyone interested in travel, history, and tales of pre-war social frivolity in Eastern Europe.

The narrative structure took me by surprise.  Almost every region receives a minor academic treatment prior to Fermor's personal tales: history, language, architecture, nature, fun and games, repeat.  I found myself skimming past descriptions of birds and trees, but fascinated by the author's insights into the interplay of geography, language development, and regional history.  And, of course, it is impossible not to be won over by the author's late nights, fleeting loves, and brief stays with forgotten royalty.

My father often told me that `On the Road' had a profound effect on him as a youth.  `Between the Woods and the Water' has a similar effect on me, only later in life.  After the reading the story I was offered a brief trip to Hungary which I could not pass up.  Far from Fermor's experience, I was greeted with mindless business meetings, post-communism industrial architecture, a robbery, and small-scale street riots.  In the end, my disappointment with reality deepened my appreciation of the book - a memorializing tale of a geography and way of life that no longer exists.
3975607
Stimulated my thought on this part of history and left me wanting to read more of these governments, geography, economies, and cultures.
3104531
For some reason, this book resonated with me.  Partially this was because some of the locales were personally familiar to me.  For example, my favorite hotel in London is Number Sixteen on Sumner Place, the locale of the mother's home, and I have family near Mystic Connecticut.  But primarily, I think, the book's appeal to me was the depiction of Logan's life passage, from adolescence through old age.  His experiences and perceptions rang universal to me--at least on a general basis they paralleled mine.
3136116
He loved it, and one can feel that he STILL loves it, even though he's been gone for a while now.
His writing crosses generations, and you can tell that he wasn't just writing.  He was showing his emotions
for the most wonderful city in the world.
884400
I could get more than five pages into this book at any point without wanting to nod off.
2717857
I chose this book from my library's online collection because I was bored and it was available, so I didn't expect much.  However, I found the book very compelling. I didn't start out loving it, just felt interested. But it grew on me until it was one of those books that made me shirk responsibility and sleep in order to read.

As an autobiography, the author is brutally honest about her life, choices, thoughts, and actions.  She doesn't try to make you like her and doesn't make excuses for the poor decisions she's telling you about, and that is refreshing.  It's amazing that she didn't get herself killed or at least severely injured on her trek, but her descriptions are so detailed that as a reader I definitely felt like I was along for the adventures. Not to say she's overly verbose, because she isn't - just the right amount of detail.  At the end, it left me daydreaming about hiking the trail myself.

I'd recommend it because I rarely enjoy memoirs as much as fiction novels, but this one was extremely well done. I feel like women might enjoy the book more than men (in general) because of the style, but that's really just a guess.
4596930
He made the locations come alive in one's mind, especially if one has been to Florence.  His use of the various paintings was key to the plot which was very unique.  It is a book club book and I hope to download some of the paintings and geographical sites for the discussion.