September 2023 MBR The Travel Shelf

The Travel Shelf

Secret New York - Hidden Bars & Restaurants
Michelle Young, author
Laura Itzkowitz, author
Nicole Saraniero, author
Jonglez Publishing
https://jonglezpublishing.com
9782361954543, $19.95, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-New-York-Hidden-Restaurants/dp/2361954540

Synopsis: A club in the back of a lingerie store, a Hare Krishna temple with a lunch canteen, a Mexican pulque bar in a Chinatown basement, a Central Asian eatery above the world's largest diamond district, hole-in-the-wall countertops inside freight entrances, a Swiss ski chalet accessed through a kitchen, an open-to-the-public dining room in the United Nations, a celebrity-loved party spot inside a pawn shop, a dance destination behind a barber -- all these and more comprise "Secret New York - Hidden Bars & Restaurants"

Featured in "Secret New York - Hidden Bars & Restaurants" are more than 100 pages of amazing decor, eccentric locations, bizarre food, newcomers, longtime holdouts, that will please and astonish underground and post-industrial design buffs, refined gourmands, cocktail drinkers and anyone curious to discover more of the infinite ways to have fun in New York City.

Critique: Thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Secret New York - Hidden Bars & Restaurants" must be declared as an essential, informative, inspiringly motivating guide to enjoying the amazing, hidden bar and restaurant scene in the boroughs of New York City. While a highly portable pocked sized (4.31 x 0.52 x 7.3 inches, 8.8 ounces) paperback edition that is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal and community library New York City travel guide collections.

Editorial Note #1: Michelle Young (https://untappedcities.com/author/michelle-young) is the founder of Untapped Cities, a web magazine about urban discovery and exploration in New York City and around the world. Michelle holds a B.A. from Harvard in the History of Architecture and a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she is also an Adjunct Professor. Michelle is also the author of the book Broadway, about the history of the famous street and she is one of the authors of 100 Ways to Make History, published by the New York Public Library. She has been interviewed for The New York Times, Huffington Post Live, and appeared in numerous documentaries.

Editorial Note #2: Laura Itzkowitz (http://www.lauraitzkowitz.com) grew up near Boston and lived in Paris and Rome before moving to New York City, though she comes from a long line of (outer borough) New Yorkers. She writes for Travel + Leisure, Fodor's Travel, Refinery29, Saveur, and is an editor at Untapped Cities. She contributed to Fodor's Travel's forthcoming Brooklyn guidebook, writing the guides to her neighborhood (Greenpoint) and nearby Williamsburg. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing and translation from Columbia University's School of the Arts and a B.A. from Smith College. She has been featured as a New York expert blogger in Time Out New York and named one of Hotel Club's Top 20 NYC bloggers.

Editorial Note #3: Hannah Frishberg (https://hannahfrishberg.com) is a Features Writer at The New York Post where her work has garnered an international readership and served as the basis for Discovery+'s 2022 docuseries "Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed." Her words and photos have also appeared in The New York Times, the Columbia Journalism Review, BuzzFeed News, CityLab, Gothamist, Narratively, Urban Omnibus, The Huffington Post and Rizzoli's "Brooklyn Photographs Now."

Tent for Seven
Mary Ohlhaut, author
Grace Ly, author
Sandra Jonas Publishing House
https://www.facebook.com/sjonasbooks
9781954861114, $15.95, PB, 250pp

https://www.amazon.com/Tent-Seven-Camping-Adventure-South/dp/1954861117

Synopsis: Marty Ohlhaut loved the great outdoors, and he loved his family, but this time, the combination proved disastrous.

Cooped up inside due to long work hours, Marty was excited about taking off with his wife and five children for the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Aware that this could be their last camping trip together, he wanted to make it extra memorable.

Little did he know just how memorable it would be. From a massive heat wave and tainted water to encounters with aggressive red ants and formidable bears, they experienced one problem after another. Then tragedy struck, forcing Marty to face the terrifying possibility of losing a loved one. With the help of mysterious strangers in one of the world's most awe-inspiring locations, he fought to keep his family alive and his sanity intact.

Now, three decades later, he joins forces with his daughter Grace Ly to recount the gripping tale of that ill-fated vacation. Written with candor and wit reminiscent of Bill Bryson, Tent for Seven vividly captures both the grandeur and the dangers of the wilderness as Marty learned just how much his wife and children meant to him -- and how fragile life could be.

Critique: Part memoir and part travelogue, "Tent for Seven: A Camping Adventure Gone South Out West" by the father and daughter team of Marty Ohlhaut and Grace Ly, "Tent for Seven: A Camping Adventure Gone South Out West" is an inherently fascinating and riveting read about venturing out into the British Columbia wilderness and that will have a very special appeal to readers who have an interest in camping, hiking, and the great outdoors. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Biography/Memoir and Outdoors Adventures collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Tent for Seven: A Camping Adventure Gone South Out West" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99).

Editorial Note #1: Marty Ohlhaut worked for thirty-two years as a risk management partner with IBM and then spent the next twelve years teaching strategic execution courses around the world. He has traveled to forty-four countries and visited all fifty states, making him an encyclopedia of amazing stories and anecdotes. He lives with his wife, Joeline.

Editorial Note #2: Grace Ly (https://www.gracelyauthor.com) worked for the White House and as an undercover officer for the Central Intelligence Agency. While living abroad in South Korea and Germany, she traveled the world extensively, visiting more than thirty countries. Grace has written numerous articles and feature stories for the US military, the American Red Cross, the White House, and the CIA. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her British husband, young son, and Friesian horse.

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