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Books : Reference : Consumer Guides
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The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth sets out to offer "the soundest, sanest, wittiest advice you'll ever get" about life as an expectant mum. Covering "the scary parts, the funny parts and your private parts" Australian author Kaz Cooke counts down to motherhood using a week-by-week format, at each stage explaining what's going on to you and baby, exploring common health complaints, suggesting remedies and looking at what will happen at antenatal visits. She also includes a semi-fictitious weekly diary account that provides a friendly and very funny voice to reassure you that you're not alone.Overall, this format works well, particularly if you're a reader who dips in and out. Not least, it means you can check up on whether you're growing out of your clothes at a normal rate! It's also good to sneak a peak at a couple of weeks in the future and suss out what's in store. Its readable, illustrated layout lends itself to perusal when symptoms are getting you down, not just because it makes you laugh about morning sickness, constant weeing and leaking breasts, but also as it make you realise that actually things could be worse! Having sneaked a peak at week 41 you could be disappointed that the diary birth is eventually by Caesarean. Obviously this prepares you for the worst case scenario but it results in skipping over the protracted labour stages which, for most new mums, makes required reading, not matter how scary they sound.
On the whole this book is funny, frank and perfect to dip in and out of but it's not one you'd really use as a reference guide, particularly if you were genuinely worried about an aspect of your pregnancy. Being the work of one sole author it's obviously a rather subjective view of what is for everyone, a uniquely personal experience. It complements the likes of Miriam Stoppard and Sheila Kitzinger but (despite being much more entertaining) really couldn't begin to replace them. Pregnant women are notorious for reading every book they can get their hands on, and despite The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth presenting itself as a definitive guide, it's not going to change that habit any time soon.--Shona Campbell
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The Rough Guide to Australia is one of the most impressive additions to the already prestigious Rough Guide series, and weighing in at over a thousand pages, it's also one of the most physically imposing. But anything short of this would hardly be appropriate to this most breathtaking of continents, and it has to be said that the team of contributors have covered the country in the most thorough and masterly of fashions. The maps are always a speciality of this series, but the prospect of exploring even the remotest corners of Australia is rendered more than achievable by the cartography on offer here.What the guide sets out to do, however, has something in common with all the series: to inspire us to visit the country by some of the most tempting photography (along with the text) -- and the latter is a particular asset here. Of course, there is so much to explore in Australia that it is difficult to know where to begin. But such sections as that on the Gold Coast Hinterland will inspire the more fit explorer to tackle the rugged (and less readily accessible) walking tracks and hiking trails, taking in the beech forests and waterfalls.
But the guide will also have you wishing to experience Marine Mountain, a volcanic plateau near the Gold Coast which still has pockets of rainforest, and once was the haunt of the Wangeriburra Aborigines.
As all of this implies, the experience that Australia has to offer is a million miles away from more restricted horizons. If your taste is for nightlife, that's also comprehensively covered here, and (once again), the received opinion that Australia is a philistine country is thoroughly trounced by the detailed coverage of the highly impressive venues for the arts. Let's face it, this is quite likely to be the only guide to Australia that you will ever need. --Barry Forshaw
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Let's face it, for many of us, travel is one of the key factors in giving our lives meaning. We build our year around those precious few weeks when we can make our way to some exotic destination and experience things that are different from all that we normally encounter. With Make the Most of Your Time on Earth (subtitled a Rough Guide to the World), we are offered what the publishers claim are `1000 Ultimate Travel Experiences'. And those familiar with the Rough Guide catalogue will know that that is no idle boast. Within this arm-straining book, we are presented (at length) with the most exhilarating travel experiences the world has to offer. Every possible diversion is on offer here, from a cool and aesthetic appreciation of exquisite architecture to pulse-raising adventure holidays. With Rough Guide's intrepid team of specialists (always seeing things from a different angle), one can trek the Ganges or go mountain biking on some of the world's most treacherous roads in Bolivia.Alongside the more physical adventures here, we are given the perfect guide to enjoying the ancient beauty of Venice as well as many experiences which are more off the normal tourist trail (such as snorkelling in Tanzania). The thoroughness of the book is as exhaustive as one could wish, with (for instance) fascinating detail on wildlife and festivals. And for those of us attempting to ensure that our holidays have an ethical dimension, such elements are treated with the thoroughness one would expect from this publisher. The sheer bulk of the book means that this is one for planning with rather than stuffing into a rucksack, but such pre-planning will be sheer pleasure. --Barry Forshaw
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