This week, Jeff Popple reviews three new books to get you travelling again. More of Jeff’s reviews can be found on his blog: murdermayhemandlongdogs.com
How To Survive Family Holidays by Jack Whitehall
Sphere, $32.99
How To Survive Family Holidays is a useful and very funny guide to family trips. Jack Whitehall, host of the popular Netflix show Travels With My Father, provides an enjoyable mixture of travel guide, family memoir and a behind-the-scenes look at making a television show. Written in conjunction with his father, Michael, and actress mother, Hilary, it provides some good insights into various countries and tips on cultural etiquette, as well as amusing anecdotes and some hilarious family snapshots. There is also advice on where to go, what to pack and the 10 things you will regret buying on holiday. Good fun.
Sh*t Towns Of Australia: The Great Aussie Road Trip by Rick Furphy and Geoff Rissole
Allen & Unwin, $19.99
Also offering plenty of humour is this tongue-in-cheek guide to some of the worst towns in Australia. Furphy and Rissole manage to potentially upset a fair portion of Australia as they present seven epic road trip routes that take in the most iconic crap locations in Australia. There is not a lot of good taste in this book, one route is called the Milat Mile, but there are some funny observations and lots of swearing. Canberra, “Pyongyang in the bush”, is saved from a visit, but Queanbeyan gets harshly dealt with. A great Christmas present for the broad-minded caravaner in your family.
Great Australian Mysteries by Graham Seal
Allen & Unwin, $29.99
Graham Seal also provides some good ideas for unusual road trips in Great Australian Mysteries. In his usual lucid style, Seal brings to life the enigmas and puzzles behind unsolved crimes, lost treasures, and strange phenomena. From alien big cats to haunted houses and shipwrecks, Seal covers lots of ground and provides interesting insights into largely forgotten crimes. He also highlights some First Nations legends, and myths that were popular in the early years of white settlement, including the existence of a tribe of ‘short hairy folk’. At times, more detail would have been welcomed, but overall it is a fascinating read.
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