Travels in a Strange State

Another great book by Josie Dew. I love her writing style and sense of humor. It's a lot of fun to read about Josie's travels in the U.S. and her perception on us crazy Americans. ( )

Between the intial reviews and my first thoughts, I didn't hold the book in too high regard, but I still found myself unable to set it down. What I said in the forum post initially holds true--she's a whiner and don't think she'd be happy anywhere, but at least she found new things to whine about eventually. Maybe I coped better because she didn't rag too much on New York.

I admit I liked the sections on Hawaii, especially Oahu as it reminded me of my trip. I also felt I learned a lot about Hawaii--my previous knowledge was rather lacking. Liked the bit about Father Damien as I learnt a fair bit about him when I was travelling in Australia with a Belgian man who was off to visit Hawaii to learn more about the priest's work so this was interesting to read.

I didn't get her rant on weight--Europeans are heavy and drive thrus aren't exclusive to the States. It's true that I have this icon but I think it's like family, I can pick on the States but when others do it incessantly, it's like attacking family.

So while I didn't love this book and there were indeed times I wanted to smack her, hard, I didn't hate it either. Am now trying to track down her two books on Japan. I know amazon.co.jp has them but trying to avoid temptation. Must. Not. Shop! ( )