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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXCAL102. Buy these 4 items as a set for $59 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Judgment of Paris

by George Taber

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 330 PAGES

The story of the legendary Paris Tasting of 1976, a blind tasting where esteemed French judges shocked the industry by choosing unknown California wines over France's best. (CAL287, $16.00)

Compass Guide California Wine Country

Compass Guide California Wine Country

by John Doerper

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 307 PAGES

Covering wineries both small and large, this comprehensive guide to the Napa and Sonoma Valleys includes excellent maps, color photographs and informative essays. (USW171, $21.99)

A Tale of Two Valleys

A Tale of Two Valleys

by Alan Deutschman

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

In this intimate portrait of Napa and Sonoma -- and the often acrimonious cultural divide between the two -- journalist Alan Deutschman combines sketches of people and places with interview and commentary. He captures the bohemian cool of Sonoma and the oh-so-affluent Napa wine estates (and pretensions). (CAL196, $16.00)

MapEasy's Guidemap to Napa & Sonoma

by MapEasy

  • MAP

A handy, informative road map and guide to wineries. (CAL118, $7.95)

 
San Francisco Map

San Francisco Map


by Borch Maps

  • 2006
  • MAP

A laminated, folded map of the city center of San Francisco at a nice scale of 1:13,000. (CAL80, $8.95)

Fodor's San Francisco's 25 Best

Fodor's San Francisco's 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

A shirt-pocket guide to San Francisco, this slim book includes an excellent map of the center of the city and essential information on its highlights. (USW185, $12.99)

Moon Handbook Northern California

Moon Handbook Northern California


by Kim Weir

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 560 PAGES

A comprehensive guide to northern California, with a wealth of practical information and coverage of local history, culture and nature. (CAL60, $19.95)

The Napa & Sonoma Book, A Complete Guide

The Napa & Sonoma Book, A Complete Guide


by Melink, Peg | Tim Fish

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

An excellent, locally produced guidebook mixing history, culture and anecdote with up-to-date practical information, including detail on wineries, restaurant recommendations and accommodations. (CAL195, $19.95)

Great Wine Made Simple, Straight Talk From a Master Sommelier

Great Wine Made Simple, Straight Talk From a Master Sommelier


by Andra Immer Robinson

  • FOOD
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 326 PAGES

A practical, personable introduction to the world of wine, including helpful definitions of terms, label-reading tips and advice on pairing wines with food. (GEN411, $28.99)

The Accidental Connoisseur, An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World

The Accidental Connoisseur, An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World


by Lawrence Osborne

  • FOOD
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 262 PAGES

With a winning wit and not a drop of pretense, Osborne sets out to discover what's what with wine, traveling through Sonoma and Napa, France, Italy and other European wine meccas, 11 adventures in all. He meets plenty of interesting characters along the way, revealing much about the pleasures of wine (and travel!). (TVL31, $15.00)

The Winemaker's Dance, Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley


by Jonathan Swinchatt | David G. Howell

  • FOOD
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 229 PAGES

California-bound wine connoisseurs will appreciate the informative no-stone-left-unturned scientific approach to the analysis of Terroir (i.e. soil but much more than that) in the Napa Valley. (CAL190, $45.00)

California, A History

California, A History


by Kevin Starr

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

A lively short history in the excellent Modern Library Chronicles series, written by a renowned historian. (CAL204, $14.95)

Napa, the Story of an American Eden

Napa, the Story of an American Eden


by James Conway

  • HISTORY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 560 PAGES

Conway expertly combines history, personal anecdote, wine criticism and social commentary into a definitive portrait of a place, overflowing not only with cabernets and chardonnays, but also with genuine connoisseurs, scores of dilettantes, feuds, scandals and plenty of money. (USW169, $16.95)

Natural State, A Literary Anthology of California Nature Writing


by Steven Gilbar

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

Divided by ecological region, this book is a literary tour of California's unrivaled natural diversity, featuring essays and excerpts by such great writers as Barry Lopez, Gretel Ehrlich and John McPhee. Gary Snyder provided the afterword. (CAL101, $26.95)

The Silverado Squatters

The Silverado Squatters


by Robert Louis Stevenson

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 184 PAGES

A classic account of Calistoga and the Napa Valley, where they were already growing wine in 1880. On a rather untraditional honeymoon, Stevenson and his new wife settled for nine months in the bunkhouse of an abandoned silver mine and met numerous local characters, all vividly described in this treasure of a book. (CAL01, $16.95)

The Valley of the Moon

The Valley of the Moon


by Jack London

  • LITERATURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 425 PAGES

In part a tribute to his wife and rural life on his ranch in Glen Ellen, London's California novel follows Billy and Saxon Roberts from Oakland to Sonoma, where they strive to live independently on the land. (CAL169, $21.95)

The Vineyard


by Idwal Jones | Robert Mondavi

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 285 PAGES

Evocative of the seasons in the Napa Valley, this novel traces the fate of Alda Pendle, a viticulturist's daughter who becomes a viticulturist herself. (CAL104, $24.95)

Travelers' Tales San Francisco

Travelers' Tales San Francisco


by James O'Reilly | Larry Habegger | Sean O'Reilly

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

Experience San Francisco from the inside out with this engaging, insightful and entertaining selection of mostly contemporary eyewitness reports -- a terrific literary profile of a dynamic city. (SFO15, $18.95)

Assembling California

Assembling California


by John McPhee

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

Another fine book on geology and natural history from John McPhee, this time in the company of Eldridge Moores, on travels throughout California. (USW187, $16.00)

National Audubon Society Field Guide to California

National Audubon Society Field Guide to California


by Peter Alden

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A compact, easy-to-use guide to 1,000 of California's trees, wildflowers, mammals, insects, birds and other flora and fauna. (CAL07, $19.95)

Pacific State Wildflowers


by Theodore F. Niehaus | Charles Ripper

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

This Peterson field guide covers 1,492 species of wildflowers found from British Columbia to Baja California. (USW192, $19.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.