COLLETTE VACATIONS

California Coast

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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

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The Complete Guidebook to Yosemite National Park

The Complete Guidebook to Yosemite National Park

by Steven P. Medley

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 120 PAGES

Published by by the Yosemite Association, this slim guide includes practical information on activities, hiking trails, wildlife and history. (CAL51, $12.95)

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)

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)

California Map

by Borch Maps

  • 2008
  • MAP

A laminated, folded map of California, shown at a scale of 1:1,100,000. (CAL55, $9.95)

 
Yosemite National Park Map

Yosemite National Park Map


by Trails Illustrated

  • MAP

A detailed, topographic map of Yosemite National Park, shown at a scale of 1:100,000. (CAL40, $11.95)

Eyewitness Guide California

Eyewitness Guide California


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 660 PAGES

A literate, visually rich guide to the Golden State, featuring color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a region-by-region synopsis of California's attractions with a particular focus on San Francisco and Los Angeles. (USW146, $30.00)

Fodor's Los Angeles' 25 Best

Fodor's Los Angeles' 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

A shirt-pocket guide to Los Angeles, this slim book includes an excellent map of the center of the city and essential information on its highlights. (USW186, $11.99)

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)

The Monterey Bay, Big Sur & Gold Coast Wine Country Book


by Christina Waters | Buz Bezore

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 301 PAGES

An excellent, locally produced travel guide mixing history, culture, nature and anecdote with a shipload of up-to-date practical information. (CAL182, $18.95)

Life in a California Mission


by Jean Francois de la Perouse | Malcolm Margolin

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 112 PAGES

A remarkable essay about the natural life and native customs of eighteenth-century California, written by a French explorer while his ships lay at anchor in Monterey Bay. (USW366, $10.95)

Santa Barbara Style


by Kathryn Masson | James Chen

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2001
  • HARD COVER
  • 207 PAGES

A photographic tour of Santa Barbara's gardens and architectural treasures. (CAL109, $50.00)

Fifth Chinese Daughter

Fifth Chinese Daughter


by Jade Snow Wong

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 246 PAGES

First published in 1945, Jade Snow Wong's memoir is a simply told, moving story of family life in pre-WWII San Francisco Chinatown. (SFO08, $14.95)

Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch


by Henry Miller

  • LITERATURE
  • 1978
  • PAPER

A loving, observant tribute to Big Sur, Miller's home for 15 years. As with many of his works, this is more a collection of reflections, anecdotes and character portraits than a straightforward narrative, and it's just as evocative and thought-provoking as anything he has written. First published in 1957. (CAL143, $16.95)

Cannery Row

Cannery Row


by John Steinbeck

  • LITERATURE
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 193 PAGES

Based on memories of characters he met living in Monterey, including his good friend the marine biologist Ed Ricketts, this is Steinbeck's story of the good-natured bums, prostitutes, alcoholics and other denizens of Cannery Row. (USW150, $15.00)

Down to a Soundless Sea


by Thomas Steinbeck

  • LITERATURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Son of John, Thomas Steinbeck mines the same terrain as his father, writing stories set in the Monterey Peninsula of the early 20th-century. (CAL144, $13.95)

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Slouching Towards Bethlehem


by Joan Didion

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 238 PAGES

A classic collection of essays on the 60s cultural climate, first published in 1968. In the acclaimed title essay, Didion vividly describes the landscape, mood and culture of 60s San Francisco. (SFO11, $15.00)

Tales of Santa Barbara, From Native Storytellers to Sue Grafton


by Steven Gilbar | Dean Stewart

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 179 PAGES

A collection of fiction and traditional stories about the Santa Barbara area. (CAL106, $12.95)

Tales of the City


by Armistead Maupin

  • LITERATURE
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

The first in the "Tales of the City" series, this best-selling novel chronicles the lives of the residents of one fictitious apartment house in 1970s San Francisco. (SFO05, $14.00)

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)

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)

The Natural History of Big Sur


by Paul Henson | Donald J. Usner | Valerie A. Kells

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER

A natural history and guide to Big Sur, California with detailed information on specific sites and trails. (CAL62, $29.95)

Yosemite

Yosemite


by Ansel Adams

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 112 PAGES

A handsome collection of Ansel Adams' photographs of Yosemite National Park. The 66 photographs include portraits of Moon and Half Dome, Clearing Winter Storm and El Capitan. (CAL49, $21.99)

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)

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America


by David Sibley

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 474 PAGES

A compact, geographically specific version of the Sibley Guide with all-new range maps, the same glorious illustrations and expanded, extremely valuable descriptions of each bird. (USW418, $19.95)

Yosemite Wildlife

Yosemite Wildlife


by James Kavanagh

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2007
  • PLASTIC CARD

A handy, laminated fold-up card featuring 140 birds, mammals, reptiles and insects. (USW499, $5.95)

More Recommendations

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