I travelled alone through Italy with this book by my side. It was such a valuable tool for finding cheap lodging and great places to eat. The book breaks up lodging, meals, and shopping by the regions of Italy. The only criticism that I had was that it neglected to cover the southeastern regions of Italy, where I felt I could have used the book even more so than in a city like Rome. All in all, I felt like I had the insider's track on Italy, and as a result, I had a great time and came home with many wonderful memories.

Not too heavy in weight, yet heavy with description, historical views, fun details, well organized and full of wonderful advice. Definitely a must have for anyone who loves to travel.

The prayer taught by Jesus Christ has been a model and source of inspiration for thousands of men and women throughout the centuries. It is often thought to be a Gospel in a nutshell, providing a wealth of insights for the one who meaningfully employs it in prayer.

Cardinal Simonis, the Archbishop of Utrecht in this current volume reflects on the meaning of the Lord's Prayer for the faithful of today. In the first chapter he reflects on prayer in general and then turns to analyze each petition of the 'Our Father' in the subsequent chapters, carefully considering its theological and spiritual implications for the one who prays. As a pastor of peoples, he is deeply aware of the issues and concerns of the Christian at prayer. He endeavors to explain the spiritual and theological principles with clarity and depth. Thus he draws from the various witnesses of Christian tradition as well as the scriptures in order to elucidate the meaning of each petition. The simplicity and depth of his own personality becomes apparent through these pages, providing a model of prayer life for the faithful. The book also gives interspersed through its pages, texts of prayers and inspiring poems by men and women who have found consolation in prayer. It is indeed an inspiring book to be read for spiritual benefit by any believer in Jesus Christ.

I believe the contents in "Pancho" were very well researched, and the book includes much information I didn't know about one of my heroines. However, I firmly believe that the book could have used a good editor because of mistakes such as "maid of honor" appearing as "made of honor". This is one of about a dozen. Also, somewhere along the line, the author loses interest or something because the writing becomes sketchy, or perhaps the author is unable to progress smoothly from one very blatant item of research to another. In other words, she dumps research on us without having it flow--it simply becomes one statement after another with no connecting threads. The contents notwithstanding, the book was somewhat difficult to read through due to stopping along the way because of a misused word or sentences such as, "Pancho was livid with rage." Duh-h-h. Perhaps people are used to reading illiterate books these days, but I'm not. Unfortunately.