Brilliant and Wonderful Escape… – a reader’s review of “Journey in Bhutan”

Posted 26th April 2012 by Mike Hyman
Categories: Authors, eBooks, ePub, iBooks, Journey in Bhutan, Kindle, Reviews
Tags: , , ,

“wxmouse” (Dianne Solberg of North Pole, Alaska) wrote this great review on Amazon of Trish Nicholson’s latest book in Collca’s BiteSize Travel series:

Journey in Bhutan: Himalayan Trek in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon – BiteSize Travel is truly a brilliant armchair journey. Masterfully delivered by Trisha Nicholson, it is a potent, heady blend of voices that all combine to take you into the heart of Bhutan. You can close your eyes and see the characters…all of your senses are engaged and alive as she takes you on a guided tour. This book should be the gold standard for travel stories. I am generally very picky about the reviews I do, opting more often not to do them. When I read this book, I knew I would have to let everyone know just what an invigorating experience it really is.

You can follow Dianne as @wxmouse on Twitter or visit her blog.

Journey in Bhutan:…  is available from all Amazon Kindle stores as well as in ePub format for most other popular ereading devices and software from 140+ ebook retailers and many libraries around the world. Click here for more details about Journey in Bhutan: Himalayan Trek in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon – BiteSize Travel.

Comments: Be the first to comment

Collca publishes illustrated ebook of a trek in Bhutan

Posted 19th April 2012 by Mike Hyman
Categories: BiteSize Travel, eBooks, ePub, iBooks, iPad, Journey in Bhutan, Kindle
Tags: , ,

Journey in Bhutan coverJourney in Bhutan: Himalayan Trek in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon by Trish Nicholson, an ebook published by Collca in its BiteSize Travel series.

Informative and exceptionally well written, Journey in Bhutan is essential reading for anyone considering a visit to this extraordinaryHimalayanKingdom. The reader joins the author and her small group to experience the Jhomolhari trek to Lingshi Dzong, and to explore key cultural sites in westernBhutan, including Taktsang, Kyichu Lhakhang, and Punakha Dzong.

Details of Bhutanese culture and history are woven seamlessly into the story, along with advice on avoiding altitude sickness, getting-along with fellow travellers, and getting to know local people. Useful appendices include a glossary of Bhutanese words, an historical time-line and a guide to Bhutanese Buddhism.

An accomplished photographer as well as an anthropologist and writer, Trish has included 37 of her original colour photographs to support the text.

This is travel writing at its best, to quote from a recent five-star review: “This author deserves recognition for her genius in capturing the atmosphere of her travels. I could not stop reading until I had finished the book.”

Journey in Bhutan:…  is available for all popular ereading devices such as Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iPad, Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Kobo’s eponymous ereader and from 140+ ebook retailers plus many libraries around the world. Click here for more details about Journey in Bhutan: Himalayan Trek in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon – BiteSize Travel and for links to the major ebook retailers.

Comments: Be the first to comment

Collca publishes the inspirational autobiography of a lifelong arthritis sufferer

Posted 29th January 2012 by Mike Hyman
Categories: Collca, eBooks, My Enemy My Friend
Tags: , , ,

Cover of My Enemy, My FriendMy Enemy, My Friend by Lauren Vaknine is the harrowing and moving true story of how a broken girl in a wheelchair used her positive attitude to overcome crippling arthritis.

Diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of two, Lauren’s anger towards her disability drove her into a rapid downward spiral of self-destruction.

Adolescence filled with broken promises and a suddenly deteriorating disease led her to borderline anorexia, depression, drugs and other horrendously traumatic experiences. Lauren recalls these experiences for the first time in this e-book and how she found the strength and determination to live life on her own terms. Now aged 27, she runs her own successful interior design business, no longer uses a wheelchair and is probably at least as healthy as the average person of her age!

My Enemy, My Friend is available for Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and e-readers using the ePub standard. It is available from over 100 e-book retailers around the world.

Click here for further information a My Enemy, My Friend.

 

Comments: Be the first to comment

Fantastic review of Masks of the Moryons

Posted 8th December 2011 by Mike Hyman
Categories: Collca, eBooks, Kindle, Masks of the Moryons
Tags: , ,

Stavros Halvatzis from Australia, a writer, teacher, and author of the science fiction thriller Scarab sent me this fantastic review of Trish Nicholson’s e-book Masks of the Moryons. He rates it as an informative and entertaining read – highly recommended.

Roman soldier costumeTrish Nicholson has written a powerful and inspirational book on a little known tradition, practiced by the Moryons of Mogpog in the Philippines. Participating in the rituals and festivities alongside the locals during Easter Week, Trish Nicholson presents us with a heady mix of festive, religious, and theatrical spectacle in a visceral and transformative way.

The book, which is illustrated with many colourful photographs, is meticulously researched. The legend of Longinus, for example, is carefully explored from its historical/biblical origins to its colourful transformation during the festival itself, including the local significance of the spear. Specific chapters expand our understanding of the culture by tracing the origin of the first Moryons since the 1860s, and the formation of the first official Moryon Association of Mogpog in 1961. Later chapters explore the impact of tourism and cast an eye to the future of the festival within a wider modern context. The author provides a generous bibliography for further reading. The book, therefore, is more than the exploration of a specific cultural event within Mogpog. It sheds light on the local culture as a whole.

Beyond the meticulous research and scholarship that has gone into the writing of this text, however, lies the sense of the ineffable as pertains to daily rituals we enact in our owns lives. In this sense, the book not only extends our understanding of other cultures but enriches our understanding of our own lives too. Highly recommended.

Masks of the Moryons is available from all Amazon Kindle stores as well as for most other popular e-reading devices and software from 80+ e-book retailers around the world. Click here for further information about Masks of the Moryons.

To learn more about Stavros Halvatzis and his science fiction thriller, Scarab, visit his website at: stavroshalvatzis.com.

Comments: Be the first to comment

Getting inside the Easter masks of Mogpog

Posted 8th December 2011 by Mike Hyman
Categories: BiteSize Travel, Collca, eBooks, ePub, ePublishing, iPad, Kindle, Masks of the Moryons
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Masks of the Moryons coverMasks of the Moryons – Easter Week in Mogpog is the first e-book in Collca’s new BiteSize Travel series. It provides a unique insider’s view of traditional rituals to celebrate Easter in one town in the Philippines.

It is the first ever detailed account of Moryonan, the re-enactment of the Legend of Longinus in the spectacular weeklong Easter pageant held only in the town of Mogpog, on the Philippine island of Marinduque. The Legend of Longinus has been re-enacted in Mogpog in celebration of Holy Week for almost 150 years. Illustrated with 26 original colour photographs, Masks of the Moryons, reveals who the Moryons are, their preparations and rituals day by day, their history, and how these cultural traditions have survived.

Anthropologist, photographer, (and storyteller), Trish Nicholson takes us behind the scenes to experience Moryonan as a participant, to wear the mask, to find out how they are made and what it all means to the community.

Click here for more details about Masks of the Moryons.

Comments: Be the first to comment

« Older Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.