Advantages: Addictive, exciting, wide-appeal
Disadvantages: Some of rarer titles are difficult to find

...I absolutely love these books! This series of books follows the creation of a new school in 1930's Austria, and the following adventures of the characters. There are over 60 books in the series and cover a time span of about 30 years, from about 1930-1960. This school is different from any other - the locations are often foreign, with all that this entails. For example, the food is different, the customs and the pupils are from mixed nations. The pupils are expected to be trilingual (in French, German and English) and the school also has a non-slang policy. The Austrian/Swiss locations mean the characters can indulge in winter sports and can also enjoy excursions to the surrounding towns and cities. The books are not just for children - as a child I loved them for the adventures, the appeal of the school story... Read review

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Advantages: Funny, interesting, easy to read, can't put it down
Disadvantages: None really although not really a literature masterpiece if that's what you're loking for+

...the passengers held their passports and squashed their heads up against the windows! Another one was when he met a couple of guys at the Oktoberfest in Germany. Because of how busy Munich gets at this time, accommodation was really hard to find and since these guys had Eurail passes (a train pass allowing you to travel anywhere in Europe as often and whenever you like for a one off fee) they were actually staying in Austria and going to get the train back after the night's drinking activities. Unfortunately with the thousands of people at Oktoberfest, they managed to lose each other so one decided he would get the train to Austria and hopefully see his friend at the hostel where they were staying. However after a few drinks he fell asleep on the train and woke up in Italy! Realising what he had done, he got off at the next stop so he could... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent choice of things to do in each city
Disadvantages: Don't rely on the city maps!

...Without this book, I would never have travelled to some of the places I have. If I didn't have this book, half the places on my travel wish-list would not even be there. This book, simply, has been a godsend. In the age of low-cost airlines, reading this book, picking a destination and jetting off that weekend have become a reality. Covering the area the title suggests, the title encompasses Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia. The book covers 736 pages,with Germany and Poland commanding most of the page space, followed closely by Hungary, Czech and Austria. Each section begins with a short history of the country, with notes on the economy, government, climate, ecology, people, society, etc. They then carry on to offering advice on costs, dangers and travel... Read review

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Advantages: A compelling story about an amazing woman.
Disadvantages: A tad depressing!

...I was given this book as a present last Christmas by a relative who knows Antonia Fraser is one of my favourite historians. I have thoroughly enjoyed some of her other offerings – ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’, ‘Eleanor of Aquitaine’ and ‘The Weaker Vessel’ and thanks to another Ciao member’s review now intend to read ‘The Princes in the Tower’. However I knew very little about French history in general or about the woman herself. But I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Antonia Fraser takes you through the extraordinary life of Marie Antoinette from her childhood as an Archduchess of Austria through to her execution in 1793. Her story is told in chronological order but each chapter is still based around a theme so it doesn’t read like a boring textbook. The beginning... Read review

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Advantages: Funny, Well-written, Shocking twist
Disadvantages: A bit hard to follow, in places.

..., a boy in the year below who he bumps into throughout the course of the book, always failing to make anything of it, of course, because he is such a Liar. He lies constantly; not enough for the reader to twig any consequence of it, but enough so that later on the truth can be revealed in a flourish. It's a kind of cheeky lying that endears you to the character like creating excuses for teachers, but gets progressively more elaborate, from telling a friend a cruel and invented family history, to an entire chapter that you later discover is false. The book takes you through Adrian's life from school (with Toast and The Daisy Chain Club) to university (penning a false Dickens Manuscript), to a trip to Austria, supposedly on an espionage mission with his tutor, Donald Trefusis - whose "wireless essays", which make an appearance in the novel... Read review

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