Rating: 
Summary: Inspirational Woman of Independence and Adventure
Review: I purchased "Without Reservations" after returning home from a quick trip to Europe. You see I had left my heart there and I needed a quick fix while pining away at home waiting for yet another friend to venture out and dare get a passport.Alice Steinbach writes with a capturing style about her adventures abroad (England, Paris, Italy etc..) all alone. For once a woman who believes in experience over fear! She is a mother, divorced, successful and still desiring a fulfilling life. I admire her spirit and enthusiasm for life. While capturing her inner fears she relies on her wit and knowledge to overcome what would leave most of us sitting at home cowering in a corner. Ms. Steinbach meets interesting people along the way, a fashionable older woman in Paris, a Japanese man who shares her love of Monet, a young student eager to grow and many others. She inspires one to want to reach out and learn something from the others around us, not for gossip, but for true wealth of character. I believe after reading this book I will no longer seek the security of familar travel partners but instead search for a lesser known commodity, me, a suitcase, a destination and a dream! Sounds exciting to me!
Rating:
Summary: more pleasant village stroll than whirlwind European tour
Review: This travel memoir got off to a slow start -- it lacked the quirkiness & unexpected that I like in travel writing --food was "delicious", bells "tinkled." I felt like the writing was dry, predictable. Rather than experiencing the immediacy of her surroundings, Steinbach allowed them to send her back into the past, where she wallowed in memories of her ex-husband, her Scottish grandmother, her "former" life. About halfway through the book, about the time Steinbach hit the Imperial War Museum in London (one of my favorites) I became more engaged in Steinbach's journey. Although Steinbach is independent, she recognizes the importance of other people in her life. The most noteworthy aspect of the trip is how Steinbach manages to hook up with locals and fellow travelers --men and women of varied ages and backgrounds -- and describes them & their shared experiences in delightful detail (like the larger-than-life Australian psychoanalyst that she meets at the Freud museum, whose application of red-red lipstick only approximates the shape of her mouth, and the tweeded "spinster" who accompanies Steinbach on a lemon curd shopping expedition in the Cotswolds). Steinbach also strikes up a charming friendship with a Japanese businessman -- which keeps the reader guessing. This is more of a pleasant, reflective memoir than a traditional travel book. It doesn't detail many laugh-out-loud experiences, but it will make you smile.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved this book but.....
Review: As you can tell by the 5 Stars I loved this book and was loathe to reach the end, I was so involved in the life and travels of Alice Steinbach.Reaching the last words of the first section, Paris, I was sad knowing her other places of destination could never be so interesting, I was wrong, each had their own charm. The one *reservation* I have, I don't think she succeeded in finding her way as the independent woman she was seeking. She seemed to find at each stop along the way others to validate who she is. That said it takes nothing away from the book...One comes away knowing Alice and feeling she would be a wonderful friend. In fact I must have three more copies, two for friends I know will love it and one for myself..the copy I read I marked so many passages and made so many notes in the margins I want another copy in pristine condition not only wonderfully readable this book is lovely to look at, each chapter begins with the picture of a beautiful postcard...and the messages Alice wrote and mailed to herself, a wonderful idea! Another book by Alice Steinbach I read and enjoyed Miss Dennis School of Writing and Other Lessons from A Woman's Life, I saw no mention of this on the book jacket or in the book but I think after reading Without Reservations the reader will want to seek out more by this writer.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful journey...
Review: I picked up "Without Reservations" last week and immediately became enchanted with Alice Steinbach's journal of her trip to France, England and Italy. The book not only gives us wonderful details of the places she saw and people she met, it also shares with us her inner journey. Who hasn't dreamed of traveling without reservations, free to stay or go, to explore more fully those things that we find appealing? Ms. Steinbach does this physically and emotionally, turning down odd little streets of memory and thought, connecting the past, present and future. I think any woman at or approaching middle age would enjoy and understand the musings of where travel takes us, and the trips we ALL will eventually be making as we age, as we let go of some relationships and take up others. The book is, in addition, beautifully bound and illustrated - a pleasure to look at and hold. I recommend you read it a bit at a time, savoring the separate events, preferably while sitting in a sunlit square or balcony of your own, with a fragrant cup of coffee and perhaps a biscuit or two nearby. I know I will enjoy rereading this book at intervals every bit as much as I enjoyed my original read, just like revisiting a favorite travel destination or a favorite friend. My only regret for this book? That she didn't get a chance to visit Ireland and Scotland. Maybe next time, Ms. Steinbach?
Rating: 
Summary: With Many Reservations
Review: A previous reviewer is right - the title of the book is utterly misleading. Steinbach left her home and job for a year abroad with tons of reservations - both figurative and literal! She stayed at cushy, touristy hotels, even went on a package tour in Italy. So much for the literal reservations. As for the figurative ones, she fretted the whole time about cutting loose and finding real adventure, but never really did so. She used her time and considerable resources to travel like a typical tourist, and the book seldom gets beneath the surface of any location. In Paris she stayed on the Left Bank where tourists chase the ghost of Hemingway and Picasso. She ate at over-priced, tourist-trap cafes and on her first day spent half a week's food budget on face creams. The descriptions are flat and lacking any nuance or vitality, but she goes on and on about some fake grass laid down for a tourist-ensnaring arts festival! This is travel writing for those who like to play it extremely safe.
Rating: 
Summary: a misnomer
Review: The title of this book is misleading. I was looking forward to a good read about a real travel adventure and instead found myself reading a self-indulgent memoire. There is very little that is independent about the itinerary (the entire trip is booked before she even leaves the US) and the author mulls over her own life experiences instead of painting images of the world she is meant to be exploring.
This book is simply too average to recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Reviewer: mg69
For Alice Steinbach,a year off means staying at top-of-the-market tourist hotels in the top European cities, drinking coffee in celebrity cafes, taking a group tour in Italy, enroling in a summer school in Oxford and hanging out with other affluent English-speakers and compatriots.
If you want an alternative to this sort of insulated travel experience, try "Au Revoir", Mary Moody's lively account of a riskier year off or Sarah Turnball's genuine life change described in "Almost French".
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read all year.....
Review: This book is utterly delightful! The way Alice goes about her travels is inspiring and really makes the dear reader want to follow suit. I love the way she meets people and makes friends in every place she goes and the way she embraces life, and isn't in a hurry to see EVERYTHING. Really... read this book. It is refreshing and inspiring!
Rating:
Summary: Save your money!
Review: This would have to rank as the most tedious, self-indulgent drivel I have ever had the misfortune to read. Fooled by the attractive package and the lure of a Pulitzer Prize winning author, I asked my husband to get me this for my birthday - I would have abandoned it after the first chapter otherwise. If you want a good book about living in another country try Sarah Turnbull's "Almost French".
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