Moon Handbooks

Though we've mentioned the Moon Metro Guides in the past, it's worth a moment to point out the parent series, the Moon Handbooks, and to note the differences. The Moon Metro books are slimmer and heavily map-based, whereas the Moon Handbooks contain more information, use a typically handful of maps at the front, and include more material about the area around the subject city. (Most of the Moon Handbooks cover countries or regions.) The Handbooks' running text is salted (or larded, depending) with occasional color commentary boxes, lists, featurelets, or other miscellany. Coverage is reasonably complete; the Las Vegas guide sent as a representative recent sample wrestles with a little square peg/round hole dilemma, choosing to spread around information about hotels into various subject-oriented chapters (sightseeing, gaming, accommodation, etc.) rather than concentrating info for each property in one place. The Vegas book does benefit from a knowledgeable and skillful author in the person of Rick Garman, so your mileage may vary for other guides and other authors. Overall a perfectly competent mainstream guidebook series -- not as hip as some perhaps, but certainly fresher than most of the older corporate titles.

Moon Handbooks [Official site]

Previously: Hedonist Guides, Your L.A. Hipster Bar Guide, Downtown L.A. Nightlife, Supercool BA Shopping, Caboodle Hungarian Guide