The books

Traveling Route 66 by Nick Freeth
I think this is a great book to give you an overview of the road. It's a little 4 x 6 paperback, 400 pages long but it's a fast read because it has tons of pictures. Also, it made me glad to know that I'm not the only person who thought it was "San Bernadino." Apparently so did the author and the editor! Aside from that typo (and an amusing one about "Word War I") I think this is a great one to start with.


Route 66 - Distributed by Smith-Southwestern
This is pretty much a 30-page picture book with no real information. Skip it.


Route 66 Travelers Guide by Tom Snyder
Sherrie? Your thoughts? I thought it was an interesting narrative of the road, although sometimes Snyder comes across as a little alarmist. (Do not make eye contact with anyone in this town!) He weaves together vague directions with recommendations and descriptions of places to stop - skim over the directions (we have better ones in other books).

From Sherrie: I really did not care for this book at all. I'm only halfway through it, but if this were the only book I read, I'd think Route 66 was the most boring route on earth. Seriously, he spends tons of time talking about sights that closed 20-50 years ago, which is sort of interesting from a historical perspective but gets old after awhile, and a lot of time talking about really boring sights like bridges. I only marked a couple of places in the entire book that I tho't were worth seeing, while in the Lonely Planet Guide, there was stuff I wanted to see mentioned on almost every page.


Route 66 Dining & Lodging Guide by National Historic Route 66 Members
This is exactly what it sounds like - a listing of hotels and restaurants. I'll bring my copy along, so I don't think there's a need for anyone else to read through it unless you really, really want to plan where we're going to eat. :-)


Route 66 by Tim Steil
This is another fairly short (96 pages) overview of the road. It has tons of pictures and good information - I'd recommend giving it a look-see before we go.


Lonely Planet Road Trip: Route 66
Sherrie: This is really short and I found it to be a great overview of the road as well. It doesn't describe any of the stops in great depth, but it had lots of recommendations - for sights, shopping and restaurants.

More to come!