Dear Bob and Sue: A Collection of Earthly Treasures, Volume 1

James Jeffries: Very informative and humorous

United States on Aug 26, 2023

William Storrer: Having visited all the national parks (as of 2019) you can drive to it was a great way to enjoy them through others eyes. It was was filled with humor making the journey even better.

United States on Jul 21, 2023

Susan W.: I love the passion both Matt and Karen share about seeing our precious natural resources in the park system.
The emails to their friends back home was a nice way to organize the book so it didn't become a guide book of sorts. However, at times I wish there was more guidebook. For example, they could leave out the took care of business sentence every time they arrived at the next park and share more about the landscape, crazy weather or a fun fact. The reader can just assume they took care of business after one mention.
Overall, very enjoyable read.

United States on Jun 20, 2023

lovetoread: Before you read this book, I hope you read and understand the authors' message...

Disclaimer: If you’re looking for a guide to the National Parks, this isn’t one. If you like long eloquent descriptions of mountains and rivers and rainbows, you won’t find them in this book. If you want to read about a couple accomplishing an incredible feat against all odds, look elsewhere. This is our day-by-day account of our travels together to some of the most stunning places in America. There’s even some adventure in the book: we were chased by a grizzly, pushed off the trail by big horn sheep, and survived a mid-air plane collision in Alaska. But there’s also a lot of frivolous stuff about spilled animal crackers, lost underwear, hotel rooms that smell, and way too much about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and squirrels.

This message is very accurate. The book really is 50% about the National Parks and 50% about them. I imagine some people would be put off by Matt's intolerance of people and situations or by the banter the couple finds amusing. It's risky to write a book about your life that exposes your idiosyncrasies that not everyone can appreciate.

I did...

United States on Jun 07, 2015

Kindle Customer: I've loved the few National Parks I've visited, so I looked forward to reading about Matt and Karen Smith's visits to those parks, and to learning what about other parks I would want to visit someday. I haven't finished the book yet, but some things about it bothered me enough to look up other readers' reviews to see if I was the only one who felt the way I do. I see that others agree with me.

I was enjoying the book until I read enough of his put downs of geezers and old ladies and old lady perfume, etc to know that Matt doesn't like me. Matt wouldn't like me and I find that's affecting my enjoyment of the book. He doesn't like families with children when the children behave like children.

The authors don't really respect the National Parks nor the rules that preserve the parks for all. Touching something (ex: the cane-like formations in the cave) that they've been told explicitly not to touch, smuggling alcohol in where it's not allowed, camping out with cooler and beer in the lobby of a beautiful icon of the National Park hotels: huh?

The emphasis upon alcohol consumption and even getting drunk, was puzzling because it - and the childish behavior in hotels,...

United States on Jul 14, 2014

Bont: Definitely not a guidebook in the traditional sense, but it brought back many brilliant memories of the parks I've visited, and fired my enthusiasm to visit the others.
There is a definite quirkiness to the writing style, but I did warm to this; although not the authors' passion for Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches!!
Power to them both for living their dreams.

United Kingdom on Apr 16, 2014

Bobby: I have had the privilege of visiting many of the US National Parks and can identify with much of the material in this book so it made a very interesting read. If you don't have an interest in the parks you are unlikely to enjoy the book as much as I did. There were definitely funny parts as well as dramatic parts (bear encounters and a near plane crash!) and a few mundane parts as well - but for a true account it was a great book. Although not a travel book as such it has given me info on some parks I have yet to visit and now I feel better informed about some of them. The account of hiking down and back up the Grand Canyon was excellent - It should be compulsory reading for anyone attempting the hike. It was great to revisit the wonderful Crater Lake from my armchair and to dream of a future visit to Glacier NP. I don't know how Matt and Karen can face another pizza or PBJ sandwich after all they ate on the way. Congratulations to you both on a great achievement - both for visiting all 59 parks and writing an interesting account. Thank you!

United Kingdom on Feb 14, 2014

C. Rust: The idea is fine, but on kindle the style of the book gets a bit repetitive. Had we had the photos that the authors took it would have been better, but that wouldn't have worked so well on a kindle paperwhite, whereas a nice coffee table book might well have worked better.

I've only got part way thru so far, but will probably return to it.

United Kingdom on Nov 16, 2013

Sharon Kennedy: I loved this book! I loved the idea first of all that a couple would give up their jobs for a couple of years to visit all 58 of the National Parks that were designated "National" Parks - a fine distinction!, and then even more that they would write about it in the form of emails to the friends who inspired them to do this.

I got a real sense of the people - Karen's squirrel encounters, Matt's "OC without the D" and his plan to buy Sue a knife with Tammy on it (because the centre had run out of the ones with "Sue" on them) - were just three of the things that made me want to laugh out loud - difficult because I was reading it on the bus! And I appreciated the difference in the voices when the emails came from Karen, and not just from Matt, as it made it more than just a couple's travelogue - to me, the fact they shared the writing made it more real, and their different voices painted such wonderful pictures of what they were seeing, because they focussed on different things - the beautiful scenery, the wildlife, but above all the dangers which still exist in the National Parks.

I was also lucky in that the version I downloaded actually had the additional visit to the...

United Kingdom on Jul 12, 2013

E. L. Woodcock: In Dear Bob and Sue the authors, a 50-ish married couple from Seattle, decide to take a year off and visit every national park in America. The book takes the form of a series of emails from them to their titular friends back home. It is a delightfully simple concept, and works very well. The casual tone is fresh and involving. The warm, honest portrayal of their marriage is as entertaining as the anecdotes about the parks they visit.

It is an unassuming book, with many recognisable situations and laugh out loud moments. By the end I felt that I knew Karen and Matt quite well. Matt, the humorous grump (a male archetype I am quite familiar with!) constantly grumbling about... well, essentially other people living on the same planet as him. He also displays a nice sense of irony and a flair for the absurd (I particularly enjoyed him naming nuts in the style of Best in Show`s Harlan Pepper, "Pea-nut, hazel nut, cashew nut, macadamia nut, pine nut, wal-nut, pistachio nut, red pistachio nut..." to Karen's mortification.)

Karen frequently pretends not to know him, and has a steely determination of her own, "The ranger replied to Karen slowly, as if talking to a ten year...

United Kingdom on Feb 02, 2013