Houston guide books

I have been living here in Houston for 19 months now, and I still feel like I hardly know the city, and I have a really hard time finding things to do. I looked in the bookstores when I first moved here, and most of the guide books were pretty out of date. I know you can look things up on-line, and I do that, but I also really like guide books. Well, yesterday I moseyed on over to the local travel section again in Barnes %26amp; Noble, and lo and behold, there were some relatively new Houston guide books!! (copyrights 2005 and 2006) So, for those of you who are looking for a Houston travel guide book, here%26#39;s what I found.

The first one (copyright 2006 - it%26#39;s an updated edition) is titled ';Day Trips from Houston - Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler, 11th edition'; (Authors: Carol Barrington %26amp; Syd Kearney, Publisher: Insiders%26#39; Guide). Basically it details going to places in the Houston area - it says that all day trips should be within a 2 hour drive of the center of Houston. The Clear Lake area (Seabrook, Kemah etc.) is listed as a daytrip, so, you can see that the book lists some places that are really ';in'; the Houston locale, but since it%26#39;s such a large city, there%26#39;s lots to cover. It%26#39;s a fairly large book. Anyways, I flipped through it and bought it b/c it looks like it has some really great info. I can write a better review once I start using it!

The next guide book is ';A Marmac Guide to Houston and Galveston'; (Author: Syd Kearney, copyright August 2005, Pelican Publishing Company) and is more of a standard guide book, but when I was flipping through it, it listed lots of museums and shopping areas that I hadn%26#39;t heard of yet, so I%26#39;m really happy I got it.

I also got another Houston travel ';guide'; that is basically a set of cards in a red box, where each card details a different site in Houston (and they all have a lovely photograph on the front...). I can%26#39;t remember who published the cards, so I%26#39;ll have to post again with that info! I don%26#39;t think the cards will be the most useful thing in the world but I thought I%26#39;d get them just because. =)

Anyways, just thought the forum might want to know those new books are out there. I am really going to make an effort (and it will be a huge effort b/c I really am not a huge fan of driving in the Houston traffic!) to go out every weekend and do at least one thing from my guide books!

Any comments on the guide books or others you%26#39;ve found are definitely welcome!!

The Houston.com website also lists other guide books, but those are older - see:

http://www.houston.com/visiting/

Houston guide books

Ok, the travel cards are called ';Placenotes No. 4 - Houston'; edited by Kevin Keim and distributed by the University of Texas Press and published by Moore Center Press. I bought them at Barnes %26amp; Noble but also saw them at Borders bookstore.