The Laughing Falcon. Even leaving aside the Costa Rican setting it's a very enjoyable book especially if you like murder mysteries. The author, William Deverell, is a well-known Canadian author who lives part of the year near Quepos. He's appears to be an avid birder as well. Read this book for an insider's jaded view on the tourist scene in Pacific area but also for very authentic bits about the Manual Antonio and Tortuguero landscapes with a few interesting tips for single women travellers in San Jose.
Another good book is Natural History of Costa Rica, by Dr. Alan Jensen. Dr. Jensen was the man who studied the last dry rain forest on the Pacific Coast of Central America, now called the Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica). Anyone interested in knowing in detail about natural history will enjoy the great work of this man with a vision of the future. Without him, the National Park would have been destroyed by the cattle farmers.
An excellent travel guidebook is Explore Costa Rica (Fifth Edition) by Harry S. Pariser. This new guide covers a lot of places not found in other guidebooks. It makes a wonderful companion to this website. The maps, charts, tips, bus schedule, etc. — all are useful! Highly recommended.
A great series of short stories in Spanish is Spanish Reader for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Students by Iris Acevedo A, author and founder of CostaRicaSpanishOnline Language School. This series covers Costa Rican lifestyle, phrases and enjoyable settings mixed into short stories with an unusual twist. New November 27 release: Spanish Reader for Beginners-Elementary (Spanish to English translation throughout the entire book). New release December 1st: Spanish Conversation Book for Beginners I & II (see all 3 volumes), three books with short and medium length dialogues with Spanish to English translation (Beginner I & II and Beginner II. Spanish Conversation Book for Intermediates has not been translated. New April release: Spanish Conversation Book Intermediate II, offers you a trip through Guanacaste and The Arenal Volcanoe through extensive dialogues in Spanish. Now available on our website:PDF downloads of all our Spanish books for your enjoyment.
