Subjects:  1. Cookery   2. Cooking   3. Cooking / Wine   4. Methods - Quick & Easy   5. Cooking / Quick & Easy   

Customer Reviews (74)

A great start
I picked up this book *after* reading "The Runaway Quilt" and I enjoyed hearing how Sylvia and Sarah met and learned about each other. As is often the case, people are often mis-understood, especially Sylvia, who left Elm Creek Manor 50 years ago. She is only back to clean out the house after her sister passed away, and has enlisted Matt's (Sarah's husband) company to do the landscaping. Sarah comes to help sort through things until she finds a "real" job.

Sarah and Sylvia gradually open up to each other and we learn the true story of why Sylvia left home, never to return. What follows will bring tears to your eyes.

A wonderful read, and I can't wait to read the next one.

Learning quilt and so much more!
The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini is the first book in the Elm Creek Quilt series. Although I have never quilted and doubt I ever will, I found the suggestion to read this book a good one. In the tradition of Whitney Otto's book, How to Make an American Quilt and Sandra Dallas' book, The Persian Pickle Club, Jennifer Chiaverini combines a love and knowledge and quilting with the story of two memorable characters. Best part about this book is that there are several more in the series which I now look forward to reading.

Sarah McClure moves to a small town in Pennsylvania when her husband takes a new job. With no friends and no job, she agonizes over leaving her former life in a college town. While interviewing for jobs, she is offered a job helping an older woman cleaning and sorting through her now decased sisters home. When Sarah remarks about the beautiful quilts in the home, Sylvia Compson, who grew up in this home, offers to teach Sarah how to quilt. What happens as Sarah learns to quilt, makes friends with other quilters in the area and learns the story and history of Elm Creek ensues is a wonderful book in which the reader is captivated by these wonderful characters and the art of quilting.

Jennifer Chiaverini has a real gift in explaining quilting to those who know very little as well as presenting a most intriguing story. And as I continue to read this series, I might very well consider trying to become a quilter's apprentice. Only wish I could find somebody like Sylvia Compson to teach me how to quilt.

one of my VERY favorites
Read this book is all I need to say. But, I could add, this is one of the best books in the world, and that's all I would really need to say to describe this book! Chiaverinni couldn't have told a story better than she told this one...every page held me with suspense, and when I reached the last one, my heart sank knowing that this book would be set down for good unless I read it again. Anyways, Sarah McClure is just a few years passed the newly wed stage when she and her husband Matt move to Waterford, Pennsylvania. Well, Sarah is frusterated because she can't find a job, but her husband has gotten one that pieces the story together. Matt has been restoring a mansion called Elm Creek Manor, and Sarah descides to visit the place with him. She finds the old Mrs. Compson, the owner, a crochety and lonely old woman, and descides to help her clean out the many rooms of the mansion so the old woman can sell it. Well, part of the payment goes with the tallented Mrs. Compson teaching Sarah how to quilt. Then, the story unfolds! Sarah and the book reader learn all about Mrs. Compson's tragic past of herself, her family, and of the mysterious Elm Creek Manor. This book was really wonderful, and made my heart glow at how sweet it was. READ! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aged women   2. Female friendship   3. Fiction   4. Fiction - General   5. General   6. Literary   7. Pennsylvania   8. Quiltmakers   

Customer Reviews (6)

Return to Elm Creek Quilts
Like a beautiful old quilt, this books builds bit by bit into a fascinating tapestry of family history. There are actually two stories, told in parallel fashion about Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her mother Eleanor. Sylvia is about to be married to her beau Andrew and before this momentous event, she has some unfinished business. She decides to look for five quilts which her mother Eleanor made when she was a young child. Her mother died when she was young, so she had never had time to get to know her well, but she wanted the quilts as her mother's legacy. Eleanor's story revolves around her delicate health and the difficult relationship she had with her critical, overbearing mother. Eleanor and her sister both defied their mother's wishes when choosing husbands, and her mother never forgave them for what she viewed as rebellion. These stories weave in and out as Sylvia pursues her mother's quilts and the end product is a very satisfying read. This book can stand alone, but it will probably make more sense, particularly with regard to the minor characters, if you read the other 4 books in the series first.

Jennifer just keeps getting better with age!
I finally got the book and couldnt put it down!
I was saving it for vacation; read it in two days! two days before vacation and had to go on vacation without a book!
I love to quilt and I love to read and this book series has filled both things I Love!! Cant wait for the next book in the series!!!awesome book!!

Surpasses the others in the series
The Quilter's Legacy is the touching story of Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her dedicated search for her mother's quilts. The story winds around Elm Creek Manor, then and now. The story is as gentle and intricate as the fins quilting stitches used by Eleanor Bergstrom herself.

Never predictable, always suspenseful as to what we will find at each stop along the way, this book is for anyone who has an interest in family, legacies or quilts.

By now we know all the Elm Creek regulars, Summer, Sarah, Matthew and Andrew. The author sweetly addresses the marriage of Sylvia and Andrew as she wakes up in the arms of her new husband, showing that love is for all, not just the young.

The description of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 was spot on and timely in view of the times we are living in. Of course, that particluar flu won't hit us again, but it is a strong reminder of the transitory lives we all lead.

I only wish that we saw more resolution in the situation with Andrew and his children. But perhaps that story is yet to tell. My only fault was that Jennifer has the date wrong for the sailing of Titanic. She sailed from Southampton on April 10th, 1912, not the 12th.

With rich descrptions, and warm characters playing against a cross section of America, I can only compare this book to the experience of snuggling under a cozy quilt while eating warm cookies with ice cold milk. Pure bliss. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Compson, Sylvia (Fictitious ch   2. Compson, Sylvia (Fictitious character)   3. Fiction   4. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective   5. General   6. Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)   7. Mothers and daughters   8. Mystery & Detective - General   9. Pennsylvania   10. Popular American Fiction   11. Quiltmaking   12. Fiction / General   

Customer Reviews (17)

A beautiful work of women's fiction
Everyone familiar with the hobby respects the famous quilting retreat at Elm Creak Manor in Waterford, Pennsylvania. Strangers come there to camp and life long friendships have formed such as the accidental meeting of the Cross-Country Quilters who vow to return next year.

The group consists of people from a wide variety of lifestyles. Long time attendee octogenarian Vinnie has been at Elm Creek every year since it opened. Julia the actress needs to learn the art for a part. Award winning Grace suffers from a nasty medical diagnosis that has left her with a quilter's mental block. Megan earned a week at the camp as a prize from a quilting magazine and is accompanied by her cyber-friend Donna, escaping from a daughter that is worrying her to death. Even after the camp ends, the participants stay in contact encouraging, boosting, and cheering each one's triumphs.

Jennifer Chiaverini has written a special book that demonstrates the resiliency and courage of an extraordinary group of determined women. Although Elm Creek manor is not the star of the story line, it serves as they catalyst that generates the development of subplots into a cohesive tale. THE CROSS COUNTRY Quilters is a powerful women's mainstream fiction at its literary best.

Harriet Klausner

The Cross Country Quilters
It was wonderful!! My sister, Susie, told me about the books by Jennifer Chiaverini, said they were so special. She was right! I have just finished the Quilters Apprentice and have just this minute ordered Round Robin!! I can't wait to get it and dive right in. I have been quilting for about 15 years and it was exciting to read a book that named a lot of the squares I have used in my own quilts. Keep the great books coming!! I will have them all for my own collection!

Happily surprised
I was disappointed when I read the review of this book to find that it did not center around the original characters, but was pleasantly surprised to see how the new storyline tied in with the old. It was actually my new favorite until I read "The Runaway Quilt" (fourth in the series). I love the descriptions of the quilting in these books. They always inspire me to get back to work on my own projects! The storyline in this one made it hard to put down because I wanted to know how each quilter's dilemma was resolved. The Cross Country Quilters is a wonderful addition to this series. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General   2. Quilting   3. Quiltmakers   4. Female Friendship   

Customer Reviews (2)

An Extraordinary Compilation Of Photography As Art!
Edward Weston, more than any other photographer that I admire and have studied, succeeded in creating photography as art. His abstract and voluptuous landscapes of the human form, his photographic sculptures of organic matter, his special vision that captured unnoticed works of art in nature, bring extraordinary passion and life to black and white photography. His exploration of "the universality of basic form" has provided us with masterpieces of photographic art. Much of Weston's best work is featured in this large and exquisite book. Published in London in association with the Huntington Library, printed and bound in Italy, and issued on fine paper approaching photographic print quality, this book is certainly a wonderful legacy of Edward Weston and his work.

In 1937 and 1938, the Guggenheim Foundation paid Weston to take a two-year photographic trip though California and the West - he was the first photographer to be awarded a Guggenheim fellowship - the images he made during that trip - more than 500, were presented to the Huntington Library. "What it all comes to is this," Weston wrote the Guggenheim Foundation in 1939, "I want very much to have a collection in the Huntington Library and will do anything I can to make it possible." "Edward Weston: A Legacy" organizes much of this material - extensive commentary, notes, biographical information and career-long examples of Weston's photographs. It is a truly stunning compilation.

Weston's work evokes warmth, sensuality, the erotic. There is passion behind his photographs of animals, like the fleet fox, his portraits, and in his strange visions of antique statuary. His nudes, especially the extraordinary work he does with Charis Wilson, take the viewer beyond the erotic to a discovery of eternal forms.

This is a magnificent book containing a master's work - a real treasure!
JANA

Overdue but worth the wait
Edward Weston gave more that 500 of his favorite works to the Huntington Library. Note books and other written material complete a major collection. This book is a major attempt to organize and say something meaningful about a prolific, private genius. I haven't read it all but I've already learned a lot and I've studied Weston for 40 years. The reproductions and their display as 8X10 contact prints is one of the most astonishing feats of printing I've ever seen, especially the nudes of Charis Wilson and the incredible sand dunes at Oceano. There are many photos that I have never seen, many I have seen and some I've held in my hand. This gives me the perspective to say that this book is worth buying just for the prints. You'll think as I have that you missed something until now, especially if all you've seen is book prints. This is as close you'll come to the real thing in print. I've sat buried in this book for half an hour, afraid to breath. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Individual Photographer   2. Photo Essays   3. Photography   4. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals   

Customer Reviews (97)

Perfect summer beach read!
*Crazy for You* is the ultimate summer read. It has all the needed ingredients for fun including a hot lusty romance, meddlesome neighbors and the psycho ex-boyfriend. If you're looking for a quick, fun diversion, this is the way to go.

In *Crazy for You*, high school art teacher Quinn falls in love with an abandoned puppy and immediately brings her home. Her boyfriend, Bill, attempts sending the puppy to the pound without Quinn's permission, and with that betrayal, Quinn realizes that Bill is not her cup of tea. She dumps him quickly, buys a new house and suddenly finds herself attracted to her sister's ex-husband! And to top that off, her mother has decided to try an adventurous sex life with the high school drama teacher! And while Quinn deals with all of the changes in her life, her ex-boyfriend, Bill, refuses to accept the relationship is over and becomes quite "Basic Instinct"-ish.

All of this leads to a shocking conclusion, and all in all, a great time of entertainment. Grab a copy for your vacation: you won't regret it.

Crazy for this book!
Jennifer Crusie is at the top of her game in this charming and hysterical contemporary romance. All of her trademark elements are here - witty dialogue, amuzing secondary characters, a hot romance. This is the story of a small town art teacher, Quinn McKenzie, who adopts a stray dog and decides to finally take control of her life. She breaks up with the steady but dull school coach, gets her own place and tries to initiate a romance with her ex-brother-in-law and close friend, Nick. The problem is that the rest of the town thinks she lost her mind. The coach refuses to accept their break-up and her boss blames her for the team's loosing streak and threatens to fire her. Inspired by Quinn's new attitude, her Mom comes out of the closet and her best friend leaves her happy but unexciting 20 year marriage. As if things are bad enough, Nick refuses to sleep with her! There's one amusing plot twist after the other, and the dialogue is priceless. One of the things I love best about Crusie's novels is the way she makes the lives of ordinary people - Quinn is a teacher and Nick is an automechanic - funny, exciting, sexy and romantic. This is a great novel that you will read again and again, laughing all the while.

I liked it but...
I liked this book, but the characters are very similar to another one of the author's books Tell me lies. I liked though. You feel for Quinn and you root for her. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Fiction - General   3. Humorous   4. Romance - Contemporary   5. Romance - General   

Customer Reviews (20)

will help me teach
I bought this book because I may be teaching a course in web design in a high school this fall. I want to cover HTML, web graphics, CSS, and JavaScript.

Niederst covers HTML and graphics in depth. With HTML, she teaches how to create a page, how to format text, how to insert graphics, how to create links, etc. The graphics section may be the strongest in the whole book. It is exactly what I was looking for as a resource to explain how graphics are edited for the Web. CSS and JavaScript get only passing attention, but that is probably to be expected.

There are a few "modern" tricks that are missing from the book. There is no discussion of the .PNG standard for web graphics. There is no discussion of the "link title" tag, which can create a rollover effect with just an HTML tag.

Niederst also spends some time on the basics of obtaining server space and putting files onto a server. I think that this is very important, because this can be the most confusing part about getting started in Web design, and other books generally omit it.

I can give this book my strongest recommendation to other teachers of web design courses. I am sure that I will refer back to it constantly.

For students, I'm afraid that it might be too broad, and for beginners my guess is that it would be too overwhelming. For example, on p.10-11 in discussing what software you need to buy, Niederst lists 3 web authoring tools, 2 text editors, and 5 graphics tools. Nowhere does she make it clear that you do not need all 10! As an experienced web designer, I know that it would be silly to work with Dreamweaver(tm) and Frontpage(tm) at the same time. But that may not be obvious to a beginner. Nor would it be obvious that if you choose an authoring tool you would not use a text editor.

This breadth of information runs throughout the book. I would think that a beginner would be better off starting with a shorter book that teaches a single approach to page construction, rather than a book that tries to cover multiple approaches at once.

Well written book - make sure you are in its target audience
I, too, will likely be teaching a high school course in web design this fall, and felt that this book would help provide a framework for my curriculum.

It certainly covers a wide range of topics, but it has a target audience in mind and you should determine whether or not you are in that audience before you purchase the book.

First of all, do you know absolutely nothing about web design? This is definitely a book for beginners. I am by no means an expert, and I knew little HTML before reading this book, but I can say that I already knew most of the material. I know it's called "Learning Web Design," but in spite of that I was still a bit surprised. If you've had even minimal experience making web pages already, most of this will be review.

Second, do you plan to rely almost entirely on programs like Dreamweaver or GoLive? Niederst's coverage of HTML assumes that you do. This is not a negative comment--for many people there is no need to learn a great deal of HTML--but she teaches you just enough so that you can operate WYSIWYG editors more efficiently. She does not mention which tags are deprecated, and doesn't really encourage the use of CSS (although CSS isn't taught in the book). I think those two things are fairly important if you plan to make a real study of HTML, if only to encourage good habits in the beginning. Thus, much will have to be "unlearned" with further HTML tutorials. However, your basic WYSIWYG user will probably never know the difference.

If you don't meet those two qualifications, I would recommend you look elsewhere. Otherwise, this will be an excellent first book ... Niederst is a great author, and the book is easy and fun to read.

Begin your web design career here!
This book starts with the premise that you have no web development experience and you do not want to program. The book is divided into four parts that cover an overview of web development, an html tutorial, graphics for the web, and web site design. Within each section, a different subject is addressed in every chapter. While each chapter starts at a very basic level, enough material is taught to give the reader a good start in each of the subjects. I particularly liked the way style sheets and links were covered. The book is replete with tips, illustrations, and code examples to assist the reader. There are exercises to reinforce the information for most of the topics covered.

The format of the book is different than most of the O'Reilly books that I have read in the past. The larger format of the book with the better paper and more graphics add to the learning experience especially with this subject. This was a fun book to read, even though I was familiar with most of the material. I was mainly interested in the graphics section and web design. Apparently, my interests coincided with those of the author's because I feel that those sections are the strongest in the book.

My only slight criticism of this book might be that while the reader is probably a beginner, most of the graphics examples are done with Photoshop or Fireworks. These tools may be a bit out of budget for the fledgling web designer. This book is a good starting point, but the reader probably will need to follow it with something more substantial. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Internet   2. Computer Books: Web Publishing   3. Computers   4. Design   5. Handbooks, manuals, etc   6. Internet - Web Site Design   7. Web sites   8. HTML   9. Publishing on the Internet   10. World Wide Web (WWW)   

The harrowing survival story of English explorer Sir Ernest Shackletonand the ill-fated Endurance has intrigued people since the 1914 expedition--spurring astounding books such as Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage and The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. As Shackleton and 27 sailors attempted to cross the frozen Antarctic continent from one side to the other, they were trapped in an ice pack, lost their ship to the icy depths, survived an Antarctic winter, escaped attacks from sea lions, and traversed 600 treacherous miles to the uninhabited Elephant Island. Leaving 22 men behind, Shackleton and five others sailed 800 miles across the southern Atlantic Ocean in a 20-foot open boat to tiny South George Island, where they hiked across unmapped mountains to a whaling station. In 1916, 19 months after the Endurance became icebound, Shackleton led a rescue party back to retrieve his men. Remarkably, every crew member survived.

Jennifer Armstrong, the award-winning author of Black-Eyed Susan and The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan, brings the unbelievable journey to life with delicious details: how a handsome young stowaway was discovered too late to cast him off; how the ship itself would become frost-white, looking like "another species of sparkling white iceberg as it nosed its way through the pack;" and how the ice-pack-dwelling Emperor penguins seemed to enjoy the banjo music of crew member Leonard Hussey. The true-to-life story is as thrilling as they come, and Armstrong's lively, crystal-clear writing style is just as compelling. More than 40 photographs of the expedition populate this inspiring nonfiction adventure story that young readers will devour from cover to cover. (Ages 10 to 14) --Karin Snelson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

An amazing story! I couldn't stop reading it!
I began reading this book while quite tired one evening, but found I couldn't put it down! Shackleton and his crew find themselves in one horrible predicament after another, yet all 28 men manage to miraculously survive! The photographs from the original voyage are incredible! A definite must read!

Great true story!
The expedition of 1914, just as The War to End All Wars broke out, of Sir Ernest Shackleton & his crew who sailed from England intending to cross Antarctica from one side to the other.

What they in fact did after the Endurance froze over & sank, has gone into the annals of epic human effort. In the face of crushing odds they all survived 19 months without contact with the outside world.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends SHIPWRECK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD for everyone, not just 10 year olds!

An incredible, horrifying, and amazing trip
This 1999 winner of the Orbis Pictus Award (given for outstanding nonfiction for children) is a detailed and well-researched account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's incredible 1914-1916 voyage to Antarctica. Jennifer Armstrong does an excellent job of creating interest all through the book, sharing interesting details about what the men ate, and the games and activities they use to passed the time. The book includes many photographs taken by the photographer on the expedition, giving a sense of realism and immediacy.

The author follows Shackleton's trip from England to South Georgia Island, then the failed attempt to get to the Antarctic continent. The ship becomes stuck in ice, but the ice migrates, moving the Endurance further north, toward the open ocean. Before they reach the sea the ice crushes the ship, forcing the men to abandon it. It is after the sinking of the Endurance that the narrative gets so exciting that the book is impossible to put down. The reader reads with growing horror of the crew's travail across the ice and out to tiny, barren Elephant Island.

When it seems that the men can't possibly have anything worse ahead of them, Shackleton and five men sail a small lifeboat eight hundred miles back to South Georgia Island. Armstrong's description of the harrowing fifteen days spent in the lifeboat holds the reader in a vise-like grip. She winds down the tension with a very satisfying epilogue relating what the crewmembers did with the rest of their lives. The captioned photograph at the end of the book showing the entire crew shortly after their return to civilization is a perfect touch. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1874-1922   2. Antarctica   3. Children's 9-12 - History - General   4. Children: Grades 4-6   5. History - Exploration & Discovery   6. History - General   7. Juvenile Nonfiction   8. Juvenile literature   9. Shackleton, Ernest Henry,   10. Sir,   11. Juvenile Nonfiction / History / Exploration & Discovery   12. Shackleton, Ernest Henry   

Subjects:  1. 20th century   2. Antiques & Collectibles   3. Antiques / Collectibles   4. Antiques/Collectibles   5. Furniture   6. History   7. McCobb, Paul   8. Themes, motives   9. United States   

If the pace of your life or depths of your depression leave you lacking in body and soul, this book can help you feel whole again. Jennifer Louden encourages you to assemble and draw on personal rituals, journals and sanctuaries that can add comfort and breathing space to your life. Some are obvious (herbal baths, flowers) or seem too silly, New Age, or time-consuming to tickle every fancy (blow bubbles in traffic jams, chant affirmations). Many more seem sublime and creative. But that's her point: pick and choose what works best for you, but do take some actions to make your life happier. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

a valuable self nurturing guide for women.
This book is a keeper for me and my clients. It's another valuable resource for women. Learning how to better nuture yourself is never a waste of time, and this book is a great tool to help guide you along.

Wonderful book!
This book helped me through a very difficult time in my life. It offers simple ways to learn to treat yourself well. Often women don't give themselves the time they deserve---this book definitely helps. Every woman should own a copy of this book.

A treat!
I must have given this book half a dozen times as a gift to friends or family members who were in need of a little nurturing, or who needed an excuse to spend a little more time on themselves. This book has dozens of ideas for activities to help you through a day, and even a little categorized index to look for a project based on how you're feeling at the moment.
A real treasure! Give it to a loved one by itself, or in combination with a nice journal or blank book and a couple of fun pens (I recommend purple), and she will know you care about her. Better yet, buy one for yourself. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General   2. Nurturing behavior   3. Personal Growth - Happiness   4. Psychology   5. Self-Help   6. Self-care, Health   7. Self-help techniques   8. Women   9. Women's Studies - General   10. Self-Help / Happiness   

Customer Reviews (16)

Do you really need 10 hours?
Let me save you some time with this book: the author says you need more sleep. 10 hours in fact. If you fall asleep when your head hits the pillow, you are likely sleep deprived and you need more time sleeping. If you are in this category (as am I) this book won't help much, beyond some good tips on napping.

If you cannot fall asleep easily, or wake often, this book has lots of detailed advice, from how to decorate your bedroom and what to do there, to when to eat dinner, what not to drink, watch on TV, and so on. This is probably a useful book for those who cannot sleep. Me? I should have skipped it and caught an extra hour.

Valuable presentation on importance of sleep in our lives.
In the months since I first read Power Sleep, I have referred back to the wonderful information contained in it many times, and each time, have found there is more to remember and to enjoy. Professor Maas' style of writing makes one want to even consider "losing some sleep," just to absorb this book non-stop. It is at once a valuable reference on sleep, both scientifically and practically; a book which is fun and entertaining, but also very challenging to read; and a subject well presented at a time when we all can be reminded of the restorative nature of getting enough sleep to be at our best each day.

Not a waste of money but not what I expected
I liked this book in a lot of ways, but when it ended, I was dissappointed. There is worthwhile information about sleep and interesting quotations from famous people about sleep but there seemed to be a lot of filler in this book. The book throws out many statistics but rarely explains how these stastics were obtained. I also thought the book contained too many horror stories about deaths related to people falling asleep while operating heavy machinery etc.,.
I got this book because I am 19 years old and in college and basically ever since I turned 13 I haven't been able to maintain a normal sleep cycle for more than a week at a time. I always end up not being able to get to sleep at my set bedtime and throw off my whole plan to wake and rise at the same time everyday. Unfortunately, I don't think this book is going to help me change that. I only just finished it today, though, so I'll keep you updated as to how things go.
The books' main suggestion is that you should wake up at the same time every day and go to sleep at the same time every night. This is pretty common knowledge and unfortunately I just don't think this is something I can realistically do because I have tried hundreds of time in the past and just not been able to maintain a consistent schedule.
The book gives some valuable suggestions like "don't exercise near bedtime" and "don't eat any heavy meals before bedtime". The book describes the "architecture" of sleep which is interesting to read about and gave me a better understanding of my sleeping patterns. One valuable piece of information the book gave is that 8 hours of disrupted sleep is not as restorative as 6 hours of deep uninterrupted sleep. The book also suggest that if you are cramming for an exam late at night that you should get a minimum of four hours of sleep. This is a valuable piece of information which I could have used throughout the last year of college. The message about sleeping pills in this book is that you shouldn't take them. I think one good message that the book delivers is that sleep is more valuable than we think. The book says that, when we get more sleep, we function at a higher level and then throws out some sketchy statistics to support this argument.
There is a list of sleep clinics in the back of the book which is great. I think I'll have to check one of them out because I doubt this book's suggestions are going to solve my sleeping problems.
I was very disappointed by the fact that there was no concluding chapter to the book. The book doesn't tie everything together at the end and just ends with a list of suggestions for elderly people on how to get to sleep and 20 pages of appendixes and footnotes. I also felt mislead by the title of this book. I thought the book would include information about how to sleep less or how to get more restorative sleep but it didn't and I found that most of the information presented is stuff I already knew. You could probably find most of this information on the internet but I only paid $1 for the book and it did have some interesting information (although it didn't provide me with the type of information I was expecting) so it gets 3 stars.

p.s. I also found the suggestions to "go to sleep now if you're tired and staying up and reading this book" really annoying haha ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Diet / Health / Fitness   2. General   3. Health/Fitness   4. Healthy Living   5. Neurology - Sleep Disorders   6. Self-Help   7. Sleep   8. Stress Management   9. Self-Help / General   

Subjects:  1. Activity Books - General   2. Children's 9-12 - Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords   3. Children: Grades 4-6   4. Games & Activities - Puzzles   5. Juvenile Nonfiction   

Customer Reviews (4)

Few Errors
If you read a "Dummies" book before then you know the format. The first part of the book is divided into lessons, then there are three sample tests in the back.

I thought the lessons were good, but not great compared to some of the other ASVAB books out there. The book did a great job of telling you upcoming changes to the ASVAB as advertised.

What really turned me off from this book was when I was doing the sample tests and there were a couple answers that were clearly wrong. For instance, the question for General Science was what Chromosomes does a female have. The answers in the back said "XY" while it should have been "XX". This was just one of a few I found.

While the style remains the same as most dummies books, I cant recommend this to anyone based on the errors in the sample tests. If you dont plan on doing sample tests then this book might be for you.

Very helpful!
This book has been a great help! In less than two weeks of studying I was able to raise my score on the USAF's practice test from a 36 to a 59! My recruiter was fairly impressed. I am still studying and believing I could do a lot better, but it's helpful to have this as a study aid. Everything is written in plain English and has a quirky sense of humor to it. At times I noticed some editing errors in spelling and what not, but nothing to make me want to go on a crusade about. Find the standard study aids as well, but I reccomend picking this up and then heading to the authors website at http://usmilitary.about.com where there is some helpful info on military life in general. Good luck!

Incredibly Lackluster
I am sorely disappointed by this book.

I don't know what the other reviewer was doing when he actually read through this book but I found countless, and I mean a SUBSTANTIAL number, of incorrect answers in this books prep tests. The amount of factual errors, typos and flat out incorrect information contained in this book makes me wonder if it really was written by a "Dummie". On top of this everything contained inside the book is stuff you would have learned in the first year of high school if you paid any attention what so ever to your classes.

To top this off and prove how serious I am about informing you guys/gals not to even contemplate putting your money forth to purchase this book -- I made an account on Amazon.com solely so I could express my distress at this poorly written piece of literature. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Armed Forces   2. Armed Services Vocational Apti   3. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery   4. Examinations   5. Military Organization And Administration   6. Military Science   7. Study Guides   8. Technology   9. Test Prep   10. Tests   11. United States   12. Education   13. Land forces & warfare   14. Study Aids / Tests   

Customer Reviews (122)

Fun Satire of Capitalizm [sic]
Jennifer Government was a fun, light, satire of capitalism. It is very plot-driven, and as the novel unfolds you just have to smile at Barry's wry and dystopian view of the future. Privatized governments, frequent flyer programs causing major corporations to form two competing "teams" at war with one another, bar-code tatoos, and other details make the book a clever satire of what Barry calls "capitalizm."

The book itself is organized in very short chapters (2-5 pages each, typically) and Max Barry's prose is a bit plain, but it gets the job done. As I said, the book is very plot-driven, and it moves quickly. The book will be easily adapted to become a big-time blockbuster movie, if it ever comes to that -- it's filled with the requisite shoot-outs, superficial dialogue, an cliche'd characters. But it's all in good fun. Overall, I'd recommend the book as a light summer read. I polished it off on a long plane ride, and it made the trip pass quickly & enjoyably.

Toxic comedy
It's a funny thing. This book, that is. But also the reality that it's getting harder every day to create satire. In a world where "war" is considered a solution for preventing the use of "weapons of mass destruction" when war, of course, is itself the use of weapons of mass destruction.

In "Syrup," Maxx Barry applied his lens to the corporate empire, lampooning the marketing mentality that pervades the products we buy and use, the films we watch -- even our own names. Even the names of the authors of the books we read. (Maxx has now reverted to Max.) Syrup is one of a small handful of books -- let's say two -- that have actually made me laugh out loud while reading them in the past decade. But the source of the humor was just how real certain scenes were (notably, the wannabe film producers encouraging the leading lady to adopt the stage name "Babelicious"). It wasn't the satiric genius that made Syrup funny, it was the historical accuracy.

And that's what makes it hard to figure out what to think about Jennifer Government. This time, the target is the broader social and political realm. Which makes it harder to laugh at the laughlines. When satire imitates life, you laugh. When life imitates satire, you cry.

You'd think he'd have it down by now
Okay. I really don't want to crap all over Max Barry here. But this book was lacking in a lot of areas that I know Max is capable of handling. The thing that got me most is how every time there is a phone conversation, Max still put the dialogue in. How many times can a guy read everybody answer the phone the same way? There wasn't as much cleverness in this one as there was in 'Syrup' either, which would have been cool.
I did like the idea behind this story; I thought it was very original and unique. Everything fits together nicely as far as plot goes, but normally with fiction, when a story has an over-elaborate plot, the characters tend to suffer. Which is what happened. Still, read it. But not while driving. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Fiction - General   3. General   4. Political   5. Fiction / General   

Customer Reviews (19)

AN INTERESTING JOURNEY
IRRESISTIBLE FORCES is a compilation of six different love stories set in the worlds of fantasy and science fiction. While short stories are not my normal forte I had to try this one out primarily because it had Lois McMaster Bujold's WINTERFAIR GIFTS, the story covering Miles Vorkosigan's marriage. As a recent devotee of the Vorkosigan saga I had no choice but to pick it up and read it, I was not disappointed. While far too short for my tastes it was everything I could have hoped for. For any Vorkosigan fan this one isn't a want to, it's a have to. As far as I'm concerned it made the entire book worthwhile. Thou reader beware, unless you have read the other Vorkosigan books you won't understand half of what is going on and why. Although by writing from the perspective of a new Armsman, one who didn't know most of Mile's history, Ms. Bujold did a an excellent job of filling in pertinent information a newbe reader might need.

Not that the other five stories were a disappointment. Actually it surprised me how much I ended up enjoying them. Of course some were better than others but all in all a credible and entertaining job.

If you like short stories, especially romance and fantasy/si-fi then I think you will enjoy IRRESISTIBLE FORCES.

I RECOMMEND it.

The long-awaited missing chapter in the Vorkosigan series!
This science fiction/romance anthology starts out with a bang, with the long-awaited tale of the wedding of Lord Miles Vorkosigan and Ekaterin Vorsoisson, "Winterfair Gifts", by Lois McMaster Bujold. Told from the perspective of loyal Armsman Roic, a wedding is prepared, a disaster is narrowly averted, and a delicate relationship unfolds, all in the space of a few winter days. Existing fans of the Vorkosigan series should not be disappointed, and new fans will still have surprises in store with the rest of the series. This book would be worth buying for this tale alone.

The book features other stories, such as the passionate "The Alchemical Marriage", by Mary Jo Putney. That story is a delight, featuring the two unlikely magicians who can prevent the Spanish Armada's invasion -- if only they can join their powers. This, too, is a story that's worth the book.

Not all the stories live up to the standards of the first two, but the book finishes on a strong note with Jennifer Roberson's "Shadows in the Wood," a Robin Hood tale with a twist.

For Bujold Completists
I bought the book for the Bujold story, as this is the only Miles fix we will get for some time. And almost no Miles! But I enjoyed it anyway. I do think new readers would be puzzled. You have to know the backstory to follow the action.

As for the rest, I tried to read each one, but just couldn't engage. The worst was the Putney, with its cliches and its total lack of historical sense despite all the right names and places; the Stover had an interesting idea, as did the Roberson. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fantasy fiction   2. Fantasy fiction, American   3. Fiction   4. Fiction - Science Fiction   5. General   6. Love stories   7. Love stories, American   8. Romance - General   9. Science Fiction - General   10. Science fiction, American   

Customer Reviews (44)

GETTING RID OF MELANCHOLY? Check this out!
What fire-cracker humour! What rapier wits and zany zest! When you pick up a Jennifer Crusie book, you know it's a laugh-till-you-drop affair and in a succinct yet marvellous short narration of around 245 pages - Crusie puts her deadpanned humour to such hilarious effects on a tale of love and sabotage. Not since MANHUNTING has Crusie ever been so sharp-witted with fast quips and meticulous observations, and her characters Lucy Savage Porter and Zack Warren is one hell of a firebrand couple.

Lucy Porter just had a bad week - what with all the bad hair day that made a green moss out of her mane (which would probably attract male Tolkien fanatics, as her sister Tina puts it), getting a divorce from her mundane husband Bradley after seeing him cosy up with a blonde, plus an irritating embezzling investigator Zack trailing her - she turns feral and savage (ironically her middle name) to get a grip on her life. It never rains but pours - Lucy becomes entangled when Bradley is a suspect of an embezzling case. She laughs. Even the insipid Bradley is playing a joke on her - life isn't what it seems.

Things get funnier and hysterically comedic when Zack comes in to protect her from a vicious sabotage. He believes maturity is death and is a cynic at romance, but Lucy with her antics and three cute dogs changes his perception. He yearns a more domestic life, picking up cooking and ripping floorboards and even picks up stray dogs. Lucy's ex-lovelife is based on a thermonuclear equation and she is going to be sterile of it - go illogical. Can their romance last? But before they can get until there, the sabotage intensifies to a potential life-threatening situation....

GETTING RID OF BRADLEY proves Ms. Crusie's mastery at weaving a tight smalltown mystery with keen observations on woman's psyche in change and love. It brims with dry sardonic wits and humour and charms with a big heart. Lucy is sympathetic and endearing; Zack is a passionate guy. It is a boost to our faith in love and fun. This book is needed as a reliving panacea for anyone who is on to getting rid of (depression or husbands) badly.

Great romance, lousy plot
You don't read a romance novel for the plot which is a good thing for Jennifer Crusie's "Getting Rid of Bradley." All the defining elements of a great contemporary romance novel are here - an extremely sexy copy hero, witty dialogue, lots of sexual tension - and you'll really enjoy the book if you don't get distracted by the contrived plot. The hero, Zack Warren, is very well drawn. Thanks to Crusie's vivid prose, you really get a strong sense of his edgy energy and intense emotional reactions. The heroine, Lucy Savage, just got a quicky divorce, and lives in a great house with her rather unique dogs, including one who performs a dog joke. Even though she's suffering from a bad dye job that left her hair green, she is enjoying feeling independent and adventurous - handy since people are shooting at her and planting bombs in her house. Zack, a police officer, moves in to protect her, and there's lots of fun reading as these two strong personalities try to come to grips wih their strong attraction. A classic contemporary romance scenario. My problem with the book is that the unknown threat that brings them together doesn't work. The jumping off point for the back plot is Lucy's ex-husband, Bradley. Zack believes Bradley has something to do with the bombs, etc.; Lucy is adamant that her ex is too staid and boring to be involved in a crime. First, I couldn't reconcile the Lucy we see in the story with the doormat that married a man she always found extremely dull. Second, the crime isn't very interesting, and the bad guys' motivation for threatening Lucy just isn't believable. If you concentrate on Zack and Lucy and their relationship and ignore the rest, you'll enjoy this book.

Really... get rid of Bradley...
The ONLY reason I am giving this book a MARGINAL 2 stars is because it is entertaining in how bad it is. The plot is contrived, the characters are one sided and annoying and the writing is wretched. And no... it's not even funny. I didn't even crack a grin.

But probably the biggest annoyance with the book is how annoying the characters itself are. Lucy tries so desperately to assert her "independence" it's irritating... and the bad boy sexy mytery cop? The whole mid-life crisis thing made him not so mysterious... and defiantly not sexy...

Honestly there were times when I had to stop reading in the middle of a chapter and just walk away because it just raditated with... stupidity.

If you want to read about a smart, funny airhead, with not one but TWO sexy men than please check out Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series.

Trust me, you're wasting your time by reading the title. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Fiction - Romance   3. Humorous   4. Romance - Contemporary   5. Romance: Modern   6. Fiction / Humorous   

Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)   2. Comics & Graphic Novels - Superheroes   3. Fiction - Fantasy   4. Graphic Novels - Superheroes   5. Juvenile Fiction   6. Fiction, Graphic Novels, General   

Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. General   3. Pop Arts / Pop Culture   4. Popular Culture - General   

Customer Reviews (43)

companion piece
First, this book should be read with Richard Russo's Empire Falls, his brilliant novel of small town life. Russo plays an important role in Boylan's book as best friend and reluctant confidant, and he contributed a beautifully written afterword. For powerful context, try to imagine Jim/Jenny on the streets of Empire Falls, and you get a sense of the courage it took to complete this transition in rural Maine.

Second, only a comic writer of Boylan's skill could take such an incredibly sad story and find so much humor in it. This book isn't so much a story of a transgendered individual as it is a story of the triumph of humor over even the most difficult obstacles. As in Boylan's novels, this book confronts the essential absurdity of human existence, and finds hope in love and loyalty and friendship. The gender bending premise of this book may attract curious readers, but Boylan doesn't sensationalize this subject. She simply tells a good story that both enlightens and entertains.

Masterful book
This is an amazing book. I've read a huge number of books and articles on the subject recently and not one of them moved me as much as this one. Between the moments when I laughed out loud, tickled by the turn of a phrase or a description of an event, my heart was wrenched and tears came to my eyes. I constantly hear the words of the transgendered person in my life through Jenny Finney Boylan's words.

Boylan tell a brave tale here, not hiding her own faults and problems. She lets us see the impact of her decisions on her friends and on her wife, Grace (a truly amazing person herself). This takes the book beyond the story of one person's transition from living as one gender to the other to a book about the human condition and how people handle life-altering challenges.

Because this book is so well-written and covers the broad aspects of a life, as well as the detailed events, it will appeal to anyone who simply wants something great to read. It's really hard to put down, but you have to now and then to catch your breath.

What is this book all about?
I think that I would have liked James Boylan very much - a bright, articulate, witty and decent person (by his own account, admittedly). But Jennifer Boylan cannot for the life of her present herself or her cause in any way that elicits sympathy or understanding or even good will. "She's Not There" is a congratulatory and self absorbed memoir of a man becoming a woman, believing that s/he was born a female in a male body. She never makes the case convincingly, however, despite filling almost 300 pages.

I simply do not understand what Boylan is trying to accomplish with this book. She doesn't seem to try to capture the hearts of her readers - say, by portraying the reality or the anguish of being transgendered and the absolute necessity, to her at least, of her actions. One could take this as a failure of her writing skills if she did not in the end simply shrug it all off as "a mystery". One is left then with the unpleasant conclusion that the author is an extraordinarily selfish person who loves the limelight and who is equally indifferent to the needs and desires of those who love her faithfully, and to the legitimate expectations of her readers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1958-   2. 20th century   3. Biography   4. Biography & Autobiography   5. Biography / Autobiography   6. Biography/Autobiography   7. Boylan, Jennifer Finney,   8. English teachers   9. Gender Studies   10. Human Sexuality   11. Novelists, American   12. Personal Memoirs   13. Transsexuals   14. United States   15. Biography & Autobiography / General   16. Boylan, Jennifer Finney   17. Reading Group Guide   

Subjects:  1. Fantasy   2. Fantasy - Epic   3. Fantasy - Series   4. Fantasy fiction   5. Fiction   6. Fiction - Fantasy   7. Fiction / Fantasy / Epic