Games and Humor Books

This book is an amusing short, easy read that covers the "inside" view of carnivals. It points out the way common, seemingly easy carnival games are rigged to make them very difficult to win. And, even if you do win, you receive a prize that cost the operator less than you paid to play. Perils of the food stands are poitned out - always buy from a busy vendor who focusses on one type of food. We also get the low-down on various roller coasters at amusement parks around the US.
I gave the book 3 out of 5 because it was amusing but not compelling. It lacked a bit of substance and parts of it felt like filler.

This is a neat little book and in excellent shape.. Fast service. I bought it thinking there might be a recipe in it that I've been trying to locate..It wasn't but the book has a lot of interesting material in it anyway.

"Who doesn't love a carnival, fair or amusement park? They have everything you could ask for: Fried food, dangerous-looking rides, macho games, freak shows, meat-on-a-stick, champion milking cows, and teenagers dressed up as giant stuffed animals...If that's not America, what is?"

That's the opening quote of this book that tells you all the ins and outs of the carnival business - everything from the economics involved in owning a booth to how to become a carnie to ride safety to the freek shows. It also tells you how to win at certain games, the inside skinny on some of the major theme parks (did you know that DisneyWorld has an underground vacuum powered garbage removal - much like the system at your bank's drive through window - so that you don't have to see any garbage being hauled through the park?) and which food booths to avoid at your local fair (chicken & fish due to easy spoilage and the booths that sell more than 2 or 3 items - the specialists are just better).

This book made me laugh a lot. I found myself repeating out loud quotes in the book to the people in the room, it was that funny. He described how to play the games and it seemed like he described the way to win pretty well. He covers all topics carnival related, such as freak shows, carnival rides, food and of course the games. I have had this book on my shelf over a year and have not picked it up until today, it is too bad because I have gone to Reno a few times and to circus-circus casino, a casino chain famous for its carnival-midway, I could have used my new skills if I had read the book earlier. Oh well, next time.

This book was a quick read and was disappointing. It claims to enlighten the reader to the world behind the scenes of the amusement industry and carnivals but in reality it is nothing more than a few well known facts compiled into different chapters. It is very shallow and although I did get a couple of laughs out of it, it does not delve deeply enough into the subject matter to reveal anything "secret" or previously unknown. Having worked in a similar industry for over a decade I know there is much more going on behind the scenes.But you wont read about it here.

I was disappointed in this book. Yet again we are subjected to an exhausting study of one of Napoleon's campaigns, and we are left to imagine most of it. The few maps included are simple and at a very large scale, with no troop movements to be found. There is no accounting of armies or orders of battle, and any casualty or other statistics are only mingled with the text and need to be collected and/or analyzed to verify their accuracy. The chapter endnotes are mostly bilbliographical. I was interested to see quotes from personal correspondence, which is almost unheard of, and it gives great insight into Napoleon the man as a result. Sadly, this book did not accomplish what many are longing for,,,a more detailed analysis of the Italian campaign. You'll need a few more books with more information to get a clear picture.

This is a massive book and doubtless would repay those who can finish it. I didn't like the text. I found the first few chapters rather dreary as the author was trying to set the stage for Napoleon's foray into Italy. I didn't like feel of the book -the paper used was bad and the pictures were bad. And as for the maps? Well, the maps were cursory.
I'll stick to my copy of Attack in the West and Napoleon in Italy for a clear account of this campaign.

It is early Spring 1796, a novice general takes command of the Army of Italy. The Army is hungry, poorly clothed and dispirited. The French are barely hanging onto their foothold on the Italian Riviera. Within little more than a year, the Army of Italy will knock Piedmont out of the War, chase the Austrian Army across Northern Italy, repulse four determined counter-attacks, seize the fortress of Mantua, march up into the Tyrol, threaten Vienna and force the Austrians out of the War! What an amazing first campaign. Some of Napoleon's later campaigns may be more famous but no campaign is more dramatic.

Martin Boycott-Brown has done a favor to the English language world by publishing the first comprehensive account of that campaign to come out in many decades. The hardback version is 526 pages long and is filled with the type of obscure detail that enthusiasts of military history love. Earlier reviewers are correct when they note that book's maps are of poor quality. However, if someone is going to be reading a detailed campaign book about the 1786-7 Italian campaign, they are more likely than not to already have many other Napoleonic history books that can be used to supplement this book's maps.

The appeal of this book is to see Napoleon at the beginning of his career. This is his first campaign and as to be expected things do not always go according to plan. It is a pleasure to see Napoleon's military genius at its real birth. In addition, many of the great characters that are to become important in Napoleon's story are present in these early days. Massena, Berthier, Murat, Lannes and Augereau all enter history's stage in this campaign.

If I have one crticism of this book it is that Martin Boycott-Brown is so earnest and determined to accurately describe this campaign. Drama is often sacrificed for detail. Fortunately, now that the essential details have been nailed down, another writer with the novelist's gift for drama and turn of phrase will come and tell this amazing story in a more lyrical manner.

Studies of Napoleon's Italian campaign are hard to come by, so this book fills a very important space in Napoleonic historiography. The author does a fine job, with a large amount of detail being presented in a readable style. One comes away feeling they have gained a solid understanding of the campaign.

The book could have made better it the author had carefully examined the mindset of Napoleon himself, and how he felt about everything he was doing. The book also ended rather abruptly, without a discussion of the long-term effects of Napoleon's campaign.

Despite those flaws, this book was very good and should be read by anyone attempting to understand the Napoleonic period.

One of the more interesting books on Napoleonic campaigns, especially one that there haven't been too many books written about it. I found the book to be quite an enjoyable read but like most of the other people who wrote reveiws on it, what bring down the book was lousy maps. Considering the details that the author offered in the book in tracing movements, battles and all that, good maps should have been alloted all over the book. Instead there were basically generic maps in the middle of the book. It sad when I have to go to other books like West Point Atlas of Napoleonic Wars to get a clearer pictures of what the author was trying to say. Considering how familiar the author is to the entire area of operation, maybe he fell into a mind trap of thinking that everyone knows the terrains as much as he. Other then that, I don't have much more to add then what was written before.

I really enjoy Star Munchkin & Munchkin Bites and I can't wait to try some others, but we've come to the conclusion that Munchkin Bites is broken. It seems like every time we play it people start whining about the game taking too long. I think the problem is not enough monsters (unless you count the vampires, werewolves and changelings player characters). When combined with Star Munchkin it doesn't appear to drag that game down though. :)

Next to STAR MUNCHKIN this is my least favorite of the very excellent Munchkin series of games.

Two things work against it for me.

1...The Genre is just not my thing, if it is your thing then you will enjoy this game a lot more than I do.

2...The powers system, powers that can be used are based on levels, it is in my opinion not as playable and took my kid a bit longer to catch on. The same system was used in SuperMunchkin and I didn't care for it as much there either.

Nevertheless the game system plays pretty much like all the others so it is pretty solid. Munchkin is a fine game series it's just a question of finding the right flavor for you.

This one just doesn't happen to be mine.

The rules of this card game of fairly straightforward. Each player is a first level human, Along the way you acquire new personas with new powers (werewolf, vampire or changeling), open doors to fictitious rooms (i.e., pick a card), fight the monster in the room (i.e., on the back of the card), collect the treasure in the room and move on. You can play cards against your opponents, some of them funny, e.g., change his or her sex leading to a turn of distraction (but it might be helpful later against a monster that has a power only against the prior sex) or more sinister, e.g., death. The combat is simple and you can call for allies. There is active card trading and it is a freewheeling game of combat, greed and betrayal.

The things that stop this game from being great are the illustrations which are somewhat funny but generally pedestrian and boring and did not work to create the illusion of going into rooms. The game never transported you beyond a card game. The game is also a slow start and can be a bit boring until you have the strength needed to defeat some monsters, most of which have levels higher than yours. Because you can ask for allies in these fights, the more players the better this game plays. Finally, the number of cards and the way the game plays makes it difficult to develop an overall strategy - I am not saying impossible - but just difficult. This might change the more we play. But this game will not have the repeat playability of other similar genre card games and I suspect that while it is a good concept and an interesting game, the defects will prevent this game from becoming a family favorite.

I began playing the Munchkin line when there was only the one game. Who would have known it would grow into this many offshoots and variations? Who? SJ Games of course and boy are they cashing in! Luckily this game series has held up in quality and they really seemed to dig into some quality satire with the vampire theme of this game. I for one have been involved in many sarcastic verbal attacks of all the goths and their over-dramatic gaming style. This game lets you bring that sarcasm right to the game table. If you are a completist and need the whole set, go for it. If vampires are not your bag, you might consider a pass on this one, there are plenty of other Munchkin products out there to keep you entertained (Munchkin Fu, Star Munchkin, Super Munchkin, and of course the original D&D based ones).

Munchkin Bites is yet another entry in the Munchkin series from Steve Jackson Games. For an interesting read, google "Steve Jackson" and "Secret Service" at the same time.) The original Munchkin series was a satiric take on hack-and-slash roleplaying; Munchkin Bites takes on the vampire and goth genres. Gameplay itself is fairly simple. Players start with a hand of four cards from which they may select character classes and/or equipment. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, but the weaknesses tend to disappear during gameplay as players simply become more and more powerful. Gameplay consists of drawing a card, fighting the revealed monster or dealing with the effects of a non-monster card, and trying to scoop up treasure. The goal? Gain 10 (or 20, if you prefer) levels.

Munchkin Bites is a stand alone game, but it can be combined with any of the Munchkin series, including the expansions. It's not a particularly complex game; the fun comes from arguing about helping or hurting other players in their quest for levels.

In addition, the cards themselves are satirical looks at the vampire and goth roleplaying genres. Curses such as "The Universe Hates You, Lose 1 Level" pop up, as do humorous takes on monsters and magic.

Munchkin Bites is a decent game, and I can recommend it as a simple but fun family game. If you can find it in a local game shop give them your business, but ordering off Amazon will save you a few bucks.

Mussolini was the father of modern fascism, now a movement roundly and rightly condemned for the results it would have later in Germany. But the truth is that Fascisms real successes were in Italy and Spain where it stemmed the tide of uncontrolled anarchism and communist subversion to create a proletarian corporate state. Although Fascism is now synonymous with evil, this was not so in Italy, where today's Italian party includes a coalition of Italy's old fascist party.

This wonderful much needed book examines Mussolini and although it pulls no punches in detailing Italian atrocities in Ethiopia and Mussolini's weakness to stand up to Hitler this book also widely and accurately praises Mussolini by offering a sobering honest account of his life. Usually the Italian dictator who came to power in 1922 is dismissed as a buffoon and a clown. But this book shows positively that this is not case. Mussolini called on the veterans of WWI to stand up for themselves by refusing to be spat on in public and he called on the nation to stop the flirtation with international socialism and instead become a nationalist productive beacon. His movement condemned the parasites of society, but unlike the Nazis, these parasites were not outlines by race or religion, rather they were parasites who came from all classes and embodied the ethic of the professional bureaucratic communist, those who never worked but who were professional strikers and politicians, living off the backs of proletariat to create a new dictatorship where the proletariat would be enslaved as it was in Russia.

Here we see how Mussolini went from being a dedicated socialist to apply his ideas to a new movement. And we see the inner workings of the Italian state under fascism, at peace with Europe until Hitler dragged it into WWII. No punches are pulled. This book details Mussolini's vast secret police forces and his failures as well as his insane obsessions. But a fair assessment is made, especially in analyzing Mussolini's half hearted defense of Italian Jews and his efforts to never allow one concentration camp on Italian soil, which is why not one Jew was ever deported until after the Nazis took over Italy in 1943. This book reminds us that Mussolini's greatest influences had been Socialism and in particular two Jewish women, titans of Italian socialism, which is why it has been a tragedy that Mussolini has gone down in history as no more then Hitler's goon, which he certainly was not from 1922 to 1943.

A round defense of Italian fascism and an excellent biography. Anyone interest in the alternative fascisms of Spain and Italy, will enjoy this book as will anyone interested in Italian politics and society or WWII.

Seth J. Frantzman

Nicholas Farrell's book is an impassioned revision of a good deal of the standard lore we have learned about Benito Mussolini since 1941, and he offers a different picture of a man who was once greatly admired by Churchill, Roosevelt, and others, only to see his life and life's work go up in flames in April 1945. Athough Farrell's interpretation may be disputed at points, at the very least he presents fascinating and intriguing facets about the life of "Il Duce," and, after reading his volume, one feels a lot closer to understanding the "hows" and "whys" of of an individual who still remains something of an enigma.

I found this book disquieting because of the way it glosses over Mussolini's manifest faults.
This was a man who beat up, exiled or imprisoned thousands of his political opponents, who with no justification whatsoever, attacked Abyssinia, the Spanish Republic, Greece, France, and Great Britain - vainglorious and inefficent adventures that cost his country dear.
Thousands of Abyssinians suffered hideously from the mustard gas employed by his forces and Spanish civilians who had no quarrel with him were bombed. In 1940 he waited to stab France in the back until Germany was on the point of defeating her. From then on he had to turn to Hitler rescue him from his folly, a deflated buffoon whose unrealistic ambition had killed thousands and left Italy in a much worse case when he fell than when he came to power. He was no more capable of forming a sensible view of the capacities of his country than he was of putting together a long term strategy for it. Does he deserve this apologia? I think not.

This is, by far, the best biography of Benito Mussolini in the English language. Farrell neither condemns nor celebrates the life of Mussolini; he presents it as it was, with none of the post-war political distortion and spin so common in other presentations of Mussolini (the ones which rely on self-indulgent pontificating rather than facts backed up with proof). This book, however, is not limited to being merely a biography of Mussolini, it is the story of the Fascist movement as a whole, from the triumphant March on Rome to its pathetic end after Mussolini's coup. Many fascinating sideline figures in the Fascist movement, such as F.T. Marrinetti and Italo Balbo, are also illuminated.

This book will prompt much vitriol. It is a departure from the typical biography of Benito Mussolini which has been penned by British authors over the past six decades. Most biographers portray il Duce as an evil incompetant who bullied his way to power; in short, the dogma of "Mussolini was always wrong" applies. By ascribing to this mantra, these authors (Mack Smith, Ridley, Bosworth, etc.) fail to answer an important question: if Mussolini was so stupid, how could he retain power for over twenty years? Was it by "hypnotizing" the masses? If so, why was this feat not replicated by any other Italian stateman either before or since?
In this well-researched book, Farrell traces the roots of Mussolini's political thought and the events that led to Italy's "mutilated victory" of World War I. He explains how the Treaty of London (1915)promised to a victorious Italy territorial gains that were then denied to her at the conclusion of the war. This fact, together with the sacrifice of over 600,000 of Italy's youth in the Great War, set the stage for Mussolini and allowed him to tap into Italian humiliation, anger and nationalism. The picture of a shrewd and resourceful politician emerges.
Farrell identifies some of Fascism's successful public work projects in the interwar years, e.g. the "Battle for Grain" that allowed Italy to sever its dependance on foreign sources of grain to feed its people. Hitler's ascent to German chancellor in January of 1933, however, changes the dynamics of power in Europe and Hitler's ambitions provide the Allied destraction Mussolini needs in order to widen the Italian sphere of influence. The Ethiopian campaign is born but so too is Italy's tie to Germany as Britain objects to Italy's territorial ambitions in Africa. Farrell then points to Britain's Foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, and his anti-Italian prejudice as being partly culpable for cementening Italy to Germany. He proposes that had it not been for Eden, World War II may have been avoided. Indeed, few authors mention that it was Italy alone among the European powers that chose to stand up to Hitler in 1934 and prevent the Nazi anschluss of Austria. Farrell wonders whether had Britain acted differently towards Italy from 1935-1940 and coaxed her over to the Allied side whether sufficient pressure would have been brought to bear on Hitler's Germany and much bloodshed avoided. Would Italy have been coaxable, however, by allies who had betrayed the promoises of the Treaty of London?
Revealed, therefore, is a man driven by greed, fear and patriotism who led his country into a devestating war she was unprepared to fight. Such a decision was probably not based on stupdity, however, as the predominent wisdom in June of 1940 was that France was vanquished and England would soon sue for peace. History would obviously prove otherwise. Farrell is not a heretic or a blasphemer. Mussolini is not portrayed as a saint or a satan. He is made out to be a man who made mistakes, sometimes catastrophic, but always with the goal of making Italy great.

An incredibly witty philosophical disertation on the existence of Santa Claus (perfect for anyone who had to read a philosophy textbook ). Full of absurdities, grandeoise vocabulary, and clever ironies, this books is a deliciously intelligently idiotic (my sense of humor!), written by an over-educated, big kid that sees some of the essential truths and oddeties of Christmas. So funny, so clever. A great read for the season. Grade: A

I started reading this book with the impression that it might be a clever, amusing "proof" of the existence of Santa Claus. Instead, it was a crude mockery of existing philosophical theories and a cynical, scandalous dirtying of the happy image of Santa Claus. The author makes blasphemous jokes about Judaism, Christianity, the Bible, and Aristotle, and makes it quite clear that he is not actually attempting to prove anything; he is not even pretending to attempt to prove anything. He is merely trying to discredit the entire concept of epistemology. This book was a bitter disappointment.

Using some of the same "arguments" that theologians use to argue for the existence of God, Weiner attempts to prove that "Santa lives!" The back cover makes it painfully obvious that this is meant as satire when Weiner states that his investigation covers "the existence of napkins, the differences between birthday cake and fruitcake, and whether Santa is American." For the record, Weiner is unable to determine Santa's nationality, but offers this tantalizing passage: "A loud, fat man who barges into people's homes to flaunt his welath by foisting upon them an array of usually tacky, unnecessary commercial products--how can Santa Claus NOT be an American?" Highly recommended for those holiday fans with a sense of humor.

Ellis Weiner is a former writer for the National Lampoon and Spy Magazine. It shows. This book is a stream of silly consciousness. Seemingly lightweight, it stuns you with the intellect behind it. Footnotes have footnotes. Weiner fights with his editor in various notes. It's clever and it is meant to amuse. Intolerant and humorless readers need not apply. If you don't get the jokes then it's probably because they are all about you. Get over it!

The first thing I noticed about this book was it had several racy or off color jokes, & the use of the "F" word once. That didn't particularly bother me, but was surprising in a Santa book, & I was glad I read it before purchasing for some other people I'd intended to.
There is no magic in this book. It is an attempt to be clever, & some of it undoubtedly is. Some made me smile. But I didn't feel any Christmas spirit or excitement after reading it, just that I was supposed to be impressed with how smart the author was. It also had a section about how obviously Christmas isn't about God or celebrating Christ's birth. Overall I wouldn't recommend this book to Christmas fans. Someone who enjoys the intellectual arguements in here would enjoy it.

A completely worthless book on the foremost American politician. I'm not even sure of the accuracy of these ridiculous quotes... but I know it does no good for anyone. Books that engender hatred and ridicule people are sub-human.

I had to get this calendar to both laugh at and count down to the day when justice will be served come November. If he wasn't so dangerous, he might be fun to laugh at for another four years!

I missed out on the 2003 Bushisms calendar, and I've regretted it ever since. I've got it for 2004 though, and I know I'll get at least one daily laugh out of it.

Each president has had his idiosyncrasies, but few of them have been tyranical and moronic at the same time. I'll take boring anyday.

While this is defnitely funny, I'd rather bet on GW than a Wimpy alternative !!

365 of Bushisms. What could be more fun than that?

Richard Reti shows the evolution of chess by analyzing games from great players from the past. In doing so, he also provides the reader with basic ideas on how to handle the opening, approach the development of pieces and confidently enter the middlegame. The contrast between the hypermoderns and classicists is also of interest and, in my opinion, a landmark in chess is represented by this book.

The biographical notes are also interesting from the chess culture point of view. I love this book and consider worth having it in my personal library. Why 4 stars instead of 5? Because of the descriptive notation...

This book is Reti's masterpiece and I consider it one of the finest chess books ever written. Reti died, in 1929 at the age of forty, just before its publication. In it he chronicles the development of chess with sketches of the game's greatest practicioners. In doing so, he analyzes some games played by these masters.

The analysis has imperfections by today's computer aided standards, but this is not primarily an instructional book. Rather it is a work of literature wherein a great mind shares his love of chess with beautiful prose.

Those seeking instruction of high quality from a contermporary of Reti might consider Grandmaster Aron Nimzovitch's "My System". It is entertaining and a classic on positional chess. And it is written in a lively and unique style.

This is a readable book, but serious players have to take theanalysis with a touch of salt. The book will give you some idea of thedevelopment of the game. Other treatments that do this are Reti's 'New Ideas in Chess' and Euwe and Nunn's 'Development of Chess Style'. 'Masters of the Chessboard' was published circa 1930 and the raison d'etre for its publication was Reti's adverse reaction to writings of one Gutenmayer. To give one example of Reti's suspect analysis take his annotation to the immortal game (Anderson - Kieseritsky,1851), published in 'New Ideas in Chess'. This has been carefully demolished in Hubner's article 'The Immortal Game' published in the American Chess Journal (No.3). 20 pages of detailed analysis reveal the truth of the game in a way broad generalizations cannot. 'Masters of the Chessboard' won't radically improve your strength if you're already over 1500 USCF. But to reiterate, it's areadable book and charts the development of some ideas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century

This is a chess book that every collector should own as part of their chess library. It is one of the all-time classics. It was published by Dover and runs 436 pages in Descriptive notation. (If this book was ever republished in algebraic notation I would rate it 7 stars!!).

It basically contains a sampling of master games from many of the greatest masters of all-time; Anderssen, Morphy, Steinitz, Tarrasch, Lasker, Schlechter, Pillsbury, Maroczy, Marshall, Rubenstein, Spielmann, Nimzowitsch, Vidmar, Tartakower, Capablanca, Bogoljubow, Alekhine, Grunfeld, Euwe, Saemisch, Colle, and Torre.

Each chapter focuses on a different master in the order described above. There is a biographical sketch of each master at the beginning of each chapter as well. It focuses on a particular masters achievements and some of the unique ideas and methods that master brought to the game.

There are a total of 70 very well annotated games.

This book is not only a great games collection, but a virtual textbook on how to play the game. It thoroughly discussed many different opening systems, middle game strategies, and endgame topics.

One thing I noticed was how many combinations originating from these games are used in so many tactics books such as 1001 winning chess combinations, or combination challenge. I have used those training books in the past - and now I know that they come from real games and who played them!

This book has become very hard to find. My advice is this - if you can find this book in a used book store somewhere, don't hesitate. Grab the book, pay for it and get out of there fast before someone else finds the book. You will not regret buying this book.

I rated it "only" 4 stars for a couple of reasons - 1)it is in descriptive notation (this book makes it worthwhile learning DN if you don't already know it) 2)Reti died before all of the chapters could be finished. Some of the later chapters in the book are not as thorough and interesting as the earlier ones. Some of the biographical details are left out.

Even with the limitations mentioned above, there are few chess books as fun and instructive. Based upon the level of annotations in this book, players rated between 1,100 - 1,600 USCF would probably benefit the most. Players outside of that rating range would still enjoy playing over the games, but would not gain as much insight from the notes.

This is one of the most interesting training books on chess I've read. This books walks you through a history of chess theory from the mid 1850's to the late 1920's, teaching you the ideas while having you go through a selection of games explaining them.

Almost all of the games are fantastic and the ideas are timeless. Reti is probably the greatest chess annotator of all time. This makes for a truly great 2nd book on chess (about the level of "My System") for the desciplined reader. It can be too easy in the book however to miss subtle points that the games bring out, and since Reti died while writing it the book never reaches the climax. A strong recommendation for a classic

I've read other books by the same author, and would honestly rate this much less interesting. It doesn't really go into anything or any subject, with any depth; so don't expect to become a genuis. It will tell you which people owned dogs, then jump to who played mucsical instrutments. I find it difficult to stay focused, and honestly just skip boring pages. However, perhaps that's why I was able to purchase it for only $3.00 dollars new.

Easy to read, fun, interesting, and informative. Great for car trips... or on an end-table... or in the bathroom, lol.

Not nearly as interesting as the Intellectual Devotional books. Kind of amusing but also a bit juvenile. I know they are trying to keep things interesting, especially some dry topics. It's a fun read but I can't recommend buying it. Get it from the library.

For anyone who is addicted to Jeopardy or likes to show off their vast knowledge of all things this is the perfect guide to help you achieve a higher level of "geniushood". It gives interesting and enlightening tidbits on a vast array of topis (rocket science to Shakespeare). This book really win take your genius to infinity and beyond. If you are smart you will purchase immediately, if your not then this isn't the book for you anyway...

This book is a quick read but lots of fun. It has interesting trivia, short overviews on a lot of topics. It continues to demonstrate why "Mental Floss" is such a fun magazine with off the wall, smart humor.

Great accessory for Munchkin! The rules that go with the dice are great! While there are a few good expansion cards that come with this (Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies; Narrow-Minded), there are too many of the three race/class enhancers: some extra monsters would have been nice. Still, you get your money's worth with this.

Lets start with the dice themselves. Big chunky d10s that you would think would be great for reading from a distance as life counters BUT they have one issue, the 6 and 9 aren't marked with lines so you can tell them apart!

The dice rules add very little to Munchkin, running a 7 hour game into Epic levels and they were rolled twice when the person rolling had a Loaded Die card so they could change the result. The basic idea is that you can pay a level at the start of your turn to get a result from a table, the results are for rarely worth the level loss.

The cards that come with it though are GREAT! Race and class modifiers like High, Dark and Master really make game play interesting. So the set is worth it for those and other cards. Sadly the dice rules just didn't seem thought through.

Well, first of all this is not a stand alone, it's a small expansion to the Munchkin card game. The dice are excellent for play: they're big, cool colors and changing the 10 for the munchkin face gives a nice touch. The cards that come in the set are as always fun to read and fun to play with. I've rated this set 4 stars because this game is not for everybody, you basically have to like the fantasy rpg genre and understand things like the difference of race and class and such, but for those that do get it the game is awesomely fun.

The Dice are so pretty. Watch the dice spin, spin, spin, and you win.

We were just using plain ol' 10 sided dice for our Munchkin games. Buying these isn't that essential, but they are fun to have. Gigantic 10-siders in different colors are nice, but the best part are the extra cards that come with it. Very nice addition.

Sushi Made Easy, by Kumfoo Wong, is an introductory guide to preparing and presenting sushi. The book is targeted to beginners, and at only 80 pages, is completely manageable.

Sushi Made Easy provides an introduction to the more prominent sushi ingredients and kitchen utensils and equipment needed, as well as advice on selecting suitable fish to be used raw. There is a great deal of emphasis here on appearance and presentation. Sushi Made Easy covers nigiri-sushi, sushi rolls, hand rolls, rolled sweet omelet, and soups. The book is fully-illustrated, and features step-by-step instructions for making each recipe.

Sushi Made Easy is an excellent introduction for anyone who wants to make sushi at home. It is also available through Amazon as part of sushi starter kits that include utensils and equipment.

This book does a pretty good job at helping the inexperinced sushi chef, particularly with getting the rice correct. I agree with the other reviewer - it would have been nice to know more about making eel. Another downside is the poor illustrations and limited instructions for actually forming the rolls, but other than that I would recommend it for someone starting out because it comes with the basic tools you need. It is a good kit, especially for the price.

Great book with good accessories for the $$. But the package it was all kept in was severly dented to the point where I had to re-package it before I gave it as a gift. Be aware that may not be in the best shape to send to someone directly.

...My main reason for purchasing this book are the accessories that come with it. When I initially read through it I found it to be somewhat disorganized. But for the price you pay, and all that comes with the package, it's a good deal.

If you were looking for a book with specific recipes, this is not the book. Everything in this book is presented very flexibly, with only a mere suggestion list after the basic preparation of things. There are pros and its cons to this because you know the basics and you can be really creative and you know where you can be really creative. The bad thing is, you would like to have more specific recipes for things that you find in the restaurant such as California Roll and Crunchy Roll, which, granted, are western modifications, but still.

The other complaint is that when they talk about making miso soup all the pictures show wakame seaweed in the soup, but no where in that section (or anywhere in the book for that matter) does it say that wakame can also be put in the miso soup. I had to do some real creative investigation just to find out what that green stuff was.

PS. I bought this book because it was cheaper than any other sushi cookbook I found at the store AND it comes with the KIT part.