Robin Williams Books

The book provides articles by the leading authors in the filed of the psychology of decison making. It provides a good overview of the field and groups together various directions in the field. However the "grouping" are not strong categories and do not hold together very well. Nothless it is a brave attempt to connect various trains of thought.

I tried to use the book as a text book in a class on the psychology of decison making and found that it was not very user friendly. I did use select reading from it which were very successful.

All in all, anyone involved in the field of the psychology of decison making MUST own this book.

Other readers outside of the field should make sure the book covers the topics in which they are intrested.

I felt this book was interesting and useful in my research concerning the life and work of W. Somerset Maugham. Robin, Somerset's nephew, adds interesting insights into the life and heritage of the Maughams. The book is mainly about Somerset Maughams as well as a genelogy of the Maughams.

I have been following the life of Prince William since his birth (though not fanatically) and thought this book looked like it might bring some new light to the boy who became a man the moment he walked behind his mother's coffin that sad day in 1997. The information in the book covers all of William's formative years all the way up to present day, but the main reason to purchase the book is for the photgraphs. Several are never-before seen (at least by me) and the up-close shots are bright, crisp and clear. You get a feel for this young man who must learn step-by-step on how to handle the press without turning them against you (surely no easy task and one neither of his parents ever fully accomplished, though there may be hope for Charles). I read the book in one day since the early information was not new to me and savored the pictures. I came away with a new appreciation for the unique position Prince William has and a hope that he finds the happiness in life that has eluded Charles and that Diana seemed on just the verge of finding.

If you are familiar with computers in general, all the information found on the book are there for free on the internet. Don't waste your money buy this book. There plenty of other choices out there. I was extremely disappointed with this book and it was a waste of money .. Look at alternative before you buy

I recommend this book for anyone new to Leopard, it is very easy to read and understand, plus its offers color diagrams. It's worth the money!

This is an OK book but I was expecting more! It was very basic and I was looking for a more advanced manual. More on scurity and firewalls etc.

This is hands down the best Mac tutorial book I've found.
I have had both PCs and Macs. Got my first computer in the early 90s. So I've seen my share of confusing poorly written software books and manuals. This is by far the best I've come across.
Robin Williams writes in a totally non-intimidating, clear, easy to understand style that makes getting around Leopard an absolute breeze and a pleasure. This book is super simple to follow yet has all the more in depth knowledge to enable the novice and accomplished Applehead to get FULLY up to speed and to master their Mac/Leopard in no time.
"Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Peachpit Learning Series" is the first book I have purchased by this author but I will definitely look for her computer texts first in the future.
Thanks for helping to make mastering my Mac so much fun Robin. (:

Great book for newbies and kids, but nothing substantial for long-time Mac users needing maintenance and security info. I also found her cutesy writing personality totally annoying. If you want a seriously excellent Mac OSX book, of which there seems very few, go to the consummate expert, David Pogue. He uses humor, gets to the point and help at the same time.

Enjoyed the tale, read it in about three hours, appreciated the style and the way it all hung together, found many aspects very amusing, especially the climax of five nuns and Ms Hudson chained together in the back of a van.. also very educational for me into the life styles of people I do not come across.. do not understand how the residents of The Chelsea can pay for their accommodations, or how the hotel permits unregistered guests to shack up in various rooms! But also an insight into the American female mind, no wonder families rarely stay together in that country, it is all about getting quick excitement and immediate satisfaction for oneself! What about doing something with ones life that is worthwhile? None of the characters in the book had a structure apart from the fellow in retirement from Liverpool... not far from where I was born... OK! These comments are too serious! I will certainly read more of her work. (I came across this in a hotel library whilst on holiday in Menorca).

I really enjoyed Sparkle Hayter's other book, Naked Brunch and picked up all of her books. This one to me was not as tight as the earlier books in the series IMO. I still liked it, enjoyed taking another journey with Robin, but it didn't do as much for me. I definitely like the Nice Girls Finish Last a bit more.

In keeping with the Hayter streak I've been on of late, I started and finished The Chelsea Girl Murders by Sparkle Hayter. This is probably one of the more serious Robin Hudson novels to date...

Robin Hudson's apartment burns down, and she's forced to take refuge in a friend's apartment at the Chelsea Hotel. The Chelsea is a quirky historic hotel that caters to artists and celebrities. Anyway, a runaway girl also shows up at the apartment, apparently with the approval of Hudson's friend. This girl is trying to escape an arranged marriage. There's also a young man who shows up, and Hudson naturally thinks that those are the two lovers. But each of them keeps disappearing, and Hudson is trying hard to find them and reunite them. Meanwhile, someone is murdered on Hudson's doorstep, and quite a few residents have a reason to have wanted him dead. The two plotlines start to converge, and Hudson finds herself the target of killers who are mixed up in the whole affair.

As all Robin Hudson novels, the story is quirky and funny. But this seems to have a more serious element in it, and isn't quite as offbeat as the others. This could possibly be my favorite novel in the series.

"The Chelsea girl murders" by writer Sparkle Hayter is the fifth in a series of mystery novels about Robin Hudson. The only series I've ever gotten into as a mystery reader. Sparkle's writing is intelligent and witty. Even with the myriad assortment of characters throughout the story, they all serve a purpose and Sparkle is so good at making them all have meaning and not add confusion.
Robin's apartment building burns down, and she takes shelter at the "Chelsea". An out of town friend left her a key to her place there, and Sparkle takes advantage. Little does she know what she's about to get herself into. As she seems to do in all the stories. It is still extremely entertaining and a laugh out loud book.
What I love most about this book is Sparkle's witty dialogue, and how she chose the illustrious "Chelsea hotel" as her set.
This is worth reading if you like funny/mystery stories. Robin Hudson is a character I always look forward to reading more about.

Eileen F.

I like how Sparkle Hayter throws amateur detective Robin Hudson into a ridiculous situation involving a murder and then has her figure her way out of it. Most mysteries are more straightforward, less wacky, and not as interesting. In my novel, the humor/adventure story "Bounties", I too have a female main character. And like Sparkle Hayter, I keep the plot going with humor, but of a different sort. A lot of her humor is in the wacky characters, whereas I try to generate laughs with funny dialogue and some physical humor. But hats off to Sparkle Hayter for choosing such a unique setting for a mystery.

After comparing the reviews of all the iMac books endlessly, this is the book I finally chose. Sadly, all that this book had to offer was all the stuff I already knew.

Another well-written book by Robin Williams. This book tells you everything you need to know about the iMac. Robin writes very clearly so that anyone can understand it. Has loads of useful information and website addresses to help you gain even more knowledge. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know all about the new iMac's.

This book would be great for someone brand new to the macintosh world and has the new flat panel iMac. The authors have another book The Little Mac OS X Book which has about 400 more pages of info about OS X, while this book goes into much more detail about the programs the iMac ships with, like iPhoto,AppleWorks, ITunes etc. There are tutorials on doing basic spreadsheets,word,paint and drawings and it is explained in a very informative and fun manner, so that you know HOW to use ALL the features of your new mac and when you want to know more they tell you where to find that information. The book is very easy to read and it is fun to read.

The purpose of this book is to teach novice computer users some basic skills and to use an iMac. It takes a sort of duckies and bunnies approach to ensure that the novice user is able to grasp the information being presented. My wife is just the person this book is aimed at and, after spending a few minutes thumbing through the book at my local bookstore, I decided not to purchase it. The problem is sloppy proofreading. Two examples should suffice. On page 10 we are told that it costs "something like $19.95 a month" to connect to Earthlink while on page 21 the cost has become "about $21.95." On page 26 we learn that the optical mouse "doesn't have an actual button to press" while on page 27 we are told to "keep your finger pressed down on the button and pick up the mouse." (The iMac comes with Apple's optical mouse.) This might seem like nit-picking by me but a person new to computers is not going to gain confidence with discrepancies such as these. Nancy Davis is listed as the book's editor and production is by Robin Williams and John Tollett. Shame on you folks.

I've just switched from a PC to an iMac with OS X operating system and wish I hadn't. Not only has my new computer locked up at least 3 times in just a couple of days, but "Apple help"--which you can only access online--is worthless. Worse yet, there's essentially no "Help" material included on the machine's hard disk as there is with a Windows PC. ...After the support person revealed the missing steps to my husband we were unpleasantly surprised to learn that in the process of learning how to back-up a file on a CD we had turned two re-writable CDs into "read only" disks. This is a feature of Macintosh computers they don't mention in the "I switched to Apple" ads: if you use Apple software to burn your CDs, then once you put anything on a CD that's it. It is now a Read-Only CD no matter what it said on the label. ..."Apple Help" directed us to use "Disk Utility," and now that we've opened "Disk Utility" from two different locations we find that--surprise!--it won't erase our re-writable CD. It won't do anything, in fact: the menu pops up on the screen, but all the necessary buttons are dim rather than lit up. On an Apple machine, if a button is dim, you can't click on it. ...I'm sending the book back.

I think this book is very helpful for moms. It has a great breakdown of what foods you should introduce with every month, and how much the baby should be taking. (It's always best to double check with your physician though to make sure they're in agreement.) The recipes are also broken down by the baby's age which is very helpful. The recipes are also easy to make and understand. Unlike other baby cookbooks that made me feel guilty if I wasn't making my cereal from scratch this book is upbeat, helpful and easy to read. I've already bought three copies for myself, my mom (my daytime caregiver) and a friend, and plan to buy more copies for friends who are having babies. It also discusses the importance of organic and all-natural food for babies.

This cookbook is great. Its an ideal starting point for cooking for your baby. I really liked learning about using soy to help your baby get protein so you dont need to rely on meats. Soy is such a great and easy as well as cost effective protein source. I would esp recommend this book if the baby is vegetarian or has a restrictive diet.

I found this book to be very informative and containing all of the information I was looking for. I don't want to only feed my baby rice cereal and single ingredient fruits and vegetables for the 6th - 12th months. This book gives quite a variety of ideas for blending grains, beans, fruit, vegetables, pastas and yes - meats as well as tofu type options. I was thrilled to find recipes for teething biscuits and graham crackers. I made one of the recipes for blended cereal with beans, brown rice, sesame seeds, and few other things. After I cooked it I had to leave, so I stuck it in the fridge. When I came home it had really thickened up, much like slow cook oatmeal does after it sits. Instead of thinning it with more water, I rolled bits of it into pea-sized balls and gave those to my son as finger food. He ate them right up! I didn't have to sweeten it or blend with fruit or anything.

The recipes are not broken down by age, but by meal category instead. The appropriate ages are listed very clearly at the bottom of each recipe. Some reviewers complain that there are few recipes for 6-8 months old. Shouldn't you be going through new foods one at a time during those two months to determine food sensitivities anyway? Eggs are an ingredient in some of the bread recipes. Citrus, milk, and honey are also ingredients for 10 months and up, but since they are cooked in the recipe, they hold no health threat like the raw forms do. Besides, it's recomended that milk not be given as a beverage for children under 1 year because of the propensity for children to choose the cow's milk over breast milk or formula and thus not getting the proper nutrition out of it. Eggs are cautioned against because of the allergenic properties in the whites, not the yolk. So use you own judgement with those recipes. Finally, yes, some of the recipes call for butter and spices, but don't most parents start giving their children food off their own plate containing these itmes as their children's teeth start coming in?

This book really is a great resource for those who desire to give their children the best food they possibly can without the boredom and unhealthy additives that most pre-packaged baby foods contain. Perhaps some of those who gave negative reviews need to start using some common sense and think for themselves for a change.

This book is divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack etc sections. Throughout the sections are ideas for babies 8 months and up and 10 months and up. Very few recipes are for babies 6-8 months. Flipping through the book to find age appropriate recipes is very frustrating since they are divided by meals instead of age. The book also introduces foods for babies 8-12 months that my pediatrician recommended waiting to introduce until after the first year. The book includes recipes for citrus fruits and eggs. The authors include soy and tofu recipes rather than many meat recipes. So for those planning to introduce their baby to meats around 9 months or older, this is not the book for you. I found some of the recipes overly simple--ones that I could have thought up myself-such as apples and apricots (simply steaming and then blending the two fruits). Other recipes seemed to complicated and two advanced for the age group recommended such as the wild mushroom soup made with onion and olive oil--for ages 8 months and up. This book does have some fun recipe ideas but many of them can be made if you are simply creative in trying fruit, veggie, and meat blends.

I bought this book based on others' reviews and because I wanted to make healthy food for my 6 month old. Right off, I realized this isn't the book I wanted. They only have about 2 maybe 3 recipes for 6 months olds, so this book is better for older babies and toddlers. The authors talk about introducing egg yolk at 7 months. My pediatrician told us to wait until a year old for eggs. Also, they have recipes for citrus fruit for 8 months, which we were also told to wait until a year. The authors talk about a vegan lifestyle and how to get your baby started on that. My husband and I are not vegetarian, so if your like us, I would not recommend this book. If you are, maybe you would like it. They also talk about soy and tofu, which I don't plan on giving my baby.

Bottom line, I really didn't like this book. I would highly recommend Blender Baby Food (see review).

I previously attempted to read Robin Maxwell's 'The Secret Diary' of Anne Boleyn and I just couldn't get into it, I thought it a bit smutty for serious literature and I had to pass on finishing it. So, I wasn't sure what I would think of this book from the same author.

I recently finished 'A Rose For the Crown' by Anne Easter Smith and I wanted to read more about Richard III and the princes in the tower. I had this on the shelf and thought it was the perfect next choice.

The story of the lost princes is a fascinating one and I really enjoyed Maxwell's conclusion. I thought she did a very nice job of simply communicating the frightening chain of events that are historically known to have happened and weaving in her ideas about what happened to the princes. And while her heroines aren't perfectly Medieval I certainly didn't mind.

I enjoyed the way she told the story, I enjoyed the characters and the only criticism I have is that the dialog was often very obviously a tool used to inform the reader of the history of events rather than what would likely have been said between the characters.

I enjoyed this book and will look for others by Robin Maxwell.

What a waste of my time and money! This is the authosr's second book that I read, and I beleive the last. If you like historical fiction this is not for you. I don't think the characters are well developed, she had a wonderful piece of history to work on and did not do it justice. As someone wrote here before maybe the author was influenced by Hollywood because the explosions and the involvement of women of the time ( especially a princess ) on the "action packed" part is somewhat unbelievable. Sometimes the book made me feel it was written for teens.

3.5 stars

Ms. Maxwell's take on what happened to the two sons of Edward IV who disappeared from the Tower of London shortly after Richard III "usurped" the crown from the eldest of them adds a clever layer to the two most commonly told versions of this story (that Richard III had them murdered, or that he was innocent & uninvolved and the Duke of Buckingham did it in attempt to gain the crown for himself).

I absolutely love the possibility of Margaret Beaufort's involvement which Maxwell has added in this story. Her ambitiousness, political machniations and involvement in intrigue have been well documented. It's entirely plausable to see her as the pupeteer behind Buckingham... however, other aspects of Maxwell's take on how she and Buckingham may have been involved are completely far-fetched. This story provides a "happy ending" to a tale that simply could not have ended so. In writing it as thus, Maxwell pushes the reader beyond the bounds of believability and left this particular one feeling quite disappointed after reading 7/8 of the story only to find a Hollywood ending complete with explosions.

Maxwell relies on an overly used formula to set the stage for the story. The main character, Nell Caxton, is uncommonly educated for a woman of her time, has maintained a childhood friendship with Princess Elizabeth and thus has access to Royal circles, and yet is so likeable and street smart that she is also friends with every street-dwelling pauper and prostitute in the vacinity of Westminster. Nell's cleverness also opens doors to romance with a man of the court, a position as tutor to the young king-to-be, and an appointment as scribe to Margaret Beaufort. Nell has a surprising amount of unchaperoned time, much of which she manages to spend with her also-strangely-unchaperoned princess friend. As one would expect, the girls even get to sneak around undetected disguised as young men.

Despite the kitsch formula and over-the-top ending, the book is entertaining. The story of Richard of York / Richard III and his ascention to the throne and coinciding disappearance of the Princes in the Tower has intrigued the public for 500+ years. Maxwell has contributed a smart, mostly plausable and formerly unexplored possible answer to the mystery.

(This review was first published in The Historical Novels Review, Issue 34, November 2005 - ISSN 1471-7492)
The disappearance and alleged murder of Edward IV's young sons in the Tower has fueled centuries of speculation, both in fiction and nonfiction. Shakespeare was one of the first dramatists to peg the crime on Richard III, in part because the playwright lived under Elizabeth I, a Tudor. The Tudors were invested in having history record Richard III as the perpetrator, seeing as Henry VII had killed Richard in battle, founding the Tudor line. Nevertheless, a staunch cadre of Richard III defenders believes he was not to blame. The princes themselves were never seen again, and on this intriguing, if oft-explored, mystery does Robin Maxwell build her fourth novel, as told through Nell Caxton, daughter of an innovative English printer, and Princess Elizabeth (Bessie) of York, the doomed princes' sister. Maxwell has shown her skill in previous historicals, most notably her masterful The Wild Irish; here, she moves back in time to the tumultuous final days of Edward IV's reign and Richard III's usurpation of his nephew's throne. The history itself offers a compelling story line, with the added dimension of the entrepreneurial Caxton family, and we are quickly swept into the chaotic events leading to the princes' disappearance. Maxwell conjures an intelligent, credible alternative to the Richard III theory, with Nell unraveling the mystery. Nell is an engaging lead, a commoner whose educational skills and familial connections allow her to penetrate the royal circle. The tale is accessible even to English history novices, and Maxwell's scheming Buckingham, icy Elizabeth Woodville, and implacable Margaret Beaufort offer a complex glimpse into the often-lethal struggle for power at court.

This is the first book by this author that I've read. I only chose it because it has to do with Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, a mystery that has always fascinated me.

I'm not going through the storyline here, as numerous reviewers before me have already done so. The main question is, who was responsible for the disappearance of the Princes?

Ms. Maxwell's answer as to the identity of the culprit is clever and credible (psychologically and historically speaking), but the whole rescue-of-the-princes scene is such a stretch it's not believable for one second.

Also, though Ms. Maxwell did read some previous books of the subject, she didn't assimilate them very well and makes several historical mistakes, like the people in the crowd circa 1500 referring to Richard III as a hunchback. If they lived at the time, they should have known he was no such thing, that's only Shakespeare's take on it. Besides, by general accounts, Richard III was loved in his time. He was a good king for the little time he had ruling England.

She also absolves Henry VII from the crime on the grounds that he wasn't in England at the time. She obviously didn't read, or conveniently forgot, Josephine Tey's and others' theories that the Princes were alive and well when Henry Tudor took over the Tower (which was not a prison at the time, but a royal residence) and that he (supposedly) only did away with them after he took the throne. Another theory of course is that they were never murdered at all.

Being a stickler for at least some historical accuracy even in a work of historical fiction, that irked me and detracted from my enjoyment of an otherwise entertaining book. I liked Nell Caxton's romance with Lord Rivers, and the fact (which might be true) that Elizabeth of York was in love with Richard III.

The ending left one hanging, because the two friends, Nell and Bessie, tell the whole "true" story to the future Henry VIII. What good did it do? We all know he didn't lift a single finger to rehabilitate his great-uncle's memory. Actually he finished what his father had started, killing off what was left of the heirs of York. And what became of the Princes after they were rescued is also left to the reader's imagination. It would have been nice if she had hinted at the "pretender and impostor" Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be the younger of the two princes during a rebellion under Henry VII.

All in all, I did enjoy the story but purely as a work of suspense/mystery fiction. As historical fiction, it was sadly disappointing.

Robin Williams usually does a superb job - she's fun to read, has a perspective which is easy for the reader to understand and puts information clearly while not talking down to readers.

Not this time. If you want a book which tells you more than the very simplest of info about Tiger, don't buy this one. I'm an intermediate level user and I found that there are many glaring gaps in her lessons. I ran into many snags in getting used to switching over from System 9 and she didn't address any of the problems. Nor was her basic information about how Tiger operates useful in helping me trouble shoot the problems.

I wouldn't recommend the book to a new user either, because it was so superficial.

A minor irritant is that the editor (or somebody) did a very poor job of proofing it. There were a significant number of typos throughout the book.

The best I can say about this book is that the author seems to mean well and writes with a light, fun style. If you're a VERY brand new Mac user AND if you're intimidated by more advanced technical information, this book may be for you. Otherwise, save your money and you'll get better info from the various 'help' screeens on the Mac itself.

It is excellent as far as it goes. I wish it was somewhat easier to use by being more complete.

It's probably too basic and not technical enough for the real "geeks" out there, but for someone who just wants to use their Mac and run applications on it, the book is more than adequate. Very easy to read and it makes a great reference book. Diagrams and color illustrations are excellent.

I like Robins ways of teaching, and her book is great. For me it is a bit confusing as I have to keek refering back to other sections. Otherwise great.

I have now read seven Mac OS X books (and reviewed several), and I struggled with how to rate this book. Here's why:

5 stars : if you have never, ever used a computer before. This book will teach you about a "mouse", how to click and double-click "the button" of "the mouse", and even how to do what is called "drag-and-drop". Whole chapters are spent on concepts such as this. So if you've never used a computer before, this will be a great book for you to finally learn.

3 stars : for overall information. Nothing of importance is provided that 15 minutes of clicking around wouldn't. Seriously. I'd estimate over half of page space is used for pictures and descriptions for pictures. If you've already used your Mac for 15 minutes, you know 95% of what this book will describe. And even if you haven't, the Apple site (www.apple.com) provides as much if not more info than this book.

0 stars : for how much use I got out of it. I used a Mac earlier in my career (until 1997, System 7.5), and I'd consider myself a "power user" on Windows. This book literally offered me nothing, not even enough value for a single star.

And thus, the struggle of rating the book. For another type of user, the rating would have been different. But I decided to rate the book as it applied to me personally while providing insights for other potential users.

If you're a user like me, I highly recommend Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition instead of this book. Read my review there for more details about that book in particular.

I hope this information proves useful.

before i purchased this book,i read all the reviews and they helped me out tremendously!!i just purchased my mac and was totally lost! this book takes you step by step which was very helpful for a first time computer user. now i'm excited about my computer now that i know how to use it. if you're a first time user and know nothing about macitosh then this is the book for you.

This is a huge book, but I won't be using it as a doorstop as it has been so useful to me for looking up problems and finding answers.
I'm new to Mac and this book puts an end to the Mac mystique. Mac IS easier to use than PC, but it seems confusing to new users. This book uses everyday language to
help with problems and gives a good overview of "how to".
Mac, like MS, now has it's user's guides online. If you aren't online while working, or if you find it tedious to take notes or print the manuals, this book will handle all your inquiries. It doesn't include specific application manuals, but then what computing how to book does? But there is enough contained within to get you going.

I am new to Macs, and rusty with computers. I needed a good basic book, but even I found this book baby talks way too much. As I work through it, I'm finding it to be very annoying that there are endless instructions to go to another page for continued information. She has me flitting around from beginning to back to middle to beginning, etc. With writing like that, of course there is going to be constant repetition of information. Besides putting you to sleep, it makes you wonder if you've already read that section. You'd need a map and a highlighter to know. I don't have time for this.

I remember a critic once said of a John Updike book, "One, don't buy this book. And two, if you do buy it, don't drop it on your foot." Though Robin Williams gigantic OS X book is quite large, and the table of contents goes on for more than a dozen pages, there seems to be a stunning lack of information. For example, I spent 45 minutes leafing through the book, trying to find out how to restart my Mac without loading any of the startup items. In case you're wondering how, you simply hold down the "shift button," but try as you may, you will not find that very simple --but possibly vital-- bit of information in this book. Strangely enough, you will find sections on how to "shift-click" (as though the phrase "shift-click" is not enough instruction), a section on "When to Use the Return key", and a section called "What your Fonts look like." Now, maybe I missed the whole point. Maybe you are the sort of person who has never ever seen a Macintosh computer before, maybe this will help you. But if you are looking for a book full of nuts and bolts info on how to use your system more fully, this is not the book for you.