Z Books

The canary caper is a good book Itlls about two boys and one girl who are looking for a lost bird they also found out other animals were being stolen around town you shound read this book to see what happens.

My son hads me read the A to Z mysteries to him, and this one we read in two nights. Great book!!

My name is Arden Feldman. I think that the book was very good. I liked how they solved the mystery. I really liked the part when the kids came out of the bushes and they looked like ninjas. I could not stop reading the book because it was so good.

What I like about the book is that the book has a lot pages to read and is interesting about A canary.
The canary is lost and there are three kids, Dink Josh and Ruth that found the canary.
The book is a good book for kids who like mysteries.
I like to read too much.

My 5 year old son loves this series -- we read them as quickly as they come out. In this one, pets are disappearing -- but why? These are not exactly mysteries -- unlike, say, the Clue Jr. books there's no way for the reader to solve the crimes before the crooks are caught -- but they are interesting and fun to discuss, chapter by chapter, as the plot thickens!

If you are looking for a perfect cookbook for a cookbook collector, this is one they will value highly. Pictures burst from the page and are refreshingly surrounded with intersting tidbits and realistic recipes.

The layout is superb and each subject is nicely highlighted for easy location while you page through 629 pages of intoxicating inspiration. The cover is practical with a plastic sheath and the book will open and stay that way on your counter.

The type is easy to read with plenty of bold text for emphasis. I cannot give enough positive comments about this book. You will love it.

~The Rebecca Review
Author of Seasoned with Love: A collection of
best-loved recipes inspired by over 40 cultures

I didn't learn to cook as I was growing up. My mother would "teach" me things -- such as that the instructions on the backs of the boxes were all wrong. I'd follow her directions, instead, and then (surprise!) everything would turn out bizarrely ruined. At nineteen I couldn't do anything more complicated than dry toast, and had to teach myself to cook, starting from scratch. So to speak.

There are gajillions of recipe books, but they generally assume a you're working from a vast store of basic knowledge. One of the most useful purchases I've ever made in my life was a book called _Cooking A to Z_, edited by Jane Horn. It calls itself the complete culinary reference tool, and it's not kidding. Even if you had someone sane teaching you how to cook as a kid, you can still learn all kinds of things you never knew you needed to know. That eggs are easier to separate when cold, but you want to beat whites at room temperature. Which kinds of fish you =don't= want to buy when fresh. How to pick out the best cantaloupe. What went wrong with your fallen cake. How to choose the right wine and cheese combo. Oh, yes, and there are recipes, too. Lots of recipes, and color photos.

I bought this information-packed cookbook when I was first starting out on my own. It was a hard-cover book then & also, the very first cookbook that I could call my own. I've made hundreds of recipes from it - most of which were outstanding - and added dozens of notes to its pages over the years.
The best part is that each time I've tried a new method or ingredient, I've also had the benefit of learning more about it.
This a perfect cookbook for anyone starting out or for those who are interested in more than just a recipe.

Jane Horn's "Cooking A to Z" is a fine culinary reference. Almost every entry for a food item includes advice on use, selection, storage, and seasonal availability. While recipes abound, there is a distracting inconsistency on the use of numbers-sometimes they are spelled out (one cup), and sometimes they are listed numerically (1 cup). This is especially annoying with fractions, which are spelled out throughout the book.

Still, this volume has its priorities straight, for the most part, and devotes generous space to the simple foundations of good cooking: the humble egg, knives and knife technique, and so on. Overall, this is intelligently designed and gorgeously photographed.

I saw this cookbook at my mom's house and begged for it. We are both experienced cooks, but I still have found this book very useful. There is something for everyone, with clear and helpful information ranging from mundane to exotic. I like the tips and advice more than many of the recipes, but I think most would appeal to the majority of people (I'm finicky). This high quality book is large and lays open very nicely (but do yourself a favor and buy a plastic cookbook holder/shield), the pages are thick and glossy, and there are lots of gorgeous and tempting pictures. I turn to this very readable reference book frequently. I really use the sections on how to choose particular items, from sugar snap peas to kitchen gadgets. The step-by-step directions for omelettes piqued my husband's interest (he generally hates any kind of food work) and now he is a hit on weekends!

I heard about the book from friends who picked their copy up while in Z who really enjoyed reading it. I got copy just prior to heading off to Z for week. Read the book in a couple of days while laying under a palapa on La Ropa. Loved the characters, twists & turns in the plot and detailed the detailed descriptions of places in and around Z. I have recommended the book to a number of friends and am lending it to a couple who are heading off to Z at the end of Mar. Would love to see a follow-up book on how things have progressed.

Strongly suggest you don't start your read on the plane. Save it for reading on Playa LaRopa itself in Z to get a real feel for the story in the novel's actual setting. This is a fantasy story for either a man or a woman who loves life's experiences, romance, great food and Zihuatanejo. There are no complex story-lines or complicated plots. This is a breezy read as gentle as the waves lapping onto LaRopa and must be read right on the beach for the full effect. After returning to the cold north country re-read it to relive the wonderful experience that is Zihuatanejo.

The book jacket was the first thing to make me pick up the book. Interesting, great colors. By the 2nd chapter I found myself sneaking off to corners, eating lunch in the car, reading at stop lights just to get to another page. I have always traveled with bags packed in my mind only. This book makes me want to see Zihuatanejo and the people. I liked the way the receipts sort of sneaked into the story. It is dream of everyone to find their paradise. What a great read. Thank you for a wonderful story.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Cooking School at Z. The story captured my imagination and the story telling inspired my "inner-foodie". It's a great read.

The Cooking School at Z is a great summer read. No beach bag should be without it. Tantalizing foods. Exotic locales. Dan Kennedy truly captures the essence of Zihuantanejo. I was checking airfares by Chapter 4.

ISBN 0590420070 - Martin's BSC books tend to remain timeless, overall, despite references to things like VCRs. This and Martin's ability to keep track of details through the series always make her books worth reading.

Dawn's father and brother still live in California, while Dawn and her mother are now living in Stoneybrook. Dawn's got new friends and has settled in happily, but she's very excited to visit sunny California - she won't be the only one who eats healthy food, she loves the warm weather and, most of all, she'll get to see people she loves and misses!

Dawn and Jeff go to Disneyland with their father, they spend time at the beach and Dawn's best friend surprised her with the news that she has started their own babysitters club, called the We-Heart-Kids Club. She enjoys her visit so much that she begins to wonder if she ought to stay in California for good. Making this decision might be the most difficult thing she's ever had to do - and she doesn't have much time to decide.

There are a few moments when you almost have to laugh at the melodrama of young girls, which is nice (and pretty realistic). These books are super quick reads, and well worth picking up!

Dawn used to be a California girl until her parents' divorce. Then her mother packed up Dawn and her brother Jeff to move back her old hometown in Connecticut. Eventually Dawn made friends and a new life for herself but her brother did not and returned to California making the family even more divided than before. As the story opens Dawn is leaving to spend her spring break back in California with her father and brother and her old friends. Before long she finds that in her heart she is still a California girl but that she also loves her new life in Connecticut which leaves her with a huge problem - should she get on the plane at the end of her vacation or not?

This is #23 in the popular BABYSITTERS CLUB series. The books in this series focus on a group of young teenage girls in a small Connecticut town. Each book in the series focuses on one of the girls although each one appears to some extent. Each chapter opens with a handwritten note (journal entry, postcard, letter etc) by one of the girls commenting on the upcoming events. The series overall has several ongoing arcs that are moved along in a chronological manner but each book could be read and enjoyed independently or out of series order. The reading level of this series is 4th grade and appeals primarily to 3rd through 5th grade girls. The stories themselves are well written, the characters are believeable and appealing, remaining consistent throughout the series. The situations the girls find themselves in are realistic and dealt with in a reasonable manner.

The series is a bit dated at this point - this particular book was written in 1989 - so that a young reader today might be a bit confused by some of the references to 'current' movies or the relaxed air travel of twenty years ago. Overall though the story itself still speaks to problems faced by many young girls today.

this book is all about dawn's decision on whether to live in stonybrook or california. Dawn is usually in anaheim california, where I live, and visits the Anaheim Stadium (now Edison Stadium) Disneyland. . . and more. Most of the setails are right, but it is kind of outdated. still a very good book. i recommend reading the first book first, though.

Dawn can't wait for this trip to California. Besides all the sun andfun, it's Dawn's first visit since jeff, moved back to live with their dad.California is better then dawn can remeber it.The beaches are beatiful, Disneyland is a blast, Californians eat heathy food! Plus Dawn's best friend, sunny, has even started up her own baby-sitters club. After one wonderful week, Dawn begins yo think she might want to....stay in California like Jeff. Dawn's a California girl at heart-but could she really leave Stoneybrook for good?

Dawn's trip to California with Jeff sounded good. But her mother and father always fought. Dawn always California was the best but it wasn't. Will Dawn have to go back Stoneybrook? Or will her parents stop fighting a lot?

This is the only reference book I have and need on Exercise Physiology. Most useful to me are chapters on performance enhacement, high altitude acclimatisation and physical training for seniors. The first few introductory chapters and the first few pages of each chapter remind me of my basic life sciences. The authors then focus on the application of cell biology to training. The thing I like most about this book, is that there is no "guru talk". Every piece of advice is based on currect research.

The book is divided into 7 sections. 1. Nutrition, 2. Energy production, 3. Energy Delivery & Utilisation, 3. Enhancement of Energy Capacity, 4. Environmental Stress, 5. Body Composition & Weight Control, 7. Successful Aging, Disease Prevention.

It's a very thick book, but the paper quality is high and the colourful illustrations make it a joy to read. However, this is not simple book for the average man on the street. There is nothing sensational here - just pure science. Readers without a background in the life sciences may not be able to follow.

This book is a great help in understanding what is happening within the body conerning sports training and nutrition. It is based on uncountable research studies and presented in a very readable form with ample graphics illustrations. The book helped me not only to understand more, but also to improve fitness and even loose some weight. It goes very far beyond compared to what one gets told in fitness centers. The main approach of the book is based on energy considerations. Understanding how the body handles energy makes it possible to describe the effects of exercising and performance much more deeply. I would recommend this book to every exerciser, who likes to improve physically and understand background matters. Basically, it's a textbook for sports students. But people outside, like myself, can greatly benefit from it, as well.

I am a Personal Training manager with a Physical Education undergraduate degree and Health Preservation and Rehabilitation graduate degree.
I consider that the science of exercise physiology should constitute the basic knowledge for anybody who wants to understands the way the human body functionates and acutely and chronicaly adapts to the exercise stimuli.
No matter you are(or preparing to become) a PE teacher, sport medicine specialist, personal trainer, physical therapist,athletic coach,etc, you should understand the science of exercise physiology.
Dr. McArdle's " Exercise physiology" is definetely one of the most complete books ever writen on the subject. With miriads of grafics and pictures, and tons of scientific research descriptions and results, the book is quite pleasing to read and very convincing.
With more than 1000 pages, definetelly worths its price and even more. Contains as much information as you could find in 3-4 good scientific books and much more than the complete colection of "Muscle and Fitness" starting from 1970.
You can find detailed informations together with all the book ilustrations and even 4 complete chapters at: www.connection.LWW.com/go/mcardle

Although it runs to 1158 pages, this winning book, long recognized as THE leading exercise physiology text, stays succinct and engaging--and not one page too long. A key asset of this book is its close engagement with the scientific literature, which appears throughout in the form of unobtrusive but crucial little superscripted numbers that cite published studies. The references exceed in both depth and richness other exercise physiology texts like Baechle's very good "Essentials of Strength and Conditioning," Power and Howley's popular "Exercise Physiology," and certainly the authors' own 678-page "Essentials of Exercise Physiology," a shorter text that breezily dumps its references at the end of each chapter without numbering them or citing them in context. The definitive coverage of many popular fitness subjects, from exercise selection to steroids to nutrition, make this masterful book not only a pre-eminent text, but great reading for any consumer who, tired of the ridiculous claims of the diet and fitness industry, seeks authoritative answers.

If you only own 1 book it should be this one (excellent reference for 'Flame Wars'). A good physiology book is a must if you wish to be 'educated' on exercise and nutrition. Understanding how and why the human body works is very important if you plan to train others or be your best. If you buy 1000 bodybuilding, fitness and health newsstand magazines they will still not contain the information you will find in one good human physiology book, and this is one of the very best. If you want to be able to hold intelligent conversations on the internet than you should have several books on physiology - I can't stress this enough. Learn about the food we eat and what happens to it after it's eaten. Learn all the reactions in the body, when and why they take place and how they effect your training, learn what makes muscle grow. If you want real facts get any good physiology book. Knowledge is power - learn the truth - you will find the real secrets in a good physiology book. In general these books are expensive, but worth it. You might also check for used copies at college bookstores, medical institutions or used book sales. NBAF 'very best'.

This book is really THE milestone, the only one I really enjoy. A page-turner, a must for all people into FE stuff.

The enormous influence Zienkiewicz and Taylor have had on the profession of engineering as mentors, teachers, engineers, and researchers, places them among the very best professors this century has seen. May I take this opportunity at Amazon.com to pay tribute to such professors worldwide for the spirit they infuse, dynamism they create, and the legacy of selfless service and excellence they leave behind. Students of 21st century will be grateful that Zienkiewicz and Taylor went before them.

From the masters of the finite element method, this may well be the best book ever written on the subject. In this book, the authors come across as the sages of ancient India preaching what they know is the best, guiding us, and setting a stage of research for the years to come. This is a monumental piece of work in the history of engineering.

This is the ideal book for beginners in finite elements, though the approach is slightly more theoretical. If you have a good background in linear algebra and are comfortable with matrices etc, you should have no trouble finishing this one. You can aim at the definitive work by Professor Bathe after finishing this one.

There is no more complete review of the finite element method. Furthermore, all notation is written in matrix from without any hard to read diadics. Every section gives explicitly, the implementation of the procedure discussed so there's no guess work required.

I bought this book about a week ago and I'm very excited of having it, but it's hard for me to read this book at my current level. After briefly going through the pages, I think this book will be very helpfull to me in a year, or so.. If you're an undegraduate student and taking your 1st or 2nd course in "Fluid Dynamics", a better choice for you would be "Fundamentals of AERODYNAMICS" by Anderson - it will help you to start in "Fluids" easier than with this text, and it's more "student-oriented". However, if you're a graduate student (and by "graduate" I mean "just about to graduate" - don't wait - it seems to be a very serious text.

The books infuence and interminate info is one thing to aspire, but the person himself is one of unique interest. His very knowledge will keep you jumping out of your seat in full attentiveness of his every word uttered. He also is not limited to only one field but has aquired knowledge and skills of a variety of interests. As a person he is a very loving, caring, and humble indivisual who thinks of everyone but himself. With all of these qualities, creates an inspirational writer, whose work is revered by many. May God bless him, and continue his success!

This book is a very comprehensive one. It treats Incompressible flows, laminar and turbulent ones. It will guide you through the derivation of NS equation, boundary layer equation, and it will give you an introduction to turbulence. The book is complete in the sense that it deeply describes every aspect of the subject, but it does it ONLY from the MATHEMATHICAL point of view. No physics, no pictures (almost). It isn't ABSOLUTELY an introductory book: the level of mathematics is pretty high.

This is a fantastic fluid dynamics book! It is clearly written and easy to follow. The chapter exercises are very useful. Chapters include kinematics of fluid motion, conservation laws and kinematics of flows, Navier-Stokes equations, inviscid flows, laminar viscous flow, and turbulent flow. (The chapter on turbulent flow is excellent, balancing the right amount of theory and modeling.)

The book also includes chapters on important mathematical concepts such as base vectors and representations, Gauss, Green, and Stokes theorems, geometry of space and plane curves, coordinate transformations, potential theory, singularities of the first order ODEs, geometry of surfaces, finite difference applied to PDSs, and frame invariancy.

This is an excellent book that would be an excellent choice for advanced-undergraduate and graduate study.

The best fluid dynamics book I've ever read because it is complete and accurate . It will be an everlasting value to keep at hand in every moment. Do use it whenever you need to understand or remember the kernel of the most common fluid dynamics phenomena. A must-have worth buying

The pursuit of the unanswered koan continues in the zen experiences of van de Wetering. The book recounts linking up with his Zen mentor/nemesis "Peter" after a hiatus of 10 years. The author decides to leave Holland and join Peter at his zen community in New England so that the koan may be realized.

As in "The Empty Mirror" (see review), van de Wetering pursues the unlocking of his koan given him by the old master in Kyoto. And he eventually comes to an understanding:

"But when you find the koan's answer, as cryptic as the koan itself, the interpretation is still yours to find out. You may even go along a way which the master doesn't approve of, and he may terminate your training. But your insight will still be right and properly acknowledged".

After his insight, the author returns to his Amsterdam routines, changed and yet not changed. With humor and honesty, one man has chronicled his struggles on the path to enlightenment for us - the first step in liberation.

Highly recommended, as this is a seriously humorous book.

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

The author resumes his search for the meaning of life in an American Zen commune. Less fumbling compared to his experience in "The Empty Mirror". One could almost sese the author has gained some insight. What this insight is, is not quite clear ~ as it should be. The master will pour you tea, but where is your cup?!

this book shows that the most sacred is found in wherever you are, and it is never necessary to point it out. Its just there smiling from the shadows, waiting for you to share in the joke. The character of Peter is very interesting and represents an 'ideal' which I try to live up to, not in the sense of mirroring his personality or surroundings, but merely reflecting the core that is all our nature. It is not so much the narrator's specific journey is important, as none of ours are except to us individually, but of the feeling generated from knowing though flawed we are all just sleepy children not yet aware of the extend of our shared majesty.

Once again Jan Willem van de Wetering in his humourous style exposes his experiences to the world without embarrassment or shyness. Ten years after his experience as a young man in the Zen monastery in Japan under the old master, even though he had separated from "Peter", the old masters heir to be, on bad terms, he meets him again in Holland and Peter visits him at his home. He decides to continue where he left off with his koan still smoldering inside. He spends some time at Peter's Zen community, or commarde as others called it, and solved his koan as well as others. We learn more of Peter and especially of the fascinating set of characters who are also seeking, such as Edgar or Rupert the erstwhile psychologist. As before, he struggles with the required discipline but this time it's not as hard, he has gained from his stay in Japan; as the old master said at the end of the first book "you are now a little awake, so awake you will never be able to fall asleep again".

The training is everywhere.

I picked this book up in a college town's bookstore while visiting my sister. Sometimes I will just pick up a handful of books in the Eastern Philosophy section, and see what I get when I take off my blindfold. On the car ride home I was unsure while glancing over it if I was going to like this one or not. The back speaks of "...Zen sages who were alcoholics, the two natured personality of Zen Masters who enjoy sex and cowboy movies..."-I personally found this description of the contents after having read it, frankly completely off base.

This book is about a Zen student's adventures from Japan, back to Amsterdam, to the United States-where this book takes place for the most part. It could be any Zen community really, it shows what it is like working with others in a very accurate manner. He writes with a direct simplicity-he is not wordy, just says it how it was. Now did I agree with everything he had to say about Zen? Not at all, but the important thing is I was asked a lot of questions while reading this book. And that's what any good book can do above all else, is ask questions-rather than saying, "here, agree with me."

A passage of his book that provided myself with a lot of insight goes as follows,

"A Chinese allegory tells how a monk sets off on a long pilgrimage to find the Buddha. He spends years and years on his quest and finally he comes to the country where the Buddha lives.

He crosses a river, it is a wide river, and he looks about him while the boatman rows him across. There is a corpse floating on the water and it is coming closer.

The monk looks. The corpse is so close he can touch it. He recognizes the corpse, it is his own.

The monk loses all self control and wails.

There he floats, dead.

Nothing remains.

Anything he has ever been, ever learned, ever owned, floats past him, still and without life, moved by the slow current of the wide river.

It is the first moment of his liberation."

This book is brilliant in all places, it shows some struggle with inner questioning. A wrestling with the author's own cleverness. It almost feels like a diary. One that just so happened to have been written while having a stay with a Zen community. I believe you will come to appreciate this book a lot.

Great ideas that I never would have thought of. It works for teaching your own child at home or in a group setting.

My daughter struggles with getting a good grip on her writing insturments which results in sloppy letters. The suggestions in this book/text have helped to strengthen her hands. Her letters are becoming much clearer. I highly recommend this program.

My daughter is dyslexic and this is a great tool for her. Even my three year old likes to play with the wood pieces. The program is great for home schoolers. It is easily taught.

This is a great program, but I really did not need this guide. It is pretty self explanatory. Or you can use the website. It is helpful if you are a teacher.

This is the method used in my son's school and in most ESE classes. If you have a child with fine motor difficulties...use this. If you have a child with writing difficulties...use this. If you have a child with ASD, as I do... this works!!!

The posters below me (Gladstone and Barchowsky) would probably prefer you use their methods -- one of which I own. However as mom who writes using Spencerian and even Barchowsky's Italic, I have a child who had writing difficulty. But my 6 yo Asperger's son grasped onto the HWOT program and ran with it. He understood its' simplicity and more than anything....ENJOYED IT. It "clicked" with him. Can he write in full sentences now at 6? Yes. Can he write legibly? Yes. Can he write quickly? Yes!!!
I have also used it with my non-ASD 3 yo who is now writing upper and lowercase with it now as well.

John Yount is a former teacher of mine. Hardcastle is, in my opinion, his best work, a writer working at his peak. The story has an original southern voice, with unique language and not a wasted word. Few contemporary southern novels are written as well. Yount treats the subject matter of Hardcastle, coal miners, with great sensitivity and care; the characters are more real than most books you will ever pick up. Yount's other works include Wolf At The Door, The Trapper's Last Shot, Toots in Solitude, and Thief of Dreams. Read them all, but if you can only read one, purchase Hardcastle.

The setting for Hardcastle is a small mining town during the Depression. Yount brings the characters to life and does an incredible job of developing the life-long friendship between two men. The ending is surprising and emotional. It's on my list of all time favorites.

The book has been compared to The Grapes of Wrath for its portrayal of life during the depression. It should be. Yount is one of the few living American writers who can combine power and grace in his prose, all while weaving a tense, extraordinarily powerful narrative. It's a shame that his other books - The Trapper's Last Shot and Wolf at the Door - aren't in print any longer.

Raymond Carver loved this book, and after you read the first three pages, you will see why. This is a superb novel about the friendship of two men during the Depression. The men work as guards against union organizers at a Kentucky coal mine. Their dilemma is whether to turn away from the abuses of the coal miners or to join their struggle. In swiftly moving chapters that snowball into an unforgettable climax, Yount tells how the men are tested. You will be tested too.

Hardcastle is a book that was meant to be talked about, and if you're in a reading group, it would be an excellent choice. I have not read a more human and moving novel in several years. And not only that: Yount's writing crackles and sings with local color, feel, and humor. A brilliant novel!

I'd never heard of John Yount before I picked up Hardcastle, but from the first page, I knew I could be in the grip of a special writer. Hardcastle is a simple but dramatic story, a sort of morality play, set in an rough Kentucky coal mining town during the Depression. The writing is also simple, but in the best sense, the way that the novels of some of the best American writers, like Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Elmore Leanord, are written simply. Every page rings with honesty and Yount offers some startling insights. The ending is strong and haunting. I was disappointed when it was over.