Games Books

Great Book! Gave mine to a friend and am ordering another. If you love your Coach, buy him or her this book.

The book is a little more advanced than what I needed right now coaching 8 & U coach pitch softball, but it does a great job of showing you the direction your coaching should be going as the kids get older. That in turn has influenced how I teach these young girls. Many of the fine drills in this book are too advancd for my age group, but I was able to simplify them a little to make them easier for 7-8 year olds. If your coaching 6-10 year old kids and can only buy one book, this may not be the one. But it is a great book to have in your coaching library. The best I have seen, my kids just are not quite ready for it yet.

I have coached for over ten years now and have found this book to be the most comprehensive, theoretically sound, user friendly coaching handbook on the market. Veroni has organized the information most effectively using charts and diagrams in addition to her commentary. This is THE book to purchase for both the beginning or experienced high school coach.

This book is comprehensive and is aimed at the coach of a team consisting of younger or much younger players. Kathy Veroni sounds like a tough, fair, and thorough coach. Imagine driving a group of late-arriving players 10 miles out of town and telling then to jog back to practice. No wonder West Illinois U has a great softball team.
However, as a captain of a mens' fastpitch softball team, with players who play once a week, this book did not help me much. The drills were just too involved and required a much higher commitment and lower physical strength than I have from the guys on my team. It's like using a college-level calculus text when all you want to learn is high school algebra.
Having said that, the big plus of this book is the VERY EXTENSIVE list of both defensive and offensive drills. This section of the book makes the purchase price worthwhile.

This is a very well laid out book and easy to follow. I would highly recommend this book for coaching high school or college age girls. Might be a little deep for younger athetes but could be adapted. Many drills are included in this book, and I found the philosophies especially interesting. Brought out a lot of simple points I had never thought of before.

The Cranium Big Book of Outrageous Fun is great because it has all sorts of different things. Anything from planning birthdays, to making maps, drawing & even creating your own castle. It has a fun mini-conga game, and so many activities that my kids keep going back and reading and playing with this. A great buy that you really get your money's worth out of!

Our famiuly loves the entire line of cranium games. It is a fun time to spend with our children.

This book is great! I bought it for my 6 year old. She loves all the cranium games and books. We have the original cranium, but when I saw this I thought it would be perfect for her. She can do some of the activities on her own and there is also a game to play. It is fun and easy.

Spent a whole day with 5 granddaughters ranging in age from 5 thru 12. The book was appropriate for ALL of them!!!
I highly recommend it

I'm a pretty big fan of Cranium's games, and since this was touted as a write-it, draw-it, sculpt-it, act-it game for ages 7 and up, I was looking forward to using all my talents. The first thing I noticed is that this probably isn't a book/game for anyone over 15, and my guess is even early teens won't get much use out of it. Once I got over my disappointment that it was truly geared for a much younger audience (than me, anyway), that's when I let go of my preconceived notions and started to play around with the game.

I particularly enjoyed the "Data Head" section as they had lots of fun "science" activities for kids, including a mold experiment that calls for the study of mold in various stages. Your kids can then rank the mold on various sub categories, including a "Stink Factor." Parents may be none too thrilled with this activity, but it should make for an interesting couple of days.

The book also contains a game (get it game in a book in a game) the "Conga Mini Guessing Game." The game is also somewhat simplistic so adults probably only want to invest them time if they're joining their younger family members, but in all this is a nice, self-contained package that has a lot of fun activities and room for creative expression. This is a must-have for your child's bookshelf/playspace, and it also does carries well on the dreaded road trips.

I have returned again and again to this book for new ideas. I feel I now have a new way of looking at decorating! Using eBay is such a great way to grab some bargains to get the look you're after! You'll be glad you have this book, it's fun to see how she did an entire house! Great detail shows how she did it step by step! You can plan your own house project or just get quick update ideas for a room. Enjoy!

A superbly produced book - with visually warm, personal and enticing colors, graphics and text, and beautiful photographs. Indeed, what can be done on Ebay at its finest. And one more thing...I loved the soft sock monkey touch.

Barbara Guggenheim's book was invaluable when decorating a home my wife and I recently bought in East Hampton, NY. We never had thought about using eBay for furniture and other home items, but following Barbara's guidelines ended up buying pretty much everything from sofas and beds to even rugs and curtains, and all while saving almost 30% of our estimated budget. The book is a MUST for anyone looking to redecorate, furnish, or replace items in a home. Also a great tool for any eBay hobbiests!

You can decorate on a budget and stay in the range without even going to thrift stores and flea markets - not if you have a computer at home and DECORATING ON EBAY FAST AND STYLISH - ON A BUDGET in hand. Author Barbara Guggenheim is an art consultant who needed vintage items to decorate her Malibu beach house: she decided to try decorating an entire house using eBay and DECORATING ON EBAY chronicles her experiences. Tips include how and where to search within the sight, from locating furniture and fabrics to obtaining collectibles, and how to develop a personal decorating style on a budget. Her course in mastering ebay goes all the way from basic site navigation to winning bids and understanding the entire process. A 'must' for any decorating on a budget who wants to take full advantage of ebay listings; especially for those new to the auction/bidding process.

This is a book to pick up and kick back with, to scheme and dream effortlessly with, to have fun reading, giving, sharing, talking about. Ultimately, it will lead you to having a house embellished by your hobby, thanks to tips, hints and fun how-to's from Dr. Guggenheim, who is one of the few true art history scholars around who not only actually writes in readable English, but shares easy to use practical advice that can enable ordinary mortals to enjoy a good, rich slice of culture pie, anytime they feel like it. Having attended her art history lectures in the past, I always hoped she would start writing this kind of book, which like her teaching, makes us all not only believe, but know, that we can be true art collectors: that it's not about the size of our pocketbooks, it's about each of us giving freedom to our own very individual, very powerful imaginations.

My son loves anything with photography of trucks, trains, and especially construction equipment. The shape of the book is also novel to him.

It doesn't contain a whole lot of stickers but they are a great deal for the price.

The little one had a few others from this series and he likes this one just as much as the others. It's great.

I bought this book and another in the Things That Go Board Books series for my grandsons, 1 & 3. They seem to love the photos & ignore the text. The book lives in their car & is the perfect size for one or the other to read while traveling. This book is perfect for kids who love construction vehicles!

Diggers and Dumpers (Ultimate Sticker Books) This book is great for kids that are really into trucks and heavy equipment. My husband runs heavy equipment for a living so my son, 2 1/2 yrs old, already knows many names of the equipment. This sticker book was great and he loved finding the trucks and sticking them down. Definitely recommend for kids who love these types of trucks and equipment.

"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

Many thanks to Borders and Barnes & Noble for allowing me to read this in the store while my wife checks out books and magazines for herself.
This is quite the story.
Ender is a genius. He has been followed by some 'monitor' (inside his head or skin? Or just hovering around him?), so the government/military can make sure of his growth and development as well as his safety. He has grown up in a normal enough family: Mother, Father, brother and sister. He has just started school and is adjusting to this new life. There is a stigma associated with excess children, the world being a closed system, it can only support so many people. One or two children is all that is normally allowed; a third is taking advantage of everyone else, and is given a very bad social stigma. This is what Ender is: a third. When the 'monitor' is taken away, nobody knows it is just another test for his quality or fitness to be who he has to be. He passes and is taken away, after appropriate fussing and fuming, from his family to command school. It happens to be miraculous how prescient and adept the teacher Graff is in helping Ender become great, but it is fiction, so I guess the author can have the story do whatever he finds necessary.
It is hard for us 'normal' folks to understand all a genius thinks, so Mr. Card does not go into that, he just gives the impression of quality and intelligence exhibited in the actions and conversations of the heroes. I have read this sort of thing before (Robert Henlein). There I felt that the heroine was not shown to be such a great genius, in fact, she showed some very silly mistakes, not at all what a genius would do, as far as I am concerned.
In the edition I read, Mr. Card wrote an introduction. It was funny how different people took the notion of exceptional children. A teacher said it was all bosh. A bunch of exceptional children said he really got the problems and attitude shifts they use very correct. But some of that is odd, because he puts Ender in a school of exceptional children, so why the problems, etc.?
Mr. Card developed a full story. He gave the characters something to do and problems to work out, and in the end you felt very good about the future of the characters.

I was a little leery on reading this book; I finally broke down and bought it. It is a great story, and I love it. Enders Game is defiantly a book I will bring with me into a classroom setting. I am excited to use it, and hopefully others will benefit from it the way I have.

This is an epic masterpiece. In short, if that was my review for this book, I would stand by it for all time.

I haven't come across a great fiction book to read in a while, and today I decided to just "try" Ender's Game for perhaps a few chapters. A few hours later, I rested the book and I was astonished.

The story is extremely captivating, and the reader can feel Ender's life through so many different moments. We sympathize with him when he's glad, we're happy for him when he succeeds. Scott has really created a book that will cling to all of us - move us, and makes us imagine, just what it would be like to be Ender.

We are involved with his love for family, but more importantly, we are involved with his way of growing up. He has no means an easy childhood, but readers can understand EVERYTHING that he's going through - Scott's delicate choice of words certainly makes this novel one of my favorite of all time. I presume that you have the basic notion of what is already happening with the story, and to that I say, even if it doesn't seem interesting from a little bit of the context of the story, buy it and read it!

You will love it!

Once you have met "Ender" Wiggans you will never forget him or his remarkable journey. I hope that there will never come a time in human history that we would require a child like Andrew "Ender" Wiggans.
Read this story and then read about Bean, whose life and trials make Ender's life seem like a day at the park.

This is touted as a book for young people. I was 50 years old when I read it. By that time I had been reading Sci-Fi for 40 years. This is one of the top sci-fi stories of all time. Even if you are too old for it.

This is a wonderful guide. Long, informative, and it shows you EVERYTHING you need to know to surviving Fallout 3. I never use game guides, but I figured I would give this a shot because of the nature of Fallout 3, and I'm very happy I did. The book feels and looks great, and the fold out poster map is HUGE. The guide is a little confusing to some people at first, with the guide being separated into chapters going from Character Creation to The Main Quest to Side Quests to an Entire Run Though of EVERY SPOT IN THE GAME then the Appendix and finally the Extras section.

The way this is structured means, for example, when reaching the town of Megaton, you will have to read one chapter to do the main quest there, then the next chapter to do the major side missions, then the next chapter to read about all the secrets and such available in the city. Makes sense logically but confuses some people here and there.

Oh and the Extras section is awesome. It shows a lot of concept art in the game so if you didn't get the special editions, you can still see some cool concept work and developer commentary.

Overall a great guide that greatly informs you of everything you need to know in the content rich universe of Fallout.

Very cool guide, awesome artwork and design job. My only complaint is the bind of the boom comes to far out and it's hard to read some words close to the spine.

Overall great guide.

This official collectors' guide looks like it's a weathered book straight out of the Fallout universe. It's a must-have for any Fallout fan.

The hardcover is a nice touch, and the paper on which the guide is printed has held up against two and a half weeks of heavy use. At first, I was a little worried about the paper tearing easily, but I no longer think that's an issue. The paper is the same kind that you would find in most paperback novels, but maybe a bit heavier.

The content is very in-depth with diagrams and charts for just about everything you need to know about. The guide starts with detailed tables of weapons, armor and enemy stats. It also goes over S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and skills in detail, giving advice and which skills would actually be the most helpful in the game. There is a comprehensive guide detailing all of the perks and gives advice on which combination of perks would work well for different types of characters.

For each quest, the author gives an excellent tree diagram showing you the various paths and the rewards and consequences to which they lead. These diagrams are usually enough to help you find your way in a quest, but the book also provides lengthy text directions for navigating through the levels along with lists of loot that you should look out for in each area. Sections that could affect your in-game karma level are clearly labeled with angel or devil icons so you can find what you need at a glance.

There's no denying that there is a TON of useful information in this guide book, but unfortunately, the organization makes it a bit difficult to use. Every town and location is listed in the guide's giant index, but instead going by alphabetical order, the locations are grouped by zones on the world map. For example, in the index, you would find Vault 101 listed under the section called "Zone 8: Southern Plains and D.C. Outskirts". If you needed to quickly know the page number for the Vault 101 section, you would have to know that it's in Zone 8 or you would have to search the giant index line-by-line until you find it.

Since this guide was written and published before the game was released, there are a few things that are wrong. The most obvious difference that I found regards the Barkskin perk. The guide says that it gives you Damage Resistance +10% and Endurance +1, however, in the final version of the game, the perk only gives you +5% Damage Resistance.

Despite the organizational issues and a few errors, this guide is an excellent companion to the game. There's an incredible amount of content hidden away in Fallout 3 so having this guide means that you won't miss out on anything in the game.

Great book. Have everything you need to wade into the wastes, and more. CHaracter creation suggestions are very helpful. I am walking around with a fist's of wrath ninja and it is so much fun. Great Job Prima.

Takes the complex world of Fallout 3, and makes it accessible, lots of helpful advise and explainations. Fallout 3

this book includes very good basic instructions, including how to increase. There are lots of beautiful patterns ranging from florals, scenics, geometrics and some for children. Included are curtains, table covers, edgings, and many others. One can easily adapt the filet charts to uses other than those shown. Photos and charts are very clear.

This is the one of the most detailed books on filet crochet that I have ever read. It has background, history, comparisons, patterns. The pattern section has a good variety to choose from and are not just doilies. The instructions are excellent and the patterns are just beautiful. The introduction and general "how to" instructions are detailed and have large illustrations. There is a conversion chart of hook sizes, as well as US and British terms for chart symbols and abbreviations. There are complete instructions on how to read charts, do increasing and decreasing, make turns and calculate patterns. It has a great "first project" with one the best illustrated directions I've seen for how to work the stitches and where to actually place your hook for stitches and turns. I would recommend this book regardless of whether you are already into filet crochet or want to learn how to do filet crochet. Chris did an excellent job.

The projects in this book are what I would call 'sophisticated country' in style. I have found the directions to be excellent. I made a doily from this book as my very first project having just learned to crochet. I have made an edging from the book to adorn a linen baptismal gown. I know I will choose projects from this book for many years to come, and have spent many hours just enjoying the pictures.

This is a wonderful book, but a new edition could be more useful if it listed the thread size and amounts in yards used for the projects as illustrated. While the book lists thread weights in grams, the weight can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Before you do a project, make sure to crochet a gage swatch and make estimates based on the swatch.

I have crocheted before but everytime I tried to follow instructions on how to filet, I couldn't understand them. This explained it very well and I was quickly making very nice projects. Filet works rapidly and you can really make things quickly.

If you like military SciFi then Dan Abnett is a good choice. Darker than John Ringo or David Weber, his books are intriguing, riviting, and exciting. I would recomend them to anyone who enjoys the military SciFi genre.

Gaunt's Ghosts is the tale of the Imperial Guard from the viewpoint of the Imperial Guard. Dan Abnett throws the reader into the fray immediately, with no remorse or apologies, just the way war really is.

To get the experience of 40K in the thick of front line combat, look no further!

This is the first in the series but I read it second. It was backwards, but it was a great read. You learn were the Ghosts come from, how Gaunt got them, etc. It is a great set of books about people you will care about. Hell, I had a lump in my throat more than once after an especially emotional turn of events.

A collection of the first books in the Gaunt's Ghost's series, it is great book for any Warhammer 40K fan. It is also a great book for anyone who has an interest in the series but hasn't picked the right book out yet.

FIRST AND ONLY
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The first book in the Ghost's series, it tells the story of the Ghost's fight against an army of heretical troops. But along with the enemy facing them across the trenches, the Ghost's face an even greater threat: an ignorant military leader who is more than willing to throw troops to the meat grinder that is this war.

GHOSTMAKER
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A sequel-prequel-connector story, Ghostmaker works to tie the reader in to the story of the Ghost's current position. Fighting on a forest world against a dug in enemy, some Ghosts remember life before this fight. A collection of short fights and battles, along with some non combat situations, really flesh out who the Ghosts are. Whether they're fighting in city streets, dropping into Normandy-like beach fights, or just gambling with a group of rowdy soldiers, the Ghost's really start to grow on you.

NECROPOLIS
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Necropolis is the first of what I call "epic" fights in the Ghost's series. The Ghosts have been sent to stop a civil war between two giant industrial cities. The city is easy to defend, but treachery and back stabbing among bring down its shields and walls. The Ghost's fight enemies on all sides, and when the hour is dark, heroes will rise, and the fate of the city will be decided.

I started this book before being a fan of Warhammer 40K or the Black Library and it was still interesting and fun to read. You don't have to be a 40K expert to enjoy the story and the interesting characters. Dan Abnett is also great at keeping a series interesting and different by keeping the same characters and ideas, but writing with very different plots and styles. One thing I hate in a series is when it seems like the author follows a specific plot outline with every book and just adds new places and storys. The Dan Abnett books do not do this, and this keeps the books very interesting.
The characters are the best part of the books, they are not archetype characters that are either purely good or completely evil. The characters have depths and shades of gray.
Overall I would say this book is a great read, and I highly reccomend the other works by Dan Abnett.

I bought this book because I am a huge fan of Mr. Nylund's Halo books, and a huge fan of his altogether. And boy am I glad that I bought it.

I would say that most people generally consider science fiction and fantasy to be "low" art. Most people think that those genres went out of style after H.G. Wells and Jules Verne and Tolkien and C.S. Lewis bit the dust. Generally I would agree with this. I mean, really, go to your local bookstore and walk in the sci-fi/fantasy section. Most of what you see are derivative crappy paperbacks with stitched together plots and characters so flimsy that my most shallow breath could knock them over so they couldn't get back up.

Mr. Nylund, I would say, is a breath of fresh air. Every single one of his novels is filled to the brim with fantastically developed characters, innovative and original conceptions of technology, fantastic action sequences, a great plot, and wonderfully written and even addictive prose. I truly think he is one of the greatest writers alive today, and his science fiction and fantasy works are, I think, comparable to some of the best out there. They are truly fantastic novels in the midst of a sea of crappy schlock, the stuff that critics and reviewers tend only to see when they look at the genres.

This novel, which follows Germain, an assassin with multiple personalities inside his head, is absolutely amazing. The story, which I would say is one of the most original I have read in years, is fantastically written, with vivid and fascinating characters, interesting spatial and technological concepts, and fast paced action that is really truly a joy to read. I could honestly go on practically forever, but right now I'll just say that if you are at all a fan of Mr. Nylund's other books than you need to read this one. It is amazing and you most definitely will not be disappointed.

I thought A Game of Universe was a great book, and I'm certain my wife hated it. Every free moment I had I had my nose in the book. The author does a great job merging fantasy and science fiction. The two genres are blended wonderfully in this work, and it is easy to envision the world(s) in the novel. The action in the book was continuous, which is why it was so hard to put down. The last few pages where you get to find out about the great battle between good and evil and a third player wrap the book up splendedly. I highly recommend this book, but only pick it up if you have time to read it continuously!

rich blend of Science Fiction and fantasy. This excellent and entertaining novel never falls into the trap of taking itself too seriously. Here are all the elements of a classic quest story, riches beyond our dreams of avarice, beautiful maidens to be rescued, vile villains to be dispatched (or more likely run away from) and technical wonders galore! The hero Germain is not all powerful, he has numerous flaws and a terrible childhood holding him back. He has to overcome all this to seek one of the most powerful artefacts known to our civilisation, the Holy Grail. Realistically Germain has no chance of achieving his goal but remember 'the journey IS the destination' and Germain's journey is a worthy one. This overlooked gem is good stuff and makes me want to read other books by the author. Its a lot more entertaining than recent Grail Quest novels!

A Game of Universe is the first work of Nylund's I've ever read. Having picked it up in FLorida on a whim several years ago, I've used my copy so much that it's literally worn out! This is the only book I've given out to several of my friends and co-workers (even my mother!) and every single one of them have loved it. All of us are now trying to hunt down a copy in better condition than mine!

Germain is a complex and hilarious character, with very real-to-life thoughts and actions. His various "personas" and his innner struggles have thrilled everyone I've known who has read this amazing work. The romance between Virgina and Germain was just enough to please the girl in me but not overly so so that I wanted to strangle them both. Virgina was a lovable female lead, easily identifable to and a strong female. Lilian, however, was not my favorite character at all and was rather grating on the nerves. Stebos was an amazing concept and Quilp was annoying, but quite brilliant. The theories introduced were interesting but not overly confusing. All of Germain's personas made the story quirky and adoringly eccentric.

This sotry has a bit of everything in it, satisfying even the pickiest reader. Romance, action, history, adventure, science fiction, betrayal, psychology, even gambling! This futuristic Grail adventure (featuring an ultimate but unseen battle between Heaven and Hell) is satsfying down to the very last sentence!

Nylund's writing is addictive, yet not at all hard to follow. However, the details involved are sparkling! I HIGHLY recommend this work, as it is an easy, interesting read and worth every cent you spend. Eric S. Nylund's A Game of Universe makes everyone want to go on their own personal quest for the Grail and be involved in the battle between Heaven and Hell. It's a shame it's out of print!

This book was the first I read by Eric Nylund, and it had me searching all of the used book stores for more. I was enthralled from page one, and never put it down. I'm frankly not that much into sci-fi any more, but this was a rare find and a fun read.

Get In The Game" partly baseball, partly business and partly psychology. Author Cal Ripken, Jr. draws on his vast baseball experience, his family background and business interests to illustrate eight elements of perseverance that make a difference: Right Values, A Strong Will To Succeed, Love What You Do, Preparation, Anticipation, Trusting Relationships, and The Courage of Your Convictions.

Throughout the book, Ripken includes similarities between his career and character and that of Lou Gehrig. As one who has admired Cal from afar, I greatly enjoyed this book. You will too.

this is an awesome book - would strongly recommend - especially but not necessarily for those with any appreciation of baseball at all - think this should be required reading for all high school students - very important and helpful life lessons - baseball is a great american tradition sure but more importantly the sport produces character - knew little of cal ripkin before reading this book - now i am a BIG fan

This book helped me and it helped me help my eleven-year-old son.

One of the parents from my son's baseball team actually said to me last night at our end-of-season party that several games ago it was like a completely different boy began showing up to play. He said he could see my son now has baseball in his head. That's about when I started reading parts of this book to my son. I started taking him to the batting cages. We began really working toward his goals on the field and talking about his goals in life.

This book resounds with the values I've always carried in my heart but have not been able to live due to circumstances beyond my control. Reading it allowed me to see these values do actually work somewhere out there in this world and these values are what I want for my child.

Cal Ripken offers many of his life lessons and experiences he has learned through playing the right way his whole career. I highly recommend this book to baseball fans of all ages and backgrounds.

This book provides extremely useful guidelines in dealing with situations we all eventually run into in our lives. While alluding to baseball related examples, it does not simply dwell solely on recounting Mr. Ripken's impressive baseball accomplishments or relate amusing/interesting anecdotes. Instead it gives thought-provoking insights into two all too fast-disappearing basic axioms in our country's psyche: "practice makes perfect," and "do unto others." I highly recommend this book for everyone, especially young people still in their formative years. In fact, it presents an excellent opportunity for parents to reconnect with their child(ren) by reading it aloud and together, with discussion centering on each of the eight elements as they are completed.