Games Books

This book will be equally useful for an individual ambitious to improve, or for a chess trainer looking for stimulating course material. There is a tremendous depth to the program of instruction here, with sections on openings, middlegame concepts (closed center, open center, isolated pawns) and endgames (queen endings, pawn endings, knight endings). Computers and databases are covered (2 pages), with the emphasis in that section (as indeed with the whole book) being as much on HOW to study as on the study itself.
A beginner might enjoy this book, but the most benefit will be obtained by players who have some experience but feel they have reached a plateau - a quite common situation in my experience. Gambit is well known for only publishing quality chess books, so this is a self-improvement work you can rely on to improve your game and rating.

What I really like about this book is how it caters for the student who seriously wants to improve. There is a lot more to it than you might think from seeing the cover, and I learned a lot about strategy and endgames. There are four things I found especially helpful:
1. the book covers a big range of topics, like how to make a plan or the important of pawn structures.
2. the diagram examples feature many famous games and famous players.
3. endgames are covered in detail (I have found that other books of this type ignore them).
4. there is lots of advice on how to improve

If you are an intermediate player (say rated 800 to 1900 USCF) this book will greatly benefit you.

What I really like about this book is how it caters for the student who seriously wants to improve. There is a lot more to it than you might think from seeing the cover, and I learned a lot about strategy and endgames. There are four things I found especially helpful:
1. the book covers a big range of topics, like how to make a plan or the important of pawn structures.
2. the diagram examples feature many famous games and famous players.
3. endgames are covered in detail (I have found that other books of this type ignore them).
4. there is lots of advice on how to improve

If you are an intermediate player (say rated 800 to 1900 USCF) this book will greatly benefit you.

why has no-one told me about this fantastic book before? There are sections on the endgame, analyzing your own games, how to study position-types and so on. Hall clearly writes from personal experience, and the method worked for him: he is a strong international master. The title is a little misleading in that it might imply the book is aimed at novice players, when the book could be useful for even club players. My chess library consists of around 300 books. This is one of the best self-improvement works in it.

You will find this book outlines a wonderful program on how to study, and gives a deep insight into openings, middlegame strategy and endgames. As well as teaching chess I play in local tournaments, and I can say with confidence that this well-rounded approach is exactly what will benefit the intermediate level player most. The chapters on the middlegame will help every junior solve some of the most common problems, and there is a lot of great study material on strategic themes. The section on the endgame alone is worth five stars, as it extensively covers topics you rarely see mentioned in other books.
There is no doubt that after reading this book your general strength will improve, and there is so much material packed in, that it is like having the contents of several books put together. That is my one complaint - there is almost too much material, and it could take several months to do it justice.
The author is an experienced chess teacher, and he shares his methods with a passionate enthusiasm. I found his methods to be valid, and quite insightful in some cases. I would highly recommend this book for both kids and adults to study and enjoy.

This is a great book to begin chess, I bought this for my son few weeks back, he loves this book, it's easy to read, and the problems at the end of each chapters are a great way to challenge his skill. I would recommend this book to everyone.

This bears repeating: for the younger student who is building his or her skill set you will find precious few resources. This work book (helps to) fill a gaping hole in instructional literature. Mom, Dads, Teaches, Coaches: get this book!

As someone who has run children's chess clubs and taught chess to children, I can confidently say that this workbook is an outstanding way for children to learn the skills they need to be contenders in the fantastic world of scholastic chess. Chess Master Todd Bardwick presents a series of lessons in language that is kid-centric without being condescending. Each lesson culminates in two sets of exercises - one set is for beginners, the other for more advanced students. The diagrams for both sets are large and clear, and the exercises often have an original flair that makes them stand out from the run-of-the-mill repetition of the same old and dry examples you can find in other books. Yet the place where this book really steps up to be head and shoulders above its competitors is in the ANSWERS to the exercises. Master Bardwick has packed a tremendous amount of information into the answer key, often developing and extending the key ideas of each exercise. At times it seems like the answer key could stand alone as a book in and of itself! Buy this book - the fundamentals of chess are presented here with simplicity and clarity.

I am the Gifted Children's Coordinator for Mensa, in Denver, CO. As such, I am always on the look-out for books and resources that might benefit gifted children (especially ones that play chess). I am highly impressed with this chess workbook. It has a clear, logical flow from chapter to chapter; an easy-style prose that renders the main points obvious as opposed to being lost in a clutter of complicated sentences, and has the ability to improve one's chess play almost immediately, via its numerous hands-on exercises. My 8 year old son, an avid chess player and also a Mensan, saw instant improvement in his chess tactics after completion of the exercises in this workbook, which by the way were fun enough for the whole family to practice! If you're looking for a great chess workbook that isn't "stuffy" or over-whelming, then look no further. Get this book!

My 7 year old son and I are learning to play chess. This book is a clear, concise and outstanding resource. Each chapter provides a conquerable amount of information with examples that build upon the stated points, facts and strategies. The problems at the end of each chapter are a unique resource among the available chess books on the market. Each problem clarifies or elucidates a point in the chapter. The explanations give not only the correct answer for each problem; but also, explanations of the most commonly made mistakes (solutions that don't solve the chess challenge). This is very helpful as one often wonders why a different move would not accomplish the same goal. Finally, the word searches at the back of the book are good ice breakers and rewards for the kids. Other members of our family are now reading the book and learning chess. This is the book to get and the best book that I have found for any adult, teenager or child learning the royal game.

this book will help to create a connection and fasination for kids with the environment and give them much needed connection to health and exercise too.

As an educator, I found this book to be delightful, colorful and easy to understand. I would suggest this book even to adults trying Yoga for the first time. First of all, the layout and pictures were easy on the eye and I can see how this may attract young readers to its content, without an adult. The language and tone of the book was enjoyable. I think this is a good introduction to anyone beginning Yoga and I would recommend it very highly. Peace, Kind Essence (Karen thompson)

I bought a whole slew of yoga for kids books and this is by far the best one. All of the others repeat the information from this book, but in a less clear way and without the great pictures. This is the one to get.

I bought this book as a resource for my church's Preschool/Kindergarten Religious Exploration class. Each Sunday we have a class of 3-6 year olds for an hour. We break the time into short segnments and like to include some kinetic activities. They have together time, a spiritual message, a craft, a song, and then we use to play a game together. The games started getting a bit wild and sometimes too competative, so I thought a quieter physical activity like yoga might be a good fit. This book makes the positions so fun and easy: each child can be sucessful at thier own level. It has suggestions of how to use the poses, ways of advancing through the positions, a section sort of like a "teachers guide" so people unfamiliar with yoga (such as myself) can use it with confidence. The kids love doing Yoga and looking at the pictures to see how to do things. They are fully absorbed in trying to achieve the poses and talking about what a flower (or star or whatever the pose is modled on)feels like or sees or thinks. The book is very well done, thought provoking and affirming. I am fully delighted with it!! This is a wonderful adition to a young child's life.

A beautifully illustrated book. Accurate and colorful. My class of preschoolers related to it wonderfully, using it as a guide for their own Yoga poses. They invented several and we took pictures to add to this stunning book. This Yoga work interested and calmed some of my more challenging students. Well worth the investment of money and time. Highly recommend.

Varrichio's book is unique in showcasing doll fashions from the 70's beyond the usual suspects from Mattel. Many long-time collectors, including myself, might not have seen many of these fashion lines. Some are rare yet inexpensive Mattel clones, while others (ie, Mego, Kenner, Ideal) are major lines that are hard to find today. The book is replete with a variety of hidden treasures for the serious doll collector to pursue, thus distinguishing it from every other compendium of doll fashions that this reviewer has read. The quality of the photos and creativity of the narratives are excellent. This book is a must-have for traditional Barbie collectors as well as those who want to expand their repertoire beyond Mattel.

I just purchased this wonderful book. I really cannot put it down. The pictures are crisp and clear. The descriptions are perfect and the commentary is priceless. This is one book every doll collector needs to own. This took a lot of work to do, and it is well worth the money. Great job Carmen Varricchio!!

This book blew me away! I've been collecting dolls all my life practically and I knew of several clone style outfits but this book has so many items that I hadn't seen before. And it gave me so much needed information on Tuesday Taylor, Tiffany Taylor, Dawn Doll Clone Outfits and a ton more. I love a book that covers the obscure and this books does a great job with a wealth of information. It shows doll lines that no one else has covered at all! I refer to this book all the time because of my line of work. So it's a definate keeper in my collection! And the one thing that really stands out in my opinion, is the quality of the pictures. They are bright and clear. You're not left guessing what the colors or hues are really like in person. So I'm very impressed! (And I'm a picky person) And it's a fun read too! I would really love to see a volume 2 on this book!! I'd be the first in line to buy it! THIS IS A MUST HAVE!!

I just love this book! The pictures are wonderful, clear and colorful, but it's the descriptions that make it oh so fun. The descriptions are very straightforward and concise, and many are funny enough to make me chuckle to myself. You just know exactly what Carmen means. I remember the 70's.

This book is a great addition to any fashion doll collectors reference as it covers many of the other dolls that were around during the Mod/Best Buy era of Barbie. Lot's of new and interesting information.

I have enjoyed this book over and over again. It is an excellent resource, clear pictures and a wide range of information on Doll Fashions. Well worth purchsaing. The author is knowledgeable and goes beyond the typical barbie fashions to sharing about a wide range of doll fashions from the 1970's. Can't wait for Volume 2!

I hate the term `Packaging Yourself' that is on the cover, but besides that I think this is a well written and important book. We are all different; how we discover what makes us unique and how we express that to a college is an important part of the application process.

This is, without a doubt, a well-crafted book, well-organized, well-written, full of lots of practical and useful tips. There's a couple of aspects of it, however, that detract considerably from its usefulness in my situation.

The first one is major: the anecdotes she relates, which are meant to be inspiring, are in my view actually discouraging to the teens who might read this book. Example? The girl who just couldn't figure out her "hook", then thought back, and it suddenly struck her, oh YEAH, that's right, I was a Broadway star in 9th grade, praised in reviews in the New York Times, featured on the cast album in two solos, etc. I mean, come on. My daughter, who is a top student with great test scores and great extracurriculars, is freaking out that she might not get into Yale because "everyone who gets in is a published novelist or something." The examples in this book perpetuate that myth, and make it seem like only those sorts of people will stand a chance. I bought this book for her, but luckily read it first, and now I'm not going to give it to her to read, because it will just exacerbate her concerns.

Secondly, I'd assumed that the book was focused on the college application process, which it sort of is, but much of the germane advice (good tips all) pertains to the student's whole high school career, and what they can do to position themselves. This is a book for parents of such kids, who can help encourage and enable activities and events that will help once the senior year application process begins.

The 2004 movie Spanglish, starring Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, Cloris Leachman and Paz Vega, starts with a scene in a college admissions office. Admissions officers sit around a table going through applications. Uninspired to continue reading after looking at a sentence or two, one officer puts down the essay in her hands and moves to the next one. She does this a couple of times till she reaches an essay with a unique beginning. The applicant writes about the most influential person in her life -- her mother, a Mexican immigrant who works as a housekeeper. The officer is enticed enough to continue reading. She's hooked.

THE COLLEGE HOOK is a book I wish I had available to me when I prepared for college admissions in my high school days. It's definitely a valuable guide for those applying to college.

In order to increase your chances of admission to the college of your choice, college consultant Pam Proctor designed the book to help you learn how to define your special achievements - your hook - (even if you think you don't have any). After that, she teaches you how to package that information (your college application) and sell yourself (your interview) during the college application process.

Pam Proctor provides all types of tips to help the college applicant - inspiring anecdotes of students' experiences, clear sample essays, letters and selected references and more. THE COLLEGE HOOK is worth its price to learn how to stand out as a college applicant.

Fafa Demasio

Finally a college admission aid that succinctly defines it! Easy to use,well organized,and timely. As a father having faced college admission with three kids and facing it with a fourth the information is a god-send.The format and style will even encourage your kid's participation. Jim . Georgia.

Gaining admittance into the college of your choice is no easy task. With THE COLLEGE HOOK, written by Pam Proctor, the president of College Application Consultants, Inc., I have to say that your odds are greatly improved!

The book is broken down into four main parts: Discovering Your Hook, The Top Ten College Hooks, Packaging Your Hook, and Selling Your Hook. Each main category is then broken down into smaller, more-manageable sections, such as Hooks That Worked, The Resume Power Play, and Acing the Interview.

I know you're asking yourself: "What in the world, exactly, is the college hook?" According to Ms. Proctor, it's pretty simple: it's "that one special interest that will cause admissions officials to salivate over an application and significantly increase the odds of getting into a favorite college."

Basically, colleges are looking for that unique "something" that makes you you - that "something" that will make their college a better college, and will make them sorry if they don't accept you! But to find your hook, you have to find the strengths and weaknesses in yourself, and that's not always an easy task. But THE COLLEGE HOOK stresses the importance of doing just that, and The Top Ten College Hooks (including Athletic, International, Music, Political, Technology, Humanitarian, Science, Writing, Drama, and Multicultural) go a long way in helping you figure out your personal hook before you begin the college admissions process.

This is a must-read for teens getting ready to begin sending out those college applications. From writing an interesting, professional resume to acing your admissions interview, everything about the application process is covered.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

I had a long list of books I promised myself I would read upon finishing school. One was "The Corporate Rat Race". This book has challenged me in many ways - from both a career and a personal perspective. There is much to be taken from this book that applies to more than just corporate life. I am glad that I read it.

A friend recommended The Corporate Rat Race to me and at first blush I admit I was not particularly interested in the book's subject matter. Within the first couple of paragraphs Paul had me hooked and I had a hard time putting it down. The Corporate Rat Race is an informative, quick and fun (did I just say 'fun' about a book found in the business section?!) read about the evolution of corporate America and business ethics in today's world. The principles discussed here are as another reviewer put it, "easy to understand and apply." This sets The Corporate Rat Race apart from its competitors in the same genre. I highly recommend.

Mr. Ulasien took a very practical and applicable view point of a hot topic among Corporate America workers today. Not only did the title catch my attention, but the book totally captivated me. It was obvious that the author spent many hours researching the evolution of Corporate America, and how the rat race came to be. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his and others' experiences, and I personally related to several scenarios. This is must read book!

Paul did an excellent job in breaking down the corporate challenges facing today's worker in an easy to understand format. The author's use of examples and real world scenarios made it easy for the reader to relate and gave you a feeling of being there. Having come from corporate America I now have a better understanding of the "why" things have become as they are. I have recommended this book to friends and co-workers and it has been well received. Looking forward to his next book.

Based on his many years of experience in the Corporate Rat Race, Paul Ulasien has provided practical and timely advice on how to survive in today's workforce. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and cannot decide which part of it I like best: the trip down "history lane", reading the real-life examples and recognizing myself and co-workers, or the "words of wisdom" and humor interjected throughout. This book is a must for anyone who wants to bring renewed attention to their personal situation and make sound decisions on how to survive in Corporate America!

My daughter was given this book by her Aunt and Uncle, and what a wonderful surprise the book turned out to be! Quite clever, and very funny..... Though my one year old daughter is a bit young for the book, I've had more fun reading through it and wishing I was 10 years old again!

A lot of time and effort obviously went into this delightful activity book. Looking forward to Creative Aventures Part II....?!

We bought this book for our grandkids, and are ordering another copy for a friend. It is a big bright book filled with wonderful things for kids to do, things that really call on their creative juices. I think the thing that makes this book stand out is that children really get to know Courtney and her family and friends, especially when she was a little girl. It's like having Courtney to play with, and kids seem to love it.

Compiled and illustrated by Courtney Watkins, Courtney's Creative Adventures is a fun and exciting book packed from cover to cover with creative activities for young people. Color drawings and photographs illustrate suggestions for entertainments ranging from scavenger hunts, to creating puppets, to simple games shared with friends, and much, much more. Courtney's Creative adventures is enthusiastically recommended as being a great counter to summer vacation doldrums, holiday blues, and an excellent "anytime" antidote to boredom!

I always watch out for Courtney whenever she appears on the "The View"; a few months ago I ordered her book for my family and I can honestly say it's fantastic. I have never seen kids respond so quickly and so enthusiastically to a book. It's colorful, eye-catching and really fun (for all of us). She shows kids how to turn ordinary household items into magical creations. Plus, unlike other books of this kind that require your own personal laboratory, or a few hundred yards of gossamer ribbon, these projects can actually be completed by normal people with normal resources and a moderate income. Anyone with kids who have "seen this" and "done that" should get this book ASAP.

I am incredibly impressed and charmed by Ms. Watkins! What a talent and personality. This book is a treasure for both parents and children. I feel it opens the creative minds of children, crawls into their heads and really gets at what makes them excited and tick. It also helps parents bond and laugh with their kids aside from sitting in front of the TELEVISION! There is also so much information packed into this book that it is worth 3x's the price.

I can't wait to see more Courtney Watkins books!

At last! Knits for "Wee Ones" without "wee" needles! I have never liked to use size 2 or 3 needles which most baby and toddler patterns call for. This book has great designs but it gives you the basic patterns first, and colors to please everyones taste.

I was expecting each knit to be a different pattern and was surprised to see only 2 types of patterns for tops. At the beginning of the book, there is 1 pattern for a cardigan, a pull-over and a hat/mittens (6,12 and 18mth sizes). You are basically directed to knit the particular pattern and add the mofifs as you go. So, for example, if you don't like the pullover pattern a significant proportion of the book is not useable, or you need to adapt the motifs to a pattern from another book. Adapting the motifs to a design you do like (or know that fits) is probably not a difficult task and the motifs and colours are sweet.
There is a nice range of mofif styles, with the cover picture a good indication of the types of designs in the book.

absolutely love this book. i have made several of the sweaters and plan and plan on making more. they make wonderful presents at showers and baby gifts after. i am waiting for her next book.

This book is wonderful. It offers very basic patterns for sweaters, hats, booties, then offers the variations in design and color patterns. I now have knitted many of the patterns in this book (even adding my own variations) and the patterns are amazingly accurate, well written, and explained simply and understandably. Anyone who is looking for a book that gives simple pattern instructions, suitable for an ambitious beginner, with memorable designs that make you look like an expert, should pick this one.

This book contains so many patterns that you will want to knit you will have a diffiicult time selecting the one to do first. Each is unique with some enhancement on each. I want to knit them all even though I have no one in mind (at the present) to give them to.

I must say that originally I was skeptical of a non-Wizard's company providing materials for the Dungeons and Dragons game, but when I opened and perused a copy of the Crucible of Freya, that changed. The quality of the cover and the cover illustration grabbed my attention. I purchased it immediately and took it home to digest. The graphics are top notch, the plot and story are excellent and the overall presentation of the module is very good. It centers around the activities of one of "1st Edition" Dungeons and Dragons best known villians: Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead. It is great to see that first edition feel. This company knows how to write good adventures and knows how to package them to make them a complete product. There are several good maps, several NPC's presented to help adventurers and a complete location that DM's can base further adventures in. The best thing about Necromancer Games is their customer support. If you purchase their products, you can visit their web site and download additional material for each adventure, really giving you your money's worth. I think that the D20 Open License might be the best thing for DnD and that Necromancer Games will be leading the way in providing additional resources for all Dnd players.

The Crucible of Freya (and it's online introductory module, The Wizard's Amulet) are both excellent products. They are geared toward new DM's and take the time to explain the new 3rd edition rules and proper ways these rules should be used. This is a very refreshing way to read a module for new and old players alike as it reinforces what you know (or just think you know).
Highlights: A simple but well planned adventure centered around the retrieval of a holy relic. The villians are nasty, more than a challenge for the 1st and 2nd level characters the module is designed for, but the website has free advice on how to tailor the adventure for more powerful characters.
Numerous NPC's are introduced with quirky backgrounds and personalities that the players may or may not meet. I have adapted the entire module to my Forgotten Realms campaign and plopped it in the north, a few hundred miles from Waterdeep.
The writers stress that although the module is very difficult for low level characters, they did this on purpose as the best memories often derive from the most demanding challenges. And a resourceful DM can still save the PC's butts from the fire without them knowing.
Definitely worth giving a try, and the best thing is, the more popularity Necromancy Games gets, the more money they acquire, and the better their products will be in the future.

This module is intended as an introduction to AD&D for new players and DMs. I have not yet played or DMed it, and there will be spoilers below:

The production quality is uneven. Nice glossy, colorful cover and back which you can see above. The maps are amateurish in look, and the text is easy to read with good use of whitespace.

There's a lot of fleshing out the adventure and the area surrounding the adventure. What I really like is that there are areas that will likely [terminate] a low level party if they go exploring, but most of those offer a way out or a way to solve the problem (even if it's just to run, a healthy thing to learn to do for players). No coddling of the players here.. I like it. Though there is one way for the DM to help out the players, but it's through a natural part of the module, not fudging a die roll because the players are in over their heads. The village and NPCs are well fleshed out, with good characters having some not so good qualities at times, and at times the PCs and the NPCs will conflict even if on the same side. Because the players can give in to the NPC wishes or do what they think is best, it gives the illusion of choice to the players in an otherwise simple adventure. The actual encounters mostly involve one monster (humanoid actually) race, unless the party explores where it shouldn't, and as such it can be fairly repetitive. There's a secret area in the module that they can find, with a surprising twist if a fight doesn't actually occur, which shows that there isn't always a happy ending. There's little in the way of puzzles, and no 'usual' dungeon. The players can greatly affect the difficulty of one of the main battle depending on what they do...

>Overall, this is a good first adventure with plenty of opportunity for roleplay, conflict and battle. Almost every possibility is spelled out for the DM, and there are numerous ways to continue on from the end of the adventure. Recommended.

This module is quite well done. It is somewhat better than the modules that WotC has been putting out. Also, the downloadable mini-adventure is pretty good.

One strength of this module is in its notes to the DM. The hints provided about how to run an encounter are the kind that are normally hard to express, but when expressed properly are valuable pearls of wisdom. There are also good descriptions of where xp are derived, suggestions of a bonus, additional story ideas,... I recommended the module to a friend of mine who wanted to learn to be DM and she was immensely pleased.

The module is a little bit difficult for beginning players, however. Some of the encounters could easily destroy a party if the DM wants them to. Therefore, this module is especially suited to a beginner DM in a group of experienced players. Experienced players often are not happy sitting around while the DM reads a long-winded block of text describing a room. In this module, text that is to be read to players is mercifully short. It is also clearly set out from the other text in "scrolls" so that you can access it quickly. Very nice layout.

There is a problem associated with the module that almost prevents me from giving it a 5 star rating. The authors of the module made mistakes with the 3e rules. For example, a sorcerer wears armor and has the spell mage armor. The authors erroneously believe that mage armor and armor stack. That is not the case, according to the DMG. (I decided it was unfair to dock a star since the character was downloaded rather than printed in the module.)

I bought this adventure while looking for something to add to my new 3rd edition campaing. I found it great reading and better than anything put out by WOTC (with the exception of the new system) to date. Then to find out that there is another 23 page online down load for free, as well as several other DM and player maps, this just blew me away. and all for a smaller price than the new WOTC releases. I have since purchased every d20 product in the sword and sorcery line and have not once been disapointed. A thing I can't say for any other gaming company that I have tried yet.

What a wonderful book! I have just started using this in my third grade classroom and only wish I'd discovered it sooner. It can easily be used in a variety of ways as an activity for early finishers, a whole class exercise, or a centers activity. Sometimes I have my students complete it in groups and we have word ladder races. They're always begging me for just one more. Money very well spent!

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.

My students enjoy these word puzzles. It's great for improving their vocabulary. They get to play with the language!

This has been a big hit in my second grade classroom. We are learning new vocabulary each time we use on of these sheets. It has been a good buy for me!

This is a solid book for building elementary vocabulary. It has 100 reproducible word study lessons that help kids boost reading, spelling and phonics skills independently. Among the many activities, kids read clues on each rung, then change and rearrange letters to create words until they reach the top. All the while, they are boosting decoding and spelling skills, broadening vocabulary, and becoming better, more fluent readers. Lesson by lesson, kids can "climb" to new heights in reading and writing with these engaging word-building games.

The workbook is not thick (about 100 pages). My child finished it in 2 months with a lot fun. His vocabulary improved significantly. In Beestar online assessment, his reading has rised to the next grade level largely attributed to this workbook. Highly recommend.