Games Books

The sweaters in this book are truly beautiful. I could wish they included plus sizes so I could just start crocheting immediately and simply duplicate most of them. Alas! I will have to size them up or carry the techniques over to my own patterns.

Fortunately, that is easy to do since most of what makes them so beautiful is the choice of yarns (nothing exotic, just proper choices to enhance the garments) and the lovely stitch patterns and fine finishing details (like the crocheted ribbing).
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See the uploaded images for those I found most intriguing:

Soft textured long sleeve pullover in a lovely mauve. Yes, the ribbing is crocheted.

Sleeveless top with fabulous wave color-work.

Lovely classic two piece suit.

Pullover plaid sweater. Vertical stripes are slip stitched afterward.

Bobbled and textured pullover. I want to learn that diamond look texture.

Fabulous copper and white striped pullover. Yes, the collar and cuffs are crocheted ribbing, NOT knitted.

Simple color changes and stranding for variety on a pullover with black sleeves and borders. There's so much other interest there I wouldn't mind the horizontal stripe look.

Two different bobble texture looks for some classic cardigans. Yep, no knitted ribbing in this book. All crochet.

A cardigan with peachy, rosy shades and cream. Very nice.

A simple textured pullover design with an added embroidery touch.

Cute squares of color make this more than just a horizontal stripe pullover.

Pullover with short no-seam sleeves and interesting vertical designs.
A rosebud adorned pullover.

Polka dots and stripes on a sleeveless blouse.

Tunisian (afghan) crochet gives a more "knitted" look for striped and basket weave sweaters.

Pullover with lacy open work horizontals.

More styles of polka dots. This time all over a short sleeve pullover.

Simple bobbled V's on a short sleeve pullover. Note the lack of shoulder seaming for faster finishing.

A cap-sleeve pullover with lacy open-work diagonals.

Brushed yarn gives a soft finish to a classic pullover design.

Added vertical designs really make a cardigan pop. Try a multi-color or tonal shade for a today look.

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All-in-all a very satisfying purchase from the Amazon Marketplace. Glad I read those other reviews. This book is definitely a keeper.

Where is Patricia Bevans today? I would love to see more of her designs, especially in plus sizing.

Without a doubt, this is book is a definite winner that belongs in your collection if you love to crochet. There is something for everyone here, from beginner to expert -- and each sweater can be something of a learning project taking you on to more complex achievements.

Major plus: the photography is absolutely wonderful, and inspires you to devote yourself to this wonderful craft. There are so many ideas here, that it's one of the best purchases you can make if you love to crochet!

You will not be sorry if you purchase Beautiful Crocheted Sweaters!

Beautiful Crocheted Sweaters. The title says it all. Here is a sweater for every season, more than 35 projects to keep your crochet hook busy all year long. As you leaf through these pages and admire the striking photos, you'll have a hard time deciding which sweater to begin first. Shall it be a charming Fair Isle crew neck in delicate pastel hues or a lusciously soft turtleneck to warm you through winter's chills? Perhaps it should be a dressy cardigan for an upcoming event or a casual vest to wear on spring strolls in town.
It hardly matters which you make first, be- cause if you're like most people who love to crochet, one sweater will lead to another. And another. Soon Beautiful Crocheted Sweaters will be your most frequently consulted source for designs, and for good reasons:
The exquisite photography captures the true colors, textures, and details of the sweaters and makes them seem to leap off the page. The clear, step-by-step instructions and helpful hints lead you expertly from the first stitch to the last. Diagrams and charts help with the more intricate patterns. And all projects are keyed to degree of difficulty and arranged by chapter according to stitch patterns, so novice, average, and expert crocheters all enjoy an impressive array of projects.

This is one of the best crochet books I've ever seen and has the most attractive sweater patterns that I've been able to find. It even includes Fair Isle and Tunisian designs. Unlike many crochet books, "Beautiful Crocheted Sweaters" uses readily available yarns and has great color pictures of each project. It also includes some fairly unusual techniques that I've been able to incorporate into some of my other crochet projects. I would love to own a copy of this book but have had to settle for using a copy I found at the library. "Beautiful Crocheted Sweaters" belongs in every avid crocheter's personal library.

This is the best crochet book I've ever purchased. I want to make beautiful sweaters. I usually gravitate toward knitted sweaters because the knitters seem to have more pattern selections in beautiful sweaters. Most of the crochet sweaters patterns I have seen so far have not impressed me. But now I have the perfect book - exactly what I wanted! This book is a must have, if you can find a copy. I will have to go search out all of the other work that this author has produced now. I hope she's done something for children!

Love this book. It is perfect for kindergarten.
Great way to introduce the penny(money). Lots of
good follow-up activities can be found on the
internet that relate specifically to this book.

This is one of my favorite books. It is so simple and beautifully told, gently imparting an important message of selflessness. It is a modern fable. Each page is an amusing "chapter" to an adventure with a gratifying surprise ending. I love how the author respects kids' ability to be kind and creative without the prodding of adults. The illustrations, painstakingly, gorgeously rendered in cut paper, are facinating. Like the story, the pictures are a celebration of a conscientious approach to life.

what a wonderful book. I love the illustrations and the rhyming text. My 2 1/2 year old son (also named Benny!) loves to hear this book over and over. He has many parts memorized, too. It is nice to read a book in which the main character, who could easily spend the money on himself, finds something for his mother, brother, sister, cat, and dog, spending one of his five new shiny pennies on each of them. He gets nothing for himself, except many "thank you"s and that great feeling of giving!

My 2 1/2-year-old loves this book and was soon "reading" it back to me! Its simple rhymes relate a story of generosity and thoughtfulness. We read it every day for weeks, and return to it frequently after 4 months. Paperback version is not sturdy, though--pages fell out after repeated reading.

I really enjoyed reading this book to my daughter Emily,age 3. It is a wonderful story about a boy who had five new pennies and spent them buying things for others. In such a greedy world we need to instill the power of giving to our children. The story is well written and the illustrations are enticing.

Baseball Digest published a similar volume several years ago entitled Baseball: From Cobb to Catfish which I am fortunate to have in my library. This new edition contains some of the same articles that were included in the previous one. The stories are short, and feel free to read them in any order. One of my very favorites, which is repeated in this book, is the one by Joe Falls, then of the Detroit Free Press when he went to interview Eddie Cicotte who was living in retirement in the Detroit area. Both knew the subject of the Black Sox scandal would come up. It is an A+. It is, indeed, a treasure to be able to have these stories available for those who were too young to be around to appreciate the great moments in baseball's rich history in addition to the talented writers that were around to chronicle these events. I have purchased ten additional copies of this book to have available to give as gifts when the appropriate time arrives. If you enjoy baseball history I would strongly suggest you pick up one or more copies of this book.

This is a great read for any baseball fan. The stories span generations and give you a look into the history of the game and players. Makes you appreciate the nostalgia of America's game.

Since its start in the early-1940s, Baseball Digest has been a credible source for current information and historical recollections on the sport.

This compendium is a terrific tour of the coverage in print and photographs that has been chronicled over the many years. This is an absolute must for a baseball fan or for any reader who is seeking accurate history on the life and times of "The Grand Old Game."

This book is very interesting to read, I enjoyed this book because of the history, the writing of the time and pictures of the players. It has so much to cover, this book could of been twice the size and still not cover all the history. It has a lot of facts and so many great stories of the players, umpires and families of the players. It is a great book to go back to and use for a reference. I give it 5 stars.
If you enjoy this book get the magazine "Baseball Digest" for more great stories.

"The Best of Baseball Digest" is truly the bargain of the century considering it's incredible content. I expected alot from this book and when it finally arrived it exceeded all of my expectations. There are over 116 enjoyable articles on baseball dating back to Baseball Digest's start in 1942. This massive collection of 453 pages is presented in a fashion in which the reader can read an article a day, yet it is entertaining enough to where you may have difficulties putting it down. Some of the baseball articles in this book are: Ty Cobb, How Connie Mack passed up the Babe, The Mickey Mantle I Know, When a Midget Batted as a Major Leaguer, Reggie's Moment, Rickey Henderson, The Day I Collected Babe Ruth's Autograph, When the Red Sox Terminated the Curse of the Bambino, Ichiro Suzuki a Hitting Sensation, and so many more. Not only are these articles written by some of the best in baseball and sports writing, but this book also contains close to 100 pictures that are both rare and shocking. This is truly one of the best baseball book purchases I have ever made. This one will be on my shelf forever to later pick up and be read once again. Robert Pedersen www.fatherachildsright.org

Patrick Leigh Fermor not only fills the 'unforgiving minute' but describes that experience in a way that transports us to that minute. One line from "Between the Woods and the Water" stays in my mind. "The heat and weight of the summer bore down and not a leaf stirred". Or, how about, "the newly distilled spirit had taken out the peasants like sniper". For a feeling of 'being there' he can't be beaten, certainly not by Ernest Hemingway who tried and failed by appearing too contrived. The writers who achieve this power to transport, as musicians or painters do can let us ignore their presence and I think that is their artistic intention, to merely present (with all their craftsmanship but so it doesn't show). Paul Bowles is such a writer as is Elmore Leonard. But that's another story.

The author, a rebellious teen in England, undertakes to walk from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople -- in 1937. This is the second half of his journey, through the Balkans and Danube lands. He has an ear for peoples' opinions, the oddities of Hapsburg imperial goulashes of different ethnicities & religions--most of which would be erased by the coming war. One has the sense of a "last glimpse" of the highly cultivated, varied human landscape of Europe before the war and Cold War divided its peoples.

Like most literary masterpieces this marvelous book has a outer vehicle that develops an inner theme. The vehicle is a journey on foot, horseback and barge across Europe in the 1930's when the author was 19. The inner theme is a resolution of polarities and opposites of all kinds. First there is the overriding polarity of solitude and company. He enjoys spending time with friends and friends of friends at their country homes in Hungary and Roumania and passing hours in their sometimes fabulous libraries but he finds refreshment and spiritual renewal in long solitary walks in wooded mountains and along the banks of the Danube where he meets an occasional deer or golden eagle. He relishes staying with his wealthy, worldly and sophisticated hosts but also enjoys the company of peasants, gypsies and lumberjacks. He likes passing comfortable nights in reasonably soft beds with clean linens but doesn't shrink from sleeping in hayricks or under sheltering oaks. The interplay of past and present are another polarity he weaves into the narrative. His knowledge of history and use of it in this work is both magnificent and enviable. Leigh Fermor is in fact one of the most cultured contemporary writers I have had the good fortune to read. He is a good linguist, a masterful historian and , surprisingly, a knowledgeable theologian. But that is only half the story. He is also a super-macho man of action completely aware of his body and its interaction with the environment. This we know from his activities, almost heroic feats, during WWII, especially in Crete. In the present book he coordinates his mental and physical endowments to produce a gorgeously textured masterpiece of English prose. Sex is not absent from the narrative but it is never described in terms that could be considered even remotely graphic. Acts are kept in the wings while he concentrates on the social, intellectual, and aesthetic dimensions of his relations with women. Unfortunately Amazon.com does not keep an ample stock of Leigh Fermor's works, so I had to purchase my copy from Amazon.co.uk. I may be impatient but my sense of company loyalty is unimpeachable. No?

I loved this book and other writing by the Author. Reading this book is like travelling with a friend. The author tells a beautiful tale of Europe just before the war. His style and tempo are close and personal, and when you reach the end of the trip, you know that you have encountered the Europe of a bygone era. Here in Canada many of my friends parents' were born in Germany, Hungary, and Romania. I tell them that this book is required reading.

I am not aware of any other account of Ada Kaleh, the island in the Danube populated by a Turkish enclave that was lost when the river was dammed in the '40s. I found an old postcard of the island in Hungary, and it's one of my favorite possesions.

A superbly designed book of puzzles. You will find all types of "brain games" with different degrees of difficulty clearly marked. An index at the end of the book allows you to choose a "brain game" according to its type and degree of difficulty. Solutions to all brain games are at the end of the book.
Very colourful and inviting for all ages. Just leave it on your coffee table and all the family will stop to browse it and try their hands (or brains rather) at any of these attractively presented puzzles.

This book is SO much fun, and there are many challenging puzzles to figure out. It's addictive!

I bought this as a Christmas present for my 3 kids, who I homeschool. They have all been enjoying the puzzles, which are very challenging for both kids and adults! The graphics are very colorful and appealing to kids. This is a great book to leave out on the coffee table - I highly recommend it!

This book is great! Very fun...the only parts we don't enjoy are the parts you are supposed to cut. We don't want to cut up our book so we most likely won't do those activities. Our favorites are the activities that don't require anything but our mind or that we can read to each other. Very fun to do with another person to pass the time.

This was purchased for two kids, 9 and 13, to take on a trip for use in the car or the expected rainy afternoons. Fun to do and a challenge for their grandparents, too.

If you like Sudoku but the puzzles seem to be getting dull, try the variants in this book. Different sizes and arrangements make new puzzles out of an old game.

I have gotten other so called hard Sudoku books and found them too easy. This one will keep you going for a long time. It has lots of different types of puzzles with the ultimate being the 16x16 grid. I would give 4 1/2 stars because I wish it were on better paper. I make copies of the hardest puzzles on better paper that can take LOTS of erasing!

Wonderful. No fluff in this book. It begins with some tricky ones that actually require several minutes to finish and gets downright hard after that. Some take hours, and often I just quit one puzzle and come back to it another day.

The various shapes/styles are a great break from the 9x9 norm. The 6x6 puzzles are absolutely vicious. Nothing like kids 6x6 sudokus that take an advanced puzzler seconds to complete. And I love the jigsaw shapes. Watch out for the 9x9 jigsaws!

There should be more advanced sudoku books like this. As recommended by others, this should not be your first foray into sudoku. But once you are hooked on the light stuff, this is a nice challenge.

First of all, I would definitely say that if you are just beginning to learn how to solve Sudoku puzzles, I strongly suggest that you do not buy this book. Instead, I would suggest a book which focuses almost entirely on the standard 9x9 Sudoku puzzles, and which starts with easy puzzles before progressing to more difficult ones. The Big Book of SuDoku 3 starts right out with difficult puzzles, and the puzzles only continue to get harder and harder as you continue.

If you are an experienced SuDoku solver who is able to solve all but the hardest 9x9 SuDoku puzzles without too much difficulty, or if you have grown a bit tired with the standard 9x9 SuDoku puzzle, this is a great book. For me, the most appealing feature of this book is that half of the 200 puzzles in this book are different from the familiar 9x9 Sudoku. While the Maxi (12x12) and Super (16x16) puzzles are just larger versions of the 9x9 puzzles, the Jigsaw, Duplex, and Triplex puzzles actually require the solver to use different solving techniques than are used for the regular puzzles.

Overall, I give this book 5 stars as long as you're up for the challenge. While this book may not contain quite the volume of puzzles as some others, the harder puzzles can take well upwards of an hour to complete, so this book will keep you occupied for a long time.

I started doing these puzzles over a year ago and I became hooked. This book is for people who have been doing them a long time, or who know they will become addicted. If you are a true beginner I would suggest the second book in this series (has a bit easier puzzles to start with up to the mega challenging. You can spend hours on some of the hardest ones, but if you are a true puzzler, that is what you want.

This is an ultimate and indispensable guide to 3-cushion players. All four books of this series are full of precious formulas and tips many of which were secret to amateurs. Systematic and pin-pointed explanations and diagrams are incredible. This series should go on.

I bought because of one-pocket interest and find many useful ideas

I have witnessed over 2000 pool and billiard tournaments and it is obvious that many VERY GOOD players cannot control the cue ball, or solve simple carom problems. There has never been anything written like these Billiard Atlas books...these systems and techniques open the door of possibilities for pool, or 3-cushion players, like never before.

As a tournament director, I have witnessed over 2000 pool and billiard tournaments and it is obvious that many VERY GOOD players cannot control the cue ball, or solve simple carom problems. There has never been anything written like these Billiard Atlas books...these systems and techniques open the door of possibilities for pool, or 3-cushion players, like never before.

Words fail me to congratulate Harris for the splendid work he has done. The four books offer a large selection of secrets and techniques for studious billards players to explore. Putting all those systems and techniques into words, must have been pioneering !!! The greatest billiards players will nearly never reveal their secrets, unless one's willing to pay for expensive private lessons. People like Harris are very rare in the world of billiards

This book containts a very good source of methods and systems easy to remember and help you to improve your level game.
I recomend you this product.

What Mr. Harris accomplished in this series is phenomenal. This is an ultimate and indispensable guide to 3-cushion players. All four books of this series are full of precious formulas and tips many of which have been secret to amateurs. Systematic and pin-pointed explanations and diagrams are incredible.

In Wichita, I selfishly organized these locals recently using Bondzinsky's ladder club concept so that they could see their averages and have their hearts on improvement. It worked too. There are 14 players. In one month they've played over 100 games and the housemen are cleaning the table everyday. Without 4 pounds of chalk, they play longer and rather well. Then, I make available the Atlas books for those that stand still long enough to read a select page or two. Most will. Those of us that rely on the books and our working our way through them (one new thing at a time) "call our shots" to each other, so we can compare and discuss the many approaches. It's a minor miracle, right here in River City. One guy will say, "Rising Sun," another offers, "Dead Ball here", "Sid", "Walt's," "Sang Lee," "Plus," all those familiar names in the books. Here's the punchline: "these writings have given even Wichita a body of information that is improving play and interest in the game...not just for students and 3 cushion fanatics, like me, but for the newcomers and converted pool players in town. The way these books play a part in the improvement of the game is probably greater than Walt will ever know."

The most comprehensive four-volume collection of billiard systems and techniques, ever published.

All year long Walt Harris should wear a red cap and a long white beard . And have his name legally changed to SANTA CLAUS (to Room Billiard Players). I had my 1926 Bruns. table re done recently; and I just finished practicing third rail arrivals, with the West Chicago Long Angle. Wow, what a pleasure to see shot after shot right on the money!! A real Christmas present to me and a pleasure to look forward to all year long. Perhaps I'll send him a reindeer or two.

This book's scope is ambitious. I wasn't sure I understook what that phrase meant until I bought The Billiard Guidebook. If there's anything you want to know about pool and billiards, here it is. And, it's much better written than those that have already copied from it. This is the original. If you are looking for a book that covers anything and everything about billiards and pool for yourself, or as a gift, this is the one. Don't let its size turn you away. It's easy to read and has great illustrations. Go for it, like I did. You'll love it.

What a fantastic book! I recovered my table in ajust a couple of hours saving from having to pay someone to do it. Not to mention this books talks about all types of tables including disassembly, moving and re-assembling as well as table maintenance, fantastic. Well worth the price. This book explains 8-ball, 9-ball and other types of billiard games as well as grip, english and more details into some of the more advanced shots of the game.

This book's scope is ambitious. I wasn't sure I understood what that phrase meant until I bought The Billiard Guidebook. If there's anything you want to know about pool and billiards, here it is. It is much better written than those that have already copied from it. This is the orginial. If you are looking for a book that covers anything and everything billiards and pool, this is the one. Don't let its size turn you off. It is well written, easy to read, and has great illustrations. Go for it. I did and I loved it.

At first this book seemed pricy... But this is the only one you have to buy! Ever. Here's what it boils down to: My husband recovered our table in just under three hours, and he only had to buy the cloth from a billiard store. We saved almost $200!

I enjoyed the fundamentals and game rules since I am a beginner: Stance, cueing, english, aiming spots, etc. My husband loves to try the practice shots for the advanced player: Straight-ins, throws, kisses, bank shots, etc. As well, it has all the maintenace procedures for us do-it-yourselfers! It has everything...how to disassemble a table...reassemble a table...recover a table...repairing cues (the right way!)...all the illustrations are in detail and easy to follow...Everything's here, in one book.

There is no other way to say it...this book is a bargain!

The Billiard Guidebook is a must have if you own or plan to own a billiard table. This book contains information covering every aspect of moving, assembling, re-felting, and playing on your billiard table. I just bought a used pool table and wish I would have read this book before hand. It would have saved me hundreds of dollars!! I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about billiards.

Good, solid info in the book. I enjoyed it... Would have liked to see (read) more on the history of blowguns, but that info is easy enough to find in other books or on the internet.

WOW! What a unique find this book was as I was rummaging around a martial arts supply store yesterday looking through their library of martial arts and martial arts related books.

I have a couple of books by this author, Knife Fighting: A Practical Course and Contemporary Knife Targeting: Modern Science Vs. W.E. Fairbairn's Timetable of Death both of which are terrific books and if you are interested in knife fighting/knife self-defense, then these two books should definitely be in your library. Anyhow, back to the review on this little literary gem.

I know little to nothing about the blowgun and have only actually fired one (so to speak) many years ago when I was just a wee lad growing up. I remember that it was kind of fun, but I was just a little one around a bunch of adults so you all know how that turned out, at least for me.

This book is well written and was really fascinating for me as, like I said earlier, I have no experience at all with the blowgun. The author starts out by giving you some background information; much needed safety information, and then dives right in on how to use a blowgun. He also tells you how to construct your own, rather than buying a professionally made blowgun, and also how to make a wide variety of darts. Including one made out of a syringe.

If blowguns are your thing, I would strongly recommend that you check out this book.

Shawn Kovacich
Martial Artist/Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.

Blowguns are unique and interesting weapons, enjoyable for sport and capable of killing small game in hunting or survival situations.

In "Blowguns: The Breath of Death" Michael Janich discusses the history of blowguns, their advantages and capabilities, and provides instructions on how to make your own blowgun at home.

The accuracy of blowguns is explained. The average shooter can quickly learn to consistently hit a `grapefruit' size target at 40 yards. And the power of a blowgun is shown where darts are capable of easily penetrating a 3/8 inch piece of plywood.

Michael Janich also shows how to make special projectiles for your blowgun, such as injector darts to inject poison into large game being hunted and broad-head darts using `X-acto' knife blades for hunting small game. There is also a brief introduction to using making and using poisons on your blowgun darts.

I first read "Blowguns: The Breath of Death" about 10 years ago, and after re-reading it again today I found it just as interesting and informative as when I first read it.

Enjoyable and highly recommended.

Michael Janich is perhaps best known for his impressive knowledge of knives, knife fighting, and the martial arts, but this informative book also clearly demonstrates that his knowledge of blowguns is unsurpassed. Janich shows how practical blowguns can be under a variety of circumstances and lays it on the line as to what they can and can not do. Whether you are a collector, hunter, or survivalist, this book will help you out.

Author Janich writes on a subject shrouded in mystery-even to a primitive weapon enthusiast-here in Europe the blowgun as a real hunting weapon is almost totally unknown.It's hard to comprehend the force your own breath transfers to a razor sharp dart(as the name of the book implies).Janich's work is pretty well rounded,although I was somewhat disappointed about the lack of actual hunting experiences and the effect of a hunting dart on a real life situation.Janich has a slight twist towards an anarchist point of view(slashing tires,harassing people with special shots etc.),but for me that was just an amusing flavor within the informative context.An important,if not the ultimate book on blowguns.