Games Books

Just let me say that if you love the game this book HAS to be in your library.

A student could pick no better player to study. No one explains like Bronstein!

A great book. Along with Tal's book, this book belongs in the, "Chess-book Hall of Fame." !

Lets cut to the chase, this is a real Sorcerer at work... The book just for the 40 combinations is worth picking up... Still lets not waste time talking about that stuff...

Bronstein loves chess, not studying this line and that line... Not just memorising and trying to think what is this or what is that... He actually Played the game, he would do moves just to see what would happen... He talks about chess in a way where it makes you wanna play... Not all boring technical stuff that most don't understand but pretend to :)... No he talks about it in his own simple way... Calls people Fox or hedgehogs and explains how the Fox will try something even if it might lose... That is what its all about, tossing it on the line... Not just playing all safe and in worry about losing... Gotta roll the dice and just go for broke... Yes he basically says he tossed the games vs. Bot cuz of pressure and this and that... So he does admit to a shady side of chess... Still he makes it very clear he just loves playing the game... He did not seem to care about all the politics and having that on him... I wish that he would of beat him though, I wish he did not give in... Still when your in his situation thats the only way you can understand... I wonder if Tal had pressure to lose in that first match in 1960... Still lets get back to Bronstein, he played very far into his life... He is almost pure Chess I think, Im not a huge fan of his... Still if you read this book, its hard not to like the guy at least to some degree... I do not agree with him telling people to build a little house and castle early... I think many games are lost cuz people castle wrongly or too early... Still Im free not to agree with him all I wish... This book really is enjoyable just to read, even if you don't go over the games... So throw out that Harry Potter and get a book with a real Sorcerer :)...

If You play with Passion for the game, get this book... This book is not for those that play boring and never take chances... So if your a Fox, pick this up, if your a hedgehog, go play with Sonic :)...

First, the book itself:it is beautiful (really nice art work), clean (wide and clear letters and a lot of space for personal appoitments) and with a good number of diagrams (which means that is easy to follow the games without a chess board). Second, the contents: amazing, even a weak player like me can follow the games AND understand what is going on. Mr. Bronstein is a superb writer and can transmit his ideas in a very simple way. Third, the overall work: wide cover of openings, very interesting games anilized and the analizis themselves, very personal comments of the author that makes the book even more interesting. Final veredict: the kind of book you can really read on a cold sunday afternoon, next to the fire place, while seeping hot chocolate, and at same time have a LOT of fun. (where can I find more stars to place in the rate stuff??!!)

This book consists of four major sections. The first is forty of Bronstein's greatest combinations. These forty games have one diagram of the position before the decisive combination. The rest of the page has Bronstein's comment on the combination. The next section is a collection of fifty of his games. Most have a medium amount of annotation, but a few have extensive annotations. Many of the games have cute annecdotes attached to them. These annecdotes are part of the charm of the book. From one of these annecdotes, one can bring proof to the theory that the Russians 'fixed' certain tounamant results. The next section is sixty games by diagram. Practically speaking, this means that there are about 5 diagrams per game. The last section is called seventy picturesque games. Unfortunately, no clue is given to what David Bronstein considers picturesque. The added bonus to the book is that between each section there is an interesting article about Bronstein. Overall this is a game collection/autobiography that is as good as Tal's, and this one has the advantage that it has a much larger percentage of Bronstein's chess career that Tal's book has.

Bronstein doesn't patronize readers. His own comments of his games are invaluable. The combinations, in the form of puzzles will improve your tactics almost immedaitely.

As a big fan of The Onion style humor, this book really delivered for me. Its sports spoofs are right on and completely hilarious. The photos and ads make the parodies look so real, adding to the fun absurdity of the book. I loved it! If you're a big sports humor guy like I am, I would also recommend Robert Gussin's TRASH TALK. It's a pretty new and really funny fiction book that imagines an accidental pairing up professional athletes and environmentalists. Sounds wacky - and it is. In the best way possible! Check it out.

When I saw that this book had come out, I immediately thought, "Ooh, Leyritz!" Unfortunately there were no appearances from the lovable bald catcher, but there are plenty of humorous stories to both make you laugh and provoke fond memories of your favorite sports memories. It's a perfect blend of sports-insider humor and witty comments on society at large (see the guest appearances from Noam Chomsky and Joyce Carol Oates and the frequent "corrections"). Definitely buy this book -- you won't regret it!

This book is very cleverly done. It's very accessible to sports fans and even if you're not, the snippets are hilarious. My wife sometimes scoffs at my obsession with sports but when I read her some of the pieces aloud, she was cracking up. The book reminds me of the various sports "Hall of Shame" series I read as a child and hopefully these guys will follow suit. I enjoyed this one and look forward to more!

From the title itself to all of the content, this book is thoroughly entertaining and very humorous. I enjoyed all the spoofs on sports metaphors, the swimsuit issue, the interviews with fake sports celebrities, and all the little jokes woven throughout the book. There are many clever and witty gags that any sports fan would surely relish. I definitely recommend this title!

Hilarious! Hard to read the articles because the next headline is so funny. But stick it out-- these guys don't overcook the roastbeef. Some morsels:

"Rocky VIII: Rocky vs. Bullwinkle"
"NASCAR Rookie Asked to Stop Using Turn Signals"
"Woeful Season Blamed on Liberal Media"
"Nike Signs Spelling Bee Champ to LIfetie Non-Endorsement Deal:$4.3 Million Agreement Ensures Gawky 8th Grader Will Never Wear Company Apparel"

Really more of an investment in humor than a purchase...

Even though I've completed the game without the book, I stil bought it! It's a really good guide for people new to Spyro.

I got this guide when I was on the Super Bonus Round of Year of the Dragon. I was stuck on the Snowboarding coarse. It did not help. I'm giving it 5 stars because it should be helpful if you are around the begining or if you need help most any where. But I think its a great guide!

This book WILL tell you:
1. The location of all the eggs and gems.
2. Detailed maps of every world and level, including the super bonus level. The game itself is fairly easy to beat without the book until you get to the last world. I got that far without the book. This guide is useful to have however.

However, it does NOT tell you much of anything about acquiring the skill points in certain levels (not all levels have them.) I found this to be quite disappointing. If you search for "Spyro Dragon Skill Point" at Ask Jeeves one of the results is titled "SpyroHints.com Dragon News" Click on that, then 'Spyro 3,' then 'Secrets' to get that info. It is for this reason I did not give this guide 5 stars.

This book WILL tell you:
1. The location of all the eggs and gems.
2. Detailed maps of every world and level, including the super bonus level. The game itself is fairly easy to beat without the book until you get to the last world. I got that far without the book. This guide is useful to have however.

However, it does NOT tell you anything about acquiring the skill points in certain levels (not all levels have them.) Which I found to be quite disappointing. If you search for "Spyro Dragon Skill Point" at Ask Jeeves one of the Results is titled "SpyroHints.com Dragon News" Click on that, then 'Spyro 3,' then 'Secrets' to get that info. It is for this reason I did not give this guide 5 stars.

I buy Prima books for any game for which I think I need that extra edge... er... or cheat :)

But I digress, Prima has the GREATEST hints and easy-to-follow instructions of any of the other game manuals. They don't rush through anything. Their descriptions are intricate and so easy even a child could follow them.

I highly recommend! A+++++

This superb collection shows now-gone buildings and architectural treasures of our beloved city's past. These remarkable black-and-white photos show famous vanished bridges, churches, buildings and arenas, including the Colesium (nominating site of four Presidents). The City's downtown and surrounding areas were rebuildt after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, in the largest building boom in U.S. history. Wood gave way to brick, steel, and concrete - the fire led to strict building codes - and many structures rose as the city expanded from 320,000 people in 1871 to 3.4 million by 1930. Readers learn about our city's history, plus the valuable contributions from world-famous architects and planners like Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Miles Van De Roh, Mortimer Adler, and Daniel Burham. Today, many call Chicago the nation's architectural marvel - yet we also lost many famous structures as this superb book shows.

I'd have liked more photos of rail structures (Chicago was and probably remains the world's railroad capital), but it's a minor flaw. This is a superb book about a great city and its architectural past.

The well written story and photos of Chicago are great. It was amazing the number of outstanding architectural building that were built and torn down in such a short number of years.
Having grown up in Chicagoland during the 40' & 50's, I found myself depressed to see such destruction - only to be replaced by glass and aluminum boxes. Even efforts to save the outstanding and much beloved main lobby at the Chicago and Northwestern station failed in the name of the almighty dollar!

First of all...Mr. Lowe obviously has a deep rooted love for our wonderful city of Chicago. Most importantly...he is ensuring future generations and historians the ability to reference so many facts. This simply said...is an incredible work of love and a dedicated effort.
Thank You Mr. Lowe...my children's children will know what an important part that Chicago has played as our nation grew and prospered.

L. Curt Erler Author of "Southside Kid"

Stunning photos of a beautiful city. This book is truly a step back to a time when buildings were built to withstand centuries, although tragically these examples did not. Chicago has some of the most impressive examples of architecture in the country and this book is a powerful archive of not only what the city was, but what it is today. I wish there was a similar book on the buildings of Detroit, many of which are sadly slipping into oblivion.

There is much to enjoy here even if one does not have a special interest in architecture. As a lifelong Chicagoan, I especially liked the photo of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (p. 79) which occurs in the formerly Polish neighborhood that I grew up in. I also enjoyed the old maps of the Chicago area from the 1600's.

Loony Toon the RPG is wonderful fun for all ages. Prepare to laugh till you hurt.

Toon: The Cartoon Role-playing Game was published by Steve Jackson Games in the mid-1980s, and many copies of the sourcebooks are still available with a little effort. This RPG primarily focuses upon American-style cartoons where truly anything goes!!! The entire focus of Toon is to be funny and to do and say things which are funny... and many anime characters and series fit quite well into this worldview: Debutante Detective Corps, Project A-ko, Otaku no Video, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, Idol Project, the Slayers saga, City Hunter, D4 Princess, Mezzo Forte, etc.

One of the most popular Toon campaigns is the Toon Olympics. Those familiar with the Hanna-Barbara Laff-a-Lympics series already have an idea of the premise of Toon Olympics: Bring together many animated characters from various series/genres and have them compete in a number of sporting events. When I first played the Toon Olympics, one player created his own cursed medieval knight character with a sentient sword which didn't always do as he commanded (which he later played in a Sailor Moon RPG campaign I was then running), someone else played a unicorn (who eventually had to drive a car), another played as Lara Croft, and I personally played as A-ko - truly an eclectic bunch!!!

However, anime fans should NOT overlook Toon as a role-playing option. Granted, Toon is not as adaptable to a wide variety of campaigns (for campaign genre/character adaptability, see the Big Eyes Small Mouth second edition sourcebook); however, for a change of pace, Toon can be used to give almost any anime character (pre-existing or original) a chance to be a comedian. For example, when I played in another Toon Olympics as A-ko, I called upon B-ko to fight a Pokémon in my place, with the promise of conceding C-ko to her if she should win (that was funny enough to earn me an extra Plot Point)!!!

This game is the best. The only problem I have is that every page you read falls out after you turn the page. Spiral binding would be great for this game because the game master has to use the book often if he is following any of the preplaned adventures. I would give it 5 stars if the binding were better.

This is a great game for anyone who has ever wanted to be a chartoon character. Or just for anyone who loves cartoons. Like the best board games (Balderdash, Malarky), the important thing is having fun and making the other players laugh. ...

This is the only rpg Ive seen that anyone can master in one or two tries. Your dreams to be bugs bunny or Daffy come true in this classic rpg. A must buy!

Though I've been mostly interested in writing for animation and comics, while playing video games I questioned who came up with it's stories. Many games have little to no stories and focus mostly on mindless entertainment...which isn't always a bad thing. But some video game stories really touch the viewer (Half Life 2, Final Fantasy, Bioshock, etc. come to mind.)

On a whim I bought this book and have enjoyed it immensely. Both the authors provided much more than I was hoping for. Both are seasoned game writers/designers who have worked on many games you know, and are still working on games. Stuff like UNCHARTED - DRAKE'S FORTUNE, CRIMSON SKIES, PROJECT ORIGIN, and FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY - THE GAME. These guys know what they are doing.

The book breaks down not only how to write for games, but what that entails, hardships you will find along the way (both with writing and people), they provide sheets you can fill out to create your own game bible to pitch. And as an added bonus they occasionally have writing exercises to help you hone your craft or understnad a point better.

Leave no stone unturned and that's what these two have done. It has my highest regards! Buy it and truly educate yourself.

I am a Multimedia student in Community College.

This book has given me a ton of good ideas on how to create a top-notch game!

I reccomend it to anybody (Like Me.) who wants to design a hit videogame!

this book is chock-full of incredibly useful information about writing and game design. many of the classic traps in this area of game development can be avoided by following flint and john's advice here. everything is outlined in a very clean and (not surprisingly) fun and witty read.

as a game developer for 10 years now, i found information in this book that i'll be using in the future and i can't recommend this book enough. these guys get it, and so should you.

As a member of the student team who needed to produce video game in rather short amount of time, I have found this book extremely helpful. I did like one-sheet summary that allowed us to summarize everything. The content was very helpful. Thank you.

This book, is a no nonsense guide to the video game industry and more specifically to game design. It gives relevant realistic experience written in an upbeat humorous and succinct style.

There aren't any cons to it that I can think of.

It's really about the "Bubble Thing". The book by itself is interesting, with lots of pictures, descriptions and history but you really have to get the "Bubble Thing". I'm in the business of (very) fun camps for children and although when I first had the thought of including a program on bubbles there were those who suggested it wouldn't work, wrong (Big Time Wrong). Kids love it. If you have children you won't regret investing in the "Bubble Thing", I don't.

I'm over 50 years old and, while visiting my Mother, I started playing with some bubble making toys she had left out for the kids. Bored, I started making some make-shift bubble wands out of coat hangers to see how big a bubble I could make. It was a lot of fun but, because of the bubble solution, I was limited to bubbles of about a foot in diameter.

I went on line to try and search out some "secret" bubble solution formulas and was eventually directed to "The Bubble Thing" book. The price was right so I bought it. I did not know at the time that it came with a "Bubble Thing". My God!...I was making these HUGE bubbles in my living room, four and five feet across before my wife walked in and stopped me. (She's not my boss or anything. I'm the Boss in my home, PERIOD!...I know this because she said I could be!)

Anyway, everywhere I go with my "Bubble Thing", I'm the undisputed center of attention. Kids and Big Kids, like me, go nuts over this thing! It's amazing and incredibly fun. I've had to order two more books so that I don't go without everytime it's "borrowed" by my neighbors and friends...you know, to show their kids. ;)

This book is the best ten bucks you'll ever spend! Kudo's to it's author and inventor of the "Bubble Thing"! If you were to get paid a buck for every smile or shriek of laughter and delight created by your invention, Bill Gates would have to leave town.

Many thanks,

Jerry

John Cassidy and David Stein did a great job on this book and the "Bubblething" that come with the book. I have a little girl who loves bubbles and this book and toy have been great fun. The truth be known I am having as much fun blowing these HUGE bubbles as she is chasing them down and popping them. I should warn you though all the kids on the block will be stopping by asking you to blow bubbles for them.

This book, the Unbelievable Bubble Book, is about a toy that produces the biggest soap blown, amateur-created, bubbles in the world.

After the instructions on how to use The Bubble Thing, the book covers all aspects of bubbles (history, science) in an entertaining styling accessible to children and young adults. And older adults, too, whoever cares to open it.

I really enjoyed this book, and guffawed at the author's humor. John Cassidy is an amusing writer. He courageously writes humor right alongside scientific fact, and pulls it off. His writing skills have obviously developed past those deserving a bunch of rotten vegetables thrown at him.

The inventor of the Bubble Thing, David Stein, has an interesting and personal story to tell about his invention. You get the impression from reading his story that there was no financial incentive behind the work he put into making his incredible toy. But he knew what he wanted, performance-wise, from the start. He cared about getting the best bubbles he could, but to entertain his baby daughter. Through trial-and-error, that was just what he got.

The book and the toy are all-around great, and I thoroughly recommend them. Try out the Bubble Thing, it's as good as what you fantasize it could be. The bubbles it makes are HUGE.

My husband received this book several years ago as a 50th birthday present. It sat in it's wrapper for a couple of years-what does a grown man need with a Bubble Book? Well he has resurrected it and has had so much fun with it this summer. We took it to our family reunion, on vacation and to a chorus picnic, kids big and small are fascinated and want to try it. Give it a try--you will be hooked.

Sara Corbett, who wrote this book, had the opportunity of traveling with the winning U.S. Women's Basketball Olympic team from their early tryouts in April 1995 to their glorious gold medal in Atlanta in 1996. She was there when they for the very beginnings and the selection process; she was there for their rigorous training under their coach, Tara Vanderveer; she was there during meals and long boring flights.

Through a series of in-depth interviews, as well as 14 months of personal

observation, she has written the book that defines the major milestone in women's basketball gaining the public's awareness and acceptance. Each of the 12 women on the team as well as their coach are skillfully profiled, and their stories credit, Ms. Corbett, kept the focus on the game. She lets the player's hopes and dreams and divergent personalities emerge through the sport. Of course we get their backgrounds too. We see Sheryl Swoops and her adoring husband, we see the explosive personality of Dawn Staley who likes to make side wagers on everything; we see Rebecca Lobo having trouble keeping up with the training; and Lisa Leslie's love for dressing up. But most of all, we see them play basketball.

In 1995, there wasn't even a basketball league for women. But during the time of their training for the Olympics, the possibility of two different leagues emerged -- the WNBA and the ABL. This was the major source of conflict between the members on the team during the course of the year. They had to put their disagreements aside though, and play basketball.

And that they did. They played and played and played, wining every single one of the games they played during that year. The women's college teams were easy, but they struggled with the team from China and the team from Australia. They constantly traveled, and the fatigue and frustrations of a life on the road was clearly examined.

Now, just a few years after the Olympics we take the WNBA for granted. American women now have an arena to play basketball professionally after college without going to Europe to play. The experiences playing for the European teams were usually unhappy. They were alone in foreign countries with a cultural barrier between themselves and their teammates. They were treated poorly, and sometimes punched and sexually intimated by their male coaches. It was never a pleasant experience.

The women were proud to be on the Olympic team, but the pressure never let up. Each game was a different kind of challenge. I loved the descriptions of the games, and even though I knew the final outcome of each game, found my heart beating during the play by play action. The game became more than just an unidentified player running around the court. It was Sheryl and Teresa and Katrina and Dawn. It was Rebecca and Jennifer and Lisa and Carla. I followed the action. And I was right there on the court with them.

One of the greatest things about this book, too, was how much it stirred me to learn more. My experience with basketball is limited and so I found myself screen. I therefore found myself going outside the confines of the book, asking questions of the basketball experts in my life, and looking up each player on the internet to find out where she is playing now and how she is doing.

I loved this book, carried it everywhere and couldn't put it down. I was right there with the team all the way and shared the very real swells of emotion they were experiencing . I shared the pain of their injuries, the strain of their training, the adrenaline rush during the games. I shared he plays that didn't make it and the plays that did. I heard the roar of the crowd, felt the strain and the pain, and experienced the glory of the victory.

The story of women's basketball is more than the story of this individual Olympic team. it is about the real opportunities that have opened for women in the world of sport. And, as a whole new generation of little girls are growing up with these possibilities now a reality, it is about the future.

Highly highly recommended.

This book has become one of my favorites. Telling the story of the 12 women who made up the 1996 gold medal team, Corbett went in-depth which each player. The book created a personal veiw of what the team went through. From a 30 year old vetren, to a 20 year old not yet graduated, you are able to get a real sense of each player!

Venus to the Hoop is a motivation to every kind of athlete. If you have ever played basketball you may be able to understand the situations these women athletes were put in. The detailed descriptions of the players and their coaches and staff allows you to understand the atmosphere they had to play basketball in. If you want to read a good book and also get some posative thinking out of it, read Venus to the Hoop. This book has really helped me keep a positive attitude about sports, teammates and life. I loved the way the competitors from the past pulled together and played as one on the same team. The way they helped eachother out in games and off the court helped me realize that they loved playing basketball. Keeping a positive attitude is important to me, and this book made me look at my life more positively.

Author Sara Corbett was granted exclusive access to the 1996 US women's basketball team, and this amounts to their authorized biography. Corbett is a good writer and manages to convey a series of themes: the tenuous existence of women's basketball in the US in 1995 when the team was formed, the heterogenous backgrounds of the players and coaches, the incipient rivalry between two nascent professional leagues for the allegiances of the players, to name a few. And Corbett is to be commended for managing to integrate this disparate material into a single narrative. But in basketball terms she is a "homer" -- and one wonders whether the exclusive access that she was given, implicitly or explicitly, informs this relentlessly positive depiction of the team. That said, it is probably a very good book for teenagers of either gender interested in basketball.

My two daughters are junior high basketball players, and I picked up this book on a whim at a bookstore recently. I was gripped from page one and couldn't put it down after that. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to CALL Sara while I was reading this and tell her, "This is a great book!" But I trust other people have done that. You really get a sense of what being on that team was like, and I enjoyed this book immensely. It's on my list of all-time favorite sports books.

These are beautiful cards and I can't wait to get a new set. The reprint was supposed to be out in May 08 but is now delayed for July 08. These cards are not out of print so save your money if your thinking they are rare. I'm sure Amazon will have them available by the middle of this summer.

I wanted to recommend this tarot deck. It is my favorite. The images are deeply powerful as well as beautiful. I can relate to the idea of water representing the emotional body, as well as fire the energetic body, the air the spirit body, and vegetables and flowers the material realm. The Vision Quest Tarot booklet makes this deck different than other tarots. The definitions are very precise and accurate. I too, like a previous reviewer, usually do one reading about once or twice a year; it is that good. The cards are surrounded by a white framed border. I am ordering another deck to write key words around the frame of the cards for easy and instant interpretation when I read for others.

The Vision Quest Tarot was created by Gayan Sylvie Winter and Jo Dosé in 1998. It is published by AGM Agmüller in Switzerland, and distributed by U.S. Games in this country.

The seventy-eight card pictures for this deck are all based on themes from the Native American Indian tradition. The artwork depicts Native American Indians engaged in traditional activities, and these pictures serve to define the meanings of the cards.

Each of the pip cards has a single word printed at the bottom, and that is the meaning of the card. The meanings of the Major Arcana and court cards are contained in the instruction booklet.

When I first started using this deck a few years ago, I had mixed feelings about it. I liked the earthly artwork and the spiritual quality of the card meanings, but I had difficulty doing intelligible readings with it.

During the intervening years I discovered the magic of using the combined meanings of Tarot cards dealt in pairs. Typically, I would deal eighteen cards, nine pairs in all. Most of the time, a card meaning would be only one or two or three words long to facilitate combining its meaning with that of another card. In this way, a pair of cards produced a new, systhesized single meaning.

I recently rediscovered the Vision Quest Tarot, and started using it again. This time, however, the cards came alive. Their one-word card meanings were ideal for my eighteen-card layout of nine pairs. As I used the nine-pair layout, I noticed a quality that was missing from other decks I had used in this way. Amazingly, the nine pairs of Vision Quest cards rendered divinations that answered each question in a logical, linear fashion. The systhesized meaning of each pair was like a sentence in a paragraph, with one sentence serving as the foundation for the next. Each pair produced an orderly progression of thought from one pair to the next.

This was astounding. In all the other decks I had used in this way (and there were a few), there was no logical or narrative flow from one pair to the next. The nine pairs of cards would provide a comprehensive answer to the question, but not in a smooth narrative fashion as with the Vision Quest cards.

I have no clue as to why the Vision Quest Tarot alone answers questions in this way, but it does.

With all that said, the relevance of the one-word card meanings is sometimes difficult to comprehend. As with all decks I have ever seen, you will need to use your imagination and intuition to flesh out the meanings of the cards into more fully realized statements.

I recently purchased this deck. I had been using the Faery Wicca Deck. I wanted to work with my Indian ancestors and energies and did not feel the connection I desired with the Wicca deck. The bond was immediate with Vision Quest. It has given me insight and direction in multiple dimensions in my life.

This deck is beautiful in concept, as well as beautiful in illustration and working. I can only use this deck once a year, as it is SO accurate it makes me a little uncomfortable. However, with the intent of the cards inherent in the pictures, this deck should really be and CAN be used more often. A more experienced practitioner should be able to handle the depth and power of it. I use a three card spread, past-present-future.
The card pictured on the box, the medicine woman card, to ME, unlike one of the other reviewers, IS the most powerful and beautiful card in the deck. (In fact I plan a tattoo of her,changing out the hawk for a raven and adding wolves and an owl). She is particularly powerful in her peace and strength, and should be honored. The shamaness card is powerful, but a little disappointing to me in illustration. She is the only Pacific NorthWest Native American in the deck and I find that a little strange.
This deck is WELL WORTH your money and energy. Its illustrations promote positive contemplation no matter what the issue you are addressing.

I found this book contains everything for a beginner to get started in the craft of polmer clay. My 15 year-old has already started her project, and I'm into my 4th project. All this production and we have had the book for only 2 weeks. I'm already ordering the polymer clay by the pound. The two ounce packages are wa-a-a-a-y to small for this new found medium! If you are looking for summer projects to keep the kids busy, this is the book for you. Both Mom and the kids will be hooked in no time.

I enjoyed this book because it offered some fresh new concepts and interesting projects. I feel anyone from the beginning clayer to the accomplished artist would enjoy this book. Photography was very good. Easy to follow directions make 20 Weekend Projects with Polymer Clay a great book for all clayers. We need more like it and hopefully the author will have another one for us soon.

This book is a must for any beginning to intermediate polymer clay crafter or artisan. The projects are beautiful and very "do-able"! Irene's own projects are displayed in very good photos, and are a marvelous source of inspiration for combining techniques and textures. Her tiled mirrors and wall pieces are breathtaking.

...this is the one I'd recommend. I've been working with polymer clay for 17 years, and I have seen *all* the books. This is the one I recommend to either beginning OR more experienced clayers. A beautiful, interesting, well-done book.

This is my favorite polymer clay book -- the first book I "ask" whenever I have a question. Irene gives clear explanations, painlessly taking the reader through 20 gorgeous projects....