Resources Books

I can do no better than the hydrogeologist Syndnor in summarizing the utility of this introductory work. My only critique is that Mount needs to revise the chapter on climate and consider projected impacts on CA's surface water based on what we now know after 13 years of data collection.
Just as Knox needs to revise his primer Global Climate Change and California (1992).

California Rivers and Streams: the conflict between fluvial processes and land use, Dr. Jeffrey F. Mount, 1995, University of California Press, 359 pages

California geologists, engineers, environmental planners, and the general public will enjoy reading this comprehensive book on California rivers. The author is Dr. Jeffrey Mount, who holds the Roy J. Shlemon Chair of Geology at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Mount is the Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis. He has formerly served on the Reclamation Board within the California Resources Agency.

With a heightened sense of public concern about flooding, water supply, levee repair, fish habitat, and river restoration, this book on California rivers is the best general primer that is currently available. Although not designed as a textbook, California teachers may find it suitable for introductory courses because of its comprehensive scope and highly readable narrative.

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1, How Rivers Work, includes: Chapter 1, Introduction to the rivers of California; Chapter 2, Water in motion, Chapter 3, A river at work ¯ sediment entrainment, transport, and deposition; Chapter 4, The shape of a river; Chapter 5, Origins of river discharge; Chapter 6, Sediment supply; Chapter 7, River network and profile; Chapter 8, Climate and the rivers of California; Chapter 9, Tectonics and geology of California's rivers.

Part 2, Learning the Lessons: Land Use and the Rivers of California, includes: Chapter 10, Rivers of California ¯ the last 200 years; Chapter 11, Mining and the rivers of California; Chapter 12, Logging California's watersheds; Chapter 13, Food production and the rivers of California; Chapter 14, A primer on flood frequency ¯ how much and how often? Chapter 15, The urbanization of California's rivers; Chapter 16, The damming of California's rivers; and Chapter 17, The future ¯ changing climate, changing rivers.

Review by Robert H. Sydnor
California Certified Hydrogeologist #6
LM-AEG, LM-AAAS, LM-AGU, M-GSA, M-AGWA

This book will answer any questions you have and then answer all the questions you are too dense to think of. Anyone living in California should be forced to read this. River runners also benefit from this book that shows the correct fleuvial processes, unlike many kayaking/rafting books. Read it, get on the water and then fight for the rivers!

This is a subperb review of how rivers systems work and how man-made changes effect these systems. Perfect for the interested layperson interested in earth science. The second half of this book covers the major watersheds of California.

I am a hydrologist and a water lawyer practicing in Washington DC -- this is the book I give to clients and friends to explain how rivers work and what people do to them. It assumes an intelligent reader but no background is required to get the main points. While its title and focus is California, the lessons are applicable throughout the country. Great book.

A clear, concise explanation of best practices and pitfalls for those
who would offer caregiving in a compassionate and Christ-like way.
This is no sappy, do-gooder book... and it's no "fix-it" message
either.

This is an excellent book that we have used to teach Christian Care Giving in three churches. It also serves as a text book for the Stephens Ministry basic course. The book is good on its own, but works best when its contents are discussed in a class seting.

I am a Stephen Ministeries Leader and this has proven to be a vaulable tool to use in our continuing education time of our meetings. WONDERFUL!!!

It is a must read for every Caregiver that is in the business or volunteering to help in the "Care Industry".

The world needs people who care. This book is a practical manual for anyone who has ever felt uncomfortable comforting a friend or acquaintance.

Kenneth Haugk has written this book to address the real-life issues people confront when caring for others. Many find it easier to discuss sex than to discuss issues of their faith and religion. Even if we are comfortable sharing these matters, those with whom we deal may not be.

This practical, well-written book takes the reader beyond theories about the integration of psychology and theology. It strengthens and re-enforces your call to care for those about who you care.

Very Good Textbook! The diagnostic assessments were easy to follow. The textbook is written with professionalism and expertise. I had to take a reading diagnostics class for my graduate program. I am so glad that my school decided to use this book! I refuse to sell my book and I will use the text in my future classroom! If you plan on selling your textbooks, I would not sell this one. I would reconsider selling this book because it will become handy in the classroom. I guarantee you will use it again!:)

This is a great diagnostic tool to get a grasp on a student's reading skills and deficits. I like how it gives their frustration, independent, and instructional reading levels.
I would recommend this informal inventory to tutors, teachers, and mentors.

I needed this book for a class I was taking. It was mandatory so I guess it was helpful. I won't know to the full extent until I begin teaching and using it as a helpful resource. Looking through it though, it seemed very helpful for assessing K-8 students with various assessments in order to keep assessing with different tests.

The grade level assessmenta are very concise and easy to administer, enabling users to quickly assess reading comprehension levels and listening comprehension levels. Because it is easy to use, it helps provide a starting point in grouping students for small group instruction, reading groups and guided individual reading.

This reading inventory kit is great for all students from elementary level to adult. The inventories in this book allow us to make instructional decisions according to the results. The format is easy to follow, and the cd-rom gives a clear idea on test administration. The classroom reading inventory is an individual diagnostic test, and this text explains the process, making you feel comfortable in administering it.

karen's aunt peaches is expecting a baby and is moving back to stoneybrook and stays with claudia's family. Claudia and peaches are the closest and they do all kinds of things like going shopping for baby stuff, watching old movies, cooking delcious dinners and dressing up in funky costumes, you can really see where claudia gets her creativity from. But then claudia and peaches go out for pizza at night, come home late and claudia's mom makes it a big deal that they went out at night, BIG DEAL! And since then peaches and claudia were not speaking to each other but then things work out at the end after peaches lost the baby. On the side, claudia is getting mary anne to teach her how to knit a lavender baby blanket for the new baby, and natalie springer from the little sister series makes appearances in the book too, interesting read.

This was a very good BSC book. I thought it was funny. I was o happy that Claudia's aunt Peaches was going to have a baby! This book is also sad too. After reading this, I recommend that you read Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby. It's also about Peaches. Also the part about Natalie Springer was good, too.

claudia's aunt peaches is expecting a baby and is moving back to stoneybrook and stays with claudia's family. Claudia and peaches are the closest and they do all kinds of things like going shopping for baby stuff, watching old movies, cooking delcious dinners and dressing up in funky costumes, you can really see where claudia gets her creativity from. But then claudia and peaches go out for pizza at night, come home late and claudia's mom makes it a big deal that they went out at night, BIG DEAL! And since then peaches and claudia were not speaking to each other but then things work out at the end after peaches lost the baby. On the side, claudia is getting mary anne to teach her how to knit a lavender baby blanket for the new baby, and natalie springer from the little sister series makes appearances in the book too, interesting read.

In my opinion, this is one of the best books in the Baby-Sitters Club Series! Great job, Ann!

Claudia can't believe her luck--wacky Aunt Peaches, one of her favorite people on the planet, is moving back to Stoneybrook...and she's going to have a baby! Claudia's sure that life with Peaches around will be nonstop fun. At first, it is. But then one of Peaches' crazy adventures gets Claudia in trouble. Claudia's really mad--so mad that she blows up at Peaches. And before Claudia can apologize, something awful happens. Claudia would give anything to take back her angry words now. Is there any way she can make things right again? Read this book and find out!

Claudia is happy that Aunt Peaches is back in Stoneybrook. They love to eat junkfood, play pretend. But one day it stops. Aunt Peaches gets Claudia in trouble!

Good information about creating an auction ad (including sample templates) and interacting with buyers and sellers. Another plus: she presents an impressive list of smaller, specialized auction sites by category.

She went into a bit too much detail about necessary hardware (computer, modem, etc.) as almost all her readers are probably already online. Also, as with any book written about a Net-related topic, some parts of it were out-of-date before it hit the shelves. For example, she reviews the auction site "Up4Sale" which is no longer in business.

Overall, a worthwhile read for those serious about buying and selling at online auctions.

I've read every word in this book and highly recommend it as an clear explanation of the how-to's of ethical buying and selling via online auctions.

Personally, as a seller on various online auctions, I found the html info and templates explained in the back of the book to be most helpful!

I read the previous reviews of this book and I had to give my input - the more information, the better. Unfortunately, some data does go out of date. This book should be read before going to an online auction, while your in the middle of the auction, and after it's completion. There are lot's of examples (what I like) and how to's. If there's a problem with an auction, the author tries to assist you with other's examples. This an excellent "cookbook" for online auctions.

I found this book to contain the best and most conscise information on how to host an online auction. From start to finish, Nancy Hix guides you through every step with ease. Her advice is very easy to understand and follow. Being new to the whole internet auction experience, this book anwered numerous questions and enabled me to glide through auction sites very quickly. Her detailed descriptions of exactly how to host your own auction proved invaluable. If you are interested in learning about Online Auctions sites, or hosting your own auction, this book will get you started with confidence.

I had had already read two "online auctions made easy" type books before I bought this one. The others covered a lot of the basics but did not deal with HTML. I wanted to add "class" to my auctions and HTML was what I thought I needed and was confused on why these other books did not even mention the issue--I thought maybe it was too complicated??? Then I came across this book, it provided an extremely clear and easy walk through of the HTML language. There are even a few templates that I was able to examine and then adapted one for my own use. If a simple introduction to HTML is what you are after look no further...

This is a great book and I agree with Mr. Leeb. However, I remember the 1970's and Mr. Leeb likes to compare today with what happened in the 1970's and assumes things might happen the same way in our next oil crisis. From 2008 to 2030, this is a very different type of oil crisis, this is about depletion of the world's natural resources. I have paid for Mr. Leeb's newsletter for several years and have made money. He gives good advice and I think he's right. It's a very good read. Regards, Keith Renick, Peachtree City, Ga.

This book is worth reading. The authors looked into it and found out that oil prices will keep going up and offer some ways to protect your money during high oil prices.

This book is definitely an interesting read as it has an unorthodox approach to something that almost all Americans feel the effect of: rising oil prices.

Dr. Leeb is clearly a very intelligent individual and wrote this book about continually rising oil prices when oil was around $65/barrel in early 2006. That prediction alone is impressive and the book follows the believable premise that this trend will continue and oil will cost at least $200/barrel in the next few years.

He gives us reasons why this coming crisis is being ignored, where we should invest in the next few years, and what effects this economic collapse will have on the economy and the world if it is still ignored. The book also covers some basic economic concepts such as inflation and outlines possible US government action to control and deal with this crisis as it unfolds.

The book is easy to read and written on a level that I could easily understand. I recommend it for the ideas it gives and for the several points that really made me think and consider our current economic status and what it might lead to in the near future.

I agree with most of Dr. Leeb's positions in what he addresses in this book, namely that the situation he outlines for the future will come to pass if nothing is done. I also realize that he is writing from a well-informed and experienced position, and that is worthy of respect from everyone. There were only a few things I didn't understand about the book.

First, this book is repetitive. There are maybe 50 pages of content in a 196 page book. He could have written an excellent small booklet or a series in a trade journal but seemingly opted to make the same project into a full book. The information is good; the presentation is much too long.

Secondly, he has a chapter entitled "Planning for Survival: Alternatives to Oil." This chapter outlines several well-known alternative energy solutions (natural gas, nuclear, wind, etc.) and boldly states "One of the most promising alternative energies...is wind" (page 133). This sounds fair enough, but if you add up his numbers on page 143 you would find that (by his estimates) we need 800,000 windmills in the US to provide us with all our electricity needs. Dr. Leeb implies that we should commit to this immediately, so probably he has already invested in wind power. I am not an engineer, but I have seen these windmills and I cannot imagine where you could put them or where the concrete, metal and labor (and energy!) resources required for a construction project like this would come from. I may be wrong, but I would have liked to see more evidence to back up the statement that wind is the best alternative energy available.

Despite these points, I think this is a really excellent book. I am more of an optimist than Dr. Leeb, and I think that when the crisis hits it will not be with such doomsday results that he outlines. Humans, the most adaptive creatures on earth, will figure out a way to deal with it that will minimize damage and we will recover even if it takes a few years with a slower world economy. However, his advice and non-conformist ideas are excellent and only time will tell the true impact as the economic and political status of the world seems to change yearly. In the meantime, I recommend reading this book and considering the financial advice and predictions that Dr. Leeb offers. It should not take long to read and I learned a lot that I would never have thought of before.

This is Important Stuff - We all wish that the world would stay under control, but reality will not be denied. Leeb is to be admired for saying it like it is. It's too bad that most Americans will not read this book - a cold logical look at what the future will look like.

I just happened to pick up the audio-book version of this book before thumbing through the hardcover.

This is first book of its kind that I've found that recommends stock options and an investment strategy for surviving the coming economic collapse. Dr. Leeb presents a strong argument for getting your finances in order. The basis for his book is the 1970's, a period very familiar to me, the time of "Stag-flation." I believe that with a few adjustments for problems he missed ¯ academic studies such as these tend to be rich in details and highly accurate but myopic. Dr. Leeb is primarily worried about inflation. The basis of his book is that the government will flood the market with dollars to counter the political fallout from collapsing demand. Maybe so, if it can.

Unfortunately, when this book was written, the mortgage crisis had just begun to show up in the media. Where will the money come from when the government is broke? I'm just guessing but I think you'd want to hedge a little more towards deflation than inflation and Dr. Leeb takes this into account.

Another minor flaw with the book is a lack of appreciation for the economic impact of the environment. He sees this as a problem that is 50 years away. As a practical environmentalist and a chemical engineer, I see it as a problem we must address within 10 years or so or we, as a species, will be dead. The American Chemistry Society (ACS) has provided ample warning for years about the rising unhealthiness of the food we eat -- like the warnings to everyone, not just pregnant women, not to eat fish (those on the top of their food chains).

The EPA now warns pregnant women not to eat shark, mackerel, tilefish, albacore (white) tuna or swordfish because of mercury; in truth, their credibility is not gold leaf anymore. Better advice would be to not eat walleye, salmon, pike, or trout and this goes for wild fish and farm-raised. The reason why government agencies such as these are not reliable is because of protection of government interests, such as Canadian and American commercial fishing. But, that, to use an old author's ploy is another story.

Dr. Leeb misses this converging phenomena. One reason may be the cost of damage to the environment. This cost is largely un-measureable and is usually ignored in economic analysis. I should know, I'm a engineer. We have trouble accounting for inflation in our calculations let alone the economic impact of improvements in quality, safety or the environment. I am sure that DuPont would have taken more care not to destroy the Chesapeake Bay if they could have weighed the economic cost. Certainly, the government accountants would have reminded them with stiff penalties.

Or, maybe, Dr. Leeb assumes that if the effect of the environment is severe enough, the health system will collapse altogether. Imagine a world without health care. He alludes to this towards the end of the book.

All in all, this is an excellent book. Like the others in this genre, he warns about inflation. I think Dr. Leeb has chosen the correct path by avoiding the temptation to tell you how bad it could get and focusing on how you can improve your lot during the collapse. At least, Dr. Leeb has some investment ideas for your survival.

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This book helps me to understand more how to build up the community life.
This is an excellent book for any community learning to accept and live together as a good community with love.

The profound wisdom in this book is born out of a lifetime of growth in the context of Christian community with the poor that Jean Vanier has been immersed in for almost 40 years. This book is not only interested in giving structural and personal tips for creating a healthy and God-centered community; it actually is like Jean Vanier's manifesto in terms of his paradigm of why community life is important and how God teaches special and beautiful things in the context of communities. He is such an effective writer. He is able to exhort the reader to want to pursue community life, but without being overly idealistic and ignoring the many complex difficulties that arise. Jean exhorts the reader to pursue community life not because it will be easy and always meet all our needs, but because it brings tremendous growth and because God's love and calling are bigger than the problems that come up in community. This is the best book I have ever read on community, and I will likely read it again.

Jean Vanier's Community and Growth sheds such light on the topic of community. The richness flows from years of keen observation, experience, reflection, and prayer on this issue. Vanier has lived and breathed community, not just studied it. Humility and grace flow from each page. Vanier's servant leadership in the l'Arche communities is a wonderful living witness to the world of what Christian love looks like fleshed out. A real strength in this book is Vanier's insight into human nature. Even as Christians we are a mixture of light and darkness. But God's grace shines through when we accept others as they are. Yet at the same time, the community beckons each individual member to grow more Christlike. This book teaches us how to live in any kind of community: the home, church, small group, or any gathering. Vanier writes that a true community "provides a sense of belonging and an orientation of life to a common goal and common witness" (p.10). With such clarity and perception Vanier paints a vivid picture of community for us: the importance of unity, forgiveness, mission, selflessness, communication, celebration, humility, and respect for authority. Community and Growth helps us along the journey of "life together." There are some books that are to be read once. And there are others to be read and reread. This book invites us to return to it over and over--like an old friend.

I read this book about 15 years ago and am going through it again now. It could use some editing, in my opinion. He goes over certain topics again and again.

But still 5 stars! It deals with the missing important link in social services - love and attachment! How to provide family or something family like to people who are broken.

Also, another theme is valuing people over success - that caring for and living life beside the weakest of us is "where it is at." Turning culture on it's head in a way.

Start by being with the broken, living in the same house as the broken. And then finally realizing you are also one of the broken. And that it is hard, but GREAT!

Or something like that. Vanier can tell the story much better than I can. I have heard him speak on three or four occasions and met him twice. He seems even more genuine and loving than his book is. One time he took a "sabatical" from his work leading the L'Arche Federation and lived in a house with one of the most challenging people in his community. Sabatical?

Anyway, having been around L'Arche now for 11 years and having seen not only the book and the man but some of the communities his vision resulted in - I think this book is very worth reading. Kind of a thick book - but not hard to read.

Vanier takes an in-depth look at community life and living through his experiences with the L'Arche community in France.

This Biblically-based book offers excellent insights, tips, rules and suggestions for how to build a healthy community.

The book is a wonderful primer for anyone considering the possibility of living in Christian community.

I have studied and used dozens of books on the topic of competencies, and many are useful, but this is the one I return to most often. My copy of this book is ragged, dog-eared, coffee-stained, and marked by many colored tabs for quick reference. Competence at Work changed my approach to human resources, and I actually earned some national honors and recognition for innovations in assessment and workforce planning by using it as a guide. It yields an effective understanding of competencies and how to apply them in processes such as recruiting, selection, development, performance management, succession, and workforce planning.

Some insights and tools in the book are particularly valuable:

Criterion sampling:
Compare high performers to average performers in order to understand how each performance group achieves their different levels of success.

Operant measures:
Measure how people operate in the real world as opposed to how they respond to a list of multiple-choice items. It describes Behavioral Event Interviewing (BEI) as the preferred approach, but you might have to access other sources for a complete understanding of the BEI.

Competency definitions and scales:
These alone are worth the price of the book. Based on behaviors that are empirically related to performance in a wide variety of jobs, they provide a quick-start to comparing performance groups and developing competency models, and they provide a framework for both assessing and developing competencies in people.

The principles and methods outlined in this book allow one to construct and apply competency models and human resource practices that get results. If I could have only one book on human resources, it would be this one! If I could have only three, the other two would also be by Spencer: Reengineering Human Resources and Calculating Human Resource Costs and Benefits.

Lyle Spencer has written a book that is lucid, well-organized, and a concise reference on human competence. If this was history, you would know that he had been there and had not merely interviewed those who were. This is so because his work is informed by original research. Spencer begins the presentation within a framework of competence that is criterion-referenced. The competence dictionary is organized around competency clusters that are well-defined and behaviorally anchored. But theory is not left to wrestle with the reader's experience. Spencer provides the practioner with a guide that takes the user through all steps in the conduct of a competency study. Spencer closes with a set of generic competency models that the practioner can tailor to his or her client before drawing the reader's attention to the variety of applications that study data may serve. Though a bit pricey, you can purchase it with the knowledge that it will stand up well as your single source of reference.

The phrase "essential reading" is a cliché, however, this is truly essential reading for anyone seeking to understand competencies.

Not bed-time time reading; this is a technical book for HR professionals. Detailed and lucid (although the neophyte may prefer to start with something a little lighter, eg some emotional intelligence work by Goleman).

A good index and bibliography.

This book gives a comprehensive competency dictionary using behaviorally anchored rating scales for each competency. It also gives step by step guidelines on how to use the dictionary in all types of HR decision making. It is clearly written and is based on years of extensive research. Using this book eliminates the need to use expensive and dependency creating consulting services. Every HR professional should have it on their shelf. Moreover, as a training professional, if I had to choose 2 books to have on my bookshelf, I would choose this book and Performance Consulting by Dana Gaines Robinson.

This book present the components of the job competence assessment approach,including the competency dictionary, which lists, defines, and provides scoring criteria that can help you predict superior performance for most jobs,It's provided to step by step guidelines on how to use the dictionary in all types of
job.
You will understand what is competence from this book!I strongly recommendation!

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This cookbook is just what I thought it would be and I'm pleased. It's an easy read and go to book. There are many, many recipes of the same thing made in different ways with changes in ingredients sometimes too. I like that sort of thing.

I've had this book for several years and I still use it. The Cream of Cauliflower Soup on page 93 is so good that my family was licking their bowls. And if you really want to impress someone or yourself make the Bacon-Wrapped Chicken on page 192. Absolutely wonderful!

This book was given to me by my sister as a part of my bridal shower gift. This is quite possibly the most useful gift I recieved. As a new homemaker and wife I have faced reality that I need to learn to cook and this book has come in handy just about every week. The recipes are easy and most ingredients you will already have in your cupboards and fridge. I also like the fact that they don't take long to make especially when everyone in your house works, the last thing you want to wait for is dinner! I highly recommend this to anyone and would also think it would be good for kids since the recipes are so easy. Five stars!

This is really a neat book! Just like the title says, all recipes contain 5 ingredients, some even less. The main chapters are: Appetizers & Beverages; Breads, Brunch & Breakfast; Soups, Salads & Sandwiches; Vegetables & Side Dishes; Main Dishes; and Sweets. There is a page to take notes next to the main dish chapter, plus the main dish chapter gives suggestions as to what side dishes and/or desserts to serve them with. The last half of the main dish chapter is entitled "Your Guide to Left-Over Turkey, Chicken and Ham" with recipes using up the leftover meat you might have. There is also a couple pages in the Sandwich chapter that gives "new and different combinations" for sandwiches, a page listing 6 "special sandwich spreads" and a basic hamburger recipe along with a page and half of creative ways to spice up the average hamburger. All in all, I think this is a really cool book, despite the fact there are no pictures, especially if you are really busy or don't want to take the time to fool with long complicated recipes!

If you told me that someone had made a book of recipes that only take five ingredients and three steps to make I would not have believed it contained so many delicious recipes. From appetizers, to breads, to brunch, soups, salads, sandwiches, vegetables, side dishes, main dishes, and sweets just about any type of recipe is represented here. This is a great cookbook for the novice cook or people in a hurry. The recipes are so simple that even a young teenager can prepare a complete meal without any problems.

Some of the recipes that I really liked were the Roasted Garlic Dip, Mini Reubens, Green Olive Spread, Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken, Ranch Chicken, Sweet and Sour Spareribs, and Peanut Butter Fudge. It was really hard to pick favorite recipes from this book because everything I tried was great. This cookbook has already become one of my personal favorites. It has everything that I look for - comb bound so it lies flat, easy recipes to follow, easily acquired ingredients, minimal cleanup, and very tasty. This is a highly recommended cookbook for anyone to have around the house to prepare that elegant meal that looks and tastes like you have slaved in the kitchen all day.

You must try the Asparagus Pesto! By my calculations, a batch of this makes more and costs less than store-bought pesto. (Also less oily, if you wish.)

This book is easy to read and use. The information is presented clearly and it is easy to understand. This book is a great source book to teach yourself solar cooking. It is also easy to include younger children. Older children could pick it up and teach themselves from reading it. The recipes are of a wide variety so there should be a favorite for just about everyone. It isn't too "new age" as some other books on this subject. Outlines food safety issues very well with easy to remember rules and suggestions for building your own solar cooker. Easy enough for a child to do.

Just picked up the book yesterday and read it from cover to cover last night. Great opening section about how solar cooking works. I haven't seen it explained more clearly anywhere else. Great explanations on how to build your own- two types. And the recipes look wonderful. I'll be trying many of them when I finish building mine.

I must say this book is a real gem. It is small but contains some good information. Half the book is information on solar cooking and it even tells you how to build two simple solar cookers from things you probably have around the house or can get cheap. The other half of the book contains recipes for cooking with your solar cooker. Excluding the recipes, the book can be read in a few hours at most. After which you will know enough to be able to build your own solar cooker and be cooking in no time. The book also gives sources for buying a cooker should you really want to do so.

I built a panel cooker in about an hour or two following the easy instructions. The next day I cooked a meal with it using a recipe I modified a bit to work with the cooker. It turned out better than I thought it would to be honest. I have cooked several dishes using the cooker now and everything has turned out great. I personally find the food to be of better quality than the typical high heat cooking usually done on stoves and ovens.

Most recipes can be adapted to be cooked with sunshine so you are not limited to what is provided in the book. As the book says a general rule is a conventional recipe will take about twice as long to cook in the solar cooker. I found this to be about true, though it might take just a little longer but doubling the time seems to be about right.

If you are interested in learning how to build a solar cooker and start cooking with one then I recommend getting this book. It keeps things pretty simple and easy while still giving you the information you need to start cooking good meals with free energy from the sun.

I usually preview my books by borrowing them from the library to see if they are worth buying. This is one that I chose for my personal collection.

I also checked out "Cooking with the Sun" (by Halacy and Halacy), which had some good introductory information and interesting-looking recipes. However, as soon as I got to the list of supplies needed for actually building their solar oven (plywood, fiberglass insulation, 1/16" thick aluminum or iron sheets, double-strength window glass, etc.) I gave up. My tools are limited to hammers and screwdrivers, and I didn't even know what some of the required items were, much less what to do with them.

This book, by contrast, has wonderful, step-by-step, illustrated directions on how to make a solar oven (box cooker) using simple stuff I have at home (cardboard boxes, newspaper, aluminum foil, turkey oven-roasting bag, Elmer's glue, etc.). There are also simple-looking directions for making a reflective-panel cooker.

I love how this book caters to the average Joe (or Josephine) who wants to cook with solar but doesn't want to spend a bundle to get started. The book gives lots of recommendations for improvising inexpensive options in cookware, explaining what works best and what doesn't work so well (and why!). For example, two dark 9" cake pans held together with large binder clamps (those things used in offices to hold large quantities of paper together) can work just as well as an expensive enameled dutch oven.