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This is THE book on writing. Short and sweet: in a thin paperback, Weinberg covers the entire spectrum from mechanics of organizing paragraphs to how to gather and integrate your ideas. Weinberg comes from the software field, but knows how to write a book I couldn't put down. It has automatically become one of my "toolkit" books -- one of a few I'll keep on my shelf to refer to regularly.

I've been a big fan of Jerry Weinbergs writing (and he wrote a lot). A book about writing is exactly what I needed, so my expectations were high. However, I ended up slightly disappointed. I almost feel guilty about giving this just four stars out of five with all the other people writing reviews about how excellent this book is.

Weinberg on writing: the fieldstone method is a book about writing books. The whole book is build around the analogy between writing a book and building a fieldstone wall. Building a fieldstone wall takes practice and you have to find the right stones (ideas) and put them in the right place to make a great wall. Not all the stones fit, some need to be shaped and not all walls will be great.

For me, personally, the analogy didn't work well. I felt it was more confusion than beneficial. It's created very clever, nothing wrong there. It's just hard to see, plus normally an analogy is made from an easier domain to understand. I found the domain of building fieldstone walls not much easier than book writing. I'd preferred more direct writing and talking about e.g. ideas instead of stones.

The book consists of 20 chapter about writing. Most chapters contain really really useful tips. Weinberg (with 40 books) has lots of experience and, as always, has done his research. The book is written in a similar style as most of his books. Easy to read and full of stories. (a coal mine...)

To mention some of the ideas in the book. Don't write when you have to. Use your energy. Play solitaire with idea. How to gather ideas. How to store ideas. How to use outliners. And the list goes on and on. Many ideas, some conceptual, some very concrete.

Near the end of the book, Gerry very smartly explains the techniques he introduces on this book. He talks about writing, while writing. Though done very well, I found it somewhat confusing.

Overall, Gerald Weinberg did a great job writing yet another book. It's worth reading and contains a huge amount of advise. I'm sure this book is useful for every writer. Recommended.

Other reviewers have done a fine job explaining what this book is about, and extolling its many virtues, so I'll keep my comments brief.

Jerry Weinberg's "fieldstone" method is a powerful concept and technique, but what stands out most about this book to me is the way in which, between the lines, Weinberg addresses the *emotional* difficulty of writing, and the way in which things like buried memories of scolding grammar teachers and other childhood traumas can weigh down our writing efforts, or even prevent us from putting words on the page at all. I don't mean to suggest that this is some kind of self-help or pop psychology book--it is fundamentally a book about writing. But Weinberg's Fieldstone Method is not only an approach for getting things written; it is also a way of thinking about writing that makes it easier to overcome the many "invisible" obstacles, to forgive ourselves, to give ourselves permission to write.

Weinberg on Writing is well worth your time, no matter your particular writing interest.

I attended Jerry's Writer's Workshop in 2004 and it increased my skills and confidence enough to go back to prose-writing after several years of "death by powerpoint" writing. I've now published my first book (CMMI Survival Guide: Just Enough Process Improvement) and finally took the time to read Weinberg on Writing. I truly wish I had taken the time to read it while in the process of writing my book. Not only did it remind me of things we did in the workshop that are useful; it also presented some new tools and gave background on some of the things we did in the workshop that enriched my understanding. I wonder how different my writing life would have been if my freshman English teacher in college had had access to Jerry's book as a text. I can't answer that question, but I can say that my writing life has been changed by Jerry in person and by Weinberg on Writing, for the better in each case!

<27 months later>
Still writing stuff on a regular basis. I'm even throwing something together I hope to both use in a class I'm developing as well as it being the basis of a book of tutorials on Behavior Driven Development in Ruby.


<18 months later>
I'm still writing more than I did before reading Weinberg's book. I should have a few chapters published in Robert Martin's next book Clean Code.

Part of the writing is from my new jobs, which requires it a bit more. Even so, I had a full year after reading that book where my work did not require it and I did so anyway. So something stuck. Way to go Jerry.


I was asked to write a proposal for JBoss World by my company. The request also included suggestions on what to propose, which I did not really like. I had read far enough into this book to have the first rule about; only write stuff in which you are interested.

I took that rule to heart, took what I could of the suggestions, formed it in to something in which I was interested, and wrote the proposal. My boss took my general outline and approach and wrote a second proposal. He was accepted as a presenter, I was not.

However, I took the work forward and then presented it at the Oklahoma City Java Users Group and the Dallas/Forth Worth JBoss Users Group.

The book discusses Jerry's metaphor for his writing approach, which is suggested in the subtitle: The Fieldstone Method.

You collect fieldstones or little gems. You then use these little gems by organizing them, shaping them and forming them into comprehensive works. Since you have so many gems (you collect them all the time), you never have writer's block because if you get stuck in one place, you work somewhere else.

This is important. You don't just work on one thing. You work on many different things and there are many different kinds of activities you can do when you "slow down." Those other activities might be collecting or reducing your current active field stones, organizing those field stones, refining other fields stones, etc.

You never have to stop writing, you just stop writing on the one thing that is blocked, let your subconscious deal with it and go on to some other, possibly mundane, but important, activity.

I've taken much of his book to heart and now that first presentation has blossomed into several different things, some finished, some not.

Let this book work its magic on you. The changes seem obvious and subtle. However, they've seemed to work well for me.

This book is an amazingly thorough guide to resources for the elderly and those who care for them. I bought one for myself, both my siblings and my parents. It's also a very sweet and sometimes entertaining story about the author's family. I recommend it very highly to anyone who has elderly parents or anyone who is "getting up there" themselves, as my husband and I are.

While this book is written from the viewpoint of the child, it is vitally important for parents to read it as well. My husband and I began years ago to accumulate the kind of documents we need, but after reading the book I know that we have much more to do. At our church we have a "Keeping On" group for older people who are concerned about their futures. One of our members suggested that it would be a good idea to send each of our children a copy of this book. I resisted the notion, thinking that they would take the gesture as a plea for help and a sign that we were about to become a burden to them. Having read the book, I have changed my mind. I'm going to send each of the children a copy of the questionnaire in the middle of the book, filled out with all the information we have accumulated so far and will invite their input. Whether or not I will send copies of the book later is not certain at this point, but it's certainly an option.

Jim Comer has written one of the most important books of our time. As the baby boomers approached middle age, they have found the unexpected need to care for their own parents who are at the end of life's journey. In our society nobody like to face this issues of disease and death that comes with old age, but they are a fact of life. To ignore the problems of the elderly does not make them go away.

For families, ignoring what the future holds for parents and grandparents can bring with it pain, financial loss, and countless legal and medical problems. The only way to successfully manage these issues is to talk about them early. Open and honest discussions will prevent nightmare situations as relatives face the touch decisions down the line.

If you know anyone who is aging, this book is a must read.

My parents are 85 and 86; still live on their own. I am glad I read this book before they need constant care or before their death. A good read and very helpful.

Superb advice for what is inevitable for many children ... taking care of the well-being of aging parents when, just as the title suggests, it's your turn to be the caretaker. I personally have benefitted from Jim Comer's insight and professional advice, as have several friends who also purchased the book after my comments to them. It helps EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, and you'll find yourself going back to it time and time again during the process.

Great condition but didn't realise the book contained several stories. Just wanted the one story "Why the chimes rang."It was bought as a gift and the reciever was totally thrilled

I remember this book from long ago. It has a wonderful message. Not only can love make the bells ring, love can change the world! The illustration are just perfect for the story. This would make the perfect holday gift for young people, or even not so young people who want to regain the Christmas spirit of giving and service.

Destined to be a Christmas classic:Christmas Gifts, Christmas Voices--echoes the message of Why the Chimes Rang.

Growing up in a small town in Indiana, I got to listen to my paternal grandfather read this story to the assembled family every Christmas Eve. My father has continued the tradition within our family, reading from an original 1906 edition of the book. Every year like clockwork, my mother cries as she looks around the room at her sons, their families and the dogs. My partner and I are adopting a boy and a girl from Guatemala this year, and I can't wait to begin this tradition in our home. This is a truly glorious story about Christmas. Read it and share it with your own family. And make sure it's read aloud by the family member with the most sonorous voice.

lovely pictures and great story
nice to find a childrens christmas book that isnt a popular character of the month
adults will enjoy also, so makes reading together the experience it should be

What a delight to find this classic from my childhood. Our parents read to us at bedtime. This story of love and sharing relates universal values. Thank you for making it available.

Like features on a face or shadows on the moon, what we remember most is the unusual, the unsmooth, the wart or the wrinkle. Thus, for most of us, our picture of Henry David Thoreau consists of parts of two years spent in a hut on Walden Pond, interrupted by a one night stay in jail. If a quote comes to mind it is likely to be the aphorism about those who march to the beat of a different drummer. A two year camp-out is not a life, emblematic or no, and though Thoreau's life was short (snuffed by tuberculosis at 44), there was a great deal more to his career than the shack on Walden pond. He supported himself as a surveyor, teacher and lecturer, and his naturalist writings were widely published throughout his life. He was a knowledgeable taxonomist and was conversant with naturalistic texts in Greek and Latin, as well as with his contemporary, Charles Darwin. WILD FRUITS was his last manuscript, still in the works at the time of his death, together with a sketchier companion volume on the Dispersion of Seeds. Painstakingly transcribed from the author's scribbled notes by Thoreau scholar Bradley Dean, this book is a walk through the fruiting season. We meet each fruit as it ripens, from the elm seed and dandelion fluff forward to the succulent berries of summer and on to the wizened fruits of winter, still clinging to branches long after their season has passed. Thoreau was an acute observer. His careful identification and description of each plant could not be improved upon today, and being closer to the European invasion, he had the benefit of Indian wisdom concerning the habit and uses of native plants. Most surprising to this reader, after many seasons spent hiking and canoeing in Thoreau's stompin' grounds, is the diversity of edible berries I have overlooked. I consider myself a "grazer," inclined to sample berries, fruits, nuts and mushrooms* in my travels, but I see that I have much to learn (and nibble). All of the author's observations are interwoven with commentary on the habits of humans and animals, most particularly the damage being done to the natural world by thoughtless developers and badly conceived laws. Once again Thoreau proves deserving of his reputation as the progenitor of modern environmentalism. His voice rings true and clear across the 20th Century.

First things first, as they say. Very appropriately, other reviews have started with a heart felt admiration and thanks to Bradley Dean and all of his associates for this monumental accomplishment of editing and bringing this "Last Manuscript" to fruition. No easy task, either. Included in this book are photo copies of original handwritten pages from the manuscript. Think of the proverbial Doctor's scribbling and you get the picture. The research required to make sense of it all and get it to book form was monumental. Also included is an overview of how this project was handled with significant editor's notes and further research info and a chronology of Thoreau's life. For more info on Thoreau's life and work, there is a note to readers that invites all to check out the Walden Project or the Thoreau Society website (www.walden.org).

This book mostly reads like a botanist's field guide to wild edible plants with very exacting seasonal attributes: uses- edible, medicinal, etc.; locating/identifying/gathering/processing. Fine plant illustrations by Abigail Rorer compliment the plant descriptions.

Added to this and sprinkled throughout the book are Thoreau's thoughts and keen insight to the workings of nature and the need of the public to be educated on the virtues of native flora/fauna. Thoreau posits on the need for large tracks of land (like nature islands) to be set aside in their pristine/untouched/native condition for the protection and health of plant and animal life.

This book is not a sequel to Thoreau`s "Walden", rather, it stands on it's own as a great illustration of his profound knowledge of flora/fauna and for his admiration and love of Nature for all that it provides- "To watch for, describe, all the divine features which I detect in Nature. My profession is to be always on the alert to find God in nature-to know his lurking places". Thoreau certainly lived up to that aspiration and more! I highly recommend this book.

This book is a collection of notes concerning the timing of various fruits that grow in and around Concord, Massachusetts. The word "fruit" is used very generally, and not all the "fruits" in the book are wild, since Thoreau includes comments about corn, potatoes, and other crops in the book, as well as about weeds and trees that produce seeds, such as maples. The book is comprised of articles that run from 1 or 2 sentences to 20 pages, depending on how much Thoreau has to say about the topic. The articles are arranged chronologically, according to when the "fruit" first ripens, beginning with elm seeds in May and ending with juniper berries in March. While some of the articles are accompanied by black-and-white sketches, they do not generally have enough information for readers to use the book as a guide for identifying plants. Rather, the book provides notes about the growth habits and ecology of plants. In addition to Thoreau's Wild Fruit material, there is also an introduction by the editor, Bradley Dean, and end material, including a selection of related passages (alternate beginning to Wild Fruits, the history of the apple tree, notes on the dispersion of seeds), a Thoreau chronology, a short glossary of botanical terms, a few black and white plates of Thoreau's manuscripts, editor's notes on the manuscript, a list of works cited, and an index.

This work represents the most detailed and systematic collection of Thoreau's naturalist observations. Even though the work is primarily about fruits, Thoreau still manages to slip a little philosophy in here and there. In his own introduction, he writes "The value of any experience is measured, of course, not by the amount of money, but the amount of development we get out of it." In his essay "Wild Apples," he writes "There is thus about all natural products a certain volatile and ethereal quality which represents their highest value, and which cannot be vulgarized, or bought and sold." Later, in an essay concerning cranberries, he notes "Both a conscious and an unconscious life are good; neither is good exclusively, for both have the same source. The wisely conscious life springs out of an unconscious suggestion....Indeed, it is by obeying the suggestions of a higher light within you that you escape from yourself and, in the transit, as it were see with the unworn sides of your eye, travel totally new paths." It's a fascinating book for readers of Thoreau, and would make a great reference for those interested in learning more details about the ecology of wild New England plants than can be found in common field guides.

What could be more pedestrian than the fruits (talking broadly) of plants - such fruits that include grains of wheat, hips of wild roses, apples, blueberries, etc. We may enjoy some of them as taste treats, but most of us ignore the everyday development of fruit from flower. The flowers are more noticed, except for some ornamental types like hollies. Yet the fruit and/or seeds of plants are amazing structures, many evolved to be carried by the wind, floated on water, eaten by animals or inadvertently carried by same through the devices of spines or hooks. In addition the seeds, surrounded by fleshy fruits or not, are little wonders- holding within them the promise of new growth. It always amazes me a little when I plant a seed and in a few weeks or months I have in its place a tall corn plant or tomato! Oaks are in acorns and tall pines in the seeds shed from their cones.

The long lost manuscript of Henry David Thoreau has now been published as "Wild Fruits", edited by Bradley P. Dean and elegantly illustrated by Abigail Rorer. It is a gem! Thoreau recorded his observations and thoughts about every sort of fruit and seed he encountered in New England, including the domesticated or semi-domesticated types. Occasionally he goes on about some favored fruit, such as the apple, explaining some of the folklore and history. In essence, especially in this troubled world, it is a great pleasure to read about these amazing, but everyday, objects of nature.

A good book to read and savor, I recommend it as an antidote to the hurried and harried lives we often live.

Do we have a preference for our Thoreau? ABSOLUTELY! But even the adulterated varietal will do in a pinch. The long lost diary of HD's romps in the woods serve well to remind us why some fruits are forbidden. Thoreau's posthumously edited musings over cattails, gladiolas, and other seductive succulents put the reader in the mood, apparently, for wanton strolls in a wooded glen savoring everything from unbridalled grapes (of wrath?) to the odd jack-in-the-pulpit. 'Tis better to give than to receive and this new work by an old friend makes a great gift when you want it known that you are in the mood for fruit more private than Publix.

This book is crammed full of good survival and outdoor information. Its also full of awesome drawings. This is one of my favorite outdoor books and has been for many years, i find myself coming back to it again and again. Buy it, you wont regret it.

A great book with much of interest to anyone interested in outdoor skills and woodsman ship in an age that has mostly vanished. The illustrations are great and some are humorous as well.

All outdoorsmen should own a copy of this book. Highly entertaining and a wealth of knowledge.

THE BEST OUTDOOR/SURVIVAL BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. LOADED WITH INFORMATION, AND AT A GIVE AWAY PRICE OF ABOUT 10 BUCKS. ITS A NO BRAINER, BUY THIS BOOK.

I first read this book in my High School Library in 1955.
The best outdoor survival book ever.
Buy it at least a month before you go camping.
Must read for campers.

I found this book to rehash information found in many other sources. It covers a wide range of topics, but none in sufficient detail. A good overview of the topics; for detailed information look elsewhere.

I have a nice little library of books that would put a small library to shame, but I find myself connected to a few much like the kid with his favorite teddy bear. Well, this book is like that teddy bear. I carry it 2 miles each day to and from work. Any good book is invaluable to a job/certification. This is one of them!

I read the entire book over the last few weeks and found that is was very helpful in giving me a better understanding of networking. I learned a lot about the basics and a ton about the advanced aspects of NT networking. I found out about how to use key NT tools and the book was a great resource.

I don't usually take the time to come back and comment on a book unless it's very bad. In this case the book is way better than I've come to expect from most NT books. There were so many extra topics in the book that I don't think I've seen elsewhere. Important registry setting are listed and explained but not ALL of them (with no explaination) just what is important. I liked the IP Management section and DNS overview. The capacity planning section that somebody else here mentioned was excellent and the tuning and troubleshooting chapter had a great section on problem resolution. It covers a very wide range of topics relating to NT and networking and does it very well.

-Tom

This book, along with Tony Northrup's Windows NT Plumbing, will put you a step above your other NT peers. Both of these books go into the nitty gritty details of how NT REALLY works in the real world and how best to deploy and configure it.

Both are excellent primers on networking and TCP/IP as well as NT specifics. Highly recommended.

We bought this book when my now 3 year old was an infant. At only a few months old she would just sit (lay) and listen to me reading this book. Even now, 3 years and many repaired pages later, it's still one of her favs. I HIGHLY recommend this book.

After my 3 year old daughter kept pulling this off the library shelf to check it out time after time, I decided it was time to buy a copy. This version has beautiful illustrations and the text is lovely and timeless.

I loved this book as a child and have spent nearly three years looking for this particular version. A beautiful poem made into a fabulous bedtime story. Every child's personal library should have this book.

We love this book!!! The poem is beautiful and calming and the illustrations are gorgeous - definitely the best of the many available.

This was my favorite story as a child. I ordered this book for my grandchildren, they are too young to enjoy today, but will grow up with the story. The illustrations of my book of the 50's was much better, as the three characters were three babies of non gender.

If you are unsure if staging works, you will get a definite hard sell that it does in this book. Over, and over, and over again. To the point of being tedious. However there is some good information to be found here. Just didn't take the 288 pages to do it. Cut to the chase, tips include fresh paint, clean the place, get rid of clutter, depersonalize the house. In short, you are trying to sell a product. Spruce it up! Its all in the packaging. Rest is fluff and repetition, such as convincing you that staging works. Apparently the author felt the reader could not get that in a few sentences or even a chapter. Would have given a higher rating if it was less monotonous on that topic.

If you are selling your home, this book will help you get ready. It has a variety of ideas. Some are complicated, some are expensive, but many are simple and easily implemented. The author helps you understand you are not selling your home, you are selling a house to be someone else's home. If this is the only thing you get from this book it is worth the price and time you invest in buying and reading it. I higly recommend it.

This book is full of helpful advice when undertaking the tremendous task of selling and moving out of your house. Some of the advice is common sense, but they offer great ideas.

Teri B. Clark shares her expert tips on how to make your house look like a model home to showcase its potential to prospective buyers. Each page is filled with tricks of the trade and advice from professionals, and each chapter is summarized with a numbered tip list for easy reference. The book also includes before and after photos, as well as true stories of houses that sold for more than the asking price.

I recommend this book to everyone, regardless of whether they have a house to sell. Who doesn't want their house to look like a model home? Or, at the very least, sparkling clean, less cluttered, and more stylish? Teri B. Clark has written a do-it-yourself, fix-it-up, reorganization, cleaning, and decorating manual all rolled into one! The best part about her cleaning tips is that all of her methods entail using natural products such as orange oil and baking soda--very Earth and wallet friendly. There is an entire chapter on how to stage your home on a shoestring budget, which is ideal, especially in the current marketplace. She has ingenious ideas, and she demonstrates with data that a small investment can bring a large return. This is a tremendously useful book for all homeowners.

Even if you are not planning on selling your house any time soon, this would be a good book to have around. In fact, by the time you get through following all of the advice here, you might not even want to sell, but if still do, there is a very good chance that you will indeed see the benefits of getting up to10 percent more from the sale.

This book looks at everything from the inside out, and from top to bottom. It is probably not the type of book you would just sit down and read from cover to cover, though you could because its style is easy to read as well as informative. Some of the best features include "This Could Be You" success stories interspersed throughout the book. These achieve their goal to inspire the reader. While these are balanced with the rest of the text, at times some of the other inserted text boxes almost become annoying. For example, the Professional Bonus Tips are helpful, but sometimes they seem to be overused. This is especially evident in the chapter, "Putting It All Back together," where it seems that most of the chapter is made up of text boxes instead of text.


Aside from this formatting issue, the tips are valuable and range from advice about how to pay attention to the smallest details such as wiping clean light switch covers to more significant aspects of staging, such as depersonalization in order to appeal to the largest number of perspective home buyers.

Before and after photographs are used to illustrate some of the main points. These include color insets and some smaller black and whites throughout. Sometimes the quality of these are not all that great--in a few cases the before and after photos are not take from exactly the same perspective in the room. Still, most of the photos do help to get the point across, so they are generally are useful.

All in all, this book is inspiring. It makes me want to get off the couch and transform my own home even though I had no plans of selling. I suspect it can have the same the effects on you as well.

I haven't found any picture book of Manhattan that's as sharp, descriptive and beautiful as this one. Unfortunately, it is a bit outdated--for those seeking a realistic portrayal--because of new construction and destruction in New York City.

This book is really great. I recommend it to anyone who loves NY!

Let me first say I love New York, it is quite simply the most energetic, vibrant, alive place on earth. This book does the city such a service, it is spectacular and photographs just amazing. Mr. Cameron is such a singular talent and he does it hanging out of a helicopter. This book really captures the city and lets the viewer see the hidden New York, that very few see. I love the photos of Central Park, you have no idea what an oasis it is until you see it from high above. Some photos are in summer some are in winter and you get to see the city in all its various incarnations. Mr. Cameron also includes some vintage photos to let the viewer see how much the city has changed. I only wish that Mr. Careron had been able to photograph my city of Houston, she would have welcomed him with opened arms. I highly recommend this book, you won't be disappointed.

Robert Cameron's "Above New York: A Collection of Historical and Original Aerial Photographs of New York City" sets itself apart from other similar books. In no particular order:

a) the photos are unbelieveably crisp and the printing is of top-notch quality;
b) don't ask me how, but Mr. Cameron makes the city look like a place where human beings actually live and work, rather than making the cityscape look like an architectural diorama;
c) other boroughs are represented! New York is not just Manhattan, as so many other books would have you think.

The contrast of the modern skyline with the older photographs is very effective, as others have mentioned. But what is also appealing is the changes of the skyline between the time these photos were taken (ca. 1988) and today, as we New Yorkers would notice. The images of the World Trade Center are poignant, but I'm glad that the publishers did not update the book, in order to remove them. As time takes its healing course, we can look back fondly on those buildings--still with pain, but now with some acceptance. "Above New York: A Collection of Historical and Original Aerial Photographs of New York City" remains a glorious collection that has yet to be eclipsed in quality.

Rocco Dormarunno
author of The Five Points

This is the best photographic book I have ever seen. Its pictures of The Big Apple are magnificent! Comparative pictures taken in years past, many in the 1920s, show how sections of the city have changed. Whether one is a fan of New York and who isn't, you will enjoy this book. It makes me want all the other "Above" books now.

I loved this book so much I have decided it is definitely a keeper. I will reread it over many times

Funny, touching, passionate. Make me laugh and then cry. There's no doubt, this book is the best novel i've ever read.
Read it more and more!

WHEW! HOT, STEAMY. he's a hunk but he is mean in the beginning this book will make you cry. It is Diana at her best.

I enjoy all of Diana Palmer's books, but this one is especially good - highly recommended.

Description from the book back cover:

It all started as a joke. Sabina Cane was only pretending to be engaged to her best friend, millionaire Al Thorndon. Al had talked her into this scheme as way to trick his older brother, Thorn. Al had no choice but to lie and make Sabina his accomplice, and she thought it would be for just one night. So when Thorn accused her of being a gold-digger, she just laughed it off. She didn't think of the repercussions - that Thorn would dig up her long-buried secrets. Revealing them now would destroy everything she'd worked so hard to put behind her. But she couldn't let her best friend down, could she?

Diana Palmer is so good! This is another one of her wonderful novels. Why is it that I always get so upset at the male leads and then fall head over heels for him? It must be because she expresses the male character so well, you can't help but understand his conflict and reactions. I became emotionally involved in this book and it satisfied me in every way!