Languages Books

I recently bought another copy of this book as the first one has fallen to pieces from much use. It's not your typical language text and not for rank beginners but it certainly gets the points across in an easy and often humorous manner. The lack of an index is a minor annoyance, and who has ever died from having to flip through the pages of a book?

GREAT BOOK!!!! Buy it if you are trying to advance from an intermediate speaker to an advanced speaker ... very useful

Perhaps the only book dealing with spanish grammar I enjoyed reading. The author does a wonderful job of not bogging down in technical jargon while instilling the difference between knowing the technicalities of a language and being FLUENT in a language. It was profoundly helpful!!

This is a book that I have been searching for. Most of the books I have come across only give very "stiff-sounding" vocabulary and idioms. The author of this book seems to be someone similar to me in how I learned Spanish; 10 years of school and college and then going to Spanish speaking countries and dating Spanish women. He is very good at explaining a lot of things that are culture related. For example, the difference between "nice" and "not so nice" people in Spanish are differentiated as buen educado and mal educado.

What I hate about most Spanish/English dictionaries is that words are not necessarily translated properly and I noticed that reverse lookup from the Spanish and the English sections sometimes don't correlate (saca puntos, which is pencil sharpener is incorrectly translated in the English section of many dictionaries to corta lapices). What I really find more valuable at my level is a Spanish dictionary with Spanish translations. This book is a valuable as that type of dictionary.

So far this is the best book I have found for my level of Spanish.

My son is serving a Spanish speaking mission for our church. He is wanting to improve his Spanish and has asked for my help. He told me this book was recommended to him. He has thanked me for all the help I have sent him, so I assume this is a good help.

the product was good,the delivery was on time.
The book was in good condition

I bought this because it was highly recommended as a must have for the software engineer. I browsed through it and I'm not sorry I bought it. It has some good stuff.

Besides agreeing with the other reviews all I can say is that this text has made me a better programmer. Truly.

Though this book is filled with debatable opinion and redundant information, it's an important read. Read it if only to keep software engineering topics fresh in your head. Otherwise, if you are already experienced, it's kind of elementary.

There is probably not a whole lot to say about this book that has not been said already, but it certainly deserves another positive review nonetheless.

I bought this book thinking that I did not have a whole lot to learn from it. I was certain I had read enough 'better coding' material in the past to know what good code was and how to produce it. I am sure you will not be surprised when I say that I ended up having a great deal to learn from this book.

Almost all of the coding advice, design strategies, and debugging techniques are backed up with real research data. At the very least, this means that even if you know the advice is sound already, you can more easily introduce the topic to other programmers, or even to management, and it has a greater chance of being taken in to consideration.

After reading this book, my code quality has definitely increased. I discovered that even the good practices I knew of before were not being put to effective use.

The book is very specific. It does not typically give you vague advice that sounds good if you don't think too hard about it. It gives you very specific, concrete advice, with examples and data to back it up.

The author seems to have put a great deal of effort into writing this book for every type of programmer (and even for people in software management positions). Every chapter introduction describes who should definitely read the chapter and who might benefit from simply skimming it over. He will also direct the reader to other chapters or specific sections of the current chapter based on the reader's knowledge and experience levels.

Finally, as others have said, I consider this a must read book for any programmer.

The great thing about Vonnegut is that he makes it very easy to read his books, with or without an education. It may appear to some that he over simplifies or is self indulgent in his tales, which may be true, but we live in a generation of oversimplification. And a lot of people's minds are simple as well, so it only seems fitting, to keep it within our reach.
The times may have changed since his war, but not by much. And it is sad that few are able to identify with a man of his age and experience. For me, there is no war as great as Vietnam or the Holocaust. Just an invisible war on terror, which is just as meaningless as any other war.So what he says is as important today as any other day.
the novel is a good one, has a great plot and ends well. It doesn't leave you feeling like you don't know what happens at the end. I will probably read it again someday. But I will never understand it the way he did when he wrote it, because I have not experienced the misery that is war.

If you've never read a Vonnegut book before, then just go ahead and put this into your cart. Also add his other titles because you'll want to pick up another one after you've finished reading Mother Night. Yes, these books were written many decades ago, but the critics are correct in saying they still have relevance in today's time. Enjoy the read and reflection into today's environment.

it was quick read, and i enjoyed it very much. it's gives an interesting perspective on a lot of issues of world war II and human nature.

~Mother Night~ by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is a dark novel set against the backdrop of Nazi Germany initially in the 1930s. An American expatriate living abroad Howard W. Campbell, Jr. marries a German woman Helga, and works as a playwright in Germany. But a dark cloud looms over the horizon, the spectre of Nazi Germany and its violent ideology of ultra-nationalism. Campbell's parents depart Germany for the United States as the war draws near, but Campbell chooses to stay behind. The playwright becomes a propagandist for the Nazi regime, declaring himself, 'the Last Free American,' and he broadcasts radio shows throughout Germany and obviously back West for the people of the Western nations to hear. Unbenownst to the Germans, he is also an American spy, a deep-cover double agent of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Behind ever gasp and stutter, he is sending hidden messages to the Allies. Following the war's climatic end, Campbell finds his way back to the United States. Gripped by the loss of his wife, he is utterly alienated and gripped by melancholy. Hounded by Neo-Nazis who want to extol him as a hero and Soviet spies looking to out him as an American agent provocateur for their own sinister Machiavellian purposes, Campbell grows despondent and troubled. He might as well forget about protection from Uncle Sam who won't ever acknowledge his service to the U.S. Government. The words of his father-in-law, a dedicated German officer could haunt him, as the German proclaimed when he thought with warmth about what the Nazi creed embodied, he didn't find it emanating from the words of Adolf Hitler, but in the words of Campbell. The theme is simple: we are whatever we pretend to be, so we better be darned careful of what we pretend to be. That's the moral lesson. When we are subsumed in lies and deception: the truth doesn't always set us free, it implicates us, and convicts us. Campbell learned that lesson with much guilt and resignation. His service to Nazi creed far surpassed his service to the Western Allies.

I take my title from a piece by Kurt Vonnegut, "Why They Read Hesse." The "they" was the youth of America. His answer was that Hesse tells them the things they want to hear, like bad is bad. He forgot to also stress, if I remember correctly, that Hesse writes in simple sentences with few words. You can read it on a bus or a treadmill at the gym. Complexity and intellectual challenge aren't the main things here.

Vonnegut himself was a lot like that, and Mother Night is maybe the clearest example of this. It is a morality tale with all the ambiguity and subtlety of a topless bar. He starts with a conventional, but interesting, dilemma, that of the undercover agent who is two things at once, and the question is whether the inner is more real than the outer simply because it is inner. Vonnegut as usual attempts to cut this Gordian knot of the demands of duty with the sword of his 1960s hippy morality. And it's not such a bad approach--do no evil, don't think about the big picture, we are what we pretend to be.

So the protagonist willingly accepts his punishment as a traitor despite having the exonerating evidence at hand because he realizes he was what he pretended to be--that his pretend acts had real results. That works great--a "good" person pretended to be "bad" and so did "bad" things and hence was really bad once we use Vonnegut's miracle quotation-point-removing morality.

But if "we are what we pretend to be," is a bad person who pretends to be good actually good? If my hypocritically simulated sacrifice inspires others to sacrifice themselves for values they believe in, am I really good? Is the coward general who roars "come on brave boys, follow me!" and then doubles back once they start running a hero?

I wish it were so. But I don't think it is that simple. Although it wasn't my principal aim, I ended up being lauded as some sort of hero sacrificing myself for the truth. And that led others to make real sacrifices--and the funny thing is, this ended up wrecking my whole plan in the first place!--for things that I also believe in. Even if I set this in motion, I can't say that this makes my acts "good." I don't think Vonnegut was really up to thinking through the actual complexities of moral action in this world. It isn't simply about your "effects" it is about your self-hood, your authenticity. Campbell had that. Vonnegut didn't know how to deal with that.

One last thing--the new cover looks exactly like the logo for the Victor mousetrap. Is that intentional? Did they see Campbell as being trapped like a mouse in a larger plan he didn't understand? [42]

This is a well-organized text that clearly was written by someone who speaks with the authority of experience.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson has delivered a resource that I would recommend reading on an as-needed basis by consulting the specific chapters relating to particular marketing challenges as they arise.

The way the book is laid out, with chapters ranging from using the Web to using postcards, you'll certainly find the step-by-step details for whatever task you're trying to accomplish. Scan the book initially, to get a good feel for its organization and scope. But save the careful page views for those times when you find yourself tackling specific promotional tasks.


J.D. Mosley-Matchett, Ph.D.
Author of A month of Marketing Technology tips

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's book, The Frugal Book Promoter, is best described as a compendium of book promotion ideas culled from her personal experience as a successful and award wining author as well as what must have been considerable time surfing the internet.
A wide range of topics are covered and in some cases just briefly touched upon. However, internet resources are listed throughout for those who want to dive deeper into a specific area. The links I was most interested in were still active and I found the sites I was directed to to be helpful.
While I would likely have been able to find these resources on my own had I the time to surf the net, this guide is very good at pulling all of this information together in a well categorized fashion which saves considerable time for those wishing to promote their book.
What does stand alone in this book are the chapters dedicated to building a media kit and the credentials for such a kit. For those that have done this before, it is not new, but for newly published authors it can be very valuable.
Finally, the advice on branding yourself as an author is very true. Readers buy books because of their authors not because of the publisher or the book title. Find a way to brand yourself - Carolyn has certainly done this effectively.

Todd A Fonseca, author of The Time Cavern (www.thetimecavern.com)

Although this is slightly out of date, the information is still largely current and useful. There's a lot of great advice in this and it's strongly recommended for anyone with a book out but not tons of cash for advertising.

A good buy.

This book contains so much useful information. It is definitely an outline for success. Every writer who wants to publish their book should read this book for better selling power. A must have!

Great value for self published authors looking for hands on resources for marketing their book. Alot of good information.

This book does not even mention the use for some items that are integral to correct C++ usage, such as multidimensional vectors. It is not the book you will go to to find answers. It could be good as a primer on STL.

Very complete, super helpful. If you are scared of C++ STL and you think it is an endless sea, this book will help you put things in an order. Very practical and it goes deeply inside the fundamentals. A must have for the non-hacker. This book is for the academic type scientist who wants to learn programming in an orthodox science like way. So if you are a mathematician a physicist or in general a scientist who want to get into C++ and program use this book. Also try other books from this author like C++ Templates: The Complete Guide. He is a very talented technical writer and scientist too.

The author has wrote a book that presents C++ standard library to the average programmer with plenty of samples that show how to implement each concept step by step.

I got this book originally back in 2001, and I still use it almost every day as the first stop for any STL issue I have. It's also what I give new employees who need to get up to speed on the STL. IMHO there's no better place to start if you want to learn to use the STL.

Still the best book on the STL. Buy this and Josuttis' templates book and you'll be set to learn the intricacies of C++ programming. There are very few genuinely useful C++ books; Josuttis' books are certainly among them... to the point where I almost never bother consulting any others. If I can't understand it from reading Josuttis, I delve into the header files themselves.

This was one of my favorite holiday stories when I was a child. Now I share that classic with my children, and I hope someday they will pass that along to theirs.

It's a wonderful, funny, and heartwarming story.

My mother read it to her kids, I read it mine, and I've even shared it with those who'd never heard of it. What? Never heard of it? Shame...but that was resolved.

No Christmas should go by without revisiting one of the finest classic Christmas tales of the ages. And it's so convicingly Seuss, you just have love it. How could we not love all the Whos down in Whoville! While my kids are beyond reading this story now in the off-season, they still like to have their dad pull it out and read the story while assuming the appropriate voices for the characters.
Quite simply, every household that celebrates Christmas should have this story as part of the holiday traditions...whether the kids are 2 or 20 or 40.

Can you imagine growing up without the Grinch? In my country we collectively had never heard of this funny little fellow until the advent of the film. Fortunately I was introduced to him the Christmas of 1990 (still way past childhood, of course) and have enjoyed the story every year since. My children were so taken with the story that at one point we read it daily, no matter the hot summer sun beaming through the windows and there being no Christmas tree in sight.The easy, typically Zeuss-ian rhyme meant that we could recite it off by heart, without the need to actually read. Since, we have widened our library of Zeuss-material to include many other favourites.
There are plenty of reviews detailing what happens in the tale, for me it is important to share the sentiment that accompanies it, especially with the advent of Christmas. The sentiment of Christmas being about sharing, about having peple around you who matter, about enjoying togetherness and being happy.
Final note: I wonder if anyone has explored thematic and plot- similarities between Zeuss' story and Dickens' classic 'A Christmas Carol'. To what extent was Zeuss influenced by Dickens?

A classic story that everyone who even slightly appreciates Christmas. Dr. Seuss tells a convincing story of the true meaning of Christmas and gives us a surprisingly complex character at the same time, someone who discovers he hates Christmas for all the right reasons. The illustrations are Sessian-wonderland, and the lyrical read is an artistic blast.

The holiday season would be incomplete without the annual reading of this delightful tale that introduces the little ones and many of the big ones too, to the residents of Whoville. A timeless tale where one will meet Little Cindy Lou Who, Max the Dog, and the Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small. In the end, the Grinch is not the only one that discovers the true meaning of the holiday. Another Dr. Seuss classic.

I bought three of these books as gifts for three retiring teachers -- they are so funny. An ABC book of odd outcomes for students. Love them.

This book has made me cry with laughter. I work with kids and THEY think it's funny.

The Gashleycrumb Tinies is macabre yet hilarious. It's about children meeting untimely absurd demise but with a sense of dark humor. it needs to be taken the way it is meant. It really is quite clever with the wording and causes of death It is done by alphabetical names. examples are S in for Susan who perished of fits, L is for Leo who swallowed some tacks and N is for Neville who died of ennui(boredome). See very clever. By the way I am a 38 year old mother of two and find this hilarious. My kids don't really get it though. Oh well I geuss their sense of humor is not as developed as mine:)

Hahahha I actually read this online because its so short... if you want to take a break from the stress of life for 10 minutes its great fun. The illustrations are very well done and the rhymes are genuis! i think my favorite kid is Basil who was assaulted by bears.. \hahhahhahha... that makes me burst into laughter again! seriously, if you like macabre hilarity, take a few minutes off and ENJOY THIS BOOK! (There is no graphic or adult images but the ideas would be very frightening for young children. I say 11+ because theres a girl with an axe in her head and some blood thats cartoonish but gross.)

This book is great! No matter how many people tell you how horribly sick it is. Read this book.They only say that because they dont have a sense of humor. So any way read this book! Its both sickining,funny, and tasteful.

I have own a number of thesauruses in my day, but no one compares with the Synonym Finder by Rodale. The invaluable resource not only gives you dozens of alternative words, it also includes archaic and rare usages, too.

Simply the best!

Although I rarely use these types of books when I'm writing my first draft, The Synonym Finder and it's companion, published by the same author, Word Finder, is never far from my reach during the re-writes. My only complaint would be that I haven't yet found it in software form.

Although Mr Rodale is known for his studies in the area of organic gardening, his synonym finder is excellent. Easy to use, without having to do cross referencing, the book has numerous words to choose from.

This is an amazing book which is the last word in Thesauruses. It is over 1,350 pages. I have written three books using this Synonym finder and have found it to be invaluable! My copy has so many dog ears I probably need to open a kennel.

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

Although this is an older title I still use it quite frequently. If you do any kind of writing, whether academic/legal/leisure I highly recommend this book. Sometimes I just can't find the right word to convey the intended message so I open this up and 9 times out of 10 I come away with the word I'm looking for.

This book is a must if you are thinking of writing anything. Great buy, great condition - Thanks for the fast and honest transaction!

This little book could've saved me 15 years of educating myself through workshops, classes, conferences, and writers groups. If you are just getting started in the publishing process, this book is a must-have. Knowing the background life of an editor helps writers understand that we are not the "center of their universe." (You'd be surprised how many writers believe that!) Terry includes many resources, Web sites, and crucial appendices that are necessary in writing a SUCCESSFUL proposal. He provides great anecdotes that keep the flow going, so that it's not so "dry" as to be unentertaining. The checklists will save hours of time in crafting your proposal. I highly recommend this book, and I carry it with me in my laptop bag wherever I go.

This book gives an insider's view of the book publication process. It is written from several angles of publishing, which gives much needed info to newbie writers and helps them to understand the process a book goes through to reach the shelves of a bookstore. Very helpful.

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn how to write a book proposal. Whalin, who has written more than 60 nonfiction books, has also worked as an acquisitions editor, so he's got a true insider's perspective of the somewhat daunting publishing process. With his "21 Secrets to Speed your Success", you'll find straightforward tips and information that'll give you the edge on how to capture an editor's interest.

I especially enjoyed the stories derived from his career in the publishing world, and found the many website URLs and the sample book proposal that sold for a six-figure advance to be very helpful. I highly recommend this book, and will admit that I actually have two copies: one at home, and one in my desk drawer at work for lunchtime reading.

Although I was unaware of the Christian-themed advice perhaps because I was not familiar with the author, I found this book extremely helpful. It is a must-read before submitting a non-fiction book proposal. The book is short, easy to read, contains several examples, and provides a step-by-step guide to writing the non-fiction proposal. After doing a substantial amount of research on the topic, I can honestly say that this was the best information I found on the topic.

I am a new writer and am currently reading Book Proposals That Sell. I love it! I am only on page 47 but I already feel so enlightened! FINALLY, someone has sent the elevator down from the Ivory Towers of the publishing world to us common folk on the ground floor!! Just in the first few pages I feel educated, aware and tuned in. Thank you for writing this book just for me!

Writing came to me at a time in my life when I was going through some rough dark moments' I had received some bad news about my health from the Doctor, I was depressed, my marriage was on a shaky road and all I could see at that moment was runny away, I had little or no money to call my own, divorce was not an option. My body was weak and very achy the thought of my life nearing the end caused me to write even more. I needed to encourage my little girl.She needed to know that Jesus is the best friend that she can or will ever have, and even if I am no longer here on earth with her. Sharing Jesus with others is so important and the upliftment of the believers. May Janice story He took my notthing strengthen your walk with the Lord and to you out there in search of a friend and comforter Jesus is the only friend that sticketh closer than a brother if you let Him in your heart He will come in and set you free.
God bless you
Josepjine Durand. Special thanks to outskirtspress for publishing my book.

This book 'the Journeys of Faith Hope and Trust is of great inspiraton. I can truly say that this book came into my hands just the time when I needed to obtain some spiritual strength. Many thanks to the Author Millicent Robinson.

Self-Publishing Simplified could have been titled Self-Publishing for Idiots, although I realize that's probably been used. The author demystifies the entire process and transforms it into a simple, easy to follow format. This was my first--and soon to be second--experience with Outskirts Press, who made the journey both worry-free and fast. But after reading Brent Sampson's book I knew what to expect and enjoyed the ride. I am eager to publish the sequel to my recently released novel, Beyond the Border.

We don't need this book and haven't read it because we have already published BLACK GOLD GRAY and had an overwhelming success. Read BLACK GOLD GRAY, which has been called "..the best war novel of this century.."..You can buy it at Barnes & Noble Internet, or Amazon, or Target.
Hardcover or paperback..Published by Maximilian Books of Washington, D.C.
Watch for the motion picture and Video Game under "Rescue the General".
Don't be fooled by imitations. Look for the Black star on the cover. And,
don't read the exciting ending before you finish the book. If you are caught you'll be punished...

Outskirts Press caters to self-publishing authors. Its publishing packages include editing services, but the company's own publications can use better editing.

On the second page of the foreword to "Self Publishing Simplified," Outskirts Press boss Brent Sampson refers to "off-set" printing, with a hyphen between the "off" and the "set." The term also appears on four other pages in the book.

That's a really stupid error, especially for a book publisher.

The correct term is "offset," and it's been that way for over 100 years since offset printing was invented by Ira Rubel in Nutley, New Jersey.

The back-of-book bio says Sampson is an "accomplished artist and writer." His personal website has a stupid typo: "earn up to tens-of-thousands a dollars." So far I'm not impressed with his writing accomplishments.

The book has a foreword written by Sampson -- which goes against the book publishing rules I've learned. Forewords are not supposed to be written by the author. Sampson should have called it a preface or an introduction or hired someone else to write the foreword.

According to Sampson, "Peter Mark first published the Thesaurus in 1852," strangely ignoring the much more famous Peter Roget who published his Thesaurus in the same year. Actually Mark was the middle name of Peter Mark Roget, so Sampson was two-thirds right.

He also says getting an ISBN number (the unique identification number for each book) is a "headache." Sorry, Brent, that's just not true. I ordered five ISBNs in about five minutes. All I needed was my keyboard and a credit card. I never touched the Tylenol bottle.

Sampson also talks about the troubles that "Most self-published authors" have getting their books distributed, the high percentages paid to Amazon, and the high costs of setting up websites. That's self-serving fiction designed to make his own company look good, and he can't possibly know the experiences of "most..."

These silly errors and outright deceptions do not inspire confidence.