References Books

I am studying for NP and found this book is comprehensive, with all info you need, symptoms and signs, diagnosis, treatment...under each disease or disorder, well organized and easy to find information you need. And the price at amazon.com is lowest I ever found.

This book has been wonderful! I am thrilled to be able to use it on my journey through nursing school. This book is a pathophysiology life saver as well. The care plans listed here and the information that is in this little book make life much easier! If you are in the medical field, you should own this book. If you are someone that is interested in just learning more, you might want to try the family edition that isn't quite as technical.

A well edited reference book that helps one understand nursing diagnostics. The writing is a bit small and the paper is very thin but other than that its a great little book.

This latest edition of the Merck Manual has been signifigantly updated and refreshed. The breadth is exceptional, and the hundreds of contributors have produced a tight, concise overview of medical coditions. You won't get any hand-holding, so if you are unfamiliar with medical language get a good medical dictionary and before long you'll be off and running. An invaluable reference for medical professionals and patients who like to read it straight up. It's interesting to compare earlier editions and realize that medical knowledge is still incomplete, even with the authoritative tone. The human system is so intricate and amazing. I'm glad that there are people trying to figure it out. Carry on!

I am a nurse and depend on the merck manual for
information and usualy get the new edition when
it is printed.I would not be without the manual.

Time has not eroded the significance of this book's contribution to the world of architecture. Though it reaches back to timeless solutions to architectural problems, it is also a way forward. As we devour our social capital in a half century of indiscriminate urban sprawl, this book offers alternatives that will help us revitalize our urban centers.

This book is the quintessential book on the subject of creating authentic living spaces.
This book provides a near mystical approach to architecture in a very simplistic form that anyone can understand.

This was an extremely helpful book in using to decide what house or town home to buy, why spaces might work, what needs to be added to them, etc. I am very glad I bought this book.

I bought this book after reading the glowing reviews on amazon. It was also an inspiration for Will Wright to make SimCity and the SIMS..... so I had high expectations.

I was shocked to find how opinionated and philosophical the book is. I expected the book to look at the history of cities, towns, etc. and describe patterns that already exist (much like the GoF's software design patterns book talks about patterns that people actually use). Instead the book presents a series of ideals about how the world should be structured.

If these ideals came from concerns I could identify with, I would take it more seriously. But instead they attack "problems" which I do not perceive to exist. For example, on p. 43 "The homogeneous and undifferentiated character of modern cities kills all variety of life styles and arrest the growth of individual character." This statement is contrary to my experience. I have met many great characters from cities, and seen profound cultural differentiation emerge from cities (e.g. jazz, abstract painting, hippie culture, punk, you name it). But the authors proceed as if cities killing character is axiomatic. I agree that there is a rural character that is not present in cities. But citydwellers have another type of character which is equally valid.

I have only made it through the first 100 pages. In these pages are so many naive ideas about mixing cityspace and vacant space. I live in Los Angeles so I know about sprawl & I also know a lot about cars -- while they are aiming for less sprawl then LA, they also neglect traffic congestion. They claim that making small roads in places make people reluctant to drive there.... the experience worldwide (worst in Malaysia, I hear) is that people use whatever roads are present, and if the roads are small, they then just end up sitting in traffic. The author's are naive in their structuring of space, nowhere do they cite any hard evidence of how these structures function.

I might make it the rest of the way through.... at least it's an easy read, with so many repetitions in how the models work you can kinda skim through it. I like the spirit of the book, it is reminiscent of P.M.'s bolo'bolo.... but where bolo'bolo comes from a purely emotional position, these authors take themselves seriously and believe what they are saying is objectively true. I give the book 3 stars because it is nice to see someone work through the ideas of bolo'bolo (which was actually written ~6yrs after alexander's book). I would give 5 stars to a book that did so by looking more at actual data of how spaces are utilized, and presented designs that didn't have obvious flaws in them.

This book talks specifically about what works and doesn't work when building cities and towns and how to take the human element into consideration when doing so. However, I found its conclusions and most of its patterns applicable to software engineering. There are good books on software design patterns such as "Head First Design Patterns", and there are some good books on user interface design such as "Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design", but this book really helped me merge the idea of software design patterns with the user perspective in a way that other books I have read have not.

If you are a software designer, read the book all the way through, make notes as you go, and see if it doesn't help you write better organized code that is more responsive and coherent to a user who walks up to your user interface completely uninitiated in your method of design. I know it helped me.

I recently finished my first year at a top tier law school. This book did so much for me. If you are serious about getting good grades in CivPro, I think you should seriously consider this book. It forces you to understand the concepts and work through the rules, which is vital to doing well on exams. Don't stress about exams. This will help you.

This is by far one of the best supplements out there. It really explains everything and illustrates the material with great examples followed by explanations that are clear and concise. I would not recommend taking Civil Procedure without this book.

However, one caveat: this book may not cover all of the material in your Civ Pro class. Off the top of my head, I know it is missing chapters on class actions, Seventh Amendment right to jury trials, and interpleader (though it has impleader and other joinder topics). Despite this minor shortcoming, the material that is contained in this supplement is explained well and illustrated through great examples. Definitely a must have!

This is an essential supplement if you are going to understand this God-forsaken subject. I took off a star because there are some important subjects that are not covered in the book for some reason (For example, there is very little on Rule 24)

This book was very helpful for reviewing each section as we went through them in class. The explanation sections are wonderful and the examples are very helpful for exam prep.

E&E is a great series. I've found many of the books helpful in supplementing law school reading that can be at times difficult to synthesize. However, Freer's supplement on civil procedure is unbeatable.

Law school is about knowing the rule and applying the facts. E&E is great at helping you to know the rule. However, it doesn't help you figure out how to apply the facts, especially in a way pertinent to law school exams. Freer's book is full of examples and frameworks that assure success on your CivPro exam. This is especially true of the frameworks he lays out for analyzing Personal Jurisdiction problems and Erie.

Buy Freer and you'll be happier going into your final.

I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from this book. When I got it and started looking at the page after page of amazing documented discriptions of anything and everything you would see in these movies I was so pleased with my purchase. The only thing I noticed was the emphisis on Episodes 1-3 and remaining episodes were all lumped together in a quick glance almost. The book is amazing non the less and I am more then pleased with it, and can't wait to give it to my significant other for his birthday.

Bought this as a gift for my 9yr. old son.
This is a great book for the Star Wars fanatic.

I like this item very much. My husband is a Star Wars fan and I got this book for him. I ordered this book and within a week I received it.

Got it as birthday present for my 5 year old. We all love it. He pours through the photos by himself, we read it together. I am learning all sorts of details (and they are plenty) about all the star wars characters. Who knew! This book could be the movie prop person's notebook/bible it is so complete and thorough.

The only drawback is my son finds the picture of darth sith too scary and we have to rush past that page. Oh well. Get it, great price, worth every penny.

WOW!!! This is the perfect book for anyone interested in knowing their stuff in the Star Wars world. Every character is represented according to chapter so some characters are represented more than once. Anakin is shown as a child in Episode I but is shown older in the next episode, etc. The book is divided by Episodes. Information on star ships, Tie Fighters, Light Sabres and more are also included in this book along with photos for each and every reference. This book is not only for children but adults can learn a thing or two from its contents.

The book was very helpful. It explained the cards and their meaning in a very simple and helpful format. I liked the different exercises I had to do, and it helped me gain greater knowledge of the cards and their meaning.

I recently bought the Universal Waite Tarot Deck and this book to begin learning how to use the Tarot. This book is very very detailed! NOT confusing AT ALL!!! I love the way she simplified the book, it is not a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo, she knows exactly what shes talking about! She gives an overview of each single card, spreads , lessons etc etc. The whole nine. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning the Tarot!

This book is very informative and has historical knowledgeable. I find it a great learning tool.

This book is very easy to read and understand. Exercises are designed for the readers to be intuitive rather than simply memorizing the card meanings. A great resource for beginner Tarot readers.

I first learned the Tarot in 1976. Now over 30 years later I am finding myself having to re learn them as a result of memory loss due to a brain tumor. I bought several books in hopes of being able to recover some of my memory and learn again. I found this book by Ms. Joan Bunning to be one of the best! The print setting is just right for me making it easy for me to see. I have many decks of cards but wanted to start again on the deck I first learned on, the Rider-Waite Deck. The layout of this book is one that is so simple but yet so very complete and I am enjoying it! Parts are even coming back to me. The "how to" format with 19 lessons in all starts at the very basics of the Tarot and moves on to more advanced concepts. Starting with part one, Elements of the Tarot, it covers the Major Arcana, Minor Arcana, The Spread, Daily Reading and much much more! The card descriptions are very comprehensive and again easy to understand and follow. Ever read something and say to yourself "huh? What did that mean?" well you won't do that here! Also there is over 175 illustrations using the same deck, Waite. There is even a Website for support!! I just love this book and I want to thank Ms. Bunning for bring the Tarot back to light for me!!!

Jorge Luis Borges was one of those rare writers who can take even a bizarre, utterly unbelievable idea, and spin it into an exquisite little gem of prose.

And this classic writer was at the peak of his powers when he collected together "Ficciones," whose plain name belies the subtle power and exquisite beauty of Jorges' short stories. Even among Borges' many short stories, few of them can rival this little labyrinth of strange ancient cities, fictional histories, and the eerie depths of the human mind.

"I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjunction of a mirror and an encyclopedia." An odd old saying from the Middle-East leads the narrator to seek out the long-lost heretical histories of a fictional world known as Tlon. Its beliefs, language, and metaphysical eccentricities increasingly fascinate the narrator, until it's almost a surprise to realize that Borges invented all of this.

The stories that follow are no less engrossing -- the recounting of a strange, haunting novel, a man who attempts to LIVE as Don Quixote, a man who tries to dream a new being into existence, a lottery that determines the way the people of Babylon are to live, an examination of a brilliant and underrated author, an exploration of the eternal Library of the universe, and a labyrinthine spy story.

The second round of short stories is a bit less enthralling, merely because it focuses more on "typical" Borges short stories. But they are still pretty enthralling pieces of work -- the remembrance of the brilliantly eccentric Ireneo Funes, the story of a scar, a series of murders linked to "the secret Name," a condemned man's begs God for a year to perfect his art, a forgotten heretic, a conversation leading to revenge, the Cult of the Phoenix, and a man entranced by the "Arabian Nights."

Mirrors and labyrinths fill Borges' work -- real and imagined, in word, metaphor and reality. You see them in an endless library, a guitar melody, a contradiction in religious faith, a complex plot, and in the mind of a man who loses himself to an obsession. The mirrors show you the sides of people that they would never see themselves, and the labyrinth twists the mind into new places where it would never normally go.

"Ficciones" explores places where normal fiction would never go -- such as a Babylonian lottery for different places in society, corrupted by greed -- even as it imbues its eulogies, metaphysical ponderings and explanations with the tinge of reality. The cults, deaths, and art that Borges describes seem so plausible, and are given such depth and detail, that it comes as a mild shock when you realize, "Hey, he made all of this up."

Part of that is due to his unique style, full of elegant wordcraft and gently luminous imagery ("a round yellow moon defined two leaf-clogged fountains in the dreary garden"). Even a stabbing is made brutally beautiful, and often dialogue is unnecessary -- the most beautiful and striking stories in here are the ones where Borges (aka the narrator) eagerly explores some invented facet of the world.

And woven through these stories are many of the things that fascinated Borges through his career -- a tragic hero, ancient heresies, an elusive God, and people whose lives he could somehow explore through his own imagination.

If you could criticize anything at all, it's that few of the characters -- aside from the Borges "narrator" -- are much more than walking symbols of a murky little message. But hey, you could simply see this entire book as an exploration of Borges' own imagination by himself. He happily recounts countries that are nonexistant, books that were never written, geniuses who never were.

"Ficciones" is about the dullest name you can possibly give to a work of genius -- an intricate little web that is all mirrors and mazes. Absolutely stunning.

My knowledge of Borges is small; before purchasing Ficciones I had only read two or three of his short stories. Enough, however, to know that it would be well worth the short time it takes to read each of these stories.

Borges had an unusual and amazing way of compressing the most stimulating, fascinating material into a small number of pages. You may read one of his stories in ten-fifteen minutes and contemplate it for a week (or more) and remember it for life. And still, you may well want to reread it many times; it has happened more than once that upon finishing a Borges short I immediately wanted to go back and start from the beginning.

The strange thoughts on infinity and the nature of existence are presented in a way that stimulates thought in a humble yet intruiging way. Ideas that may be well recognized and used in other fiction (in some cases overused) have some other element, some different approach, so that even if the premise is not "new" the experience certainly is. How this can be done, and in so few words no less, is beyond me.

This was certainly one of my very best buys and I know that this book will be well worn by my reading alone, not to mention that of the many people I will lend it to with my best recommendations. These short stories will bring beauty and excitement of the mind to many an otherwise boring, mundane day.

Borges, a half deaf Mephisto indian from Peru, wrote in the later half of the 20th century when half of his inheritance had been squandered in Bordellos charging full price. His forte into "asylum" literature came about as a result of being incarcerated by accident in a Bolivian prison camp which inspired the film, "Papillon". His days were spent by writing and re-reading a book he carried inside his pocket for 22 years which was titled, "Moth Collecting for Youngsters". Most of these stories deal with tidal waves and rocks but some, deal with the memories of his youth like "Hopping on Empty Books".

Transport the Wachowski brothers to the 1930's and ask them to express their philosophy by way of short stories. You might get something in the same ballpark as Ficciones. The diversity and genius of Borges' work is so unique that if you were to know all the languages in the world and had no word limit, it would still be hard to do a review that does justice. Ironically, this is exactly the kind of challenge that Borges would stand up to. I will attempt to review this work by enlisting adjectives that come to mind.

Surreal, mystic, recursive, sophistic, heretical, philosophical, religious, profound, imaginative, ingenious, circular, open-ended, unorthodox, personal, hallucinational, original, universal, self-referential, concise, contextual, complex, ironic.

Here are a few examples of the complexity of Borges' mind at work.

Borges attributes certain imaginary books and volumes of books to some of the authors that he is most influenced by. In reality, these books are projections of Borges' fertile mind and no more. In the process of critiquing imaginary works of art (let's call this meta-art), he creates an instance of the meta-art in the mind of the reader. It's like me talking to you about the eating habits of a third person you haven't met, and actually does not exist! Borges never fails to leave you with a lasting impression of a meta-art that resonates with your senses. On second thoughts, this is obvious because the meta-art is as much a figment of your imagination as it is Borges'. Every meta-art is a reflection of your own creative mind, while Borges is simply holding a mirror. And talking about mirrors, here's a quote from Borges as attributed by him to the meta-art in his first short story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius": "The earth we inhabit is an error, an incompetent parody. Mirrors and paternity are abominable because they multiply and affirm it." And with this we come full circle just like you would in most of Borges' stories.

Borges is fascinated with the idea of god and provides several unorthodox notions of god that might be as appealing to scientists as they would to priests. This is done more so by illustration than by elucidation. In fact, subtle self-references and recursions are an integral part of the entire work. The stories embody the concept that Borges sets out to illustrate, and always come full circle at the end such that appreciating the story is equivalent to appreciating the concept. Whether it is the wizard of "The Circular Ruins", the librarian of "The Library of Babel", the spy of "The Garden of Forking Paths", the teenage boy of "Funes the Memorious", or the playwright of "The Secret Miracle"; the self-referential nature of the work is haunting. Each story leaves you wondering how Borges could convey so much with so little words [This also speaks volumes about the quality of English translation]. Then again, the very topic of brevity and excessiveness is discussed in one of the reviews of a fictional book. It is like Borges does not let anything go. Yet again, the very topic of an all-encompassing book is discussed in the context of a fictional book that aspires to BE god.

There was not a single story of the seventeen that was not profound. There is no chance that you would not re-read this book after reading it once.

Borges never fails to please, to challenge, to entertain, and more importantly make one's brain shift into high gear!
If you are looking for an easy read, don't expect to find it in Ficciones.

However, if you are looking for a little cerebral cortex arousal; grab this book and find a cozy spot...you won't be disappointed!

Reading with his head instead of his heart, Borges looks to fill his mind with all the minutia and information he can possibly hold and release it back in his works with finely crafted and fascinatingly playful philosophical stories.

The sparse, objective writing of Ficciones is a far cry from his earlier lyrical style, of which he says: "In those days, I sought dusk, the outskirts, and unhappiness; now, mornings, the center, and serenity."

Thankfully in the newer center, we are treated to 17 extraordinary stories that are teasingly succinct, yet brimming with imaginative and aesthetic prose!

The scarcity of words requires that the reader pay attention to them all or miss much of the wisdom and subtleness that define the delicate and ingenious style that is this fine master of fiction...Jorge Luis Borges!

This is a must have in practice! The NP that I was practicing with during my clinical rotation actually told me to get this and he was correct, you have everything you need in one book!

I am a pharmacist and carry this book with me everywhere. It is small enough to fit in my purse and it can answer questions on dosing, indications, and much more. It is definitely a lot faster to use than the slow computers at the pharmacy!

I use this pocket guide more often than I use my palm pilot for drug doses. My lab coat is not complete without this book. Even when I am on call, I make sure I have one of my multiple copies at bedside so I can look up meds in the middle of the night. Also, I am a preceptor for PA students, and I recommend each and every one of them purchase some version of this guide (and most of them do).

A fast, keep in your shirt pocket reference for drug name, dosing, available dosing sizes, route of clearance and safety in pregnancy or lactation. It is tiny - a centimeter thick and shirt pocket dimensioned. Really great when a patient comes in with some oddball psych med, is found to be pregnant or you get a braincramp somewhere around your thirtieth patient of the day. I use this little gem regularly.

It's great IF the ONLY info you need is dosing information. If you need more information like SIDE EFFECTS, METHOD OF ACTION, etc, 'Clinician's Pocket Drug Reference' from Scut Monkey is far more useful/helpful. At least it was (and is) to me during med school and now in residency.

I've ordered multiple copies of this book on three occasions, and will probably reorder more. This is a book with more than the typical daily devotion ... it has meat and it has substance. It is a great light to follow during your day and it contains plenty of 'food for thought'. I received my first copy of this devotional from one of my pastors and have shared 8 copies with other people in my life who need/want God's guidance in their lives. It's very easy to share; it's an excellent book. I keep mine at my office desk and read it every morning to start the work day.

Read this book if you have experienced the grief from losing a loved one physically as in my case or you are broken from a life circumstance. This book along with the word of God will uplift you and see you through those difficult days when again your tears seem to be the only medicine for your heart. I love that each day starts off with a scripture. I usually will read the scripture then look it up in my bible and do a small study on the scripture. I will then read the devotion for that day. This book and Oswald Chambers devotional book is what I read daily. I recommend it for anyone who has walked down the road of losing a child, parent or sibling. It also makes a great gift for someone facing cancer or for the single mom who is struggling to makes ends meet and feels hopeless. Whoever you are and wherever you are you will be blessed by the golden pages and by the sweet quiet whisper of Gods spirit revealed in the writing of this book.

This is a great book for anyone going thru a difficult time. I received my book after the death of my son. Took me four years to actually pick it up and I am so glad that I did. It gives me hope for each new day. I just purchased four more to give to friends that I know are struggling. I hope that it can help them as much as it has helped me.

This is one of the most hopeful devotional books I have ever found. If you are having difficulties or going through trials, this devotional will help light your way using God's word and uplifting thoughts, poems, and other writings. This book enriches my relationship with God and helps me trust and rely on Him more. Well worth the money.

Don't buy this and dont read it. If you put small amounts of poison in your food, over time it will kill you. This book has lies, scripture out of context and a God who is like an abusive father who beats children to teach them. This has to be the worst "Christian" labeled book I have encountered in 25 years. Heres a quote that shocked me from Sept 30 / page 369. "Our Almighty God is like a parent who delights in leading the tender children in His care to the very edge of a precipice and then shoving them off the cliff into nothing but air."
My Almighty God is not like that at all, and neither is my Jesus. There are many such statements and quotes throughout this work to render it with the label of "poisoned bread". It will destroy your faith or seriously distort it over time and bring ruin to your relationship with God. It even makes reference to Jesus being our Elder Brother! I was LDS at one time and that is a big lie. We are Gods creations and handiwork, Jesus was God the creator incarnate. We do not have his nature, and we are adopted. I am considering burning this to keep warm on a winter night instead of giving it to someone and spreading spiritual sickness. Best advise I can give is read the Bible. Try the Gospels, Psalms, Proverbs,or Pauls letters. Why settle for trash when you can have treasure. Test all things...Don't be decieved...If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God.

Great ideas abound in this book for start up publishers. Takes the guess work out of the equation. Cuts right to the chase.

I think that this book can be very helpful to any writer that wants to sell his/her book. I am using several of the ideas that I recieved in the book to sell my book 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques and collectibles. it has increased my sales. Daryle

I've never read a more informative book. It not only points out what you should do to promote, it actually gives you the tools to do it. Both phone numbers and websites that will really help you. It is the first self help book that doesn't tell you what it is going to tell you, IT JUST TELLS YOU. How novel. It will take me weeks to implement all the information, but each step is clearly presented. If you write to sell you need this book as flowers need rain.

through the self publishing process of my new book. More than a notion, self publishing is very rewarding but extremely time consuming, and SUPER hard work. I thought writing the book was hard. Ha! That was the easy part!!! Thank goodness I bought this book, as its given me many great ideas for marketing and promotion. It's wonderful to have written the best book in the world, but it doesn't mean anything if no one knows about it! Thanks Marilyn!!!!

Do you know when you should start marketing your book? Marilyn Ross does, and in "Jump Start Your Book Sales" she reveals the answer. (Hint: It's before you start writing it!)

Before, during, and after -- in fact. Regardless of where you are in the writing and publishing process, book marketing should be at the forefront of your thinking. Is your book even marketable? What is the market? What length of book are those people used to buying? Why would they buy yours instead of (or in addition to) all the other similar books on the market? What will differentiate yours? These are the kind of questions you should be asking yourself even before you put pen to paper, or fingers to keys, as the case may be.

These strategic concepts are the bread and butter of the pages comprising "Jump Start." Don't be surprised if you find meat in the middle that you can really sink your teeth into. This isn't another rehash of duplicative information available for free from countless websites. This is the real deal, written by the co-founder of the Small Publishers Association of North America. Highly recommended reading before you start writing, before you start publishing, and after you think you've marketed it all. - Brent Sampson, author of Self-Publishing Simplified

This is a very informative book for anyone who is starting up a new saltwater aquarium. The illustrations are great. It covers a lot of depth and provides practical tips to setting up and maintaining an aquarium.

This book provides a great overview of the hobby. This is really where most people should start off reading in the hobby to determine if they're going to create a reef in their living room. Perhaps some should start with Paletta's The New Marine Aquarium first as a quick 1 day read, but really those who plan on enjoying the hobby would be well served by skipping the superbasic and getting into this book. That's not to say this is the only book you'll ever need - but this is enough book for most people to be quite content with. (For those of you who are 'bitten' by the hobby, The Reef Aquarium series by Delbeek & Sprung is an excellent resource, but there are others.) Enjoy,

This book inspired me to do a live reef tank instead of just a fish tank!

Wow, this is a wonderful book. I am going to set up a reef tank very soon, and this book will be very helpful when I have to make decisions for my new tank.

I have been keeping a marine tank for less than 1 year. I got tired of just using the internet for all my knowledge-base of marine aquariums; spending many hours digging through all the forums for whatever current problem/issue i had, reading so many conflicting opinions and answers from 'experts', and often ending up at least as confused as when i began.

So I bought this book, read it, and feel much better equipped for the hobby. I still refer heavily to internet sources for more granular knowledge, but at least I now have a solid, reliable source for a foundation on which to build.

This book gave me more confidence, and left me eager to learn and do more in this hobby. It is beautifully illustrated, well composed, and the author conveys his own passion of the hobby and eagerness to educate responsible marine hobbyists.