Constructing Books

There are an awful lot of investment books out there which say that they are going to give you absolute advice on how to make your fortune. Most of these wind up in some way of promising how to tell you how to beat the market. And then there the investment e-mails that I seem to get three or four times a day. The promote everything from stocks I never heard of to currencies, to metals.

Beating the market like this requires that you predict the future. And predicting the future is really quite easy -- it's being right that's hard.

This book lays out a philosophy that says that the maket is pretty smart. Basically everyone knows everything that anyone else does. If you really know something that other people don't know, that's typically insider information and the Feds say nasty things to you about using insider information -- ask Martha Stewart about this.

So here's a book with a solid explanation of how the market works, how to judge risk, how to balance investments to cover just about whatever happens in the economy. It's good solid advice, it's information about how the world really works, it's the inside scoop on what the author calls Mother Market.

I have read literally hundreds of books on investing and have been an invester since 1982. The approach described in this book (and also The Intelligent Asset Allocator, by William Bernstein) is the most practical, sensible, way of investing I have found. It shows why market timing doesn't work, stock picking doesn't work, but asset allocation does. One of the great things about this approach is that once you're invested, there's almost nothing to do! Stop worrying, relax and know you're ideally invested for the long haul. Also, see Armstrong's website at www.investorsolutions.com.

This one is on many must-read lists, and I'm not exactly sure why. Not that it's a bad book...in fact it's pretty strongly OK.

There's a general discussion of virtually every intro-to-investing topic. If that's what you're looking for, it's a good choice. It seemed a little generic and dry to me, without any big ahas or new info, but maybe that's what you're looking for.

This guy Frank Armstrong III runs a company called Investor Solutions, Inc. That means he's probably a CFP, and makes money by telling people what to invest in. There are two kinds of financial advisors in the world...those with guns, and those with shovels. Actually, that's my favorite paraphrased quote from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. There are two kinds of FPs though- good and bad.

The good ones are after your money. The bad ones are after a more unfair cut of your money and likely fees or kickbacks from fund companies. This guy seems to definitely be the former. This book is like sitting down for about 4 days with a good CFP that explains everything he knows about the market and sound investing planning to you for 12 hours a day. It's like reading a proprietary 300 page brochure from a reputable financial planning specialist. That's good, if that's what you're looking for.

So, I give this book thumbs up, with the caveats above. It's better than I could do, but there are more dynamic, hard hitting, aha books out there you may want to catch first. I'll get around to reviewing those soon.

The Informed Investor: A Hype-Free Guide To Constructing A Sound Financial Portfolio by Frank Armstrong III (Founder and Principal of Investor Solutions, Inc. and a frequent contributor to CNNfn.com) is a straightforward instructional guide to avoiding uncertainty and pitfalls in the world of modern investing. Of special interest is the presentation of the "Modern Portfolio Theory". From options specifically for the purpose of saving up for college, to expertly gathering intelligence and assessing risk before one leaps, and so much more, The Informed Investor is an expert "must-read" guide for nonspecialist general readers and aspiring investors from all financial backgrounds.

I bought this book because I wanted to learn the basics of investing so I could make informed decisions. All the other invetment books at the bookstore are either too boring or too complicated to make any sense of them. I feel that I have gained a wealth of knowlege with this book and I am no longer listening to friends, relatives or magazines for tips that never worked. They only confuse you more and end up making you loose your money or pay a large amount of taxes. Now I have a long term strategy that makes sense and is in line with my long term goals and needs. I highly recommend this book.

very helpful and informativ

I am a late 20 something male with a number of late 20 something friends who are getting a little concerned. I leave copies around my beach house for the late 20 something women to help themselves to. So far they like it. All who have picked it up have liked it so far. Good luck.

My suggestion to other readers is do not waste your time or money on this book. I saw the two authors on several talk shows when this book was first published. They seemed likable and very much like people whom I could relate. So when the big 3-0 began to approach I ordered it from Amazon. I couldn't wait to tear into it. Unfortunately, I was very, very dissapointed. The best part of this book is the cover, and that's no lie. I ordered this book thinking I would get good information. Instead all I learned was that you can string together pages and pages of quotes from other people who were published years - even decades before you, and if you are lucky enough to get it published you can make alot of money and appear on several talk shows. With the constant quoting and paraphrasing this book reads like a college term paper. A bad college term paper

You are on verge of 30 - you are looking for some guidance on how to deal with the crisis you feel you are going through. Read this book!! Wow - what a breathtaking book it is. It touches on every major issue going through your mind during this time. I found it the most helpful starting at the "Brooding over Breeding" chapter and from then on to the end of the book. I know in my heart of hearts that I will survive this - this book reinforced it and validated all of my feelings. Great for your mind, body, and soul.

Now I know what might be happening to me --- my mind and my body. Before reading Facing 30, I thought I was just one of those people who over analyzes everything rather than listening to gut instincts. This book made me think twice about quitting my job, buying an apartment and leaving my boyfriend all in the same month. Not that it excuses negative behavior or patterns, it simply gave me perspective on why I might be feeling and doing things the way I do.

This guide is aimed at people with a fair degree of woodworking skills. It covers the high points and provides very good pictures and advice. Although plans for building a banjo are included, none of the more useful jigs are drawn up - consistent with the aim of the book, but holding it back from be excellent and most thorough. Bottom line? Worth every penny.

While this is a good book and will teach you many things about wood selection and how to cut, what materials to select, how to stain and with what-basically it takes you from the lumbar yard for selection of raw materials to the back porch and pickin your newly constructed banjo there are some well known errors in the book-particularly with the proper length of the fretboard for correct intonation. overall this is a very good book and if you keep a keen eye open for the inconsistancies you will build a killer banjo (or at least a killer kit banjo)

Very detailed instructions for each part in a chapter for each part. Full size plans in a fold-out section. Mr Siminoff knows his stuff and suggests various approaches depending upon your skills or facilities.

If you're even just a little bit handy then you should be able to make a worthwhile instrument from this book.

I am an advanced woodworker and know what I am looking at in regard to how-to wood working books. This book is so definitive and complete that it is the standard I will use for other books of its kind. Although it is a technical book there is also bits of supporting theory about the "why" of the "how-to". Although there were some things I know little about, such as inlaying work, I found myself inspired to get into areas that before I would avoid. Great book, Roger.

Every prospective banjo builder should have this book. It is thorough and exhaustive. If you have the proper tools and are willing to take your time, you can build a perfectly good banjo with the information in this book.

Roger shows the prospective builder how to construct almost every major part of the instrument, from the rim to the neck to the resonator. Fortunately for the tyro, it is not necessary to go quite this far in the building process. It is now very easy to obtain semi-finished parts from many sources, so you don't have to slot your own fretboard or bend your own rim, unless you really like to get down to the most basic type of building.

This book has been out for fifteen years now, and some of the suppliers in his list have gone out of business. So the list should probably be updated.

If you do an internet search for banjo parts, you will be able to buy almost everything you need in semi finished form to construct a great banjo, using this book as a guide along the way.

As someone who is sick of the likes of Robert Spencer peddling fearmongering propaganda, this book is a breath of fresh air. If you have even a passing interest in Islam and its relationship with the West, read this book.

The book is ok. Its well written, and raises some valid points, however the issue is presented almost totally in an 'America-vs-Islam' context. The main conflicts Qureshi deals with involve post 9-11 America v certain parts of the Middle East and Israel-Palestine.

Qureshi has missed a major oppertunity to investigate other conflicts which involve Islam. Why does he not discuss Kashmir, Chechnya, Southern Thailand, Timor, Ughur/Western China? All of these conflicts have a religous dimension to them, and all of them are often talked about by Radical Jihadists, yet none of them really involve the US or Israel. His lack of attention to this means his book has just become another generic study which simplifies the whole issue.

Overall it is an ok book, and from an academic point of view it does provide an alternative to Huntingdon's theory. But sadly it has a narrow scope and leaves too many crucial questions unanswered.

Distinguished intellectuals offer in this extremely important not to mention timely book a much needed analysis of islamophobia and its lingering implications for international peace and security. These leading political commentators explain why hatred towards Islam still pervades Western societies. Nowhere is overgeneralization so evident as when it comes to Islam. Muslims are frequently portrayed by mass media as intransigent extremists whose values are completely incompatible with those of the westerners. One of those who strongly assert that Islam poses a grave threat to the West is Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington, presumably best known for his "Clash of Civilizations" thesis. Huntington suggests in his book that a peaceful co-existence between the West and the Arab world is an impossibility. By describing Muslims as a homogenous entity, Huntington's analysis becomes seriously flawed because he fails to take into account a number of important factors such as the fact that there are over 1 billion Muslims worldwide who have different cultures and speak different languages. Needless to say, failing to even consider these factors is indicative of spurious scholarship. One of the principal objectives of this book is to offer a rebuttal of Huntington's thesis. Edward Said's contribution in this book is a devestating critique of Huntington's assertions. Unfortunately, as has frequently been the case in the past, there is a tendency in the West to award writers who defame and misrepresent the true messages of Islam, as in the case of Ivo Andric who was awarded Nobel Prize for his book The Bridge on the Drina. Andric depicted Bosnian Muslims as atavistic people and treacherous converts who did not belong in Bosnia. Clearly oblivious to the fact that the majority of Bosnian Muslims were secularized individuals for whom religion played a rather insignificant role in social life, I can corroborate that from personal experience, Andric claimed that Bosnian Muslims were a serious threat to Christianity. In point of fact, Bosnian Muslims were and still are much less religious than their Serb and Croat counterparts. Paradoxically, many western experts spoke of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bosnia and displayed a flagrant disregard for extremely well documented Serb nationalism and mythology which subsequently enabled the genocide of Bosnian Muslims. According to Michael Sells' and Norman Cigar's brilliant analyses, Serb mythology played a pivotal role in the extermination of Bosnian Muslims and yet no one talked of the Orthodox Christian fundamentalism and the other adjectives commonly employed for describing Muslims only. Christians who commit abhorrent crimes are rarely if ever referred to as Christian extremists but rather as lunatics in need of psychiatric care. Nonetheless, when a few extremely unstable individuals knowingly misinterpret the Quaran, they are immediately labelled religious fanatics. Note that the careless (in my view deliberate) use of the word Islam such as in the "Islamic fundamentalism" implicitly suggests that Islam condones terrorism and unjustifiable killing of innocent civilians. This unwarranted and unjustified use of the word Islam in similar contexts helps foster islamophobia in the West. There is and there always will be extremism on all sides but as long as we keep focusing on one side only, there will never be justice. I recommend this extremely well argued and extraordinarily well written masterpiece to all who believe that justice must apply to all. This is irrefutably one of the most important books ever published.

Serious readers about Islam and US policy should reflect on most of the essays in this book. It is a necessary antidote to all the simplifications and hidden agendas in the press, policy, and publications by "popular" writers on Islam who so often seem driven by hate, profits, or noteriety. Read here to reconsider the "Huntington Thesis" and it Lewis 'roots'. Reflect on the implications for Bush's "Crusade". The essay on Christian Serb terrorism and the manipulation of hatred is valuable for its general lessons as well. How think tanks and best sellers sway policy among those with limited depth of knowlege is worth considering -- especially when there seems to be an intellectual "Gresham's Law" of punditry. The continued importance of history and memory is highlighted. A variety of authors with considerable knowlege and depth offer valuable insights into where we are and how we got there - about myths and reality that are central to the what has been dubbed "the war on terror" and is often seen by Muslims with some justification as a "war on Islam" -- a Crusade.

Muslims is nice. Don't smite me, please. I am good on Islam, yes? I vote 5 stars for this nice nice book!

Here is a book that colonial history lovers really need to add to their collection. A new perspective on early American history, with brilliant insight into the motivations of colonists and the consequential reactions of regional Native Americans. The book offers depth into the subject and makes for very interesting reading. And I am not even his sister! Highly recommended reading.

This book examines a little known subject at great detail. The author is obviously well subjected in the material. He offers new insight to a foggy chapter in our country's development. While it can be ponderous at times, the overall book is a jewel that will play an important role in your early American book collection. I strongly recommend it (and I am not even a relative!)

Enough nepotism here. This is a solid work in an area that has long attracted the interest of scholars of the colonial frontier. What really gives Hinderaker's work some novelty is the way he addresses economics in the imperial contest for the Ohio River Valley. The one glaring weakness of the work is the sparing use of French and Spanish primary uses, particularly those not readily available in English translation. Still a well-written work w/ some new insights.

Here is a book that colonial history lovers really need to add to their collection. A new perspective on early American history, with brilliant insight into the motivations of colonists and the consequential reactions of regional Native Americans. The book offers depth into the subject and makes for very interesting reading. And I am not even his sister! Highly recommended reading.

This book abounds in colorful characters and insights into the people and forces that shaped the western frontier in the years leading up to the Revolution. It also explores the effects of the Revolution on relations between whites and Indians. OK, it was written by my brother-- but it's still a great book!

I would have loved to save time and purchased this book from a local retailer. Problem was that I could not find it. There is a reason why Amazon.com is such a force to be reconed with. They had the book. I placed the order on Friday and had it in my hand on Monday.
The book is wonderful. The service at Amazon was seemless and painless.

This book makes sense of the relationship between personal growth and intimacy with another. Schnarch describes how differentiation can be accelerated with the use of sexual intimacy. He gives the basis for a decision in favor of monogamy without one bit of moralism. A very exciting book

Although I am a medical doctor and consider myself to be average in intelligence, this book put me to sleep. There is so much theory and scientific information that it put me, a physician, to sleep. There are some parts that deserve merit and some insights that are useful but you have to read a large amount of material that seems amazingly boring to get to it. I would not recommend this book. I have read 100 pages so far and it has been hard to continue reading more. I will make an effort to finish it and report to you later. Maybe there is a surprise somewhere ahead of these pages

Schnarch has completed a Herculean task of exploring in depth the role of intimacy and sexuality (and spirituality). The sexual crucible model clearly is the most sophisticated model available today for marriage and sex therapists. His novel approach propells the field beyond the behavioral and technique focus that most therapist wouldn't even do if they had too. I was impressed that he attempted to address spirituality and some of his concepts in the final chapter are interesting. However, he falls into a simple dichotomy in analyzing religion which basically is a good/bad split. He really doesn't understand the depth of thought behind some of the previous great thinkers and sees them only through 20th century glasses, where they are easy targets. Overall, I strongly recommend this book to therapists. It is truly groundbreaking.

Well known split cane rod builder Ray Gould, has produced a comprehensive book encompassing several related bamboo fly rod sub topics. Ray walks the reader through the different commercial producers of bamboo fly rods, and tells you what to look for when placing a value on an older rod. Repairs to that old rod in the basement are dicussed. Diagrams and information to produce your own special rod making tools are here, as well as making your own rods from scratch. This is an excellent book for any serious rod builder, collector, restorer, or anyone who appreciates a fine hand made bamboo fly rod. I recommend this book as a companion to other rod buiding books. Ed Dickson

You'll eventually read reviews from people who don't like this book - the book is poorly organized, too brief, has terrible references/bibliography, etc. I think these criticisms are missing the point. This book contains a lot of valuable information in the form of notes, asides, etc. that you will find nowhere else. This shouldn't be your first pirchase (that should be The Lovely Reed), but as a second purchase to fill in the gaps missing from The Lovely Reed it is worth it's weight in gold. It really is a must buy.

Let me get right to the point: Ray Gould's Constructing Cane Rods is a gem!

In a genre full of obtuse and lengthy tomes, this book provides a concise, clear, and easy to read review of bamboo fly rod technology, art, and practice. Gould calls upon his background as an engineer to cut through the alchemy, distilling essential elements into a series of refreshingly well organized chapters - each short and to the point.

Balancing this technical clarity, it is also evident that the author's heart lives on a trout stream. Full tribute is given to the traditions and craftsmanship of bamboo rodmaking, without any of the cloying syrup.

Just like an exquisite violin, a fine cane flyrod is both a joy to behold and a delight to play. Read this book, and you will pleasurably discover all you need to know to restore, care for, build, and enjoy the very best in bamboo fly rods.

John M Griffin (Feb '01)

This book is a MUST for classroom teachers and reading teachers/literacy coaches. It provides easy to use lesson plan templates, an extensive bibliography, and ready-to-use reproducibles while focusing on research-based comprehension strategy instruction. This book will answer questions for teachers of reading. They will know why and how to teach comprehension strategies. Dr. Boyles knows how to give teachers the information they need so that they can try things immediately.

This book is full of practical and kid friendly comprehension strategies that any teacher can use to help students with comprehension. There are charts/posters, sample lessons, and reading activity forms that can be reproduced or forms may be downloaded by a CD that is included with the book. The reading strategy activity forms can be used with a book of your choice to teach a specific reading comprehension strategy. Dr. Nancy Boyles also recommended a bibliography of books to teach each strategy. This is a great book to read if you are still searching for reading strategies to help your class with comprehension.

Enhanced with an accompanying CD, Constructing Meaning Through Kid-Friendly Comprehension Strategy Instruction by Nancy N. Boyles (Professor, Graduate Reading Program, and Graduate Reading Program Coordinator at Southern Connecticut State University) is a resource intended especially for educators, including teachers, parents, tutors, and home schoolers. Techniques meant to maximize a students' ability to comprehend written text through strategies applied while reading, focused lessons offering specific strategy applications, an included CD with classroom-ready visual supports and recommendations for guide-reading group practice or think-aloud modeling sessions, and much more fill this quality resource. Constructing Meaning is an expert and professionally written guidebook to honing one's teaching skills and bringing out the best in one's students.

Types of tests and it purposes and characteristics of tests in school.

This is the only book that truly addresses important practical aspects of how to writer quality test questions. But is is more than just a "how to" book. It gives information about many aspects of test construction that can lead to valid score interpretations. Unique in the field. I recommend it to anyone in the testing industry.

This is an important book. We know because Dr. Osterlind tells us so over and over. For a hundred bucks, it ought to be. There's really little here that Gronlund, Haladyna, and others haven't written about before. What's really disappointing is that the examples are rife with the type of careless errors and inconsistencies he so decries. Psycometrician, heal thyself!

The background of the book is quite interesting. One would normally expect a Chinese professor to write in Chinese, not English. The book is just one volume in a book series entitled "The United States and the World: Foreign Perspectives". The series is intended for American readers in the hopes that Americans will gain the perspectives of people around the world and how, in particular, they view the United States. Thus, Jiang had some leeway in not reciting the "party line" of Communist China of Chinese/American history, but instead give his own views on the subject. Jiang knew he was writing to American readers and therefore used both American and Chinese sources in writing his book

Jiang starts the book with saying that, after the American Revolution in 1783, Boston merchants immediately sought trade with China. He studies this relation up to 1978, when full diplomatic relations were established between the United States and Communist China, a full ten years before he finished and published his book.

The only problem with this book is that you need a primer in Chinese history first in order to get anything out of the book. One needs to understand the overall trends in Chinese history to fully appreciate the nuances of America's relationship with China, and Jiang, unfortunately, overlooks this.

This book is a clear and thorough analysis of one of the worst shortcomings of contemporary politics, democratic or tyrannical: the transformation of the public sphere into a mere show, a spectacle for audiences, not for citizens. Substance is always constricted by the spectacle. Hard, evident truths can not be expressed for fear of enraging the audience. Irrelevant debates obscure the issues our societies should be discussing. Politics as spectacle is what explains the kind of political leaderships, enmities and controversies that exist. Murray Edelman is very good at telling some of the hard truths I mentioned, one of the most important being that new political leaders, right from the start of their careers, have to follow the rules of politics as spectacle, otherwise, their careers get to nothing and they are unable to accomplish anything anyway, talented and brave as they may be. Politics as spectacle is the cause that a whole nation is for years focused on the sexual errands of a President, while other important things are happening to that very nation, with seldom anybody pointing at the real issues. Politics as spectacle is the cause that a crazy Marxist with a pipe and a ski mask marches around a nation (Mexico) with supporters who know nothing about the issues in discussion.

Summing up, Edelman has written a very good argument about how politics is the construction of a big spectacle in which every actor plays its role. One very interesting point brought up by Edelmann is that ethnic and religious conflicts are usually the result of manipulative politics by skilled but immoral politicians. That is, if those potential conflicts have nothing to give to political leaders, most likely they will not erupt, but will be solved in time. I think this book is a must read for anybody interested in knowing how contemporary politics (and, I would say, politics in all yimes) are constructed. Once you know the truth, you will be far harder to deceive.

Normative theories of democracy presume political process to be more or less rational. However, we have accumulated so much evidence to the contrary that perhaps the time has come to view these basic assumptions in a critical light and - to get rid of them. If mass democracy is a spectacle, as Guy Debord put it, why not make this the point of departure for our analysis?..

I was both delighted and a bit frustrated to find that somebody else (Murray Edelman) has done this already, obstructing somewhat my plans for that matter. And yet it is a brilliant book, crisp and clear, both simple and persuading, making complex issues .

The idea is elaborated thoroughly. Political spectacle is the logic that stands behind the construction and use of political leaders and political enemies, that elevates this or that political `problem' in the spotlight.

Political problems are the constructs of existing ideologies and political language. The main characteristic of political problem is that it is not to be solved (e.g. unemployment). It is a narrative that is used for mass arousal. This explains why substance is always eagerly sacrificed for drama, raising support for political leaders but also creating a huge gap between political agenda, everyday experience and personal well-being. Political apathy is, according to Murray, the silent resistance of citizens to the imposing rhetoric of political leaders, struggling over irrelevant issues.

Political leaders are constructed and employed by the political spectacle. They have to act in the environment with so much structural and actual constraints that there is not much they can do. The only criteria for selection of political leaders these days also seems to be not their administrative talents, but their ability to compromise and deceive. A person with clear political message could never become a political leader, because he would lack vagueness necessary to attract various groups of voters.

The existing bureaucratic system is so complex and so much involved with various interest groups and industries that putting together a coherent policy is practically out of reach for any political leaders. The impotence of political leaders makes them desperate to substitute tough stance for tough action, enemies for adversaries and opponents, foreign affairs for domestic policy. They start to look for enemies abroad, small enough to be incapable of retaliation.

Forget inner-city ghettoes and gun laws - let's bomb Belgrade, Yugoslavia ( or Baghdad, Iraq, or Grozny, Chechnya, or whatever). There is nothing like this in a book of course - it features strictly theoretic approach and, by the way, it way published well back in 1988, when the power structure was much more stable thanks to Cold war long-term threat, the PR 'trick of the century'.