Games Books

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

This sourcebook is very important if you have any EF personell as characters. Furthermore, it adds more equipment, skills and charactaristics. More importantly, it includes the Starship combat system for the Babylon Project. I like this system, although I have not had a chance to play it yet. It is fast, easy to understand and tactics are important. Moreover, it is one of the very few starship combat systems I have seen where ships obey the Newtonian Laws of Motion (except gravity drive ships, of course). The weapons chart was accidentally omitted from the book, but it can be downloaded from Chameleon Electric's web site and it was included in the Gamemaster's Screen, below.

I've played pool for more than forty years and was born in bank pool territory--Cincinnati, Ohio. As a former Cincinnati Amateur Champ, I thought my knowledge of bank pool ran deep. Not so. Freddy Bentivegna's book taught me lots of things I didn't know, especially since I stopped playing pool for 26 years during my Air Force career. Freddy's tips brought me back up to speed in bank pool play. He's also a terrific commentator on Accu-Stat tapes and DVD, supplying background information that's interesting and informative. I hope one day to get to Chicago and play him a few games. I'll need a spot, of course.

An excellent tool box of well-kept tricks and practical secrets for a more-than-average player who wants to get to the next level. No waste, easy to read and understand and worth every penny.

A great read for any level of pool player. By far one of the best books on pool i have ever read. The book will pay for itself in no time.

This book doesn't go over the many techniques used in banking systems, rather it takes that you know this and then tells you how you can more accurately antipate 'collision-induced-throw' and manipulate banks that wouldn't otherwise work (by using different cuts and english).

The books take on an aiming system is well thought out, it takes some getting used to though, and requires an aiming system as a guide. I've used the aiming system, on canned shots, and can see the techniques and it works for me. I will still require many hours to master this book though.

How many times have you read in some book, some method or another that claims to improve your banking? Then you get to the table and it doesnt work reliably enough that you use the method long term? The "mirror" system is a classic example of useless banking info imo.

I am happy to report that Banking with the Beard actually has info that will improve your banking. You will learn how to gauge english when it transfers to the object ball, you will learn how cutting across the face of the ball on a bank imparts english and how to compensate. You will learn what Freddie calls "Automatics", banks that are dead from certain positions.

One shot that I will in particular bring up is Freddie's "Side Step Bank", a bank shot where you hit the ball with inside english and it shortens up the angle of the bank. The beauty of this shot is that you hit the shot with some firm speed and as such its alot easier to make under pressure. Once you practice this shot, the make percentage goes up towards 7-8/10 or higher :-) I can tell you personally that this shot has saved me the cheese on more than one occasion and easily paid for the book many times over.

Banking with the Beard also has alot of great gambling stories from the legendary pool room Bensingers in Chicago, Illinois. If you enjoy reading about big dollar action and the interesting shots that came out of those matchups, then this book is also for you.

I have several chip carving books; however, this one is my favorite, because it tells me everything I need to know as a beginner. She could improve the accuracy on her illustrations; however, I still like the book and recommend it to all beginning chip carvers.

I am a newbie to chip carving - and have purchased 2 Wayne Barton books to get started. They had great pictures as inspiration - but do nothing for the beginner who has no technique to make these sophisticated cuts.

This book reminds me of learning to play the piano. You start with basics like chop sticks and gradually learn to add parts til you're playing beautiful music. It starts with basic exercises and real projects with basics and expands gradually with each chapter - expanding on the basic cut toward more difficult cuts. i.e. cutting simple triangle - to more complex straight patterns / to curves - and projects to tie them all together. It also covers basics like creating and laying out a pattern onto a piece of wood - which isn't mentioned in my Barton books.

I'd highly recommend this for the beginner or anyone who finds themselves questioning basics of technique for various cuts.

Jake

I cannot give this book enough stars, and it is worth 5 times the price they are asking for.

This is a large book, A4 sized, it is packed with useful photos and diagrams, approx. half the photos are glorious colour, essential for carving (to get a good idea of the depth and form).

Chip carving has always been a bit of a mystery to me, within 2 minutes of opening this book it was completely clear what the diagrams meant (I did not realise they were indicating depth of cut) ... the book is a series of projects, each of which builds upon your skill and grows more complex, covering all aspects of chip carving.

I cannot imagine a book on chip carving being better than this. If you are looking for one, get this one, and good luck.

I have several of Wayne Barton's books on chip carving. Although nicely done they pale in comparison to Pam Greshams works. Although she does not claim to be a trained teacher this lady does it better than anyone else out there. She will have you carving the basic chip in about 30 minutes. And best yet, she explains each movement and how to do it clearly and with great aids.
I can't say enough good things about this book. I only wish there was a companion video to go with it. If you are interested in chip carving don't be afraid to buy this book. It's worth every penny.

I'd give Pams book 6 stars but the selection box wouldn't let me. Pam's book is an excellent step by step, add on, and expand upon set of exercises. She goes into detail on explaining how to with everything, from layout, how to draw all of the designs in her book; how to hold your knife in the basic positions and each lesson builds upon the last. Every progression is done step by step. She is outstanding in holding your hand and guiding you through all of the steps of the exercises. Wayne Barton's books are excellent. Unfortunately, you have to have some basic knowledge on design and technique and carving expertise. For experienced chip carvers his books are really great source books. His video is excellent for seeing chip carving technique at it's very best. Worth the purchase. Most important of all is using razor sharp knives else you'll be very frustrated and disappointed in the results. Get Wayne Barton's ceramic stones and a good leather strop with some rouge to rub on. Your blade will have a mirror finish.I glued some old pieces of leather to both sides of a 10 inch by 2 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick piece of wood. One side for rouging, the other to polish. When I've layed off for quite a while, I always pick up Pam's book to get my hands and fingers in shape and go through the basics. At 75, my fingers tend to stiffen up a bit. She got me my first blue ribbon at a craft show for my chip carving designed tool box back in 1993. Pam is not very good with computers but she is in a class by herself when she designed this truly outstanding do it yourself chip carving text.
Grampa Joe

We love this book! It is great for an older sibling to read aloud and not feel guilty about laughing along! Don't limit yourself by age! This is too fun to miss! For all ages!

My daughter is 2 years old and we've had this book two days. She listens very intently as I read it. The story has just the right amount of repetition to reel her in and allow her to "catch on". I'm sure this will be a book which she requests often.
So, why only four stars? It really is monotonous for a parent who reads books to their children often. Parents who find themselves drained by the end of repetitive books should simply not introduce this one until the child can read on his/her own.
To sum it up...this book is captivating, humorous, and easy to read if you are 2 - 5 years old. Above that, you may find yourself feeling guilty about hiding it.

This is a wonderful book! Children and adults alike enjoy the silliness and the repetition. Similar to The Mitten, but lots more fun!

We borrowed this book from the library for my 3 1/2 year old daughter. My daughter has now memorized most of the book, and she loves to "read" it to the rest of the family. She laughes the whole way through it, and she actually looks forward to bedtime when the whole family sits down and reads it together. We will definately be adding it to our home library.

WE BORROWED THIS BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY. THE FIRST OF WABERS BOOKS. I READ IT TO MY 8, 5, AND 4 YEAR OLD. WE ALL LAUGHED AND LAUGHED. FUN TO READ!! I IMMEDIATLY ORDERED TWO, ONE FOR US AND ONE FOR MY NEICES! IT WAS REFRESHING TO READ A CHILDS BOOK THAT EVERYONE ENJOYS. SO MANY BOOKS AND SO FEW GREAT ONES. IT WILL BECOME A FAVORITE IN OUR PERSONAL LIBRARY.

I have not had so much fun in my life since the Kennedy-Nixon debates. Rock on, J. Baxter!

Did I remeber to say that J. Baxter Newgate is very clever?

I solved most of these puzzles, but some were so clever I had to cheat. Great stuff, very clever. I loved the book.

J. Baxter Newgate's Puzzles are some of the most creative and challenging puzzles I have ever seen. Keep them coming!

J. Baxter Newgate is right up there with Merl Reagle, Will Shortz, and the late Eugene Maleska for creative and funny puzzles. When is his next book coming out?

This book is still alive and well and available at most juggling sites. You can get it for thirteen smackeroos at jugglingstore-dot-com, for instance. Good book. How about if we try asking less for the used ones than we do for the new ones though?

George Gillson is publishing the book periodically himself now. If you go to www.Dube.com, they will order a copy of the book from him. They charge $12.95 plush S&H. My wife found this out by emailing George Gillson himself. He actually answered her back with the info. What a great guy. Good luck. Egon

If you already know the baisics of jugling (3 ball cascade and reverse cascade/2 in one hand, ect.), but would like to learn more, this book is perfect for you. It may not be the best book from which to learn the baisic three ball cascade, but it contains clear and detailed instructions for many of the essential three ball patterns. This book is an incredible resource for even an experienced juggler. A must have.

If you already know the baisics of jugling (3 ball cascade and reverse cascade/2 in one hand, ect.), but would like to learn more, this book is perfect for you. It may not be the best book from which to learn the baisic three ball cascade, but it contains clear and detailed instructions for many of the essential three ball patterns. This book is an incredible resource for even an experienced juggler. A must have.

An excellent resource for all jugglers. When I got this book I had already been juggling for several years and was working on seven balls, and still use it as a valued resourse. Gillson highlights cleary 88 excellent patterns, from the most common to some very rare and innovative. Beyond the Cascade is a wonderful way to increase your 3 ball repertoire quickly, and also a way to gain some great ideas for numbers work. I have also carried many of the tricks and patterns over to rings and clubs. This book is a valuable resource to jugglers of all levels.

I have gotten other so called hard Sudoku books and found them too easy. This one will keep you going for a long time. It has lots of different types of puzzles with the ultimate being the 16x16 grid. I would give 4 1/2 stars because I wish it were on better paper. I make copies of the hardest puzzles on better paper that can take LOTS of erasing!

Wonderful. No fluff in this book. It begins with some tricky ones that actually require several minutes to finish and gets downright hard after that. Some take hours, and often I just quit one puzzle and come back to it another day.

The various shapes/styles are a great break from the 9x9 norm. The 6x6 puzzles are absolutely vicious. Nothing like kids 6x6 sudokus that take an advanced puzzler seconds to complete. And I love the jigsaw shapes. Watch out for the 9x9 jigsaws!

There should be more advanced sudoku books like this. As recommended by others, this should not be your first foray into sudoku. But once you are hooked on the light stuff, this is a nice challenge.

If you like Sudoku but the puzzles seem to be getting dull, try the variants in this book. Different sizes and arrangements make new puzzles out of an old game.

First of all, I would definitely say that if you are just beginning to learn how to solve Sudoku puzzles, I strongly suggest that you do not buy this book. Instead, I would suggest a book which focuses almost entirely on the standard 9x9 Sudoku puzzles, and which starts with easy puzzles before progressing to more difficult ones. The Big Book of SuDoku 3 starts right out with difficult puzzles, and the puzzles only continue to get harder and harder as you continue.

If you are an experienced SuDoku solver who is able to solve all but the hardest 9x9 SuDoku puzzles without too much difficulty, or if you have grown a bit tired with the standard 9x9 SuDoku puzzle, this is a great book. For me, the most appealing feature of this book is that half of the 200 puzzles in this book are different from the familiar 9x9 Sudoku. While the Maxi (12x12) and Super (16x16) puzzles are just larger versions of the 9x9 puzzles, the Jigsaw, Duplex, and Triplex puzzles actually require the solver to use different solving techniques than are used for the regular puzzles.

Overall, I give this book 5 stars as long as you're up for the challenge. While this book may not contain quite the volume of puzzles as some others, the harder puzzles can take well upwards of an hour to complete, so this book will keep you occupied for a long time.

I started doing these puzzles over a year ago and I became hooked. This book is for people who have been doing them a long time, or who know they will become addicted. If you are a true beginner I would suggest the second book in this series (has a bit easier puzzles to start with up to the mega challenging. You can spend hours on some of the hardest ones, but if you are a true puzzler, that is what you want.

This is an ultimate and indispensable guide to 3-cushion players. All four books of this series are full of precious formulas and tips many of which were secret to amateurs. Systematic and pin-pointed explanations and diagrams are incredible. This series should go on.

I bought because of one-pocket interest and find many useful ideas

I have witnessed over 2000 pool and billiard tournaments and it is obvious that many VERY GOOD players cannot control the cue ball, or solve simple carom problems. There has never been anything written like these Billiard Atlas books...these systems and techniques open the door of possibilities for pool, or 3-cushion players, like never before.

As a tournament director, I have witnessed over 2000 pool and billiard tournaments and it is obvious that many VERY GOOD players cannot control the cue ball, or solve simple carom problems. There has never been anything written like these Billiard Atlas books...these systems and techniques open the door of possibilities for pool, or 3-cushion players, like never before.

Words fail me to congratulate Harris for the splendid work he has done. The four books offer a large selection of secrets and techniques for studious billards players to explore. Putting all those systems and techniques into words, must have been pioneering !!! The greatest billiards players will nearly never reveal their secrets, unless one's willing to pay for expensive private lessons. People like Harris are very rare in the world of billiards

This book containts a very good source of methods and systems easy to remember and help you to improve your level game.
I recomend you this product.

What Mr. Harris accomplished in this series is phenomenal. This is an ultimate and indispensable guide to 3-cushion players. All four books of this series are full of precious formulas and tips many of which have been secret to amateurs. Systematic and pin-pointed explanations and diagrams are incredible.

In Wichita, I selfishly organized these locals recently using Bondzinsky's ladder club concept so that they could see their averages and have their hearts on improvement. It worked too. There are 14 players. In one month they've played over 100 games and the housemen are cleaning the table everyday. Without 4 pounds of chalk, they play longer and rather well. Then, I make available the Atlas books for those that stand still long enough to read a select page or two. Most will. Those of us that rely on the books and our working our way through them (one new thing at a time) "call our shots" to each other, so we can compare and discuss the many approaches. It's a minor miracle, right here in River City. One guy will say, "Rising Sun," another offers, "Dead Ball here", "Sid", "Walt's," "Sang Lee," "Plus," all those familiar names in the books. Here's the punchline: "these writings have given even Wichita a body of information that is improving play and interest in the game...not just for students and 3 cushion fanatics, like me, but for the newcomers and converted pool players in town. The way these books play a part in the improvement of the game is probably greater than Walt will ever know."

The most comprehensive four-volume collection of billiard systems and techniques, ever published.

All year long Walt Harris should wear a red cap and a long white beard . And have his name legally changed to SANTA CLAUS (to Room Billiard Players). I had my 1926 Bruns. table re done recently; and I just finished practicing third rail arrivals, with the West Chicago Long Angle. Wow, what a pleasure to see shot after shot right on the money!! A real Christmas present to me and a pleasure to look forward to all year long. Perhaps I'll send him a reindeer or two.

This book's scope is ambitious. I wasn't sure I understook what that phrase meant until I bought The Billiard Guidebook. If there's anything you want to know about pool and billiards, here it is. And, it's much better written than those that have already copied from it. This is the original. If you are looking for a book that covers anything and everything about billiards and pool for yourself, or as a gift, this is the one. Don't let its size turn you away. It's easy to read and has great illustrations. Go for it, like I did. You'll love it.

What a fantastic book! I recovered my table in ajust a couple of hours saving from having to pay someone to do it. Not to mention this books talks about all types of tables including disassembly, moving and re-assembling as well as table maintenance, fantastic. Well worth the price. This book explains 8-ball, 9-ball and other types of billiard games as well as grip, english and more details into some of the more advanced shots of the game.

This book's scope is ambitious. I wasn't sure I understood what that phrase meant until I bought The Billiard Guidebook. If there's anything you want to know about pool and billiards, here it is. It is much better written than those that have already copied from it. This is the orginial. If you are looking for a book that covers anything and everything billiards and pool, this is the one. Don't let its size turn you off. It is well written, easy to read, and has great illustrations. Go for it. I did and I loved it.

At first this book seemed pricy... But this is the only one you have to buy! Ever. Here's what it boils down to: My husband recovered our table in just under three hours, and he only had to buy the cloth from a billiard store. We saved almost $200!

I enjoyed the fundamentals and game rules since I am a beginner: Stance, cueing, english, aiming spots, etc. My husband loves to try the practice shots for the advanced player: Straight-ins, throws, kisses, bank shots, etc. As well, it has all the maintenace procedures for us do-it-yourselfers! It has everything...how to disassemble a table...reassemble a table...recover a table...repairing cues (the right way!)...all the illustrations are in detail and easy to follow...Everything's here, in one book.

There is no other way to say it...this book is a bargain!

The Billiard Guidebook is a must have if you own or plan to own a billiard table. This book contains information covering every aspect of moving, assembling, re-felting, and playing on your billiard table. I just bought a used pool table and wish I would have read this book before hand. It would have saved me hundreds of dollars!! I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about billiards.