Puzzles Books

If you like solitare chess, then this is very similar. Only you get the answers after you have completed all of your moves, then you get the game with annotated. The combats are extremely challenging, maybe too hard for most kids. To get prepared for this stage of training, I reccomend that you first work through the awesome "Chess for Juniors" books. Also, you should do a lot of tactics. Each combat will take a long time, but it's worth it.

If you enjoy playing solataire chess then this is a book you must have. Even if you dont use the rating scale, its a very fine collection of games with first rate analysis. Dont shy away becasue the ratings start at 1600. Anybody willing to put in the work will no doubt improve by going through this book. I own many books but these are the ones I cannot put down and usually finish within a month. My rating is right around 1800 but I have been scoring in the 2200's so the scale is very inflated.

The combat simulator consists of 50 grandmaster games, laid out like
Pandolfini's "Solitaire Chess" column in Chess Life magazine. Points
are earned for guessing the right moves. There is often more than one
choice, and partial credit is given. After the game is over and
scoring is complete, Bosch goes through the game again with full
annotations. Therefore this approach is a little less efficient than
Pandolfini's, but more realistic in terms of simulating true combat,
where there aren't artificial hints along the way. The scores are
converted to approximate ELO ratings, from 1600 up to 2500+. That
suggests that the book is targeted to fairly strong players, certainly
no lower than 1600, and perhaps even 1800 would be a reasonable lower
bound. I found the book to be extremely challenging, but also very
instructive. For those willing to put in some hard work, this book
will help you to sharpen your ability to analyze positions deeply.

Wow! The Destroyer is the action series for people who don't like action series. Forget the first two Destroyer books; they were the warm-up. This is the pitch! Book #3 is when the series really takes off. We get lots of hilarious dialogue, character development, and martial arts action. Even a little sinanju style sex!

As other reviewers have stated, it is the hysterical banter between Remo and Chiun that makes this series such a timeless, enduring classic. If you've seen the Destroyer movie, "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins," you know what I'm talking about.

The Destroyer is more social commentary and black comedy than brain-dead bombs and bullets, unlike many other action series--that's why it's not dated or forgettable 30+ years later. That's not to say the series is lacking in action, but that it is the characters who drive the plot forward, not a bunch of interchangeable action set-pieces that all blur together.

You can't go wrong with The Destroyer from #3: Chinese Puzzle forward.

If this is the first Destroyer novel you pick up, you've gotten it right on the first try. This is where the hysterical banter between Remo and Chiun really hits its stride, and you get character development in an action novel that readers had no right to expect back when these were written.

Lest ye forget, the Destroyer novels competed with "The Executioner", "The Butcher", and "Edge" for rack space at the drugstore. While Mack Bolan is rightly the inspiration for Marvel's Punisher character (it's so blatant they should cut a check to Don Pendelton's estate each time Dolph Ludgren makes his sewer soliloquy on late-night cable), the Mack Bolan character doesn't stand the test of time, and after about a dozen or so, it's all the same novel.

"Chinese Puzzle" sets the stage for an enjoyable twnety years of Destroyer novels. If you have to get one classic, this is the one to get.

Although I still enjoy #2 in The Destroyer series, this book is the one that charted the course to Remo and Chiun's long running success.

The story is good, but the best thing about this book is the beginning of the relationship between Remo and Chiun. The humor in this story stands up after 30 years. Although the story is somewhat dated now, this book deserves a read.

this book is really really helpful. It helped make me my necron army and i'm sure it will help you too. It will also help change your army for the best.

As I play a Necron Army I use this book all the time. I agree with the above comments, However, you can buy a new Necron Codex with all the updated information for 2004 for $20 from Games workshop. These books are not collectors items, there is no reason to pay $27 for a two year old outdated book.

When i got this book i was exspecting to just get the stats for the necrons, but when i went throgh the first pages i learned much more. this book give detales about everything on the necrons from how to paint them to what good stratagies in a game are. Their is even a part of it that lets you know how to asemble those modles without instructions. If you think that you can get your codex for free from some internet site your wrong its more than just stats its a novel.

Although I am a "child of the city", I must say that this elegant book gives me some pause. Not in this lifetime, but perhaps in the next, I will be fortunate enough to find myself among such lovely people doing such lovely things. See for yourself!

While the "how-to" part of this book is important and useful, I especially like the sense of community that is communicated by the numerous quotes. (I would have enjoyed even more quotes.) The photographs in the book are beautiful, and the quality of the paper (it's nice and heavy) ensures that the book can withstand lots of use.

This unique book records 25 years of quilting by a special group of women who live in a close knit community in rural North Carolina. These quilts were made for friends and neighbors, births and anniversarys, marriages and moving away. They are works of art. CQ gives much insight into the planning and production of these quilts and the recipients pleasure in receiving them. If you are interested in knowing just how to put a quilt together, this book will help you step by step. The group actually made a quilt to demonstrate for the book. The quilt will be donated to raise money for a new county library. The beautiful color photos and heartwarming stories make this book very appealing to quilters and others alike.

I agree with these other reviewers wholeheartedly. I'm learning the classical Chinese version, as we are about to adopt our daughter from China, and wanted something of her culture to pass on to her. In reading this book as a newbie, it has been a great help in starting to understand the game. But it's definitely not for beginners only - quite a bit of what is discussed is over my head as a newcomer to the game, and would be more clearly understood by moderate and advanced players. Something in it for everyone, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in mahjong.

Note regarding shipping - I purchased it through the Amazon website from a seller named caiman_com. I selected expedited media mail, and it took WEEKS to get here from England (I believe), so if you need the book in a hurry, carefully check the shipping options offered by sellers.

A. D. Millington's "The Complete Book of Mah-Jongg" is by far the most comprehensive, lucid and readable book on the classical Chinese version of the game I have found. I recommend Millington for thoughtful, complete organization of material, thoroughness of presentation, wealth of detail, and engaging writing style.

Millington deals exhaustively with the form of the game as played earlier in the 20th century in China, and then places into historical/developmental context the rule variations and other current national forms of the game as dealt with by such authors as Strauser & Evans, Kanai & Farrell, Eleanor Whitney, David Li, Dieter Kohnen, and Thompson & Maloney. Many of these authors deal with the Chinese form of the game to a greater or lesser extent (Li's book is also devoted to it), and Millington is even cited in bibliographies. Millington's discussion, however, fills in gaps and answers many questions that one may still have after reading these various other authors (not only questions in regards the Chinese game, but also about Western versions).

Millington's introductory chapter alone is worth the price of the book, dealing as it does with the intellectual challenges of Mah Jongg play, its similarites and differences to other great games like Bridge, a rationale for pursuing the form of the game as played in China in the second decade of the last century, and a discussion of what should actually constitute the "ideal form" of the game to play.

Preliminaries and procedural elements of play are dealt with step by logical step. A most comprehensive and readable catalogue of rules is provided and later cross indexed in tabular form. Scoring is cogently but thoroughly explained. A chapter on the elements of luck and skill and the interaction of these elements in successful play is both delightful and informative (points mentioned are, however, developed much further in E.N. Whitney's strategy discussions in "A Mah Jong Handbook"). Information about tile design, forms of counting sticks and other accessories, and very detailed discussion of procedural variations within the Chinese game itself are all also presented.

In addressing issues of Mah Jongg's philosophy and symbolism and its historical development Millington provides a vivid account of Chinese culture, key persons in its evolution in China, an account of the entrepeneurial Americans who first introduced the game to the West, and abundant arcana about early "proto-Mah Jongg" games that finally coalesced into the standard game based on the 144 tile set.

Millington's magisterial evaluation of variant forms that have developed since Mah Jongg was first introduced to the West in the 1920s convincingly argues for the superiority of the classical Chinese game. This evaluation provides a wealth of detail illustrating how variations of play have actually changed the fundamental character of the game as well.

Upon completion of this volume the reader will not only understand the Chinese game in much greater depth, but, having gained a deeper cultural, historical, and scholarly context for understanding other versions - Japanese, Richii, early and "New" American, British - of the game, the reader/player will be ready to adapt to these other forms of the game with greater understanding, fluency, and ease. Millington's case for the classical Chinese form, however, is made with such sagacity, clarity, and brilliance that other versions of the game pale before the brightness of its exposition.

Millington's work is probably the best I have come across that explains Mah Jongg as it was played before Babcock and a whole slew of American players f*cked it up. It goes into great detail in the rules for play. While there is no extensive section on strategy--only a brief one--it does have a fascinating section on the history of the game, and a brief description of several variations. Read the directions in detail. It may look a little overwhelming but once you've read it you'll be an expert in Mah Jongg forever and have a thorough knowledge of all the rules of the game.

I am a 19 year old college student and I LOVE these books! I actually realized this summer that I gave them away a couple of years ago (which I CAN'T believe I did!!) and bought this whole collection online! Being as old as I am and still having fun with them truely shows that these are books that your child will always remember and appreciate!!

This one volume collects all six of the Puzzle stories -- Puzzle Island, Puzzle Town, Puzzle Farm, Puzzle Castle, Puzzle Planet and Puzzle Mountain. Each story is 32 pags long and contains a two-page introduction followed by 7 two-page spread puzzles and concludes with an answer page. the introduction gives you the background story and several tasks to perform, such as a list of items to find while going through the story. Each puzzle spread has hidden objects as well as a unique puzzle -- a maze or obstacle search or matching, for example. By the end of the story you have collected needed objects and found a "villain" or solved a mystery.

Lots of fun for the younger set, and readily replayable/rereadable.

This book is a compendium of a half-dozen short books, all of which have the same structure: a protagonist (boys and girls alternate in the various stories), whether a pirate, an astronaut, a knight or farmer, has to get from here to there, and encounters mazes, matching problems, problems finding lost objects and a fairly benign villain along the way. My 5-year old was fascinated with this book. She remains so, even though she has memorized all of the solutions and locations of the hidden objects. Since she can't read yet, Puzzle World was more than she could tackle alone, and that made for hours of participatory parenting, explaining the puzzles and watching her solve them. This book promotes thinking, lap time and a love of books.

My name is Dennis J Barmore. I am the Founder of The National Card Sharks, Inc. Bid Whist Organization. We represent thousands of Bid Whist players throughout the USA. ...

I have just finished reading this book, and it is a must for beginning and advanced players of whist. The narrative is written in clear concise words that are easy to understand.

The sample hands in the book are excellently crafted and are legitimate teaching aids that can enhance the skills of players on all levels.

There have been many times when people have asked our Bid Whist players, "How Do You Play Whist? Needless to say that is an impossible question to verbally answer. Thank goodness there is a book out there that we can now point to.

If you are at all interested in learning the game, or purchasing a gift for that whist playing friend or relative, this book will serve as a unique gift idea.

"WIN AT WHIST" by Joe Andrews is the most complete book on the game of Whist since Edmund Hoyle first wrote about the game in the 1700's. This book covers all of the bases with a nice history of the game, and then continues with a full reference to the many variations which have evolved. There is generous mention of the popular "Kitty with Jokers" Bid Whist Tournament game which has been promoted by Dennis Barmore and his "sharksinc" live event tour. Mr. Andrews has listed a full glossary of terms and definitions, and finishes his book with a sampling of several illustrative hands. Each hand has a teaching/instructional theme. Although there are a few other published Whist pamphlets/books out there which are quite good, "WIN AT WHIST" is at the head of the class. If you want to excel in high-level competitive play, by all means check out this book!

My bridge Partner and I decided that we wanted a new challenge of learning a different card game. We learned that there was a Bid Whist tournament being played in Atlanta and we had only one day to learn. We sat down and began reading the book together. It was so well written...so clear to understand...that within 24 hours we played in that tournament. We paid a $40 entry fee and felt confident enough about what we had learned. We did not win the tournament but we had an above average score and had a marvelous time.

The next time I played was in a foursome in my home -- I played with a stranger and we won!!!

An Excellent book for anyone wanting to get started playing Bid Whist or for someone wishing to sharpen their skills.

I have already personally delivered copies of this book to players and would recommend it to any card playing addict.

Why can't every gaming book on magic and magical items be this good? All the rest are just stat blocks and creation rules for superfantasy nukes.

if you love dnd, you will love conan. the game is more violent, and you can still have hard core roleplaying too!!! it has a power point system for spells, and the type of spells are way differant than dnd, better. the game is set up to have no negative effects from game play by having a group of all soldiers or all scholars, the game is awesome like that holmes, buy it see you later G!

(and, frankly, PRE-Hyborian Age magic). "The Scrolls of Skelos" is, on its face, a magic rules supplement for Mongoose's "Conan the Role Playing Game" (Conan RPG); additionaly, the Scrolls are an ancient, dreaded grimoire mentioned in Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, and this book describes those ancient scrolls (and others) in their game applications. The book adds several new paths of sorcery (an area about which I was unclear since I don't have the Conan RPG rules!), dazzling new feats, and descriptions of some of the greatest wizards and sorcerers of the Hyborian Age and the magic devices which help to make them so powerful. Ever wonder how to incorporate the Heart of Ahriman into a d20 campaign? "The Scrolls of Skelos" tells you how. Pictish magic, Acherontic magic, Stygian and Vendhyan magic -- it's all in here.

"The Scrolls of Skelos" is intended for use with the Conan RPG, but any good GM should be able to find plenty of inspiration in it for (mostly NPC) magic. Magic in the Hyborian Age is frequently tied to "evil" acts, and acts of mind-shattering cosmic horror, so the average good or neutral PC won't find much of use in "The Scrolls of Skelos," but sometimes it is necessary to "fight fire with fire" as Xaltotun learned in "The Hour of the Dragon" when the aforesaid "Heart of Ahriman" wound up in the hands of a *good* priest, and not a Stygian or Anacreontic necromancer. Conan fans will know whereof I speak.

I give "The Scrolls of Skelos" 5 stars and wish that I could afford the main rule book, too! (The revised one, please, not the one with all the typos!)

In Taneysville, Massachusetts, a builder is developing fifteen acres of land. The vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church, just down the hill from the construction, meet to figure out a way to stop the builder. The noise and vibrations from the machine are damaging the church. John Stark, a vestry member, goes up to confront the builder. Unfortunately this does nothing to stop them. The people in town are quite upset as none of the local tradesmen were hired for this job. They brought in a foreign crew.

Then a skeleton is found by the construction crew. This stops the machines and workmen. The police take the remains to be analyzed and will not allow them to continue. They are concerned this might be a sacred Indian burial ground. So until the skeleton is identified, no work can be done.

Mitch Hoffmeyer, a politician who grew up in Taneysville, hires P.I. Rosco Polycrates to identify the remains. He doesn't want there to be any fuel his opponent can use. Then Rosco's wife Belle, crossword editor, starts receiving anonymous crossword puzzles with hidden clues. She and Rosco start asking questions and soon find that not is all that it seems in this little town.

The author has done a great job of describing the tensions in this small town. It is all very believable and I felt like I was there. All through the book you know the unidentified older woman in the nursing home is important, but you don't know until the end why.

I like this series because it is always set in New England and the plot is always more complex than you initially think. There are twists and turns that finally bring you to the conclusion but you can't easily figure it out ahead. I always think I have it figured out and then more information is brought out and I have to start all over again.

Please read this book. It is great! The whole series is too.

In Taneysville, Massachusetts, a builder is developing fifteen acres of land. The vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church, just down the hill from the construction, meet to figure out a way to stop the builder. The noise and vibrations from the machine are damaging the church. John Stark, a vestry member, goes up to confront the builder. Unfortunately this does nothing to stop them. The people in town are quite upset as none of the local tradesmen were hired for this job. They brought in a foreign crew.

Then a skeleton is found by the construction crew. This stops the machines and workmen. The police take the remains to be analyzed and will not allow them to continue. They are concerned this might be a sacred Indian burial ground. So until the skeleton is identified, no work can be done.

Mitch Hoffmeyer, a politician who grew up in Taneysville, hires P.I. Rosco Polycrates to identify the remains. He doesn't want there to be any fuel his opponent can use. Then Rosco's wife Belle, crossword editor, starts receiving anonymous crossword puzzles with hidden clues. She and Rosco start asking questions and soon find that not is all that it seems in this little town.

The author has done a great job of describing the tensions in this small town. It is all very believable and I felt like I was there. All through the book you know the unidentified older woman in the nursing home is important, but you don't know until the end why.

I like this series because it is always set in New England and the plot is always more complex than you initially think. There are twists and turns that finally bring you to the conclusion but you can't easily figure it out ahead. I always think I have it figured out and then more information is brought out and I have to start all over again.

Please read this book. It is great! The whole series is too.

The small rural town of Taneysville in Massachusetts is usually a very quiet place but the residents are now in an uproar over outsider Alex Gordon buying the Quiqley farmhouse. The xenophobic townsfolk's don't want an outsider moving in and building more structures on the property. Members of the Trinity Church vestry are afraid the construction equipment will damage the structure of the church and local residents resent the fact that the contractor isn't hiring local people. All building is abruptly halted when a body is unearthed and the skeletal remains are found to be human body.

Forensics tests prove that the remains are that of a woman and that she was murdered. blow Newcastle private investigator Rosco Polycrates is hired to discover the identity of the woman and the person who killed her. Roscos's wife Belle Graham, a puzzle constructor for the local newspaper is being sent puzzles by a resident n a nursing home and that person seems to have some knowledge of the skeletal remains. While the duo pursue separate investigative paths, somebody torches the Gordon place and while trying to connect the arson to the homicide, Belle and Rosco solve an unrelated double homicide but are totally clueless about the identity of the murder victim.

Mystery fans that like a light, small town regional mystery are going to have a lot of fun reading CORPUS DE Crossword. The crossword puzzles scattered throughout the novel contain the clues that will enable the reader to solve the mystery. The two protagonists make a great investigative team in the tradition of Nick and Nora and their connubial bliss lightens the mood when they hit a bump in the investigation. Nero Blanc is a master when it comes to constructing puzzling mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

Counting with Magnetic Numbers is a wonderfully made book. It very pretty. Counting with Magnetic Numbers gets my daycare kids excited about counting and learning. It very well made. I am not worried about it falling a part. Counting with Magnetic Numbers is very reasonably price. I am so happy I found this book on Amazon. I am always looking for fun reasonably price priced toys to teach my daycare kids age 18 months through 4 yrs. This book is a God send. I'll be buying a lot more books from this set.

This is a wonderful book. Each page has a shadow to put the # and the animal/object so it's fun to spread out all the pieces and have my son place the pieces where they go on the pages. The book says 3 and up but my son is newly two and does very well with it. I think you're safe once your child stops putting things in their mouth:-) My son has 50+ books and this is by far his favorite!!!

I bought this for my 2 year old daughter for something to do on a plane trip we were taking and I'm so glad I did. It definately gives easy concept of counting 1-10 and some simple math. She loves the colorful pictures and putting the magnets on the page makes her feel like she is doing a puzzle. I highly recommend this for kids 2 and up. Can't wait to get the rest of them!