Sports and Hobbies Books

Do not buy this book if you are new to Sudoku. There are MANY better books out there. Besides having poorly explained puzzle solving techniques- the difficulty levels are totally bogus. Many of the "Easy As Pie" skill level puzzles would be at least considered moderate in most books. Save yourself some cash and go to the grocery store and purchase a Sudoku magazine. You'll enjoy it much more!

Sudoku is a puzzle that is very simple in form and has taken the world by storm. A nine-by-nine matrix is created and split into nine different three-by-three sections. Each three-by-three section is to contain the numbers one through nine and no row or column must have more than one instance of the same number. You are given some of the entries and the goal is to fill in the remaining entries.
This book is a collection of 300 such puzzles and solutions are included at the end. The first eight pages are a history of the puzzle as well as a description of solution strategies. They are fairly simple and easy to understand, which in part explains why the puzzle is so popular. To appeal to a mass audience, the masses must be able to understand and solve the puzzle.
I enjoyed working the few puzzles that I went through. While not hard, they do require that you think and that is always a good thing to do. My thirteen year old daughter Katrina also loves doing these puzzles, she does them by the hour. I don't think it is a coincidence that her math grades have gone up since she started working them.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission

Overall,this Sudoku book is a bit of "a dollar short and a day late". A year ago,it might have warranted a 4 Star,but barely.
To give it credit,it does show that the Sudoku puzzle was not invented by the Japanese,but by Howard Garnes,a retired architect and introduced at at an American Puzzle convention in 1974 and later in Dell's Mental Puzzles and Word Games as "Number Place" in 1979.It was taken to Japan in 1980,became popular and brought back by Wayne Gould.
The book comes up short in solving methods and hints; which are very minimal.
The puzzle size is good;at about 4 X 4 inches.The paper quality is good;the cover is soft with a glued binding.There are 3 levels of difficulty in the 300 puzzles.
The price would have been fair a year ago,but in comparison to the many other Sudoku books available ,it is now too pricey. A brief look around will result in finding many books at greatly reduced prices.The old laws of Supply and Demand are flexing their muscles.

Great variety - from easy to challenging. The grids are an ideal size to scribble cheat notes within the cells. All puzzles are numeric.

I love Sudoku and this book! I just received it today from my best friend and we were solving it at my house, and now I'm working on it. I've already solved one! Yay! They're really challenging but very fun and great to get the brain moving.

Have fun with it!

~Livi~

This book is not going to tell you how to come up with a system to be profitable. Its not even going to give you many insights into how to handicap sports but it gives you the tools to know whether or not your current handicapping/system has an edge and whether it will continue. The book focuses on a lot of stastitcal analysis of your betting record as well as the best options for staking.

Well worth the read for those who are not knew to the game. Sophisticated punters will get something out of this but those new to the game will probably be a bit bamboozled and not appreciate the information provided.

Good Luck

I bought this book together with The Art of Betting On Baseball; most of
the critical reviewers are spot on; while I found the book a bit tedious;it was useful in a sense.

I was more impressed with The Art of Betting on Baseball.

I found the theories a bit easier to implement and I have subsequently made money using the techniques espoused by the author.

This is a good book to help you devise your own system and not necessarily tell you how to do it. It has very good discussion on bank roll management, and you can use this book to accentuate and validate a system you have devised yourself.

I have searched and searched for a book which describes how to generate a winning betting strategy. This book tells you about the reality of sports betting and not the fact that you will win 70% of your games. It is a practical explination of all the steps and mathmatical calculations to help you understand what sports betting is about. I wish I read this book prior to my first sports bet. It explains how to research the wager and all the backend work that you need to do to evaluate a value bet. If you wanted to understand the mathmatics behind the process of betting then this is the book for you.

As a sportbettor for the better part of the last 8 years this book has more of college statistics text book feel to it.. I have a Bach in civil engineering and took classes covered these very same topics in great depth.. this book could be way over the heads of a lot of people with little to no statistical background.. i was dissapointed as it is mainly aimed to soccer and Money lines, which is hard to apply to my 2 most bet sports, (hoops and football).. i have been attempting to learn MLB and risk analysis of future wagers and this book has helped clear a few things up.. THIS IS NOT A HOW TO HANDICAP BOOK, but it does help you point out 'value' bets out, which should be included with capping a game... so in short if you love excel and statistics this book is for you.. if you gamble by feel or are just looking for a niche this book is not for you...

Great data and usuage of stastical modeling

I have a hard time being creative and I thought this book was excellent because it showed me to how to use the tools I already have in new ways that I'd never thought of. Scrapbooking is a big investment and if you can find a way to use what you own without having to buy more expensive supplies, then it's a big money saver. I thought this was one of the better books on scrapbooking. Every time the author demonstrated a new way to use a tool, I thought "That's so easy! Why didn't I think of that??" I would definetly recommend this book, especially to someone just getting started and doesn't have a lot of tools.

I've just gotten into scrapbooking, and was a bit confused by some of the tools and materials on the market. This book provides a good review of scrapbooking tools and their use. Most of this material is taken for granted in magazines, and this book fills in the gaps.

The pages and projects shown in this book are very attractive, but I'm a complete newcomer to scrapbooking and the tools used. I'd hoped for a guide to how to USE the all these new gizmos, complete with helpful tricks and cautions, step-by-step instructions and lots of how-to photographs - not ideas about more things to make with them. Since I'm new and have no experience with this equipment, I can't even give an example of the sort of helpful tips I was seeking. Sigh! I expect I'll have more appreciation for all the lovely project ideas once I've actually gotten some successful experience with my new tools through trial and error. I'd hoped to avoid the 'error' part of that process with the help of this book ...

One of the reasons I enjoy Memory Makers magazine is the same reason I love this book. When they show you anything from a layout to a technique, they always have clear instructions in how to accomplish it. Some of the more popular books, magazines, etc. spend more time in telling which products are used and not how to use the items to create.

This book is beautifully photographed and contains updated uses for most tools you may have or intend to buy. All of the instructions are clear and accurate. Granted, I have been scrapping for about a year and some of this may not be as fresh and new to long timers as it is to me. Still, because of the reasons I mentioned, I believe this one deserves the 5 stars for rating.

It is obvious that the authors of the articles contained within this book know their stuff.

Memory Makers is a well known name in scrapbooking as their magazine is one of the firsts in the industry. The folks at Memory Makers have a reputation to maintain, which they clearly understand.

The concept behind this book is to offer ideas and inspiration to get you to look at your collected tools with a fresh eye. As the craft of scrapbooking progresses and new trends emerge, a common problem is to have an array of tools that seem old and boring. This book is designed to show you how a number of tools you already own can be used to provide fresh results.

For the beginner scrapbooker, this book will offer the justification for buying those supplies you've been coveting. You'll find a second project idea for almost every tool you want to purchase.

For the experienced scrapper (6 years for me) this book may be a disappointment if you expect too much. Of course, a lot depends on whether you own the particular tools they are showcasing and what your scrapbooking style is. In my instance, I found about 50% of the book offered me ideas I had not imagined. And that's not bad, but admit I was looking for more from such a trusted source.

This book is well photographed with clearly understood directions for duplicating the projects.

Mr. Garcia has extended his love for the craft through this most passionately written and photographed masterpiece. A must have for the novice and the seasoned professional.

I have made several graphite fly rods for myself and my children and every one has turned out beautifully. The simple, easy to follow instructions and clear photos make this book a "must have" reference. My Loomis blanks turned out easily as good as the factory rods in finish and I have the satisfaction of knowing I did the work myself. Plus, I saved about 50% on the cost. I customized the rods for each of my kids so they each have a unique, hand crafted rod with Dad's signature on it. Great book, no question about it. Buy it!!

The layout and photographs of this book are beautiful. Ritzy flyrod shops should have this one lying around for people to read and admire. In general it is a very good introductory book on building a graphite fly rod and I built one using it. I did find the explanation of how to determine the rod blank's spine to be confusing. However, there are several good explanations of rod spine on the net. It has a good description of how to do a two color thread wrap, that is, a one color main wrap with a different color accent. Mine looks mighty nice, cobalt blue accented with gold on a charcoal blank. (St. Croix SC-III 6wt. 9ft.)

LA Garcia does a great job of taking you through the way he builds rods. Close up photographs are great, and the chapters are in sequence of building the rods. He has a great section on all the materials needed too. Garcia includes equipment made of materials at home along with more expensive store bought rigs. He does fail to go into detail the differences between guides (single foot, hialoy,silicon carbide guides) and why NCP thread doesn't meet his standards. I actually found consulting the internet on assembling alternatives easier (material written by a gentleman named Al Campbell).

LA Garcia looks to be one of the premier rod builders out there. The photographs are spectacular and are not lacking. The only area lacking in my opinion is in instruction. I still had many questions after reading this book. It is helpful in the craft, but other books and instruction (preferably from an experienced rod builder) will be required for building rods. Tom Kirkman's book is much more thorough.

Excellent book for casting small rubber parts useful in auto restoration
worth the money!!!

a good book well put together with a lot of good information witch i enjoyed reading

I felt the information was rather old. I'm still looking for a reference I can actually use.

An amateur can quickly learn casting techniques to make small and simple metal and rubber parts by following examples and illustrations in this book. The Make it yourself foundry equipments chapter is helpful for beginner to start with this hobby without spending too much money. However, the main technique presented is sand casting, there is not enough examples or info on other casting techniques.

This is the only source I have ever found for non-commercial molding of rubberlike compounds. While this 1986 edition does not address possible new developments in this area (Loctite now sells material which appears to be the same as the Devcon product highlighted in the book), it is the only information I have ever seen on creating rubber parts for the home hobbyist and restorer. The chapter on weights and volumes is valuable, as these materials are rather expensive. The metal casting section is similar to others on the market, and is primarily focused on sand casting of aluminum. This limited focus, skimming over most other methods and materials, limits it to a four star rating. If you want to mold rubber parts though, this is IT.

Very good book for the introduction of wooden boat building, but if you're not already a woodworker there are too many terms that is hard to understand with out constantly flipping back and forth to the glossary.

Dave in Oregon

I am very satisfied with the book, it has provided all the information I was in need of. I would not hesitate to buy additional offerings by the author and to use Amazon as my purchasing avenue.

If you want to learn how to build a boat, you need this book. Also, I would suggest getting copies of Paysons earlier books too. There are different plans in the different books. And great info in all his books.

And yes, I have built 3 of his boats so far.

Although I enjoy so much woodworking, my mayor motivation to buy a boatbuilder's book was to go sailing in a budget. This is not my first try, but it is the most down to earth for a curious do-it-yourselfer. Others told me to use mahogany plywood, full epoxy and fiberglass covering to obtain a 10 footer with just $700. I can buy a fine second hand boat for less than that!
Payson says hat I can build a boat that I can be proud of with some reasonably cheap plywood and polyesther and go sailing for a reasonable $200 or even less. And he's right! I am halfway to my boat in just 20 hours or so and can not be more satisfied.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to try his skills at woodworking and go sailing in a budget. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that the plans are too small and I had to put some working to scale then properly. But the results pretty much are worth the effort.

Another great book from Harold Payson. It's down to earth and easily followed format is inspiring and makes you want to go out and build another of these wounderfully created boats.

A book you must have in your library alongside the other greats.

INSTANT WEATHER FORECASTING by Alan Watts (NOT the philosopher Alan Wilson Watts, by the way) is a handy and important quick reference guide that's simple to use. Simply match the sky you see with one of the photos in this book and you have a dead reckoning weather prediction for the next six to twelve hours.

It may not be a weatherfax, but for those of us who sail and depend on our informed instincts INSTANT WEATHER FORECASTING can be a lifesaver---especially in having a sense for local conditions.

great pocket guide to forecasting the weather in the near-term future. (ie, 2-4 hours in advance) this would be an excellent companion for any outdoor enthusiast.

"Instant Weather Forecasting" reads like a zen field guide to weather prediction. It begins like most books of its kind with basic weather terminology and definitions with a few black and white diagrams and a couple of nifty charts of cloud types and wind force.

But the heart of this book is the 24 color cloud pictures which follow, each with its own chart to tell you what type of weather is following based on wind. visibility, precipitation, cloud covering, temperature and air pressure. The pictures are grouped by weather (i.e Sky associated with bad weather, sky associated with no immediate change, etc.) By no means exhaustive, it still makes for an excellent field companion.
Also recommended, Basic Essentials: Weather Forecasting, 2nd Edition(ISBN 0762704780) and Braving the Elements (ISBN 038546956X).

This is a short, pamphlet book with 20-30 full page pictures of clouds, accompanied by technical information that would supposedly allow you to look at the sky and predict the weather. I don't think so. The weather wizards book discussed the progression of cloud formations and is a much better book for this purpose. I found this book to be at one too technical and too simple. Had the author placed the photographs in the order one typically observes the change from high to low to high, or warm cold warm, and discussed what is happening within these systems and how the clouds reflect that, this could have been much better.

This book rates 5 stars IF you use it for its intended pupose only.

Very fast. No mounds of text to crawl through. Find the photo and sky that most closely matches what you are seeing, factor in a couple of additional points, and your predictions for the next several hours, or a bit more than that, are likely to be as reliable as any other source you may have.
This little book should be an essential resource at sea.

Downside? More than half a day or so, and accuracy of your prediction will decrease. While this is always true in looking at weather forecasting tools, be certain to keep this in mind when using this very nice quick resource.

Highly recommended.

I am having a problem with one of the patterns in the book and don't know who to get in contact with about it.Mary B

I found this book to be very useful in reviewing and learning new knitting stitches. The directions were easy to follow and were accompanied with illustrations. I recommend this book for beginners as well as those who have not knitted in a few years and are in need of a refresher course. The patterns given have easy to follow directions which incorporate many different stitches to give practice.

One of the many things that I LOVE about this book is that while it is great for beginners - with many good graphics and descriptions of stitches and finishing etc - it is absolutely fantastic for those of us who aspire to get past a rigid pattern and want to try and create our own designs. It is very clearly thought out. Instructions, hints and tips aplenty. It genuinely does have something for everybody. What's more it's written in a fun and quirky way. Who'd have thought about using liquorice as a yarn ;-) As I say "I love it!"Knitting Patterns For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies))

Knitwear designer Kristi Porter presents Knitting Patterns for Dummies, a worthy addition to the exemplary "For Dummies" series of guides designed to make their subject matter thoroughly accessible to beginners. Chapters address how to choose the right yarn and needles, common stitches and pattern shapes, how to measure one's gauge, read a pattern, and understand garment sizing, proper care of completed knitted creations, and much more. A handful of color plates and an assortment of black-and-white diagrams illustrate this step-by-step guide, enthusiastically recommended as a top-notch self-teaching resource.

I'm not a knitter, but I've seen Kristi's work, and every thing she's designed has been colorful, creative and fun.

The book shows a good variety of theme and specialty scrapbooks suitable for gift giving. Techniques include mini-albums, flip calendars, and other novel ways to document an event or honor an individual. Being new to scrapbooking, some of the instructions were too brief for me and didn't always clarify terms or show detailed enough examples.
Still there are plenty of ideas to be gained. Each page shows two or three colorful album pages.

There is nothing more appreciated than a gift from the heart, and making a keepsake scrapbook for a family member, friend, or really just about anyone who touches your life is a gift that will be treasured.

MAKING GIFT SCRAPBOOKS IN A SNAP is an indispensable book for ideas for small themed scrapbooks and for techniques (which many experienced scrappers will probably already know about) to include on the pages. However, for someone crunched for time, or a simple scrapper like myself, having step-by-step instructions to follow is exactly what is needed.

Some ideas included in the book are: year-in-review, bridal shower/wedding, timeline (i.e. for a pregnancy or baby's first year), family history, calendar of events, memorial, ABC albums, children's storybooks, altered books, and a brag book; but really, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of themes presented.

With 20 projects included and an additional 50 album ideas to inspire you, you will never be at a loss for ideas to show those close to you how much you care.

Three and a half stars for a job adequately done.

The title of this book brought up all sorts of expectations for me: yes, I know, you'd think I'd learn by now, huh? Well, when "gift", "scrapbook" and "In a snap" are in the same sentence, my mind makes connections before I know it. These expectations were:

1. The book would focus on small scale scrapbooks (smaller than 8&1/2 by 11) suitable for gifting
2. I would learn how to plan such an album from start to finish
3. The author would teach ways to organize my time so that I could finish the album quickly
4. The book would thoroughly picture some examples of complete gift scrapbooks and/or layout plans, from the first page to the end.
5. I would be shown both how to complete a variety of ready-made albums and also how to make our own albums from scratch
6. The layouts featured inside would be the same kind of high-quality, cutting-edge styles found in Memory Makers magazine

I'd say most of these expectations were fulfilled. I did learn a lot about how to plan my gift scrapbook before I started, tips on how to unify the look of the album and how to cut down on unnecessary materials so that I could work quickly. There were some cute mini album projects detailed in the last section which are to be made from scratch. There were a lot of ideas for theme albums that I wouldn't have thought of on my own, but which I will use to make great gifts for my family and friends in the years to come. I really wasn't surprised that the looks of the scrapbooks that author Pam Klassen used to illustrate these methods were on the simple side-it makes sense that simpler means faster. Not a collage style clutter in the bunch (which suits my style perfectly).

The two that weren't fulfilled do bother me a bit, though. Numbers 4 and 6 just didn't come through for me. We see a few object lessons illustrated with more than one page from an album, but never the whole thing: I wanted to see how a gift album should flow from start to finish. It's one thing to read about it, quite another to see the pictures. At the very least I thought there should have been some flow charts or diagrams to guide me in the final organization; I wouldn't have to follow them slavishly, but they would have helped me with the "big picture" much more than just text. This is a visual medium, after all.

My opinion about that last one, number 6, is based on having read most of the other books that Memory Makers has ever produced. I am familiar with their publications, which usually have at least a few layouts that "wow" me and many more that make impressions on my own layouts long after I am done reading. Making Gift Scrapbooks in a Snap had some nice but unimpressive layouts compared to those other books. I just didn't come away inspired. As any scrapbooker knows, that's half the reason to buy these books!

So, this is a good solid guide to the basic concept of making quick gift scrapbooks. I suspect that beginning scrapbookers will be the ones to get the most out of this, while the more advanced album crafters will be wanting a little more.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle.

The book shows a good variety of theme and specialty scrapbooks suitable for gift giving. Techniques include mini-albums, flip calendars, and other novel ways to document an event or honor an individual. Being new to scrapbooking, some of the instructions were too brief for me and didn't always clarify terms or show detailed enough examples.
Still there are plenty of ideas to be gained. Each page shows two or three colorful album pages.

I bought this off of Amazon without getting a chance to actually look inside of it first, so I was going by 1) other reviews, 2) the description and 3) the cover. After looking over all of these, it sounded like the book might have some interesting, fresh, "funky" ideas for gift books. So I ordered it. When I got it, though, I was quite disappointed. It DOES have some fresh ideas... *some*. There is one chapter that contains these, but most of the book consists of what I think to be rather typical scrapbooking. Nothing wrong with that, if that's your thing... but it isn't mine, and everything I saw really led me to expect something more interesting. I guess I should have expected a typical scrapbook book, since it is from Memory Makers. I have a few issues of their magazine, and the items featured in that are a lot more interesting that most of what I saw in this book.

Still not a book I mind owning, but not what I expected. I might have paid $4 or $5 for this used, but I would never have paid this price for it new had I actually seen the inside first.

So, buyer beware... if you're into fresh, funky, vibrant, altered sorts of art... the cover is a bit deceiving, and this book may not be for you. Get a look at it, at a library or a bookstore, before you buy!

this book assumes that you already know how to use scissors and glue. the rest is up to you! without giving heavy handed instruction, it lets kids (and adults) use their imagination to make what ever they like. the paper included is beautiful. in my mind, it's the whole reason for buying the book. you can make illustrations (collages) just like eric carle's. thanks to him for providing all his fans with this great pad of paper.

Beside instructions and illustrations on how to do a collage, the book also contains 72 printed tissue papers to make finished pictures that look enough like Eric Carle's work to please any child. My five year old was delighted with her projects.

Don't bother with this book, you'll be disappointed. The only thing worth while about this are the few sheets of decorative tissue paper that come with it. I know nothing more about collage after reading this book then before I bought it. Do yourself a favor and DON'T waste your time or money on this. There are MUCH more informative books out there.

I was looking for a very elementary, how-to collage book for myself and this is a good one.

Because Carle wrote and stocked this book for children, it is very basic, but that was what I needed to get me over my fear of trying a collage of my own. His explanation of the format and process was very simple but very thorough. There are enough colors and designs of tissue papers to get anyone off to a good start in creating several different collages.

I think this would be a great gift for children and even for an adult who yearns to find the artist within!

When I put this book on my wish list months ago, I had never seen the book before. Now that I have the book, I can say that this is an excellent gift for a gradeschool aged child, and the tissue paper that it comes with is beautiful. As someone who loves the art of Eric Carle, I thought it was fun to work with paper similar to the materials that he uses in his art. The instructions are so easy, and with a touch of supervision, this book could easily turn a rainy day into a fun and creative project. This book would be especially good for those children who have read Eric Carle's picture books.