Sports and Hobbies Books

Most are smaller designs and very pretty. These are inspirational designs with some Christian designs. Designs include -Children,birdhouses, small flowers, vases with flowers, tea cups,wreaths, 3 samplers,as well as grapes,crosses, 2 Bibles,praying hands,a church. Seems like you could put together beautiful samplers using these designs. The diagrams are colored and easy to read. The only reason I gave a 4 instead of a 5 is that there are very few pictures of the finished designs, it's mostly just diagrams and I would prefer to have the finished product as well as the diagram.

I bought this book thinking it would have more religious symbols and designs than it did, but I still find it useful. Most of the patterns are small, but there are a few large ones. The pattern are done in color, so it is easy to make sure you have the right colors. Good for every one from beginners to experts.

By the third mention of Angelina Jolie riding a motorcycle in Chapter 1 to justify the "coolness"of motorcycling the book has already started to go downhill. With the exception of a few chapters (buying a first bike: what you should know & keeping your bike in tiptop shape) I have found most of the other chapters read so far (which in fairness is only about half) to be total fluff and of little value. Worst off, some of the valuable chapters seem to have little added value when compared to the FREE DMV material. Unless you really have to know the "Ten Must-See Motorcycling Movies" save some money, use the internet when you have questions and take an intro level rider training course.

This book is chock full of insider tips that will make motorcycling safer, and more fun, for both the veteran and the novice rider. I've spent years riding all types of motorcycles and interviewing all types of motorcyclists. The knowledge I've gained is spelled out in this book in a fun and easy-to-read way so that you don't have to interview hundreds of riders yourself! Want to know how to plan a motorcycle trip they way the motojournalists do? I show you how. Want to know what to do if you ride into a corner waaay too fast? I let you know. Want to fit in with the biker crowd? I reveal how. Don't know what to pick for your first motorcycle? I steer you the right way. Are you a woman looking into getting into motorcycling? I help you discover how to fit in, and provide resources specifically for women. It's a fun book full of great info. I hope you enjoy it. -- Bill Kresnak

This book reminds me more of a teen magazine than an adult, "get the job done" book. The pictures seemed more intent on selling figures than hair. There are some good tips on how to do hair, but not on styles and step-by-step procedures. I am returning the book.

Initially I ordered this book for myself but the styles were complicated as well as geared to bridal looks and I was looking for everyday looks. I gave it to my daughter who is getting married in June.

I liked this book because it has some good hairstyles and hair care tips and techniques but for the size of the book I thought it would have a lot more hairstyles than it did. and I dont really like the whole storyline of the four girls either. so I give it a four. now im looking for a book thats just hairstyles and techniques with step by step insructions. What I thought this book would be like.

Basic hair care/styling advice throughout the book, very good for someone who wants more general knowledge on hair products, styles, how to take care of but it wasn't very detailed.

there was a cute story throughout the book of 4 friends living their lives and each chapter related a hair issue to what information about hair was written next. for example one chapter a girl was going on vacation so there was advice on what to do with your hair when traveling.

fantastic pictures, especially in the wedding section beautiful hair styles

the book was very well put together and is a nice, enjoyable read...I finally learned what exactly a chignon was and how to create it!

I am doing my own hair for my wedding. This book has a wedding section so I thought it would work. It did not.

Unless you like the kind of hairstyles that are impossible to maintain and that you only see on a runway model, do not buy this book. The majority of the styles are odd and not for every day life. If you are the kind of woman who doesn't believe in spending more than 25 minutes on your hair, Do Not buy this book. These styles take at least an hour to complete and are very hard to do at all.

There is one good thing about this book. It does give good advise on coloring and conditioning. So, if that is what you are looking for, do buy it.

This book led me to believe I was purchasing a hairstyle book. In reality it is only good for hair treatment, because of the unrealistic quality of the styles that they offer.

I have generally enjoyed reading the previous editions of the "Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons", but this book was dismal in my humble opinion. As other reviewers have noted, there is general discordance with the style of writing, with most chapters appearing to be quickly slapped together from old articles. Most of the material is old and outdated, and most of the firearms written about in this book would not fit the current definition of "Assault weapon" that the picture on the front would convey (Ranch rifles, bolt action 'sniper' rifles, semi-auto shotguns, AR-15 type rifles, and standard handguns seem to take up most of the space). For an updated book about assault weapons, there was little information on current production models of the excellent new firearms available today.

When someone sells a book about assault weapons, you would expect most of the book to be about assault weapons. This one is not. I can not recommend this book because of its poorly written and outdated chapters and subjects and a general lack of any semblance to its title. Go and read through the book at a local store before considering a purchase, it might well save you some money.

I have generally enjoyed reading the previous editions of the "Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons", but this book was dismal in my humble opinion. As other reviewers have noted, there is general discordance with the style of writing, with most chapters appearing to be quickly slapped together from old articles. Most of the material is old and outdated, and most of the firearms written about in this book would not fit the current definition of "Assault weapon" that the picture on the front would convey (Ranch rifles, bolt action 'sniper' rifles, semi-auto shotguns, AR-15 type rifles, and standard handguns seem to take up most of the space). For an updated book about assault weapons, there was little information on current production models of the excellent new firearms available today.

When someone sells a book about assault weapons, you would expect most of the book to be about assault weapons. This one is not. I can not recommend this book because of its poorly written and outdated chapters and subjects and a general lack of any semblance to its title. Go and read through the book at a local store before considering a purchase, it might well save you some money.

This book is a mishmash of articles in no logical order with lots of factual errors and lots of outdated information. Obviously slapped together from existing articles. Really a disappointing waste of time.

This book has almost all the right things to be a hit. It has tons of pictures, gun tests, gun specifications, and hard to find information about guns never built. You can read it once and be amazed and then you can still pick it up and learn more. you can never stop learning from it. The reason I gave it four stars, though, is because of its lack in amount of guns. I understand it is the fifth installment in a series, so I can't wait for the sixth!

As a builder and collector of AR-15's, I purchased this book in the hopes of getting some new info on the military versions of the rifle. The cover of the book certainly caught my eye, and perhaps that was the intention. However, I found myself getting a bit "depressed" as page after page of non-M16 info was thumbed through. Finally, after reaching nearly the end, there was one story on the M4 Carbine. It was just enough to make me keep the book. That's more than I can say about a few other books I also ordered.

This book was written by an author who obviously hasn't read A Series of Unfortunate Events. Nothing in this book is true about the series. I highly reccommend you STAY AWAY from this book. PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS GARBAGE.

yeah you herd me, its a load of crock. lemony snicket didnt even write this either, its some idiot that thinks shes him. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

I am a huge fan of the Series Of Unfortunate Events & found this book only slightly entertaining. It in no way added anything to the series in any way. If you have read the books & the Unauthorized biography then you have all the info you need to not waste your money on this book. If you have not read the Unathorized Biography I would recomend spending you money on that first!

The claim on the back of "The Truth Behind A Series of Unfortunate Events: Eyeballs, Leeches, Hypnotism, and Orphans--Exploring Lemony Snicket's World" is that this volume is the "ultimate unauthorized companion guide to the facts behind Lemony Snicket's wild world." Since this is the only one I have seen it is hard to say whether that is hyperbole or not. What Lois Gresh has done in this book is to look beneath the fiction into the realities of the Lemony Snicket universe. Violet Baudelaire likes to invent things, so Gresh explains how to build a telephone and a hot-air balloon mobile home and throws in some fascinating tidbits about who really invented the telephone and little-known facts about hot-air balloons. Young readers will also be able to read about real child inventors and their amazing inventions. The information provided is much more expansive than you would find in an annotated edition of something, but that is the general intent.

Gresh has authored books on "The Computers of Star Trek" and "The Science of Superheroes," so stopping and taking time to explain things we just take for granted in enjoying stories is apparently her forte. So there are chapters devoted to "What Happens to Real Orphans," "Strange Snakes, Lizards, and Toads," "Martial Law: Can an Old Geezer Marry a Young Girl?", "Picking Locks, Horseradish, and Peppermints," "Work, Slave Work! Child Labor Laws," "Crabs, Fungi, Staples, and Leeches," and "I Want to Be Someone Else." If you have read the Lemony Snicket books then you will know which chapters look at the "reality" behind which books (e.g., the last in the list explains how Count Olaf would disguise himself in the real world). Then there are chapters that are devoted to testing your knowledge about "Really Bad Grammar" and "Fancy-Pants Words." You can also test yourself to see if you are as smart as Violet and Klaus (or Sunny when she was one) on questions that are related to what happens in the series and other that are not.

For many readers what their enjoyment of this book will not come down to how it conveniently provides information about topics of interest regarding the world of Lemony Snicket, but how much the attempt to emulate the narrative style and look of the books bothers them. The book is the same dimension as the Lemony Snicket volumes, but without the rough edges of the paper. The illustrations are done in pencil in the style of Brett Helquist and as long as they are not showing any of the Baudelair orphans they are decent enough (I suppose from a legal standpoint none of the images are "really" of any of the characters in the books but that little point of irony does not help this volume). Most importantly (or not) Gresh tries to adopt the writing style of Lemony Snicket, but without the same sort of success (i.e., she tries too hard). This book works better when she is just providing information and leaving the comedy to the original stories because this is not an unpleasant book, it is an informative one. There are some attempts at analyzing symbols and motifs in the books, but, again, it is the informational aspect rather than the analysis that the legion of Lemony Snicket fans who stumbled across this volume will enjoy.

Ever heard of an automatic harmonica? Need to learn to pick a lock? Did you know there are 650 species of leeches? Fans of the Lemony Snicket series The Complete Wreck (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Books 1-13) will want to keep this unauthorized companion handy, and newcomers will find Gresh's "Ultimate Book Report about Lemony Snicket" (p. 192) a helpful resource when diving into the series for the first time.

Gresh's main goal appears to be to easily flow learning opportunities into The Truth without interrupting the reader's enjoyment. She accomplishes this by combining events from the series with academic enlightenment. For example, in Chapter Five, she references Book the Second, The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 2), within a discussion of herpetology, frog facts, and a text-box entitled, "The Most Deadly Snakes in the World" (pp. 57-60). In another instance, Gresh references Count Olaf from the first book, The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1). She includes Count Olaf's attempt to trick fourteen-year-old Violet into marrying him without the young girl's knowledge in Chapter Eight, among details of legal marrying ages in not only states throughout the U.S., but also other countries, as well as text-boxes entitled "Marital Law in Ancient Rome" and "Marital Law in Ancient Greece" (pp. 105-8).

Overall, although unauthorized, the facts, insights, and quizzes offered by Gresh make the world of Lemony Snicket seem a bit less "unfortunate."

Reviewed by: Mechele R. Dillard

VERY INTERESTING BOOK. I HAVE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE ART OF TANNING HIDES.

This book is extremely useful to anyone entering the field of home tanning. It has a proven method for tanning any skin that is likely to be available to the home tanner, from alligators to antelope.

I was very disappointed with this book. He talks about the generalized steps to do tanning, but he lacks good step by step information for beginners. Its a good first book to read, then find another book with more detail as to how to actually do the procedures. He only has two plans for crafting with leather, and I think he should have added more. I wouldn't advise you purchase this book unless its your first and you want to understand the general procedure of tanning, then find a better book with more details.

Churchill covers the tanning of many different types of animals, using many different methods. This is the good and the bad of this book. No other tanning book I know of contains so much varied information, and for this reason its a good one to have. However, the techniques are not covered in much detail so it is challenging for the beginning tanner to be successful using these instructions alone.

In reference to the previous reviews written here. I agree with the first two (look like they are written by the same guy?), in that if you are wanting to tan buckskin, this isn't the best book. However if you are wanting to do furs, the books mentioned below don't cover them (I'm the author of one of them)...and this is your best bet.

I started using this book back in the late 80's when I first started tanning. Almost everything I know about tanning, I learned from this book. I've tanned elk hides, deer hides, antelope, squirrel, rabbit, snake, coyote, fox, raccoon, skunk, beaver, muskrat, and many more. I've had some failures, but with this book as a guide, I've taken very few false steps. I've used a wide variety of techniques and found that they worked like Mr. Churchill said. I do recommend this book, and have often lent my copy to friends.

Although this book is written with the D20 system in mind, it applies to second edition as well. I enjoy all the "dummies" books and this one is no exception. It gives you plenty of tools to keep in your DM arsenal.
Our games are now much more organized, flow better, and has made DMing a much more enjoyable part of the hobby as opposed to a chore you get stuck with.
A great tool for experienced AND new DMs alike. This book would have gained an extra star if a little less time was spent on the social skills to finding games and players. I feel this is space that could have been used more on fantasy cartography, and more inspirations.
Even still, this was a book that improved our gaming greatly.

As much as I hated the other book in this set, this one was wonderful. It provided a solid layout of what a DM might run into and what he'd have to handle. It gives detailed examples for not just adventures, but interplayer problems that often crop up as well. I've been DMing for years, but I've got my copy of this well tagged with sticky notes. Sure I technically have most of the info in my other books, but this one is far easier to referance when players are waiting for an answer. Anyone that wants to run a game would do well to buy this helpful book.

This book was fantasic, my 16year old is learning planning and orgainizing by Dm'ing for his friends.

haven't received it, listed as not shipped, so why the query for a review? If you fix this glitch in your system, you don't need to post this. Doug Hayes

First, please understand that this guide is written and intended for people who are new to being a DM or people that have very little experience as a DM. That being said, ignore the reviews with a poor rating because they bought the book without researching it first.

I am new to being a DM after only participating as a PC for the last 20 years. I found the book very well written and it shed quite a bit of light on issues that I was having a hard time grasping because the actual DM Guide itself can be a little difficult to understand since there are several different types of writing styles used throughout the guide.

This book is a good reference to have until you are comfortable running a game as a DM with just the DM guide. Please remember this: This book is written and intended for people who are new to being a DM or people that have very little experience as a DM.

I bought this book as I was looking for some motivation and training tips to run another marathon. Unfortunately, this book has failed in both respects. While some of the tips might be useful for people who have never taken part in any type of physical activity before, I would guess that these people would only benefit from small sections of this book.

The author clearly has a great deal of knowledge and experience, but unfortunately this is not passed onto the reader as effectively as it could have been.

Marathon for Dummies is an excellent way to acquire a holistic understanding about what to expect/prepare for when running your first marathon. I highly recommend it for beginner marathoners.

I thought this book covered the basics pretty well. I have never run a marathon before and found the information about shoes, clothes, and diet helpful. The workout portion is more for people trying to improve their marathon running time not really first timers. The workouts are too much for people just starting out. First timers would do better with the "non runners guide to marathon training" for the workout program but I have gotten a lot of useful information out of this one as well. A definate good buy.

What is Reader from Eastern US talking about? Tere Stouffer Drenth is a 3:06 marathoner, a time she won't brag about but she's a 37-year-old woman, so it puts her in a really elite category. This book has been reviewed by numerous running experts and it does not contain ANY misinformation that could lead to an injury. The fact is Tere did exhaustive research for this book (and tried everything on herself first), so it covers the latest trends in marathon training not outdated information from 10, 20 or 30 years ago.

Here's what the Chicago Tribune says this about the book; "As with all the For Dummies books, Marathon Training is easy to use and well-organized, covering the basics for those ready to take the 26.2-mile plunge. Everything from proper eating and drinking to stretching, weight lifting and buying the right shoes is covered, along with how to actually train for one of the toughest athletic challenges there is." Publishers Weekly also did a great review.

Other books (by John Bingham, Jeff Galloway, and Hal Higdon as mentioned by Reader from Eastern US) are good for some people, but those authors sometimes tend to forget what it is like to be new at marathoning. Although Tere has 25 years of running and competing experience at 10K and shorter races, she saved marathoning for the end of her running career, so she can emphathize with her readers about what trying a marathon for the first time is like. She also can make the driest material seem like fun, which makes the book just whiz by. This book is serious about your goals and fun to read at the same time so whether you're new to marathoning or trying to improve on your last marathon time, you'll love it. New marathoners can skip information about interval training and other techniques and experienced readers can skip information about setting up a training plan.

I've run one marathon and am training for my 2nd so I'm not a veteran by any means.

After reading this book I began to wonder if the author had actually run a marathon but couldn't find any references to her completing a marathon. I figured she *must* be a marathoner to write about it even though her credentials listed her as a top road racer which usually means shorter distances. Someone else says she ran a 3:06 time.

My primary concerns with this book:

1. Suggesting that you run 1-3 miles of warmup prior to a marathon, especially a first-timer, is not a good idea. You are going to need those 1-3 miles of leg strength at the end of your first marathon. All the other veteran marathon experts recommend very little if any warmup prior to a first marathon. Use the early miles as the warm up! I guess a few jumping jacks to get the blood flowing is not a bad idea but be careful. Of course, if you're trying to win in your first attempt, sure, you need to be ready to go at the gun but most people reading a "dummies" book aren't in this category.

2. Not eating breakfast for a morning marathon is bad advice. You already have gone 6-12 hours or more from the previous day without food and you're asking your body to go run 26.2 miles with only sports drinks and gels for fuel?? Most first-timers are running 3:00 - 6:00 hour times and this is a long time to be on your feet on an empty fuel tank. The author seems to base her premise on the shorter distance races which don't require as much fuel. I eat a full breakfast (cereal, toast, eggs, yogurt, vegetable juice) prior to all my 15+ mile runs - just avoid the grease and anything that normally causes digestion problems. I generally eat 1-2 hours prior to the long run so, yes, that does mean getting up a little bit early for an 8:00 a.m. marathon start time. You're awake with anxiety anyway, so why not get a little fuel in your body??

3. Not drinking prior to the marathon is even worse advice. The author's concerns about having to go to the bathroom are noted but dehydration is much more serious than a few stops at the porta-johns. Not only should you drink water prior to the marathon but you should drink at least 16-32 ounces. Yes, do give yourself plenty of time to use the facilities but be sure to hydrate!!! Her advice to drink at all the water stops is correct no matter how you feel or the temperature. Your body is going to heat up a lot and if the humidity is over 50%, it will be even more difficult to stay cool.

The author knows alot about running and gives good advice about shoes, clothing, stretching, injuries and general diet. There is an obvious omission of advice of the actual race which leads me to believe the author had not yet completed a marathon. A first-timer will be very nervous about the 26.2 mile distance and needs to be re-assured that if they trained properly (building a base, completing several long runs and tapering), they should be ready to get to the finish line.

Hal Higdon has a terrific web site (halhigdon.com) for all levels of runners.

As a book about violin basics, this is OK. However as a book about learning to play the violin, it fails. There is an included disk containing both audio and video clips, but it is only good for the audio clips. The video did not work on my copy of Real Player. I finally learned that if I were to pay another $40 to Real Player I could look at the videos that I had purchased. While the line drawings in the book are good, the photographs are very difficult to make sense of. They are all black and white and they have not been well done. For this reason, I would not recommend this book. Spend your money elsewhere.

Even though I am learning violin, I am not a dummy, and I do not like to be taught like one. There are much better book out there to learn how to play violin.

after wasting my money, I decided to get "Picture Yourself Playing Violin"- a much better decision

Katharine Rapoport brings a lot of experience to light in this book; designed for the very beginner through advanced. If you are trying to tackle violin pedagogy on your own maybe because you can't afford private lessons or maybe your schedule is not conducive for private lessons, or whatever reason; this book is a good place to start. The instruction is informative, structured, and relaxed in nature.

I am an adult who wanted to learn to play the violin without the expense of private lessons. So far, this book has been very easy to follow and the instructions are very clear. The CD is wonderful, it includes short videos and mp3 songs. I can play along with the songs and know that the notes are correct.
My only compaint is that I found alot of the photos in the book hard to see. They are in black and white and the photos are far to dark.

This book was not worth the .75 that I paid for it. All of the info in here is very basic and things you can figure out on your own. Skip it.

All of Isabel Wilner's children's books are wonderful, and this is no exception. Great games to play with babies, the songs you heard as a child -- but with the words!! In case (like me) you've forgotten them. Get this and ALL her books!

I am a first time parent and I bought this book with the idea that it might give me some interesting things to do with my 5 month old daughter. I found the book to be so simple it wasn't worth the money. As an example, there are only about 10 "games" outlined and they all tend to just be renditions of bouncing your baby on your knee while repeating a rhyme. For $15, I sort of expected something a little more creative and informative.

This book gives you activities to stimulate your baby from infancy through toddler-hood! It's also good when you're a new parent and aren't sure what games to play with a small infant. My daughter loves the foot-tapping rhymes!

This is the perfect gift for the new baby! Isabel Wilner has gathered familiar and not-so-familiar rhymes that introduce simple games to play with babies. Several rhymes name the fingers and toes. Others make great lap games. Others encourage an action on the baby's part. My granddaughter's favorite is, "Put your finger in foxy's den." The den is made by making a fist with one hand. The baby puts her finger in the fist! Rhymes and games to accompany bath-time, bed-time, and just plain fun-time have instructions for the novice parent, grandparent, relative or friend.

The illustrations by Sam Williams are whimsical or realistic, whichever is required. All are gentle. Pastel watercolor images set a restful tone. Notable is the presence of the father as caregiver and playmate.