Indoor Books

This book illustrates nice ideas but falls short in details. Very basic.

I have a smaller suburban yard and every corner is utilized. Though envious of a friend with an in-ground pond and waterfall, I did not want to dig up exsisting shrubs and perennials to satisfy my yen for water. Since I already grow vegetables, herbs, ornamental grasses and perennials in containers, I thought why not a water garden. This book showed me what I could do with one of my empty oak barrels. I had a lovely mini pond with running water. I added 3 fish, water plants, and bought some toad tadpoles from a nearby garden centre. I liked it so much I'm going to do some smaller containers as well as a couple of glazed pots with water lilys. The only thing is to overwinter water plants you need a small indoor aquarium with grow lights, or a helpful friend with a pond. Enjoy and experiment! P.S. Although the toads might not be able to breed in my yard, for the rest of the summer the little toadlets were happily hopping around in my yard eating bugs.

I love this book! I have always been enamoured with ponds and water gardens, but thought I would have to own a home to have one. This book shows how to create the perfect container water garden for any size yard, patio, or even room. Great how-to's step by step. Gorgeous pictures. Great ideas. Thank you for such a beautiful, practical and affordable book!

This book is well illustrated and is a great "idea book" for people who want to see the many types of container water garden possibilities. There are also several useful tips that make the book worthwhile. Contents are: 1. Basics, 2. Tub gardens, 3. Dish and indoor gardens, 4. Hanging baskets, 5. Planters & window boxes, 6. Creative containers, 7. Patio ponds, 8. Fountains, statuary & wall containers, 9. Paludariums (semi-aquatic glass tank gardens that can house plants & pets), 10. Lotus, 11. Carnivorous plants. Who knew there were so many types of water container gardens? Several chapters have step-by-step pictures for setting up the containers and placing fixtures and plants.

However, the book is terribly deficient in detail - each chapter has about a brochure's worth of text. Although many pond books suggest that novices will find a container garden to be an easy first water project, there are some unique challenges - in particular: temperature control, selecting pumps & filters suitable for small containers, controlling quality of a small water volume, and choosing plants that are best for containers. I have several pond/general water gardening books, and I bought this book hoping for more info specific to container gardens.

The book is particularly deficient in information about the various plants. Unlike most water garden books, there is no section devoted to plant specifications and requirements (other than lotuses and carnivorous plants). In many of the photographs, the plants are not identified at all, and in some they are incorrectly identified. This severely limits the value of the book as a brainstorming tool. The book also does a very poor job of explaining the water quality and temperature problems that will arise if one attempts to add fish or other animals to the container. Finally, there is no climate zone related information, and there is no discussion whatsoever of what to do with these gardens in the winter.

Part of my disappointment with this book is that I bought the hardcover edition and paid too much for it (doh!). I think this book is worth it as an idea book, just realize that to create a container water garden of your own, this is by no means the only book you will need.

I found this be book to be truly helpful as I'm a first time water gardener and I really enjoyed the fact that it had colored pictures.

If you've never played before, this is the book you've got to read. It's easy, basic and makes you feel like a pro on the table. I read it, won, and lost, but that's the game. I think this book is so great that I am purchasing it for friends who "would love to play but just don't understand the game." This book makes it easy, you've got to try it.

I had no idea how to play casino craps until I read this book. All bets on the craps table were explained as well as the house's edge on each. Best bets to play and betting strategies were given in clear and easy to understand way. Money management also covered.

I used the methods and knowledge to win big in Vegas and on cruise ship. Now craps is all I play. I have won on two week-long gambling vacations out of two week-long gambling vacations. Planning next junket now.

(...) I have been playing craps for about 6 mo's and like most, knew the simple typical bets but was confused about the more "exotic" ones. This book clearly defines all the bets on the table. As far as how to play, well the book tells you the odds of each bet and what percentage of the time each number on the dice rolls. You should be able to determine the style you want to play from these numbers. There are many craps books out there that tell you how the authors' play, but are lacking in the specifics of some of the game's details if those details don't pertain to their way of playing the game. This book provides all the rules. Its short and concise. I recommend it if you want to know the specifics of each possible bet on the craps table. If you want to know how someone else plays and want to do nothing more than copy their methods of play, I would suggest a different book.

Don't waste your money on this book. Even as a primer on the game of craps it falls way short. Most of the information contained is in the free gaming brochures that the casinos hand out. The real rip here is that in the last chapter Allen is hustleing an expensive "system" that you have to order seperatly. Look for other books on craps that go into detail about money management and winning strategy

Though printed in the 1960s, this book provides information for numerous board and table (meaning, for example, dice) games from around the world. Some history is given, where available, regarding the games and their evolution, but for the most part the focus is on how the games are (or were) played, and their variants.

Most facinating about this work is the attention payed to games which appear to have died out. Naturally the rules for these games, if even known at all, tend to be incomplete and for anyone who wishes to reconstruct how the game was played will need to do so on their own. It should also be noted that not everyone's favorite rules are listed (for example, the rules for Mankala listed are quite a bit different from the rules many may be using in at least the US today). Even so, the large number of games mentioned, as well as the references used by the author to research them, will likely satisfy the curiosity of people looking to understand something about the world-wide phenomenon of gaming.

This is an excellent book if your into playing board games ( the Chess/checkers/Backgammon kind rather than the Monopoly/Careers kind). This book has 15o+ traditional board games from around the world, some ancient and many very fun to play! If your into other cultures or just want something different to play, its a good book. A number of ones not in standard American repertoire, in this book: Go, an unusual oriental game said to be on par with Chess(still unbeaten by computers) Chinese, Japanese, Burmese and Arab versions of Chess, and the ancient ancestor of them all. Hnefa-tafl, a clever Viking game Latrunculi, the Roman's game of intellect Mancala and co., a very weird and very fun group of games, called "the National Game of Africa" OK, I'm outta time here, ya get the idea ;)

I've constantly been searching for a concise book covering a wide range of the games of the world. This book comes fairly close to doing that in a good, inobtuse manner. The main flaw of this book is Bell's inconsistant style; sometimes he will give strategy and indepth concepts of a game, other times he gives a very short blurb about a game that can be quite unsatisfying. Granted some games have a foggy history, but it seems he just failed to compile much information on some of the games. It is mostly a compilation of information other writers had written, with some (sometimes arbitrary) commentary from Bell.

All in all, it's good enough to buy if you're looking for a light collection of games from around the world.

This is a great book, although I recommend it more for reference than for reading cover-to-cover. It's been around since 1960 and is certainly a classic in the genre. Among the games it covers are games that will be familiar to most players: Checkers, Chess, Pachisi (aka Parcheesi), Backgammon, and Cribbage. It also covers some that will be familiar to avid gamers: Mancala, Go, Shogi, Nine Men's Morris, Alquerque. Then there is the plethora of games and versions of games that most people have never heard of, either because they are only played in very specific areas of the world, or because they haven't been played in hundreds of years.

All in all, if you can afford the relatively cheap price tag, this game will make a nice addition to your bookshelf. It's not necessarily essential, but it does make for a great reference work.

The book is wonderful! It keeps all the guest and gifts organized, so it is easier on the bride. A must have for the Bridal Shower!

This was a nice book and nicely bound. However, it was a little small to include scrapbook items such as sample invitation, napkins, ets. I also found there were a lot of areas to fill in about the wedding in addition to the shower and I wanted simply a wedding shower memory book we could complete during and after the actual shower.

I wanted just a simple guest book to write down all the gifts the bride was getting and this book was perfect for it.

Bridal Shower Memories is a quaint bridal journal/diary keepsake for the engaged gal. There is a charming story about the history of the bridal shower to start you off. Plenty of space to write down guests names and addresses, gifts and more. For years to come, you'll have fun reading words of advice from those attending. Bring this journal out again to share with your own grown children when they decide to wed.

I was preparing for a trip to Vegas and wanted to try something else besides blackjack.

This was just the book I needed. Craps is really not that difficult once you know what's going on at the table, and, as this book will tell you, you don't even need to understand all of it. Most bets on the table are sucker's bets. The odds are stacked in the house's favor. Stick to the bets outlined earlier in this book.

The early chapters explain the layout and rules of the table. The author goes on to explain what the odds are versus what the bets pay, which gives you the house advantages.

The system described in this book is more of a money management plan. Bet smart, and know that the house will always have some advantage, even if it's only 0.09%. In the long term you're going to lose. Manage your cash, have a ton of fun at the table cheering and letting the dice fly, while being served free drinks. Maybe you'll walk away with more in chips than you showed up with in cash. I did.

You'll have fun playing craps after reading this book. Just remember to ignore anyone, including the author of this book, who will lead you to believe over the long term you'll emerge a winner.

The text and elaboration on the rules of the game are great for the beginner. The "winner" part, I'm not sure of. I would investigate other books for strategy advice on craps, though I cannot advise which ones.

If you've never played before, this one is good.

Gives a simple method of playing based on mathematical explanation of odds.

This book is fine for the beginning dice roller, but not for those who already have some knowledge about craps. The book has a VERY GOOD discussion of the basic rules of the game, odds and the different payouts. I like the chapters on special allowance for both right and wrong betters. I still use the book to refresh my memory sometimes. Other than that, however, the playing systems are nothing great. Pass or Don't Pass with odds. Nothing new here, but a good book for those just starting out in the game of craps.

I taught myself to play Chinese Chess a couple of years ago after a visit to Philadelphia's Chinatown. My nephew (at that time 6 years old) was the only one brave enough to learn the Chinese characters with me, so I was looking for a book to help other friends and family members to learn the game. The presentation in this book is such that I cannot recommend it for that purpose.

The information in this book is good, it just isn't presented as well as the material deserves. If you just want to learn how the pieces move, check out the "xiangqi" (Chinese Chess) article on Wikipedia. That's how I learned, and it was much clearer and more concise.

The biggest problem for me was the use of a notation system that relies on relative data. Unlike the algebraic notation system I'm used to in Western Chess (which uses a letter to describe each file and a number to represent each rank, thus giving absolute grid reference locations,) the system Sloan employs uses an absolute number for each file and a second number (this one relative to the piece being moved) to describe rank positions and movement. This becomes confusing.

Originally published in the '80s (before desktop publishing) on a small scale, the layout of the book shows its age/budget. It looks like it was printed on a black and white newspaper press with very limited formatting options. More than merely aesthetically unpleasing, the limited formating sometimes makes it harder to parse out what the author is trying to get across. There's good information in the book, but you'll have to fight against the materials of the book to get it out.

I strongly recommend that you DO NOT follow the author's advice to just walk into any Chinese restaurant, demand to play a game against the employees, and refuse to take no for an answer. Contrary to the author, I don't think that "they" will always appreciate it, or that "they" are just being modest when "they" say, "No."

The set of paper chessmen that the book includes is nothing more than two regular black and white pages with the the Chinese piece characters printed on them. This was probably actually useful in the pre-Word Wide Web days that this book was first published, but now you can just print out some better, color "pieces" off of many web sites. That way, you can choose what paper stock to use and whether to use traditional or international pieces.

The author assumes that the reader has a knowledge of the symbols used in Chinese Chess. Not impressed.

Chinese Chess or Xiangqi is an interesting, fast-paced variant of Chess: similar enough to be fairly easy to learn, yet different enough to be interesting even to those thoroughly bored by Western Chess. It's clearly a game worth exploring, but books on the game are rather rare and hard to come by. Sloan's book is from 1980s and slightly dated, but the game hasn't changed, of course, so the lessons contained are still valid.

To be honest, the book could certainly be better. It does cover everything necessary: it introduces the pieces, explains the rules, explains strategy, has sample games... All good and well, yet the presentation could be clearer, the text a tad more captivating and I would really prefer if the sample games were included in their entirety. Still, it works, and to those who prefer reading books to reading web pages, this is still worth considering.

This book was not only an excellent introduction to the game, but after playing a number of games (and even winning some!) I found that I learned almost as much the second time through. The chief value of the book is the annotated games, but there are also some basic mating exercises that are helpful as well. It is also helpful if you have played Int'l Chess before as Mr. Sloan addresses some of the issues those players might have making the transition (e.g. the relative weight of material superiority). Even if you splurge for David Li's "Syllabi" down the road, this is still a worthwhile investment for the absolute beginner.

This little book is a great starter for beginners, even for people who never played a single game of chess (as we know it). It takes you right up to a level where you will be able to beat a moderatly experienced player of Chinese Chess. Sam Sloan's book is both exciting and funny. Also, the author Sam Sloan is an intriguing personality.

Not to say you can't learn from this book but it's difficult to follow pictures of what is supposed to be done while trying to absorb the text.

If you want to learn a couple of tricks it's worth it but if you're looking to learn some of the finer chip manipulations you may want to think twice.

I gave it 3 stars because the book wasn't a significant investment and I did squeeze out some knowledge.

Happy poker to all!

This book is great. I couldn't do any of the tricks described before i got this book in my mail (except the "chatter stack" lol). Now, I'm a thumb flippin fool! Also, i almost have the butterfly down packed. Now it's time to start using the other hand. That's where the REAL challenge begins. The pictures are easy enough to follow and has great instructions. Overall, an excellent book for the beginners, not so much for those who already know most of the basics.

I bought this book for one reason--to learn how to shuffle chips and, I'm happy to report, I actually know how to do it now. Not perfectly, not every time (not yet at least), but I'm very happy with my progress. Now I'm trying to decide what other tricks to learn. There are so many. And, for a "how to" book, it's not a bad read either. Kind of funny.

I was shocked to see Aiken only give this book a 4 star review. Anyone who has tried to study up on chip tricks knows that this is the only one out there worth reading. Watson and Teti's instructions are genius. Their step by step instruction, coupled with the precise photography will have you doing the Butterfly in no time- regardless of your finger flexibility.

I utilize this book as the text for the entire 21 day climbing curriculum at the Adventuresports Institute of Garrett College. Straightforward and very informative.

The book contains good material for learning and is a good reference to go back to again and again. I like that it covers rock as well as snow and ice climbing in one package. Good photos and clear drawings illustrate points.

I found the material to be broad in scope, well covered, and nicely presented. I still refer to this text from time to time as a refresher reference even after climbing for two years.

I have been climbing for 3 days! And I starting looking for good books after my first climb. I've seen this book in person.

The cover on this book makes it look like the perfect resource for climbing. Look at it, it's all right there! I thumbed through this book last night at Barnes and Noble... and I picked two other books that were smaller and, I believe, better for beginners.

I don't think this book is useless. It has lots of good information in it. But I think there are better options for the beginner.

The first book I bought (read) and love is: Rock Climbing (Outdoor Pursuits Series) The second book, that I've only thumbed through so far, but looks perfect is: Rock Climbing : A Trailside Guide (Trailside Guide Series)

I normally don't review against a book, but THE COMPLETE CLIMBERS HANDBOOK struck me when I saw it as having a great cover that was not matched by the contents. Buy what you want, but remember - you can't judge a book by its cover. I would recommend either, or both, the books I finally bought over this one ANY day.

I don't think this book is useless. I'm sure it has great information in it. But I would recomend these other books for a beginner.

We started playing Continuo a few years ago. At first we didn't connect with it, but it grew on us. But the simplicity of the challenge, finding the patterns, how easy it is to engage anyone who takes a passing interest, makes it one of our favorites. Our 5 year old granddaughter immediately started playing, as did her 12 year old sibling (and we are in our 50s). I love the quality of the playing pieces, the inexpensive price and its small and portable size. I will be giving this to many on my Christmas list this year.

We have owned this game since our boy was six and have played it ever since (he is now twelve). The bright colors first interested him and the counting was good practice. Now we bring it when we travel and get it out to play for a quick game during a school night. The rules are simple enough that even our non-English speaking family in Italy got in on the fun and we could play at the beach because the sand was not an issue! It is easy yet challenging enough to keep everyone's interest. Except for cards, we play this more than any game in the closet.

We have family game night every week. This is a game that I wish I had never bothered buying. Boring and frustrating. We all had a good laugh - saying "Don't believe the hype on this one!" Very overrated. Our ages range from 6 to 76, so it wasn't an age thing. Save your money and don't bother with this one. Check out Blokus - a much better game than this one.

The first time I encountered this game was 20 years ago when first it was launched and it already caught my fancy. Simple, aesthetically pleasing, incredibly inexpensive, yet spatially challenging from first play till last.

Twenty years on I have - finally - found it again (thank you Amazon!) and shall not hesitate to lay down 5 or 10 copies of the game to use as gifts this Christmas for everyone from favorite 7 year-old niece to my beloved uncle who is 75 and an especial devotee of the game....except that he lost his original copy of it and like me has been seeking high and low for two decades to replace it.

Buy this game without the slightest hesitation; you will be thanked by everyone you give it to. My own daughter plays it at six years of age with furrowed brow of concentration and a delightful expression of satisfaction each and every turn. I have four decades on her and it's just as satisfying for me.

Doesn't make this almost the perfect game?

I enjoy riddles and I have read a lot of riddle books. My general impression of riddle books is that they contain very few unique ideas. They usually just reword the same set of famous riddles that we are already familiar with.

To my delight, this book was quite different! There was not a single riddle in this book that I had previously heard. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the riddles were broken up into different categories (Math, Logic, Trivia, etc), which allowed me to jump straight to my favorites. I was also pleased with the quantity of puzzles, since you rarely find a riddle book with even a hundred puzzles. This book has over 400!

The riddles in this book are apparently collected from the authors website, which I have visited and have enjoyed. I recommend this book.

I love this book! I enjoy the range of different types of brain teasers and the range of difficulty within teaser groups. The "e" boxes every few pages deliver helpful tips, encouragement, or useful facts. Our family likes to challenge each other with brain teasers and this is a great resource. Recently we got hooked on the rebus puzzles and after working through the ones in the book we started making up ones of our own. This book sits out on the coffee table and is a great favorite of visitors--always gets a good conversation going. Using this book is a great way to keep your brain fit!

I just ordered the book and look forward to seeing the teasers! I know the author is a curator of more than 7,000 of teasers of almost every category of brain teaser of your liking, so I know his book is going to have the best of the best!

w a l
h - e
a - t
t

or, in rebus speak, what a let down

I have dipped in and out of Jakes web site for a couple of years now, and have always found teasers that are both challenging and funny. Regulars such as Mad_Ade, dumbell, mogmatt16, MrIxolite, Tissue, Datra16 (the list goes on), all have become almost real to me over time from reading their banter and reparte. The humour carried over into the tasers, although not all those who contribute do so with teasers.

When I picked up this book I expected wit and humour in the brain teasers. Instead I found badly copied and poorly reconstructed immitations of what is found on line.

I feel Jake has done those who have trusted him a great discredit.

This one is going stright to the second hand shop. It is just a shame there is no option for no stars.