Design and Construction Books

Homeowners interested in home building and construction have two different, intriguing books to choose from. Judy Ostrow's The House That Jill Built: A Woman's Guide To Home Building will appeal to females who wish to either renovate or build their own homes, offering a woman's perspective to the entire process, from choosing tools to stories of female builders and designers who were ahead of their times. Vignettes profiling both selected female builders and their projects accompany practical do-it-yourself details to blend both inspiration and tips.

It is a honor and privilege to be associated with Judy's project; it has been a project of perseverance for all those involved, including myself.

Judy's book highlights the triumph of overcoming seemingly unsurmountable situations....essentially, it salutes the spirit within each of us.

My original intention was to build an environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient home in the middle of the woods. I spent three years researching 'green' building materials and found that I couldn't go 100% green because of the prohibitive cost of some materials, but I did the best I could with the funds I had available.

I hope that women - and men - who want some advice on building their dream home, don't hesitate to contact me, especially those folks in NH. I am an advocate of strawbale homes and have a list of resources available for those who are interested. Keep this in mind, I am not an expert, but I can share what I have learned from the process.

With Blessings,

Kathe Higgins

This is yet another well researched, beautiful book put out by Acanthus Press. Ms. Surchin does the Hamptons proud, with her insightful text and wonderful period images, I had no idea that there where so many period houses in the Hamptons, of course I knew all about the North Shore of Long Island, the famous Gold Coast, but i had thought all the huge houses in the Hamptons where fairly new, needless to say this book was a very pleasant surprise. If you have any interest in the Hamptons or just have an appreciation of beautiful books then I highly recommend this book; well done, indeed.

The authors have clearly worked hard to document thirty important houses, located mostly in Southampton and East Hampton. The history is superbly researched, and there are many archival images that will thrill even the most knowledgeable Hamptons aficionado. If you are interested in the Hamptons in particular or resort architecture on general, you must own this book.

Mr. Wing covers it all, engines, transmissions, steering systems, windvanes, auto pilots, anchors, windlasses, pumps, boat heads, fresh water systems and so much more in this illustrated tour of an average cruising boat. If you live afloat then this is an indispensable book for you, one you'll go to often, both for enjoyment, because it is beautifully done, and for an education into how the various systems, machines, thing-a-ma-bobs and do-dads do their jobs on your boat. Just how does that bilge pump work? It's in there. That and just about anything else you can imagine. In conclusion I'd say that even if nothing's broke, this is a good book to browse through with a sundowner. Not so technical and plenty informative and enjoyable. And besides, wouldn't you really be a lot better of out there if you knew how all the stuff on your boat actually worked?

An excellent and "must Have" addition to any boating library. For a small, easily read book, there is a tremendous amount of useful information from tying knots to the dynamics of a prop.

Save thousands of dollars and build your own deck. This book will show you step-by-step how to plan and build your own deck. The book is very informative and well written and is realistic.

Very Goo

"How to design, build, & test complete speaker systems" is one of the best speaker design books I've ever read. This book gives all of the crucial information on building a stereo system. It gives all of Thiele's alignments, useful tips on building your enclosure, pros and cons of properly made bass reflex and plain closed boxes. It contains the tables, charts, graphs, equations and general information needed to completely build a system. It also covers experimental enclosures. The only problem with this book is that it was published in 1978 and talks of outdated amplifer technology, equalizers, etc. But over all this is a book I'd highly recomend to anybody building a set of speakers.

"How to design, build, & test complete speaker systems" is one of the best speaker design books I've ever read. This book gives all of the crucial information on building a stereo system. It gives all of Thiele's alignments, useful tips on building your enclosure, pros and cons of properly made bass reflex and plain closed boxes. It contains the tables, charts, graphs, equations and general information needed to completely build a system. It also covers experimental enclosures. The only problem with this book is that it was published in 1978 and talks of outdated amplifer technology, equalizers, etc. The methods are not, however outdated. Over all this is a book I'd highly recomend to anybody building a set of speakers.

The names of the authors (Shadley and Davis) would be instantly recognizable to knife collectors as the recognized masters of the multi-blade pocket knife, perhaps the most challenging project for beginning knifemakers. As far as I know, this is the only book in print that addresses multi-blade knifemaking directly, and thus am pleased to find that it turned out to be a great buy.

This book describes in detail the whole process of design, construction, and finishing these mechanical marvels. The text is precise, complete, and most importantly for the non-enthusiast, refreshingly readable (light on knife jargon). Illustrated with clear diagrams and pictures on every important step and generously endowed with hints and expert advice from the authors, this book is a classic on this specialized topic. If you have any interest in pocket knives or have ever wondered just how much craftsmanship goes into making one of these knives by hand, you'll be glad you bought this book.

If you was ever intrigued by the multi-bladed folding knives, and wanted to know how to make your own, believe me - this is the book you need. I'm proud to have this book - since it showed me, exactly, how to design and construct all the little multi-bladed fascinating tools I ever wanted. If you want to make your folding knives too, buy this book and back to the bench! And good luck!

"All I can say is WOW....Not having any Pinewood Derby experience at all, Wednesday of last week I ordered your How To Win A Pinewood Derby. Keep in mind this was Wednesday and the race was Saturday. I read all pages and did exactly what the booklet said to do. Come Saturday we were ready to go and very excited to say the least...long story short, We annihilated our local pack (20 cars). We won easily the district for the wolf pack and took 2 overall out of roughly 300 cars. This booklet is a must for the serious Cub Scout racer. THANK YOU!!!!" Wendell and Sam Shorthose, Jefferson City, MO, March 21, 2005

Pinewood Derby has been an American tradition for Cub Scouts since it was originated in 1953. And, another American tradition is for fathers to find ways to make their sons' cars run as quickly as possible and win races! This short book is a set of detailed instructions on how to make a Pinewood Derby car that will run as quickly as possible.

This nifty book has information on the physics of Pinewood Derby racing, shaping the car, weight placement, axle and tire adjustment, and a lot more. Overall, I found this to be an interesting book that is sure to be of great value to all Pinewood Derby racers, and those who love them.

By the way, each Pinewood Derby book out there has a different recommended car design. The car recommended in this book is short and aerodynamic, with the weight placed at the balance point.

I am a custom carpenter in Metro Detroit, and purchased this book a while back as an idea book for wall systems. I have been verry pleased with the book. It has great photos of a wide variety of ideas that can actually be used in a normal person's home. It also presents well to my customers. Many do not. I would definately recommend this book.

In Wall Systems, Scott Anderson and the editors of Sunset Books presents the non-specialist general reader with an impressive collection of ideas for truly great wall system options for creative interior design. Wall systems are an excellent way to organize and display one's possessions without becoming lost in clutter. From open shelves to extensive home theater systems, pullouts, lighting matters, and much more, Wall Systems presents ideas, and tips from what variety of wood to use to finding the right knobs, sample styles of storage furnature, and splendid full-color photographs to reveal a wide range of possibilities to embellish and enhance any home.

I purchased this book to learn the details of quality home construction. I do not plan on building a home myself, but I am interested in how my home is constructed. This book is extremely well-written, and explains the entire process from digging the hole for the foundation to interior trim. Sticky points are discussed, as are tricks for speed, efficiency, and build quality. Quite simply, this is nothing short of a home construction encyclopedia. Armed with tools, inginuity, and a good strong back, one could use this book as a primary reference for home construction. Highly recommended.

I found this title outstanding.

After reading my fathers copy of Mr Blackburn's "Illustrated Basic Carpentry" (1976), my first search and purchase at Amazon in September 1998 (Amazon only sold books at that time! ) included this book.

I was completely satisfied, it included actual topics like the basement construction, Electrical Wiring details I didn't expect to find. This was a finding because his first book I read was completely traditional carpentry and now he was treating "modern" subjects.

Still, tips and stories on American traditional house building are nicely treated with tales like Mason trick to ensure payment after their job was done.

Beautifully hand illustrated by the author, with clear explanations as in "Illustrated Basic Carpentry", there is also a nice reproduction on carpentry I didn't expect just at the beginning of the carpentry section, a 1548 representation.

Recently I had the chance to show this particular book to an experienced American architect who conducts restoration mostly on public buildings in USA and his word were the title of this comment: An Art Job.

After this nice encounter I also bought " Traditional Woodworking Hand tools", Furniture by Design" and Year -round house care" by this same author, Mr Graham Blackburn.

Actually I'm expecting the delivery of his "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ships, Boats, Vessels and Other Water-Borne Craft" which after reading it, and finding it includes what I expect to, I am sure I will choose to be an excellent gift for my cousin-in-law Harriet, who's actually studying to become a US Naval Officer.

I hope you enjoy your purchase and Amazon as much as I have!

Sincerely,

Eudoro.

I'd had this book on my bookshelf for many years, having bought it after seeing an excellent review. But I never seemed to get around to reading it - perhaps it would be hard going, a harrowing tale ... Finally, I picked it up. It's an amazing read - you really get to know Keenan, and his companion for much of his incarceration, John McCarthy, and what's more his captors too. (The American hostages they spend time with are less well drawn in many cases) How could we cope in this situation? Keenan tells us exactly how he and McCarthy made it through - nearly five years in his case; more than five for McCarthy. Occasionally, Keenan veers towards becoming a little too cerebral about it all, but then pulls back, leaving us which much to mull over about the strength but also sheer honesty of this man. One of those books where you finish feeling like you have really come to know someone - perhaps more than you know the people in your own life. I closed the book (a little surprised at where it ended ... I wanted more ... but that's Brian) and immediately sought up to date information about Keenan -- to discover that he only recently returned to Lebanon for the first time (see the Times Online, March 08, to complete the journey after you've read the book).

Keenan takes the reader from the heady, exciting, politically influenced atmosphere of Belfast during the troubles to the not too disimilar atmosphere of Beirut. While I do not wish to demean Belfast, it is a city where you need to be careful and on your guard. I know, I have been there many times. (For the love of a beautiful Irish girl, I met on holiday many years ago.)

Keenan relaxes a little bit too much one day and finds himself kidnapped by a fundamentalist group who by all accounts, don't really know what it is they actually wish to demand, and who it is they wish to demand it from.

So you find yourself turning page after page (rather quickly) wondering when the hell the poor man is going to be released.
A wonderful frank, vulgar, blunt, violent account of a horror, none of us mere mortals could ever imagine.