Recreation Books

Anyone who fishes with a fly in salt or fresh water should consider this superb collaboration as fundamental reading. Seriously, I believe this book will together with G.E.M Skues's works, LaBranche and Pete Hidy's collaboration with Leisenring, will be referred to over the next century as fundamental revolutionary and rare works.

Again the applicability of the theories expressed extend well past the tidal zone up through rivers and trout streams to glacial lakes. The commentary on the evolution and stagnation of fly design in the first chapter alone are priceless, to those who seek to seek to imagine the timeless struggles of life below the surface.

With the vast and somewhat ridiculous glut of fly fishing books currently available, finding an honest, clearly understandable and sage guide may seem more difficult than landing one of Skue's day's of 5 brace of 3+lb wild brown trout. But beyond the finer works of Sy Nemes, Gary Borger and David Hughes, this work synthesizes a wealth of new tying techniques with cogent natural observation and clear theoretical principles. That is why it is one for the ages, and will forever remain next to Minor Tactics of the Chalkstream, The Art of Tying the Wet Fly on my tying desk.

THis book is everything I hoped for. Has good information, wonderful pictures. I know that I will reference it over & over.

Marvellous piece of art, to get really hooked on fly tying saltwaterflies. Also for Dutch and Korean people!! Jolly good...

Pop Fleyes is by far the best saltwater flytying book that I have ever owned.

This is a down to earth , excellently illustrated , well written and innovative book. Bob quickly becomes your friend and mentor , guiding the reader through each tying stage without prior assumption .Personally , and I,m sure for most readers , this book sets trains of thought in motion . What more could a fly tier want ?

this has to be the best book to have on any bedside tale for anyone with an interest in big game hunting and rifles, it is very informative and will go a long way in helping you to choose your next rifle should you be planning a hunt. I have decided on a 416 rigby bolt action rifle which gets more than its fair share of good reviews and hope this book will help in the planning of your next safari.

Craig obviously really knows how to hunt and must have done heaps of it

The best look at modern rifles and today's African scene there is.

I could not put it down, and read it cover to cover in one night. After that it became a reference. The endless detail on calibers, cartridges and loads may put off some but it helped me choose a gun, gave me cartridge selection ideas and got me involved in a South African safari. It is a reference book that reads like a novel.

This is the complete work on the hunting rifle in Africa, period. This and Boddington's "American Hunting Rifles" make a two volume masterwork that completely covers the modern hunting rifle in all its forms. This book is unique in that it includes a fascinating poll of modern African professional hunters, what they use, what they want their clients to use, etc. etc. Fascinating statistics. Essential reading for Africa. Also essential in its own way is John Taylor's "African Rifles and Cartridges", and you need to read both.

A super book, great illustrations, very srtaightforward approach to explaining sails and rigging. Glossary could be bette but not much.

When it comes to sail & rig tuning I think it is important not to complicate things too much and write 3 exceptions for every rule. This book gives clear advice on the biggest issues in sail & rig trim and illustrates them as well.
Very good book to get the most out of your boat!

Good physics, good illustrations, good explanations mean that you will have the intellectual tools to maximize your sail power. That will mean minutes in a race, and hours or days on a passage...as well as the safety of a well tuned rig. A must read for anyone powered by sail.

I brought this book to check the rigging on a boat that I want to build.
The diagrams are very clear and the book is concise and easy to read.
While this book was helpful it was not really what I was after.
I see this book being great for those sailors who want to win races.

There is nothing more frighten then a mast coming down at sea. Just the mere thought of it is enough to have a lot of cruising sailors pouring pockets full of money into the hands of riggers up and down the island chain. However rigging isn't that hard, heck I even know a couple guys who decided overnight to be riggers. They hung up their shingles and we started genuflecting before them as if they were the font of all knowledge. Well before you reach your hand out for that holy water, maybe you should check out this very fine book. It will educate you into the black art of rigging a sailboat. You'll know, without consulting that expert, when to replace that turnbuckle or wire. You'll learn how to tune your rig yourself and, need I say it, you'll probably save enough money to pay for that new laptop you've had your eye on.

I've been working with _Say Again, Please_ while studying for my US private pilot certificate, and it's been great. I live in a rural area, and there are no towered fields nearby for frequent radio practice. The book makes the different types of radio interaction much easier to understand.

Gardner breaks down communications by airspace class, which seems pretty sensible. One thing I liked was its discussion of how to interact with Flight Watch, restricted areas, Military Operations Areas, etc. It has a chapter on IFR communications, though I'm not ready for it yet.

The book explains clearly the reasons for saying things a particular way, and gives examples of correct practice. It's easy to understand, and well worth the price.

I bought this book to prepare myself for my first flight to Class Charlie in years. I wrote a script from the information Bob has in the book. The communications with SPI went perfect. Low cost and high content make this a slam dunk.

I am much more comfortable using the radio now. This book explained things that had been frustrating me for a long time.

Bob Gardner does an excellent job of explaining and demonstrating aviation radio communication. There's even a sample chart included to help describe specific situations and what should be said to the various agencies en route.

The only thing that could make this book better would be an audio CD-ROM so one could hear real-world examples of things that are described in the book.

Excellent book but it does require that the student pilot have some stick and radio time. Otherwise there will be information that simply doesn't make much sense.

My one early beef with the book is that he doesn't talk about the essential mnemonic for radio communication with a tower: 1) Who are you calling? 2) Who are you? 3) Where are you? 4) What do you want? and, possibly, if you're taxiing, or inbound for landing 5) what ATIS information do you have?

He does address these issues in a piecemeal fashion but I found the above memory device from my instructor extremely helpful.

I really enjoyed this book. I personally am a gymnast so I can relat. It is a really great book. It tells you about a girl who is the under dog but comes out on top. Then when she is on top and after her first Olympics everione says she is too oldfor a gymnast. But she goes over what everione says .And she wins the Olympic Gold

This book goes into great detail about Shannon's gymnastics career from the beginning up until the 96 Olympics and her professional career. It's the best book I have read on her so far. This book is great for a fan who wants this book as a "map" of her career, or for someone who did not watch gymnastics before 96.

I am a huge Shannon Miller fan, and this book is great. I have read it twice and I am still not bored with it. It gives great insight into her past competitions, what she went through, and the things that led up to them. It is really wonderful and detailed.

This is a great book to know what Shannon Miller was like what she she had to do everyday. everything she won all the times she fell and practicly everything you wanted to know.

Here's another awesome gymnastics bio from Krista Quiner! This was a terrific, nice and detailed book about Shannon Miller's life. From the minute she was born to the end of the '96 Olympic Games, this book is the ultimate one to learn about Shannon Miller. The book had plenty of great information, and you learn tons and tons of stuff about her. There were also tons of awesome pictures too! This is a must-read for all gymnastics fans.

This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

I know that most people will find this book to be anything but "green" however, I found this concept to be perfect in a world that sometimes forgets what it is like to be young at heart. Some of the shelters are not safe and one should always supervise young children who if left alone will build forts and such, yet there is a certain allure about thinking you are back in time and surviving on your own wits. Great ideas for survival campouts or if you like getting out "there" and just might once or twice get too far out "there" and find yourself in the need of an overnight shelter. Loved the book and will use or adapt many of the detailed plans.

Great fun book of information not necessarily pertinant to our currnt lives but very educational and fun in any case.

This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

This book is geared towards building structures that were used by outdoorsmen from years past. It covers how to make a bed from natural materials, a log cabin, Native American log house, and how to work an axe just to name a few topics covered in this book. The drawings of the dwellings in the book are simple (but not in depth plans or charts). The author does a great job of explaining how to construct these devices, but as I said a drawn picture is all your going to get if your a visual learner. Over all the book does what it says it will do, gives the reader good information, and I personally wouldn't be caught dead without it if I was trapped in the middle of nowhere by myself.

The clients I work with enjoy this book. This book provides techniques to deal with bullies, which is useful for all children.

Yes, adults, too. There are some pretty mean adults around, and you can use these same technics!! This book writes it in a way that kids will get it, that they shouldn't react to teases and put-downs. Excellent book. A+

I loved this book, and bought it immediately after it was recommended at a
parenting workshop. My 6-year-old daughter asked for it to be read to her over
and over and quickly caught on to the techniques. She took it to school,
and her teacher read it to all the kids (interestingly, her friend who
bullies her, didn't seem to like the book that much!!!) It helped me -
my older sisters used to tease me endlessly, and my husband can still bring
me to tears with his teasing. The book actually teaches you techniques so
you can feel powerFUL, not powerLESS, when teased or put down.

It doesn't really try to explain why other kids tease or bully, or lament
that they do. It just deals with the only thing you can really control,
your own reactions to it.

This is a great book that empowers kids to deal with children who tease them. So often adults tell children to walk away...that is a difficult thing to do...especially for children who are learning so many life skills. "that's not fair they said that", "They are so mean". So often the kids want to tell on them to get them in trouble...to find justice in the "wrong" behavior. This focuses on what the child can control and not what they can't control.

This book has helped my daughter a lot! She is a child who gets her feelings hurt quite a bit. This has helped empower her and, overall, made many of the teasing children stop teasing her.

I highly recommend it!

When Simon is teased by his friends, Grandma rose compares teasing to fishing hooks and shows Simon how he doesn't have to get caught up in the mean game his friends are playing. Simon's Hook is an excellent way to teach children to be more resilient.
The cover (not yet shown today) has a red background and Simon is sitting on a hook under water as if it was a swing. Fish swim about and all the characters are fanciful and smiling.

The basic story includes a "bad hair day." When Simon's sister can't find her gum, she finds that it is in Simon's hair. Unfortunately she has to cut off a lot of his hair to get the gum out. This story will be very familiar to children. I remember this happening to me when I fell asleep while chewing gum.

Simon is doing quite well while wearing a hat, but when he falls and his hat falls off, all the children start to call him lawn mower head. As he runs home he accidentally runs into Grandma Rose. Simon tells her what happened and tells her about the teasing.

"But why do you bite? "
"Bite?" cried Simon.
"I didn't bite anyone!"

After going into her garage, Grandma Rose returns with a fishing line. A piece of paper is attached to the end of the hook and a cat is trying to bat at the paper. By waving the paper around for the cat, Grandma Rose shows how the cat bats at the paper. Then, she dangles the paper in front of Simon. Then Simon catches the paper too.

"You're not a free fish anymore."
"But what else can I do?"

Then over a glass of lemonade and a few cookies, Grandma Rose tells Simon a fish story. The next two pages are filled with fish thinking, saying things or biting at pieces of paper with put downs and teases written on them.

I had to laugh because some of the fish are quite adorable (the "peace" fish named Harmony Hippy Fish is a hoot) and the entire story is rather cute. At the end of the book all the fish are drawn in one picture and their names are listed next to them. The shark is of course called: "tiny." They also have some witty comments that one could consider to be a snappy retort. At the bottom of the ocean we see an Instead of Biting do this sign. It lists five ways to avoid getting caught by teasing.

There are pages and pages of fishes saying various things that are quite amusing. Even I was laughing out loud at a few of the fish stories.

When Simon returns to the park he has a new attitude and his friends enjoy his new witty remarks. He no longer takes them seriously and can enjoy the attention.

Karen Gredig Burnett writes highly creative books and Laurie Barrows knows how to draw the characters Karen is talking about. So, together they create a magic all of their own.

If your child is struggling with teasing, this book will empower them and show them that they can laugh at difficulty and embrace change. I might even start using a few of the witty comments in this book when my husband teases me. This book is definitely not just for younger kids. It can also empower adults and teenagers.

Also look for:

Katie's Rose
If the World were Blind
The Magical, Marvelous Megan G. Beamer

~The Rebecca Review

This is a great book! im a keeper myself and it works for me. The pictures and disriptions are great too. ***** 5stars
GREAT VALUE!!
:)

I have over 100 soccer books including goalkeeping books by Wilson, Shilton, Luxbacher, Waiters,Machink and the videos of Machnik, Hoek and Dicicco. Lincoln Philips's book was worth the money and more for several reasons. He has the wisdom of years of playing experience at the the national team level as well as college coaching and USSF Staff coaching duties. He has an excellent discussion on the art of stopping penalty kicks and develops a list of visual cues goalkeepers can use to predict where kicks will go. He examines techniques for prevailing in 1v1 breakaways I had not previously encountered. Finally he has an excellent section on defending restarts which is particularly valuable to the goalie in light of the high percentage of goals which result from poor defensive communication and organization at these times.

I have reviewed many goalkeeping books and own four. This book is by far the best. It is well organized and explains the details of soccer's most difficult position in an approachable manner. It is obvious that Lincoln knows his stuff. If you read it in his book you can be sure of it, which is not the case in some other books I've read. Can't go wrong with this one.

I knew nothing of goalkeeping before purchasing this book. This book is easy to read and understand, well organized, and full of easy-to-follow visuals. I purchased it to understand our goalkeeper's job and loaned it to him to read. He played keeper for years, and even he learned from it and INSTANTLY improved. An injury prevents him from playing this season. With this book as my only coach and practicing what was in it, we (myself and my defense) earned a shutout in just my second game as keeper. Lincoln Phillips provides coaching in every aspect of goalkeeping and tells you exactly what you need to know. I recommend this book for beginning keepers, experienced keepers, coaches, and anyone else interested in the position and its importance. BUY THIS!

Lincoln Phillips is one of the outstanding teachers of the game today. He brings a warm and open presence to the subject, revealing the secrets to playing the position with a common sense approach that is guaranteed to bring success. This is a must-have addition to any coaches or players library.

Howard and Ali were pals...you can feel their love for each other in this book. We miss both of these players...

Where else but in American sports can an old, white, Jewish veteran befriend a young Black Muslim draft dodger? They may not have been friends who loved each other, but it was convenient for both of them. If you can't take advantage of a friend, then he's not. They had things in common. Both were driven. Both had over inflated egos. They were the greatest. If you don't believe it just ask them. Well, Howard Cosell is dead & Ali doesn't talk any more. Their early life & struggles are covered well so that you understand where they came from. Cosell was a World War II vet. He earned a law degree then decided he wanted to do sports on television. He was brash, obnoxious & smart. His relationship with Ali & Monday Night Football made him a nationally recognized sports journalist. Ali, originally Cassuius Clay had a fairly normal upbringing. Then he won Golden Gloves Championship & Olympic gold metal in 1960, that propelled him into his pro career. Before he was finished he had became & is the most recognizable man on earth. He was the world Heavyweight Champion, that most singular of all championships, three times.
Ali was despised for his faith, his refusal to serve in the military & of course his race. Eventually, he overcame all these obstacles. The U.S. government pursued him, denying his draft deferment status. As a result he was also denied the right to box for several of what would have been his most productive years. He lost millions of $$$ & was stripped of his championship. Eventually, he was aquitted. Cosell covered him all along his journey. The author, Dave Kindred spends quite a bit of time on Ali's three fights with Joe Fraizer & rightly so. Ali's life has become an inspiration to kids on all continents but especially the impoverished millions in Africa. He was persecuted by his own government & cheated by the leaders of the Black Muslim faith that managed him. He apparently is now a quiet soul bearing no malice to anyone. Cosell on the other hand became embittered after his MNF gig. He wanted to be taken seriously as more than a sports announcer. When he wasn't he didn't take it well. Poor health eventually claimed him. A good sports book for all us fans of a certain age that remember Cosell & Ali in their prime.

David Kindred has written what amounts to a duel biography of the controversial odd couple that is Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell. The author tells us that Ali elected to not join the military because the Muslim Nation told him not to. To cross them was to literary toy with his life. The assassination of Malcolm X being used as an example. While not necessarily agreeing with Ali's decision Cosell supported Ali stating that taking his heavyweight championship away from him without any semblance of due process was completely wrong. There appears to be evidence that Cosell may have already been experiencing dementia when he came out with his second book entitled I Never Played the Game. Aware of the criticism in his book of his cronies in the TV booth for Monday Night Football Cosell was asked before publication whether he wanted to include these strong opinions. Since he always prided himself on telling it "like it is" he felt it would be hypocrisy of him not to do so now. Cosell was a devoted family man while Ali ventured into nocturnal delights. It was hard for sports fans to be neutral in regard to either of these men, but boxing was the ingredient that brought these two men together first in mutural respect and then in friendship. Incidentally, page 247 has a hilarious anecdote of Howard using his colorful vocabulary in breaking up fisticuffs involving teens in Kansas City. Whether you are a fan of either man or the part they played in sports you will find this to be an extremely enjoyable book to read.

Dave Kindred has done lovers of sports and history a favor with Sound and Fury.

Using two cultural giants - Mohammad Ali and Howard Cosell - he has produced a fresh and readable social history of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Let me be clear. I love Ali. Kindred refers to him as the most influential sports figure of the last century. In my mind, he understates the case; Ali is the most influential person of the last century.

Cosell, on the other hand, may have hesitated to tell you he was. He was not. Trained as a lawyer and gifted with the ability to articulate complexity, he brought a thinking man's view to radio and television sports journalism.

Individually, they were interesting. Together, they were hypnotizing. They produced controversy, drama and comedy almost every time they appeared together.

Dave Kindred tells the story of this alliance from a unique perspective. As a newspaper and magazine sports columnist with nearly 40 years experience, he covered Ali's early fight days as a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal before moving on to the The Atlanta Journal- Courier and The Washington Post. He draws upon his experiences to re-create the Ali-Cosell story in ways I have never seen attempted.

The result is a fascinating portrait of two outsized figures - their heroics and their demons. Drawing on personal observations, fresh reporting and interviews, Kindred writes a page-turning treatment of two lives that together changed sports, television and I would argue, the world, forever.

Sound and Fury (14 hours, 11 cds, unabridged, Blackstone Audio) is a duel biography of Howard Cosell and Mohammed Ali.

Sport writer Dave Kindred knew both men, he has written a bio that transcends his knowledge of both men. His text is an honest, no hold barred , warts and all biography. When a third person (like Kindred) writes a biography, he tends to put his personal touches with his own bias, this book is NOT that.The book showed an unlikely partnership created by media hype.

In the audio narrative hands of Dick Hill, this audio project seems more like a docudrama in its scope. Hill's narrative voice takes on verbal personas of Cosell and Ali, without mocking them. His talent has grown from the days at Brilliance Audio.

Sound and Fury is an amazing production . . . you won't forget it audio, long after you heard it

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

I was a summer camp counselor for seven summers, and this guide was fantastic for those years. It is a staple reference at our camp for other counselors to read. A true reference from a distinguished psychologist and counselor given to other counselors. Thanks

This is a really helpful book for preparing for summer camp. Here's a tip I got from a friend: if you buy it through acabookstore.org (ACA = American Camping Association) then it comes with a DVD-CD set. My son, who's pretty anxious about going to camp, watched the DVD and that really helped turn his anxiety into excitement. The book and DVD give great tips on preparing (packing, etc.) for camp, but also gives great insight on how to approach the camp experience. Together they answered a lot of questions I didn't even know to ask. It's one of those things you can't afford not to get.

This book really covers what you need to know before you send your child to sleepaway camp. The part that was most helpful to me was the research the authors have done on homesickness. Before I got this book I was guessing about how to handle my daughter's homesickness, and I came up with one or two of their recommendations. But after I read this book I felt I understood how to handle this with my daughter and also what the camp and counselors can do to help. There's a great list of all the things you can do. And everything the authors said rings true with my experience.

It's well written, easy to follow, and has parts written just for kids to read. There's even a section to tell kids how to get the most out of camp - from general guidelines on how to treat others to good advice on how to deal with living with lots of kids in a small space.

Every parent, camper, counselor and camp director should read this book! Parents will have a more relaxing time while their kids are away, campers will know better what to expect and how to have the most fun, counselors will know better what to do, and camp directors will have fewer problems with kids AND parents.

The best thing about this book was that it was so helpful to both me and my daughter when it came time to start preparing for her first stay at summer camp. We relied on the suggested internet search engines in the book to find the camps and used the section on co-ed vs. single-sex camps to come to a conclusion that my daughter and I(!) were comfortable with. I've already spread the word about this book to all the parents I know that are thinking about sending their kids off to camp. Every parent will feel better once they've read the homesickness section.

I bought Chris Thurber's book on Friday, and watched him on NBC's Today Show this morning (June 9, 2003). Seeing him in person confirms what I thought: he is a camping expert with a wealth of helpful information for parents and kids alike. I feel so much better sending my son to camp knowing that Chris and Jon's research has helped us prepare in a way that will maximize the fun and minimize the homesickness at camp. Buying this book is a small investment in a positive experience whose benefits, I am sure, will last a lifetime. (I found the perfect camp for my son by visiting the American Camping Association's web page: acacamps.org.)