Guides and Directories Books

This guide to free or inexpensive camping sites is well worth the price. It is a very no frills guide and I wish it included more telephone numbers, but with the internet if you have the name of the park or site you are looking for you can look up the phone # that way. The descriptions and directions seem accurate. It's great to have something to let you know camping does NOT need to cost an arm and a leg.

'nuff said.

(Though it could use better maps...)

Can't agree with the gentleman who says it is only for the young. I am 65 with a 23 foot B+ and have found numerous out of the way as well as near the Interstate places to stay for peanuts. The information tends to get dated quickly, but seems to be OK when getting just the relative costs (what was $5 is now $10, etc.) Maps are a little primative but there is SO MUCH information in the text. I just ordered the 2005 editions (East and West) for my upcoming trips.

We are traveling the US for almost a year and have purchased the East as well as the West edition before we started. Besides the fact, that we found only a few nice spots described in those books so far, our comments are as follows:

1. The contents of both editions are outdated - certain camgrounds do
simply not exist any more for years!!
2. The directions are awful if not wrong
3. We spent more diesel on finding the described campgrounds than we saved
not to mention the hazzle, driving around in circles
4. Lots of directions seem to be copied from other books we have and are
as wrong as they are in those
5. Campgrounds indicated in the maps by numbers (icons) are not part of
the book anymore
6. The icons in the maps are close to impossible to read (use a
magnifier)

Overall we can absolutely NOT recommend those books to anybody.

We took this book out west through Colorado, New Mexico & Utah and had a blast finding these "out of the way" campgrounds. Great discriptions and directions to these sites and only 1 of the campgrounds we visited was not there any more. I would suggest everyone who likes to camp out of the crowded campgrounds and doesn't require hookups or showers to get this book. It's wonderful!

This book is a great anthology of all psychology school in the United States. It provides details on mean/median GRE scores, GPA information, tuition cost, and more. It is a good start point to find information about schools, but it doesn't have a listing by program type (Ed.D., Psy.D., Ph.D. (clinical v counseling), or otherwise). Oneen has to look school by school to find this info.Unfortunately, it does not give research focuses in this edition, so it ends up being somewhat useless for anyone trying to find a school with a specific research interest. (Which would be Ph.D. seeking students) If clinical/counseling is your area, look instead to insider's guide to graduate programs in clinical and counseling psychology by Sayette, Mayne, and Norcross.

Let's be realistic about what this book is meant to do. First, it will not tell you anything about how to get into grad school (for example, what classes to take, if research is important for your program, etc.). Second, it will not list what researchers are present in which schools. What this book will do is be a starting point in the search for the schools you want to apply. I used to book to form a list of schools for which I wanted to do more research on. I went through the book (the states in which I wouldn't mind living) and made a list of programs that I would be interested in. The book helped me realize right away that I had no chance of getting into certain programs because of my GRE scores or that a school requires the Subject Test. It was a great starting guide and it helped me get organized in my search for schools.

I bought this book because I was going to apply to grad school studying psychology. This book has lots of information on all kinds of schools which provide psych education. This book helped me understand the schools I wanted to apply to better and realize some schools' existance regarding the field of psych I wanted to go into. In general speaking, this is a great references/resouces book to have if you are considering applying to grad schools to study psychology.

This is a great guide to finding graduate schools in Psychology. It helped me in my master's and I hope it helps with going to my PhD.

I have looked at several editions of this book over the past few years and am always impressed by the amount of information it provides. This book does a great job of providing information on universities by state and by focus of study. It gives plenty of information to help potential graduate students make more informed choices. My only complaint is a small one. I would prefer if they added a way to look up specific degrees. Right now you have to look up each school to see the degrees or look it up by focus. If you wanted to earn an EdD for example, you would have to look through every school or subject listed. Not a big deal, but my only suggestion for improving this great book.

As a single parent and father of three, finding "the right" schools for my kids has always been a challenge. In 1992, when I sent my first daughter to school, I spent a lot of time and money trying to find a perfect match for her unique learning needs. After wasting valuable time calling and researching different schools, we settled on a place that didn't work in the long run. I had to start the search all over again. The whole thing seemed unnecessarily difficult.
Then I found Lynn Magid's A Guide To DFW Private Schools. The book helped localize all the necessary information about schools in the DFW region to help me find the right schools for my kids without all of the confusion, frustration, and headaches that it takes when you do it alone.

This book was fabulous. It was filled with information that aided my private school research. It was well organized with hundreds of private schools arranged alphabetically. Great book! I would recommend it in a heart beat.

I found this book to be extremely well organized in a manner that was user friendly. There was a very complete list of over 350 schools organized alphabetically. This book was helpful in my search to find the right private school for my child. I would recomend it to any other parent or any person looking to become more informed about the private schools in Dallas.

I found this book very helpful, it gave me all the information I needed and more. Highly recommened.

This was the best book money can buy, it had everything I needed to know about private schools. The website is a great resource as well

I have bought the fourth and fifth edition of this book, and am eagerly awaiting the sixth edition. I have used this book to select a youth hostel in both Los Angeles and San Francisco and was delighted with the results. Also used the book to help my brother plan a road trip across the country so he could see all the baseball stadiums, and he was very happy with the results as well. The book gives detailed descriptions on each hostel, so you know how many people you'll be sharing a room with, the international/U.S. ratio, whether or not there will be a lot of partying or if it's quiet, and let's you know the surrounding area. The books is also well written and fun to read.

I hope to travel to Portland and Seaside Oregon soon and stay in the hostels recommended in the book. I just wish I could find a book that is just as good to help me find places to stay during my trip to Mexico which will be this summer.

The authors update maybe 5-10% of the hostels, and with a 'Party Index' you can tell where their focus is. The best thing for hostels is online, www.hostelz.com with honest reviews by independent travelers and lots of comments.

Don't buy this edition.
maybe the next one will be better.

That is, if they list Hostel website addresses,
list the States in Alphabetical order,
put in an INDEX at the end of the book
and a postcard for travelers to send updates!

This guide's big attraction is its "quotes" of on-site people,
and authors' "opinions". The authors should date the entries.
Otherwise the assumption is that the authors were recently there
and that's not the case!

Lonely Planet, and Let's Go, guidebooks don't allow their
'scouts' to accept gratuities from Hostel Owners...
it'd be nice to see that statement from this guide.

The title is correct in stating that this book is opinionated. If you have opinions similar to the authors, this book will be of great help. Personally, I don't agree.
There is a hostel close to me which I visit occasionally. It's out in the woods, the middle of nowhere. It's great for quiet and solitude, and is surrounded by hiking trails. It was given 2.5 stars out of 5, because the house-parents are too strict (I've never found this to be the case. In fact, one didn't mind at all about an accidental mess, just as long as it was cleaned up.) and because "there's nothing to do". There seems to be an emphasis on "partying" which is something I have never expected at a hostel.
The factual information is accurate, and for that this book is useful. I just think there are better choices in a hostel guide.

I brought a copy of Hostels USA with me last year during my cross country road trip. This hostel guide was my travel bible. I found the information in it to be current and accurate. Out of the 35 hostels that I stayed in during my trip, only 5 or 6 of them were not listed in Hostels USA. But there were more hostels listed in Hostel USA than there were listed in the "other" hostel guidebook that I brought with me. Hostels USA was my "life saver" many times! I highly recommend it.

I finally passed this test on my 3rd try. This test is very very hard. I have studied ten times more for this test than any other MCP test that I have taken. This will be my 5th MCP certification. You definitely need to have a clear understanding of channels, subscriptions, security and proxy.

I also had a LOT of questions about the ISP role model. Know what you can and cannot configure with a silent installation for all role models.

IEAK is a very powerful application but this test covers too much territory.

I used the Self Test Software full version, Microsoft's only recommended practice testing software, and scored 100% continually on all of those questions. I have used Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, NetMeeting and IEAK. I read in full Chris Sullivan's book Internet Explorer 4.0 Administration Kit and used the BeachFront adaptive test simulation software included and again scored 100% with that software. I read in its entirety and multiple times the IEAK help file.

If I had not passed this time I think I would have just picked another subject to start studying. I really feel like I know the application and I don't know what else I could have done to prepare for this test over what I had already read and practiced. It is a cruel test. I think the questions are worded different than the other tests somehow. I can't put my finger on exactly what the difference is on this test.

Studying hard in Missouri to be a MCSE and almost there,

K

This book was horrible. After using it, I failed the test by 16 points. I got the Sybex book and then passed the test by 109 points.

The book is huge and covers a lot. It took me a while to cover everything but I left with a good feeling that I understood IE, which I did not before. Just took the test today and passed, the book was worth it

I enjoyed the detail in it, I got a lot out of it. I had never worked with IE in this detail before, this helped a lot

The amount of material is almost overwhelming, but, taken in small does, it works. I took the exam after reading this book and almost aced it. I dont agree with the other review about this book, he needs another line of work.

unfortunately it is not very accurate. Of cource I havent tried every place in the book there are hundreds but it leaves out some very important facts like it is true that there is a nude area in Manuel Antonio park in costa rica but the book forgets to tell you that it is gay! Be very careful about the info on California thought it is very good at getting you there it is not accurate on what gos on there. An expensive book that just has not been very useful to me.

The latest edition of the "World Guide" is better than ever. I've purchased most of the other guides for clothing-optional recreation available in English, and the "World Guide" covers many more nude hot springs, free beaches, and nudist clubs than anything else in print. I've been to most of the places in the Pacific Northwest that the guide talks about, and so far the directions and descriptions have been accurate and up to date. I take xeroxed copies of relevant pages with me as my wife and I travel from state to state, and from country to country. The photography is also fantastic. The publisher is not ashamed of using complete nudity, but it is not at all "racy." I've shown this book to my friends to help explain what naturism is all about.

It's true you have to double check the info -- but he tells you that several times -- every one know that goes double outside the US -- but it is a very good resource and starter guide for those new to this -- as long as you remember that things are always changing out there -- this is diffently a good place to start

The best of the best of the best. Accurate, diverse, brilliant photography. A classis without peer.

Every spot that the book reccomended that I visited (Kauai, West Indies) were no longer clothing optional or not friendly. A waste of money.

I have purchased this book for the past several years for the single reason that it is very informative with basic facts and figures. If you are interested in specifics of ships such as tonnage, crew and passenger size, and other factual information, it is fine. However, I have been on over 300 cruises myself and have worked for several major cruise lines for years. I find Mr. Ward to be extremely bias and a down right anti-American snob. He insults anything he can about American service and hospitality, including mentioning the cheeses from America being of poor quality (I hope he doesn't visit Wisconsin anytime soon!)ans with statements like, "Americans eat anything put in front of them on their plates", etc. I also disagree with about half of his reviews, as do most major publications, such as Conde Nast Traveler which rates large cruise ships very differently. I do agree with some of the reviews, however he places so much importance on things such as afternoon high tea(fine if you are British and 85 years old), whether the jelly and jam is in glass jars or disposable containers(gasp!), and the percentage of cotton vs poly blend in the sheets and towels. Sure, perhaps this is nice to know, however, what Mr Ward does not seem to bear in mind is that over 75% of the Cruise Passengers in the world ARE the Americans whom he is insulting and buying this book. Cruise vacationers care more about issues such as entertainment, ship safety, health inspections, and many other facts which he consistantly fails to mention in specifics. Cruise Lines vary from ship to ship with entertainment quality. Very often one cruise line will have several different producers in charge of shows which means quality can fluctuate from very good to mediocre from ship to ship within one line. Some ships have brand new, state of the art shows, while some ships, due to the high expense of new shows keep the same tired shows for years. Some get an old show from a different ship and passengers can see the same shows they saw years before. Yet he rates all ships the same throughout one single cruise line. Also, Even though a ship may be the exact same layout as another, as cruise lines often mass produce one "class" of ships, each also has it's own distinct flavor, style, and some are maintained better than others. Each ship also has it's own head chef and food does vary in quality within each line, yet he once again groups ratings exactly the same for an entire cruise line. If you have purchased this book, you know the snobbery and the annoying repetitive information I am mentioning. If you have not bought this book, look elsewhere, or you will be disappointed. If you ARE Berlitz, you will realize Dougals Ward who self claims to be the "Leading authority on cruising in the world" is not what he claims, or perhaps was back in 1950's Britain. Today however, most cruise ship passengers, whether first time cruising or a 300 cruise veteran, want young, fresh attitudes, ideas, and more important details that will actually have an impact on their vacation.

This work is detailed and provocotive in that it will have the reader comparing vessels & cruiselines thoroughly. If read prior to sailing, there'll be no surprises.

Who knows cruise ships like a former cruise ship employee? No one. That's why Douglas Ward's quarter century of experience with the "back of the house" makes fascinating reading.

Don't look here for tips on how to save money on cruises. Don't expect Mr. Ward to tell you which cruise to take. Don't even rely on him to be competely unbiased - Cunard (his ex-employer) and other British lines fare better than their U.S. based counterparts.

Instead, what you can expect is painstaking detail and some surprising insights. Want to know whether if a ship has a smoke free dining room? He'll tell you. Fussy about your towels? Discover which lines use luxury cotton, and who settles for cheaper blends. Want to stroll and take in some sea air? Find out the vessels that feature wrap-around promenade decks. Readers will learn which ships have the most space and best crew-to-passenger-ratios, as well as the others that are always so crowded you'll have to bribe someone to get a deck chair. And did you realize you have to bring your own shampoo on Carnival cruise ships?

The book does have its drawbacks. Ships are listed alphabetically, rather than by cruise line. As other Amazon readers have pointed out, many reviews have repetitive descriptions. And the aforementioned bias in favour of ships that serve a decent afternoon tea may disconcert American readers!

That said, Mr. Ward is one of the few cruise reviewers willing to criticize as well as praise. He'll warn you about annoying repetitive announcements, about waiters who can't speak English, and design flaws that exacerbate the ever present line-ups. You'll also find listed here charter cruise ships overlooked by other reviewers, and excellent ship histories that track when a vessel changed hands or was refurbished.

You'll get the most out of this book by reading a cross section of reviews for ships from different lines. If you've cruised before, check what Mr. Ward liked and hated about a ship you know. That way you'll get a feel for his priorities and preferences, and how they differ from your own. Remember that movie critic who hates every film you like (and vice versa)?

Douglas Ward's Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising is updated yearly, and for my money is a better value than any of its cruise review counterparts.

The first part of the book (on crusing) is informative, but the second part of the book (on cruise ships) is flat. Be forewarned: reviews of same-class ships on each of the cruise lines read the same! "The Unofficial Guide to Cruises 2002" far outshines this book, which capitalizes on Douglas Ward's name and forsakes quality.

We purchased this book for the purpose of the ratings of the cruise ships. Sometimes the brochures from the cruise line can be a little deceiving. As we have not traveled by cruise yet, we have spoken with quite a few that have and the book mirrors their reviews rather closely the book just put it together so well. Each ship receives points on many facets of the ship from service food to amenities. This is very helpful. Though I will agree with the other reviewers that the writer tends to reuse his paragraphs for similar ships. Though the information may be true it does get a little boring re reading the exact same thing over and over again

Buy this book for the rating of the ships; however if you are looking for more detail for example food menus, on board amenities or more detailed things like that, then get Sterns Guide to the cruise vacation.

All in all this is an excellent book for learning about each cruise ship. We do like the rating system and the description again though he may reuse his words in other reviews.

I found this book to be well written. It was clear and presented in a logical order. The material was a very good complement to the material in the Microsoft Training kit. I learned additional test relevant material. Exam Crams are consistently one of my top three study resources, this was one of the best so far.

I used this book as my only resource for exam 70-217. Read the whole thing in about a week and passed. This is not as well written as Exam Cram for 70-210, and there are plenty of test questions that were more advanced than what's covered by the book. But I'm still grateful for this title as it got me passed the exam with less than a week's effort, so I can get back to work on real life instead of wasting my time on dreamed up MS scenarios that are completely twisted and seldom practiced by any IT organization. If you read all the materials and do every question, you will pass. As with other cram books, this title contains the bare minimum you need to pass, so if you skipped any sections or spaced out while reading some sections, you'll likely fail. If your goal is to learn Windows Directory Services or you're not already an MCSE for NT 4, you may be better off looking elsewhere.

While Coriolis does some excellent work with the COMPTIA exams, I found once again that their Exam Crams for MCSE were of little value for a exam.

The test questions at the end of each chapter were nothing like what you will see on the test. The content was OK, but not really presented in a way that easily explained key concepts (use MS Press books for this).

What I did find in this book and the related "Question of the Day" emails from Coriolis for this exam is information that is not really relavant to 70-217. I passed the exam, and the much of subject matter I read in this book in my opinion was not on the exam.

Buy the book if you like reading. Skip it for others if you want to be more effective with your time.

I don't normally write a review for a book but one of the reviews from a guy named Larry Dunn really hit a sore spot. He wrote the same review for all the books in the core pack and just posted it for all books. That indicates to me that he probably didn't read them, nor do I think he has the ability to read.

If you're looking for a book that covers all the subject matter for this exam and want to have key points highlighted and a strong practice test, then this is the book for you. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work with Windows 2000 Server and Active Directory. It doesn't mean you shouldn't go out and get additional testing materials. It doesn't mean you shouldn't surf the web for more help. It simply means that for a 400 page cram this is a great way to review those topics on the exam that you will encounter.

This was my 22nd exam that I've taken and I've used the Exam Prep/Exam Cram books for over half of them. I would say that this was one of the better ones that I've read. The book covered all the topics and gave procedures on how to do things for a couple of key concepts that you need to know. This is something that the other Exam Crams usually lack. I would highly recommend this book to someone who is already familiar with AD and Win2K.

I will be heading to Las Vegas in a few weeks and found this book very helpful, not only for the great restaurant's but their locations as well. This book will enable myself and my family to enjoy our vacation, and find some wonderful places to dine at reasonable prices as well.

The book is excellant. I never knew there were so many places to eat cheap in Las Vegas. It's is really hard to believe. We are taking this book with us and plan on using many of the reccomendations in the book.

I've been to Las Vegas many times for business and pleasure. I did not find this book very helpful. While the concept for a 1 to 777 ranking of restaurant values is a good idea, this book has no information about the restaurants or their food. With ranking by price in various categories, you could use it as a cross-reference to the Unofficial Guide or Frommers. But who has the time? Just use one of those 2 books first -- both are good. This book would be useful to a Las Vegas resident, but is of limited value for a visitor. Prices have really gone up this year, so the information is out-of-date by as much as 50 percent.

I found this book helpful in finding bargains thruoghout the Las Vegas area.Though there were a few entries that were no longer in business or discontinued, for the most part it was very helpful.

With all of the changes that happen Las Vegas EVERY DAY I found that this book was of little help. Several of the places that were listed did not even exsit anymore, and most of the others had changed their specials. If you decide to get this book I recomend doing your own "back-up" homework and call the places to check and see if the specials are still in effect.

Ordered it for a trip to Yosemite. This National Park not listed..hmmmm.. strange. Looks good for a lot of other parks. Next time I'll stick with Woodall's directories.

I love it. Very informative, beautifully printed, easy to use.

Some of the reviewers that complain about not having site maps etc. ought to get a grip. With over 4,300 campgrounds in this book, it is simply ridiculous to expect a site map for each campground. The thing that is most helpful about this directory are the descriptions.

Be aware -- this does not list every campground in America, or even every one run by the Federal government. Rather it only lists NATIONAL FOREST and Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds. (That's why Yosemite National Park is excluded.)

For what it does cover, this book is the one of a kind. Nothing compares to it. It covers campgrounds that are listed almost no where else, and these are some of the cheapest, most secluded, and natural campgrounds in America. To take advantage of most of them, you'll need to be largely self-contained.

Finally, a book that has all the National Grasslands and the Army Corp of Engr. sites in it as well as the Forest areas! Another nice feature of the book was that it listed some regional campgrounds as well if they were in the area of the Nat'l campgrounds.
There were a couple of items that could be corrected: 1.On page 314 #'s 264,265,&270 were written about on page 637 under Tennessee (because they are in Tennessee). 2. On page 623 #36 is on Map page 50 rather than 44 and not near Los Angeles but muchfurther northwest than where it is indicated if it truly is in the Visalia area.
Not to be picky, because I really like the book and find it a valuable resource but the color brown used in the numbering on the maps is a little difficult to read at dusk or later. And it seems like a lot of times we look for campgrounds late in the day.