Guides and Directories Books

I took this book with me to El Salvador this summer, and a friend I made down there told me it was the best Spanish-English phrase book he'd seen (and he's seen many Americans' phrase books, he says). Just a few words here and there that he said were either antiquated, overly formal, or used in other parts of Latin America, but not El Salvador.
Good size for carrying in your pocket or passport bag. Came in handy when I was without my native Spanish-speaking friends.

This was a great compliment to my spanish skills. I am not fluent, and therefore, this resource was a huge help. I would not count on just this, as we were in many areas with no english speakers. It was a great supplement to my Spanish I level of speaking.

I love that there were 3 dictationaries: english to spanish, spanish to english, and restaurant terms in spanish to english. All came in very handy.

Highly recommend this pocket reference!

I've kept this little baby in my back pocket for two weeks in Peru and it has been invaluable. Simple phrases have allowed me to catch the local buses, order food etc. and generally come across as not a complete gringo.

I bought this for an upcoming trip to South America. It seems like it will serve its purpose, size is just right. But since I don't know any Spanish, I'm not sure about accuracy although the choices of words and phrases seems appropriate.

This is not a Latin American Spanish course or a full dictionary as some seem to think it should be. It contains many useful words and phrases that are helpful for travellers and for those taking a comprehensive language course and want to be able to speak the language quickly. I found it quite helpful.

I am a special educator, and I frequently give this book to parents who want their children enrolled in schools for special needs children. It is a very valuable resource to, both, parents and educators.

As a parent of a child with special needs I found this book invaluable for the information about the schools and the chidren that they serve. Also important were the tips on managing the very complicated application process and the dos and don'ts for the tours. the authors have made a difficult and stressful process a little easier for the parents (and children) who have to go through it. Bravo!!
I hope this can be expanded and revised at least every other year to include new programs (and ones previously not included) as they arise.

If you're navigating the maze of special education in New York, you need this book as a guide. It's a superb resource & we found an appropriate school for our child, thanks to this book.

As a psychologist in NYC, I've been involved in the special education world of NYC for many years. It is important for accurate information to be readily available to parents and professionals. However, sadly, this book does not deliver. The descriptions in the book of the private special ed. schools in NYC are full of inaccurate information (including what ages the schools take and what diagnoses), which may put parents off some programs and have them pursuing others that are not apprpriate for their children. Additionally, there are recommendations the authors make to parents, such as suggesting that parents withhold certain information about their children from schools they are applying to, which could be potentially damaging to the child ultimately. It is important for parents to be open and forthcoming about who their children are, in order for schools and therapists to determine if they are a good match to work effectively with the child. I've seen many cases in which parents withheld information about their child which may have allowed their child to be accepted to a program initially, only to have that program ultimately ask the child to leave. It is damaging for children to be put into programs they are not ready for and then to be switched from one program to another.

Lastly, a little comment about a parent's review who said he/she now finally understood the difference between psycho-educational and neuropsychological evaluations because of this book - the description in the book about the difference between a psycho-educational and a neuropsychological evaluation is not accurate either. Many professionals and schools actually use these terms inter-changeably, so I would recommend asking the individual professional what exactly their evaluation entails.

Parents are a vulnerable group who understandably will seek out as much information as possible in order to help their children. When inaccurate and incomplete information is published as fact, this is horribly mis-leading and ultimately not helpful to a group of parents and children with real needs. It is really a shame that the editors/publishers of this book were not more careful in examining the accuracy of the material in it.

As a professional in the field of early childhood special education in NYC I can vouch for the need for what this book promises. Unfortunately for those of us that know the field and NYC it does not deliver. It is full of inaccurate and misleading information from beginning to end. The fact that some parents are raving about it says more to me about the confusing red tape parents have to go through rather than the helpfulness and clarity of this book.
To parents who want some help- Resources for Children with Special Needs and each boroughs Early Childhood Direction Center offer *excellent* free guidance. (And I am not affiliated w/ either though I am grateful for the real wisdom their employees tirelessly offer to parents *and* professionals.)

Though this book was written some 8 years ago, the information contained is still quite useful. There are many travel books on the market but virtually none focus on this type of market: spiritual travel and retreats in the US. I've been to several of the retreats and have been enthralled with the people I've met there. It's easy to get caught up in the Disney World consciousness of travel but if you want something a bit different, this book has that kind of information for you. Yes, some of the places may have changed but not all of them. If you have an area in mind, this book is most helpful to finding out what's available. In this very unique field of travel, this is an excellent reference book for opening the mind, heart, and spirit to greater things. These folks who have the retreats and monastaries don't usually advertise and are not found on the internet so any help is good help. This book is exactly what it says it is, a guide book. I'm so very thankful to have it too, it's been an exceptional tool.

During these very stressful times, when the simple desire to find peace within becomes a burning obsession, this book can help you locate some perfect places to do just that.There are many guide books out there to choose from for a myriad of vacation styles but this book is extremely unique as it only offers places where a seeking soul can find inner peace, can find the true divine nature of who they are, to find deepest form of traquality one can obtain on a vacation or perhaps in life itself. If a person were looking for dinner shows, black diamond restaurants, thrills and high-entertainment for the whole family, this isn't that kind of guide, nor are the places mentioned between the covers going to be appealing.This book is only for those who seek the greatest thrill of all: inner tranquillity and divine connectedness. It's a "must have" book for the inspired traveler. I give it a 5+ rating! Laurie.

I appreciate that this book exists (I would have no idea how to find these places otherwise, especially the Eastern-thought ones), but the book (and the two others by the same authors) is written sort of as a piece of "spiritual tourism." The descriptions of each place seem to focus on the accommodations and amenities; for example, I think almost every place is described as having "delicious [vegetarian] meals."

That's nice, and I'm glad to know that I would eat well if I went there, but I would have liked a bit more description of each sanctuary's spiritual approach, as it is relevant to my reasons for wanting to go to one.

Maybe a set of short general descriptions of the various approaches at the beginning of the book (Benedictine, Trappist, Jesuit, Mahayana, Theravada, Zen, etc.), including their similarities and differences. Then, in the description of each individual place, how they carry out that particular tradition, any differences of approach from the "standard," and so on.

Don't misunderstand - there is some description of spiritual approach, but it isn't as consistently present as the descriptions of the meals, the beds, the view, and so on.

The other two books by these authors have a decent amount of overlap, but they're useful, too. (I have all three.) I don't know if it's mentioned elsewhere, but each of the three books lists, beyond the places featured and described, the names, addresses, and phone numbers of many other places in each state. I'm sure that some of the information is probably out of date by now, but at least the names and general locations give one something to go on in a search.

Sanctuaries: The Northeast (A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats of the United States)

Sanctuaries: The West Coast And Southwest (A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats of the United States)

As another reviewer alluded, many of the monasteries/convents in this book are included without the nuns'/monks' knowledge or permission. Further, at the end of each state's chapter "other places" are listed for guest accommmodations. The listings are totally inaccurate. Having contacted many of the "other places" I discovered that some have facilites for guests and others do not. The information in the book is not dependable.

This is an excellent guidebook -- not only the best of its field, but also the only one that I know of. In my opinion, this is an absolute essential for the spiritual adventurer. Armchair seekers -- such as I -- will also enjoy its many, many stopovers and tales. I recommend it highly, but wonder why something like this wasn't written sooner ... when I was still young and single enough to put it to better use.

This book has great tips and sample essays with critiques/comments that are very valuable for people filling out applications for scholarships, college entrance, or employment. I'm hoping it will improve my son's chances for college scholarships.

The book was a waste of money! It is only good for high school students versus older students. It would have been nice to know this since I'm looking for my 24 year old son.

I had spent a lot of time using online scholarship search database sites and was really frustrated. Then I found this book on Amazon and thought I would give it a try. I didn't have very high expectations (given my online search) so I was thrilled when I found in the book bunches of scholarships to apply for and tips on how to win each one. Why didn't my guidance counselor tell me about this book?

THIS BOOK REALLY IS FANTASTIC. I AM A GRAD STUDENT AND USED THIS BOOK TO GREAT SUCCESS. THE SAMPLE WINNING ESSAYS ARE REALLY HELPFUL, AS ARE THE INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP JUDGES. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I am a guidance counselor at a large high school and have been recommending this book to my students. What is so useful about it is how it not only profiles the top scholarship awards in the country, but also discusses students who won the awards (and even includes their pictures and essays). I've found it highly motivational to show this book to my students, so that they can see that students just like them win these awards. We are even thinking about getting classroom sets for members of the junior and senior class.

I found this book to be quite informative and concise, it gives thorough situational advice pertinant to the particular circumstances. Well written, clear explanations and useful tips.

This book is OK, but all the information is described in huge blocks of hard to follow copy with very few diagrams or case studies. You could probably get the same quality of stuff from an open-source search on Google. The methods described are at a basic to intermediate level.

I bought 'Advanced Surveillance" by Peter Jenkins as well and would recommend you buy it instead. You'll get far more value for your money! The techniques in this book (Advanced Surveillance) are at a far higher level and are described in more detail with lots of diagrams, case studies and examples.

I work plainclothes in law enforcement and found this book to be very practical. I thought it was very well written. I can tell that the author has to have real world experience because only somebody who's worked the streets could lay this out so clearly. I picked up some very useful tips that my team either never knew or just overlooked. I highly reccomend this book to anyone in a related field. I would've liked a little more detail on establishing a good
observation post. And it is a little heavy on the unlimited resource end like the 4 member teams and the communications vest. Other than that it was definitely worth the read.

As a licensed private investigator, college instructor of private investigation courses, and an experienced covert surveillance operative, I can personally tell you that most of the techniques described in this book are of little value to private sector investigators like myself. The vast majority of techniques described assume that the "surveillance team" has an unlimited supply of resources and operatives (i.e. a law enforcement team). Anyone with even remote covert surveillance experience knows that this will seldom (more likely never) be the case.

Most private sector covert surveillance operatives (i.e. private investigators) work alone or in teams of two (when and only when the Client can afford it of course). Therefore, the vast majority of the techniques covered in this book are of little use to most private investigators. There is some (emphasis added) good information in this book, but certainly not what one would expect based on the title.

If you are looking for a title that actually contains useful (emphasis added) surveillance techniques/procedures, I would highly recommend: "Covert Surveillance: The Manual of Surveillance Training" by Peter Jenkins (ISBN: 0953537803). I have had the pleasure of reading this fine text, which I consider to be the only covert surveillance techniques/procedures book worth recommending. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a copy for purchase.

As always, check with your local library or bookstore to see if you can read/review this or any title before deciding to make a purchase. This method has effectively allowed me to make the most of my investigative library budget.

I hope you found this review helpful. [...]

The following is submitted by the author as a rebuttal to two of the Amazon.com customer reviews of this book:

In general, this book was written shortly after the conclusion of the Cold War, and in a large part intended to be a tribute to the legacy of the cloak and dagger intrigue that characterized that era. In those days we knew exactly who the enemy was. At the time, none of us could have predicted the emergent environment wherein the threats to U.S. citizens and interests proliferated significantly. This new reality has made the book more widely applicable to security professionals now then when it was originally published, which is the reason its sales have steadily increased over the years.

Although the review does state that the book is "worth buying", the three star review submitted by "RunAndShoot" criticizes the book for being written in a "simple" manner.
This book is not intended to entertain, it is intended to inform. A primary purpose for this book is that it be used as a training resource by security professionals. For this reason, it is written in a very detailed and straight forward manner. The feedback received from security professionals is that the book conveys very complex techniques in a manner that is easily understood, and easily translated into training programs.

As to the two star review by "truthsleuthpi" that criticizes the book for being of "little value to private investigators" -- I do not question the reviewer's credentials, but it is misleading to give a publication a poor rating because it does not necessarily apply to the specific circumstance of a resource-constrained PI. In fact, the book clearly addresses the premise of the reviewer's critique in the preface as follows:
"A surveillance operation can be conducted from one extreme of detail to the other. This book instructs to the extreme of a fully integrated, systematic effort employed for extended periods of time with absolute discretion. Granted, the requirements of many readers may not reach this extreme, but the information herein will satisfy the objectives of surveillance at any point along the operational continuum. Although the degree of sophistication detailed in this book may not be necessary for many surveillance operations, any individuals with the expertise to operate at the extreme of sophistication can certainly adapt to any operational requirement."
Therefore, the book is criticized based on its relevance to one reader rather than its technical content. Also, one would assume that even those who operate on a small-scale level would take professional interest in how the world's elite operate. Despite some questionable contradictions, it appears that the reviewer does exercise innovation in that he uses book reviews at Amazon.com as a means to advertise for business.

The reviewers each have a perspective, but the facts are that this book is regarded as a "classic", has steadily increasing sales, is every bit as relevant today as the date it was published, and it is widely used as a training resource by such major professional security agencies as Wackenhut International.

Although the book has five star reviews and the author agrees with these ratings, this "review" is submitted with four stars because a rating is required, but the purpose of this rebuttal is to address specific reviewer issues and not impact the Amazon.com average customer review for this publication.

only book to take on the road for restaurants

We've used this book four times, and have been pleasantly surprised each time (Carson City NV, Winnemucca NV, someplace or other in UT, and San Francisco).

I have eaten at about 200 of the restuarants in this book and with the exception of one they were dead on. I wish an updated version would be published. Some of the listings are closed.

This book makes cross country back road traveling even more fun. Sure there are a few problems, but most fair-sized towns have entires, and many small towns do. We have had wonderful fun and some interesting, to say the least, meals because of it. Well worth its price.

I was puzzled by the selections chosen for my hometown. Especially puzzling was the choice of Edgardo's for "Best Latin American Restaurant". Edgardo's is an Italian restaurant without a single Latin American offering on its menu. Since Arlington has an excellent array of Latin American restaurants, this error is inexcusable.

This book should be on every serious writer's shelf. The CD and software are simple to use, though lack some obvious features.

It was the most intresting book I have ever read!Very informative

The book is near-perfect. Almost every question I have ever had, about freelance magazine articles, is answered in detail.

My Language Arts teacher suggested that I buy this book, and she wanted me to get my works published. My local bookstore didn't have the book, but thanks to Amazon, I have a chance to have a "Summer Job."

Every year the current WRITER'S MARKET touts its new additions, so we're led to believe that we'll have more publishers and editors to whom to submit our work. Wrong! Each year there may be more entries, but there are also more houses and magazines which do not want unsolicited material and/or to hear from The Unpublished.

In order for this annual reference book to be truly invaluable every category should have two sections: one for published authors and one for unpublished writers. The latter section could be called "Publishers and Editors Who Are Dying to See Your Work and Will Publish Everything Sent to Them." And I don't mean vanity presses, which are like honorary degrees or being published just because you're famous in some way.

Another not-so-minor problem with every WRITER'S MARKET is that the editorial information may be incorrect by the time it's bought or used. This could mean added delays in receiving a response, if your query or submission isn't misplaced forever.

Use it with caution at the library and expect to be frustrated.

Angels are of great interest to many a Christian, and "Angels A to Z" is a complete and comprehensive look at all of them throughout history, covering their history, origins, and more - and it's not just limited to the angels of Christianity, touching on Islamic and Nordic angels as well. Also discussing angels' relevance in common pop culture - books, movies, TV, and more - "Angels A to Z" is a top pick for angel lovers and highly recommended for community library religion collections.

The book seems well-organized but the entries are incomplete. It is not difficult to find some well-known angels are not listed in this book.

Looking for a dictionary of angels? Look elsewhere.

The angel of air (Chasan or some books spell as "Chassan") is not listed in this book. This angel is mentioned in some books on evocation of angels.

I do not think that this book is good enough to be called an encyclopedia on angels. Perhaps just the name "Encyclopedia" to make it sell better??

This book is good but I find another book "A Dictionary of Angels : Including the Fallen Angels" by Gustav Davidson much better and complete.

I found this to be the most comprehensive book on the subject of angels and related topics that I have ever seen. Whether you are approaching this subject from a biblical, historical, cross cultural, or esoteric viewpoint you should find most everything that you are looking for. Indeed, you will find much that you were not originally looking for. It is easy to find yourself absorbed for hours reading from subject to subject, seeing associations and connections that never occured to you before. I couldn't really see where the author was promoting any particular agenda or viewpoint- it all seemed pretty objective to me. Yet, the writing isn't in dry-as-dust academic style either.

The book itself is hefty 485 plus pages and laid out in dictionary form (though there is a well written introduction on the overall subject.) The illustrations are in black and white, but they are well-chosen, crisp, and plentiful.

I think the book is getting a little out of date as of mid 2008 (although not as much as I feared it would be considering it was published a few years ago). It's a good reference guide to start off with but don't expect it to be comprehensive. Part of it is just because it is a few years old (so it doesn't register that the closest Babies R Us to San Francisco is in Daly City for many people and there are places like Safari Run in San Mateo that didn't exist in 2005). However, part of it is also omissions in information that I think the book missed. It is pretty skimpy between San Francisco and Burlingame (as one reviewer said below). It misses My Gym and Music Together classes for activities (pretty popular choices from my experience). It misses Chloe's Closet, which is one of the better places in my opinion to buy and sell used baby clothes in San Francisco (a little chaotic but lots of inventory). Overall, a good start if you're looking for information but not as complete as I would like.

I got this book soon after relocating to San Francisco and it's been a lifesaver. Much of the beginning of the book isn't relevant to me since I gave birth elsewhere, but the rest has been extremely helpful - I've found classes, activities, facilities, resources, even an amazing sitter service that helped us avoid the dreaded search for a new sitter in a new city. It ONLY covers things that are highly recommended (it doesn't have a comprehensive list of every gymnastics program in the city, for example) and families in the South Bay or Peninsula will be disappointed (the title is a bit misleading - content is scant for those areas) but it's great resource for parents in SF or Marin.

Overall, this book is very informative. Especially for first time parents, I would highly recommend it. However, many (and perhaps all) of the highly rated items, agencies, people are also very expensive. It is not very helpful if you are looking for information on raising a baby in the bay area on any sort of budget. However, if money is no object, this book is for you.

This late 2005 edition is a rich resource of all things mothers and fathers need to know for bringing up baby. A very helpful maternity insert for new gifts for Bay Area babies.

Overall, this is a good list of resources, but is probably most useful to the first-time parent or someone who is new to the area.

For most sections, they cover the criteria you should consider when making your selections and perhaps the process. Very useful information. I found it very good for explaining exactly how one hires a nanny in the bay area or how you get your kid into preschool.

Much of the listings for activities, museums, etc. can be found in a phone book. And the "ratings" don't really help for any of the activities because most of them are unrated, but the few that are nearly always rated 5 stars.

The books biggest failing is its dearth of information for the Peninsula and South Bay, two distinct areas which they merge together under the heading "South Bay". I guess they do that to disguise how thin the info is compared to that for San Francisco and the North Bay.

Note that if you live in the "north peninsula" (Milbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco, Daly City) that for these 4 densely-populated towns the listings are ESPECIALLY thin, even compared to the lightly covered Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City, and Palo Alto. On the north peninsula, you will not find a single listing for any preschools or parks, and only 2 daycares are listed.

Sections are:
Ch 1: Obstetricians, Midwifes, Pediatricians, Hospitals, Birth Centers, Prenatal educators, labor doulas, cord blood banks, infertility treatment programs, adoption, help for kids with special needs, resources to protect your workplace rights.

Ch 2: Pre- and Postnatal aerobics, yoga, pilates, fitness classes, personal trainers, fitness facilities with childcare, walks/hikes and Moms groups that do walking/hiking, pregnancy and postnatal massage. (Note: This chapter seems the most thorough)

Ch 3: Maternity clothes, including national chains, local retailers, online outfits and resale shops.

Ch 4: Baby Equipment. national chains, local retailers, nursery designers and muralists(!), equipment rental, online/mailorder/used, baby clothes retailers, toys/books, resale shops, where to donate used goods/clothes, babyproofers and safety goods.

Ch 5: Postpartum help: Baby nurses and Doulas, breastfeeding resources, postpartum depression resources, parenting hotlines, meal prep & delivery.

Ch 6: Parenting classes, parenting clubs/groups,

Ch 7: Classes for Kids: recreation departments, gym/gymnastics, swimming, music, art, dance, drama, foreign language, sports, misc

Ch 8: Activities: parks & playgrounds, beaches & pools, zoo & wildlife, indoor playgrounds, museums, rainy day activities, libraries and storytelling, trains and boats, adventures (iceskating, Bonfante gardens, etc.), restaurants, special events for kids, resources for local traveling with kids, birthday parties (entertainers, caterers, planners(!) etc.)

Ch 9: Childcare: seminars on finding childcare, day care licensing offices, childcare referral networks, regular day care centers, drop-in/sick-child daycare. Resources to do independent searches for nannies, do background checks, handle the legalities, benefits and taxes, nanny placement agencies, au pair agencies, babysitting services & resources.

Ch 10: Preschool. Preschool education consultants(!), preschools.

Bought for my daughter. She started to read it. Not sure how helpful.

This is a very helpful description of colleges from the kids' point of view. Of course you can't assume it's unbiased since it's just a small sample of opinions but it does give a more personal look at the schools. You wouldn't want this to be your major source (use the Fiske guide for that) but this is a fun read and is helpful in providing some details about the schools that the more formal guides miss.

While this series is cute, and useful to get a flavor of the differences between schools, it cannot be used to compare schools "apples to apples". The comments themselves are revealing of the character of a school, but the actual grades are meaningless, particularly when assessing academic quality - the consequence of subjective methodology since the students themselves (who know only their institution)give out the grades. They simply don't have the information necessary to assess their school against peer institutions in an objective way. So yes, use it for entertainment, but don't make decisions based on this flawed research methodology: visit, interview, form your own opinion.

This book, though not definitive and clearly subjective, based on only a few student comments in each area of review, is, none-the-less, a very helpful addition for students and parents who are screening colleges. Use it along with another book, such as the one by the Yale Daily News, and you'll get a very good feeling for the atmosphere at the schools before going. My daughter and I found it to be very helpful.

As a student that is extremely serious about the college selection process, I bought every single college guidebook out there that covers multiple schools. The Big Book of Colleges was in a league of its own.

I loved this guidebook because of its readability. Yes, it looks like a phone book on the outside, just like all the other college guides, but like my mother always told me, it's what on the inside that counts.

The book profiles around 200 schools, and each school goes into depth about many different aspects of campus life. Professors, Girls, Diversity, Campus Strictness (my favorite section!), Drugs, and more.

Each section has student reviews that are straight from the students mouths, and you can really tell they aren't holding back. I would type some of the student quotes on here, but I think that's copyright infringment. Sample pages are available on the College Prowler website.

So for example, let's say you're interested in Diversity at Princeton. Well, College Prowler interviews tons of kids that sound off on what diversity is REALLY like on campus ... behind the numbers and the campus brochures.

I was surprised to discover what life was really like at many of the schools I was interested in. I know that this book doesn't go that much in depth about each school, like College Prowler's "single-school" guides ... but it's a great starting point when you're an 11th grader that wants to get a great overview of each school. I'll buy the single-school guidebooks to the schools I want to apply to next year.

Buy this book if you want to know the truth about America's best universities.