Preparation Books

I discovered this book while on my daily commute. Several students ride the same bus as me and I often see them with it, thumbing through the pages and writing in the margins. I asked one of them about it and he said his teacher brought it to class one day and recommended it as a great way to start an independent reading program. I bought it because I use my commute time for reading. I couldn't be happier. Now, I find myself making notes in the margins and planning my next read just like the students. I even found a book in 360 Reading that I was able to read online for free--Narrative of My Captivity Among the Sioux Indians, by Fanny Kelly (fascinating story; I could easily see Angelina Jolie in the starring role if it were made into a movie). Right now, I'm reading Weep Not, Child by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and next I hope to read The Poetry of Arab Women by Nathalie Handal and then Holocaust Poetry by Hilda Schiff. I doubt that I would have found any of those books without 360 Reading.

This book has been really helpful to me. I have my daughter list the next ten books she wants to read by filling out the log at the end of the book. Whenever she finishes reading a book I take the list with me to the library and check out one of the ten. 360 Reading has a great range of book titles from which to choose--novels, short stories, drama, narrative poetry, history, biography, science, philosophy, religion and more. The indices are a nice touch; there are six of them, including a keyword index.

This is a wonderful book! I have had it for only a short time and it already has led me to books I never would find on my own--books like The Prisoner of Zenda, Darkness at Noon, You Know Me Al, Introduction to the Devout Life, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. The preface was great and helped me put together my own independent reading program and the indices were very useful. However, what I like best is the great diversity of literature it covers.

I originally bought this book looking for a few solid books to read. However, this book goes far beyond a few books worthy of reading. Several quality novels ranging in a variety of topics have expanded my horizon. A definite must buy either for yourself if you love reading or if you're trying to give your high school student great reading material.

Prentice Hall MOUS Test Preparation Guide for Access 2000 and CD Package is a great book and a study guide. Despite a few flaws, I will still give it two thumbs up.

I spend alot of time sifting through preparation materials, and purchased this one based on the two other reviews. The preparation guide is extremely well written with tons of illustrations and the PinPoint software is fantastic. This was the only guide I used to prepare for the exam. How'd I do? Perfect 1000.

With NO prior Access experience, I completed the 26 questions on the MOUS test in about 30 minutes (out of the 45 minutes allowed).

You will pass the certification test easily after completing all of the material in this book and on the CD.

The material is well focused on just that information needed to answer the MOUS test questions correctly.

The only complaint I have is that the software on the CD would "flag" questions for review that were marked correct on the Test Report and it would not flag some questions for review that were marked as incorrect on the Test Report.

Note: I spent about 120 hours going through all the material twice (and experimenting with Access 2000 a little) before taking the test.

If your are pursuing the MOUS certification for Microsoft Access 2000, then this book is your best friend. The text is thorough and easy to follow. It concentrates on the test, so you won't be confused by peripheral discussions. But the real gem is the PinPoint CD that accompanies the book. The Access tasks are presented in the same manner as the test, with excellent walk-throughs for any tasks which you might find difficult. When you miss a task, the software keeps track so you can easily try it again. Using Susan L. Wise's MOUS Test Preparation Guide as my primary study tool, I pulled a perfect 100% on the Microsoft Access 2000 exam!

I've had chronic back pain all my life and have tried many different approaches to find relief. \ I have found that the Acupressure Warmup techniques to be very effective in relieving my pain instantly. Because my pain is chronic I find myself stiff and sore after work and in the morning when I wake up. After applying the techniques I can go throughout the day with much pain and muscle spasms.

In my massage practice, I encourage people to use self help for managing their health. This book is a great one to have for
in home care. Written & illustrated in a clear easy to use format, it gives the layperson simple instruction on point location. Utilizing tennis balls, it allows you to work on specific problem areas, using the body weight pressure to relieve aches & pains. The techniques are simple to use and are aided by the addition of meridian stretches shown in the back of the book. As an another bonus, symptoms of imbalance are included to guide your choice of areas to address. A great companion book to this one is Acupressure's Potent Points by Michael Reed Gach. I also highly recommend The Touch of Healing by Alice Burmeister, which incorporates the ancient Japanese healing art of Jin Shin Jyutsu.

The truly simple and amazing precedures explained in the book produce incredible results not only to relieve pain but to keep you from injury. I am in my 50's and play tennis four times a week. Prior to using the Acupressure warmup routine, I was prone to injury. I have been warming up with this method for five years now and have been pain and injury free, and it only takes 10 minutes! I have recommended this book to dozens of friends who have had similar success. My husband who travels a good deal, uses tennis balls on his back pressure points while driving or flying to relieve back pain. I highly recommend this book to young and old.

This book is a useful resource not only for helping me to manage my own aches and pains, but I also recommend (and frequently lend) this book to my patients. As a physical therapist, I am always looking for ways to teach people to take control of their own pain and this book acts as a great adjunct to my own treatments. I currently work with chronic pain patients and several of them have borrowed my book and subsequently ordered their own copy as these techniques have given them excellent relief.

I am in my final year of clinicals and bought the book to help me review as I progress through my last year of school. I like the layout and the explanations of the questions, plus many helpful hints about things to study for the exam.

I have used other texts and find this one to be very helpful. Lots of helpful tips and memory joggers.

Would recomend this book, focuses on important information, many useful hints. This book has about 500 questions. Exellent.

CERTIFICATION REVIEW BOOK, DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER BOOKS OUT THERE. FILLED WITH POINTERS, AND DETAILS TO KNOW FOR THE EXAM. ALSO GREAT PNEUMONICS TO HELP WITH TEDIOUS DETAILS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER. A MUST BUY IF TAKING THE CERTIFICATION EXAM.

i received this book 2 days after my test and i felt that gave a good review with questions that reflected more like nclex questions. And i passed my test! Good luck

As far as review books go, this is fairly readable and contains a lot of pertinent information, several charts with comparisons, etc. This review book was recommended by my school, some of the topics were seen on the NCLEX RN(reported by classmates who have already taken the NCLEX Rn)I also have a copy of NCLEX 3500 coming in the mail, so along with this review book and the questions I hope to be well prepared.Lots of practice, practice, practice!

This NCLEX study guide is neato! Of all the NCLEX study guides I have looked at, this is the only one that presents information in a way that makes it easy to remember. And that's incredibly important when your palms are sweating and you're sitting in front of that computer taking the test. Instead of presenting gobbs of information in outline format, it presents case studies that focus on important information the NCLEX focuses on. It contains an evaluative pretest, posttest, and two disk tests that all contain rationales for correct and incorrect answers (very helpful). The quickly accessible appendices with normal lab values, conversion equivalents, etc are very helpful as well.

Am studying in preparation to write the NCLEX- this book is a great review of the basics. The sample tests on DVD are a great help as well

This was the first Recall book I ever purchased and it was immensely useful. I used it to review for Gross Anatomy and for a cadaver lab exam. It's quick and easy question/answer format made for easy reading, quick access to the information that I needed (and none that I didn't), and I was able to retain much of what was in the book. You know that you have impressed the proctor when you are able to not only answer them correctly and give other pertinent information regarding their question resulting in a wide-eyed stare from them!!! The book is small enough to fit in your back pocket, it was a little heavy, but it was a "good" heavy. It was worth the price. I have several other students in my class that are looking to get some of the books in the series. I have ordered the Pharm. Recall and can't wait to get it.
I will stress though, that it is best for review and not learning the material for the first time. There is no way you would get out of it what you need to if you hadn't already had the material in your noggin.
Best of Luck!

As a big fan of the recall series, let me talk to you about my particular experience with the Anatomy Recall. I bought the book in 2002 while I was doing my second anatomy course. In my first anatomy course at KFU in Dammam 2001, we practically had to memorize the whole Snell's Anatomy textbook regardless of how significant the details were as there was the possibility that anything might appear in the MCQs or in our essay questions. For those who read Snell's as undergraduate students would realize how hard the task was. It was very easy to fall into the trap of trying to memorize everything with the same level of priority and missing the essential information among the loads of the insignificant details. I had very hard time with anatomy then. In my second course at Otago University, I bought the book and was amazed how my life was made extremely much easier with the book. It helped my anatomy in three ways. First, it had enabled me to make sure that the must-know essentials have been covered with the appropriate priority level, which meant more efficient way of studying with regard to time spent to outcome ratio. Secondly, it had provided me the skeleton or the framework of the basic knowledge that I could build on using textbooks which potentially can be very helpful for answering your essay questions if you develop a clear framework of the subject you would like to write about. The third way was as a memory aid facilitated by the writing style used in the form of simple questions and answers. This style of writing makes it very easy to read without the need of the great level of concentration and ability to follow the thought line of the writer needed in the essay format. That makes an excellent book as a light reading. In addition, being small and easy to carry in your lab coat pocket, it can be used in the lab as a quick revision before you start your dissection or as a checklist of the important anatomical structures and relations that needs more attention.
After you finish your anatomy course in your basic science years don't get rid of it because you will need it later on. As trainee intern now, I still use it as a crash course in anatomy for exams and as a refreshment of my anatomy for surgical runs cuz it usually have many of those important details, surgeons love to pimp their poor helpless students with.
Having said all of that, I have never said anything about relying solely on it as a way of learning your anatomy. I believe it is a very useful tool to aid your learning in anatomy if used correctly. So, make sure that you have a proper textbook of anatomy, a hand drawn atlas, access to a dissection atlas (i.e. photos not drawings), go to your anatomy dissection labs, and discuss what you learn with your mates in the class and teach those who are less fortunate in anatomy wisdom than you are. Using all the different sensory modalities (I would not recommend using tasting though!) and your higher central nervous centres (i.e. your brain!) will make you more likely to remember your anatomy.
Even though in my opinion that it is not the best book in the recall series, The book is so special to me as it was the one which introduced me to this series which I became now quite fond of.

This is a situation that most medical students will recognise. You've been humiliated by a surgeon in theatre and you desperately need to brush up on the anatomy of the wrist but you're tired, you're hungry, it's late and you just can't face trawling through a big anatomy text book to find the tiny pieces of information that your consultant will appreciate. Anatomy Recall is the answer to their prayers. Crammed into this relatively slim book is just about all the material that you'd expect to find in a standard anatomy tome. The difference here is that the information is provided in edible chunks. The entire book is laid out in a question and answer format, dramatically increasing the fact:word ratio and boosting your ability to recall it when quizzed. Diagrams are only included where absolutely necessary (brachial plexus etc) and contents, indexes and other `wasted' pages are cut to a minimum. This means that the book is small enough to fit into a white-coat pocket. However, there are probably more important things to occupy the bulging pockets of medical students and this book will stay on the shelf by day. Even so, the small size and bite-size nature of the text means that this book is perfect for reading on the bus, over breakfast or anywhere else that you can snatch a few moments. At the end of each chapter is a `power review' section providing the most salient and memorable points for when time is really short. There is even a handy bookmark provided to allow you to cover the question answers for self-testing. The authors claim that Anatomy Recall and a good anatomy atlas are all a preclinical student would need to learn anatomy. Having been there, I tend to disagree and feel that the only way to get a solid grounding in anatomy is by studying a respected textbook such as Snell's Clinical Anatomy for Medical Students. Anatomy Recall is useful for brushing up on anatomy knowledge once the foundations are in place but the edifice above is crumbling and decayed. This is a book that, in my opinion, no medical student can do without.

this book which is part of the immensley popular recall series focuses on active aquisition of knowledge as opposed to passive learning which is readily forgotten. With a topic as vast as anatomy, which is heavy on factual knowledge this text focuses in on key areas and delivers the must know facts clearly and simply. There are power review sections at the end of each chapter to help reinforce the most salient aspects of the anatomy and these really do aid with memorization of anatomy. It is not a replacement for a comprehensive text but with the aid of an atlas it is a fantastic method of maximizing your knowledge with minimum effort or as the series editor puts it high- yield information at your fingertips. buy it and get to grips with this immensley satisfying yet difficult topic.

I cracked this book open about a month and a half before my AP test. And I think I partly owe it to this book for getting a 5 on the test.

This book is great for assessment. Its pre-test and 3 exams are very difficult. I was consistently scoring around 50% on each test- but I find that I learn best from my mistakes. I'm glad that the practice tests were very difficult rather than very easy, for I improved because of it.

I would recommend that you buy this book simply for practicing. If it's April right now and you just started thinking about buying this book... DO IT. In my french class, we didn't practice listening or speaking very often. This book gave me an opportunity to make up for what was lacking: 32 listening questions x 4 tests and 2 speaking exam sketches x 4 tests + 19 additional sketches... That's plenty of practice right there. The book is accompanied by a CD, which has the listening portions of the practice exams and sample student responses to the speaking exams.

If you happen to bomb the practice tests (like me), it helps a lot to look at the answers: the book gives you each answer choice translated into english (so you can see just how ridiculously wrong the answer you chose was), a detailed explanation of which answer choice is the correct one, and a transcript of everything said on the CDs (because they speak so damn fast).

Of course, the book has a review section. A very extensive one: page 17 through page 306 are devoted to review. I didn't use this book for review that often, but my honest impression is that some of the review section was material we hadn't even covered in class (when to use plaire vs. manquer... the pluperfect subjunctive...) But erring on the side of too much information is better than too little information.

This review might seem laudatory, but I really wanted to express my gratitude to the authors of this book and help other students. I was expecting a 3 or a 4 on this AP test, since only native speakers get 5's. Well, at least that's what I thought.

After struggling with other French prep materials, I was delighted to see an alternative on the market. I was more delighted that the book was decidedly more useful. Bravo! Specifically let me say that:
1. The grammar is more thoroughly reviewed and the explanations are much clearer for high school students.
2. The readings are imaginative, engaging and filled with challenging vocabulary.
3. The author includes 3 full practice exams and the voice quality is wonderful on the CD's
4. This book is more affordable for my students
Bon Apetit!

In conclusion, this is without a doubt the BETTER review book.
Lynnette Lang
French Teacher
Wheaton Academy

As a high school student planning to major in French in college, I knew the importance of succeeding on the AP French Language exam. About a month before the exam was scheduled to take place, I purchased Ellen Knauer's AP French practice book, and I found that it really helped me prepare for the test. I practiced for about twenty mintues each day, by simply going over the sample exercises and listening to the various dialogues included on the book's CD's. By the time I took the test, I felt well prepared and confident in my abilities to express my knowledge of French while taking the exam. Since the formats of the practice tests are exactly the same in the practice book as the real exam in early May, each section was easy to complete and I even had time remaining before I was required to stop after each section of the test. Although I have not yet received my scores, I feel very confident that I earned a five as my total weighted grade on the AP French exam. I would not only recommend the book to anyone who plans on taking the exam in early May, but I would also recommend it to anyone who would like to practice or "brush up" on the different materials it covers before entering at the college level. The book showed me the areas I was weakest in, and it made me stronger at the subjects I already knew fairly well. I would recommend this book without reservation to anyone.

This book breaks down categories very well and the CD is beneficial also.

This book is an excellant sourse for NAPLEX preparation.I have seen all the other books.Among all it is the standard one.Get familiar with the basics, and follow this book to get good score.

If you are studying for NAPLEX, I would totally recommend you get this book and work through all the questions. I also took the review course given by the authors and it was EXCELLENT. Hall and Reiss are great teachers who organized and tied up all the loose ends that my pharmacy professors could not.

I highly recommend this book -- it is the bible for the NAPLEX. The book by Leon Shargel is difficult to read and in too much detail. This IS the book to get for NAPLEX. If you need more background information for NAPLEX, I would also recommend you get the Drug cards (in small gray binder), Drug Information Handbook and Pharmacotherapy Handbook (HANDBOOK ONLY NOT anything else) by Dipiro et al. If you can, take the review course with Hall and Reiss, the authors -- it is worth the money and not only will it help you with NAPLEX but also shed light on a lot of points that are missed in pharmacy school. They zero in on what is important to know. Hope this helps and good luck!!

This book is an excellent way to prepare for the NAPLEX exam. It is comprehensive, well written, and worth every penny. I took a live review course presented by the authors in Chicago and it was also super. I learned more in that course than I learned in 5 years of pharmacy school.

I HAVE GONE THRU THIS BOOK & SOLVED ALL THE Q&A 'S ITS AN EXCELLENT BOOK WITH NAPLEX TYPE QUESTIONS & THE ANS ARE EXPLAINED REALLY GOOD . THE BEST PART IS THE STUDY DISK WHICH HAS PATIENT PROFILES WHICH HELPS TO PREPARE FOR NEW NAPLEX. IT IS ALSO A VERY GOOD GUIDE FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS PREPARING FOR FPGEE. IT HAS ALMOST ALL TOPICS COVERED & I WOULD STRONGLY RECCOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR ALL STUDENTS PREPARING FOR NAPLEX EXAM.

This is a fairly good book, although I didn't think so on first looking at it. I bought it having done little research into my other options (e.g., Princeton Review, Cliffs AP, etc.), and I discarded it soon after buying it.

However, I picked it up again a couple weeks before the AP exam to review (I had also since bought two other AP Euro books, Princeton Review's and Cliffs AP's; I recommend the latter, but not the former) and discovered that it's actually a very good book. I especially liked the practice tests, which seemed very authentic to me (I just glanced at the free-response questions) and the auxiliary material, such as a list of historical movies.

i've used closly 3 AP euro books, and this is BY FAR the best one. it has the perfect amount of detail not a ridiculous amount but defently enough, and coveres all the topics to perfection. the author barber still teaches AP euro and from what i've read his students do great on the test. i take the test this may and i'm hpoing to do very well thanks mostly to this book.

I had 4 Euro books. REA, Arco, Princeton, and Barron's.
All four had their strong points. I'll list those:

Arco

A great review book. Has a concise and quick review. The timelines at the end of each chapter are great to get the idea of when everything occurred. The test were real good too.

Princeton

If only getting one book, this would probably be the one. Longer reviews than Arco but shorter than REA. Bolds keywords which is really good. This book probably had the best questions matching the test.

REA

This book has a lot of information. Longest and most detailed by far. It is like a textbook. It has six tests. The tests are almost all fact based. It is a very good book. THis book and Arco are good counterparts.

Barron's

It only has one review. The reviews aren't very lengthy. Only good thing about this book is that it has questions about each section after the chapters. It helps with the class preparing for specific tests. Only advantage this book has over the others.

I am a junior and I'm in AP European History and this book has helped me soooo much! I feel more prepared for my class and the unit tests!

I did such a great job on the test and I improved my reading and verbal skills a lot! This book gives you an in-depth explanation of the test and will definitely help you succeed!

My verbal score went up 200 points in about two months!

I also recommend using the vocab links/SAT prep at HomeworkCentral.com--the combination was terrific for me!

This book helped me improve my score by over 250 points. Friends who used other SAT prep books kept borrowing mine - I definitely recommend it.

I bought 5 different SAT books to try to improve my score. This one was by far the best! After I practiced the techniques in this book, my score went up by 200 points! I'm only a C+ math student and I even went up in the math section!

If you want to prepare for the SAT, buy this book!!!!