Big Books

Great ideas for small gardens! I liked it so much that I gave a copy of the book to a relative.

Saw book featured on The Coastal Gardener Show. WOW... It's great! Richly illustrated and easy to follow. Dave's garden note book is a perfect pop-off to his advice on small gardens.

i'm a big fan of dave egbert's tv show (the coastal gardener) and now i also love this book. dave delivers his usual brand of enthusiastic expertise while emily young provides illuminating commentary through hundreds of brilliant photos. this book literally cracked my mind open about what i could do with my small patio space. i am inspired. definitely worth it.

I'm not big on gardening because it seems too involved at times. This book changed my perception. It has lots of pictures and fresh ideas on how to create a beautiful garden of your own. It's written in a language you can understand and enjoy rather than intimidating you. Great book. I would highly recommend it to pros and beginners alike.

I anxiously awaited Dave Egbert's new book and he did not disappoint me. Small Gardens is filled with great suggestions for making my small areas appear larger and more beautiful. I love his use of perspective to give the illusion of space. The suggestions on placement and choice of plants is filled with all the information I need to make my garden special, including size, shape and growth pattern of the plant as well as water and lighting requirements. I was especially interested in how to have a successful garden in my very shady yard. The book seemed to cover most gardens: containers, sun, shade, flower, edible, rock , water, indoor and even living space areas. The photos are superb and I liked that the plants were labeled using arrows to point out the specific highlight. I also liked the notebook format. It was easy to read and captured Dave's fun personality and love of gardening. Almost everyone has a small garden, whether it is their whole yard or a separate area. I think everyone can find useful information in Small Gardens. Sunset has published another winner.

If you loved Bertrand R. Brinley's two collections of stories: The Mad Scientists' Club and The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club or the final novel The Big Chunk of Ice: The Last Known Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club, then you'll also love "The Big Kerplop" The boys return in the first novel-length adventure of the Mad Scientists of Mammoth Falls, which is in fact a prequel that explains how the club was formed and how founding member Harmon Muldoon got expelled, becoming their nemesis in the short stories.

Jeff Crocker, Charlie Finckledinck, and Harmon Muldoon are fishing in the fog on Strawberry Lake when an Air Force exercise goes wrong resulting in something rather large landing near the boys with a loud Kerplop! Thinking that the Air Force might like to have whatever it was back, the boys attempt to calculate their position using basic scientific principles. Their thinking turns out to be correct when the "something" is revealed to be a hydrogen bomb! However, when the Air Force fails to find the bomb where the boys calculated their position to be (or anywhere else for that matter), Jeff, Charlie, and Harmon take matters into their own hands, gathering together the future members of the Mad Scientists' Club both in order to prove that they were right and to find the missing hydrogen bomb. Hi-jinks ensue.

As a boy, I was terribly disappointed by "The Big Kerplop" that I had waited six long years for because I had assumed based on the brief published descriptions of the upcoming book, originally titled "The Sunken Village", that we would finally see the restored midget submarine in action. Instead it turned out to be a prequel, and the midget submarine was never used. Rereading it now, I can better appreciate what turned out to be a very fine novel, a worthy companion to the previous books, that revealed a lot more about the characters than the short stories had disclosed. However, I can also more clearly see the chronological problems introduced by this prequel, specifically, the logic problem arising from making the boys such huge heroes at their club's founding that their subsequent anonymity and treatment like a bunch of normal kids makes no sense. In addition Harmon Muldoon is portrayed as such a total jerk that the reader is left wondering how Jeff and Charlie could stand him long enough to be friends with him at the beginning of the novel.

Note: the Purple House reprint of The Big Kerplop!: The Original Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club is worth picking up even if you own the extremely rare first edition of The Big Kerplop; A Mad Scientists' Club Adventure because the text is based on the original manuscript, restoring a number of passages that had been cut for space reasons. It also includes an introduction written by Bertrand's son Sheridan. First time readers would be well advised to read this novel after reading the short stories in chronological order; for subsequent rereadings this novel can be placed first where it belongs chronologically.

If you liked the previous Mad Scientists books as well as I did, you will like this one, too. It is like your favorite cartoon turned into a full-length movie (provided it is a good one, which this is). The discover and suspense are well worth it, especially for developing minds.

Purple House Press is reissuing The Big Kerplop! in 2003. At last the elusive third book in the Mad Scientists' Club series will be available to everyone who wants to read it!

This is a great book, just like all their other stories. I like the way when they have a problem they just think up a way to solve it, and then they think up a way to do that. And they're not afraid of the army or anybody, they just do what they have to do. I know this book was written a long time ago, but they sound just like guys I know. (only smarter) I wish there were more books like this out there because I would sure read them too! The mad scientists club is great!

In this book, Henry and the other young mad scientists help the military locate a nuclear missile that has landed in the local lake. It is the third book in the series. It has a much more complex storyline than any of the the other Mad Scientists stories and makes the guys question the purpose of their endeavours. In an earlier adventure, we are given to believe that the military would be the best place for the young scientists to grow up, but in this story we see that the military has serious flaws. This is radical for a story from this era, especially from an author who was part of the military-industrial complex himself.

This book will help you increase your close rate and get more prospects

This book can be used as an introduction to sales, as well as being used by a professional. It has detailed situations, and how to handle them. This book should be in every salesmens' hands, it will increase your sales % to 70+, it truely works! If you have to search everywhere for this book, it is definetly worth it.

I love this book, as it really puts your ethics in as far as using the skills he teaches to get a product, and not be a liar, or jump/skip channels!!

I can see if EVERY car salesman, or any unethical salesman were to read this and apply it, well, they would one day get rid of the bad stigma attached to sales!!!

I cant say ENOUGH about how great this book is!!

This book is amazing. It's great for knowing where you're going and how to get there and pushes pushes pushes you into confronting what you have to do to get an actual viable sales team and project.

It's the definitive guide to selling and really shows you how it's done.

This book on salesmanship gives a new salesperson entering the field for the first time a treasure chest of wisdom. Dane goes over many scenarios, all of which any seasoned salesman will attest to having experienced at one time or another. His wit and brilliance teaches one the most fundamental techniques at the same time as allowing the salesman to maintain his integrity and honesty and truly satisfy the customer. It is a well rounded book, and I often re-read it for use on the job. If you can obtain a copy, it will be worth the hunt. You will want this one for your arsenal.

I have read almost everything from What to Expect to Penelope Leach to Brazelton to Spock. This is the smartest, most helpful practically, and most empathetic parenting book I've found. The only other book I've felt so intellectually and emotionally connected to is her other one, So Glad We Waited. I wonder why this book isn't a big best seller? I give this one and her other one to all my friends for baby gifts. I can't recommend it enough!

This book is terrific! From now on, I'm giving it to all my new mom friends. Lois Nachamie covers all the aspects of child rearing that nobody else seems sensitive enough to discuss or even notice. She has a psychologist's understanding of child development and the wisdom of a philosopher. With her incredible good humor, she brings to light the thousand daily interactions that in so many unseen ways teach kids right and wrong (not to mention manners) and shape their values. Thus she covers topics like materialism and greed (the "gimmie gimmies"); sexual stereotypes; the truth about sharing; telephone manners for kids; and --believe it or not -- the usefulness of television as a teaching tool. And so much more! I particularly love how she says to respond your child's inevitable questions about where babies come from (teach them the truth -- or a portion of it -- but teach them also the mystery). She is pro-discipline (yeah!) and she encourages parents not to cede their power to their children, as so many parents do these days. This book moved me in so many ways I can not express here. Lois Nachamie is amazingly attuned to the emotional trials of any mother who is really trying to listen to and connect to her child in a mature, loving and respectful way. If that includes you, buy this book.

This is a smart, funny, incredibly informative and down to earth book and makes a great gift for anyone with kids. I've already shared it with friends and family. Lois Nachamie knows what she's talking about and says it in a way that's easy to hear. I highly recommend it!

I began reading this book while waiting for my adoptive daughter to be born. Within the first two pages I was so excited about parenting I thought I would burst. Loins Nachmanie makes me feel like parenting is the most creative, intelligent, resourceful and useful vocation in the world. I've given lots of copies to friends and one to my sister who is a preschool teacher! Nachmanie obviously loves children and her down-to-earth, funny, and common-sense approach to raising them with love and guidance is a breath of fresh air. I've read lots and lots of parenting books and this is absolutely the best!

This is a quick review, because I have three children and books of my own to write. But I would like to rave about Big Lessons because it is the funniest and most solid book on parenting I've come across, and I've read a lot of books over the last ten years. It's full of stories -- stories Lois Nachamie tells of her own parenting and the thousands of parents she's worked with -- as well as tips you can actually remember when you need them. She names a problem, then walks you through what you can do (often hilarious), might do, might want to do, and ways that you can approach it, all with the very clear notion that it's always up to you, the parent, and your own particular child. For example, when she discusses "teaching," the natural curiousity of children, and their propensity to learn, she tells the story of the two and a half year old who says "Blue," and the mother who can say "yes. Blue," but says, "Well, it's a kind of blue, but we really call it aqua. You see, the printer added green. It's not a true blue. This is the color we often associate with water, particularly Mediterranean water, and interestingly enough, in Italian aqua means water, whereas in Spanish agua is water. Blah, blah, blah..." And after this, a very gentle discussion of how a bright child might even stop sharing perceptioins after such an onslaught from Mommy. This is the kind of stuff I can read for hours; tender, funny, and really extraordinarily informative. If there's one book you should buy to read for the first five years of parenting, buy this one. I wish I'd had it when I was trying to figure out sleep for my kids, food, sexual and gender stuff, and handling danger. The kind of tips she gives are really solid, e.g., tell your child that when she's lost or in trouble to go find another mommy, someone with children. This is advice that's down to earth and yet rings with the brilliant love of a mother who knows what she's saying.

Children have always adored watching "big machines doing big jobs," and this book provides ample opportunity for both boys and girls to read about these machines and the jobs they do knocking down an old building and creating a new park where people and animals can have fun.

Although boys will be sure to read this book over and over again, make no mistake -- many girls adore watching construction equipment and all the noises they make!

This is a good book for the little guy (or gal) who is learning to read and who justs loves Big Machines (like my nephew!) Ordinarily I prefer illustrations, but this book shows photographs of big machines which is good for showing kids exactly what they look like so that when they see one passing by they will be able to identify it thereby reinforcing their learning. It also defines certain relevant words about each machine which I really liked.

Big Machines is great for beginnning readers who may still be struggling. It has machines, BIG machines which engross youngsters. It has repetetive text, which makes it easy to catch on. It even has a dictionary with the page number the word can be found on. The pictures keep the children interested, because he (or she) wants to read it.

Okay. My girlie-girl wasn't interested - at all (lol) -in this book. But I'm sure that plenty of other girls and boys would be. There are lots of bright photos of heavy equipment: crane, bulldozer, dump truck, excavator, tipper truck, concrete mixer truck, water tanker, roller, forklift, panel van, big truck.

Plus there is something to learn. For example, I never knew that the big trucks that flattened asphalt (rollers) had their rollers filled with water.

I particularly like that all of these machines are shown in the context of a project. In this case, an old factory is being torn down and replaced by a park (something I think will engage the interests of quite a few children.) Because of this format, children will see (if it's pointed out) that projects take shape in stages. First, for example, the old building needs to be torn down, the rubble taken away. Then paths need to be laid and a pond dug out. Once the pond is dug, it needs to be filled with water. Sod and flowers need to be brought in and planted... and on and on.

Four Stars. [B-]. There is a concept here and not `just' heavy equipment. The text is not for those seeking a first reader. While the vocabulary is not overly difficult, there are frequently more than two sentences per page. This might be good book for readers with a little experience under their belts. The text from page 18 follows so you to judge for yourself.

The pond needs concrete
to line its base.
A concrete mixer
brings concrete.
It's drum goes
around and around
and concrete pours out
of a special chute.

We first found this book at the library. We read it so often that my 2.5 year old son can finish each sentence and page. Great book for reading to kids and teaching them basic construction vocabulary! The pictures are great and easy to use to engage the children in a beyond-the-book discussion.

This book catches the reader's attention instantly. It is fast paced and exciting, violent and tender. Have you ever driven through a neighborhood at night and caught a glimpse into the homes that has left you wondering what the occupants' lives are like? Reading this book is like that. It's an intimate, almost indecent look into the hearts and minds of its facinating characters. Logan has an innate understanding of Japanese culture and the people who inhabit it. He has managed to weave together a story with people whose lives are interrelated. The result is amazing! This is great book!

Reads like a Coen Brothers movie. Humor with razor edges. Inadvertent violence mixed with good intentions. Big City weirdness, where the fringe jaggedly intrudes on the norm. But uniquely Tokyo - a Möbius strip of cute and creepy. Darkly comic. Funny stuff. Except for the villain; Logan doesn't invent a new monster, just chillingly describes the diminutive one that exists among us.

Big Motorcycle is at least a half-dozen books: pulse-pounding action, horror, wild humor, crime, social history of Tokyo, love and more love. Logan does on the page what the Cohen brothers do on the screen--in, for example, Fargo: there's slapstick and depravity and nobility all mixed together, but somehow working, as in life. And Logan can plot right alongside Joseph Heller: he's got at least seven stories happening simultaneously, weaving in and out of each other, building on each other. The characters, too, are fine: Americans and Japanese both. One of the early reviewers of this novel wrote that the reader "really cares about the people in this book, cares what happens to them." And it's true. Logan's got Elmore Leonard-grade dialogue too, and the sardonic brilliance of Jonathan Swift. Call him a sort of latter-day Nathaniel West--or, rather, East. Terrific, loved it, a real page-turner--with a whole lot of pages to turn. A classic.

This novel has the slick plotting of John Sandford, the wild humor of Carl Hiassen, the erudition of David Foster Wallace, and the brutal bite of James Ellroy. It's a story of Tokyo, as the sub-title suggests, but Tokyo is a city of foreigners and natives trying to come to terms with each other. So any story of post-WWII Tokyo is a story of the world. Great characters in this book, terrific dialogue. One of the dust jacket reviews said simply, "Ride this Motorcycle." Exactly: this novel is the sleeper of the year.

Big Motorcycle is a frenetic ride into the weirdness of Tokyo that combines some of the post industrial hipness of William Gibson with the plotting intricacies of Elmore Leonard-all at a pace that makes Run, Lola Run seem like a stroll in the park. F.X. Donner, Viet Nam vet and former P.O.W., now a middle aged gaijin professor of English comp in Tokyo, has his generally sedate, mildly angst ridden life blasted into hyperdrive when he reflexively performs an act of heroism by catching a falling baby. From that point on, Donner finds himself drawn into the Tokyo underbelly of yakuza, religious cults, right wing and left wing revolutionaries, pop culture entrepreneurs, and a very disturbing serial killer. As the action races along, the individual weirdness converges in bang up race to stop a killer. Big Motorcycle is ghastly, cool, fast paced, exciting and...funny.

The book is in beautiful condition and got here in a timely manner. Very pleased with this transaction.

Stark ,haunting photographs by Helmut Newton of women. Not sexual exploitation but tribute to forceful and strong women like Gayle Olinekova and Lisa Lyon. The women confront the viewer with their nudity. There is a type of eroticism that permeates the photographs that draws you in yet makes you feel like a voyeur. A great conversation table book.

The only reason I did not give this book the full five stars is because I feel there was more of a sameness to this selection of photographs than is true of most of Helmut Newton's work. This "sameness" is of uniformly high quality, exhibiting the inventiveness and playful sequences characteristic of his images. On one page, a group of stylishly attired women appear in stationary or moving poses; on the next page, the same women in the same pose appear nude. Newton has a taste for this sort of dress/undress contrast, as he does for incongruous assemblages: a woman lying in the midst of seaweed thrown about by incoming waves on the beach; another nude lying on an expensive fur coat, while sprawled on the lawn; cords tied in a pattern across the torso of a woman gesturing with her arm in a bodybuilder's pose. Occasionally, Newton produces a truly outstanding photograph, even relative to his own standards; such an example is that of a woman caught mid-breath as she inhales cigarette smoke. The sensuality of this is immediately present on viewing, catching the reader/viewer's eye irrespective of the less-than-appealing reality of smoking.

All of these photographs are in black and white, all of the women are Caucasian, and all appear in attire and settings that suggest wealth and ease. In this respect, Big Nudes is similar to another of his collections, White Women. The photography is always of the highest order, and the selection of nudes is not of the cookie-cutter "perfection" that so often fills the volumes of this genre.

This is a book worth viewing and having, especially if you are fond of Newton's work.

This spectacular collection presents a series of photos from 1979-1981. All of them show similar views of the models: nude (except for high heels), strong, and as comfortable wearing only their own beauty as when they wear anything else. Each pose seems almost confrontational - except that the model appears quite aware that you, the viewer, are looking, but just aren't worth her attention. There's no scale in these images, but I can't imagine any of the models being less than 180cm tall. They cast that much presence, irrespective of actual size.

You might argue the claim that all the photos show nudes. There are many picture-pairs of the models fully clothed on the left-hand page and unclothed on the right, in the same pose. Even these clothed images are really about the figure, though. Seeing the woman herself makes me look back at the fashion photos, and pay that much more attention to the figure that the fashions enclose.

I especially like the fact that Newton glorifies figures as they are. Sylvia (the cover model) and Brescia, for example, show physical features that aren't very fashionable right now, and that some might "fix" with cosmetic surgery. Wrong. These are beautiful women, period. Any flaws lie in the standard to which they might be held, not in their stunning figures. I fault Newton only for excluding non-European features and skin tones from this collection. The esthetic choice is his, of course, but those omissions weaken the whole. Not a lot, though - this book is still a necessity for any collection of figure photography.

-- wiredweird

Helmut was a genius. I feel qualified to say this because I once had the honor of being his assistant. Standing next to Helmut while he shot gave me little clue as to how his pictures became so signature.. This book is more of his clever self, the subjects are the most beautiful women in the world... wearing nothing.. Amazing.

Previous reviewers have called this volume "thorough", "passonate", "eloquent", "inspiring", "useful", and "comprehensive". It is all those things, but it's also:

Funny!

For example, the description of Old Dad Mountain area states that "The Barnstow-Vegas dirt-bike race passes through the northern end of the area ... Soda Lake has obligingly swallowed several vehicles whole." There are unexpected one-liners like this throughout the book.

Foreman and Wolke have compiled a thorough catalogue of big wilderness in the United States. More than just a catalogue, though, with typical passion, the authors state their case for expanding and interconnecting the wilderness we have left.

This book is for anyone who loves wilderness and wants not only to preserve what we have, but wants to see the expansion and rewilding of landscapes that can be salvaged.

Highly recommended.

I've had this book since 1992. In fact, I'm here browsing because I'm debating whether to get the 1998 edition. It is a very well-written, state-by-state description of the large wildernesses in the U.S. -- and the problems facing each. Excellent and eloquent descriptions of each area's topography, wildlife, flora, etc. provide inspiration and high-level overview for early stages of trip planning. National coverage expands usefulness as a reference. Get it!

I've had this book since 1992. It is a very well-written, state-by-state description of the large wildernesses in the U.S. -- and the problems facing each. Excellent and eloquent descriptions of each area's topography, wildlife, flora, etc. provide inspiration and high-level overview for early stages of trip planning. National coverage expands usefulness as a reference. Get it!

This book provides the reader a glimpse into the remaining wilderness areas in the west over 100,000 acres (& smaller ones in the east). It is comprehensive and provides details of the history of the US Forest Service's accomplishments and failures to protect wilderness on public land in this great country we call America.

I loved this book. It is a practical guide for two people who are interested in building a strong and satisfying partnership. I especially like the pacing. It is a 16-week process that introduces new concepts and exercises each week that build upon the previous week.
I also found this book to be very uplifting. You won't spend time allocating responsibility for the problems in your relationship, but will instead focus on building positive and useful ways of paying attention to one another.
As a recently divorced person, I wish this guide had been available to me earlier. But I find it very useful as a single person as well. I will go into my next relationship with knowledge of how to build and sustain a happy realationship.

Thinking I had it all figured out, I only picked up Big Picture Partnering at the insistence of a good friend. After devouring it in a weekend, I can't stop telling people (my husband first and foremost) what I've learned. Every marriage or relationship can use a little new energy, or some new skills so partners can take things to a new level--this is exactly what I found in Big Picture Partnering. The author offers real world specifics to help you enjoy the good times, see through the hard times, and always keep your big picture in mind.

This isn't a book about finding a mate or falling in love, or even about keeping a relationship alive. It's about something much bigger.

Big Picture Partnering starts with the assumption that you're already with the person you want to be with for the rest of your life. (So if you don't want, plan, or hope to be with your partner over the long haul, forget this book.)

But if you're serious about creating a lifelong partnership, and want it to be something special, this is the book to get.

This is not a book of quick fixes or easy answers. Instead, it is full of approaches and activities that can help any couple build trust, communication, understanding, commitment, and real, lasting love (the kind where both of you have your heads in the clouds AND your feet on the ground). After working through this book together with your partner, you won't need quick fixes or easy answers, because what you have won't need fixing. And you'll have each other, for real and for a lifetime.

In Big Picture Partnering:16 Weeks to a Rock-Solid Relationship, Dr. Hoistad shows couples how to move from a relationship that works to a relationship that rocks! Most loving couples want a relationship of partners, but the skills for nurturing and encouraging the healthiest and most exciting of relationships are not skills we're born knowing. Dr. Hoistad leads us through them, step by step, helping couples identify the diferences between being a true partner and being less than adult. However, she does all this without guilting or blaming either partner, which keeps both halves of the couple engaged in the entire process. She calls on us to become fully mature adults, an exciting journey but one too few of us know how to take -- for that help alone, this book is worth the read! Her guidance is practical and easy to follow, her exercises fun and rewarding. If you read through this book together and work through the exercises together, your relationship WILL change -- there is no way it cannot. Along the way, she delivers pragmatic assists to tackling the real life problems that can trouble even the most loving of couples and shows us how to make our relationships far more than good - they can be great!

Pamela Hill Nettleton
author of Getting Married When It's Not Your First Time and How to Live with a Middle-Aged Man

What's great about this book is that it's not a solve-the-problems-in-your-relationship kind of book. It seems to be for couples who are doing just fine, they just want to kick it up a notch: reconnect, re-evaluate, and look at where they want to go together. This was an invaluable read for us (we both read it)- and we find ourselves really enjoying exploring places outside of our daily lives- the plans and goals we talked about when we first got together.

I am a fan of Lama Suyra Das books and find his explanation of Buddhism and happiness easy with transformation of the mind possible, but the reader must apply him/herself.

I would strongly recommend this book if you want to make significant changes.

This book is Lama Surya Das at his best: very stimulating, humorous, drawing on the widest range of philosophy and literature, and offering us the benefit of his extraordinary insights, attained after many years of meditation and study. Although this book has a picture of the Buddha on the front, Lama Surya Das frequently refers to common themes in the teachings of all the major traditions. I'd highly recommend it to any intelligent, open-hearted individual, irrespective of their religion. A must-read book!

This book was such a pleasure to read. I commend surya das for attaining such a lofty goal of writing a book that takes on all of the big questions. He accomplishes this with a potent combination of wisdom, an open mind and humility. Of course there are no definitive answers in life, but this book supplements one's own journey towards the answers.

There are few better ways to let someone find his own wisdom than by asking questions. Das just does that and in each answer helps you---through analogy, literature, and further questions---find the answers. The chapter on karma is excellent and helps us grasp its nuanced nature(nothing happens by accident but by all prior actions; great insight into the difference bewteen karma and fate) and on handling anger(as the Buddha said, if someone offers you the "gift" of anger do not accept, and it stays will the giver) and by taking a "sacred pause". A book to be loved, hightlighted and underlined, and read again.

Posing major life questions is done fairly frequently these days on many TV talk shows. The difference here is a book with teachings based on deep personal experience and understanding of the Tibetan Buddhist wisdom traditions in the search for answers. Lama Surya Das continues to point out that the spiritual journey is a path of personal growth and depends in large part on our own choices. Once we become seekers, this book and each of his others from AWAKENING THE BUDDHA WITHIN to BUDDHA IS AS BUDDHA DOES provide the guidance to jump start our search.. I find his examples and his humility to be a great encouragement in an age so filled with examples of arrogance, pride, greed and anger. He is a great teacher with all of the credentials that provide the base for confidence in his words.