Bryant Books

The best thing about this book is the CD that comes with it. The computer graded test are great and help you locate your trouble areas. It's not going to show the exact questions that will be on your particular test (i.e. cheat). The practice exams (and flashcard test)will test your readiness to take the MCSD Visual Basic 5 certification exam offered by ICCP. Even if your not going to take the test the book and computer aided testing software give all Visual Basic programmers strict coding guidlines. You won't just learn how to pass the test you'll also learn good coding techniques. I wouldn't rely solely on just this book as your only source/means to pass the test, you'll have to work very hard to become certified in any worthwhile field. If more books came with test like these you can mark me down as a potential buyer.

It is a good book to passing the exam and i feel good by taking this book and i am looking for other books from new riders

This is a very good book to help me understanding all the VB concepts and passed the VB 5 exam. I am looking for its VB 6 book to prepare VB 6 exam now.

If you intend to solely use this book to prepare for the VB5 exam, DON'T. Since the book assumes that you have prior know how of the VB and it's underlying technologies, I suggest that you use this book together with the VB help and Online Book. One thing I like is the way the book was organized. The topics were divided just as it was stated in the MS website. The accompanying CD was a big let down. The more I take the practice exam, the less it makes me feel of my chances. I never scored beyond 800. There was a lot of mistakes in the practice exam. What you can do is either double check all your answers that was marked as incorrect or use a different practice test like the one from Trancenders.

To summarize, the book will provide you with enough information for your review as long as you use it with the product itself together with the VB help and the Online book.

I read this book cover to cover and found that it only provided me with 80% of what I need to know for the exam. The chapters on ActiveX technology were poorly written. The other chapters were better. I guess having multiple authors will lead to the inconsistency. These guys should have proof read each other's work. The test CD was soooooo disappointing. Some test questions were poorly worded and about 20% of the answers were incorrect. i'm sure that you'll be frustrated when you work with the practice test. Don't forget to download the errata.txt file. My final advice is to supplement this book with something else. Aside from the CD, it's still a decent book with good information. However, you need other references to fill the gap. I was able to use the Mastering VB5 CD from Microsoft and the VB Online Help file. Well, the good news is that i was able to pass the exam this morning with a score of 915. Good luck to you!

The reason for being so confusing is this book was written by so many authors, thereby the ideas presented are not coherent. This is not a learner's book, and if you're looking for one I suggest you buy Brian Larson's instead - great book, easy to follow and the author will patiently answer your inquiries regarding some minor problems.

I bought this book yesterday hoping I could supplement the things I've already learned previously regarding RS, but no, I'll return this book today and ask for a refund.

To start with the first 3 chapters are a waste of time. Chapters 6 and 7, covering advanced reporting techniques should have been expanded on in detail with a step by step layout - instead we get a dumb comment - "you've learnt the details in earlier chapters (not true of the code). There is constant problems in reading the text - so much garbage and no proper highlight of key words - its impossible to race through the book, you only can trod like an old man. Unnecessary information is given that is not required. Chapter 11 - Report server configuration is at the end of the book but should be at the front - these nutters assume you are a dba when it comes to environment configuration. The book is a shambles of a layout and i give it one star for the sheer frustration it caused me - how do you learn in this condition - you waste a lot of time swearing and cursing and perfect these skills and not your reporting skills!!

This will probably be an ok reference for some things in ssrs, but otherwise it has been a real pain to get through. There seems to be a huge amount of repetitive informatin in the first three chapters before we actually get to start writing reports.

Unfortunately, once writing reports, it seems like the authors have ADD. They start talking about a walk through exercise but never actually have the walk through. They do have a couple of exercises where they show you how to go step by step, but these are not explained well.

I think the writing, other than being repetative, is sometimes unecessarily chatty, but at other times way to terse for beginners.

I have managed to glean some value from the book, but it's been tough. I would definitely recommend if you haven't touched SSRS yet to go through the tutorials on MSDN first. They do a better job of introducing you to basics, giving you plain instructions, and not overloading you with commentary that isn't all helpful in just getting you up to speed on how to create reports. Luckily I did this before I bought the book. I think if I was completely new to reporting and SSRS, I would have thrown this book down in disgust after the first 100 pages or so...

This book is about average. With that I am not implying that it is a bad book but rather that you could find the same information on the Internet just by googling a little bit. I guess I was expecting to find something really clever in it, something that it would make it more useful that simple internet articles. Again, not a bad book but also not one that will make the difference.

Almost impossible to do the walkthroughs as the writers can't decide if they are giving you instructions or just offering some general concepts. Chapters 1-3 are a waste of time. Go straight to chapter 4 to get started.

The format is too conversational and often fluffed-out with irrelevant details.

Overall, another disappointing Wrox text that has too many authors and no editor.

On both of the exams for Visual Basic 6.0, there are numerous questions about Visual SourceSafe and the Package and Deployment Wizard. You will need to have a through understanding of these in order to pass the exam. This book gives the basics but does not go in to great detail on these subjects. I would recommend James D. Foxall's "MCSD in a Nutshell" and the Transcender courses if you are really serious about your certification. Visual Basic 6.0 is still the main development environment at many companies. You want the best training and education you can get. This book is about average. This book is OK if you use it as a supplemental book to the other study guides.

Well, this book is really oriented on the topics of the 70-175 exam but it just go quickly over the themes without going to deep in the matter. It could be good for a fast review if all the topics but YOU REALLY NEED ADITIONAL SOURCES. You can not miss the official training course from Microsoft. If you have passed the 70-176, then with the course materials and this book you would do Ok.

This book is exactly what it claims to be. A quick guide to what you need to know for the 175 exam. It won't tell you how to program, it assumes you know that already (hence for EXPERIENCED candidates) and it certainly won't give you questions from the exam (there are in fact, no questions in this book from the exam) but it does give you a basis of what you NEED to know and what you need to understand to pass this exam.

I give it a heartly thumbs up as it did exactly what it claimed to do, it helped an experienced candidate pass.

The book should only be used as an additional review material for the exam. It certainly does not compare to "Exam Cram: VB6 Distributed", but it has some good chapters that are applicable for the exam. Some areas were not covered in enough detail nor they have been explained clearly (i.e MTS security).

Most of this book is the same as the MCSD Fast Track VB 6 book for the other exam (70-176). There is some useful information, but most of it is a cursory look.

These two books should have been put together into one book and made better. If you buy both, you've been had.

I purchased this book to start learning HTML. While there appears to be a lot of information here, I found so many errors and omissions that I gave up after 115 pages. I just couldn't follow the examples, and found the page layout to be too confusing. The index didn't help much either - often pointing to a term used only once in the book without any further explanation. I bought a different book (by Laura Lemay) and have had much more success with the Lemay book.

Yes, it seems disjointed at times and has several spelling errors. However, for beginners like myself I have learnt that the best learning books for computer Newbies comprise of plenty of page graphics (close to 50% of content in this one) and practice exercises(end of every chapter !). Cottrell's book achieves both well enough. Most computer books do not, atleast for HTML learning that I have examined. Cottrell's book urges you to complete end of chapter questions with answers at the back for critical comprehension checking. It secondly includes a working case study exercise at the end of each chapter e.g, Chapter 4 p.67 on Tables - Shows a case study homepage and asks : 'What are the design issues with this page ? How did the author create it ? Identify each table, and any special formatting you see in the table.(Hint: there are nested tables on this page.) When you're done, go to [specified website address] and view the source code.' Gives her answer at the back of the book too. I would have liked to have seen MORE practice exercises... but this book has been great to check my understanding as a newbie. Nice work.

-Spiro Raftopoulos spiromlb@ozemail.com.au

This is one of the worst editing jobs I have ever seen in published material. There is sometimes no continuity, incomplete sentences, no follow on explanations; just a poorly written and poorly edited book. You can learn a little about HTML, but it's a lot of work

When the author explains something, eg. tables, she notes that it will be explained more in a named chapter, then she doesn't. I also found that she gives alot of incomplete information. All this might be because I expected more information. A plus is that she does explain some very useful consepts on desighn and compatability.

This book can't seem to make up it's mind if it's a tutorial or a reference book, and in the end it does neither well. There are several cases where the text is talking about one thing and the images are illustrating something else. I have had to do to much of the work deciphering the information that is presented. I'm looking for another book.

When the original story surfaced about Kobe and the alleged rape I immediately became a Kobe hater even though I am a big Laker fan. Reading this book I thought would bolster my opinion about his dirty deed. Unfortunately, this story doesn't really sell me any more than before on Kobe's guilt. I pretty much feel the same; he probably did it but through a tremendous image makeover everyone has forgiven the NBA MVP. Everyone has moved on , including me as I now applaud the player for his basketball talents, pushing aside what may have been. The book is just not convincing enough; compelling but not convincing. When I read this book several months back I immediately thought this book is more about Patrick Graber. The first several chapters details Patrick Graber's clandestine life as a sort of mercenary that tries (successfully?)to prove the valor and honor of this throwback miltary man. The problem is he seems to go to the highest bidder which doesn't exactly prove his integrity. Somewhere along the way in the first chapters Kobe is introduced and the relationship(bodyguard) he had with Graber but it is mostly about Graber and his operations in faraway countries. The book has quite a cast of characters(lots of name dropping) but the depth to which they are explored, with the exception of Graber, is pretty shallow. After reading this book I felt the story (Graber's version)would never hold up in a court of law so therefore things remain the same; he probably did it but it was never proved. If you are curious about the story of the man who was arrested for planning to take a hit on Katelyn than read this book, this is his version of events that led to his being set up and arrested. Is the book entertaining? Yes, in a sordid sort of way. Does it prove Kobe raped Katelyn Faber? No, but it stil makes you wonder. She has since married and has a child and Kobe is in the Finals matching up in the classic Celtics-Lakers rivalry. Let the games begin.

You'll pardon me if I don't get overly excited about Kobe Bryant finally winning his first NBA MVP award. My personal opinion is that Bryant is a man who willfully raped a defenseless young woman in Colorado and then assaulted her again in the court of public opinion before essentially buying his way out of a serious criminal conviction. This expose by Bryant's former bodyguard does nothing but reinforce my negative opinion of the superstar - that's only to be expected, of course, because Patrick Graber definitely has an axe to grind against his former employer. Graber is the man who did time in prison for supposedly plotting to kill the rape victim, and this book - cowritten with Keith Quillan - represents his attempt to clear his name and to vilify Bryant for setting him up as a fall guy in order to deflect media attention away from himself in the days leading up to his trial. Graber's credibility is a real concern here because he really has no evidence beyond his word to back up what he is saying. Unfortunately, I found him to be less than forthcoming regarding certain parts of his life, so I really don't know how much of his story to believe.

Somewhat to my surprise, Dead Women Tell No Tales was far less scathing an expose than I had anticipated. In fact, we are made privy to only a handful of occasions in which Graber and Bryant were together. This book is more about Patrick Graber than it is about Kobe Bryant. The first section of the book represents a conscious attempt on the part of the writers to deal with the credibility issue by recounting Graber's extended period of loyal service as a member of a secret, elite unit in the Seychelles charged with safeguarding the life of the president. I actually found this to be the most exciting part of the whole book, as it recounts several of the dangerous missions Graber was intimately involved with - including assassinations. His exit from the Seychelles is problematic, however, as it is wrapped in innuendoes about a relationship that developed between Graber and the President's wife - and this book does little to clear the air one way or the other as far as that matter is concerned.

After moving to America and setting up shop in California, Graber went into the bodyguard business and soon counted Kobe Bryant among his clients. Bryant didn't need or use him as a traditional bodyguard, however. According to Graber, he was the man the NBA superstar called (oftentimes in the middle of the night) when he had "private" business to take care of: the transportation of young women to and from Bryant's hotel room, the delivery of hush money (with a little intimidation on the side) to one of those girls who fell out of favor, etc. I don't think Bryant was ever without at least one woman (usually more than one) during each of the meetings Graber describes, and on at least one occasion Graber claims to have seen cocaine in the room.

It is impossible to underestimate the importance of the final meeting between bodyguard and client. Graber describes a furious Bryant insisting that he kill the rape victim in Colorado before the case ever goes to trial, making thinly veiled threats against Graber's wife and children in order to overcome his obvious hesitation. Bryant reportedly had everything planned in such a way that the path would not lead back to his door. Graber insists he had no intention of actually murdering an innocent woman, but it is a fact that he followed the plan outlined by Bryant - up until he was arrested, of course. He spends the rest of the book offering rationalizations as to why he did what he did. The reader must come to his own conclusion as to why such a seemingly smart man would make so many stupid decisions one right after the other. The attempted murder charges against Graber were eventually dropped when he agreed to plea bargain down to a charge of grand theft. That charge ties in to a separate case involving one of the fishiest, most implausible loans I've ever heard of, a fact which does nothing to help Graber's credibility in my eyes.

I really don't know how much of Graber's account to believe. If he is telling the truth, the bulwark of his defense would have to be sheer stupidity. The one thing I do know is that no one involved in any of these events comes out looking good in any way, shape, or form.

A fascinating book, detailing the rise and ultimate fall of Patrick Graber, ex soldier, spy, professional killer and bodyguard. The early chapters of the book provide an interesting insight into a very different world, a world where spies and assassins abound and at times the reader has to take a step back, poke their midriff sharply and remind themselves that this is not the latest Ian Fleming thriller. It's supposedly a true account but unfortunately unbalanced as it only comes from one side. Nevertheless it's a captivating read and once into the main body of the book it cannot be put down. I wavered at times with my sympathies for Graber, a killer, of that there's no doubt, but in Graber's words, killings that were justified - evil people, drug dealers and traitors and although at times Graber wrestles with his conscious the reader sides with him realising that governments really do employ his sort. (And why not?)

And then to the main body of the book - the alleged rape. My sympathies lie with one person and one person only... Katelyn Faber. I've no doubt, in my opinion, whatsoever, that she suffered a serious sexual assault. If that wasn't bad enough she then had to face a media circus, the best legal team Bryant could buy, and even more concerning the might of the NBA and so called fans of Kobe Bryant who they could see doing no wrong. The pressure must have been unbearable and Bryant gets off scott-free with a well worded apology and a slight undisclosed dent in his huge undisclosed fortune. Life's a bitch isn't it?

And then to the interesting part. Patrick Graber accused of solicitation of murder, allegedly offering to murder Bryant's accuser for 3 million dollars. This was a strange one and at times I wondered just how stupid Graber could be taking a step closer to an obvious trap, time and time again. If he was innocent, as he claims in the book, why did he go so far? And can he really have any complaints about getting three years inside. He openly admits he intended to walk away with a million dollars, in effect duping Bryant and his chief of security... Or was it Bryant that duped Graber?

The answers may be hidden in this fascinating whodunit, but unfortunately I couldn't find them.

Ken Scott; Author.
A MILLION WOULD BE NICE: JACK OF HEARTS: THE SUN WILL STILL SHINE TOMORROW

This was somewhat a surprise and at the same time it doesn't shock me at all. Kobe is human and the only differece is he has a lot of money. Hell, give me some (smile). Even though he has been seen as this well balance young man who has handled his success very well he was and is still young. And that type of wealth so early in life has to have an impact on what he thinks, how he carries himself along with what he think he can do to those he like and dislike in his life. And he does both because he is a human being. Now that doesn't make him a bad person it makes him human. As for the book it simply tells what some may have figured out already and at the same time simply makes some people question who Kobe really is. It is funny how people what to tell everything they may know about someone when times are bad. Yet as long as they are good and they are getting their share of the pie, like they what to, everything is ok. It is clear the author is upset with Kobe and maybe Kobe could have handled the situation better, if true. We all have made the mistake of handling situations badly when we could have handled them in a better manner. What is clear is something happen between Kobe and the author or he would have his lips close. Funny how people claim to be so trust worthy until they get ticked off. Whatever happen to a man's word being good. Kobe hopefully has learned that "True friends are far and between" and the only real people in life you can truly trust is yourself and God. But from reading the book I don't think Kobe considered the author a friend. In Kobe's eyes he was an employee and at most an associate. Peace to Kobe and goodluck to the author. Move on with living. The book at most was enlighten and makes you think. Everyone in the book wanted and some got money which was the prize everyone wanted to win. To Kobe - "The making of friends who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man's success in life - Edward E. Hale". Kobe be aware of everyone around you. Men, women, boys, girls, employees and associates. Things are always ok as long as you give them what they want. Kobe go back to your roots and re-evaluate your friends, if not already. Growing up my grandmother always told me "I'm not telling you to do anything wrong but if you do anything do it in such a way no one knows but you and the person you do it with. That way if it get outs you know you didn't tell anyone. God surely didn't tell it (smile). So the only one who could tell is the person you do it with". There were, according to the book, too many people who knew what Kobe was up to. I'm surprise his wife didn't know before Colorado. In this life we live we all make mistakes. The goal is to learn from them. I hope that some day I get a chance to meet Kobe and hopefully have a ten minute conversation with him. Not about all of this but just talk. To the author I hope you make some money and satisfy whatever hunger you may have. Kobe move on and enjoy life as best you can. We all are trying to do that.

In 2003, basketball super-star Kobe Bean Bryant was accused of rape. During the media circus that followed the revelations, it was suddenly announced that Swiss bodyguard, Patrick Graber, was arrested for solicitation of murder - allegedly offering to murder Bryant's accuser for $3 million. Mr. Graber later plea-bargained the charge down to grand theft, to which he pleaded no-contest, and was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $191,000 in restitution.

In this book, Patrick Graber's story is fictionalized, and told by Keith Quillin. The story begins with Graber's life in the security services of the Republic of the Seychelles, when it was a one-party Socialist state, and weaves a story that would do James Bond proud. Along the way, we see Graber's evolution as a man, as he learns to do the unthinkable, when ordered to, and finally ends up trapped within a web, used as a pawn in a game involving Bryant and others.

So, the question becomes, what is the truth here? Well, the short answer is, I just don't know. The fictionalized story, filled with guns, sex, and daring-do makes for an exciting read. However, its exciting nature gives the story a real feeling of pure fiction, which means that you don't take its claims seriously. What parts are fiction, and what parts are non-fiction? I'm afraid I just couldn't figure that out. It's a real exciting book, I'll give it that, but is it an expose? Read and decide that for yourself.

I wrote part of this book and though I can't vouch for the part I didn't write, I can say that the chapters I did write, the ones on scripting gimp in both it's native scheme and in perl, you'll find very educational. I wrote them with a total beginning programmer in mind as well as a seasoned coder. As developer of CoolText.com I am very familure with gimp scripting and I included a complete printed listing of the procedural database, the only one in print that I know of. I did this because I knew it would be handy to anyone codeing for the gimp and I am able to say that I've referred to my own book often.

I was hoping from the thickness of this book that it would have all sorts of useful information. It doesn't. It looks as though the author has simply gone through the Gimp's menus item by item and given a synopsis of each. There's very little material that is not already obvious.

Grokking the Gimp is a better choice; it goes through several projects to illustrate useful real-world techniques.

This book is great. You need some background as to what you are looking for, but if you have the right question this book can answer anything. It givs any level of insight from beginner to expert with examples. Great!

As a professional geek, I've ingested countless books covering computer hardware, administration, programming, and software packages. After getting my hands on the GIMP, and a copy of the "GIMP for Linux Bible", I thought I had everything I needed to start exploring the wonders of the GIMP.

Unfortunately, this book was not up to the task. While the first few chapters were adequate for explaining the basics of the GIMP's interface, the discussion of the more complex (and more useful) aspects of the GIMP (such as layers, channels, blending modes, etc.) was thoroughly obscure. After reading and rereading these sections, I became progressively more confused.

The many illustrations, presumably offered to clarify the muddy explanations in the text, are rendered nearly useless by being printed in black and white. Images intended to show differences in various layer operations and blending modes turn out virtually identical without color. After hours of frustration, I gave up and went shopping for another book.

A much better choice for those interested in becoming GIMP gurus is the excellent "Grokking the GIMP" (ISBN: 0735709246, also available here). After merely skimming the sections covering the topics which were incomprehensible in the "GIMP for Linux Bible", all of these concepts became immediately obvious. "Grokking the GIMP" is packed with clear, full-color graphics, which reinforce the straightforward yet thorough coverage of the text. Start your GIMP education here instead, and you'll be glad you did.

As a professional geek, I've ingested countless books covering computer hardware, administration, programming, and software packages. After getting my hands on the GIMP, and a copy of the "GIMP for Linux Bible", I thought I had everything I needed to start exploring the wonders of the GIMP.

Unfortunately, this book was not up to the task. While the first few chapters were adequate for explaining the basics of the GIMP's interface, the discussion of the more complex (and more useful) aspects of the GIMP (such as layers, channels, blending modes, etc.) was thoroughly obscure. After reading and rereading these sections, I became progressively more confused.

The many illustrations, presumably offered to clarify the muddy explanations in the text, are rendered nearly useless by being printed in black and white. Images intended to show differences in various layer operations and blending modes turn out virtually identical without color. After hours of frustration, I gave up and went shopping for another book.

A much better choice for those interested in becoming GIMP gurus is the excellent "Grokking the GIMP" (ISBN: 0735709246, also available here). After merely skimming the sections covering the topics which were incomprehensible in the "GIMP for Linux Bible", all of these concepts became immediately obvious. "Grokking the GIMP" is packed with clear, full-color graphics, which reinforce the straightforward yet thorough coverage of the text. Start your GIMP education here instead, and you'll be glad you did.

The Saddle Club meets Trudy, a funky and fun-loving girl from New York City, who has come to Willow Creek for a visit. She shows absolutely no interest in horses, and they (unsurprisingly) begin to plot to reverse this. Meanwhile Lisa has finagled a job at a local newspaper and received permission to write a weekly column (hence the title) about life at Pine Hollow, which is also experiencing a series of petty thefts. When she makes insinuations over who the thief might be, she makes enemies, including her own friends. Can she heal relations with them, and can the club solve the mystery?

I think it could have been better.1)Carole was too hard on Stevie for playing a GAME 2)Lisa is much too smart to let something like friendship slip through her fingers.In this book, they make straight-A Lisa sound stupid! I really think this book could have been better.

The reason I beleive that is because, Lisa was being a total disappiontment! I mean who in their right mind, would let their friends down like that?!? She was totally blocking out the fact that they were really hurt about her column!!! And I also think Carole could've been a little easier on Stevie about the little game thing she played withSampson! I say this because I've trained all of my own horses, and sometimes they'll mind better if you take a minute or two to play aroud with them! Then again Stevie did play around too much. Also I think it was a real treat with Trudy in the story, I especially liked the little Topside inncident!!!

Lisa Atwood wants to be a reporter. She gets the job. But she rights her first coulm, telling everone about how Steive lost Carols 10$! Boy is she in for it. She makes Pine Hallow sound like a crime scean. While this is happening Judy, a girl from Washinton, has come to vist Steive. She sounds Cool! And fun!

Lisa's started wirting a column for the local newspaper, Hoofbeat. When the first of her articles is published Carole and Stevie get a little upset. But with each new article Lisa pushes her friends farther and farther away. She is only writing the truth, but she has to realize her mistakes before she loses her two best friends.

I really like the BSG series because these books are about girls my age with all the problems and concerns of a seventh grader. I really admire their friendships and how the girls try to be there for one another (usually). The girls don't require that everyone dress and act the same. They respect each other for who they are. The BSG also show that even though they are young, you can make a difference like when they raise money to save the local movie theatre in the fourth book! Promises, Promises isn't as good as the other books because it spends waayyyy too much time on the girls fighting about the election. I am not sure that I would have finished this book if it weren't for the fact that I had already gotten permission to read it for school. A little bit of fighting goes a long way!! However, I would encourage girls to read the first four books, I was sad when those ended and couldn't wait to read the next book!

I think this book is really good because it teaches girls (and boys) my age how to deal with problems between friends and cliques. I haven't finished reading it yet but it's really good so far and I hope it's even better when I'm done.

I really like the BSG series because these books are about girls my age with all the problems and concerns of a seventh grader. I really admire their friendships and how the girls try to be there for one another (usually). The girls don't require that everyone dress and act the same. They respect each other for who they are. The BSG also show that even though they are young, you can make a difference like when they raise money to save the local movie theatre in the fourth book! Promises, Promises isn't as good as the other books because it spends waayyyy too much time on the girls fighting about the election. I am not sure that I would have finished this book if it weren't for the fact that I had already gotten permission to read it for school. A little bit of fighting goes a long way!! However, I would encourage girls to read the first four books, I was sad when those ended and couldn't wait to read the next book!

this book is better than the other ones but i would never call it intense. i wish the books were more intense or just more real and not so goody two shoes. snore. i dont want to read shallow books or books where girls are mean or slutty but i wish the books were better or something. i was disappointed because i was hoping to find some new books.
and I am totally mad at all the fake reviews. my mom bought these for me cause she read a story about them then she read the amazon reviews and they were all excited about the books. they were so good and all. but they are not reviews by girls. this ones another fake review. iread 3 of these books i read one books reveiws that were ALL totally fake. i swear. like freinds of the author wrote them to not hurt their feelings. this one is not by a kid either but its more like a review written to try to convince parents to buy it. a good value? that sounds like an advertizement and not to a girl but to a cheap mom. the book is the same price as most other beter books. i think that makes it not a good value. that is not a review anyway. excellent content? my mom had to tell me content is a business or publishing word or soemthing but i asked my friends and my sister (we are 4th and 5th graders) we would never say that about a book. we read all the time. we recommend a new book called the penderwicks or go get nancy drew or penultimate peril or narnia.

I love all the BSG books. I read this one in 2 days. I liked this and Out of Boumds the best. Lake Rescue should be good. Anyway, the book is about the class elections. It is very intreaging! It was intense. I couln't wait to see who would win or who was the person taking posters down. It's easiest to read the books in order, that's how I did it, but if you don't, they fill you in. I think the book has excellent writing and content. The BSG books are my all-time faves. I can't wait one more day until the 6th book comes out. Also, this is a great value!

I was recently sentenced by my doctors (with my wife as unindicted co-conspirator) to frequent exercise at a fitness club. Since at first I couldn't find any doctors or serious medical literature who could tell me about the specific benefits I was supposed to gain from this, the evidence for them, or the process by which they were supposed to produce these benefits,(...), I decided to buy this book.

It is hard to find absolute purity in this world, but this book is close to being a pure waste of time. It presents no evidence for its claims, or even meaningful footnotes with references to evidence. The skimpy chapter bibliographies consist of references to publications by organizations of gym teachers with which the authors seem to be affiliated. The book is full of sentences like "While these psychological benefits are difficult to quantify, they are well-supported anecdotally, and represent important benefits." Anecdotal evidence is not evidence, and I've never seen a serious researcher on any subject claim that it is.

Or how about, "Exercise has also been shown to increase the brain's emission of alpha-waves...." Despite what it says in some of the less successful science fiction stories, the brain does not "emit" alpha waves, escept in the sense that the power cord of an egg beater "emits" 60Hz custard waves. "Alpha waves" is a name given to a certain rhythmic pattern of grossly measured electrical potentials in the brain.

I highly recommend this book for exercise bureaucrats who desparately need to finish off the year's library budget in a hurry. Anyone looking for facts or information should look elsewhere.

Having a educational and professional background in sport and exercise science, I found this book to be an excellent overview and refresher covering testing and programming for general and special populations. The information presented, while appropriately in-depth for those with a background in the field, is an easy read. However, the book may not be the best choice for someone who is simply interested in beginning an exercise program, or is otherwise unfamiliar with the field, as much of the information will not help one become more familiar or comfortable with a gym or exercise program. The chapter recommended readings are a great resource, with the majority coming from well-regarded journals and publications, and it is no suprise that this book has been endorsed by some of the top sport and exercise organizations in the United States. Certainly a great reference book for any fitness professional to have in their library.

perhaps a novice exerciser will not fully appreciate the real value of this book; that is because it is intended for people with training in the field, and as such is indispensable.

This informative little book is a quick read and the instructions and illustrations are easy to understand. It's a good introduction to country & western dancing for the novice.

This is a fun book and the instructions are really easy to follow. With a little practice, even a klutz with two left feet can learn to do these dances.

This little 54 page book included 3 pages of introduction, 1 page of ads, about 11 dances and about 4 country western steps. Three of those pages were for "Put Your Little Foot" if that tells you anything. As far as I could tell, the few drawings looked pretty much the same and were of no help. Save your money here.