M Books

This is best book on C++ templates. C++ programmers who wants to learn modern template programming should start reading this book first, no more no less.

Nicolai Josuttis has written by far the best book on C++ templates. His is literally the only work out there that makes any sense of the utter mess that is C++ template programming. Absolutely essential for anyone using the STL or (especially) Boost libraries.

I like all those description and examples: the topic may be complex, but really an interesting thing when enjoying it slowly.

I used the book when I was working on templates. Book is very clear and concise with proper layout of chapters. I was able to read relevant sections and get clear understanding. It is possible to get all information by reading C++ specs and other sources, but having this one book is a real time saver.

If you work on templates and have some doubts ever then have this book next to you.

The title says it all :)

To keep it really short and sweet, learning about C++ templates is really painful till this book came along :)

It's my opinion that advanced C++ developers use this book to guide them in understanding and navigating the world of C++ templates. It's simply easy to read and it has amazing clear presentations

A Child's Christmas In Wales CD: And Five Poems
Hurrah! Now I won't have to wait for the radio to play Dylan Thomas reading his wonderful Child's Christmas every Christmas. Truly a beautiful recording of the other poems as well.

My goodness, these illustrations are ugly. They completely detract from the beauty of the language. Either read it out loud to a blind person or stick with the version illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

This reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales is tops! It wouldn't be Christmas for us without hearing Dylan Thomas tell his story. He recounts a holiday of simple, family and neighborhood doings, and paints a picture of snowy, seaside Wales of the 1920's.

I love this story, as do all my children, who, from their earliest years, have not much struggled with the density of the language nor the scatteredness of the story. 5 of my 8 great-grandparents are from Wales, and the remaining 3 have the blood in them as well, so maybe it is like drinking water for us.:-D Our minds are all scattered, and words, even English words ;-D, fall on us in clumps....which makes it doubly hard to keep a clean house. LOL

The sort of prose-poetry imaginative way of seeing and describing the world unique to Welshwomen and Welshmen and Welshchildren, which does not seek to keep up the pretense that history can be separated from myth, story and desire, and which requires loving with eyes wide open to [and eventually embracing] one's own and others' bumps, bruises and idiosyncracies included, is extraordinarily well represented here. So, by the way, is speaking and listening to the close and Holy darkness!

My favorite version isthe one illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. To me she has captured the complexity of the Welsh personality best, though i have nothing to say against the other illustrators praised in these reviews. I DO have a warning for you: there are some skinny versions flying about which do not have the poem-story complete and correct. This sort of work cannot suffer removal or modification, IMHO.

gbg

If you have read A Child's Christmas in Wales, you know that it has to be a classic. But you can't fully appreciate it until you have heard Dylan Thomas read it. What a deep, expressive, poetic voice. For years, I have listened to the recording on a Caedman record. It is wonderful to have it on a CD.

The Ghostwriter & The Muse is an all-encompassing book:
1. About the hope a Mother feels that her beloved son will get well;
2. The love the two of them share and the promise they make to keep in touch, through eternity;
3. The courage it took to take all the steps necessary to write a book, not just about her son's transition, but the process of writing a novel; and finally,
4. The faith to continue through all the trials and errors to the ultimate achievement of publication!

I agree with the reviews already written and want to add that Madeline Westbrook, inspires hope in all of us who aspire to write a book one day. Madeline is a beautiful 71 year young lady who found it necessary to return to school to fulfill a promise made to her dying son. She not only had to return to school; she had to start from scratch -- she had to learn to type, to use a computer. She shares these trials with her readers in an infinitely humorous way.

A must read for everyone! Madeline will have you laughing and crying and when you finish you will be hopeful not only about love, courage, and faith but your spirit will be renewed and uplifted. Oh, did I mention - this book is not only a great read but an easy one - the print is big enough to see!

I ordered this book because it was written by a congregant at my church. It arrived on a Saturday morning and I did not put it down until I finished reading it late that afternoon.

Briefly, it is a story by the mother of a young and successful attorney who afflicted with cancer in the prime of his life. As he nears death, he reveals to his mother a plan to communicate with her after his death and asks her to write a book about the entire exprience. She agrees and is directed to a local university to take writing lessons from a man who was her son's favorite teacher.

Because of the family's Scottish heritage, one tool to be used in communication is to be bagpipes, which is also a favorite instrument of the son. Another method is through a local radio station which they both listened to.

After her son's death, an amazing series of events and "coincidences" lead her and the family on an incredible quest, from the local cemetary to a pilgrimage to Scotland and finally to a dude ranch in the Texas hill country.

This is a story of not only a mother's grief in losing her son, but but of searching for and finding a new hope as doors are opened and new and unexplained experiences bring the family into a closer sense of unity. This book is well worth reading and sharing.

This wonderful book adds to my list of spiritual events which serve to bolster my faith-based beliefs that loved ones who have passed are not truly lost to us forever.

Miracles of love do happen every day. The Ghostwriter and the Muse is one of them.

This poignant story of a bereaved mother's attempt to fulfill her son's last request touches the heart and feeds the soul. With humor and pathos, Madeline Westbrook creates a tale of searching, despair, and ultimate triumph over death. Mrs. Westbrook builds her bridge to eternity with courage and determination, and in doing so, she gives all of us hope.

The Ghostwriter and the Muse is a touching, beautifully told story and a source of comfort and reassurance to anyone who has lost a loved one. Having recently lost my husband, I had not yet been able to focus enough to enjoy reading novels again, but once I started reading Madeline Maxine Westbrook's book, I was not able to put it down until I had read it from cover to cover. What an inspirational bridge of love there is between mother and son! This mother's son must be smiling down from heaven, seeing what his mother has accomplished on his behalf here on earth---what a very special tribute and memorial to him, and what a special gift for her readers! Thank you to Margery, who was thoughtful enough to share this book with me.

I have been a faithful FoxTrot reader for years. Roger, Andy and their kids Peter, Paige and Jason are always good for a reality check with a large dose of laughter. I've got two girls and let me tell you, I see a lot of my kids in Paige with, I believe, even a healthy dose of Jason thrown in. And they have Peter's bottomless stomach. Of course, they're faithful FoxTrot readers too. I used to read the strip to them, explain what was going on, but now they get it just fine and we three all laugh together. Then my girls try and explain the strip to their dad, who pretends he doesn't get it.

The FoxTrot folks are a great family, one we sort of got used to checking up on every day, so we took the news that Mr. Amend was going to cease daily distribution of his wonderfully funny people and turn his strip to Sunday only, with a bit of sadness. Still, we have these terrific FoxTrot books to keep us going with our FoxTrot fix. Mr. Amend is to be commended for his great gift to our culture and his great gift to so many lives. I truly believe a laugh a day, helps keep the blues away and the FoxTrot gang are always good for a laugh. Heck there are a lot of laughs in the FoxTrot books. I know, I have them all and I am, along with my girls and my hubby dear, eagerly awaiting the next one.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we don't have an iguana, but my girls do have a pet gecko and, you guessed it, his name is Quincy.

I've been a Foxtrot reader for a long time and personally I think there is something suspiciously wrong with people who don't find Bill Amend's characters funny as all get out. If you want a good laugh, check out Bill in your local newspaper, or better yet, get one of the Foxtrot books. They are all great, really, they are.

Like many of Mr. Amend's fans I'm a bit disappointed he's switching his strip to Sunday-only, but fortunately I can still read him daily in the Foxtrot books. Get them one and all and you can keep right on a laughing.

Needless to say, this FoxTrot comic book is very funny. Needless to say, if you are a fan of comic strips of any kind, I would quickly usher a large amount of FoxTrot books your way.

The outrageous series in this book include:
-Sportschatter vs. Duke Nukem
-Titanic Craze
-Valentine's Day
-Power shut-out
-gotee magic
-finals week (always a FoxTrot staple)
-BittyBaby Craze
-X-Men the movie
-Jasondows98
-Football training
-mutant zucchini
-Tomb Raider 2
-Babysitting (for Mrs. O'Dell)
-Airguana
-First day of school clothes
-The 97-panel comic
-How to promote your comic
-Wind essay
-POST-Halloween craze

Now, you SHOULD just be imagining in your head right now the funny twist that Bill Amend puts on these. If not, well, you should!!!

Great job Bill Amend, you rock!!!!

If you don't think that getting 369 good laughs for 10 bucks is a good deal, don't buy this.

Great book! One of the best, actually. As I said in my other Fox Trot review, I just can't get enough! I dread the day Bill Amend decides to retire. May that day never, ever come!

This book is must for your collection!

I have always enjoyed the Foxtrot series, and this collection is a wonderful addition. The strips are very timely, so the pure bite might have faded a bit -- for example, references to Tomb Raider and Titanic seem a little outdated now -- but they still have the power to make me laugh out loud. Seeing Andy surrounded by Kleenex and sobbing because "My Heart Will Go On" is on the radio still makes me crack up!

Another winner from Bill Amend. Enjoy!

Little Critter and mouse return.

Little Critter is a cowboy who can lasso anything. Dad says "It's time for the cowboy to come inside and get ready for bed." Indoors; Little Critter, without his cowboy hat, boots, vest neckerchief and guns, sports a paper 'admiral's hat.' On the floor, his soldiers, tanks and mouse with a cannon look forward to their orders. "It's time for the general to take a bath."

An irritable Little Critter clothed in his 'jammies', toting his Bunny and none too anxious for bed is heading for the stairs on the cover of this Mercer Mayer work. Mouse is found sitting on the bottom tread. Just inside the cover on the title page we find another view, Little Critter is just as grumpy, however, the jammies are dragging on the floor behind Little Critter, stalwart mouse tramps at the side of buddy.

And so it goes, with his rocket in hand, Little Critter is a space cadet. Dad appears, and he carries the little space cadet to the bathroom where mouse is diving into a bubble filled tub. Before long; Little Critter is a sea monster doing violence to his bathtub ship. A slightly damp mouse is clinging to the ship when Dad appears holding LC's bath robe.

Snacktime finds Little Critter in the kitchen, peanut butter sandwich in one hand, chocolate chip cookie in the other. Mouse enjoys his cookie, surrounded by a horde of 'zoo animals' needing to be fed.

"Feeding time is over. Here are the zookeeper's pajamas."

Super Critter flies over the town, the train engineer is pursued by bandits. Once again Little Critter's patient dad reappears, little pajamas in hand, and a neckerchief masking his face.

"The bandit chief has caught you so put on your pajamas."

And, in a flash, a race car driver just speeds away.

A stern faced dad holds those pajamas, LC looks as though he may at last be bound for bed.

"I'm a bunny hopping around my garden."

Dad says, "Just go to bed!"

Protesting to the end, LC, quilt pulled up to his chin protests, "But I'm a bunny and bunnies don't sleep in a bed."

And the last page shows where a tired Little Critter bunny sleeps with his mouse buddy snoozing on his tummy.

I will admit, I read the Little Critter books a lot when my own children were little boys and again in my K - 1 classrooms in California. Because I love them as much as those children, I kept the books when I left teaching, perhaps forever, when husband and I moved away from California over a decade ago.

It wasn't long before I realized, 'you can take the teacher out of the class, but you cannot take the class out of the teacher,' or something like that. Every fall as the new school term rolled around the same old tug began. How hard, I wondered, will it be to turn a California Life Credential into one that will allow me to teach in Oklahoma... very hard I was told. So, filled with some trepidation I checked out the Oklahoma School site, downloaded the application and sent off my money order, found a position, and began teaching.

"You will hate it." I was told. "Kids today are a lot different."

I wondered whether to take Mercer Mayer with me to my classroom. These young, worldly wise, computer game playing kids may want something with a lot more jazz.

Yeah, right.

Little Critter, his family, Mouse et al are preferred as often as ever they were for 'free time reading,' for 'I'm the leader and I want this book read today,' and for anytime we have a little free time and choice is given as what to do.

"Read Little Critter to us." Is heard often and L O U D, in Mrs. Martin's first grade class.

The first graders in my class all giggle, talk about younger siblings or cousins doing precisely as does Little Critter when trying to prolong bed time. And, with sidelong glances they divulge that they too make use of countless of the maneuverings as well.

Mercer Mayer is a writer/illustrator who truly recognizes the psyche of young children. He presents child pleasing images adding to a most child pleasing read. Together that was an unconquerable combination twenty years ago, and it remains so today.

Permanent favorite Just Go To Bed is a must have for the pleasure reading shelf of little folks ages 2 - 6 and 7. Older kids may well sneak a peek when they think the grown ups are not watching. My former 4th graders, now 5th grade grown ups take pleasure in reading Mercer Mayer to 'the little kids.'

Happy to recommend Just Go To Bed for the classroom library, school, home school and public library catalogs.

Enjoyed the read, happy to recommend.

Molly Martin
Reviewer

There are other books on the subject that capture a child's interest better. Passable, but nothing to rush and buy.

Just Go To Bed was one of the first Little Critter books that I bought for our son. He was in so many ways our own "little critter". The character and our son felt the same way about going to bed and the frustrations and joys of growing up. Later we added a baby girl to the family and our own little critter also had a baby sister. Almost three decades later our little critter has his own son (who has a baby sister). All of the roles have shifted. Three generations in this family enjoy and appreciate "Little Critter" and his out-look on life.

My husband reads this to my kids ages 3 and 2 every night. My three year old has it memorized and reads it back to daddy too. Right after, they always go to bed!! It's the greatest book. They walk around the house pretending to be "little critter" telling everyone to put on their pajamas and "GO TO BED!"

My 3 year old daughter adores this book! We have literally worn out the cover. I am needing to buy another copy to keep this favorite alive. My daughter can recite the entire book and will look at the pictures even after we are done reading it before she falls asleep. It encourages the imagination and instills the message that everyone needs sleep. A must have!

This is a wonderful book, organized into 1-page-text-story with 1-page-picture. Great for bed-time story telling. Just pick up any story and kids enjoy it. Very appropriate for elementary-school-age kids. Highly recommended way to introduce mythology via short stories with great humor.

"The Little Book of Hindu Deities" by Sanjay Patel is a witty, fun, and refreshing guide to the goddesses and gods of the Hindu tradition. After a traditional opening blessing from the elephant headed god, Ganesha, Patel jumps right in with explanations on the Hindu trinity of gods, forms of the god Shiva, and manifestations of the Goddess.

What makes this book truly unique, however, is Patel's colorful interpretation of the gods. Each deity discussed has a full color cartoon-like counterpart. Drawing from his work at Pixar, Patel creates playful and whimsical images of the Hindu divinities that are both adorable and full of life.

The writing itself is also quite funny. In his description of Saraswati, for example, he writes "...Saravati enjoys playing her instrument, the veena, as loud as she wants and can sit glued to her favorite books, the Vedas, guilt free for hours...Gods, eat your heart out, because this goddess is not available or interested--that is, unless your have a library card or can play back-up sitar" (page 39).

For anyone interested in Hindu myth, "The Little Book of Hindu Deities" is a must. Patel brings the gods, heros, epics, and demi-gods of Hinduism alive in a way I have yet seen. Where else can you find the
fierce goddess Kali turned into a huggable power-puff girl? Simply too much good stuff!

Rating: 5 out of 5 magick wands!

This bright and cheery book is great for all ages. The illustrations are great and the author defines each God/deity so well and with a touch of humor. There are so many Hindu deities, that its hard to keep them all straight but this book makes it easy to remember. With each deity, its like reading a great story and the way that Patel envisions each deity is so fun.

The approach of the autor is really lovely and innocent. Evey story is full of love. I guess is a book for children over 10 years, I am 49 so I am over the minimun age to enjoy it.

I am a yoga teacher and I have read some of the stories with differente context. Even the most fierce deities are looked with love, this is the true value of the book and this is how the deities should be explained to any interested in hinduism

Pedro

In addition to a lifelong appreciation of Hinduism, I've been engaged in serious research for the last two years and of the 50 plus books i have acquired and scores more i've read, this is my favorite. It has great insight in a light, enjoyable presentation. Hinduism's broad pantheon is represented in a colorful, appealing and descriptive style. I've purchased about a dozen copies for friends - i can't keep one in my house! Every time someone sees it, they fall in love with it. It's such a fun book - even people who weren't interested in Hinduism are now! I Love It!

This book is based upon solid research of a natural substance that is nuturing every living thing. It is found in your own body.

One of the reviews here mentions the name "Bill Rich." Many of the statements about him are true, but he has nothing solid to do with MSM, other than he stumbled upon it and tries to sell it.

This book and Bill Rich should not be mentioned together (forgive me). Mr. Rich does not speak for MSM, anymore than a bad teleevangelist speaks for God.

Get the hardback edition of this book, it will change your life for the better!

I've been trying alot of things against my severe allergies since 1982.Tested in 1972 up-down my back.Nurse left for a min.I Turned Super-Red outside Burning up inside.Doc gave me a big shot of adrenaline.

In the 1990's those symtoms started to come back.On 5-11-2003 i went to Rainbow Grocery store.They sell alot of Herb type items there.I told the lady there i needed something really good for my allergies.She took me over to MSM quickly!

She also showed me the little handbook by Dr.Ley "MSM On our way back to Health With Sulfur".I started with 3 grams on 5-11-03 i now average 20 grams of MSM per day.It really helps w/allergies.
I'm 50 years old.When tested allergic to ALL Molds and Pollens.

Mold is hardest to Beat.MSM is helping against it too.

I've ordered 5 of The Miracle of MSM By Dr Jacob and Dr Lawrence.

Thank You amazon.com for the good prices on those Books!!!!!

MSM is wonderful for me. I have taken MSM for nearly 2 years now (off and on). I would quit taking it, just to see what would happen. It wouldn't take long before my pain and stiffness would return to my knees. I wouldn't want to go through life without MSM. I am able to go through life without pain in my knees when I take MSM on a regular schedule. I have had no problems taking MSM and I take 12,000 mg. a day. I use a powder MSM that I put in my water, which also encourages me to drink the water I need daily. I even use a MSM soap and lotion for my skin. It has helped my skin alot. I can't say enough good things about MSM. This is the first book I bought about MSM and would recommend it to anyone. I've also read many other papers and articles on MSM, plus I've read alot on the internet about MSM. In fact I've bought this book to give to other people. I am always telling the wonders of MSM to people. I wish you well and happy health.

This title by Drs. Jacob and Lawrence is by far the best word on MSM (along with product manufacturers dmso2.com etc).

I, also, prefer the hardback version of this book. It is out of print but I found that it is still available at the distributor (msmsupplement.com as mentioned by someone in another review).

I hope that there is a new, updated version of this book on the horizon, because I know that MSM is helping so many people with a variety of problems (e.g. Arthritis, Allergies, Energy, Joint and Muscle & Nerve Pain, Skin Conditions ...). I even give it to my dogs and cats now!

By the way, Dr. Lawrence (on of the authors) is the doctor of the famous actor James Coburn. Mr. Coburn now attributes his recovery from crippling arthritis pain to benefits derived from MSM.

This book is the best that you will get on MSM. It is written by the "father of MSM" (IMO), Dr. Stanley Jacob. Co-written by Dr. Ronald Lawrence, doctor of famous actor James Coburn...

Get the hardback edition - it costs less than the not-so-well-bound paperback. You will use this book as a reference for natural dosage, et cetera, so definately get the hardback.

If you are looking for a book that will greatly improve your game, and you are a solid chess player, then "More Unbeatable Chess For Juniors" is the answer!
There are a total of twenty four games with nice clear analysis, questions within the games to get you to think and analyze for yourself - and every move is explained.
This book will also help you improve your knowledge of many important openings with some very deep analysis (some games are like an opening book in themselves!). Middlegame strategy and tactics with the general rules being applied and explained is neat.
For a solid player this book is tops to continue to improve. On my Junior High School Team I am the top player rated over 1600 in the USCF (I started off with "Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors" when I was rated about 1000, and a year later got this book with my rating going up to 1300, then improved in a year to 1600). These two books were by far the most helpful in helping me improve the way I analyze and plan ahead.

Rated as an Expert by the USCF I at first thought, "a book for intermediate and advanced kids could never appeal to an experience adult player". I picked up the book for a couple of kids I have worked with but then started looking it over more carefully. And, soon I was deep into the analysis and games in this book! It isn't just a book for experienced chess kids - the analysis is deep where it needs to be, the analysis is clear and the author has great insight into how to teach. Games used in the author's actual lessons prior to writing the book has made the games and analysis tried and tested. This is one thing that makes this book different from the others that have analysis on a move by move basis (and I have seen about 3 others using this idea). This is the book that follows the author's "Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors", which I have also got ahold of. And, actually though the book covers more basic ideas, it was still helpful to me as well.
Just darn good solid lessons and excellent games for instruction! A very solid FIVE STAR BOOK!

There are thousands of chess books to choose from, and this holds especially true for an established chess player. Narrowing down which books are the best to get isn't easy. I will therefore try and point out why I feel that "More Unbeatable Chess for Juniors" should be placed high on your consideration list.

"More Unbeatable Chess for Juniors" will greatly increase your depth of understanding of many very important concepts in chess. The author uses his extensive knowledge, based on many years of teaching, to create lessons that implant ideas and the techniques needed to use them. Pure genius is an understatement. Knowing just what the mind of a 1000 to 1600 rated player needs to be fed makes is one major factor that makes this book superior to all others that use a move by move comment.

"More Unbeatable Chess for Juniors" is an expansion on this author's "Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors" (one of the most popular chess books written). If you are an average tournament player or above then having read the author's previous book(s) is not necessary to use this one.

Whereas, there is a heavy focus on opening concepts and lines, and important middlegame strategies there are several excellent endgames. Understandably, if you want to learn endgame technique, get an endgame specialty book. However, this book is packed with important opening lines not found in other books (some of the variations after 1. e4 c5 2. b3 - Sicilian, 1.e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Bc4, plus variations in the Nimzo-Indian, Queen's-Indian, Caro-Kann, Pirc, Modern, Scandinavian, Petrof's, Goring Gambit, Scotch, Ruy Lopez lines with the Marshall, Exchange, Keres, Birds and Steinitz variations, Benoni and Bird's Openings).

This book will also help you learn to plan ahead. Once again the words I will use to describe what you will find here - "pure genius".

AMAZINGLY CONCISE and ACCURATE analysis turned using instructive games as the format best describes "MORE UNBEATABLE CHESS FOR JUNIORS". As a strong player I got this book, not for a kid, but for myself! I wanted to learn how to handle the Queen's Indian Defense as Black, to handle Marshall Gambit, Petroff's Defense and Sicilian as White and found that the analysis (with much being original and unpublished) on the openings was fantastic. The SNYDER SICILIAN (named after the author of this book), 1 e4 c5 2 b3 is a viable alternative to the more common lines for White to play against the Sicilian. And, the most complete analysis anywhere is found in "MORE UNBEATABLE CHESS FOR JUNIORS". Therefore - if you want to learn your openings, especially if you play 1 e4, this book is an absolute must for that alone.

Now openings aside UNBEATABLE CHESS FOR JUNIORS covers important concepts and themes that the author has in mind to teach. The selected games were tried and tested in actual lessons before being included in this book (I agree with the other reviewers that this is what makes this book unique among others for the great insight the author has in understanding the thinking process of those who will learn from these lessons). You can check out the other reviews for some of the details of the actual material that is covered (I don't have all day to go there!). Therefore - there author tries to focus largely on teaching the openings and middlegame, but there are several excellent endgames included as well.

"MORE UNBEATABLE CHESS FOR JUNIORS" is the most advanced book in the author's CHESS FOR JUNIORS series (about 5 books) and is a continuation of one of the best selling chess books of all time "UNBEATABLE CHESS LESSONS FOR JUNIORS", also excellent, but more basic (would recommend it for players rated between about 700 and 1600, with "MORE UNBEATABLE CHESS LESSONS FOR JUNIORS" recommended for those who have completed and understood the previous book, or as a stand-alone only for those rated 1200 and 2400 - yes up to 2300!). The tiered analysis is unique and allows both books to appeal to a wide range of playing skill (unlike "UNDERSTANDING CHESS", which I would recommend for players over 1600 - though I personally feel "MORE UNBEATABLE CHESS FOR JUNIORS is superior).

*If you have read "UNBEATABLE CHESS LESSONS FOR JUNIORS" or are 1200 up to 2300 ability, then this book is a MUST READ for you!

What to learn how to recognize the most important concepts/patterns and how to plan ahead? "More Unbeatable Chess Lessons" provides 24 complete games that have been tried and tested in actual lessons by one of the most successful chess teachers of all time. This book is most suited for a player who is well beyond the beginning stage (it is more detailed and more advanced than "Logical Chess" by Chernev, and intended as a next book from the same author's best seller "Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors", which is recommended to start out with if you are rated under 1200).

Games are arranged by opening, and there is a nice variety. You can really learn a lot about openings in this book, as the analysis is detailed and deep (some excellent new analysis in a variety of lines). Not that interested in the opening? Well, you can easily skip over some of the long analysis and move right into the middlegame if that is your choice.
Some of the openings with excellent detailed analysis are:
<<< Ruy Lopez, Petrov's Defense, Giuoco Piano, Center Counter, Alekhine's Defense, the Sicilian 2 b3, Pirc/Modern Defense, Queen's Indian and the Benoni >>>

The games were mainly selected to cover important positional and tactical ideas that the author has used in lessons for years. There are a fair number of the author's along with a nice balance of games by other players (i.e. GMs Karpov, Spassky, Korchnoi, Tarjan, Tal, Kalinitchew, Gurgenidze, Chigorin and Ivanchuk). A major difference, besides being designed for more advanced players, over the author's "Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors" is that a lot of the games are newer (some being played after 2000). Together these books cover a massive number of openings and important concepts.

Perhaps understandably, as I have seen in a couple other reviews, the main focus is on openings and middlegames. However, it would be impossible to have too many games going into the endgame using a comment on every move without making the book very massive (and expensive). Though, there are several excellent games with good instruction in the endgame.

I appreciate the care, detail and accuracy that has gone into making this one of the best instructional/game collection books ever written.

I found this book to be so helpful. Although, it's a slightly older edition then the current one avaliable, it still got the job done.

I am a nursing student (will graduate in July) and this book has been an invaluable aid with all of the care plans I have had to do. As a matter of fact, most of my fellow classmates use this book or an earlier edition.

Nursing Diagnosis are not easy but this book has really helped. It gives you possible outcomes/goals.

I am a nursing student. I have 4 care plan books that i use when writing a care plan. I use this one alot because its: simply stated and i find rationales in it that the other books don't have. Its worth the money.

This is one of the best nursing diagnosis books on the market. It is easy to use, very understandable, and the layout is extraordinary. I use this book for all of my care plans and to cross reference with other care plan books. This book is every penny worth the cost.

I gave the book three stars. I found it just OK. I purchased the book due to the excellent reviews on this site. It was not as if I didn't enjoy the book but I found it far from the five star reviews that it is getting here. It didn't make me want to buy the sequel and I did find all the different stories a little confusing but I'm not sorry that I purchased it.

In a distant garden, a young girl with black-ringed eyes runs wild, the palace demon, sleeping under the cold sky. When a young prince is the first one brave enough to talk to her, she weaves for him a tale, read from the densely tattooed words that make up the bizarre marking around her eyes. Her tales are stories within stories that range from Princes and Quests to the light-filled Stars which walk the earth, from a sacred city filled with the Towers of arcane faiths to the last of the gold-hording Griffins. In these tales, everyone--no matter how evil--has a story, and nothing--no matter how good--is as simple as it first appears. Although the constant interruption of new stories can be frustrating, and Valente's prose can be over-heavy with similes, these are quibbling faults: In the Night Garden is lush and decadent, a peon to the art of storytelling. The stories are imaginative, the narrative voice is artful, the descriptions vivid and colorful in a way I've rarely seen. While I wish this first book (of two in the series) dealt more with the storyteller herself and had a more conclusive ending, the novel is a treasure and a joy to read. I very highly recommend it, and I look forward to reading the sequel.

The joy of In the Night Garden is Valente's storytelling. The author's voice is luxurious and rich with well-chosen words, a wide vocabulary, and a glut of similes. At times the language is too rich, and the style begins to feel repetitive, the appearance of similes predictable. On the whole, however, the language makes this a book to savor, deeply indulging in the short chapters as one would indulge in bites of a rich food. The book's plot is arranged in a series of stories within stories: the tattooed storyteller begins with one story, her protagonists meet people that tell stories--the folds become so elaborate that there are often four stories being told at once, each wrapped within the next. In order to keep this arrangement manageable, the chapters are short and the narrators often come back to their own stories, grounding the narrative and helping the reader keep track of where he is. The unfortunate side effects of this arrangement are the constant stops and stars and the fact that the tattooed girl's story is left largely unaddressed. The Prince, the reader's representative in the book, calls the narrator on her halting stories and her constant stream of new beginnings, and the style can indeed be frustrating: as soon as the reader becomes interested in one story, the narration sweeps into another. Furthermore, though the tattooed girl's story begins and frames the narrative (and so feels like the most important of the enfolded tales), it undergoes little change and no conclusion, making the end of the book feel abrupt and leaving the reader unfulfilled.

However, the arrangement of stories within stories introduces a level of brilliant complexity and interconnectedness that makes the book satisfying, despite the too-brief glimpses into the framing narration. The numerous tales introduce dozens of vibrant characters and magical locales, follows decisions and Quests, transformations and growths. Everyone, Valente insists, has a story--even the blood-shorn Beast, even the Witch's goose, regardless of whether or not he is good or evil. In fact, good and evil almost always have stories to tell--no matter how clear something seems at first, there are stories, there are complicating factors, things are never as simple as they appear. Finally, these stories are not independent of each other: they impact both storyteller and listener, and as the book unfolds many of the final story arcs are connected to stories from the very start of the book.

The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden features language as rich as chocolate and stories within stories that are as organic and as complex as life itself, always with a sense of meaning and magic. From the first page I was swept away by this book, and while it has its faults, and while I sincerely hope that the Orphan's story is better explored in the book's sequel, I hugely enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it to all readers. It is superb, readable and always enjoyable, a true delight, and has satisfying depth. If this book is at all appealing, I recommend you pick it up. This is a novel I'm glad to own and expect to reread, and other readers will not be disappointed.

A girl lives in the garden of a Sultan and is seen by others to be a demon, because she has dark eyelids and surrounding areas. However, as we find out when a boy stumbles upon her, they are really minutely tattooed stories. She relieves them night by night to this noble boy, and each story is interwoven within others much like how Scheherazade spun her tales, about monsters, creatures, Stars (we might use the term "Gods" and "Goddesses" instead, though these are not like the ones we have in our world), vengeance, love, among other things.

The world of her stories have their own mythology and societal norms that can be quite different from ours which I find commendable for creativity and making sure it is logical. It leaves on quite a cliffhanger. We also have interspersing narartives of the world the girl and the boy live in, and the obstacles they face trying to keep their nightly encounters. At times I would prefer the noble boy's behavior to be expanded upon, but I did appreciate how Valente mentioned his eagerness to hear the girl's stories overpowering his politeness.

I found it difficult to begin because I felt it jumped so easily among stories and I was never a good head with names and non-linear story lines, but over time it became easier and a very addictive book. Even before I was finished with the book I ordered the second and concluding book.

If fantasy isn't your genre, this book may not be one to read. It might require one to severely suspend reality and disbelief, but I find it easier to do so among straight fantasy than among some science fiction writing where I sometimes feel they take themselves far too seriously. Her writing style may be overly cliche or too poetic/lyrical so a little cynicism may be expected upon the reader's reaction (I know I did), but I began to see the vivid imagery and almost had the other senses affected as well.

this book arrived in a timely fashion and was in great condition as was promised.

I haven't read any fantasy quite like Catherynne M. Valente's The Orphan's Tales duology. This is the story of a young orphan girl who is shunned because of the dark smudges that appeared on her eyelids when she was a baby. She lives alone in a sultan's garden because people think she's a demon and nobody will claim her. However, one of the young sons of the sultan, a curious fellow, finds her in the garden and asks her about her dark eyes. She explains that there are wonderful stories written on her eyelids and that a spirit has told her she must read and tell the stories; Then the spirit will return and judge her. The prince loves stories, he begs her to tell him one, and so she begins.

The rest of In the Night Garden and its sequel In the Cities of Coin and Spice is a collection of nested stories that are interspersed with short interactions between the young prince and the girl with the dark eyes (somewhat like The Arabian Nights). These stories are all connected to each other, but each is unique and highly imaginative. There are fascinating creatures--many based on myths and fairy tales--like a monopod, two griffins, a necromancer, a wicked papess, an otter king, a woman with three breasts, three brothers with dog heads who become accidental cannibals, a leucrotta, a Magyr, a skin seller, living stars fallen to earth . . . and these are just some of those that I can describe in a few words (and I'm not giving them justice). The characters in The Orphan's Tales remind me of the Cantina Scene in Star Wars. The darker characters, (e.g., the wizard and the necromancer), are particularly excellent. Ms Valente's imagination for bizzarre characters and plots exceeds Lewis Carroll's and she never lets up. Each story is brilliant and brilliantly told.

And the prose is truly beautiful:

"He was very tall, and thin as a length of paper. His skin and cloaks were the color of the moon--not the romantic lover's moon, but the true lunar geography I had heard whispered by Sun-and-Moon Nurians come to buy glass for their strange sky-spying tools: gray and pockmarked, full of secret craters, frigid peaks, and blasted expanses. His eyes had no color in them save for a pinpoint pupil like a spindle's wound--the rest was pure, milky white. He passed three solid gold pieces over my mother's palm, and she shuddered in revulsion at his touch when the money changed hands. She handed me over eagerly, examining the coins like a fat pig snuffling at its supper slop."

"My mother had kept silent as a nun since the day my sister was taken from her. I was an infant when she vanished from us; I never knew that sister. But her absence stalked the house like a hungry dog. The hole where she had been took up space at our dinner table, it sagged and slumped in the musty air, it ate and drank and breathed down all of our necks. . . I grew up alone in that silent house with nothing but the stinking cows and my mute mother and the hole. Even my father didn't want to spend his days there; he stayed in the fields directing hay-rolling and goat-breeding until it was dark enough to slip back inside the house without anyone bothering him. But still, the hole answered the bell when he rang, and he had to scurry to bed with his head down to avoid looking it in the eye."

There are many more of these gorgeous passages to enjoy. My only complaint about the writing itself is that there are dozens of characters in The Orphan's Tales and they ALL talk like that. So, it's not very realistic, but I suppose realism wasn't exactly what Ms Valente, as a poet, was going for.

One other small complaint I have is that because the stories of The Orphan's Tales seem at first to be random and unrelated, it's hard to feel deeply involved with many of the characters because they don't stick around for long (except for the orphan and the sultan's son who don't do much but talk and listen). But, again, that's the point, because we learn at the end of In the Cities of Coin and Spice that all of the strange stories and characters actually contribute to, and explain, the history of the orphan girl. Perhaps that's a bit of a spoiler, but you'll enjoy the stories more if you realize that it's all going somewhere. And, besides, you're a clever reader, and you'll probably figure out that there's got to be something going on here besides just a bunch of beautifully-written, highly imaginative, unconnected stories.

But, the main reason I'm telling you this is because I know you'll get more out of your reading if you follow the advice I'm going to give you... Just trust me: Get yourself a pencil, a pad of paper, and a fine cup of caffeinated coffee (in my experience, a Starbucks Venti Latte works best). Sit down with In the Night Garden and read the first few pages up to the point where the girl starts to tell "the first tale I was able to read, from the crease of my left eyelid." This first story is about Prince Leander. Write "Prince Leander" at the bottom of your paper. Prince Leander runs into a gray-haired tattooed "crone" and a few pages later, she starts to tell her story. Write "crone," or whatever you want to call her, above Prince Leander's name. Soon, "crone" starts telling the story that her grandmother told her. Write "crone's grandmother" above her name. (I've got a picture of my own notes at FanLit.net) This is not the kind of book you can leave for a few days and come back to unless you have notes to tell you who was talking to who. Or unless you're a lot smarter than me ... which is certainly possible.

Highly recommended for the reader who appreciates beautiful prose, is willing to take notes, and is looking for something original. ~FanLit.net