Simmons Books

I have not read this book.....but it definitely has to be good because this photographer is awesome. I have seen her work in museums and it inspires me in my own art work. You definitely should take a look at this.

I've made several recipes from this cookbook and many others from Ms. Simmons other ones. They are all terrific, all work, and directions are clear. This one is great. I made a dessert that is a roll-up cake with lemon curd and strawberries. It was yummy, tart (add a little more sugar if you like it sweeter), and it worked! Served it with the raspberry and strawberry sauce and everybody had two helpings. Low fat, too! I love Marie Simmons; I also trust her recipes. Highly recommended.

I don't have this with me right now -- my personal copy is shelved in another city -- but I didn't want to miss this chance to recommend this book. So without being able to go into specifics, I'll just share the reason I bought it years ago: It haunted me.
I browsed it once at a store and thought I couldn't afford it, but the images stayed in my mind and made me go back to get a copy. The photographs are intimate, rich with atmosphere, and I thought I sensed the photographer's kinship and compassion in them.

This is an extremely useful and compact book. It is about A4 size, 96pp long and with softcovers

It is a really punchy and concise book about the Maori history of New zealand. It includes lots of early pictures and maps of Auckland with the sites put it. I really enjoyed this book because it talked of things which had long gone with European settlement and the suburbs - small lakes, rivers and even mountains removed or leveled to make way for houses, streets and growth.

This also has a small but good prehistory of the region (pre-European) including the conflicts, the tribes, the legends etc

It has some wonderful additional stuff, the nights of the moon which was the Maori calendar (the days were described by the moon. there is also a Maori place-name glossary in the back for auckland names and include a brief description and sometimes possible reasons for it - whether pre-european or not.

There are several turn of the century pictures around Auckland. which show how isolated Auckland was then, now a city of over 1 million people.

My main problem with this is two fold. Firstly I think the maps need to have the current Auckland names on them. Using the Maori names is really great, but it makes it difficult to relate it to what is there now without better references in it. Secondly I think the whole of the Gulf should have been included. There is some brief reference to it such as Rangitot and briefly Browns Island, but I don't understand why Waiheke is not included. Maori were very mobile with canoes and trading, and the island is a short hop from Maraetai - if not Auckland itself.

Otherwise I think this is a great book and we will be recommending it to any visitors to Auckland. I think it is one of the best reads, and easy to follow. It is really enjoyable and has an air of authority about it as well.

This was one of the better books I have seen in the MCSE for Dummies series. Very short and to the point, for such a big exam (4 hours). The author's witty style kept you interested. I read this the 2 weeks before I passed the exam.

Alex Ogg did a superb job in his book on Russel Simmons and Rick Rubin, founders of the record label, "Def Jam". Ogg gave the men who launched the careers of Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and other stars of hip hop their props. While I found it was an insightful read, I discovered that homorous touches and memorable moments abound throughout the book. Since I am an fan of the Beastie Boys, I enjoyed the early part of the book which dealt with the rap/rock phenomenon in the 1980's, although I was a bit dissapointed that Ogg didn't delve more deeply into how Rubin got to be friends and roomates with Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock of Beastie-Boy fame.) Nevertheless, Alex Ogg, a gifted writer, knows how to put together a good Def Jam history book, and without a doubt loves hip-hop very much.

Montana Surrender was a pretty good book. I wasn't too thrilled at the beginning strated to become a mystery as to who was who & what everyone's relationship was too one another but the author did a pretty good job at dropping clues & I put all the pieces together pretty quickly so even though I figured it out the chrachters still had to figure some things out & it all comes together for a great ending to this book. The ending to this book was just awesome. I found that I couldn't get the smile off of my face. The romance scenes were some of the best I've ever read in this book. If you like playing a bit of detective while reading you will probably really enjoy this book but if not it's still worth it.

The follow up to Construction: Principles, Materials & Methods is Olin's Construction. The book is both detailed in the same old editions fashions however the drawings and reference images still have that text-book feel and are circa 1980s and some even 1970s. Some more modern methods are not covered which is a problem however many other "modern construction" books handle those. The basics are still where it's at and this book is a great reference that would fit nicely on your architecture, construction or building technology shelf. I'd really give it 3-1/2 stars but rounding makes it a 4 out of 5. To improve it would need to update drawings and images and also include more information on topics such as restoration; historic preservation and of course the ever changing advancements in modern construction. Also, the next edition should have details/topics about Green Construction of which I have found none thus far.
I had the 5th edition as a student 12 years ago and wanted the updated version. Much of the information is the same and it's a toss up if you should get this as an update instead of say Allen's book.

It took two readings of this book for me to appreciate its value. Only the first half deals with a trek with Kit Carson. I expected more. Carson plays an important, but secondary, role in the story as a whole. The authors descriptions of New Mexico, Santa Fe, and the trail to Independence in 1868, after parting with Carson, acts as a supplemental piece to 'Wah to Yah' and other first person accounts of earlier Sante Fe Trail tales. His accounts of New Mexican priests is a perfect preface to Paul Horgan's 'Lamy of Santa Fe,' first Archbishop of Sante Fe, who was French. The author's style is flowery but vividly informative. It was better the second time around in my opinion, but worth the trip.

This is a fascinating read about the Middle East at the turn of the century. The writing is good and the stories quite incredible, especially those about the adventures of extraordinary women travelers (early feminists).