Wood Books

The 1956 Amsterdam Candidates Tournament gave Vassily Smyslov a passeage to a second World Championship match with Mikhail Botvinnik.

This reprint of the original tournament book from the late 1950s, although at times the text is extremely fuzzy (it is only a reprint after all) gives a very good account of all the games played during the 1956 Candidates tournament, explaining very clearly how games were won, lost and drawn. There is always a clear understanding of what the players were doing throughout each game in the tournament, and its progress is monitored much more closely than any simple book on chess history or even many previous books I have read on World Championship matches.

There is also an excellent section dealing with the background to the tournament and how the contestants were expected to perform - and how they did.

An impressive document, easy to read despite the outdated (but familiar to me) descriptive notation used to make the reprint more affordable. Excellent investment for anybody interested in Chess.

Winning the candidates' competition is the ultimate and uniquely necessary passport to achievement of glory on the World Chess Championship stage.

Only four contenders in the organised history of the World Chess Championship have ever succeeded in winning the "Candidates" twice - these were Spassky, Korchnoi, Karpov and Vassily Smyslov.


Having won the 1953 Candidates and drawn with Botvinnik in 1954, Smyslov returned to the charge with an equally devastating performance in the 1956 qualifier, surging ahead of Keres, Bronstein , Spassky , Geller and Petrosian. Combined with the companion Hardinge Simpole volume on the World Championship Candidates Tournament of 1953 this book completes a record of staggering tournament expertise and determination by the immortal Smyslov.


The author is well known journalist Barry Wood, member of the English Olympiad team, Chess Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and for many years Editor-in-Chief of Chess Magazine, ably assisted by the former German (latterly Irish/South African) master Wolfgang Heidenfeld. As before the eye witness accounts guarantee the accuracy and depth of the notes

I have used this cookbook for years, and decided to order one for my daughter, since it is one of the best sourdough cookbooks around. The recipes are well organized, and the results are stunning! For anyone who does sourdough baking, the varieties are quite intriguing, and the occasional odd ingredients are not usually difficult to find, or substitute for. It's been around a while, but since Amazon.com has it, I'm delighted to buy it for gifts.

Most sourdough cookbooks fall into one of two camps: The hedgers, who add baking powder or commercial yeast to all their recipes, presumably just in case their starter doesn't perform as desired; and the purists, who never add extra leavening to anything. This book straddles the line nicely, providing both kinds of recipes sorted into sections to suit your mood and the amount of time you have available for baking. There is a great chapter explaining how sourdough works and why you need so much time to bake using it, and another devoted to the ins and outs of adapting sourdough for bread machine use. There is a section of recipes using commercial yeast and the regular bread machine cycle, a section using wild yeast and the bread machine cycle, and a section of wild yeast recipes using only the dough cycle.
The authors tell you approximately how many hours each step will take, which is very helpful when planning your baking, but I will confess to being somewhat turned off by the fact that they describe their starters in terms that seem to be specific to Ed Wood's dried starters for sale ('fast', 'slow', 'Russian', 'Austrian', etc.)
Aside from the odd spelt and kamut bread recipes, there are a lot of rye recipes in this book, pitas and rolls, a selection of bread flavors from around the world, and the very best plain sourdough French bread I have ever made. This book is a great addition to any sourdough baker's collection.

If you can only get one book on teaching writing using the Writer's Workshop model let it be this one. It's detailed, full of practical tips, but most important--you will be INSPIRED! I immediately started my own writer's notebook after I read this book. One caveat...this is not a book that you can pick up on Sunday night because you want to start the program on Monday morning. This book is written to be read and re-read, pondered and poured over. That having been said, this is NOT just a book of theory, it thoroughly and lovingly explains all the nuts-and-bolts of the workshop.

I love this book. It makes the writing workshop experience enjoyable. I went through Lucy Calkins training and then found Katie Ray and it all started to work together.

Not only did this book help me understand my thyroid and what it does, it helped my primary care giver diagnos my disorder. The book lists all the tests that should be done and what the normal levels should be and it has a great resource listing. It also tells how to trace thyroid problems in families. I finally have a handy resource book at home when I need it!

YOUR THYROID is the single most comprehensive and accessible reference on thyroid problems I have seen. It includes summaries of recent studies that other books lack, it treats the cluster of thyroid problems in a unified way, and raises issues of treatment with the same level of integration. Of particular help to women seeking in-depth information on thyroid issues.

There are a number of guides to the zone system and many have something to offer. The Zone System Craftbook (paperback) by J.C. Woods is one of the best. Much of the book is relatively elementary in the sense that people who know the zone system will find it light (but still worthwhile) reading - e.g. zones, zone relationships, placing gray tones, moving them, expansion, contraction, contrast, etc., etc.. The discussion of expansion and contraction is particularly picturesque and transparent. People who are learning the system will find very few books that are clearer. Wood's book has a modest number of illustrations, but they are entirely adequate to support the presentation. What this book does very well is cover the subject in extremely practical terms that can be immediately put into practice. Much of the presentation is not technical and it is unencumbered by elaborate details of testing or sensitometry. But, for those who wish to refine their technique, later chapters are devoted to a detailed approach to testing and calibration, with and without the use of a densitometer. The books will be very useful to people who are refining their use of the zone system as well as to folks who elect not to delve into a high level of perfection with technique. All in all, if you are interested in learning about the zone system, this is a book you will be very glad you decided to buy. There are others, of course. The Ansel Adams Guides (books 1 and 2) by John Schaefer are also well-written and really loaded with illustrations and useful information. They are much bigger than the book by Woods. Out of print now but also excellent is Schaefer's earlier (paperback) book, How to Use the Zone System for Black and White Photography.

It's the best zone system book that has been written so far. It is interesting and very easy to read. It doesn't get bogged down in useless information that fills up so many other books. It's concise and accurate. If you're serious about photography in the least, it's a required reading. It's a must for anybody who cares about his/her photography, unless you're Ansel Adams.

I wrote this book for people who want to make some different types of decoys. Maybe you don't have access to large chunks of wood, or maybe you don't have the tools to saw out large decoy patterns, even if you have large chunks of wood. This book will show you how a form of decoy was made around the turn of the century by people on the Eastern shore who were in the same predicament. It requires a minimum of materials and carving skill, but when you are done you will have a fine looking decoy. If you are an experienced carver, you can use your skills to add more details to the head area (such as glass eyes, more details on the face and bill, etc.).

We all face the problem of clutter;only some are better at solving it than others.If you are anything like me,you need all the help you can get.
I have read several books on the subject and on December 29,2005;I wrote a review on one of the best books I have ever seen on how to de-clutter your life;that being "Clutter's Last Stand" by Don Aslett,and has to be the all-time Classic. Most of these books cover esentially the same things; and where one stands out over another, is whether or not they motivate you in making changes.
This book by FC&A Publishing is also excellent in all respects and covers every aspect of clutter; and even though we all have worked at controlling clutter;we can still learn tricks, methods and new ways to get a handle on it.
Obviously; the first thing you have to learn and practice is avoiding adding more to what we already have. This book excells in covering the ways to avoid getting more stuff.
Another area where this book excells in is in tips and methods that can be used to store and organize our stuff;particularly for those who "just hate to get rid of something that is still useful".
One of the best ways I learned to determine if something is useless or junk is to just try giving it to someone.If they and a few others won't take it...then why are you keeping it? Also ,when you look at something and hate to get rid of it,ask yourself;"who's keeping stuff for me?".
It's a shame that there is no author associated with this book;but don't let that influence you in thinking that is a medoicre book. This book is excellent in every way;and if you read it and adopt some of the ideas in it,you'll surely improve your chances in winning "The War on Clutter".You will not only rid yourself of stuff you don't need;you'll save a lot of time and yes,money; gain a lot of space that has been lost to you,be able to find anything you own with ease,and feel a lot better about everything.
What more can you ask for from a book?

This is a nice, easy to read and understand book on livestock selection for the home aquarium. Worth a place on any aquarium keepers book shelve.

This book is so cute and little and just right for my gift baskets and gifts for showers and such. I loved the simplicity of it. It is affordable for us tightwads. Thanks, twins!

This book was writen for carvers who have a little time on their hands to create something, but not as detailed as a complicated carving. These are simple little bird and fish patterns, done in a folk-style method (both carved and painted). They make colorful additions to brighten up the home, and people love them when received as gifts.