McDonald's Books

Loved the book - cover to cover. The pictures are great too. Anyone interested in the Indianapolis area, especially it's beginnings, would do well to buy this book. I have actually purchased 5 additional books to give as Christmas gifts!

Lost Indianapolis contains a history of eleven aspects of the city. Loaded with photos mostly from the Indiana Historical Society, it really brings home the feel of life in Indianapolis way back when. Unfortunately, as one other reviewer noticed, the book is chock full of grammatical and typographical errors, which make it somewhat painful to read. Hoosiers are already known for having an exceptionally poor education system, and this book will not lead anyone to believe differently. Definitely worth reading, but not worth the price, as it leaves much of the city's history unexplored and unaccounted for.

I truly enjoyed the concept of this book. I agree with the previous reviewer that the photographs are exceptional in that they often depict the history of a subject as well as the present.

I am quite disappointed, however, in the editing (or lack thereof) of the book. It appears that the manuscript was put together in haste. The editor and/or the publisher really fell short of their job.

Because I was born, and still live in Indianapolis - and my family history began in this city around 1850 - I looked forward to reading each of the chapters. Unfortunately, the frequent grammatical and typographical errors really distracted from the content. If the work had been edited, it would have a home among other treasures on my bookshelf. It is sad, however, that I would be expected to pay even Amazon's discounted price for a piece that could have truly been a treasure - if someone had just taken the time to edit it.

I grew up in Indianapolis and really enjoyed reading about all of the things that have gone away since I was a little kid. I used to love Burger Chef, and the downtown Ayres store. I remember the Riverside Amusement Park sitting closed there for years when we would pass it going out to the Speedway.

The author also has a webpage called "Lost Indiana" which talks about some of the Lost Indy topics, but also some other neat sites in the rest of the state. You could google this to find it.

Thanks to all who have made this book one of the best selling titles on Indianapolis. I had a great time writing it, and am working on a couple of follow-on projects, including one specifically about Burger Chef - so send me mail at webmaster@lostindiana.net if you have stories about Burger Chef to share.

About the editing - there is a major typographical error in the book, in that "Ayres" is spelled incorrectly several times. There are also a couple of other editing errors.

What happened? Very simply the final edited version was not the one printed! Though a mixup with the publisher, one of the pre-edited versions was actually printed.

The good news: the next printing of the book has the errors corrected. This is especially good news for those who buy the book now, because you'll have the "first edition", a real collector's item. :)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

I purchased this book in hopes of finding many of the toys that I collected when I was a child. Many of the toys I have are from the early 1980's. A cursory glance did not show many toys before 1988. Astrosniks weren't even included, and they were quite popular! I'll be searching for a book that focuses on toys from the 1980's. If you're looking for a book that has toys from the early days, this is not the book for you.

Good book, although they could devote a whole volume to Grimace

This is one of the best McDonald's collectibles books I've seen! This book includes detailed color pictures, very accurate descriptions, release dates, and an estimated value for a wide variety of McDonald's figures including premuims released in the United States and Internationally. A very thorough and informative guide to McDonald's fast food toys!

I love this book. I looked at this book in a bookstore. This books has all the toys from 1970 to 1997. I aslo love eating at McDonalds.

This book is for all, not just those who collect McDonald's memorabilia. My son loves to look at all the pictures and it is excellent to see all the different sets of toys, cause you can never usually get all the happy meal toys of a series. I highly recommend it!!!

Why not have McDonald's have a substitute for a value meal instead of french fries, like your potatoe pancake. Have your express in Hempstead, Nassau County, Long Island, New York, have thick or milk shakes, like you do hot and cold drinks. PLEASE GIVE TO MCDONALD'S

Needs to be update

What luck to run accross this wonderful guide the first time searching for such a book. This is a very large book, with color pictures of all type of McDonald's collectibles-in addition to all the happy meal toys. It also provides a facinating history of how the business got started along with pictures of the founders and the 1st restaurants, also included are pictures and values of memorabilia such as uniforms, paper french fry bags and the large ride on toys and Ronald figures used inside the restaurants. This books gets a A+ from me.

this book contains not just Happy Meals from the beginnings of McD, but all other types of McD collectibles like tableware, clothing, Christmas things, sports cars & cards, etc. etc.

This beautiful 352 page identification and value guide has been updated with 1999 prices. It contains over 2,300 full color, large, sharp photos. Provides collector's tips, the McDonald's Story, the early days and more history. Nearly every type of McDonald collectible is included. Every category is clearly described. A valuable reference work that will be referred to often !

The book would be okay if it had the antedote to the line: e4 g6 d4 bg7 nc3 c6 nf3 d5 e5 because after h5 which they reccomend, white justs gets the advantage. They call it the main-line, but they dont have any original analysis of how to neaturalize white's inititive. IF you play for the tournament its fine, but for correspondence chess, you'll just be lead to a bad position.

After reading the other comments on this book i can conclude some things regarding the taste of several players.
As a veteran in tournaments i learned to appriciate the factor of psicology, you get that when you surprise your enemy or when after several weird moves that look bad then you get to a better position or to a equal position. The advantage of the modern defence in this area is that is completly weird and very positional and if white dosent know how to establish a good plan the initiative will be all yours. Remember somehting: this defence is not a very popular defence, not to much people plays it and most of the time white will just develop without knowing what the black is doing. If you are a hard line sicilian then you will find these opening a little boering but if you like positional and strategic positions and the psicologic advantage buy this book, read it, think of it and even if you dont like the defence you will enjoy several good strategic games.
I am a 1800, and recently with this opening i got a +2-0=1 in my last tournamet, one of the victories was aginst a Fide Master that just didnt know how to confront the accelereted Gudernidze and it was pure psicology since the first moves.
I do recomend this book to the Liddle Hart Chess fans, also read a military book that is called "Strategy" and learn about the indirect aproach so you will get a better idea of the modern defence. Enjoy.

What a boon to players of the Modern, to have this excellent collection of modern annotated games by wuch gifted writers as Speelman and McDonald. This is a most welcome addition to my "Modern" library, which includes the two works by Stephen Gerzadowicz, Winning with the Modern by Norwood, and Chee Master Meets Chess Amateur, also by Norwood. I am well-equipped to play my favorite opening, and it is one that I will be able to play as black probably 80% of my games!

a great job on the the modern defense, not just reams of analysis. the authors are interested in teaching the nuances of the modern with the importance of move order in attaining a viable position. not just wins for black either, you feel as if this is an objective treatment of the modern, different than a lot of others where black has no problems. highly recommended!!!

Believe it or not but there is a single opening that allows you to meet, E4, D4 C4 or virtually anything else that can be thrown at you. Yes its the Modern, why its not a lot more popular escapes me perhaps its because you have to play a passive first 7 to 10 moves. Maybe it falls in the gap of knowledge that you need to understand when to counterattack, which comes only with experience. The Co-author Jon Speelman was a world championship semi finalist and continues to be one of England's best GMs. There are 51 full games, players include Gulko, Anand, Petrosian, Yusupov, Gurevich, Polgar, Shirov all top class players. The Modern is full of ideas and easy to learn but I suspect hard to master at the highest levels. At the GM level you want an aggressive attacking opening with deep lines that allow you to introduce an innovation on move 18 and ambush your opponent! Opening books fall into two categories, lots of full games and limited variations or partial games and a mass of variations. This book follows the first approach, which is why you should use MCO or NCO as well to flesh out the variations. Better still use "Winning with the Modern first" or jointly (Like I did). Key variation is 3) , c6 this avoids the Austrian attack (With all its theory) and still retains excellent chances. What this book delivers is a master strength opening that will allow you to perform 100 Elo points above you rating if playing someone who does not know how to meet the Modern. At the very least you will be in an opening that you will be more familiar with than your opponent. At the higher levels there are more popular openings but in terms of maximizing your time this book will give you a solid opening with the minimum effort. Book quality is excellent as is lay out, most pages have two diagrams per page. In my opinion the book as a games collection is worth the price especially if you are paying $6.99. A little bit about myself, I am returning back to chess after a long lay off, three of the guys from college that I used to beat very easily are now Fide Masters so I figure that once I am booked up I should by at the IM level shortly. 4 Stars as I feel you need to use MCO to fully implement your knowledge from this book.

I first read this book many years ago and the feelings of rage and injustice are still very sharp. My late father was an Army MP and then a deputy sheriff and I remember how my world was turned upside down by what happened to poor Steve Titus. And of course I always felt that the cops should have been punished somehow. Not just for what they did to him but because of all the women who landed in the crosshairs of a serial rapist who went undisturbed by a real investigation.
Whenever I hear people gossiping about the justice system and how we coddle criminals and how lawyers are morally as corrupt as their clients, I always ask, " Do you remember the Predator case?" To date, nobody I've ever asked has ever heard of it. When I tell them, they tell me it's not true, or that Titus must have done SOMETHING!! Some will question me about being related to a victim, or being one of the attorneys. For the record, I work in a warehouse and I don't know anyone in the book.
This book was the first in the genre I ever read, and got me hooked on true crime. I recommend it to everyone, especially as a first attempt at non-fiction.
I also recommend 'All sHe Ever Wanted' by Aphrodite Jones (it's the book that was made into the movie 'Boys Don't Cry" with Hilary Swank; and 'The Michigan Murders' whose author I don't recall.

This was a case of police creating evidence to fit crimes. As I first began to read Predator, I thought it was going to be a shallow account of mistaken identity, but as I got further into it, I was totally caught up in it. How sad that in the police's efforts to clean up a case, a man's life was ruined. Nothing can make up for the railroading of Steven Titus and how it ultimately affected his life and death. Jack Olsen succeeds in delving into the case and all the personalities involved. This is an excellent book.

I'd expected the book to be good, but it was excellent. I highly recomend it to all true crime fans. The book gave just enough background, just enough of the trials, just enough opinions etc. It was very informative and such a compelling read. I was already familiar with the wrongful conviction of Steve Titus, and found Olsen's account to be quite accurate and compassionate.

I am a fan of thrillers and suspense books. Books such as this go far in proving that real life events can be far more terrifying than anything we read in fiction. Any fan of real life crime, criminal psychology or of books about our criminal /judicial system really need to read this book.

There are two aspects to this story...more if you want to start considering the many rape victims left in Mac Smith's wake. The first aspect is Mac Smith himself. The story goes very far in explaining how personalities such as Mac Smith's are formed. Jack Olsen portrays Mac as a well-rounded individual, even a likeable person. Yet, Mac is truly twisted and sick. Extremely manipulative. It is frightening to know that this person could be out on the streets in another 4 years...

Then there is the story of Steve Titus. This is, perhaps, the most frightening part of the whole story. It really makes you wonder how often innocent people are convicted of another's crimes. This man suffered for 8 months...through his arrest which he jokingly thought was all a mistake, a trial, a conviction, and finally numerous postponements of his sentencing before his innocence was finally proven with the assistance of a news reporter. His life was destroyed....he lost his job and eventually the woman he loved.

This book is a truly compelling read. I read it in one day of nonstop reading. After reading this book, the next time you hear someone in jail profess their innocence, you will hesitate before you sneer and say, "Yeah...that's what they all say..."

If you are a fan of True Crime, then get your hands on this book. Jack Olsen is one of the best True Crime writers around. Not only will this book keep you on the edge of your seat, but it will also enrage you at the injustice put upon one man. I highly recommend this book.

Massively oversized hardcover, glossy pictoral covers, 525 pp; my copy is new, perhaps because no potential reader could lift it. over 900 color and b/w photos, just about anything you'd want to know about Chow Chows; over 7 1/2 pounds of book, priced to compensate for projected expensive shipping costs (really, really BIG book) Essential to the Chow Chow lover, including history throughout the world, breeding, selection and puppy care, judging and conformation of the Chow Chow, obedience (such as it is with Chows), pedigrees, kennel histories, and much much more.

I contributed 12 photographs to this project and at the time it was printed...this book did a good job of showing where the Chows where today. Also mentioned were the Kennels that raised the Chows and showed them in the ring. If you want a good quality Chow, then I think you should go with a breeder. I have owned 5 Chows and still have a white male that runs the house.
Full blooded Chows are a joy to live with...It was a great
experience to be a part of this project...

Dr. Draper has gathered and shared more valuable knowledge about the Chow Chow. Great work by a great man. Every Chow Chow owner should own both of his books before they take it upon themselves to bring one of these wonderful creatures into their lives. The knowledge is priceless.

Compared to the other books specifically on Chow Chows, this book is better. However, that is not saying much. A real good book would deal more in-depth on the care, genetics, potential health problems and their cure or prevention, and breeding (whether to breed or not). Also important would be a more detailed and illustrated chapter on what to look for and avoid in the Chow. Other books, including this one, tend to overemphasize pages and pages of glossy photos of show winners, their kennels, their trophies, etc. - none of which are really helpful to the average Chow owner. A good book would stress the importance of health and functionality over show dog looks (which are influenced by passing fads, often downright harmful to a dog.) I sincerely hope that chow breeders get away from overly stocky, overly built chows who can't trot without panting heavily because of overly short muzzles, Chows with overly thick eyefolds that obscure their vision, Chows who don't whelp naturally because either their puppies have overly big heads or their anatomical structure no longer accommodates natural whelping, and chows that can't move right because they are not built right. The greatest travesty to Chows would be reduce the once proud, independent, working dog to a man-made freak like the English bulldog.

The World of the Chow Chow is absolutely fantastique! It is filled with stunning photos and an abundance of information on each Chow that is proudly displayed - it is only equaled by Isabella Milani's Chow Chow Champions of Europe in quality and it blows every other Chow book out of the water. Sure, it's a little bit pricey but it is definitely worth every penny. You will not regret owning this book.

Stephen Ash does an outstanding job of telling the story of four people living during The Civil War, and how their lives drastically changed as a result of the war. A Year in the South tells the story of four different people living in the South, season by season throughout 1865. Ash brings the reader inside the lives of these four people and explicitly details every problem, every setback and even every accomplishment that occurs within their lives which allows the reader to feel remorse for Cornelia and cheerful for Louis. This book is an amazing recreation of The Civil War era whether you read the entire book, or just each season from a single person's life.

Wonderful way to tie several story lines into each other while revealing true stories from the Civil War. I'd recommend this for anyone interested in the history of this period.

I highly recommend this book. The stories are captivating. I didn't want it to end. As the review states, this book is about the lives of 4 ordinary people who lived through the Civil War. You will get caught up in the people and their lives. It's almost as if you know them personally. Great book!

Would you like some real insight into the lives of your ancestors during a portion of the Civil War? Do you wish you could take a time machine trip back to 1865 and feel what it was like for ordinary people, without Hollywood glamour, without layers of historical filters?

Read this book, wherein author Stephen Ash recounts how the last year of the War Between the States affected the lives of four very different, very ordinary people. One is a widow struggling daily with crushing poverty. Another is a young man developing into a preacher. One is a former Confederate soldier trying to establish a new life and avoid the chaos around him and the fourth a slave whose inner desire for liberty cannot be extinguished. The travails and emotions of these people are easily recognizable to us today. In some measure you can vicariously experience this momentous period in our history through them. Their stories are individually compelling and wrenching for different reasons but you will not be able to escape caring for them.

Ash follows each person through 1865, the year that saw the end of the war and the end of slavery. They each saw the year from very different vantage points but separately and together their stories reveal the typical. Ash avoids being broad, which would be vague and unsatisfactory to the reader. Further, he makes no judgements and allows these individuals to simply be who they are. What results is less the glossy, two dimensional portrait that one often finds when reading biographies of famous people and more the familial.

I found the book captivating and I highly recommend it.

This book is a very, very good read. I am normally a very slow reader, but I finished this book in about two weeks. I read it before I went to bed, I read it at work, I read it in my spare time. I just couldn't get enough of it. The book follows four people in the South--one a slave, then a freedman; one a widow and refugee; one a former Confederate soldier who is moving towards the priesthood; and one a preacher who has lots of idle time--in differing locations. Their experiences tell the tale of the experiences of many Southerners at this time in history. As the author states in the foreword, though, this book does not attempt to claim that the experience of these four people can tell the tale of the entire South in 1865, but it gives us an understanding of what the experience was like for some people. The book is also interesting because most books of this nature stop with the end of the Confederacy, but this book deals with the whole year, so we get the reaction to the slaves being freed, Yankees occupying the South, the quest for jobs, and more. Overall, the book is well written and extremely interesting.

The 101 "tips" aren't really secrets, but more of common sense packaged in one place.

As a professional speaker and consultant running my own business and personal development business TheInspirationalEdge.com being just one of them, I refer to it once in a while for inspiration and confirmation that I'm doing fine.

I think it'll be particularly good for you if you're just starting out in public/professional speaking.

Hope this helps and remember to keep having fun - whatever you do.

Easy to read straight forward style. Author does not talk down to you like so many other public speaking books. Great tips on how to get started and how to improve in many, many ways. As you read each tip you know you are going to use it as the tip is so well reasoned. It would be an excellent first book on speaking. This is one of the most wisely organized books I have ever read. Dance around from subject to subject with great table of contents and index or plow though sequentially Read the book in one day.

A excellent Hand book to any Interviewer

True to the title, Ms. Krannich outlines, in a sensible order, 101 eminently useful tidbits on public speaking. She covers everything from the speaker's posture to controlling anxiety to the actual environment of the room, giving fledgling speakers insights that might have taken years of trial and error otherwise. True, there are limitations in the user-friendly self-help style Ms. Krannich adopts. At times , things seem a little too overly simplified; at other times, she doesn't explain enough why the technique is useful. Most of the time though, she offers well reasoned common sense. Definitely useful.

As part of my Lotusphere preparation, I read the book 101 Secrets Of Highly Effective Speakers by Caryl Rae Krannich. As the title indicates, it's a series of short "secrets" (tips) on how to make effective presentations. The tips are broken up into categories such as Plan To Exceed Expectation, Build Your Body - Your Speech Body, Close With Power, and Prepare Like A Pro.

This isn't a "program" to help you overcome your fear. Instead, it's more like a buffett of ideas. Most of the ideas are common sense, and will strike you as "I know that already". If you've given presentations before, or if you're an experienced presenter, you might not take much away from the book. But if you're just starting out on the speaking trail, the information in the book will help you to focus your efforts.

Well, I'm glad I read this book after giving up on "Carioca Fletch" (hint: stay away from that book). This is a very good book that grabs your attention and keeps it all the way through. The one thing I didn't like about the book (and it might just be a function of the genre and not a fault specific to the book) is that the "solution" to the mystery is not one that you really have any stake in finding. Essentially, you're hit with more information at the very end of the book which gives you a surprise ending. That aside, it's still a very good, fun book that's well worth reading.

This is one of the fastest moving and most interesting of the Fletch novels. I have read it 10 times now at least and love it more each time!

I don't like it when reviewers reveal plot points, so I won't. Suffice to say, if you like other Fletch books, you will like Confess, Fletch. If you haven't read any Fletch boosk, you might want to start with Fletch, which was adapted into a funny movie starring Chevy Chase.

Irwin Maurice Fletcher (Fletch) arrives in Boston, and finds himself the prime suspect of a murder of a woman he has never met. Enter Inspector Francis Xavier Flynn, the ONLY inspector of the Boston Police Department. Against his every wish to bring Fletch in for arrest, he bumbles about in his own way until the real killer is caught.

This book is extremely entertaining, with lots of one-liners by the dry Flynn to keep one laughing. Fletch is also at his best, mixing a murder investigation with an art-theft investigation of his own.

Quite an enticement to read other Fletch books, as well as the three resulting books about Flynn (way too few in my opinion).

McDonald brings the heros of his two great detective series, Irwin M. Fletcher and Francis Xavier Flynn together for their only joint appearance on the printed page. The result is a quite satisfying story in which someone attempts to fram Fletch for murder. Fans of either series will love this fine entry into both of them.

I have to agree with the initial reviewer here and warn veterans not to waste their time with this work just in case they have it on their wish list. I'm not sure why I did as the book certainly does not pretend to be something it is not. What it happens to be is an excellent manual for youngsters or for brick & mortar veterans who have never played a hand online. Deal Me In is a totally comprehensive compendium of poker information. The book covers absolutely everything a beginner would ever want to know from the history of poker to the history of online gaming. Candid advice is given regarding the legal ambiguities of virtual gambling, and the author provides guidance on everything from depositing money to cashing out, what you hope to be, your millions. There's not a part of the online universe that Mr. McDonald does not interpret, so, if the reader is thinking about making the lucrative (or expensive) plunge into internet poker, I seriously encourage purchasing this one-besides, it's one of the few poker books available which remains cheaper used.

This is the one book I would recommend to anybody who wants to start playing online poker. For real. I got this book as a gift, and it's the one I keep coming back to. Covers all the real world stuff about the online game, plus it's pretty funny.

I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed when I read this book. I was looking for information on online game theory and what I got was alot of research about current online site trends, how to set up an account, plus a history of poker. In fact the only sections on strategy at all come during the last 20-30 pages or so. I grant this book 4 stars as it is well written, and the author does admit he is a writer who loves poker, not a poker pro. If you have no experience with online poker, please read this book it will save you tons of time and research. But if are already in the game, avoid this one and look for a book that goes deeper into tactics and strategy.

This book helped me avoid making amatuer mistakes as a new online poker player! Added pluses are humor and author's clear knowledge of how the online poker business works.

What I really liked about this book is that it avoids all the hype and focuses on the online game, how to find the good deals and avoid the pitfalls. Funny and entertaining writing style, and an obvious love and respect for the game. Just well-written and has more depth about all the various aspects of online play - etiquette, history, legal stuff, real-money issues, etc. Strategy section is short but sound.