Personal Pages Books

I didn't expect to get much out of this book but I found myself highlighting and underlining things. It was definitely useful and I definitely recommend it. It's not just for people who want to save their marriage, it's for people who want to improve, or keep their marriage successful. And there really is no way to change your spouse so don't anticipate it will work like that.

My marriage was in despair and I bought this book, read it through with my wife, and worked hard, and now we're doing much better. The book did not provide a magic solution to our wedded woes; but it did do everything it said it would and now my wife and I are looking forward to many happy years together. Thank you Dr. Kotin!

How to Change Your Spouse and Save Your Marriage by Dr. Joel Kotin, MD is just about the best book I have ever read on the real dynamics of marriage. A noted psychiatrist and family therapist, Dr. Kotin has brought a quarter century of expertise to a clear, comprehensible book that looks at how the partners to a marriage can keep the flame of love burning by understanding that change and compromise can be achieved without destroying the bond. I think this book should be given to every couple entering upon marriage and will prove invaluable to every couple at any stage of their marriage. "Husbands and wives choose each other with exquisite sensitivity. They pick each other out of all the men and women in the world. The reasons why two people have chosen each other are more unconscious than conscious," says Dr. Kotin. This book explore how each partner to a marriage can make it work in ways that insure its longevity and joy.

Patricia Telesco's Money Magick tells how to use spells to make money. From the history of methods ancestors used to attract riches to astrology and feng shui modern practices, this provides a variety of insights into the patterns which indicate success.

Telesco has always had a pattern in her books - and obviously one that works well for her and her readers. This book uses that construct to cover money magic with the small exception that I've rarely seen in a book like this - that hard work is good magick! It was refreshing. No promises of glory here - just old fashioned elbow grease and good magick. BRAVO

I am generally a big fan of Patricia Telesco's work. However, I made the mistake of reading this book right after reading "How to be a Wicked Witch". I felt like I was reading the same book twice. The information is obviously slightly different but the formula is the same. If you are new to Telesco, I would definitely recommend this book because she is a lot of fun to read with great ideas. If you have many of her other books, you might want to wait to see if her next offering does not perhaps feel like more of the same. (It kills me to say this!)

Great. The info guides and motivate me! I follow Suze Orman's advice for all my financial and spiritual needs.

I have almost finished this 2001 desktop calendar. And I have learned a lot. Suze Orman's tips are sometimes related directly to money, but just as often to your attitude towards money. Both are important! She does help you look at things differently and having this calender on my desk all year has kept my finances (and my control over them!) at the top of my to-do list.

I just bought the 2002 version of this desk calendar and after flipping through the pages, I can tell that it was money well spent! I've had other money-oriented desk calendars before but Suze's surpasses them all in terms of variety (she discusses debt, mortgages, the stock market, retirement, wills, insurance, mutual funds--everything!) and general usefulness (there are no "take a break from money" days, and she gives her financial advice even on the weekend days, something many of the other calendars I had did not do). Her added psychological anaylsis of why people make money mistakes in the first place is very interesting, too. I plan on buying next year's calendar.

supposing that this book is accurate in what it explains (as a novice to investing I can't say whether it is) it was an awesome book to read because of its conciseness (something lacking in most books) and its clarity as to what means what. I don't plan to invest in individual stocks, bonds, futures, options anytime in the near future but at least I know what the hell those things are.

I checked out this book in an attempt to learn more about the meanings of all those acronyms and abbreviations you find in the listings and tables for stocks, funds, etc. both in the paper and on the Web. It does just that plus a tad more. It dedicates a section to indexes (DJIA, NASDAQ, etc.) and where they come from, what do they "say," etc. Finally it wraps up with a section dedicated to covering some basic economy concepts that affect investing: inflation, recession, fed rates, etc. It's pretty comprehensive for such a small book. Check it out if you want to get a primer. Don't go to it for answers on what or where to invest, because it's not meant for that.

This book is wonderful.

I want to say to the author: "Thanks for sharing with me about other kid's thoughts. I can really connect with them. You guys are awesome!"

The way this book tells about gifted kids and their experiences and thoughts is wonderful. I think I might get this book for my friends, who had recently gone to a special school for gifted kids with me (we had fitted in quite well at that school, but some of us might need adjusting in the regular kid schools we are now in).

Robert A. Schultz and James R. Delisle have collected firsthand accounts about giftedness written by gifted teens for this book, "More Than Test Score". Hundreds of kids from all across the US share their unique stories and viewpoints, on everything from fitting in with peers to what the future may hold. Some comments are heart wrenching, while others are humorous.

The book is organized into six chapters as follows:

1.What Does It Mean to Be a Gifted Teen?
2.Fitting in With Friends and Peers
3.Dealing with Expectations- From Others AND Yourself
4.Can Your School Keep Up with You?
5.Family Life: Being Gifted at Home
6.Here Comes the Future

One of the questions in chapter one is, "What are the best and worst parts about being gifted?"

A fifteen year old boy from North Carolina replies, "Usually, my brain is my favorite playmate, but occasionally it turns on me just when I need it the most. I hate that. I really can't address this question any better than this, because since I've always been gifted, I have no basis for comparison. Do I ask other people what it;s like to be average?"
A sixteen year old girl from Oklahoma says, "Best: the teachers love us because we're the 'good' kids. Worst: people judge you before they even know you."

Chapter two offers insight into social issues. A question included here is, "Do you ever do anything just to go along with the crowd?"

A girl from Wisconsin notes, "Senseless conformity is a mark of ignorance."
While a gifted boy from Indiana states, "It can be fun pretending to be someone I'm not. It's really rather amusing."
One particularly poignant reply is form from a seventeen year old New Yorker, " No, not really. I'm just wallpaper. I try not to stick out, because as the ancient Asian saying goes, 'The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."

Each gifted teen offers unique perspective that may be helpful to young people struggling to make peace with their true selves and discover their passions. The comments are edited both to focus on typical answers and also to highlight differing points of view. Every gifted kid should be able to relate to some of these stories, and perhaps feel less alone.

I have always wanted to learn how to write essays and this book is very good as a foundation type of book for essay writing. I recommend it highly.

The author walks the reader through 8 basic types of essays, and provides writing exercises for each of those types. Where this book is most helpful, however, is in the critiquing of the essays written by one of the author's students. Ms. Bender shows you her process of critique in the samples of the student's first draft and second draft.

First, she singles out those "velcro words" (the nouns and phrases in the first draft essay that stick with her) -- and she encourages you to take your own note of your "velcro words". She then walks through her feelings as she reads the essay -- where she is intrigued, for example, or confused by the images the student uses. Finally, she shares this information with the student so that the student can choose to elaborate or minimize certain parts of the essay in a second draft, thus producing tighter writing and more polished images.

I find Bender's process of critique quite useful and relatively painless.

I've bought about 10 books on writing so far from different authors and Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages has been one of the few with any real "meat." I learned so much from this book and will continue to refer to it and study it. Most of the other books I bought spend too much time telling me the obvious, or things I already knew. The First Five Pages, however, tries to tackle it all of the essentials to get published, and succeeds. It's a boiled down overview of what you need to get published, with many helpful examples and suggestions for improving your writing. Noah speaks from experiences and writes with a no-nonsense style that really hits home. Almost everything Noah said in the book, I agreed with, and have found many improvement to my writing style thanks to him. If you are an aspiring novelist, this book is a must-have. Read it carefully and then refer to it over and over again.

Exactly what an 'almost finished' writer needs. Noah gives detailed instruction for that last look that will make the manuscript salable. I fought him for two chapters before I admitted he was RIGHT. Thanks for every word.

Mr Lukeman's advice is incredible in this age where all rules, mores and sexes are blended. After this book in which he defends classic methods, I felt good again about returning to Melville and Dostoevsky, not to mention one of my all time favorites, Conrad, for reading and observation of their techniques. Thank you Mr Lukeman for writing this book. I read it twice, then made notes. For aspiring writers, if you want to sell a book, first get this one; if you want to write for the internet, you would'nt be interested.

In the First Five Pages, Noah Lukeman reveals the quickest ways a manuscript is tossed into the rejection pile. Think your numerous alliterations are clever? Manuscript readers don't. Believe you're subtlety slipping in backstory when your characters discuss their pasts? Nope, it's annoying and contrived. Subscribe to the belief that the more drama, the better? Please unsubscribe.

This book's value ultimately lies with Lukeman's editing credentials. He organizes this book according to what an editor first looks for when reading a manuscript. He tackles preliminary problems (adjectives, adverbs, comparisons, etc.) that can get your manuscript axed right away, and then focuses on bigger picture items (hooks, tone, setting, etc). At the end of each chapter, Lukeman provides helpful exercises to help you practice what you've just learned.

His book isn't without flaws. His own writing needs a little polish (he *loves* using passive voice). I also disagreed with his frequent recommendation that writers should choose "unusual" words. He later interchanges unusual with precise (which is much more appropriate), but he should have added a caveat telling writers not to go overboard. I can picture amateur writers using this advice and swapping boxers for pugilists (not a good idea). Finally, his examples of what not to do are way over the top. Lukeman admits this, and to be fair, his examples clearly illustrate his points. But he should have added mediocre examples, writing that will *just* tip the writer into the rejection pile.

However, Lukeman provides great advice with regard to dialogue, and I especially liked his chapters on subtlety. He provides much more good advice than bad, especially in his later chapters. It's funny in a way that his own book starts off rocky, but it's worth finishing it. Overall, first-time writers will get the most benefit out of the First Five Pages. More experienced writers (especially those who have been published) can do without it.

I have to agree with the February 2001 review by "A Customer": This book doesn't teach much about writing. I would go farther and say that some of what it says is either wrong or at least very unhelpful.

One can. of course, empathize with literary agents and editors who are deluged with manuscripts and must move as quickly as possible to extract a few needles of quality from the haystack of junk. There is value in this book in terms of bringing a writer -- particularly an unpublished one -- some sense of reality as to what he or she faces in the competition for attention. There is also value in making people sensitive to some of the most common "red flags" that will kill their chances for consideration.

But I found this book maddening, for a couple of reasons. First, Lukeman himself has much to learn as a writer. He writes in an overly elegant, self-absorbed style that should have earned the red pen of any competent editor. It becomes a little difficult to accept his wisdom about how things should be written when his own product is deficient. He constantly switches from the first person (both "I" and "we") to the second and third person, for example, often within the very same paragraph. What grated most on me, however, was his addiction to purple in his prose: "If you look back at your dialogue and realize you have scenes that are unsalvageable (like the last example), don't collapse in despondency." (p. 90). Collapse in despondency? Puh-leeze.

The second problem, to me far more serious, is that many of his exercises and proposed solutions to the problems he identifies are either useless or wrongheaded. For example, to solve the problem of pointless and mundane dialogue ("Hi there, how are you?" "I'm fine, and you?" "Nice weather we're having, huh?") he doesn't send people to reputable sources of help for writing effective dialogue; rather, he suggests that a writer should "train [his] ear." He writes: "Begin to pay attention to how dialogue is used in everyday life by different types of people. Eavesdrop on people -- in the subway, in a diner, walking on the street, in a store; especially try to eavesdrop on people who might be similar to your characters." (p. 89).

This suggestion is a recipe for disaster. Writing effective dialogue requires far more sophistication than the aimless guesswork that Lukeman suggests here. It would be far better for an aspiring writer with problems in this area to spend time with Gloria Kempton's Dialogue or Tom Chiarella's Writing Dialogue, to name just two helpful resources.

My suggestion, then, is that this book might be worth a look for the insights it provides into the most common mistakes that inexperienced writers may make in writing and submitting their manuscripts, but not for much help in solving these problems (except for those that can easily be avoided, like improper formatting of manuscripts). Rather, a writer who wants to create a commercially viable work should take advantage of some of the excellent resources available that really get into the hard issues that a writer must confront.

Some of the most valuable books I have benefited from include:

Beginnings, Middles & Ends: How to Get Your Stories Off to a Roaring Start, Keep Them Tight and Crisp Throughout, and End Them With a Wallop by Nancy Kress;

Plot & Structure: Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish by James Bell; and

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints, also by Nancy Kress.

There are many others, of course, but a writer who thoroughly applied the advice in these three -- provided he or she had the basic ability to write in proper English -- would have a significant leg up in getting into print.

As a student in college, I want to learn some advanced web programming language. I found this book is very helpful for beginner. I also get a discount from couponsky.com when buying this book. This book is not only useful for beginner's studying, you also can take it as reference after you finish the studying. I recommend this book to the beginners in ASP.

I was an ASP programmer several years ago after which I moved to a different technology. Now, I need to come to speed on .NET, but unfortunately all the ASP.NET books make innumerous references to the old ASP which I have almost forgotten.

The book helped me *VERY* quickly go through ASP 3.0 and now I feel very comfortable reading the .NET books and can now truly appreciate ASP.NET.

A GREAT reference book!

Somewhat in a rush and while trying to learn ASP I purchased this book. I thought it was aweful and it collected dust for nearly 6 months while I searched elsehwere to boot myself up on ASP. However, now that I'm fairly proficient at ASP, this book has been helpful as a reference. No so much for the actual reference value but becasue the sample code helps put things in perspective.

This is an excellent companion book to 'Professional Active Server Pages'. Like most O'Reilly Nutshell texts, this book is designed more as a reference aid, rather than a learning text. If you buy both the Professional ASP tome, and this reference guide, you've bought everything you need for ASP.

Be warned, if like I did, you think that this is the only book you'll need to be able to build ASP scripts; you're very much mistaken. Whenever I recommend this book, I always recommend it alongside VBScript in a Nutshell as you really need knowledge of an ASP supported scripting language before you can use ASP in a Nutshell to it's full potential!

This is yet another reference book that I've owned both editions of because I thought it was useful enough to update; but then, my site is developed using ASP, so I'm probably biased in this respect. Ok, so I got the 1st Edition late on in the game and was a little reluctant to part with cash for the new edition - but as IIS 5 started to become standard for Windows hosting, and I had access to it after getting Windows XP Pro... I thought it was about time I updated it.

ASP in a Nutshell is my first point of reference when I'm looking up the properties of a particular ASP object. I've also found it an invaluable guide for connecting and manipulating ASP scripts that used ADO for data storage and manipulation. For a while it was the only book I owned that covered the issue of connecting ASP scripts to databases.

Most of the installable components I'd never heard of before getting the book, just as well really because few are of much use - even if they aren't available on your system, a lot can be easily reproduced. The areas I find myself most frequently refering to are the main set of ASP objects, the FileSystem Object and the ActiveX Data Objects. These go into enough detail to keep all but the experienced programmers happy.

For those new to the Windows scene, there is a brief but detailed guide to setting up ASP to work with your IIS server; but it's hardly rocket science since a clean install of IIS will set up most (if not all) of what you need anyway! If you use ASP regularly, or you intend to, then ASP in a Nutshell should be on your desktop... but please remember it won't fulfill all your ASP development needs without another book to fill in the language gaps. What book you choose to accompany it depends on your language and experience... I personally like VBScript in a Nutshell.

This is not really a book about professional wrestling.

This is a book that is partially set in the world of professional wrestling. The subject of the book is really positive thinking.

It's out of print, and it may be hard to get, but if you are into human potential and the power of change - combining discipline with positive thinking - then this is a VERY good book.

If you know (or if you are) a wrestling fan who needs to hear this message, then this may be the PERFECT book.

Some people think that Dallas Page is a relentless self-promoter, but they're the ones who haven't been listening. He believes that anyone can do anything that they really want to - if they're willing to work hard enough for it. He uses his own life as the example.

It's worth a read.

I guess everyone and their mother decided it was time to write their gripping life story. This poorly written book is yet another discredit to the wrestling business. This is a business where so many people have given pride back to the business and then Page Falkenberg produces a book written on a third grade level full of wrongful facts.

The question is obvious, why does Diamond Dallas Page even have a book? I can't answer that one. If he has a book then why doesn't Marty Jannetty, Pat Tanaka, Buff Bagwell or even Scotty Riggs? Why don't they? Because with all due respect nobody would want to read a full book about these wrestlers. Certainly one shoot interview on video or 4 page one on the Internet would be enough for a fan. Just like Bill Goldberg, Page is another guy who was convinced by Eric Bischoff that they were a star and even though he is by the way one of the worst champions of all time according to the ratings, Page bought it.

This book was the fire back from WCW to the WWF at the time for having Mick Foley's book. Well if that is the case, that is a bigger joke of a fireback then the debut of the Maestro. If you are looking to buy a good wrestling autobiography, pass on this one at the bookstore. It is a terrible book!

It is a well known fact that DDP is a no talent in the wrestling business who got to the top by kissing Eric Bischoff's ass. They were next door neighbors for godsakes. DDP's book is full of crap. He never drew flies. His workrate sucked. He was over, but not to were he drew money. The book itself is bad. 400 someodd pages of his life. 200 of it on wrestling. He writes about how he was a bar manager for 200 pages. This was incredible dull. He puts himself over so much that it is tiring and he positively sucked. He was a product of the WCW Bischoff era and we now know why WCW went under. DDP you will never be in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame. And that's not a bad thing, that's a good thing.

good book and all, ddp's a cool guy and everything, but none of the books compete to foley's 2. but hell, ddp still made a good read. get foley's 2 first (like you haven't) then get bobby the brain's second.

All the History comes flooding back with each word. The times and places so easily parallel life and it's many hits one takes, leading to a the ultimate take-down. We all wish the best and try our best, some deal with the injuries better than others...some will always keep the bag of ice handy so the swelling doesn't show. We can all take a lesson and hope that our trials will bring us back to the same familiar places so near and dear someday. Here's to happy summers on the shore with those we'll always treasure. One Jersey girls' dream.

I've read through many of the reviews on this site, both positive and negative. The main point is that if you are a beginner to ASP.NET, C#, or both then this book is NOT for you. However, if you have some experience with ASP.NET and C#.NET and would like to learn more about an N-Tier approach (essentially programming in .NET the RIGHT way) then this book is a MUST. I can't understand why anyone would give this book less than a 5 star rating that meet the authors' intended audience criteria (which, by the way, is stated in the book). I have read the book cover to cover several times and constantly use it as a resource. The book is a series of examples leading up to one project, but I don't think the authors' main intentions were for us to try and build ThePhile.com. From this book I took away the understanding of how to build a scalable, portable, professional Web site having 100% control over it.

If you build web sites with ASP.NET as a novice or hobbyist and want to get to the next level, this book is for you! I own both the VB.NET and C#.NET versions and I highly recommend either one.

ASP.NET Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution, C# Edition by Marco Bellinaso & Kevin Hoffman is one of the most USABLE books I have seen. I stress the word USABLE because most books are either reference manuals or just teaching tools. Either one need is hit upon or the other, whereas with this book you get to have your cake and eat it too!

The whole design of this book revolves around designing a web site from the ground up, all using ASP.NET with C# as the programming language of choice. The authors assume that you begin with nothing and you need to have all the parts of your web site hit upon to get this up and running for corporate or personal use. Since .NET is still a very new tool, this book is a very helpful resource to have for any and all web developers.

The Authors break the book up into the following parts:

Design of the overall layout, database, look and feel
Setting up basic foundations like CSS, navigation, etc
Editing and viewing all files that make up the site hierarchy
A look at managing news (information displayed to the user)
How advertising can be set up to bring in revenue
Creating and displaying polls on your site
Working with Mailing Lists
Managing a Forum
Deploying the site to the world
A discussion of different data stores that can be used

The writing in this book is very clear-cut and easy to follow. Using the code supplied in this book, the user can modify as they see fit and get their own site up and running in no time.

As an ASP.NET case study, this is the best book that I have seen to follow a site from birth to adulthood. This is a fantastic book for all C#, ASP.NET, web developers and it's a great addition to your current staple of related programming books.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I did not like the layout of the matiral, a bit clombsy but as a refernce book for finding out how to develop a commercial web site it sure does the work.

This book is supposed to be used by intermediate-to-experienced .NET programmers. If you have known almost everything about .NET and had some experience developing real-life web application, you see this book worth reading.
It covers a lot of matters in developing a typical ASP.NET web site. The book goes from module to module, and in each module the approach is problem-design-solution. I dont think I saw much use of design patterns, which is something I desparately want to know how to apply, but the design is generally good and specific to ASP.NET. In other words, it takes advantage of ASP.NET in terms of event models, code behind, custom controls, configuration settings, and ADO.NET of course... About using ADO.NET, it is not just simply and directly binding database to DataGrid, DataList. Instead, the authors did a good job in deciding where to use ADO.NET features and where to use object-oriented features.
The book also covers data modeling to the level of stored procedure, triggers, relationships, transactions... This makes the development process look more professional and integrated.
Though there existed some bugs in the code and the book itself takes time and hard to read, i strongly recommend this book to any one who pursues a real good career in .NET.

This is definitely one of my favorite books. I've read it cover to cover and I'm constantly going back to use the examples as patterns for building web sites and modules. This is an excellent book for intermediate programmers. I read Beginning Visual C# first, and then skipped around through several ASP.NET books. I really can't say enough good things about this book. It's the best programming book I've ever read. If you want to learn how to build solid ASP.NET websites using C#, this is the book you need.