Chinese Books

After taking a cooking class from the owner of a Thai restaurant about 18 years ago, I began a collection of Oriental cookbooks. I have to say that Yan's "Everybody's Wokking" - despite the cheesy title - is one of the best. Many of the recipes are extremely flavorful (not necessarily hot-spicy, although there are those, too), and the recipes feature flexibility and SIMPLICITY. Few have more than a dozen ingredients, and although you'll need an Asian food store for a few items, most of the ingredients can be found in a typical grocery store.

I cook more recipes more consistently from this book than from any other. Lemon chicken - chunks of chicken breast, dipped in cornstarch and walnuts, deep fried and dipped in sweet and sour sauce built from lemon and ginger! The best pork chop recipe of my entire life, featuring Chinese five-spice, orange juice and carmelized onions! Chicken thighs marinaded in cilantro, garlic and turmeric and baked or grilled. Sweet and sour shrimp soup - with lime juice, cilantro, green onions, jalapeno, and mint! Flavors coming out your ears and eyes!

Get it. Use it! It's great!

My wife bought me this cookbook a few years ago and recipes from it are now a key part of our weekly menu planning. Each of the recipes we've tried is easy to do just by following the clear, extremely practical instructions. The pages of such well-loved recipes as the Pad Thai, My Uncle's Poached Fish and Tomato Beef are splattered with soy sauce and ketchup (one of Martin Yan's favorite ingredients). Now I'm planning to buy a copy for my niece who got married this year. Buy this book if you need a Chinese/East Asian cookbook that you plan to use throughout the year !

This is a great book for anyone who wants to learn how to cook Chinese food. The recipes are simple to follow and they don't take up a lot of time. The dishes are delicious. It's a good cookbook for someone just starting to learn how to cook, too. My friends all borrowed this book when I first got it; now they all have their own.

As a Hong Kong Chinese who just moved to the US, I'd say most of the recipes are just like what I had back in Hong Kong, with the exception of the dishes that are "American Chinese". This book was targeted for US readers, so the ingredients and instructions are more in line with Americans. While you may get more authentic ingredients if you can visit Asian markets, say Chinese cooking wine instead of dry Sherry as suggested on the recipes. The details that the author went into are also remarkable.

This book is loaded with outstanding recipe after outstanding recipe (the cover claims it has 243). Many of these recipes are fairly complex to make, but they come out unbelievably tasty. This is the only collection of Chinese recipes I've ever seen that match the taste of similar dishes in the better Chinese restaurants.

Although I have found other books which are nearly as good, this one has been my favorite for several years. The recipes inside mainly have a southern Chinese cooking style and require a fair amount of preparation time (at least if you follow the recipes to the letter). However, I have yet to find a recipe which did not end up in a delicious meal.

Like most good Chinese recipe books, the initial sections describe Chinese ingredients (this one lacks pictures) and food preparation techniques (this book contains very nice photo illustrations).

The subsequent chapters are organized by entree type (poultry, beef, etc.). Each recipe has a cooking difficulty rating, number served, total preparation/cooking time, and well organized ingredient lists and preparation/cooking instructions.

Although this book has been out of print for over five years, it's still available used.

Great for looking up the Chinese pinyin. Easy to locate and to read the print. Relaxed and enjoyable style of presentation...like having 4 mini flash cards to a page. Lots of information yet not crowded. Chinese pinyin and character with English definition, stroke order well represented, and several uses of the form also presented. Even lists Mali, for the name Mary, as one of the uses of ma3.

Having lived in Taiwan as a missionary, I had to learn the language and communicate well with the people. This book is excellent for helping you learn new characters and new usage of ones you already know. It only cover 3000 of the more common ones, so if your vocab is higher than that, it may not help much. But for the beginner, it is great.

I have several Chinese dictionaries and always find myself using this one.

It is well organized in Pinyin order, and has indexes for looking up characters by radical, and by Taiwan phonetic symbols.

All characters have illustrations showing stroke order.

I read the others reviews and I think they are almost complete: for those who seriously study chinese in Traditional Characters it is superb!
Radicals, Zhuyin Fuhao, everything one should expect - and, maybe just like me,you have to look for, search, etc. - until, bingo! - it appeared. Far East is the right one for those readers of Fan Ti Zi. Besides, one can count on it at anytime: his size doesn't show the 700 pages of thousands of words and expressions, so you can carry it with you always - at least I do that.
I have to repeat many others: it is a must. Period.

This dictionary might be tiny compared to most but it's still still an amazing resource and contains a surprizingly large ammount of characters and gives lots of examples of compound words although doesn't give pronunciations for these so you have to keep looking up new characters but given the book's small size one can't really gripe and besides, if you're bored you can hunt for hours and find yourself learning lots of new words which is fun!

For the main character however, it DOES give pronunciation, both in Zhuyin Fuhao and Hanyu Pinyin and allows one to look up characters using either system as well as the usual radical lookup of course which is quite convienent.

In short, this dictionary is AMAZING given it's tiny tiny size, kudos to the Far East Book Company!

This has got to be the most excellent Chinese-English pocket dictionary ever printed. How they managed to squeeze 7,331 characters into such a small dainty size is still beyond me. This dictionary is definetly for intermediate and advanced users, however. It's geared towards people from the R.O.C., and does not include simplified words, which is just fine for me, but may not be suitable for Mainlanders. Nevertheless, it does include both Pinyin and MPS (zhuyin), and the definitions and phrase examples are excellent. Every effort has been made to make sure this dictionary was user friendly.

After reading "Riley's Journey," I was so impressed that I took it upon myself to read "Fiona." Once again, I found myself taken back in time, experiencing the adventures the characters find themselves embroiled in. Ms. Parker's ability to blend romance, adventure, and comedy is without compare and I heartily recommend "Fiona" as well as "Riley's Journey" as great reads.

I loved the book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't let go.... The book had everything in it---the busy modern every day life, mother/daughter relationship, child birth, the simple life, the everlasting love, and especially the unknown. The book touched me in a way that it's hard to explain, and I'm sure everyone will connect to it in their own ways. It's hard enough being an outsider whatever the circumstances may be. The young and beautiful girl, Fiona, has the ability to easily adapt to her new surroundings, learn a new culture, and continue being strong without forgetting who she truly is. I was very impressed by the way the author commingled the good with not so good things in life. There is so much more to this book... the romance, the other characters. I would definitely recommend Fiona to everyone. WHAT A GREAT BOOK!

This is an absolutely wonderful book to read. The way that Ms. Parker describes the characters, they actually come alive when you are reading this book. It is full of wonderful historical information and interesting characters that are really well described. This is one book that is hard to put down until you have read the whole thing. A must read.

I am learning to speak Mandarin but felt I needed more knowledge of the written language to get a more comprehensive feel for the language. I looked around and settled on this one and it was a good choice. It has just enough information for me to learn the character and its meaning as well as some commonly used phrases in which each character appears. It gives ample space to practice the strokes of the character. The characters are also in a type size that makes it easier to read than some other books I've looked at.

I have absolutely no educational background in Mandarin Chinese, and I love this book. It is reader-friendly and practical. It provides examples of how words are used in English to demonstrate and contrast how words are formed in Chinese. This book never promises anything that it doesn't fulfill. I look forward to purchasing the next book of this series. A+

The good thing about this very well designed book is that it starts just like an educative game and it actually ends up giving you a strong envy to discover or learn another extra 100 characters! Perhaps even to start learning Mandarin in earnest. You will never go to a Chinese restaurant like ever before... as after working out with this book for a while Chinese characters in the menu will make sense to you! Of course just the easiest ones. A real handy language book.

The course made spoken Chinese fun and easy. My student uses it as an independent study tool and it works. It's like a video tutor. I showed 1 minute of the tape to a group of students in my university, they all learned how to say two basic sentences --- Ni Hao (Hello) and Qing Wen (Excuse me).

The video series comes with one of the easier follow along books that I have seen. The book can be used by itself but I strongly recommend to watch the tape. I have shown the video and book to my native speaking Mandarin teacher and she was very impressed as well. The main thing is that I have also shown the video to people who considered Chinese too difficult to learn. After viewing the video they had a totally different viewpoint. Really is very possible to learn to converse in Mandarin in a relatively short period of time. To me Mandarin is one of the most beautiful languages there is. That alone is reason enough to learn it and reason enough for any school to teach it. I think any school that teaches Mandarin should recommend and expose their students to this wonderful supplementary video learning material. I really can't imagine that anyone would be disappointed with these tapes. They really make learning fun!!

The course made spoken Chinese fun and easy. My student uses it as an independent study tool and it works. It's like a video tutor. I showed 1 minute of the tape to a group of students in my university, they all learned how to say two basic sentences --- Ni Hao (Hello) and Qing Wen (Excuse me).

Fortress Besieged is one of the set books in the morden Chinese literature course I take. Though I like English literature more than Chinese one, this book gave me a refresh. Chien Chung Shu was so called Scholar writer, his works are full of both Chinese and western idioms. Therefore reading Fortess Besiged you can learn a lot of about Chinese and western world. Though it was written in the 30s, you will not feel it is old fashioned.

One of the greatest modern Chinese novels. Disguised as a "modern Rulin Waishi (Scholars)," Fortress Besieged is much more than an ingenious satire of the haute intellectual class in 1930's China. Its depictions of Chinese society in a time of great adversity (the Sino-Japanese War rumbles in the background much as the Napoleonic Wars do in the works of Jane Austen) is thorough and penetrating. The sheer wit of Qian Zhongshu, who possesses a stunning erudition in both the Chinese and Western literary traditions, makes the book one of few "random access novels": novels the reader can flip to any page and start reading with equal relish. The central characters, Su Wenwan, Tang Xiaofu, Zhao Xinmei and Sun Roujia are all unforgettable. Above all, it is the portrayal of the hero Fang Hongjian that elevates the novel to the realm of the highest tragicomedy.

I am astonished to find that this book has not been reviewed by anyone at amozon.com. Fortress Besieged is the immortal work by one of the most talented Chinese modern novelists, Chung-Shu Chien (Qian, Zhong-shu). This book has been translated into all major languages and enjoyed by readers all over the world. It has also been made into a very popular TV series in early 90's in China. Almost every educated Chinese is familiar with the story of this book, while the truth of life told by this book appeals universally to all mankind.

This book is about the life of a young Chinese intellectual in the 30's. His travel, his career, and most importantly, his relation with women. Through the simple, everyday happenings of this young man, the author shrewdly seeks for the motivation that drives us to receiving education, building a career, falling in love, and forming a family. The conclusion is that everything of life, including career, marriage, etc., is like a besieged fortress; the people ouside of it want break into it and the people inside of it want to break out of it.

The language used in this book is very humorous, sarcastic, and intellectual. Preferrably read in Chinese to get the most enjoyment out of it.

This book is a comprehensive look at the relationship of Western and Eastern medicine. It describes clearly and effectively the healing art of Chinese medicine with its herbs and acupuncture. It also explores the history and underlying ideas of Western medicine.

Today, there is growing interest in ancient healing arts like Chinese medicine. The reason for this, shows the author, is the growing knowledge that mind and body are intimately related, that many diseases can effectively be prevented and that we are about to embark on a new era of "energy" healing. In this, there are many paralells between East and West.

In the tradition of Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics, The Future of Healing is destined to be a classic and will interest anyone interested in more than just medicine, but in the essence of health and healing.

This book explores the amazing similarities, connections, and commonalities shared by Western science and Eastern mysticism. Milburn distills the knowledge of the ancient Chinese philosophers and reviews the discoveries of both the pioneers of twentieth century physics and the cutting edge contemporary scientists of the "new biology". Striking parallels emerge from this discussion and exciting ideas for a new approach to medicine are presented.
The intellectual triumph and popular appeal of this book are a product of the author's treatment of two seemingly opposite, but equally expansive and difficult, subjects; Eastern and Western medicine. Topics as diverse as the mysteries of Qi and field theory are deftly explained, losing none of the inherent complexity while still easily comprehended by the reader.
For anyone interested in health, on a personal or societal level, "The Future of Healing" is a must. Avenues of thought are available here which can be found nowhere else in such a succinct and entertaing format.

As the review above suggests, this important new book should be compared with The Tao of Physics and read by anyone interested in the future of medicine, either western or Oriental. Milburn's synthesis of the two different systems is clearly laid out, and can serve as a review for those already familiar with some of the concepts. Recommended!

I HAVE BEEN AN INSTRUCTOR FOR 8 YEARS AND THIS IS NOW ONE OF THE REQUIRED BOOKS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN MY TRAINING CLASS FOR NEW DEALERS. AT MY SUGGESTION A LOCAL POKER ROOM HAS INCLUDED THIS AS THEIR RULE BOOK AND ALL SUPERVISORS ARE REQUIRED TO USE IT. THIS BOOKS HAS COMPREHENSIVE UP TO DATE RULES. AS WE KNOW RULES MAY CHANGE FROM ROOM TO ROOM, BUT SOMETHING THAT IS CLOSE TO STANDARD THE POKER ALMANAC HAS IT ALL. TDA RULES, ROBERTS RULES, GAMES, AS WELL AS A GREAT UP TO DATE GLOSSARY. THIS BOOK IS AN ASSET FOR TRAINING NEW DEALERS. I USE THIS AND THE PROFESSIONAL DEALER'S HANDBOOK AS A REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE.

This is a concise encyclopedia of the rules for poker. The Official Rules will particularly appeal to novices as it explains the nature of the cardroom, the equipment integral to the game, and hand rankings. Much of it is based on Robert's (Bob Ciaffone's) Rules of Poker and is elaborated upon by the author. It provides an introduction to the game as well by experienced player, Kelli Mix. The various styles of games are also discussed: limit, spread limit, no limit, and pot limit. The text covers just about everything including seven card stud high low and deuce-to-seven high low. The explanation of tournament rules is valuable because, as those of us who watch HSP already know, tournaments and cash games are entirely different animals. It even tells you what should be done with the "odd chip" in casino games. I appreciated the definition of "kill pots" and wish I would have read it before I began playing in kill limit games online, lol. This is definitely something I could have really used back in 2004 when I first began learning about the game.

Game Day highly recommends this book as the standard poker book for use during all types of poker games. This book is especially helpful to players in home games of poker, where it is important to have a way to resolve rules disputes quickly and amicably.

We at Game Day saw that there was something missing in the current field of poker books: a standard poker rule book. Before we published the Official Rules of Poker, the only authorities on the rules of poker was Scarne and Hoyle, which were written in the Nineteenth Century. The game has changed, especially in the last ten years, and we realized that it was important to have a Twenty-First Century rule book.

When we put out the word that we were looking for an editor and for such a book, Kelli Mix came forward. Ms. Mix, or "Poker Mom" as she is known at the poker table, eagerly took up the challenge of gathering and writing the rules to suit the modern game of poker. This turned out to be a gargantuan task. Ms. Mix researched each rule, making sure that they were found in at least five independent sources. Mix turned out to be a wonderful choice as editor and author of the Game Day Poker Almanac Official Rules of Poker.

Mix is a professional poker player. She is still under most poker players radar, but she is quietly climbing the ranks of tournament poker players (she finished 11th in the 2007 World Series of Poker Texas Hold 'Em Women's tournament in a field of more than 1,200 players). However, she is more likely to be found at cash games, playing high stakes.

The Official Rules of Poker includes all the rules of poker, from the most basic hand rankings to the most obscure tournament rules.

Contents:
1: Elements of Poker. This chapter covers the most basic rules of poker, and also describes the way poker is played in casino card rooms. Mix wrote these rules in a way that makes them easy to use while playing a game.

2: Professional Poker Rules. These rules cover more of mechanical means of acting in a poker game, giving the finer definitions of what constitutes a raise, a call or a fold. They also discuss the penalties of rules infractions. There are four parts to this chapter.

a) Robert's Rules of Poker. These rules were written by professional poker player and authority, Bob Ciaffone, as a standard set of rules of cash games in casino card rooms. While local laws may require changes to these rules, and some casinos use their own rules, these rules are often cited as the official set of rules in professional play.

b) Robert's Rules of Poker for Private Games: This is Ciaffone's "Robert's Rules of Poker" which he adopted to home games where no impartial dealer or floorperson is present.

c) Poker Tournament Director's Association Rules (TDA Rules). Each year, the Professional Poker Tournament Directors Association updates its rules, which most casinos and poker leagues use as their official rule book in tournament play. Tournament rules add a new layer of rules to poker, as tournaments are about eliminating players, not about accumulating money.

d) World Series of Poker Rules: The World Series of Poker is considered the premier poker tournament event. Due to its sheer size and commercialism, the rules for WSOP tournaments are different than TDA rules. Many poker leagues use WSOP rules instead of TDA rules, as the WSOP rules are more popular among those who learned poker from television.

3: Poker Etiquette. There are types of behavior frowned upon in poker games, due to the fact that poker is a highly competitive game and may involve large sums of money. In some games of poker, violating etiquette may result in ejection from the game.

4: Variant Poker Games. Includes 69 different versions of poker, including 5-Card Draw, 5-Card Stud, Cincinnati, Chicago, Baseball, Anaconda, Mexican Stud, Chinese Poker, Iron Cross, Guts, English Stud, Kansas City Lowball, California Lowball, Pineapple,Spit, Three-Card Draw, and the ever-hilarious Indian Poker. Also includes rules for declaring wild cards and using jokers. WhIle professional poker players and casino card rooms will never play most of these games, home games are notorious for playing "dealer's choice" where the dealer chooses which of the many variations of poker will be played that hand. (Note: Mix and I had a really good time finding out about all of these games.)

5: Glossary. Again, Mix was very thorough in her research. Poker terminology is highly colorful and is a lingo all its own. from the Nuts to the Fish. Mix used multiple sources, as there are many local poker terms and terms used that do not last more than a few months. She excludes popular names for two-card Texas Hold 'Em hands, purposefully, although we plan to have a separate glossary for hand names in future editions. Still, this is one of the most complete glossaries I have seen in a poker book anywhere.

6. Index: Okay, I did the index. I believe that indexes should be thorough, and so I did my best to make the index easy to use in the heat of play. Still, this was a fairly easy index to create, as Mix's presentation of the rules and her organization of the material was straightforward, allowing me to easily pick out the rules.

The Official Rules of Poker has been wonderfully received. Professional poker dealers have been clamoring to get this edition. When we released the book at the WSOP 2007 in Las Vegas, the WSOP dealers practically knocked me over trying to get their own copy.

Thank you for considering The Game Day Poker Almanac Official Rules of Poker. I personally hope you will find it to be of great use, and that the book will provide you with years of fun--and fair--poker.

David A. Rozansky
Publisher
Game Day (an imprint of Flying Pen Press)