Amateur Books

I really like the way this book is laid out and the recipes look good. Its especially nice to have extract, PM, and all grain recipes in one book. The only big downside for me is that it does not have my favorite beers. Breweries like Rogue, Dogfish Head, Left Hand, etc.. are almost totally absent. I don't have the book in front of me but I can't remember any recipes from most of the wonderful craft breweries in this country. If you more into the larger 'premium' breweries, this book is for you.

The recipes are easy to follow, and tasty. Overall a great book. Try it yourself. A definite must for the zymurgist's library.

Although this book is slightly dated now (some of the ingredient manufacturers needing an update), I found it very useful & informative for using tried and tested recipes & formulating recipes simular to the types of brews I like to drink. I would recommend it to any novice seeking to replicate their favourite beers at home.

I've only tried one recipe so far and was very happy with it. I partial mash and I modified their recipe to include more grain and less extract. So many brews . . . so little time!

After you're done with your introductory beer book and you've made a few batches, you may find that you want to brew something that reminds you of your favorite commercial beer.
This is almost the book for you.

The selection of recipes is heavily slanted toward beer that many homebrewers may find unexciting. But the authors have a very good point: by brewing imitations (maybe we should say tributes) of commercial beers, you learn how beer tastes are built. You get to refine your own sensibilities and taste. And you can't help but end up a better brewer.

Lynn Hoffman, authorNew Short Course in Wine,The

Excellent book! Very comprehensive book on materials, techniques and just a very detailed how-to DIY manual in general. Tons of detailed pictures and small steps to help the biggest layman out there. I am very happy with my purchase, got exactly what I wanted.

The recipient of this book, a new homeowner, was thrilled with this gift! His father, a homeowner for over 30 years, wished he had been the recipient.

Good book with lots of color photos, helped me replace all elecrical outlets in a couple of rooms. Great to look at to get an idea for projects and "how to". Very informative on tool types and also the items you will encounter during the project. I would reccomemd to a rookie homeowner to an advanced. Wish had some info on ceiling fans, washing machines and dryers. But altogether great!! Want to buy the new one coming out!

I'm in the process of looking for my first home, and I bought this book knowing that I'd need to do repairs as a homeowner. I got more than I had asked for. The text is very clear, and the pictures are precise and thorough.
Not only do I feel more prepared to make my own home repairs after this book, but it has also helped me to spot problem areas within the homes I've looked at. If you're looking for one book that's got it all, BUY THIS BOOK!

Absolutely wonderful book with endless projects. I have yet to do a project that was not in this book. It is like an unabridged dictionary for home repair.

This is an excellent book for amateur astronomers who would like direction on exactly where and how to find 100 of the most interesting nighttime sky objects -- nebula, planets, galaxies, double-doubles, star clusters, etc. Be advised that this is not a coffee table book full of breathtaking color photos straight from Hubble or a NASA space probe. This is a book on how to star hop your way from one object to the next. The book is full of drawings that depict how to do this, and the accompanying text is clear and accurate. This book has made finding many of these objects much easier for me. It's well worth the money and I highly recommend it.

Great insight for the novice star gazer. Bought this for my son and he uses it evey time he star gazes Lots of easy to understand information Very helpful

Turn Left at Orion is a great buy, especially for the beginning sky gazer. It is written for both beginners and experts and doesn't contain language that requires a Harvard degree to understand. If you are looking for a book on astrology, then you should begin here. It's filled with information, maps and - most of all - easy to understand language about the heavens.

This is a good tool to go along with any new beginning telescope you buy. We did learn a bit about telescopes, the stars, and planets, etc, before actually trying to look at any without our telescope.

The use of astronomers' jargon can be confusing at times, but that's part of the learning I suppose.

A good purchase overall, although a bit pricey.

Not a bad book exactly.

But I found it to be a waste of money.

I've always relied on mechanics (with mixed results), but I wanted to know what was going on with my car and to be able to perform basic maintenance myself. This book is very easy to use (MUCH better than my owner's manual). It provides a good overview of how cars work, as well as specific advice for particular repairs and maintenance. If you're already a gearhead, this is presumably too basic, but if the inside of your car is a great big mystery to you, this is definitely the book to get.

Before this book I didn't know a thing about cars. Now, I would still say that I don't but, I would NOT go to the mechanic for everything.

Why hasn't there been any newer editions since 1999?

Self-reliance with regard to car maintenance is something that I have always wanted for myself.

Has been an all-inclusive auto resource. For newbies, but is packed with stuff.

After watching my sister go through several Auto Tech classes to learn how to work on a car, I was intimidated by the amount of time & money I thought it would take to get the same knowledge. Then I found this book. I've been a faithful reader of the Dummies books for a long time, and this one just reinforced my opinion of them.

After reading this book, I am able to change my own oil, check & change my brakes, change a flat tire, know which replacement tire to buy and why, and diagnose almost any car problem myself. I have saved hundreds of dollars (maybe over $1000 by now) because I knew exactly what I needed a mechanic to do to my car whenever I took it in.

As a bonus, my car now runs better than it ever has before, because this book also covers preventative maintenance in extreme detail. It even lays out a monthly routine for you for checking most of the systems in your car.

I highly recommend this book to absolutely anyone who wants to learn about cars. Even if you know nothing except how to start, drive, and stop your car -- before reading this, I thought the rim CAME WITH the new tire! -- this book is for you.

Got this for my husband for his birthday and he loves it. Hasn't had a chance to build anything since, but it will definately come in handy. The quality of the book itself is very good especially for how low the price was. There are good pictures to follow and very thorough information and directions.

Given the scope of this work, I'm not sure what I expected, but I feel like, after reading a book on furniture and cabinet making, I ought to have some idea of how to construct a basic cabinet. While this book covers a wide variety of general techniques and types of joints commonly used, at no point does it tie them together; it discusses possibilities, but never synthesizes them into anything tangible, leaving me, at least, wondering which of the book's assorted grab bag of clever tricks might be combined to actually produce a cabinet. I already knew what a sliding dovetail was before I bought this book; what I sought to learn was the architecture and structural elements needed to design a cabinet. Strangely, I feel like I'm no closer to that knowledge than I was before I read the book.

I found this book very disappointing. The pictures were very pretty but that is pretty much it. The illustrations were confusing and of little use. It gives too much of an overview and no real specifics. I found woodworking for dummies to be a much better book for the beginning woodworker.

I don't buy many woodworking books because most, especially the ones sold by home centers, aren't very good. They lack detail, they're incomplete, and I often get the feeling that they're just cranked out without much thought. But this one caught my eye in a local bookstore and I'm glad I bought it.

First of all, the book can be used either as a reference or as a complete primer on woodworking. There's lots of information there, but not so much that you get bogged down. At first I just used it to brush up on specific topics, and then I went back to the first page and started reading it straight through. It's well-written; words are used well and not wasted. Photography is superb. Despite the reference to generic "Furniture" in the title, the book is heavily oriented toward cabinets, which it covers in great detail, even to the point of describing how to construct multi-light glass doors.

The first few pages are a little off-putting as the author describes what he considers an appropriate collection of tools and a space to put them in; unfortunately, many woodworking books assume that the reader has acres of space in which to set up a shop. As you read on, though, the text is more friendly toward the hobbyist.

In short, this is a great woodworking reference or tutorial. Don't be put off by the beginning of the book; it gets better. And the Amazon price for this book is much lower than the $40 I paid in the bookstore.

It is well known that woodworkers have different styles. I think Andy Ray's style will work for majority people trying to learn woodworking. His writing is clear, and he also presents thoughts in logical way. Thus, the book precisely explain why he does this way but not another.

This book is THE ONE to have for home brewers. The information will take you from brewing in the simplest of forms to all grain and everything in beteween. It was written in an easy to understand style that skips throught the nonsense and gets you to the point. Full of recipes, anecdotes, suggestions and resources, it should be required reading for all homebrewers.

I bought this book as a gift. I have the same book, only the third edition. If its like the third edition its got all the answers, and is easy to read.

If you've ever even THOUGHT about brewing your own ales, lagers, stouts or porters, this is the book for you. Papazian is extremely knowledgable and has a writing style that makes the process fun and easy to follow. It is essentially the "bible" for home brewers.

My 3 cents (wasn't it worth more then 2?)

I got this book on recommendation from my friend Aaron when we were brewing at his house this weekend. We brewed a variation of the "Goat Scrotum Porter" on page 200.

The book is however much more than a recipe book for beer. It is divided into three major sections:

Pgs 1-39 give a basic outline of brewing history and the knowledge you need to brew a beer from a basic kit.

Pgs 40-240 are the meat of the book. This intermediate brewing section goes over every aspect of brewing from yeasts to sanitizing your equipment. It also includes many recipes for ales and lagers as well as ideas on how you might adapt any recipe for your own tastes.

Pgs 241-388 really get into the science and math behind brewing. I have only skimmed this section, but it seems to be a fantastic reference guide for the advanced brewer.


What sets this book apart is the well written and funny style that Papazian brings to everything from water mineral content to the human migrations that transport Viennese lagers to Mexico. Most appreciated is his constant reminder that if you are feeling stressed about the minutia of brewing "Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew." This seems to be both his philosophy and the first step of all of his recipes.

I like this book and it is a good guide to know what to purchase and how to brew. I'd recommend it to any beginner. The book also seems advanced enough for the experienced brewer. It contains many recipes and advanced techniques such as lagering and double brewing. I think this is a great book and acts as a handbook in almost any brewing situation.

This is a great book for those starting out in Amature Radio. Though it has been replaced for the new test's, I still reference mine on occasion.

I purchased this manual only to find out that the element 2 test expired in July of 2007. I subsequently purchased "The ARRL HAM RADIO LICENSE MANUAL" which contains the question pool beginning July 1,2006.
This is an excellent manual.

"Now You're Talking" (NYT) is a great resource for anyone seeking a Technician class license -- the first step in the hobby of Amateur Radio. In simple, straightforward language, you'll learn all you need to know in order to pass the FCC's 35-question Technician class examination. The entire FCC question pool, along with correct answers and text references, is included, so there'll be no surprises when you walk into the examination room. As an added plus, you'll find references to many other resources that provide valuable information about the Amateur Radio Service and assistance in becoming a ham.

After a thorough study of NYT, I completed a computer-based review of Technician class exam questions using the "Ham University" CD available through the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) just prior to taking the exam. As a result, I maxxed the exam and received my Technician class license a few days later.

A caution--make sure you are using the current, 5th edition of NYT to prepare for your exam. In addition, the current question pool is due to expire on June 30, 2006, so you'll want to complete your Technician class exam before then or wait until the 6th edition of NYT is published.

This is the outdated version and will leave you unprepared for the tests. make sure you look and get the most recent version to better prepare. Otherwise, the book is a pretty good resource when preparing for the exams. Well organized and easy to follow.

If you want to actually know why the answers are what they are on the test, instead of just taking practice test after practice test and trying to memorize answers, then you NEED this book. I wasn't satisfied just taking the practice tests online and memorizing answers, so I bought this book - learned the information - and almost got a perfect score on the FCC's technicians class test. Most people I know, who didn't buy any books, barely passed. What kind of a score do you want?

I think you have to be a master carpenter to actually do any of them in a week-end but the detail is pretty good.....odd thing is, I bought this book and already had it at home! I must have really liked it!

Color pictures of some fantastic tree house ideas. No limits on imagination here. One caution: Don't let the kids see it first! Can't wait to start one of these ideas.

Works for kids, works for adults, very clear and very helpful. Very graphics oriented and the sketches make the text very clear.
Unfortunately does not even mention escalating tree houses beyond the backyard project - if this were a full-revalation book, you would see the new engineering miracle, the Garnier Limb.

We were quite pleased - PS we are hard graders, hardly anything gets a 5.

Excellent guide for treehouse construction. We used the book as a basis for our treehouse and modified one of the designs. This book was extremely valuable for us and guided us through alot of potential pitfalls. Highly recommend!

What a fantastic book! My kids and I have had so much fun browsing through and getting ideas for their tree house. From the basic tree house to more elaborate designs, it's in here. With the help of this book, you can actually build one affordably.

This is a great book for a beginner because it covers every plumbing task in detail with pictures. It would be good for the experienced as well because the book is set up in away that makes it easy to zero in on any topic you are interested in.

received book in excellent condition and in a timely manner

It is an excellent book not only for handyman beginners but also for construction professionals to review plumbing details.

This book, The Complete Guide To Home Plumbing, (although the title is certainly misleading) is an OK book for general/basic plumbing information and is useful to most homeowners.

The book is somewhat annoying in that almost every project or plumbing procedure you are looking at constantly refers you to other pages in the book. It seems that just as you are thinking you have a good visual grasp from the pictures, every other paragraph or sentence sends you away to some other page.

All in all, this book is worth the money, but don't be surprised if you still need to Google for plumbing info on the net. This book is FAR from "The Complete Guide..................."

This book is chock full of photos; so much that it detracts from providing information. I was trying to use it to replace a leaking shower faucet, but couldn't find any useful info about my setup. All there was were pictures of valves that weren't mine. I would like to see more troubleshooting chapters, and more possible fitting/material variations outlined. For instance I would like to know how to go from plastic to copper to galvanized etc.

Still if you doing a new install and have access to the exact material they use then it is good for that.

This book has a wealth of information for the inexperienced and beginner, film editer, or anyone who is looking for a good book on the subject. I have found it to be very helpful, as I am still learning how to do professional editing!

This is NOT a "how to" book for what some students may be looking for, but it is however, the best book I've read on the "ART" of editing. Insightful and well written, it helped me to really understand when to make a cut that works and when to avoid those that don't work. I would recommend it to all my friends who are editors.

This book was required reading for my editing film class in LA. I had little editing experience and needed a book to improve my editing. THIS BOOK IMPROVED MY EDITING by 200%!!! I learned where, when, how, and why to make a cut, dissolve, etc. I learned something new in every chapter and highlighted lots!!!

P.S. This book is clear, concise, and easy to read.

One frame out of place can make all the difference. This book gives you the tools you'll need to approach editing like the pro's. "Blink of an Eye" is mandatory reading at the NW Film Centers' School of Film in Portland, OR... it's that good.

This book was a required reading for my national university on-line class in digital video editing. The book is a short read that can be accomplished in two sittings. I read the second part of the book on digital editing first, as I have been editing for the past 10 years and have made the leap from analog to digital, myself. Murch relates the changes from a professional's point of view. He compares analog versus digital editing He outlines how the workflow of the editor and, indeed, the whole industry, as filmmaking is such a collaborative art, is changing due to the inevitable transition to a totally digital medium. I read the first part of the book next. Smartly, this saved the best for last as his most profound advice for editing is contained in the middle of the text, at the end of part one. Here he explains a moment in editing when he understood the essence of his editing choices on a particular movie, thus revealing the title of the book. This is a gem of a read for anyone interested in the working mind of a seasoned editor. I recommend it to film fans, students, and anyone interested in getting into the industry professionally.