Amateur Books

Provides good basic knowledge of Electrical Wiring and Repairs based on US wiring requirements. Similar book based on New Zealand or British standards requirements would definitely be an advantage to follow up on local receptacles

This book has just enough detail to perform minor repairs/remodeling on your home wiring. There are many pictures on how to perform simple/moderate electrical projects. It is great for a beginner do-it-yourselfer looking to start out in the dangerous world of electricity. Good Luck!

I think the photography is what makes this book. As a layman, one could care less about the technical jargon, but a visually engaging format makes simple repairs .. well.. simple!

Very up-to-date publication. Author's web site provides much additional information. I plan to build using ICF's and Geothermal heat source. Good information available through both the book and the web portal. Clearly the best and most current of the 4 similar books purchased at the same time.

This book contains a lot of great tips and serves as a good resource.

This book really opened my eyes as to how much was involved in building/being your own contractor. The author obviously speaks from experience.

Not much to say, i bought a book, It was a good experience, i gave them money, they shipped me a book. It was new, so cant complain, it was dirt cheap, which is a PLUS, and thats it..... good stuff

My husband and I are novice DIYers and purchased this book and its companion (Home Repair...in the gold cover which doesn't seem to be on Amazon right now, though we bought it with this book this past fall). We've found both books to be excellent. I agree with the other reviewer that the topics are covered in maybe 1-3 pages, but B&D has done an excellent job of keeping the writing tight and to the point, but also understandable. Additionally, the photography quality is excellent, making the photos very helpful and somewhat of a stand-in for more text. Highly recommended.

I recently purchased this book and was a bit disappointed with it. As a beginner, first-time homeowner, I was hoping that it would be a great source for "how-tos" on a lot of major home improvement/repair projects. The book does cover an insane number of different topics. In that regard, it probably is a great "reference" book for people who are not beginners in home improvement. However, for someone like me, I felt like devoting 1-2 pages on EVERY project a lot of times just was nowhere near enough information for me to confidently tackle the project. I mean, they even capped a roofing project (major) to 2 pages. I saw the Home Depot 1-2-3 books and they seem to provide a lot more depth and step by step instructions than this Black & Decker book, albiet with not as many topics.

Jack Sobon does a great job walking you step by step in building your own house. It is one of the best sources out there for learning traditional timber framing technique. A must read for anyone interested in learning how the early framers built the barns and houses we love today. Expect hands on information and thoery for the practical end of getting the house frame built. Expect a well focused instructiional manual that is light and entertaining to read.

This was my first look at timber framing and this book was a great primer. It explains the history of timber framing, the terminology, the how to's of getting started. I wish it would have had more suggestions for finishing the house after the frame is up, but it definitely gave me a good foundation and the confidence to give it try.

The plans, photos, patterns and details in this book can be used as a step-by-step guide to building a New England hall-and-parlor house. It's also a designer's guide, a history book and a great introduction to the craft and art of timber framing.

If you don't like to get dirty, don't read this book. But for the rest of us, this book is a great source of information that really teaches one how to build a cathedral-styled house, market, or any other design to get get peoples attention!

What did slipform mean ? In which condition I must use slipform ? In which condition I don't have to use slipform

This book is a must have if you are even thinking of building a stone building. Great details with a clear picture of the work involved, and lots of heads up pointers. Could of used more pictures, the ones it had were all black and white. The only thing about this book I didn't like was it was written in 1991 and after 10 years some contruction methods change.

I purchased a few "How To Books" just prior to putting my Gaming PC together. This book helped almost as much as the MOB manual did. Pretty easy (indepth)information for the "NEWBIE" computer builder. Now all I need is a book on "How to" install incomplete\defective OS software.

I didn't buy the book yet, but I read a good chunk of it at a bookstore today! I mean I end up reading it since it was soo good, instead of looking at others! I was shopping for a recent one on PCs. I purchased "Building perfect pc" 2004 edition for 10 bucks (discounted) last week. That is a very good book as well, but as expected it is not timely for selecting today's hardware. Hence, I still need more help for selecting the right pieces.

Any way, this book covers pretty much all needed, including specific timely info on each component. Very well organized for its price, I'll say it is excellent. I would have ordered it from here last week, only if I new it was this good, and if I was awere of it of course! I'll probably go back and buy it in a few days or may be order it from here. Don't know yet..

In short, although I didn't yet purchase the book, I still owe to give at least the rightfull credit the author deserves. Pictures along with tips are usefull as well. A very good buy for the price

Probably won't build PC, (OPTION IS STILL OPEN) but just reading he 1st and 2nd chapters has helped me with the computers I already have. Especially the part about WINDOWS supplied by computer manufacturers such as DELL and GATEWAY, more probably. If windows included with your purchase are not on MICROSOFT OEM CD, the full WINDOWS can't be restored. That alone has helped me. I might be slow but nobody ever told me that before. There is probably more in this book but I just got it and haven't read the whole thing yet.

It is difficult for a former beauty queen to achieve respect as a private investigation. Madeline Maclin is determined to make her career work. He former employer does not make things easy for her. He flirts with her and steals her clients.
Jerry Fairweather is from a wealthy family. He has rejected any claim to the family fortune. Instead, he is establishing himself as a psychic. Mac and Jerry travel to Celosia, NC, to see the house he inherited from his uncle, Val Eberlin. They arrive to find protesters picketing a local beauty pageant parade. Soon Mac is investigating both the pageant and a haunted house. Jerry takes a liking to the house and wants to open a Psychic Shop. Strange things are happening in Celosia: ghosts, missing food, and a murder. Mac and Jerry discover things that endanger their life.
A Case of Imagination by Jane Tesh is an amusing read. Ms. Tesh has a unique talent for combining humor and mystery. The plot is well developed and has enough twists and turns to make you think you are driving up a mountain road. Lead character Medeline Maclin tells the story from her perspective. Mac slowly discovers her true feelings for Jerry. Their friendship is heartwarming. He and Mac play perfectly off each other. The characters in A Case of Imagination are crazy and fun. Jerry is charming and eccentric. Fans of mystery will not want to miss this one.
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com

With the Holidays driving me crazy, this book was a fun escape. The characters are well developed and you are drawn into their wacky lives. It's a tight plot and you won't get lost if you need to put it down for a day or if you can only pick it up for a few minutes each day. I was surprised that I could get into a book about Pageants, they are certainly not of any interest to me in real life but I enjoyed the venue in the book. A fun read!

A friend recommended this book to me and I just finished it. It turned out to be a fun and captivating mystery-romp through the world of a small-town "beauty" pageant. The reader is kept guessing throughout which of this collection of characters might have had a motive to commit a murder (it seems any one of them could). All this is through the eyes and voice of the main character--Madeline, ex-beauty queen turned sleuth--who has two concurrent agendas: find the murderer and fer God's sake profess her love and enfatuation with her best buddy, Jerry. (SAY IT, MADELINE! JUST SAY IT!). Great fun--I see that there's another in the series on the way; I look forward to it.

Gayle's first book is an easy read and easy to understand--she offers not only the rules of five best bets, blackjack, craps, (mini)baccarat, slots and my favorite video poker but explains the best strategies to "attack" these games. She tells some good stories and offers best casinos in Vegas and Laughlin - I now have her second book.

Superb book - learned so very very much - thanks Gayle - you taught me so much and I had a great time with your humour. Learning can be fun, can't it?

We purchased this book because we wanted to possibly expand the number of casino games we were playing. With all of the screams at the Craps and Blackjack tables, were we missing the fun? Our only game was slot machines before we read Gayle's statement,"If you play and learn only one other game, make it video poker." After studying the strategies in this book, we have found the FUN. My VP play seemed successful from the begining. My 4th trip delivered the "Royal Flush". My wife, also a beginner, has recently hit one as well. Even more astounding, to us, in a 3 week period this month we hit 19 VP and 2 slot jackpots. Making a 1999 total of 26 jackpots, so far. This book has improved our selecting slot machines and we never had any VP strategy previously. We are now ordering her book "Video Poker Made Easier", just in case this winning can indeed get easier. Thanks, Gayle.

This was a very helpful book. I have never fixed a dryer before. My dryer was making a squeaking noise. I used the book to help diagnose and fix the problem. The bearing I needed was only five dollars. The book shows what the likely problems are and how to fix them.

I am not the least bit mechanically inclined. I never have been. In fact, it's been a source of jokes about me over the years (1/2 of them made by yours truly) about how uninclined I am when it comes to repairs.

After a tough week of having to pay for repairs to both of my cars ($1100), I couldn't stomach the thought of paying anything more than I had to for a repair to my dryer that broke one day after the second car was repaired.

I cancelled an appt. that I made to have a repair guy stop by after I found this book on AMAZON.

I received the book on Friday and took a 20 min peek at it that night. I found a diagram of the broken part in the book.

Saturday I went to a local appliance part store (a 10 min trip) and 20 mins later my dryer was working again. Total cost was $43 (book + shipping + part).

The repair service wanted $45 as a minimum just to stop by.

Now my wife, family and friends are raving about the fact that I have fixed something.

Other than a PC this is the only thing I have ever fixed. I almost hope it will break again.

Great book.

This is a very well written repair manual. It has chapters based on the model of dryer with explanations in great detail on what could be wrong based on sounds made by the dryer. It contains detailed information on how to take apart the dryer and exactly where the part making the described noise is located. I found the directions very easy to follow and was able to repair my dryer without much knowledge of any kind of "home repair". I highly recommend this book to people somewhat intimidated by tackling the repair of their dryer alone but with the desire to be a do-it-yourselfer.

I read the first edition, which came out around 6 months to a year before the second edition. It combines a history of anime (with a slant towards American releases), a genre guide, the reviews from past issues of Animerica of titles released in the US, and a section on anime fandom. A fairly good reference for the beginning anime fan but not very in-depth. The "complete" part of the title is somewhat of a misnomer.

As the title suggests `The Complete Anime Guide' is a `Japanese Animation Film Directory and Resource Guide,' or more specifically a comprehensive guide to Japanese Animation is currently available in America on domestic release videos. The Guide, co-written by Trish Ledoux, editor of the `Animerica' film guide magazine, far surpasses the 1st edition which was much criticised as being a glorified catalogue rather than a resource guide. Now in its second incarnation the Guide provides detailed information on each of the available Anime titles ranging from production data, release dates, to episode summaries and subjective comments. The Guide even provides a unique classification of Anime titles in the form of symbols to represent content for violence, nudity, comedy, profanity, etc..., on suitability of titles for specific audiences. In addition the Guide also has a comprehensive list of Anime publishing houses, distributors in America and even a list Anime Magazines. It even goes as far as to include URLS for Anime resources on the World Wide Web. The most interesting aspect of the Guide is the section written by Noboru Ishiguro, a mover in the field of anime, on his observations on the history of Animation in Japan and in America. The 2nd edition Guide is a must have for all anime fans, at least until the 3rd edition is released.

The Complete Anime Guide is a very well made book which composes one of the best intro's I have read. The book goes in great depth from the very first re-writing the history of anime, which is very helpful for people starting off, or people who would like to learn more about the history of anime. Although it could now use an update, it has a very large number of anime titles which are currently available in the United States. The only two things I disgress about the book are a better made index, consisting of the anime titles alone, much like The Anime Movie Guide written by Helen Mcarthy. Another thing I dislike was the use of only American titles. I wanted to see many of Hayoa Miyazaki when it only included one. It is fairly brief in reviews, although it goes into depth mentioning each OVA which is very nice. It also gives slight background on a few words of japanese. I prefer to use this book to find out about a title briefly or to gather history from anime backgrounds.