Independent Books

I was walking into this store and the author was out front selling her books. I love supporting authors but the one thing that stuck out to me with this author is how real she is. I knew I was in for a real treat and I was not disappointed. From the first chapter I was engrossed in a world that is a reality for to many of America's youth. The perseverance shown by the main character is what should be taught in our schools because it will not happen in the home. I thank the author for a story that is gritty but sprinkled with enough fairy tale to make this enjoyable read. I recommend this book highly only if 1. You love suspense, 2. Like just the right amount of drama, and 3. Looking for an author you can rely on to deliver more great books.

This book was outstanding from start to finish....hard to put down. Engaging characters and flowing story line. An excellent read.

This book has many good 'independant reading center' games for children that are learning to read. The pictures are clear and easy to copy and color. I reviewed this book with our reading specialist this spring, and I went home that night and bought it.

As a kindergarten teacher who is expected to have her students do independent literacy centers, this book is great! Good ideas, with very few materials to buy. Self checking, and leveled, too!

This book manages to smoothly move along several tracks. The historical track captures vividly the amazing
risks taken by families during that brief period of western expansion before the golden spike changed it
forever. The contemporary journey with Braden's family is full of hilarious observations of various things and people found along what's left of the Oregon Trail. The stops in what pass for "campgrounds" and the characters
encountered there made me put down the book to laugh. The third track, which was perhaps the most compelling, was the author's attempt at chasing down and describing some aspect of the American character that still permeates modern living, an ongoing search for deeper resonances than appear on the surface. I was struck by how he managed to conjure up intimations of this in me. Little shadows of epihanies hiding between
the words in this casually told but utterly engrossing tale.

This is a wonderful intermixing of a contemporary family and a historical account of a journey west following the trail of the early settlers as they traced the path of the 1840 wagon trail to Oregon. It fully recognizes the tragedies and challenges of the early settlers while sharing the humorous adventurous of the struggling efforts of the author's own family. A very good read!

Basically this book is a three part book. The start of the book goes into the film making process, what it is about, why bother and how to get started. It gives you a general air of what is going on before a film starts shooting.

The middle part of the book is extremely technically useful. Don't be put-off by the fact that it is a British book, most of the standards are the same and the writer covers both US systems and UK systems. Anyway the value of this book is in that the writer interviews very important people that work in the filming process - actors, special effects, film lab, cameramen, editors, sound editors, legal agencies, projectionists, marketing people, producers, directors... etc.... and they all give very profesional tips on what you should do and what you should NOT do.

The third part of the book deals with CASE STUDIES and various filmmakers talk about their projects and what went right and what went wrong.

Overall this is a very good book with lots of information from the people that matter in this industry. There is a lot of information on what NOT to do when shooting your first film. Anybody who wants to get into to film making should not miss out on this writer/director's account of his experiences with film making.

I am only Half of the way thru this book so far, but this is INCREDIBLE. Its actually giving me a head ache, how much information this guy has crammed into his book. The graphics, illustrations and photos are all excellent, and even the cartoons (which I normally HATE) are good. It helps that the chick is kinda cute!

Every chapter gives you a "blueprint" of what you need to know about that specific part of movie-making. Sound, camera, make-up, music, setting up a company, editing, casting, it's all there. There's even a chapter on catering which includes recipes for film crews, it's brilliant. Another good thing is that the writing is laugh-out-loud funny sometimes, you can really tell that this guy has been thru the mill when it comes to making no-budget movies. This book is a breath of fresh air. If you don't believe me, go to a book store and flick through it. If you walk out without buying it, I'll be amazed.

THE INDEPENDENT CAROLINA BASEBALL LEAGUE... is a masterpiece of regional history. Sure, it's about baseball and the almost religious nature of its practice during this time and place. But there is so much more in the details about social structure , convention and the fine line between the public and private.

Utley and Verner were quite diligent with their research. The collection of photos and the league statistics corroborate the many anecdotes and colorful player profiles. The linear narrative is perfect and puts some rails under what might have otherwise been a haphazard assembly of good yarns. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about baseball, the pioneer spirit, and well-documented history.

This is a wonderful book. Not only is it a story of baseball, but it is a story of the Depression-era South and life in the textile mill towns of North Carolina. Incredibly well researched and full of great photographs, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in history even if they are not a baseball fan. As a baseball book it relates the great stories and legendary expoits of small town heroes from the Golden Era of the sport. As a social history it shows how textile mills were the lifeblood of dozens of small towns, a part of Southern life that is all to often forgotten today.

Independent Component Analysis is a young and interesting topic that gained attention and still receiving more of it.

Until now this is the best introduction that has been written.
It is comprehensive, clear and unbiased.

I think that the book is a step toward making the subject not only a common field of research but also a reference for those looking for new challenging topics.

What worths mentioning is that the authors are very envolved in the development of the theory of ICA ,other books are good but are deviated by their author's own approachs and this is normal but unhealthy for a first book on any field.

What constitutes a great help for understanding ICA are the relatively easy concepts if one just intend to pick an algorithm(ex:FastICA), but this is not the case regarding its theory.

One colleague once argued that ICA should have emerged long before the begining of the 90's, claiming that Gaussian forms
(Central Limit-Theorem) killed the idea of dealing with other kinds of distributions and therefore the signal processing community went assuming every thing was gaussian (noise was gaussian,signals are gaussian),but the emerge of HOS relaxed the gaussian restriction and ICA became possible and no longer 'blind' .

I think this should prepare researchers to deal with coming challengs more intelligently and efficiently .That is why I recommend this book since it tries to give a broad view to the subject .

This is a nice and self-contained book on the subject of independent component analysis (ICA). The authors start with relevant mathematical and statistical background (in Part I) to prepare readers for the derivations of ICA (though seasoned researchers may want to skip the first part of this book). The authors discuss the motivation behind ICA and present several ways to derive ICA (since this subject has been approached by several communities). The authors also compare and discuss the pros and cons of these approaches. The authors discuss several applications using ICA in Part III.

Compared with other ICA books, this manuscript has much depth and completeness. I highly recommend this book to any reader interested in this topic.

The book gives a great reference for starting an independent paralegal business with examples of what should and should not be done in the business world.
There is much focus on California, but much of the information can be used in other eaaster and mid-western states for setting up a business.
I highly reccomend this book as a guide to help one build a success paralegal business.

As a [...] consumer, I have yet to buy a book from these publishers that wasn't worth the asking price. These books are that useful! As a practicing paralegal in the Golden State, I consider myself fairly industry savvy but still found information contained within that I didn't find elsewhere. I'm not comfortable with [...] having the monopoly on subjects of this nature because any time there is only 1 provider of any given thing, that provider tends to gouge consumers. That will change as competition develops. In the interrim, however, this book is a good resource. Highly recommended.

The original edition of this book literally changed my life.

In addition to the sound and very detailed advice and suggestions Gross offers in this book (see the review below), his account of the many 'un-certified' experts who've advanced human progress over the centuries gave me the courage to chart my own course in life. The result? Tremendous personal satisfaction, real intellectual freedom, recognition in my profession and - as a nice bonus - a whole lot more money that I would have made I remained a cog in the wheel.

Yes, you too can make a significant contribution to the world without being annointed an 'institution.'

This is a brilliant and vastly underrated masterpiece.

This book is a "must read" for recovering academics as well as other individuals who would choose to pursue scholarly interests outside of formalized research institutions. This book offers common sense advice and uncommon sources of resources that are invaluable to both the beginning and experienced scholar. Each chapter ends with an insightful anecdote about the challenges faced and hurdles overcome by other independent scholars. The tone of the book is both motivating and empowering, yet low-key and scholarly. The content of the book includes methods and resources, yet the style of dissemination is far more elegant than that found in a typical "how to" book.

If you don't have an academic background and are unsure of your ability to succeed as an independent scholar, you should read this book. Passion, persistence, and the pursuance of craftsmanship are open to anyone who would choose to travel this path.

If you have an academic background and are considering leaving the ivory tower, you should read this book. Despite the self-important messages that you have been inundated with on campus, there exists a world of honorable and respected scholars outside of the university system with whom you can share intellectual companionship and challenge.

Years ago, this was the only book available to explain the physical principals of television. It's still one of the best. It's written in sort of a hippie political manner ala The Whole Earth Catalog. The premise is that by empowering the people with the power of mass communication, we will create some kind of utopian society. Obviously, things didn't work out that way, but it's still a pretty good introduction to the nuts and bolts of how technology works. This predates digital technology. In fact, the videotape formats it mentions aren't in use anymore. Everything else holds up pretty well. The basic physics is still the same. The book has detailed explanations of vision, electricity, AM & FM broadcasting. It goes into the details of signal switching including waveforms. The illustrations are excellent. Because of this book I have a pretty good understanding of how what I watch ends up on my TV. I only wish someone hadn't stolen my copy!

Years ago, this was the only book available to explain the physical principals of television. It's still one of the best. It's written in sort of a hippie political manner ala The Whole Earth Catalog. The premise is that by empowering the people with the power of mass communication, we will create some kind of utopian society. Obviously, things didn't work out that way, but it's still a pretty good introduction to the nuts and bolts of how technology works. This predates digital technology. In fact, the videotape formats it mentions aren't in use anymore. Everything else holds up pretty well. The basic physics is still the same. The book has detailed explanations of vision, electricity, AM & FM broadcasting. It goes into the details of signal switching including waveforms. The illustrations are excellent. Because of this book I have a pretty good understanding of how what I watch ends up on my TV. I only wish someone hadn't stolen my copy!

This fun read embodies everything I adored about Sex and the City (may it rest in peace)-- sparkling, effervescent, smart and witty writing sprinkled with nuggets of wisdom.

All the things you thought about your friends and your relationships come to light in this book. I continuously laughed out loud. I have no doubt that Gabi Lorino is going to be a household name!