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This is a good book if your just starting out. A lot of it is common sense but there are some good pointers. I would recommend it. Easy read. Also has some good resources.

I received this book really quickly and very pleased with it. I love the book and I couldn't wait to get it. The transaction was effortless.

Viki Lareau's book Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry is a well-written, experience-based guide for the novice. With the exception of a couple of small number of typos or misspellings, the book is a delight. I found that I wanted to read it straight through and almost succeeded in doing so before being interrupted. The photos complement the text, and it helps that the reader comes to like the person writing the book (at least I did).

I have purchased other similar books in the past that I skim, but never really take time to read. This book was not only worth the money, it was worth the time. Concisely written, clearly categorized, useful information. I only wish I had read it seven years ago when I first started selling my jewelry, as some of the lessons I have learned a much harder way!
My little company is currently turning into something much bigger and I am so glad I have the insight from this book to help me in negotiating and decision making.

If you're just getting started in the hand-made jewelry selling business, this is a straightforward, well written, and practical guide for the basics of setting up your business. The author provides tips on pricing your work, which are especially helpful. Overall, I found the tone warm and helpful, and it's a quick, easy read.

Michele Cozzens, Owner of Dream Life Designs Jewelry

I've read many other green building books. What I liked about this one was that it really goes into the nuts and bolts more - it give more detail than other books including some of Dan Chiras's other books - which I guess makes sense since it is about a limited area/topic.

This book is excellent and received in great condition. Thank you. - jac

This book covers much more than Solar Energy by including many energy saving features to build into a house. I bought a copy for both my Architech and General Contractor.

Everyone I talked to stated this as the first book someone should read to come up to speed on passive solar designs. And it is a good overview. But only an overview, providing lots of concept and a few "rules of thumb" only. Taken for what it is, this is a very good introduction to passive solar concepts. You'll have to look elsewhere for more detailed information if you plan to participate in the design phase of a passive solar building, or to learn enough to evaluate another's design. There are a few good references in the book to other materials as well.

My copy of this book is a mess. It has highlighting and notes all throughout the pages and looks well worn even though I've only had the book for a year.

When the time came to do some studying on solar design, this was the book that was recommended to me. And for good reason - it packs a wallop and provides SO MUCH great information in its pages. At the time I got the book I was somewhat of a novice to solar building and was concerned that the book would have too much jargon or concepts that I didn't understand, but Chiras does such a great job explaining everything in layman's terms that by the time I finished the book I felt like an expert myself.

I HIGHLY recommend this to ANYone looking to building solar/green. I consider it the best of the bunch.

This is such a great concept- and it works, if you are faithful to it.

I got cookbook/guide a while ago and used it haphazardly at first, choosing to follow it on some weeks and ignore it on others.

Then, a friend of mine who saw it at my house and ordered it started following it faithfully and told me of her good experiences with the book. I decided that I would give it a go, and have not been disappointed.

I have only skipped one recipe in the "schedule," called Beans and Greens, because I knew my family would not go for it, but I make all the others without prejudice. For instance, last night I made the Mexican Lasagne and even though I KNOW my daughter doesn't like beans/legumes, I put the black beans in the recipe anyway, just as it was written. Surprise! She loved it!

I am of the opinion that it is good to expose our kids to all kinds of different foods and not give in to their eating quirks and preferences or you end up creating the "mac and chese-only" monster.

My family has enjoyed every recipe I have made, and I spend far less time stressing over dinner. We have saved time, money and effort, and I can safely recommend this book now from EXPERIENCE.

One caveat I should mention- sometimes I notice that the author could be a little more clear in her instructions. If you are a brand new cook, you may run into some confusion over some of the recipes. I would suggest reading through them first and making sure you understand everything before you begin cooking. For example, in the recipe I cooked last evening (Mex. Lasagne), one of the ingredients listed was a can of enchilada sauce. A can? How many ounces? I couldn't find enchilada sauce at my grocery, so decided to make my own from a recipe, but I needed to know how many ounces of sauce to add to the recipe. I ended up doing a search on the internet and found that Ortega sells cans of Enchilada Sauce that are 10 oz. it would have been a lot easier if the ingredient list called for one 10 oz. can of enchilada sauce....

Still, a little creativity usually overcomes these few shortfalls. I still think the book is good enough to give it a 5 star rating.

I really bought this book because I have two small girls and I wanted my family to be the family who cooks dinner every night and eats at the dinner table instead of feeding the babies and us eating later. So I thought this would be more of a workbook or something to help me accomplish this. Okay, so I already have cookbooks and I can honestly say I can write and use a grocery list. So this seems to be all this book is. A cookbook with a grocery list. If cookbooks and grocery lists did it for me, I would already be cooking dinner for the family every night.

I really love this book. I took 2 weeks worth of recipes in this book, because I had 3/4 of the ingredients from 2 weeks worth already in my kitchen, and I created 1 weeks worth of dinners and the grocery lists. My husband and I were really amazed at the different types of foods we can cook for LESS than the monotonous food we were eating before. We now have variety for a lot less.

I received this book as a wedding present and didn't open it for the first year I owned it because the recipes were too simple for my husband's and my taste. We love to cook and love experimenting with flavors, and everything just seemed bland and unimaginative.

However, it was the only cookbook I brought during the time I spent in South America doing research for a few months. I love the joy of cooking complicated recipes for my husband at home and honestly, I was worried that without him I would be too lazy to cook healthy meals just for myself. Also, I knew that it would be difficult to get many different spices and I didn't want to buy things in bulk that I would not go through in two months.

When I got there, I realized that the nearest supermarket was ten blocks away, a distance I would have to walk with grocery bags, and that because my stay was only temporary, I didn't have all my kitchen supplies from home to use.

I have given a number of the recipes in this book a try, and while I still hold the same views I did before, I have to say that for someone who needs to eat simply and does not have a wide range of ingredients or kitchen tools, these recipes have turned out reliably well. I have made the garlic lime salmon (not the chicken, although I substituted chicken for the salmon, but it is a different recipe than the one everyone raves about) and pepper chicken. I was glad to have extras so I would not have to cook every day, which took the stress off.

So I would recommend this book for someone who needs simple recipes with easy-to-find ingredients.

I made 2 dishes from this book, followed recipes to the letter, and both came out poorly.

The Orange Chicken was so bad that we ended up tossing 4 chicken breasts, 4 cups of rice and a lot of fresh broccoli. The book seemed to cost me more than saved me time.

I am moving on to a few other books and giving this to someone who might want to take more chances than I.

This is a fantastic book. I suggest it for all ages. In some parts it made me cry. In our family we consider Nat Bowditch, "Nat" we call it. Me and my Mom LOVED it. That is probably one of the most well-written books i've ever seen.

We are all loving this title. An inspiring book about a man who's life is an inspiration!
A super family story!

This book is about a boy named Nathanial Bowditch. No one likes him and he goes to bad school with a mean tearcher. When Nathanal Bowditch is about 10, his teacher found out he was good at math and advanced him to a higher math class where everone respected him. Even though he was he was a indentured servant and he couldn't leave the person's house, he still found the time to study Math,Latin,French.
Then he put all his knowledge together. He also devloped many ways to navigate a ship that we still use today! I liked the book because it is good historical fiction and the author uses good clear nautical terms. Its good to read a book where a boy suceeds in by using his brain, not by muscles or magic, like modern day books.

Another fine Newbery-winning historical novel. This one is actually a fictionalized biography of Nathaniel Bowditch, innovative navigator and author of The American Practical Navigator, apparently still a standard book on navy vessels. Latham's fast-paced book takes the reader from Bowditch's toddler days in Salem through a long apprenticeship to a chandlery, then through a varied sailing career and two marriages. Along the way his perseverance and hard work are emphasized, as he studies hard and manages to learn several languages and other practical skills, as well as discovering the joy of teaching other people--specifically the hardened but eager sailing men "before the mast."

In keeping with the mission of the juvenile historical novel to teach as well as entertain (see The Door in the Wall), Carry On passes on lots of interesting tidbits about sailing and colonial life, not to mention a bundle of implied (i.e. not preachy) moral lessons. Though there are no battles explicitly described--this is not a book about sea warfare--the story does have some tense moments and thrilling situations. But the main focus is always on "Nat" and his patient efforts to improve himself, the science of navigation, and the lives of his family and other sailing men.

I found it especially inspiring that Nat "carries on" his work and his confident attitude in the face of considerable difficulties and challenges. He attends school for only a short time in his youth, and never gets to go to Harvard, his great dream. His father is not the guiding force that he should be; there are even a few suggestions that he is a drinker. And Nat has to deal with death in many forms, as people close to him succumb to typical eighteenth-century perils of disease and danger. Through all these challenges and discouragements, Nat keeps his eyes on the stars.

As with most of the winning historical novels, Carry On probably demands a more attentive reader than other Newbery books; there is little humor and a somewhat advanced vocabulary. I'd recommend it for the studious child whom you'd like to encourage to stay true to their own questing, curious spirit.

My son is in a book club for boys and this was their latest read. The book is an outstanding case study in determination, perseverance, character, and achievement against the odds. My son immensely enjoyed the book and has verbalized applications from the book in his own life over the last month since reading the story.

In my opinion, the book has no offensive elements that parents need to be concerned about.

My son at age 9, is a very strong reader. I believe that this book would be right for a strong reader in the 3rd grade through readers in the 6th or 7th grade.

I highly recommend the book.

Such a small book, yet packed with awesome wisdom. Very simple for first-third grade, yet very complete for basic academics. I wish I had found this book before I committed to a curriculum. It would have saved me quite a bit of money.

I refer to this book often to help me stay on track. Its contents offer straight forward advice on teaching in the early grades. You'll even find it beneficial to read this book when you have a preschooler, to get an idea of what lies ahead and what to do when your child is ready. In addition, reading this book will help the homeschooling parent in choosing curriculum, not with specific suggestions, but by general ideas offered.

The included wall chart of phonics and numbers has been helpful, but leaves something to be desired in the way it was printed in only blue and yellow ink. It's just bonus material. The book is your investment.

This book is a well written, easy to use guide. It includes a handy phonics chart, and a math chart on the reverse side. You certainly get a lot of bang for your buck. The only downside, is that you need to have some familiarity with phonetic sounds, (i.e. the actual sound) that the dipthongs, digraphs, phonograms, etc. make. Otherwise, this book is spectacular.

This is one of the fundamental homeschooling books -- useful for parents of children up to about age 8.

It seems like the most effective ways to teach children are often the most easy to overlook. This wonderful book shows parents and teachers how to utilize simple, low-cost means to give their young children a strong start in learning.

This book has been most helpful in our homeschooling adventure and was key in pulling this over-achieving, by-the-book teaching mother away from the need to keep to a rigid schedule and actually enjoy teaching and learning with my children.

Highly recommended.

Many adults have suffered great hardships in their childhood, even being sent away. This now successful man had a horrible beginning. One can feel the isolation he felt when he was "dumped" off at the age of 3.
A good book to restore your belief that you can make your life different.

This book was easy to read and understand. It should be read by every young person in children's home, in the foster system, in juvenile detention, and those with an incarcerated parent. Even those of us who never suffered any of those hardships, can learn an important lesson in forgiving those who have hurt us.

Wonderful book. Would recommend this book to any age group. Very touching and inspiring story.

I really enjoyed this book. Being from Chicago as well, I felt an ever closer connection to the author and his story. I had a real hard time putting it down and I had to keep tissue close by whenever I was reading it. As a Mother, it was especially heart wrenching to read some of the thoughts and emotions the author experienced as a child. Such wonderful writing and expression - always feeling the emotion the author was sharing. I would highly recommend it! I passed it onto a friend after I was done with it - so the enjoyment could be passed on!

Having been in the service of serving abandoned, behaviorally disturbed children and adolescents for 32 years, I was able to reminisce and find memories explicity tied to this book. The messages are accurate, profound, and direct. The chapters relive one man's story but the themes are multiplied by the number of kids in care from yesterday to the present and the stories are wide and varied. There are many stories in the lives of children from both yesteryear to this present day and age.The names change and the faces are different but the broken body and mind are still evident today. When one reads this book you become acutely aware of why behavior, emotion,identity, can go awry. All of the clinical terminology which labels children in placement existed then and still does today. What is remarkable and I have seen it over and over is that there are those who "will" to live, who "will" to grow, who never give up. Out of all the chaos emerges a Rob Mitchell and there are numbers upon numbers who, in spite of the many abuses and neglect, rise to become vibrant creative human beings like he has. This is a story of one of them. And, of so many of the children I have seen rise out of their pathology and into health, I have also seen a remarkable closeness to an abiding faith. Rob Mitchell is a man of that faith. Castaway Kid is just one of many castaway kids. What a wonderful read.
David Carlson MSW, LCSW

This book is very poorly written. It also does not adequately discuss estimating materials.

This book is a good reference for anyone who is currently designing or building a luxury home, but for a general education on construction interiors, this is not the book. There are many references to the latest products, which include both color and feature description that will be quickly outdated. Most of the discussion centers around materials that would be used in an affluent home rather than your typical family residence, and product descriptions focus on the unique product, not the typical. Dimensions for comfortable clearance and layout hints are useful for residential layout, but the commercial references are very limited.

Was really looking forward to this book as all the reviews were so positive. My wife and I wanted to get some color scheme ideas for our new house. Unfortunately i just was not that impressed with the schemes laid out in the 'bible'.

This book gave me the courage to paint the crown molding in my master bedroom a color other than white! And, wow, what a difference. Plus, the book provided me with an entire color scheme for the room: sheets, flooring, pillows, etc.

You can use the book in two ways: choose a scheme and follow it religiously or use a scheme as a jumping-off point. Either way, you can't lose. This book is well worth my $30 investment.

I found this book to be informative and very easy to relate to. As I had purchased this title along with another great book, Your Home A Living Canvas: Create Stunning Faux Finishes & Murals with Paint - to gain as much insight into using color to cozy up my old home. Both books far exceeded my expectations, as both authors explain in detail the impact particular tones have upon a space. The warm and inviting interiors featured in these titles offer the reader much inspiration and visual reference to borrow from. Highly recommended for those wanting to discover the secrets to using vibrant color to transform the drab to the fabulous!!!!!

I love this book. It's just what I was looking for...a book that put together color schemes as opposed to the standard color rooms with white trim. More photos would have been even better.

Ever gone to a paint store, and stood there goggling at all the hundreds and hundreds of choices, totally unable to decide?

Here is a book to help you.

Starmer arranges the book in chapters about color. In the chapter on red, she lists everything from cranberry and magenta to antique pink and coral. Then, and this is what is so useful, under each individual color she shows two colors chosen to match the main color perfectly, plus two other minor colors to use as accents. In addition, she talks about whether the colors lean towards soothing or drama, and whether they work best in linen or silk. Talk about making things easy.

Fantastic decorating book! The pictures in the book are as lovely as seeing Bunny William's home in person. I recently toured her home and garden in Litchfield County. It is a beautiful, charming estate. The book is a wonderful memory and reference for me. Very inspiring!

I have always loved older homes. Every room in this book tells a story. This book is a great tool in preparing you for lifes journey in restoring an older house. When you decide to make you your house a home, and your dreams a reality. The author reminders the readers that it takes time to accomplish your goals. The pictures are just amazing. I will treasure this book for years to come.

Many design books only use words to describe the pictures. While reading these types of books, I find myself only paying attention to the pictures. However, "An Affair with a House" captures Williams's personal story while still vividly displaying her passion for design. If only we could all feel the connection for our houses as she has for her's.

I've read reviews of this book that told how people were appalled at the materialistic aspects of this book. We live fairly simply, but like to look at a home put together beautifully, because it is filled with belongings that they personally chose and collected, and more importantly--hobbies and interests that they treasure . I was impressed that they loved their home.

These people enjoy "living". They garden, travel, raise chickens, cook, entertain, and love their dogs. They are interesting because they pursue learning about life. I guess I've always thought that wealthy living was portrayed in a boring way. You can enjoy your home and really live life and learning in whatever size home you have.

Thirty years ago Bunny Williams fell in love with a run down 18th century farmhouse that was being used as a rental by college students. (That should indicate to you just how run down it had become.) She has done so much to restore the house and grounds to their glory days. The landscaping projects alone have taken decades to reach their potential. As Bunny's father pointed out, that had she not been a young woman when she bought the house, the project would have outlived her. Instead, she had the time and talent to bring this house into her vision of what a gracious old home should be.

A renown decorator of others' homes, when Bunny was working on her own dream house, no corners were cut and no expense spared. This book describes how she envisioned the hedges, the entrance foyer, the living room, the kitchen, the patio - and then what she did to bring that vision to reality. There is an amazing sequence as she describes what she felt would be the ideal color of the entrance hall - a delicate peach that she had once seen in the table linen of a restaurant in Tuscany - and what she did to reproduce that color.

The attention to detail that Bunny paid to every aspect of her home over thirty years has resulted in a place that is a true reflection of the owner's passions. The spaces devoted to her beloved dogs; the collections she has gathered through the years; the way she found the perfect place to work in an old wing chair that belonged to her late father.

Bunny also loves to entertain. She shows us her dining areas; how she settled on certain tables; her collections of tableware and linens; and the storage areas. But she doesn't stop there - she shares her favorite methods of flower arranging, and gives us some lovely recipes. It's just another nice touch in this jewel of a book.

"An Affair with a House" isn't a decorating book, per se. It's one woman's story about how she reclaimed a neglected house and brought it back to life. This a beautiful book to spend an afternoon looking through and, if you like the traditional styles, you can find plenty of inspiration from Bunny Williams' own story.

Highly recommended!!!

This is a great, highly readable and very informative book for anyone looking to buy or refinance a house. The take home message is that your mortgage broker is in the same category as your car salesman, except that your home will cost at least 10 times what your car will cost. You can't afford to go into the process ignorant or you are a sitting duck.

My only caveat is that there are a few missing pieces about how to translate the YSP percentage into the mortgage rate effect - how much, exactly, does a 1% YSP increase your mortgage rate? A little more explanation would clear that up.

In addition, this book badly needs a second edition. It was obviously written either before or just at the start of the recent mortage/foreclosure debacle. She never talks about the effects of the current tight credit market on a consumer's ability to borrow and what fees might be charged and how much you can actually negotiate today. Her FICO scoring categories, for example, are very out of date. Also, I know that there has been some crackdown on the mortgage industry, and some of the practices she mentions may have been actually made illegal, or at least come under more scutiny, but I'm not sure which ones. An update here would help.
Overall, this is a great book. You will get your money's worth and much, much more.

Michelle Singletary recommended this book in the Washington Post. It's clearly written, full of very useful information, and fun to read. I only wish I'd had it before I signed the loan contract. But, no worries, an email to the author, a quick reply, and I received more valuable advice. Don't get a home loan without reading this book first.

This is a great book for anyone thinking of taking out a loan for a home or home equity. This book can literally save you thousands of dollars and give you a good working knowledge of the mortgage industry and all the scams they run to drive up their profit at your expense.

Unless you work in the mortgage industry yourself this book is a must read before picking up that phone and calling a loan officer. Even if you have had gotten loans in the past, this book will be the best guide through the, at time seems mysterious/dark, mortgage alley. It is everything you will need to know to ensure and feel confidence that you have gotten a good loan. And that's big for me, to know and be able to sleep at night on a relatively big financial decision. ALL your questions will be answered in this one book. It is all collected and packaged for you. Why spend hours to search online, browse numerous websites and collect this valuable knowledge? It is all right here! It was an easy read too! I personally read it like a novel, the next page seems to answer exactly what I was about to ask. Please read, learn and be a savvy loan consumer for you own sake. It will save you and your loan officer a lot of time, grief and MONEY when you guys are speaking the same lingo.

As a retired attorney, I have read my share of how-to books in various areas of expertise. Many have disappointed for lack of follow through and updating techniques such as online access to the author, with up-to-the-minute links to web pages addressing new areas of concern. Carolyn Warren's incredibly thorough, professional and brilliant comprehensible book lacks nothing in this regard. In fact, I would place this book among the various genres as the #1 book I have read in the last year that has made it possible for me to actually understand what was once an almost impossible mess of information for the layman. Having no background whatsoever in banking, financial management, debt, mortgages, credit, equity loans etc., this was a perfect book for me to rely upon for clear and concise knowledge. Oh, and after reading this book along with accessing her free info online, you will be delighted to know that Carolyn Warren does not just leave the reader there. She actually answers your emails! Yes, an author who cares about you -- long after you have purchased and read her book! You just gotta get this one - she is a star who knows what you need to survive like no one else out there.