Home Books

Bought this product cheaper then the stores and it was in brand new, perfect condition. It has many great recipes and is also a way to support breast cancer

this is a great cookbook for both experienced and novices cooks. whether you're making an occasional surprise dinner, or just need an idea for your Tuesday night dinner. i use it a lot for the ideas and baking/cooking times. also, love the updated kitchen/cooking basics section and all the great pics.

lots of wide margins allow me to record my own methods. its a great book, just what i wanted and has been a great update to by 1965 edition (even though i still refer to that one occasionally too).

We purchased this as an upgrade and replacement for an older version of the same book. The recipes are larger so there is no need to use triple batches for our large family and there's enough left over for lunch at work the next day. One of the two rivits came loose during shipping but Amazon was so good at replacing it that we got the new book before we could send back the old one.

I have a collection of the Better Homes Cook Books and love them all. This is special because it has recipes from different "famous" people, Paula Deen to name one and we all love Paula. I have ordered one for my daughters and my sisters for Christmas. In addition to all the delicious recipes, you are also donating to a cause that has or will touch most all our lives at one time or another. Buy it, you will not regret it.

A great book for the new homeowner. It gives you all the basics you need to know in order to make those little repairs or remodel projects that seem to pop up around the home.

I received the first edition of this book as a gift back in 1975 and I have been attached to it ever since. This newly updated version is an absolute blessing. Great illustrations, easy-to-read-and-follow instructions and well organized. I reach for this book any time I am about to tackle to new do-it-yourself project. This book will more than pay for itself...and save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in labor and materials costs. My only wish is that RD had included some project plans like they had in the first edition. I built a beautiful floating platform bed from the plans in that book.

I've had this book since 1991 and it is still the BEST in its class. I own and have read many other "do-it-yourself" manuals on home improvment and thia one is hands down the best. It's simple to read, yet each new section give lots of details and great illustrations.

This is an excellent book for the novice do-it-yourselfer. I was intimidated with a lot of the work needed to be done on my new home, but this book made it all seem possible. It was clear what things I could tackle myself, and what things are best left to a pro. I particularly liked the section on fasteners - it was something I didn't understand, although I thought I should!, and it gave a detailed description of what to use where, and why. I had a lot of lightbulb moments reading this book.

One note - be sure to pick up the new edition, which I hear is much improved (hard to believe)-it just came out feb 05 and is not the first one amazon brings up - the new edition is actually cheaper as I write this.

If you like to read and do home repairs this book is for you.

Smart solution of building a house with recycled materials. Though the first printing was in 1990 I think the concept hits the bulls eye in our present day. If you are a teacher, a student in architecture or just want to build your own house I highly would recommend this book.

Regards
Michael

This book was informative, and it pretty much gave me all the information I wanted to know about how to build an earthship, but the pictures it uses is mostly hand drawn which still leaves a lot to your imagination. I wanted to see color pictures or at least real life black/white pictures that show me different layouts, designs, and other options for building one. Keep the hand drawn ones but add more that show off the idea. Also it seems that for me to even build one requires a lot of money and a lot of paper work with the state. It was a great book but in my mind it didn't make the possibility of me ever owning one for an affordable price any more realistic. I love the idea though.

good topic for discussion around a break room or sitting lounge. not extremely detailed on mechanics of an Earthship house (guess you have to buy a blueprint or get a contractor). well worth it if you want to be more environmentally involved.

This book and the rest of the books in this series are the perfect recipe for living in harmony with the Earth. Reducing our carbon footprint is the challenge for this generation and this book series shows you how to do it - step by step. It's wonderful for the do-it-yourselfer and presents it in an easy-to-follow guide that gives even a novice the confidence that he/she can do it, too! I saw Earthships on several documentaries on Discovery channel and I am impressed by just how little energy they need to sustain themselves and how logical they are designed. I devoured this book and parts II and III as well. I can't recommend this series enough!

Wonderful. Easy to read and understand (maybe a little too easy sometimes, but that's OK). We are preparing to build using this book, and we are really excited by the possiblities. I would reccomend this book (and have) to anyone interested in really understanding sustainable living. Great book.

This book was required for the community health class in my nursing school. It is not very concise, the text is written in such a way as to be very conversational. I prefer books that present the facts without extra fluff (concise). Because of the way its written, studying is made more time consuming, because I have to ferret out the relevant information. Otherwise, some of the concepts are not thoroughly explained/defined, but in general its a so-so book. The verdict: only buy it if you have to.

Very imformative book, reads easy, and makes information easy to remember.
When reading this book you know you are reading an educational book, but you feel like you are reading something for fun. I highly recommend this book to anyone planning on working with the public in the nursing field.

thank you so much

excellent quality and good condition

thanks

Our grandkids really enjoy Lemony Snicket. Our granddaughter doesn't read yet, but our grandson loved the books.

I bought these books (actually the first three box sets) on the recommendation of a friend. But I messed up, this was not what she said. I muddled through each of the 9 books because I will not give up and feel it would be a waste of my money to throw them away. But truly, I would have rather spent my time getting a root canal, or being anally probed by aliens. These books are horrible! He warns you, but you figure it's in jest and there will be a point, or an upside to them. There's not. The movie however, is entertaining. Go figure. Check them out from the library if you're really that curious, but don't waste your money.

If you are thinking of reading this review, first be forewarned that it contains very little happiness in it at all. Inside the pages of the books that this review reviews, you will find such terrible things as orphaned children, a greedy villain out to steal a fortune, an incompetent banker (the word 'incompetent' here means, 'unable to protect or even remotely assist the Baudelaire orphans in their attempts to avoid the evil Count Olaf'), a murdered relative, a harmless Incredibly Deadly Viper, the reappearance of a villain, a widowed, phobia-ridden aunt (phobia-ridden here meaning, 'an aunt too afraid to touch the doorknob, use the oven, or be near realtors'), a library devoted entirely to grammar, a house that teeters on its foundations, and leeches. Clearly, if you had any sense at all, you would not wish to read about such things.

If you do, however, chance to pick a volume up, be sure to drop it as quick as you can, kick dirt over it so no one else can find it, and run in the opposite direction. Because if you do pick it up you will find, to your horror and misery, that the tales recorded within are most definitely unsuited to such a person as you. Tales of a fortune-stealing man named Count Olaf out to get a trio of clever and incredibly unlucky children are not, I am sure, the sort of thing you would enjoy. So I recommend that you purchase another book, perhaps a volume by Lenoy M. Setnick entitled THE PONY PARTY, the first of his series called THE LUCKIEST KIDS IN THE WORLD!, which can be found by purchasing Mr. Snicket's unauthorized autobiography in hardcover and turning the dust jacket inside out.

A very good day to you.


Rating: Very Good

The Trouble Begins contains the first 3 books in the Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books.

#1 - The Bad Beginning
#2 - The Reptile Room
#3 - The Wide Window

In the Series of Unfortunate Events isn't a happily ever after kind of story. There are three regular children:

Violet, who loves to invent
Klaus, who loves to read
and Sunny who loves to bite

Violet is the oldest, Claus the middle child, Sunny is the youngest.

The book "The Bad Beginning" is the basis for the first part of the movie. The story begins when the Baudelaire children are informed by Mr. Poe, a banking accountant, that their parents have just been killed by a mysterious fire, and thus begins a series of search for a suitable guardian and a safe place to live. The siblings closest member to their parents is supposedly Count Olaf, only he's not nice. He's exactly the opposite and he plans to steal the immense fortune left by the Baudelaire parents.

In The Bad Beginning, things, well, begin badly for the three Baudelaire orphans. And sadly, events only worsen in The Reptile Room. As the siblings move in with their new guardian Professor Montgomery, they find he is a reptile scientist. In a room with many different reptiles, there's a newly discovered reptile that he called a deadly, dangerous snake. But it's not really dangerous at all. Later Montes get a new assistant and it is Count Olaf in disguise. Of course something terrible happens to Uncle Morty after that and Count Olaf again tries to kidnap the children.

In the Wide Window, Mr. Poe places the children with a distant relative, Aunt Josephine. Aunt Josephiine lives in a house on the edge of a hill, a house that is very literally above Lake Lachrymose, a lake infested with Lachrymose Leeches who would eat a human if they smelled food on them.

Aunt Josephine is as eccentric as other relatives have been. She's a total grammar freak and so scared of every thing that the children have to live in a cold house and eat cold food because their aunt is afraid of accidents with fire. When Aunt Josephine meets Captain Sham who (who is Count Olaf in disguise), good fortune turns bad. Aunt Josephine dies and the apparent cause of death is jumping through the wide window in the living room, leaving the three children to Captain Sham (who is Count Olaf in disguise).

As the orphans try to figure out a way to escape from Count Olaf, they discover their aunt is still alive and in hiding. So they set out to find her and convince her to come back. This eventually leads them out onto the dreadful Lake Lachrymose where Count Olaf and the dreaded leaches catch up with them.

Though overall being sparse on detail and description, the books are fun reads.

Family Apart follows the lives of Irish children. They move from Ireland during the potato famine to NY to survive. But then their da dies and their ma finds it impossible give her family the basic needs. She decides to send them WEST so they can have the basics, education, and love. I read this book to many children because it is a quartet of books. Afterwards, they want to read the sequels. These tell the individual stories of each child. Being historial fiction, it also leads into to reading real accounts of Orphan Train riders lives. The book is exciting and has many emotions that children can identify with now.

What if you and your family had to leave your mother and go west on one of the orphan trains to be split up into differnt families?

In this book you'll experience the wide array of feelings the kelly children are feeling and the adventure that the kelly chilren have to endure. The kelly's dicover Mike, the oldest boy, is a copper stealer, they are being taken from thier mother, and most comfort Mike because he blames himself for all that has happened.

I recommand this book to anybody who like suspenseful novels or is just looking for a good book to read.

I really enjoyed reading the book Family Apart, because it keeps you guessing , whats going to happen next? Also it helps you learn a lot about orphans and what they go through. A Family Apart has a lot important teachings to offer. I would love to read the next six books in the series.

This wonderful book A Family Apart has a lot of meaningful things that can be learned. One lesson that can be learned is, that you don't know what you've got until its gone. If you have something or know somebody that means a lot to you, once you lose them you don't realize how important it was until its gone. A moral that can help you in life is to believe in yourself. Believing in yourself is good because if you are trying to reach a goal and you believe in yourself you will reach that goal and if you don't you might not. Another lesson that can be learned in this book is to love your family. You should love your family because they do a lot for you and they are your only family. The last great moral is to accept changes. Even though accepting changes is hard we have to, because sometimes we cant change them. As you can tell this great book A Family Apart has a lot of important teachings to offer.

This was a thrilling book about a poor family that live in newyork the family has to deal with many problems first the dad dies, then the 3rd eldest gets in to some trouble because he is a copper thief Mike (the copper thief) is sent to a hearing The judge announces under there mothers wishes that the children ( Petey, Peg, Danny, Mike, Megan, and Frances) are to be sent west on the orphan train. Before the train leaves Frances the eldest child overhears that two kids in the same family are more likely to be adopted if they are boys. So Frances promising her mother that she would take care of her youngest brother cuts her hair and pretends to be a boy named Frankie. That's just the beginning Frances and her brothers and sisters encounter many other things on there quest to the west. Read this fantastic book and your eyes will open up to a whole new world of adventure thieves, slaves, fear, and depression it's sure to make your heart ache.This is a book you will always remember.

Although the book was a bit dirty looking when it arrived at my house (at least the cover was pretty filthy), when I got into the guts of the book, I really enjoyed it. Truss' writing is both interesting and humorous. I think she makes many valid points and observations about the world today and how manners have declined to such a degree. Well worth a read!

This lady enjoys ripping into others way too much. I wish her better than she is capable of wishing others.

I wish I wrote so well. I dream that someday my natural verbosity will be distilled into a clarity resembling the precise pithy sentiments expressed by Lynne Truss in her lighthearted diatribe against contemporary rudeness entitled "Talk to the Hand:The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door." In this short pointed work Truss exposes the six modern incivilities that daily thwart the conscientious person's attempts to make life a bit more gracious.

1. The disappearance of small civil reciprocities such as "please"
and "thank you."
2. Customers and patrons now serving themselves where traditionally they have been served, and the offending organizations still wanting our money!
3. People in public acting as if they are in private. Behaviors unleashed by the cell phone.
4. The Eff Off Response. No explanation needed.
5. Disrespect. When authority is perceived as a personal insult.
6. A lack of awareness that we are a part of a society, something larger than ourselves.

This is potentially pedantic stuff. But Truss never lets it get too heavy. A quote from her chapter entitled "Booing the Judges" illustrates her delightfully snarky insightful style.

"Count the role models for respectfulness, on the other hand, and after a couple of hours you will have to admit that there is only one: Babe. That's it. Just one small sturdy imaginary sheep-pig stands between us and total moral decay. "Excuse me," he says, gently tilting his snout upwards. "I wonder if you'd care to follow me this way to the hillside of enlightenment." At which point a passer-by tragically fells him with a blow to the head with an umbrella and shouts, "You see? I told you it was him!" (pages 172-173 @2005 Gotham Books, first edition)

Absolutely do not stay home and bolt your door. Go directly to the library or bookstore and share in Truss's cathartic droll self-dubbed "moan of modern life."

No as good as her book called EAT SHOOTS and LEAVES, but was still funny and a good read

I sang the praises of Ms. Truss after "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" gave us her thoughts on punctuation but I must strenuously object to this pretense at the same treatment of manners. It is depressing, it is judgmental and pessimistic, and it is hypocritical. After whining for chapters about how rudeness stems from the fact that people don't really care for each other any more, she reveals her happiest dream: A world where she can walk down the street, get on the tube, and move about a city where there are no pedestrians or traffic. In other words, her ideal world consists of no people! She is a misanthropist of the angriest sort. The only saving quality to justify reading the book is that it was a relief to close it, go out into the world, and notice that schoolchildren did NOT routinely bump into me, throwing garbage on the ground and shouting "Eff off!" The contrast between the universe full of bores that Ms. Truss occupies and my world seems excellent evidence of the idea that life is what you make it.

P.S. What is the deal with writing "eff" so many times? If you would like to demonstrate how shocked you are by language, should you not employ the shocking tool of effing writing it out? We're all grownups here....

not a book you want to purchase if you want to learn the business but great if you are a home owner.

I learned nothing from this book that I didn't already know. After talking with friends and family and finding a good mortgage banker I trusted, I knew what I needed to. I was very disappointed in it!

Very well written... useful not only for mortgage shoppers but also for professionals working in fields related to Financial Services!

This book saved me about $22,000 when I purchased my house. It prepared me to know what to look for and what to ask for when searching for a mortgage! I had purchased the home buying for dummies book and while reading that I learned I needed to know so much more about the financing aspect. Since it was my first home purchase I was clueless. This book walked me through and helped me discover what my personal needs were. I found my dream house, a perfect fit mortgage, and closed all in 2 weeks. AMAZING!

The book touches on the very basics of buying a home. Lots of industry terms defined - this solves a communication barrier to often seen in this industry. Often times, some lenders forget to check the literacy of there clients and breeze through the whole process without defining some key terms. With this book, loan officers/brokers/agents and clients are on the same page.

First time buyers who read this book will feel a little more confident, especially with reading articles and books pertaining to buying/investing in a home.

This book is like a drop-dead gorgeous date who makes graceful, learned, amusing, and helpful conversation. Magnificent photographs of artfully selected homes from the golden American past are embraced by text that takes you by the hand on an aesthetic and educational adventure that will allow you to move onward with confidence when the house you've come to love is too small.

If your home is like another member of the family, contemplating an addition will send you in search of the architectural equivalent of the finest plastic surgeon. This book will allow you to recognize that architect and to express your dreams knowledgeably when the time arrives.

I commend author and architect Frank Shirley for sharing his experience, his clear way of thinking, and his passion with all who might benefit.

Any who would convert an older house to more modern living purpose will find ideas galore in NEW ROOMS FOR OLD HOUSES: BEAUTIFUL ADDITIONS FOR THE TRADITIONAL HOME. The additions considered here are designed with two purposes in mind: to fit into a modern lifestyle, and to blend with an older home's decor and purposes. Color sidebars of architectural style detail accompany lovely color photos of successful projects and chapters packed with ideas for changes, making this an excellent choice for any library strong in home remodel projects.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is absolutely fantastic. If you are considering putting an addition on an old home or any home, this book provides thoughtful insight on how to do the job correctly. Mr. Shirley has done an amazing job making the subject matter easy to understand. The photographs of the properties in the book are absolutely stellar. I would give this book two thumbs up.

Wonderful book. As a homeowner and dreamer of owning an old house that may include plans for an addition, I was very much interested in learning the details of such an undertaking. This beautifully done book book provided me with the understanding to begin the process (at least in my mind for now!)with it's thoughtful consideration of different styles/architecture and how people once lived in these wonderful homes of the time vs how we live today and why the consideration of an addition to many old homes comes into play. I appreciate how chapters on old home additions reveal the history of the process from beginning to end and within the pages are some really great stories. I also found useful the chapters detailing the various materials used in construction of older historical and/or historic homes(there is a difference between the two and the book explains what that is). The author provides photos and insight into examples of ill planned/poorly concieved additions for the reader to see and gain a sense of why they don't work which I found very helpful.

As an aside I live less than 2 miles from the Federal Style house in Marshalton, PA. I have driven by this magnificant home in it's country setting many times and it is interesting that I always sensed there was something about the house that intrigued me- since it appears that the entrance to the original drive was at a different location on the street at one time and at some point had been planted with Spruce trees to conceal the old entrance. I could not put my finger on it but as I looked at the old entrance in juxtaposition to the facade of the home at it now sits something of a question mark came into my mind. After reading Mr. Shirley's book I found out that the house had been moved from it's original foundation and reoriented prior to the new addition being undertaken. What a great piece to the puzzle I had vaguely pondered in my mind a time or two while driving by the property! And the architect who was involved with the renovation...I happened to grow up near him (about 20 miles away from where I now call home) and we rode the same school bus during high school.

Loved this book, a great read-gave me lots of inspiration and clarity for that day when I pick up the phone and make that call to an architect to work with in the process of adding to my old house! And, for someone who often has 2 or 3 books going at one time, I found myself enjoying every page and putting other books on hold until I finished this delightful piece of work.

I researched long and hard for a few newly released books hopefully containing a lot of inspiring photos and decorating and design projects to help me with my home's restoration. Out of the 4 books I purchased, "New Rooms..." and Your Home A Living Canvas: Create Stunning Faux Finishes & Murals with Paint by Curtis Heuser - were by far the most helpful. "New Rooms..." is filled with historically accurate examples as to how to add architecturally add on to your existing home without losing its' original historic flavor - while "Your Home..." gives you loads of interior decorating advise as to how to recreate period charm after renovation. The book follows the complete interior artistic transformation of the author's 1890's historic home, with over 30 how to projects. I highly reccomend both books to anyone interested in home remodeling or restoration!

I bought this for my 3 year old daughter, and she loves it. In fact we both do, and every time my 9 year old niece comes over I find her looking through it too. So much fun to look at!

Beautifully illustrated. A little look and find,.. better explains, visually, about the fairy's living, and interests. It is great for imagination,.. but I sort of hoped they would have done more fairy homes in the book. I needed it for art purposes,.. so it found a new home with the other look and find disney fairy book by someone who collects disney stuff.

this book is great, my two girls who are 5 and 7 love all these books and this one just adds more fun to it all. you really get a feel for each fairies personality when you see inside their home. my kids could relate to how their rooms are and loved finding the objects on each page. very nice book.

This wasn't exactly what I had in mine when I ordered this book. It doesn't fit my needs for creating fairy homes for my fairys. But, it won't go to waste, I will pass it on to my 2 year old grand-daughter.

This book is so detailed. All little girls, ages 5-10, that love fairies will love this book! Is is an insider's look into how the fairies live and it sparks a fairy lover's imagination. My daughter loves to draw fairies and their houses and this book is a big inspiration!