Home Books

O'Brien and Smith's The Northwest Green Home Primer is a timely, comprehensive manual, certain to inform and inspire. From initial conception and planning through construction, commissioning and disassembly, the well-illustrated primer walks you through all stages of a green building project, helping you navigate this exciting, dynamic, important design process. It includes an introduction to modern green technologies and practices, up-close and personal case studies, and detailed checklists to ensure that your methodology is complete. If you're building or remodelling a home, The Northwest Green Home Primer will be an indispensable partner, giving you the knowledge and confidence to do it green.

Submitted by: Gina Diamond, M.Ed.;Eco-Lifestyle Coach

The Northwest Green Home Primer is the perfect blend of text, pictures, and graphics. It is easy to read and one can glean information quickly on almost every page through the use of bullet points, tips, and charts. It is packed full of region-specific information for build/design professionals, home owners, and renters who want to help create a socially just and environmentally sustainable future. This unique green guide offers something for everyone including those just beginning the process and those who have already made lots of changes. I believe it can help anyone confidently move forward in their journey to live a more eco-friendly life. I intend to use it personally and professionally.

From the first chapter I knew I was reading something special. O'Brien and Smith take the time to tell us exactly why building and remodeling in more sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner are not only important to reduce our imprint on the animals and resources of our lovely planet but also our responsibility to our native history and our current and future everyday lives. Boom! Totally sucked in!

Their dedication to teaching the reader - at minimum - enough to ask the right questions, providing solid resources for digging deeper into issues that are relevant to each reader, and the constant mantra about early planning leading to the best results is amazing. I think those new to green building as well as seasoned folk will find this book to be a great collective resource.

Major kudos to O'Brien and Smith and all those that contributed to such a fabulous product.

I bought this for my collection of "survival situation" books, and I think it is a very good addition. This book covers everything from First Aid of Burns, Survival at Sea, Jam Recipes, Hydroponic Farming, to Brick Construction.

My no means is this a definitive book on any of these subjects, but it can be used as a very good general knowledge book on all of them.

This is a wonderful book to use or just to dip into for a wealth of information from how to buy a Solar Electric system to how to get rid of hog confinement odor. It's a compilation of government pamphlets on how to do just about anything you could ever think of doing. Bravo!!

There is a lot of information in this book, most of which is very interesting and potentially useful. So long as I think of this as a 'reference book' and not a manual or how-to, I'm happy with my purchase of it.

The book's main problem is in presentation. It is a compilation of publication from other sources, primarily the US government. As such the quality of each section varies greatly in age, usability, and legibility. Really, this book should come with a magnifying glass as several sections have been reduced in size to accommodate the format and are made functionally illegible.

In short, if you are looking for a book to tell you how to become 'Self-Reliant', this book isn't going to help you much. If you are approaching self-reliance and need a book to fill in some knowledge gaps, then it is a valuable resource

While a little dry this book had a LOT of good information. Realistically it had too much information. A LOT of information that any highschool graduate will know.

However, if the entire world social structure collapses this is the one book you would need to home school your kids.

The first thing I noticed about this book was the terribly small print. I have 20/15 vision (better than 20/20) and even I considered using a magnifying glass to read this book! I bought this book mainly because I am preparing to build my own house and I will be doing 99% of the labor myself. And because of this, I concentrated mainly on sections of this book that are dedicated to home construction, masonry, brickwork, etc.

I found a lot of usefull information about building a house. But I would not advise using this book as a "stand alone" guide for home construction. However I do highly recommend this book as a companion reference on the subject. I especially enjoyed the section on "before you build", which pointed out a lot of design details that I will incorporate in my own floor plan.

I would have given the book 5 stars for overall content. But the small print still irritates me and is worthy of taking away 1 star on its own. And the lack of detailed instructions on certain key topics can be annoying at times. So a half star loss there.

This must be one of the best books to get you started on genetics. I had zero knowledge of genetics and I had to learn the basics fast... I found this to be better than any textbook! Very clear overview of how the scientific inquiry and line-of-thought progressed over the years in the biology/genetics field. The book is also very fun to read --- a "must have" for everyone!

The book is a simple guide to Genetics done in a fun and informative manner. It is an easy reading. For anyone trying to understand basic working of Genes and finding it difficult to understand from popular reading or other books, this is it.

this book is an excellent resource for someone teaching and reviewing basic genetics. Although it misses out on recent udates and findings, it still paints the basics in comical, very simple and straight forward approaches. My friend is taking her preliminary exam in Genetics and when i lent her this book to help her recap old courses, she couldn't be more pleased by the easiness, and freshness this book brought to her studies. I am currently teaching fundamental genetics and i made it clear to my students that this is the last resort for those ith no hope of understanding genetics.. it works..!

The book provided an excellent and very useful introduction to genetics, without having to endure the dryness of most introductory textbooks, etc. Would definitely recommend it.

This is the update edition of "The Cartoon Guide to Genetics" by Larry Gonick and Mark Wheelis. The original edition was published in 1983, and this First Collins edition was published in 2005. This is one of a series of Cartoon Guides which Larry Gonick has co-authored with scientists in the field of choice. Mark Wheelis is the senior lecturer in Microbiology at the University of California at Davis.

The book opens with a pre-history of the field; discussing diverse subjects such as domestication of plants and animals, the biblical story of Jacob's Flock, spontaneous generation, selective breeding, and so on. They move on to give an excellent overview and history of the subject. Unlike the other Cartoon Guide's that I have read, this one lacks any chapters or sections. Perhaps they felt the subject was narrow enough that it was not necessary, but for readability it might have been better to have broken the book into chapters.

This book serves well as an introduction, overview, review, and/or history of the subject. Of the guides that I have read, I would rank this book just a slight bit behind the Cartoon Guide to Physics, and better than the Computer and Statsitics guides.

this books is a good intro to the fundamentals of stone working. there are a lot of great pictures and illustrated diagrams. it's only drawback in my opinion is that it's all in black and white. If you don't already own it, mcraven's "stone primer" is a wonderful read and superior in production quality.

I really like the detail that this book has, as well as the fabulous pictures. The pictures not only of works in progress, but beautiful, finished works as well, often demonstrating the technique being presented. Thanks for a wonderful resource.

If your looking for a book about stone masonry in general, this will give you a great primer for authentic stone masonry. He details some basic projects and gives you a great detailed how to. I was looking for something a little more advanced but I wished I had a resource like this when I was first starting out. Don't know if I agree with his technique for drystone retaining walls. He says start skinny and step back, I am a hard headed Irishman who believes that your wall should be just as wide at the base as it is tall. I will have to do some more research.

Good read, very useful for beginners

Chuck will keep you smiling as your read his books. They contain plenty of humorous stories while they display the stone arts. There are better guides but you should read as many as possible: you'll need it.

Stone work is the hardest task you'll probably ever do in your life. If your project is big, it seems to never end and you'll doubt you'll ever finish. One rock can take 2 hours to lay whereas if all goes well, you can lay 5 in an hour. So, if you are interested in stone work, I'd advise to start small on the first few projects. This book is a good guide to helping you along the way.

Wonderful black & white pictures of stone walls, stone arches, stone bridges and sundry projects. The author makes much of ancient Scot stone work. There are a lot of nice pen drawings used for 'step by step' construction programs. There are many, many suggestions regarding stone choice and stone placement. These comments are the best feature of the book. Finally, there are a few pages on handling large stones with hydraulic booms, pick-up trucks and front-loaders. These suggestions are not going to be found in many books.

There isn't much said about hand power-tool options, nor stone shaping. There are few 'construction tips'. For example, the details of mixing motar specific to your job are only broadly discussed and there are no aids for determining correct mortar wetness. There are no 'good' and 'bad' stone arrangements to illustrate stone arrangement tricks. If you are looking for a 'first project' guide, the Black & Decker 'Stonework & Masonry projects' book offers more assistance. If you've got a few walls completed and want to take the next step towards being a mason, this is your book.

Table of Contents:
Intro: Why stone?
Part 1: Working with stone
Chapter 1: Types of Stone
Chapter 2: Sources of Stone
Chapter 3: Handling Stone
Chapter 4: Selecting Stone for a Project
Chapter 5: Cutting and Shaping Stone
Part 2: Stonework Projects
Chapter 6: Basic and Inspired (curving) walls
Chapter 7: Retaining walls
Chapter 8: Entryways
Chapter 9: Stone steps
Chapter 10: Stone Projects for backyard and beyond (bbq, birdbath, sculpture, walkway, etc.)
Chapter 11: Stone Bridges
Chapter 12: Stone in Interior Spaces

I received this book as a gift and was, to my surprise, very impressed. Although I am a Rachael fan and watch her TV shows, I find that the cookbooks of hers I already own, I rarely use. This book is an exception. Whether intentional or not, the recipes in this book seem to be much healthier and use fewer ingredients than some of her other books. As someone who dreads grocery shopping, I have found this book has several "go to" recipes that I can make if I just pick up a couple items at the store on my way home from work. The meals also seem to be more well rounded with more vegetables and leaner meats than others. I really love the soup section as there are very simple yet creative recipes that feel like comfort foods, yet are super healthy. Contrary to other reviewers I find the layout makes the book very easy to read, and I have no problem differentiating the color of the writing from the background. If you want a cookbook you will actually use, and not just admire the photos in, this one is a great choice!

I bought this book for my mom because she loves Rachel Ray. She also loves to cook, but often runs out of meal ideas and time-so this book came in handy. However, some of the meals are not 30 minutes, so make sure you pre-read the recipe a day in advance to make sure you have time the next day. Plus, everyone has different tastes depending on where they live, so some of the recommended ingredients were substituted for other ingredients and/or taken out completely. When you cook, you know how to make a good meal-better. So this review is based on my mother's experience and her advice.

Fantastic recipes and so easy even I could get it on the first try.
Had do spend a bundle on the exotic cheeses, though but once you've cooked with them you are hooked.

I got this cookbook when it first came out but I was disappointed after I flipped through it looking for new recipes. Some of the recipes have been featured in her magazine or in other cookbooks. Also, some recipes call for too many ingredients or expensive ingredients, such as saffron. And some of the recipes just don't seem too appetizing. Her 365:No repeats book and the express lane cookbook are much better than this.

I have to disagree with some of the reviews that mentioned that this book was too hard to read because of the colors. I actually like the appearance of the book. I must say that I haven't tried any of the recipes. Only because I read things like heavy creams, cheeses, and butter. My book was a gift. So it's not a book for those that have a health conscience. But then again it's not a health book or kid friendly. Tip: Read the cook book covers before you purchase.

If your child need a bit of help with math, this book will help. my child used and she improved, of course you have to help.

This is a well written book. The problems are generally easy and hence gives a boost to student's self-confidence.

Excellent 36-week progrssive program. Presented in standardized testing formats. Great daily practice for kids incorporating computation, word problems, graphing, and numbers. Good workbook.

A great daily keep up workbook. It breaks down one year's math into small pieces and allow your child to do a little a day without worrying about missing anything. The standard test format makes your kid comfortable with the future real tests. Well organized good book.

To get ahead in math, my child does more than what this book offers. As a complement, if you have Internet at home, you should check out an incredible Houston community web site http://www.beestar.org. It provides quality free math exercises online every week. I signed up my daughter a year ago and we love it.

This book basically points out that you NEED a real estate agent. And preferably a buyer's agent to purchase your home. Very informative, but really what it all comes down to is that you need a good honest agent to do the asking for you.

This book has been a tremendous resource in my search for a new home. It covers virtually every topic related to home-buying, and it only begins to "drone" in a few areas regarding finances. But, because of the book's organization, it is very easy to browse for information on a specific topic. I full-heartedly recommend the book, and I recommend reading it all the way through at least once.

i read this book and the counterpart for selling. only wish i had read them before i began the process. both are wonderful resources! she even has a syndicated column in the home section of most newspapers. highly recommended!

I loved this book. It really helped me and my hubbie make sound decisions on what we wanted and needed. A great read if you take the time to prepare before big purchases.

My husband and I bought this book because we were interested in buying a home and had never been through the process before. This book was so informative! We learned all kinds of things to do and not to do. This book is a must if you have never bought a home before!

This book is a small but informative review of symptoms that can alarm a pet owner. The organization of the book allows for quick location of a problem. It also covers behaviors such as toilet training and chewing/teething and subjects like grooming. Altogether, this is a must have book if you are caring for a pet. It will answer many questions and offer helpful tips so that you can be the best pet-parent possible.

I loved this book so much that I bought it for several friends. I only have dogs, so I cannot offer an opinion on the cat advice. For dog owners, it is an excellent resource with so many different things.

LOVE IT, with fur babies, one needs some help, and this book is GREAT

This book is about a dog that helps pick up litter. And he lost a puppy because the dog had two puppies. What could have happened to the other puppy? Something that I like about the book is that the dogs feel real to me. Read the book and find out what happens.

I am very thankful to all of the vets and animal behaviorists who contributed to this book. I use it a LOT. From everything to stomach problems to aches and pains to....whatever the problem is. This book covers it from A to Z.

If you love your dog or cat, and don't have the money to go to the vet for every problem that pops up, this book is a godsend. It also offers alternative medicines that actually are better for your pet.

I just simply cannot get along without my copy of "Home Remedies for Dogs and Cats".

It past years, the fall season was considered as one of harvesting and getting flower beds and gardens cleaned up and ready for the winter. However the autumn of the year with its rainbow of foliage colors, visually attractive fruits, berries, and seedheads, and mild climatic conditions have changed the thinking of dedicated gardeners and landscapers as to what can be accomplished before the setting in of winter snows. This new concept of continuing to garden and brighten late-season landscapes is called 'fall scaping'. Now there is an illustrated instruction manual called "Fall Scaping: Extending Your Garden Season Into Autumn" which is a collaboration by horticultural experts Nancy J. Ondra and Stephanie Cohen featuring ten complete garden plans that combine flowers, trees, shrubs, ground covers, and grasses that are not only visually impressive in the fall, but designed to provide three-season appeal over a wide range of post-summer growing conditions. Of special note is a 'Fall Garden Care Primer' offers tips and techniques on planting, transplanting, staking, pruning, and maintaining gardens all year long. There is also cogent counsel on preparing plants for winter, as well as properly cleaning and storing gardening hand tools and power equipment. Thoroughly 'user friendly' and profusely illustrated by the full color photography of Rob Cardillo, "Fall Scaping" is very strongly recommended for any gardener with an interest in continuing to maximize their gardens during September, October, and November.

I've used the planner to layout several rooms, and the pieces are still sticky after repeated use. It's a very user friendly product. My only issue is that there are many more kitchen and bath cabinets and appliances, etc. than furniture, and I purchased this to plan furniture layouts, not to layout bathrooms or kitchens.

I purchased this for my interior design class. This has proven to be a great asset for furniture placement. The templetes are reuseable

I got this from my husband for my birthday and I was very excited, but once I got to working with the kit I could not finish my project because there were not enough of the wall strips. So if you are doing a large plan this kit may not be what you need without purchasing additional kits, but if you are doing a small plan or single room remodels its fine.

The Home Quick Planner is an excellent way to lay out and discover alternative floor plans, decorating ideas and propose major home remodeling changes. I have found it very helpful.

As an Interior Designer for 20 years, the problem I have with computerized design programs is that you can't take them with you. The Home Quick Planner is one of the few things that really is easier and more efficient without a computer. These planners allow me to easily come up with several different design options for my clients, and perhaps more importantly, gives my clients the flexibility to play around with different layouts and furniture placement on their own. In addition, their 1/4" scale makes them a perfect fit to be dropped right into standard architectural plans. I have found these to be an invaluable, time saving tool. They just work better, and my clients love them!