Home Books

The thought of actually roasting coffee was intimidating. Kenneth Davies not only made the process possible for, me he did it with the kind of good writing that makes complex subjects fascinating. Oh, there's still so much to learn but as I keep coming back to Home Coffee Roasting I pick up a bit more. The the author's enthusiasm for coffee is so contagious, I've got the bug for good.

Hands down, the second best way to learn about home roasting! My copy is dog eared and well worn. I refer to it, WAY BEYOND Alot! (the first best way to learn is by visiting and bookmarking the "Coffee University" at sweet marias dot com)

As a novice, this is a great book to start exploring coffee roasting. Easy to follow and very informative.

I plan to start roasting my own coffee and was told to read this book first. I did, and that was good advice. It's very readable and full of excellent reference material. I had already done enough research to know what roaster I would start with, but it was nice to have such a full description of the pros and cons of each kind. There's a great deal of useful, even crucial, information to learn here about coffee. Also, the book is so well organized that it will be easy to use as a reference.

Great history. I learned a lot from this book. I would recommend it to anyone that is alreaday roasting coffee.

Call me old fashioned but from what I recall camping involves pitching a tent and sleeping in it. This book has very little to do with camping. It has a lot of information concerning driving around Mexico in those enormous RV's (sometimes I wonder what is the point of leaving home).

This book does have a lot of useful information concerning border crossings and insurance and the like. It also some very nice descriptions of the towns and activities in the area.

I really like this book. We are planning an extensive trip (or several) into the Mexican interior and will be staying a lot of the time in campgrounds but didn't have a clue! This book gives very helpful little details, for instance, it explains that one campground has various people who host and don't know exactly how much to charge. Lots of information. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because we haven't put the book into action yet.

Great Book !!! Full of handy information. We are planning our RV trip in Mexico, this book is going with us.
Book, A-1 condition, seller did not exagerate the contents.

Excellent book on camping in Mexico. We have used their Baja Camping book twice to camp in the Baja and they give excellent advice and great reviews of the campgrounds.

I've been searching on the internet for information on RV (Trailer Parks in Mexico) Resorts in Mexico and it hasn't been very useful. This book however is exactly what I was searching for on the internet but MUCH, MUCH handyer.

I like to look at books like this before I fall asleep. I love French homes, but my style is more the sort of home you find in Provence, and this is not that. It's fussy and frilly and feminine, and I should have figured that out before I bought it. I've lived in France and I've never really seen a home like this. This book and the other on jewelry are primarily pitched so that you will visit their store and buy stuff, I think.

Bring the look of French decorating to your home. I love this book, never having been to France and only seeing limited books on French decorating, I find this to be one of the best, it is kind of a more laid back decorating approach than the more formal French decorating books I have seen, it is well done and gives you some projects you can tackle as a beginner sewer. This book looks at french tickings and uses for them throughout your home, if you have ever come across French tickings and the like, you will find they are so versatile in your home, and you will keep wanting to get more. A 5 star book.

A beautiful book--if you like shabby chic, it's for you. Good ideas, but not always practical unless you have access to a lot of estate sales and flea markets where dealers don't price themselves out of the market.

I should have believed the bad reviews that I read on Amazon and not bought this book. They were right. I could have saved the return shipping charge. This book was such a dissapointment. Nothing new, creative or interesting about it. Also, it has nothing in common with any French lifestyle. I returned it the next day.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I was with this book. Having read the glowing reviews, on receiving the book, there is really nothing in this book of value, creativity or the "oooh" factor. This one will be quickly dispatched to the second hand book store!

This book provides excellent advise on having a succesful rental vacation home. I highly recommend it. Christine covers all aspects of renting vacation properties.

I wish I'd read this book before we bought a vacation rental. Lots of good information. And one piece of the information could save you thousands of $ and loads of grief.

As an owner and manager of several vacation properties, I was quite impressed with Kristine's thoroughness and attention to detail. This is a very read-able book, flows easily from topic to topic, and covers all the basics.

Of particular importance is her break-even analysis for figuring out the profitability of a rental before buying. Also, while I'm a do-it-yourself-vacation rental type owner, I realize most people prefer the ready-to-rent approach Ms. Karpinski advocates.

The Resources found in the Appendix sections at the end make this book a definite buy for any current or future vacation property owner. Kristine is a good teacher and presents well in both her books and blog.

I was impressed with this book because most rental managers don't even discuss insurance or know anything about it. Yet, this book devotes several pages on this topic. So, If you got a vacation rental, or thinking about it like me, your common garden variety homeowners policy won't do. You got to pay twice or more on the premium for a vacation home.

We have just started to rent our vacation property by owner after having it done by a management company. This book has been extremely helpful in making the transition.

Once again Susan has created a wonderful history book for children. My kids love learning from The Story of the World.

These CDs are great. They help us learn the correct pronunciation of names of historic people and places. This curriculum makes history fun and interesting and memorable, especially if you use the accompanying workbooks as well. The whole family can learn world history as well as quite a bit of world geography. And the geography sticks in the brain longer than rote memorized geography because the world history stories help you connect meaning to the maps. They go along with the best World History curriculum available.

I was looking for a book that gave a lot of nitty gritty information regarding basements. Ideas for separating utility from living, etc. This book gives you lots of general building information. If you know how to frame, drywall, etc then this book isn't for you. If you are looking for a good general overview of those topics than it will work. I feel it went too much into basic construction as opposed to really dealing with the basement itself.

I'm usually a fan of the Stanley Complete series, because of the detail they offer. However this one lacks a little in that department. It will provide a good overview of the tasks involved, but it does not provide enough detail to complete most of them. I've had to go to other books for things like framing, drywall, and electrical. The most helpful sections of this book deal with elements that are specific to basements like slabs and foundation walls.

The following sections are pretty good, but vary in depth of coverage:
Finishing Floors
Installing a New Bathroom
Finishing Walls and Ceilings
Preparation and Demolition
Plumbing
Cabinets and Storage

The following sections are lacking:
Framing
Wiring
Lights and Heaters

You might get some useful ideas for this book, but do not use it as your only guide.

I bought about 10 books off Amazon to plan for my basement remodeling. This was one of the top 2. Definately worth it.

This book is good for telling you how to do specific jobs in the basement, but it doesn't "fit all the pieces together" well as far as planning a whole remodeling project. Also, there is precious little included in this book on HVAC work- a crucial step to any basement remodeling project. Don't rely only on this book to take on your whole basement remodeling endeavor.

I would recommend looking into Roger German's "Remodeling a Basement" for a book that gives a good overview of the whole remodeling experience. Then, you can buy books like this to drill down on specific tasks.

This is better than many books I have looked at, but if you are moderately functional DIYer who is contemplating remodeling the basement (like me) I would recommend that this not be your sole source. They skip a lot of the little details and tips that you need to really do things properly. On the other hand, they do provide ideas and suggestions that I didn't find elsewhere. I bought this book along with "Remodeling a Basement (Build Like A Pro)" by Roger German. German's book is really great, lot's of detail and DIY tips. If I could only have one book, it would be German's.

Very easy to read. Helpful, practical information. Many chapters with good advice on working with parents. Some information on home visiting. I definately recommend this title.

Wow - everything you wanted to know about homeschooling but wouldn't even think to ask. It's almost too overwhelming, but it's a great resource. She even includes her own homeschool journal entries, just brief sections, from the late eighties/ninties as she was homeschooling her three boys. She really includes all points of view and covers every subject so comprehensively. My only complaint is that it needs to be updated to include more website info. - she does list websites when she can, but there were many companies in there that I'm familiar with that have a good site and she didn't list the address for it. But you really can't believe all the subjects she covers - nothing is left out from what I can see.

This is such an incredible book that contains an enormous wealth of information and personal anecdotes. Unfortunately, this book is now outdated, as is some of the information in it. Some of the websites are no longer valid and some companies who had no website at the time this book was published, now do have one. In all, however, this book is a fantastic starting point with wonderful ideas. I hope the publishers of this book will seriously consider updating it and if they do, I honestly feel that this would be one of the most important homeschooling books available to families.

It needs to be updated big time. A lot of recommended resources on the internet no longer exist and some recommended books are not recommended by the amazon customers. I have a 2 year old and I want to get ready to home school my child, but seems like this book will be so much out of date by the time he becomes 10 years old!

I am so blessed to have purchased this book early in our homeschool experience. They weren't very many formal cirriculum packages I liked, but everyone I knew was using them. Now what? I found this book and I am able to build my entire cirriculum around the contents! Our library has most of the books I need, or can be lent from another library. It has helped our budget TONS! This is a purchase you will not regret!

she means complete. It is a great book to follow and use as reference for your homeschooling experience.

I bought this product because one of the reviews of the other deck books said that this was the best book. My husband has learned a lot from it, and hopefully one day, we will actually have a deck in our yard :) Seriously, this is a good book, it is very thorough from beginning to end of the project. Highly recommended.

This is a good book for beginners. Wish there was a little more variety of design style. Haven't built my deck yet, but either way if you follow this books suggestions I imagine it will be a very good deck.

Building a Deck (Build Like A Pro)

My construction experience includes home additions, house remodeling/renovation, and many indoor upgrades, but only one deck. So, when we decided to replace our own old deck with one using the latest materials, a how-to book was in order. After reviewing deck books at local stores, this one stood out as the most useful.

Cons:

- This book was written in 2002 and needs a major revision to incorporate current building materials. For example, the deck railing chapter talks mostly about building railings out of wood. The same is true for decking, where almost the entire focus is on wood. The author devotes a page or so to Trex and a few other materials available in 2002, but a host of newer products are now available. Today, there are a wide variety of composite planking (plastics & wood) choices; all synthetic decking such as Azek deck "boards"; PVC and perma-cast balusters; and metal-reinforced vinyl/PVC railing (stainless steel cables, aluminum, steel).

- The book explains attaching the top of a staircase to the deck and methods for anchoring the stairs bottom to a concrete pad; without addressing the frost heave issue. In my area, outside concrete pads frequently frost-heave upwards up to an inch by mid-January. If the author's approach was used here, heaving would jack up the stair bottom, weakening or destroying stairs-to-deck connections. This was inexplicable since the author addresses the frost issue in other places.

- There were a few techniques described that, lacking a diagram or photograph, were too ambiguous to be useful.

- One book can't cover every construction scenario, but it was frustrating that it didn't cover some of the things I needed. E.g., in the section on how to flash the ledger board, the examples show houses with siding above and below the ledger. There were no examples of having siding above the ledger and a masonry wall below.

- If a ledger is lag-screwed against the house sheathing (through to a rim joist), our county building code requires flashing (metal, butyl rubber, etc.) between the sheathing and the ledger. Following the book's approach of having nothing at all there wouldn't pass inspection.

Pros:

- The main focus is teaching the reader how to build a deck, rather than how to deal with a contractor that will build your deck.

- Intelligently organized, with excellent "pro-tips", details, safety tips, building codes, diagrams, and photographs throughout.

- I didn't want a deck book for the novice. Not to worry; the author uses a writing style that worked for me, but should still work for a novice. The book may be too basic for a decking contractor, but it should be helpful for anyone else.

- Multiple approaches are described for most aspects of a deck project, versus having one this-is-the-way-to-do-it, approach.

- Occasional mention of the applicable building code (e.g., balusters can be spaced no farther than 4" apart), with advice of how to exceed standards, when the author believes building codes are too lax.

- Every aspect of a deck project is well discussed, except for financing. It starts with deck planning, and things you should consider, and progresses logically through foundations, ledgers, posts, and beams, joists, decking, railings, stairs, and custom details.

Summary:

This book was clearly worth its small cost, even though it didn't [adequately] cover newer materials or all construction issues. I improved several aspects of our planned deck, based on ideas in this book, and, found out most of what I needed to know in order to do the detail plans required by our county building inspections department.

My wife and I successfully built a deck using this book 2 years ago. Planned, submitted plans to village got building permit and final inspection. It felt good to accomplish such a large task with only 2 people who are not carpenters and haven't built a deck before. The deck is around 300 sq. ft. so it is not small. The book has all the information you need to build a solid deck. It also includes information on problems you could run into and ideas for customizing the deck. We are now building a smaller 100 sq. ft. deck for the front of our house. Believe me, we could not have done this without this great book.

I am a firm believer in the KISS method of doing things. (Keep It Simple Stupid") Every step is covered in this book so that anyone can learn from it. The "Build Like A Pro" series of books are all laid out like this one. The "Expert Tips" are great. They show you short cuts to help you do the jobs right, but in less time. This is stuff you only learn by doing the job everyday. They are trade secrets.

I have no qaulms about admitting that I am a hopeless romantic. I'm also the type of person that likes pretty landscapes, good old fashioned values, and all the light and love inbetween. These books really hit the spot, and the first few of this collection are divine.

The story begins with two unlucky partners who wed for convenience: a pregnant widow and a widower trying to raise a daughter on his own. They're out in the plains struggling to survive, so why not get married for the security?

But alas, in comes the romance and this little family grows closer and closer.

The series continues as the family grows, with a variety of well-rounded characters and plots that get at that slightly dramatic spot I can't help but love.

They're quietly written with beautiful, simple descriptions and lots of reference to God, faith, and spirituality.

I thought that the books where wonderful!!! I loved them, great story line, and plot. Love it!!!

I've loved the Hallmark Movies and now am reading the books. The print size makes them easy reading and who would not enjoy a Janette Oake story. Amazon pricing also makes them a excellent value.

these books are so wonderful, and makes you feel like you are in the book itself.

The movies of these books are good; however, these books are better and wroth of your time to read. If you like reading books, you should concider reading these series.