Home Books

Well written, easy to understand basics, and plenty of photos and diagrams.
Well worth the price to expand your horizons in box making.

I bought this book and happy to give it 5 stars. This is a great tutorial in box making, which I do. The only higher recommendation that I can make is to buy the DVD which is awesome.

I bought this and the accompanying DVD. I recommend both as to use together. I have been wood working for over 30 years and this book is great for a beginner or season wood worker.

It is easy to understand. There are some great ideas for jigs in the book that you can use for making boxes and also many other things.

What you learn is how to use the power tools you have in a very creative way. The author takes you from the basic to the more complex in an easy to follow and do manner. It should give you the confidence and knowledge on how to create something special.

I really like and enjoy this book. I think the DVD is great. I highly recommend

I found the book to be good for ideas and technique. Great pictures. Very well organized from basic to more advanced. I especially liked the descriptions of useful jigs. Doug Stowe makes beautiful boxes. I have a basic skillset and this book was purchased to give me ideas on future projects. Taunton books are great to look at and filled with great ideas for all skill levels.

I just bought the book and did the cover project.Easy steps to follow.project came out great and I am begining the pencil box, however you must have a full woodworking shop,router,table saws,jointers etc.If your looking to make boxes with hand tools, this is not the book.

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....

Most people like me are disorganized because there is too much information!!! This handy SIMPLE book gave me tips in a SIMPLE format, which is what I needed to get myself organized. I refer to the book from time to time, reinforcing the organizational tools needed to simply my life.

This book has 500 tips for getting your life in order and most of them take a lot longer than one minute. I'll let you do the math on that. But each of the tips is pretty quick to read about, and that's mostly what I do. I keep this book on my bedside table so that when I need something light to wind me down, I can pick it up, read a tip or two, like " . . . create standard packing checklists for volunteer meetings, children's overnights, or family camping trips," and think to myself, who lives this way? If I did all the things this books suggests, my family would have me at the psychiatrist's office getting me diagnosed. So I don't really do any of it. I just find crazy books like this highly entertaining. I think you will, too.
Lucy Adams, author of If Mama Don't Laugh, It Ain't Funny

I liked this book. The author gives a plethora of tips on how to get organized in any part of the house. It is nice that she focuses on many different areas such as clutter control, paper management, family tips, and work tips. My only complaint about this book is that while it is an organization book, it didn't seem very organized and jumped around a bit.

I am a professional organizer in Honolulu, HI [...], and there are certainly tips in here that are effective and useful, and that I would use in my business.

If you are like me (and you just might be if you are reading reviews about this book) you have a tendency toward clutter, but have never given up the fight. If that sounds like you, I urge you to get this book. Each page has one or two bullet points in large print - advice and tips on how to get organized.

One of the best sections in the book for me was on paper clutter. I seem to drown in papers. Until I read this book, I had struggled for years with how to organize my files. In just a few bullet points of advice, I was able to understand for the first time how to file. I am still in the process of switching over the headings of my files, but what I have done so far makes paperwork a breeze. Taxes this year were a cinch because of how I had my tax paperwork filed.

Based on this book by Donna Smallin, I look forward to reading her other books.

This is a very useful little book filled with tips on keeping yourself organized. I found many great ideas in the book and it covered just what I was looking for.

The book is organized into two parts:

Getting organized (getting started, clearing clutter, paper stuff, spaces & things)
Staying organized (everyday strategies, clutter control, home management, schedules & to-do's)

I found so many of the tips useful (perhaps more useful tips than other similar books). Putting small items in zippered bags in your purse helps to cut down on clutter and makes finding things much faster. (I did this with my makeup and now finding my lipstick is a snap and I don't have to worry about the lid coming off in my purse!). Stapling product receipts to the manual is also a great idea. The author warns about keeping your will in a safe-deposit box because it will be sealed at your death - an important piece of information!

I also really like the format of this book. You can read it from front to back or just open to any page and start, which makes it easy to read in small bytes before going to bed or for a minute or two while your coffee is brewing in the morning. The typeface on the pages sorts the information visually: lists are easy to read, important words are bolded or printed in a different typeset. This probably sounds unimportant, but it helps you to read the book very fast and get lots of ideas in a short amount of time. The author also includes little sentences to encourage you in your organizing (like: "Remember nothing worth doing is easy").

This book is full of ideas you can really use and is so easy to read. A great reference for anyone and would also make a nice gift!

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!

As a first-time homebuyer, I was looking for some in-depth knowledge of mortgages. This wasn't it. It gave a very broad overview and told me very little that I didn't already know. It is fine for the true dummies out there.

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.

I didn't feel this book offered anything new. Rehash of ideas I've heard 100 times.

Nice layouts great pictures of sparking homes with nothing in them - really since I have alot of my stuff in mine and have to clean around it - must be easy for them. Nothing in here you don't already know -

As the child of a wonderful mother yet complete housekeeping slob, I have to admit, I truly didn't have the first idea about "how" to clean a house let alone what type of schedule I should maintain. This book was exactly what I was looking for. It has a detailed breakdown of various rooms in the house, with a guideline and specific "how to" instructions for where to start cleaning in each room, how to clean each aspect (area) of a room, and how often you should clean each component of a room. I also liked the friendly pep talk about doing just a little at a time rather than sitting on your bum watching tv, etc. I would highly recommend this to other "cleaning" challenged individuals.

My only complaint about the book is that the index did not specifically list any websites or retailers for some of the various cleaning supplies.

This is a great book with wonderful ideas and well organized for cleaning your home. It is broken down by rooms for quick ideas, has a cleaning calendar and shows all of the different finishes, floors etc and how to clean each one. It is a great book with wonderful information and I highly recommend it!!

Great guide whether you want to do a quick "touch-up" before guests arrive or a thorough cleaning, this is a great book. It gives great tips for every kind of cleaning task you might have. I would NOT buy a small paperback because it takes the fun out of imagining how beautiful your home will look like when you are done (with the help of gorgeous pictures in the book).
Worth every penny!

And that was what I wanted to know. Should I start a home-based business or should I look for a regular 9-5 job? Turns out I am more suited for a regular job than I am to run a sole proprietorship. I considered Avon et al, but the authors had some glaring statistics about the possible failure rate of such businesses. I considered a few other options, but again, the authors provided valuable insight, based on statistics and qualitative research, that convinced me not to make this venture.

The book is organized, reader-friendly, and informative. Everything is covered in this book. From the types of businesses to how to market the business, to taxes and retirement, trademarks and other legal concerns. How to work from home when you've got kids, pets, aging parents, nosy neighbors, etc. Plus many web addresses that will help in your planning, ex. Better Business Bureau.

This is the only book you will need to determine if you should run a home-based business. This book is the only one you will need to convince you it is not right for you. This is also a book that will give you the help and resources you need if you are ready for the home-based business. Highly, highly recommended!!!!

This is not exactly what I expected. It is a good reference book, but lacks in the specific business types, so am a little disappointed. I will probably use it for reference material and that is about it.

Another hit from Edwards. I have all his books and continue to be a student of his methods. If you found this book informative and want to work from home, give me a call @ 1-888-408-8368

I've gone through about half of the book and it follows in line with all the "for dummies" books I've read. The topics are well laid out and organized very well. I found some things too simplistic and ended up skimming over them. Overall I'm glad I got it as it reinforced a lot of the things I need to get done in order to get my start-up business going. They do cover both start up from scratch businesses and buying a franchise or another established business. The latter wasn't of interest and I ended up skipping large sections because of it.
A good reference for starting a business.

Well organized as usual with a Dummy Book. Easy to find answers to questions. Love the idea list for home businesses. Great book.

I bought this book for one story but it turned out all of the stories were great.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings always makes me cry. The other reviews of this book here describe it so eloquently and throughly that I don't feel the need to add to that aspect. The book has a strong emotional pull that made me cry and made long to go to Cross Creek and see it for myself. Rawlings is one of my all-time favorite writers, ever since my seventh-grade teacher read the newly published book The Yearling to her class, a chapter or two each day after lunch.

Wonderful view of an isolated place in FL (near Gainesville) circa 1930 written by a brave, independent woman.

Cross Creek is a series of entertaining if perhaps embellished anecdotes relating to Florida in the years preceding World War II told from the perspective of a educated emigré from the North. Some of the language, which was typical of the times, would no longer be considered politically correct and might be offensive to some. The book, however is totally delightful and gives some insight into life in rural Florida at the time. An excellent companion read is Tom Glisson's The Creek, which gives a native's view of the same time and area. Both books are a must read if you live or are interested in North Central FL.

Rawlings explores the lives and interations of the odd assortment of people living in Cross Creek, Florida in the early 1900s. It is often assigned reading for teens, but I doubt that most of them can appreciate it. Her accounts of neighbors feuding and subsistance living gives us many lessons in human behavior.
The lyrical descriptions of wildlife and the orange groves and wild landscape are very appealing. Your mouth waters as you read her essays on downhome foods like hush puppies. She turned those into a cookbook which I'll have to try out.
Modern readers squirm uncomfortably at her use of the N----- word and her characterization of blacks as irresponsible, drunken, immoral, etc. It is probably a faithful representation of common thinking at the time it was written, so recognize it as a snapshot of the times. Then move past that to luxuriate in the beautiful passages in the book. (I deducted 1 star for this)
The reader becomes absorbed in Rawlings' love of the land and the creation of a home. It gives much the same feelings as A Year in Provence or Under a Tuscan Sun.

This book had many helpful tips for being prepared for my c-section and claimed to be unbiased on the subject of elective c-sections. However the more that I read, the more that I got heated because the author repeatedly kept saying "in efforts to avoid labor pain" when referring to an elective c-section. Avoiding labor pain had nothing to do with my decision to have a c-section so I felt a little insulted by this book at times. That being said, I do think I took away many good tips to help with a speedier recovery time.

I had an unplanned c-section for my first child. This book gave me the information I needed to understand what happened the first time and why my doctor reccommended a planned c-section for my second child. This book gave me the information to ask the right questions and make an informed decision about my body and the welfare of my child. I think natural child birth classes gloss over this information and if a c-section becomes necessary, many women are ill informed to make the necessary decisions.

This book has great information for anyone who has had a c-section or is going to have one. I would even recommend any pregnant woman to check this book out just in case she ends up having a c-section. I just had my first baby, my pregnancy was healthy and I had no problems yet I had to have a c-section done at the last minute. Having the information in this book days after my c-section instead of weeks would have been much better. It's informative and lets you realize your not alone. This is a very good book.

I will be having a planned Cesarean in 6 wks b/c of placenta previa. I've been anxious & wanted to know as much as I could about this upcoming c-section. I've read several books on the topic & this book really stands out from the rest! It covers the surgery, recovery, breastfeeding & many other issues all in great detail, which is great for me, being this is my first baby & first cesarean. I'm looking forward to getting back into shape using this book as a reference as well. I'm even bringing it to the hospital with me. I highly recommend it for anyone faced with a Cesarean!

I tend to be a person who is not satisfied with just one source of information and do extensive research on every subject that I am educating myself on. After looking at many different books and resources, I can honestly say that this is the only book that you need to prepare you for your c-section. This comprehensive reference provides thorough information while maintaining a humanistic approach to the subject matter. This book contains a whole chapter on the emotional aspects of having a cesarean which I found to be very helpful, since it is something that is not usually addressed. On top of the information included to aid you in your physical recovery there is another chapter with workout information when you are ready for that. I would have paid twice the price I did for this truly "essential" resource

Selected as the 2007 Maud Hart Lovelace winner, Ruby Holler demonstrates that young readers, in choosing this book, may lack the critical skills to see that it is manipulative in its tug at the heart strings while piling on the stock characters in what can be called nothing less than a formulaic plot.

Come on already. The caretakers of the children's home are just plain bad, through and through. Their antics go unnoticed by the governmental agencies that are supposed to oversee them? They have no redeeming qualities at all, just as every foster family is full of just plain mean people. (I'd hate to think what kind of message this sends to social service agencies trying to place kids in good homes.) And the old couple is just too good to be true--more black and white writing, I'm afraid.

The whole river/camping adventure (that I knew was never going to happen) was never explained: Why did they want to take separate trips? Why was such an elderly couple so inexperienced? Why did Z never fess up about being the father of Florida and Dallas? Why did the adult children trash talk the orpans? And why didn't we get to hear them do that? Why did the old couple take these kids to begin with? What about the loose ends with the Trepids and the children left there?

You could like this book as a light-hearted adventure, but since it covers serious issues, it really cannot be viewed through such a narro prism. Overall: One thumb up; one thumb down, way down. Creech is going to have to do better; I'm looking for something on par with Walk Two Moons.

This book is about an adventure that two twins have. The twins' names are Dallas (which is the boy) and Florida (which is the girl). The twins are foster kids and they live in a foster home called Boston Creek Home. The people that run the foster home are named Mr. and Mrs. Tripid.
The main idea of the story is that there is an old couple named Tiller and Sara. And they come to the foster home to take two kids on trips with them. Dallas and Florida are the kids that get picked for the trips. So Dallas and Florida pack their bags because they are going on the trips. But first they have to go to Ruby Holler the place were Tiller and Sara live, because they aren't ready for the trips yet.
My favorite part in this book is when the twins sneak out of Tiller and Sara's cabin and have to sleep in the woods because they don't know where they are, and they were looking for the night train.
If you like adventure and books that have family in them, then you should read this book. I believe you should read this book because you never know what happens next and Sharon Creech is a really great and brilliant writer!!

This book is about an adventure that two twins have. The twins' names are Dallas (which is the boy) and Florida (which is the girl). The twins are foster kids and they live in a foster home called Boston Creek Home. The people that run the foster home are named Mr. and Mrs. Tripid.
The main idea of the story is that there is an old couple named Tiller and Sara. And they come to the foster home to take two kids on trips with them. Dallas and Florida are the kids that get picked for the trips. So Dallas and Florida pack their bags because they are going on the trips. But first they have to go to Ruby Holler the place were Tiller and Sara live, because they aren't ready for the trips yet.
My favorite part in this book is when the twins sneak out of Tiller and Sara's cabin and have to sleep in the woods because they don't know where they are, and they were looking for the night train.
If you like adventure and books that have family in them, then you should read this book. I believe you should read this book because you never know what happens next and Sharon Creech is a really great and brilliant writer!!

Dallas and Florida are the trouble twins at the Boxton Creek Home. They are orphans who have given up in believing that there is such a thing as a loving family. The people who run the home are the Trepids. Marjorie and George Trepid. Dallas and Florida have been in many homes such as the Burgertons, the Dreeps, and many others. But on one day the twins are adopted by an older couple named Tiller and Sairy and are brought to the enchanting and mysterious Ruby Holler. Tiller and sairy invite them on their trips to Kangadoon and the Rutabago River. But they have plans of their own. They're going to try and catch the night train, then off they go to live a life without grown-ups. But soon they realize that this is the life they want, and when disaster strikes they'll be there to help.

Ruby Holler
By: Sharon Creech
Report by:JT

Life at the Boxton Creek home is anything but Dallas's and Flordia's dream home. Since they were mischievous babies, they have been driving the owners of the orphanage Mr. and Mrs. Trepid, crazy for 13 years. I don't blame them.Why, might you think to your self? It's because Mr. and Mrs.Trepid are horribly mean. But when the nasty Trepids' tell Dallas and Flordia they are going to be adopted by an older couple, they start worrying because they think they are going to be like any other couple that wanted to adopt them, unwilling and mean. Are they going to be mean or different?
I think this book is good for anyone and everyone because it's funny, and adventurous. It is so fun to watch how throughout the book Dallas and Flordia are starting to except their new family.Not only do they do they change as a family, they change their attitudes. I love how the author leaves you hanging after every chapter. I had trouble putting the book down.
I recommend this book to all ages. This book will leave you wanting more! After you read this book, you will want a sequel. So try it! I am sure you will love it!

Great Seller. The book was exactly as described and I received it promptly after payment was received.

the book came quickly (like only a few days even though they said it would be weeks) and it was in great condition! i would definitly order from here again!