House

This book was an extremely valuable resource and answered all of our FSBO questions. This was our first home sale, so we were a bit apprehensive about how the entire process would work. As it turned out, it was much easier than we could have imagined.

We live in a relatively active area, so we decided not to spend any money on advertising and instead feed off of the other listed properties within our neighborhood. We did put a nicer-than-usual FSBO sign in the yard with an attractive flyer box crafted from a small apartment-style mailbox. We received two strong offers the second week and had a signed contract for 98% of our sale price 19 days after we put the sign out. Since we negotiated a 2.5% commission with the buyer's agent, we saved almost exactly $10,000 over the 7% requested by each full-service agent we interviewed.

Speaking of agents, one of the best parts of this book is the section detailing the tactics that agents will use to try to encourage you to list your home with them. The first four calls/visits we received after putting our home on the market were from agents, and Michael's book did a great job of preparing me in advance to handle those conversations.

Michael's point that 'presentation is everything' will be key to your success. We had our house recarpeted and repainted prior to showing the home. We even rented a storage unit to move some of the 'clutter' out of the house prior to showing. It paid off for us, and if you follow the author's guidance, it will pay off for you too!

PS - Two other homes in our neighborhood are the exact same floor plan as ours, and both were listed by agents with 7 days of our own home going on the market. Our home has been under contract for 30 days, both of those homes are still on the market. Don't let agents discourage you - FSBO really works!

As I began reading SELL IT BY OWNER and SAVE, I realized this was no ordinary How-To text. It is obvious that the author "knows his stuff," and that he is able to explain real estate buying/selling in a conversational style that is both understandable and entertaining. Clearly, his goal was to provide an abundance of useful information to help homeowners achieve success. I highly recommend this book.

I was clueless about how to proceed in selling my home myself, but this book has provided me with all of the information I need. It is an honest assessment of how to sell your own home and is easy to read in and organized format, which will make it easy for future reference.

I highly recommend these Small Arms of the World books, due to the good coverage of Curio and Relic firearms, how you can take them apart to clean them, how they operate, pictures of individual weapons, interesting diargrams of some popular guns, and just simply the most information you are going to get on semi-automatic and full automatic firearms, at least that I can find. Seems that especially machine gun technology is some kind of restricted information somehow, at least in newer books, but at least these Small Arms books can help a former U.S. Army machine gunner like myself understand a little better how the guns I was checked out on,actually worked in principle. So, if your quest for knowledge is machine guns, then I defintely recommend these books. And if your quest for knowledge is Curio and Relic classified firearms, then especially the older versions of the Small Arms books are what you need. The newer ones kind of water down really old technology, while paying special emphasis on what was hot technology at the time, like a early seventies Small Arms will talk in depth on current American small arms like the M16, but will have minimal space on bolt action rifles, for instance.
I definitely recommend the 1969 9th edition as a good all around "get you by", if you just wanted one edition on older Curio and Reic Firearms, if you are a collector of Curios and Relics like me.

For the person interested in modern military small arms, this book is the place to start. It presents the material well, with good photographs, understandable diagrams, and interesting text. Hopefully an updated version will come out someday, but I don't think anyone will regret buying this one now. In fact, I have an older edition from the 1960's that I treasure for it's better coverage of now-obsolete firearms, special emphasis on World War 2 German designs, and more complete history of firearms through the centuries. This edition, on the other hand, gives more attention to weapons developed during the 1960's and 1970's. No doubt, after some future edition finally brings us up to date on modern high-tech weaponry this book will still be a valuable snapshot of the variety of arms in use throughout the world during the final decades of the 20th Century.

I highly recommend this book as the starting point for a good understanding of the small arms field, or as plain old good reading for the relatively technical-minded gun enthusiast.

I am an individual who has worked in the realm of the governments and military's of the world. This is the one and only unclassified guide to small arms of the world, outside of Jane's defence publications. Ezell and Smith have published the only book that is widely used by small arms enthusiasts and people who rely on small arms information in their daily work. I only regret it is out of copy.

Alice Thomas Ellis has written a book with three sensational women and their men in "The Summer House, A Trilogy". This story is told by three of the women involved from their own perspective. Margaret the young maiden about to be married; Mrs. Munro, the mother-in-law to be; and Lili, the other woman. This book is a masterpiece, subtle but provocative.

Margaret is a young woman about to be married. She lives with her mother, Monica, a woman who was deceived and divorced from Margaret's father, Derek. Monica has lived her life through Margaret since the divorce, and Margaret is shrewd enough to note this. Monica is planning Margaret's wedding as she has planned her entire life. She does not listen nor does she want to understand Margaret. Margaret was sexually abused by her father as a very young child. This has never been spoken about but is the probable cause of Margaret's depressive state. She is too quiet, too good, too boring. Margaret is just back from spending time in Egypt with one of Monica's old school chums, Marie Claire. Margaret was homesick but had time to develop a crush on Marie Claire's son, Nour. That is, until she found Nour with the body of a dead woman. Once back, Margaret became unwittingly engaged to Syl, a contemporary of her mother's. How did this happen? He asked her to marry him, and she did not say no. She is very unhappy with this engagement, and everyone knows something is wrong. Life goes on, Margaret is too unhappy, too depressed to stand up for herself, it is not worth the torment her mother would put her through.

Mrs. Munro is Syl's mother. He loves her, but everyone else thinks she is a sour puss,, and someone to be tolerated. Mrs. Munro lives with Syl and a dog named Dog, The dog is as troublesome as Mrs. Munro is. Syl has made an apartment just for her. She does not like the apartment; she wants her old home back. But she is old and this is also Syl's home. Mrs. Munro had a fairly happy life alone. She was married to Jack, Syl's father. Jack was a womanizer, and Mrs. Munro did not really like him, another tolerated soul. Mrs. Munro does not think that Margaret should marry Syl. She likes Margaret, but she too, understands that something is not quite right. Margaret does not love Syl. This wedding must not go on. One woman likes and understands Mrs. Munro and that is Lili. Lili visits everyday and the two form a friendship of sorts.

Lili is also a school chum of Monica's. She is married to Robert, an artist. They have a marriage of convenience and maybe of love. Each of them has had affairs, which are not discussed. Robert makes Lili feel insecure and that was not a feeling she liked. She was a woman who was always in control and in charge. She was a beautiful woman with red, curly hair,lovely skin and a sense of style. Margaret liked and admired Lili. She would talk in little bits and pieces about her life and what she wanted. Lili listened and she knew she had to act. Someone had to help Margaret out of this mess she found herself in. Margaret wanted to be a nun, which certainly suits her more than a loveless marriage. Lili wanted a life of money and ease and had found neither, but now, someone was counting on her. And, so Lili danced. Dancing is Lili's way of solving problems and a synonym for sex.

This elegant, entertaining book is reassuring in some ways. There are people in the world who understand their position, and are there to assist the downtrodden. This mismatched couple who have nothing in common except a planned wedding. Lili, the woman who will change things in a spectacular fashion! prisrob

Alice Thomas Ellis' "The Summerhouse Trilogy" proves true the old adage, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." Three interrelated novellas, "The Clothes In The Wardrobe," "The Skeleton In The Cupboard," and "The Fly In The Ointment" are each narrated by different characters and portray events leading up to a wedding. Three different woman with different points of view paint virtually the same scenes, and the same memories, viewed through different eyes. The reader only begins to see the whole picture when all the parts are combined and can be viewed as a whole.

Ms. Ellis writes this penetrating character study with wit, irony and, at times, great poignancy. Margaret, a young English woman returns home after a dramatic and traumatic visit with family friends in Egypt. She finds herself suddenly, unhappily engaged to the man next door, Syl, who is twice her age. Margaret lives with her domineering mother whose husband abandoned her for another years ago. Syl lives with his mother, Mrs. Monro, a strong figure who also had difficulties in her marriage and is aware that death is not far off. Lili, an old friend of Margaret's mother, enters center stage, acting as a catalyst to stir up memories, secrets and events to come.

Ms. Ellis insightfully explores the human drama and the various forms of love with sensitivity and a unique gentleness. Her character development is extraordinary. She creates three totally different women, interconnected through friendship, marriage and love, and gives them tremendous depth. I highly recommend this beautifully written trilogy.
JANA

Alice Thomas Ellis skewers the attitudes and expectations which her characters bring to love and marriage, both as they live their own lives and as they judge the lives of others. But she is also an understanding author, recognizing that their foibles and limitations stem from their upbringing and experience, as they muddle along as best they can, aided by each other, and sometimes the church. This three-part novel concerns the imminent marriage of twenty-year-old Margaret to Syl, a man in his forties, and is told through three points of view: Margaret, who does not love Syl but intends to go through with the wedding; Syl's mother, the sensible Mrs. Monro, who, abandoned by her husband, does not want the marriage to take place; and Lili, a friend of Margaret's mother from school in Egypt, who arrives in a whirlwind, determined to upset the status quo.

From Margaret we learn of her passionate first love and a shocking death that have occurred during the year she spent away at school in Egypt. Devoutly religious, Margaret is torn between the concepts of romantic and religious love, and she cannot seem to reconcile the church's teachings regarding love, sex, sin, and death. Mrs. Monro, an elderly lady for whom death is very real, if not imminent, is hiding secrets associated with her own past love life. For her, too, love is associated with death and God, though in ways vastly different from Margaret's experience. Into this mix comes Lili, half Egyptian, half English, a free spirit unconcerned with traditional, churchly definitions of sin, and sexually liberated in her own life. Lili is determined to save Margaret from the "pointless secular martyrdom" of marriage.

A sensitive, philosophical exploration of love and sex, God and sin, and life and death, the novel is also an examination of the compromises people make, willingly or unwillingly, in order to find happiness during their lives and loves. Sparkling dialogue and thoughtful interior monologues reveal the sadness, loneliness, and confusion within many of the characters, while Ellis's sense of irony and ability to create absurd scenes lift the mood with cathartic comedy. Gently satirical and full of wise observations, this is an insightful and thoroughly entertaining study of several characters, interconnected by love and marriage, as they try to "muddle through." Mary Whipple

Every room in this book was gorgeous. However, unless you are a mural painter (or know one who will give you a break) or have a very large budget, then only about one third of the information contained in it will be helpful to you. Some of the rooms even required built-in nooks in the walls for the beds. It was a little more elaborate then I had anticipated--some of the designs painted on the walls were amazing, and there is no way someone who is not artistic (like myself) could even begin to attempt them.I just wanted some ideas for my daughter's room, not something that would make me sick because it was so beautiful and I couldn't do it! It is a great book, just be warned that you need a fairly large budget, or the artistic talent of Michelangelo.

My husband and I have 3 children ranging from age 11 to age 7. We had several ideas about what we wanted and this book helped us to refine our ideas. The kids were very excited because they could look at pictures and discuss what they liked and didn't like about the suggestions.

I have serious asthma, and my mom bought this book when it cametime to re-decorate my room, because there is a section for childrenwith asthma and other disabilities (like blind-ness, and kids in wheelchairs). I used to wheeze every night, and I couldn't fall asleep easily at all. Now, my mom made my room look really cool, and I can breathe easy. (For those of you who have the book, it's kind of like the jungle picture.) Thank you, Megan Connelly, you've helped me so much!

This entire series is powerful. The first historical fiction series I have read and I am HOOKED!

In this sequel, we see our hero, Claes or Nicholas, thrown into the complex situation in the middle east. Will the Sultan take over Trebizond where he has been sent as consul for Florence? If anyone can find succes in such a venture, Nicholas is the person, and he does. He succeeds not only in his trading, he saves his people from the Turks and also his step-daughter, Catherine.

Once again, the author has written a masterpiece. We are thrown from Florence to the middle east with all its complexities, but all the time we are rooting for our hero and he makes us proud!

And to think I still have more books to enjoy! I can't wait...

Reading this book is like taking a magic carpet to a mystical place. Ms. Dunnett has the knack of taking her readers to whatever era and place in the world she chooses. In this book our Niccolo has matured somewhat but he still has some hard lessons to learn about how lonely it is to be a leader. He also has to learn that a true leader leads without his employees or friends knowing that that is what he's doing. In fact, these books of Niccolo could be used for demonstrating leadership. I'm surprised that no corporate videos have been made from them. This is a good book even though Niccolo fails to fascinate as much as Lymond does, but I don't think there ever can be another Lymond. I don't find the characters as likeable in this series for one, and Catherine is certainly no Philippa (at least not yet), but there is high adventure, intrigue and enough court gossip to keep anyone interested in the politics of the 15 century.

We bought this tome just a few weeks before moving from the city where we'd lived our entire lives to a 20-acre rural country place miles and miles from any city limits.

For the first year especially, we kept this book out. You would be astonished at its contents. It describes the pros and cons of water wells, reusing dirt, planning land for gardens and barns, chicken problems, keeping goats, arranging around weather, tanning leather, insect control, tree problems to watch out for and their solutions, energy in places where the lines don't run, getting water from point A to B, storing grains and other foods, and... you NAME IT!

This made our lives so much better. We didn't even use all the advice we read simply because one family can only do so much the first year they move into the country for the first time but this book was our comfort book in knowing that if we had problems, we'd find the solutions here.

Not only is there a bounty of excellent and easily accessible information in this book but it is enjoyable to read. This book is a good place to start if you're thinking of rural living.

Storey, for me, is quickly becoming my reference book of choice, as far as "how to live on a farm if you weren't born on one" goes. This book was my jumping off point. It contains sections on how to buy land, how to build your home, how to raise chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, and cows. I should note, however, that this book is more like a "compilation" of works by other authors. The Basic Country Skills (BCS) extracts information from many other books, and puts them in one reference text. There are a few parts where I think the editors forgot to re-lable diagrams (specifically in the "how to butcher a cow" section) but if you're planning on slaughtering your own animals, you should probably buy a reference manual specific to butchering to compliment this one. BCS is a great book for people like me who are planning to buy a little patch of earth somewhere far away from the hubub of city life, but who can only dream about it for the present. BCS is a great primer for those who want to get closer to where our food comes from than waxed supermarket produce, or shrinkwrapped beef. I'm not a vegetarian, but it doesn't seem fair for meat eaters to eat something that they didn't have to feed and care for, and finally, to come to terms with the fact that this animal you've had for 9 months is going to be the beef for your family for the next year. Taking its life, so that you can continue yours.. that should be each of our (meat-eaters anyway) responsibility. To treat our food with dignity, and kindness, and thank it for nourishing and providing for us.

It was bound to happen-- one of Ned's cases coming back to haunt him. Made my skin crawl how close Marin was able to get to Jessica and Liz and how he worked a little psychological terror into his game. This book sets you on edge; I read it cover to cover without stopping.

This book is a real thriller. It's like a horror movie that fits in your hand. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. You can't seem to put it down. It's about a handsom murderer who is after the twins blood and won't stop until he gets it. He already got close to one of them but was delayed, but not stopped. He's not gonna rest until both of the twins are dead. Why is he after the twins? Does he get the twins? What does the twins do? Read the book and find out. You won't be disappointed!

What was the name of that movie in which a killer is out for revenge on ..ive got it ..hang on..Cape Fear!This is SUCH a copy and it is very scary!John Marin is out for blood,since Ned Wakefield,lawyer,put him away so many years ago. Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are not safe,and youll be glued to the pages when Marin starnds them on a houseboat.

Whether you are going to act as general contractor, or hire it all out, this book is a great over view of all of the aspects of building a Timber Frame. While not dwelling in great detail, it has lots of drawings, photos, and descriptions, to acquaint the reader with construction techniques, electrical and plumbing considerations, and room layouts in a typical Timber Frame home. Definitley another fine book from Mr. Benson.

This is by far the best of several books I purchased on building timber frame homes. I started with a list of questions about shrinkage, sound proofing, electrical, plumbing, etc. and found clear concise answers to all of them through text, drawings, and photos.

I trust experts (like this author) who talk about the mistakes they've made and show me how to avoid them. He presents options and if you decide to pick the lower rated ones, he describes the likely consequences and how to minimize them.

This book is an excellent guide to the craft of timberframing and complete house design and finishing. I have just finished building my own red oak timber framed house in Tedds back yard here in New Hampshire and found many valuable hints and tips throughout this book, especially liked the sections on plumbing and wiring which can be a challenge in a timber frame house. I also agree with another reviewer that the quality of the book is excellent and deserves a place on your coffe table for guests to peruse. To top it all off Tedd is a very honorable and genuine person who espouses the inherent charms of living in a well crafted timber frame house better than any other books or articles I have read on the subject. Every day in my new home is a real delight and I never get tired of viewing the fine joinery throughout the house. Benson Woodworking also has an excellent web site to examine much of the steps in building a timber frame house. Also for those of you who enjoy the photos in this book , Tedd has a brand new book out showing dozens of homes they have built in the past in beautiful photographic form.

Excellent book. Interesting read. Inspiring call to action.

Briefly...as an environmentalist from both the non-profit, agency and barefoot,dreadlocked worlds I really appreciated this book. The author brings out the complexity and poetry of the technical, natural and spiritual mosaic involved in watershed work in the northwest (and eveywhere for that matter). For anyone who has ever (or even never) been through similar experiences that the author describes, it brings shivers up the spine with the descriptive imagery and his obvious intimacy with the Mattole. I highly recommend this book.

I read a lot, but I almost never pin my husband down to read him sections of a book. When I was reading Totem Salmon, I couldn't help it. I kept saying, "Listen to this one." I owned a home in the Mattole River Watershed in the late 70's and early 80's. I was amazed at how well Freeman House captures the essence of the area and the people without caricaturing either. Over and over he writes a few sentences which really "get it right" in explaining the landscape, the weather or the people of the area. This is not an easy "how-to" book on bringing back the salmon, but it brings out why it is worth the effort for as long as it takes.

beautifully presented, fabulous patterns, with great variety. WHat more could you ask for?? . I love the color shos, right next to the directions too. you wont regret owning this book!

This book has some terrific patterns. I have made several. The instructions are clear and accurate. Great thing about this is the patterns can be adapted to different yarns and hook sizes. I'm and Intermediate crocheter and have experienced great success with these patterns as gifts. I go through the book and can find something for each person on my gift list!

A GREAT buy!

This is a great book all around. There are often two pictures of each afghan; a full size view and a close up view which is helpful in viewing stitches. There are so many worthwhile projects in this book from baby afghans and a full size cat motif to kitchen placemats. All skill levels are present. Some of the easy ones (very easy) are also very beautiful. Color stitch guide at end of book. The best part: the exact Lion Brand yarn (with color name and number) used to make each afghan is listed at the bottom of the page. At the end of the book all the different types of yarns are explained along with an 800 number for ordering. You can also find all that you need under the Lion Brand Website. I am so eager to make many of these afghans. I am nearly done my first one and have bookmarked about a half dozen more.