House

I'm told this book and its companion about the squirrel are very popular among Usborne Book buyers. I know my children, ages 3 and 1, love the book! They push the durable, laminated mouse with a yarn tail through the slot holes in each page, run it along the dotted trail, push it out the back cover, and return to the front for another go. My oldest quotes the words after only a few reads (though Mr. B. scares her--maybe the mouse running down his nightshirt is too intense for her). Want a plot summary? A mouse runs through the B. family house looking for some food. He avoids the cat, learns that other mice have already eaten certain items, is announced by the parrot, scares Mrs. B., narrowly avoids Mr. B and his broom, and finally escapes the cat again after a bite of cheese. It's cute and fun!

My daughter could read this book over and over again. She just loves putting the little mouse through all the little slots. And, the language is simple enough that she has the whole book memorized now. I just ordered "The Squirrel's Tale". I anticipate that she will enjoy that one, too.

This is one of the most fought-over books in my house, and the one that gets left out the most. I'm surprised at how durable this book is. We've had it for several years, and despite all the use it's seen, it's still in great shape. The mouse is a separate piece that has its own clear holder on the front of the book. As you read the book, you slip the mouse through different slots as the mouse runs through the house looking for food and avoiding the cat. There is even a pattern on the back cover for making a new mouse in case the original mouse gets lost. The only suggestion I would make is to laminate the original mouse in some clear contact or something like that. I used some clear packing tape. Your kids will have a lot of fun with this book. It would also make a great gift for a preschool to reading-age child.

In A Timber Framer's Workshop: Joinery, Design & Construction Of Traditional Timber Frames is a complete instruction course under one cover in the carpentry craft and architectural art of building with timber framing technology. Included are engineering basics, builders math, tips, techniques, tools, and structural design considerations. Chapters are devoted to Bent Framing & Joinery Design, Tension Joinery, Roof Framing & Truss Design, Joinery Details, and more! A Timber Framer's Workshop is a core title for any professional, academic, or community library carpentry, architecture, and woodworking collections.

I actually used the methods in this book to build my 40 X 30, four-bent barn. I can't say enough about this book. From the dedication to the index this timber frame manual was crafted in the same manner as author Steve Chappell's structures: solid, precise and with artful beauty. This book teaches everything from the basic tools to advanced joinery and details everything you need to build a traditional timber frame structure. The illustrations are great and the exercises are extremely useful.

"A Timber Framer's Workshop" is an essential reference tool for anyone who's serious about timber framing.

Timber framing has been an essential part of our building and architectural culture since the Middle Ages. It remains as one of constructions most enduring forms, not only because of its intrinsic beauty, but because it is a pure and complete structural system. In A Timber Framer's Workshop: Joinery, Design & Construction Of Traditional Timber Frames, Steve Chappell covers every aspect of the process timber framing including joinery, design, construction, frame plans, tools, timber and wood, technology, engineering, builders math, and goes on to offer a wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques. A Timber Framer's Workshop is exceptionally well written and will prove an invaluable introduction for the novice, with much to commend it to even experienced architects, construction crews, and specialty timber framers.

I LOVE this book. It's full of great tips on just about anything you can imagine, and not all of them are about saving money. Moms will appreciate the food section because it has a ton of great tips on increasing the shelf life of dairy and produce items. I have been watching my money and my grocery bills for awhile, and I've read quite a few books on the subject, and most of these tips were new to me. If you are a more experienced tightwad and find that most money-saving books don't have much to offer you anymore, this book may just be something new.

A Great book!!! You can't believe how many solutions to your problems in every day life can be solved . I myself had a a reason to use one of Mary's answers to a problem. I had put 2 sets of old panty hose in my car repair kit . When my fan belt broke I was able to make a temporary fix with the pantyhose. I have to say again what a great book!!!

All sorts of tips, the ones about vinegar are really useful to me. Loved it, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to do things simply.

I found this book says the things that I feel in my heart. I gave it to my daughter for Christmas and then ordered one for myself. Buy it, read it and give one to your child.

Each of the poems in this book express my thoughts, desires and hopes as a parent when my children were young and now that they are adults. It is an excellent collection of poems and a wonderful gift for your children. I would recommend that every parent read this book first and then give another copy to every one of your children. Keep your copy and re-read it often.

I am an English teacher and I have a great love of poetry. I was very moved by the collection of poems in this book. It brought tears to my eyes. It is a very appropriate book for anyone that has a child about to leave home for any reason. The poems say things we forget to say and things we have trouble putting into words. Since I have two sons I have to be careful how sentimental the book sounds, but I was very pleased with it.I recommend this book highly.

this book is the first in the "house" trilogy, it starts in 1381 when a serf runs away from his master, the trials and tragedys that happen to him remind us just how brutal life was in 14th century England, it makes you want more and you get it in "The house at old vine" good historical , suspenseful reading, no one has yet to beat Norah Lofts

Beautiful. My aunt bought a 1950's edition of this book at an estate sale. She loaned it to me and I could not put it down. What a shame it is out of print. I can't wait to read The House at Old Vine.

Norah Lofts is a wonderful storyteller. In the Townhouse, she begins with an ordinary English peasant, Martin Reed, as narrator. He describes how he rose to wealth and built the townhouse. The story then switches narrators to fill in the story as the years pass, but the last word in the novel belongs to Martin as a wise old man. A wonderfully vivid picture of medieval England is painted along the way and we meet some equally vivid people. Along with the realism, there's a touch of the supernatural. It's a shame it's out of print.

My wife and I are restoring a home built in 1908. It is a little past the time period this book refers to, but many of the items like the trim work and mantel pieces are not at all out of place for later homes. As other readers have stressed, the only complaint you will have is when you get through the book and find yourself wanting more projects and tips for traditional woodwork in older homes.

Traditional Woodwork provides weekend woodworkers with projects and ideas that will produce results that are found in 17th and 18th century homes. Mario Rodriguez approach to building these projects makes what would seem to be difficult, very easy to understand and follow. Using clear photographs and easy to read text, projects move along smoothly using inexpensive tools. With a little weekend time, authentic period details can be added to any home new or old. The only thing wrong with this book is it is to short and you will want more.

This is a great reference book if you want to add traditional details to a modern home. I especially liked the chapters on adding built up baseboards and window molding. I first saw the book at my local library and found myself checking it out so often that I decided to buy my own copy. Chapters include adding wide plank flooring, a corner cabinet and building your own mantel.

This is a great book to read if you plan on developing any type of GPS tracking system. While the book covers the the basics, you'll need some further resources on interfacing GPS receivers and such hardware to real-world devices.

An interesting article entitled "Tracking a Vehicle With GPS" can be read at www.closerworlds.com

A lot of mobile solutions are soon to hit the market such as mobile phones using GSM or GPRS to track a person. This book will help to understand how it all fits together. It would have been nice if the book could have touched on how older communication systems like VHF radios can transmit GPS data. For that you'll have to visit www.closerworlds.com or some other website with such resources.

I've been an engineer and PM working with GPS and GPS systems since the inception of GPS in the mid-80s. While employed by a major DOD research lab I was fortunate enough not only to have access to practically every GPS book and article available, but I also had the opportunity to meet many of the key people responsible for the design and development of the system (many of whom contributed to this text). From system design to receiver architecture, this is by far the best general reference I have found on GPS.

This book has entire body of knowledge concerning GPS concept , control, satellites operation , propagation, receivers, and extra to Explain the Differential GPS Error correction and more. This book is ULTRA suitable for student and engineer, also suitable for the people who want to practice GPS Theory in Detail.

I share the views of previous reviewers that there is much of value in this handy little book.

I particularly liked the section on design in which the author stressed movement and flow in creating the garden. I'm sure that townhouse gardeners will be able to create far better spaces as a result. Her well explained cautions and the accompanying drawings in this area were wonderful.

Unfortunately, the drawings of gardens that one might develop leave much to be desired. The scale of these drawings is such that the gardens are almost all of much greater size than the back yards of the vast majority of these dwellings. Thus we see beautiful drawings of gorgeous gardens that can't possibly be squeeezed into the space available to the target audience. Only modest growth over a year or two would lead to overcrowding of plants and the need to pull them out or face death or disease among plants less able to compete.

One of the major problems associated with these gardens is how to address the ubiquitous six foot privacy fences found on three sides of most of these backyards. Most of the drawings showed walls and other structures that are not permitted by covenant in many such communities, and there was precious little to guide the reader in this area.

Five stars for text and three for drawings equals four overall.

This is unequivocally the best garden book I own. After extensive research into "colonial" plants, Pennsylvania native plants, cold zones, planting zones, what does well in sun, shade, coordinating colors within a plantscape, what plants are the right size for my needs, etc. all I did was come up with confirmation that the best plan was already whole, complete, and in this book. I could have saved myself much time and trouble if I had just followed Miss Mitchell's plans. I am on my second copy, and would give this as a gift to any of my friends interested in gardening in the city. Hint: you can find almost everything you need on "Monrovia.com".

This book is the single most inspirational garden book I have ever read. I have a single family house with much more ground than a townhouse and the ideas in this book are easily to translated to to larger sites. The author covers design, implementation and maintence basics quite well. The best part of the book are garden plans and container garden combinations, an excellent source of plant combinations for the mid-atlantic region. If you only own one garden book this is the one.

We are trying to get an "island" feel for our home and this book was the perfect reference. Not only are the pictures of the homes (inside and out) breathtaking, but there is enough detail about the decorating itself to be useful for our purpose. The only downside is that it makes you want to sell your current house and just travel the world staying in these amazing homes! Especially tempting is the contact information at the very end in case you actually want to rent one of them on vacation...

I found this to be a wonderful book - it has some amazing pictures. It affords you the opportunity to view some beautiful private houses that you are unlikely to be able to visit. Unlike some other books that focus primarily on houses in South East Asia, this one also features some great houses in Mexico and Jamaica.

Tropical Houses takes you around the globe to find some of the most interestingly designed homes in the world. The photographs are at once detailed and lush. If you are going to buy one book on tropical interiors, this should be the one.

This is a truly touching book about two women overcoming their pasts and loving each other. As a child, Macy has a crazy mother who runs away for a few days with the butcher whenever things get tough around the house. Macy and her first love, Maybelline discover their love for each other. Macy lives through the loss of her first love by living in her house and taking care of her while attending nursing school.
Dotty grows up in a house with her abusive father and horrid older twin brother and sister, Bell and Ray. Macy runs away after a fiery car crash involving her brother and sister on the day after her sixteenth birthday. She starts to work at the motel she stays at and meets Lila, a woman who sleeps off her peppermint schnapps and painkiller everyday, on the bus there. The two become friends of a sort, with Dotty looking after the ever-drugged Lila. At the amusement park nearby Lila is on a roller coaster car that is flung off the tracks into the sea, and drowns.
The two women meet while Dotty is painting the house Macy lives in, and falls off the ladder, shattering her hip. Macy the nurse helps her through her hospital stay, and moves into her house afterwards to help. They are forced to learn that their lives intertwine when Dotty's twin brother and sister come looking for her...
A very compelling read. I could'nt put it down, and I'm definitely looking forward to another from Amy Schutzer.

This lyrical, beautifully wrought love story between two women, Dotty and Macy, kept me involved long after I'd read the last page. They are trying to make a true, meaningful connection for the first time in their lives, after escaping homes tainted by abuse, mental illness, and catastrophe. Macy (who has taken on the role of home nurse and lover, a role fraught with peril) feeds Dotty just a few too many pain pills. As the issues between Dotty and Macy come to a head, they confront their pasts. This was my favorite part of the novel, a lovely suspense fed not by "What comes next" but by "What happened? Who are these people?" To me, it's the difference between eating a homemade chocolate cake, where you savor every bit, and rushing through a Hostess cupcake because you're late for work. Their pasts unfold as unique mosaics combined with the perfect amount of the surreal. As they confront their pasts, they confront their issues in the present through a deep, almost Jungian exploration of their inner selves. The novel asks hard-to-answer questions. Can they possibly break the patterns they've established to form an equal partnership, make a true connection? But that question is the universal question--can we break free from our pasts?--and so I keep coming back to it, months after having finished the book. I strongly recommend this novel.

When Dotty falls from a ladder, she is brought into the hospital where Macy works. Macy lives at the house Dotty was painting. Macy becomes Dotty's nurse after she leaves the hospital, and the two embark on a love affair. The past histories of both women creep back into their lives and threaten to destroy what's being born. Schutzer's circular and nonlinear story is full of potent writing and moving descriptions of the past pain and vivid silences both women have endured. And the surprise connection between Dotty and Macy is beautifully crafted. Schutzer's style reminded me a bit of Scott Heim, but not as dark. Any reader who's a fan of such emotionally charged works as Emma Donoghue's "Hood" and Alison Green's "Half-moon Scar" will adore this novel. This is one of my favorite novels of 2000!