House

This book gives an insight into the private lives of the first families. We learn about their extended families, hobbies, illnesses, preparations for leaving the White House when their terms are completed, etc. The pictures are what really makes this book great. We see Lyndon Johnson in bed with his wife watching tv and we see the older George Bush in bed too (can you imagine Nixon or Clinton letting down his guard like this?). We see Gerald Ford in his bathrobe. If you always wanted to see such a sight, there is a photo of Eleanor Roosevelt in a bathing suit and a rare photo of Franklin in shorts with his polio ravaged legs exposed to the camera. We see painful personal moments such as the famous photo of Nixon hugging his daughter Julie when he made the decision to resign. In short this is, at times, a very rare personal and intimate glimpse into the lives of the first families. I enjoyed it and recommend it highly.

I have been fortunate enough to read Mr. Anthony's brilliant "First Ladies" mini-opuses, and highly looked forward to this epic on the lives of our First Families. I sat for three hours stright with an almost constant smile on my face as I ran through the pages. What an amazing acheivement Mr. Anthony has pulled together! I can only imagine the painstaking research needed to find out the tidbits sprinkled throughout. There is so much information in this novel that it almost boggles the mind at times and is a bit overwhelming. I wondered if everything was sinking in, when I saw Mr. Anthony speak at the Richard Nixon library on CSPAN one night recounting the tales found here. Every story he told was instantly recalled and sentences finished before explaining. The sheer knowledge that one can gain from reading this novel is tremendous. (Where else can you find a list of President's favorite movies? By Reagan selecting Rambo, it does nothing but prove what a complete and utter moron we had occupying the White House under his reign).....Point proven further....When listing President's favorite reading options, Mr Anthony lays out beautiful examples of this. President Clinton enjoys biographies of his predecessors, Eisenhower military biographies and TR, anything he could get his hands on. Reagan? Newspaper comics.....I shall leave my review at that.

I purchased this book yesterday and I can't put it down. It is filled with great pictures and stories of the forty-one famlies who lived in the White House. This is a great source of presidential trivia and provides a human element to the most famous family in America. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in American history and the lives of the presidents.

Mr. House's book on air rifles is a good informational book for the masses. It may fall short of Mr. Lumley's expectations but it is fine for the rest of us.

Mr. Lumley stoops to attacking the author and supposing his motives for writing the book. I don't think Mr. Lumley's comments are constructive nor will they scare off a thinking person.

The book has good information on air rifles and their performance.

This is by far the best book for beginners and intermediate users of air rifles that I have seen so far. Lots of practical information on the selection and use of pellets and rifles. The author has a way of explaining some difficult topics in ballistics that makes the material useful to the non expert. I was also suprised to find out how accurate and powerful American air rifles are. The only additions I would have liked to have seen in the book are, 1) A chapter on shooting technique (target and hunting. and 2) A chapter on maintenance and lubrication. I would highly recommend this book.

Prior to reading this book, I only dealt with expensive air guns. What I found was that I am spending way too much money on expensive air rifles and here's why. The American made airguns produce velocities as close as the most expensive air rifles. What I found was that the most expensive guns were overrated with inflated velocities and the American guns were more factual, when it came to rating velocity. This book opened my eyes and now I came to love some of the American made airguns and use this book as a reference all the time. I can't seem to get enough of this book and wish the author came out with a second book. Since reading this book, I have purchased american air rifles and to my amazement the guns have been better velocity and repair wise, than some of the overrated expensive Euopean airguns. A very thorough book to read, on American Air Rifles. It is an "Eye Opener"

I am an architect designing a house for a client -it is a Charleston Style house with the master bedroom in a "carriage house" attached at the rear. This book helped me to create/design a more authentic carriage house. I am a horse lover from way back so I ate up the book front to back! I was pleased to find many examples of architectural details and embellishments. The plans of historic houses and barns are a rare treasure. Would be fun to build one of the farm houses!

Donald J. Berg does an outstanding job of showing the evolution of the designs and the backgrounds of the designers of single family housing primarily in the 19th century. The plans and illustrations are excellent for those that want to use them as a guide for present day construction.

I'm finding this book intersting in all respects, but the author left out an important country structure the house-barn(housebarn)

I bought this book at a Revolutionar War event this past weekend and I've read it 3 times already (Purchased Sunday, and it's now Tuesday morning). My husband can't believe that I can't put this down. But I find it fascinating reading. Many of the little tips in here are still on many websites today for frugal living (olive oil and a little white vinegar for a wood furniture polish, for example).

Easy and fascinating reading for anyone interested in history, frugal living, and occassionaly a good laugh.

The thoughts and ideas of the 1800's could be applied to todays world to make it a better place. Like putting more energy into our morals and pride rather than trying to keep up with the Jones'. A wonderfull and funny look at many things that have gone wrong with society over the years.
I read just a few pages in a little store, than had to come home and find it to buy for myself.

Both the prose and the basic philosophy espoused by this book are refreshing on todays palate. No over-wrought writing or get ahead mentality here. The book gives a wonderful view of household life in the 1800's, covering ground from pudding recipes to the best and cheapenst method for cleaning your candle stick holders and treating common ailments. Liberally spiced with the philosophy of a frugal housewife who's example many of us would do well to follow.

Mr. Rudd...

Thank you for writing such helpful books for artists. It is a great thing you've done to improve the conditions for so many who need space to create and live with fewer restrictions.

Cheers.

This has been a great source of inspiration and solid, practical advice for me. I'm opening my own studio/gallery soon and found Rudd's book to be a constant source of ideas on how to renovate the cheap, but run-down space we found. Although we weren't able to purchase the space as he recommended (I wish we could) it has been a very helpful book.
It's not just the practical advice, but the encouragement to take your own work more seriously that really made this book valuable to me. When he described how more work could be done in a good studio, I knew then that I had to get my work out of the garage and into a better space. Now, after a lot of elbow grease and plenty of cheap white [local store] paint (as Rudd recommended), I'll have a space much more suited to the work I want to do, plus a gallery to show it.

Multi-media artist Eric Rudd has written two books for
artists who feel compelled to produce not just good art, but great art that has potential for recognition on a grand scale in museums and perhaps a legacy in art history. Rudd pulls no punches in his entertaining account of his successes and failures both as an artist and developer of loft art studios from Washington, D.C. to North Adams, Massachussetts. His ideas aren't for the faint-hearted or the Sunday painter but rather for the artist with a strong belief in the greatness of the work and a willingness to take risks to create a space where this can happen. "The Art Studio/Loft Manual for Ambitious Artists and Creators" provides the practical information needed to make it happen, from how to acquire the real estate to how to renovate the space. The accounts of Rudd's achievements, particularly in his present location in North Adams, are inspiring.

I thought I would check out what the Arts & Crafts Home movement was all about so I got this book based on it's great reviews. It is full of history, and photos, enough to either satisfy your curiosity, or like me, it will cause a hunger in you for more books on the subject.

For those of us remodeling and looking to restore old bungalows to the arts and crafts style, this book came to us highly recommended as a good place to start.

How right this advice was. This is an excellent book which walks you through the history and philosophy, then on to regional variations, landscape, interior, furniture, lighting and accessories.

These are all supported by excellent photography, glossary and sources for everything from auctions to books to Interior Designers, etc. A must have for the Arts and Crafts rookie.

This is an excellant book for the layman enthuisist of the Arts & Crafts movement. Primarily covering the Arts & Crafts home (as the title suggests) it would be the perfect first book for the individual looking to build upon an Arts & crafts theme in their home. The frist chapters (all pages containing beautifull & well choosen photos) cover the Arts & Crafts philosophy for the uninitiated in order to develop an understanding with the reader of the concepts covered later in the book. All areas of the arts & crafts home are well covered from the house itself to gardens to interiors, lighting, artwork etc. If you were looking to decorate or restore your home in the arts & crafts style this is definately a great place to start. If, after gleaming it's pages you are thirsty for more, the index at the back has a very comprehensive list of further reading, arts & crafts reproduction furniture etc manufacturers, tours, resources etc. Full marks to the authors for a well conceived & executed publication.

One of the bibles of backyard sugarers. Easy to access, well-written, clear directions and diagrams, a good sense of humor, and an emphasis on doing things as inexpensively as possible. For the practical do-it-yourself tinkerer. If you're fortunate enough to live where maple trees can be tapped, pick up this book and you'll be absolutely hooked.

This is the do-it-yourself book that got me started on that sweet rite of spring -- making my own maple syrup. The author's emphasis is on how to do it efficiently and very cheaply, using easy-to-find materials you can scrounge yourself. If you have the trees to tap, by all means get this book! (Hint: they don't have to be the sugar maple species. Try other maples as well. I get great syrup from box elders, which I considered "trash trees" until I learned they are in the maple family. Now I treasure them like gold.)

My own sugaring set-up is total simplicity: just some old refrigerator grates set on top of cinder blocks, heated with odd scraps of wood that others have thrown away at construction sites, etc. The sap is boiled down in flat baking pans, then finished off on the stove inside. Except for the initial expense to buy some professional spiles for tapping (you can make those, too, but I'm a failure as a tinsmith), I have spent ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for the 3-4 gallons of syrup we make each year. Not a bad return for a book that I cost me less than ten bucks!

This book has an overarching philosophy - keep it simple and keep it cheap! The authors describe everything you need to know and stress not having to pay for anything you can get for free. This quest for free stuff that works well is one of the pleasures of hobby sugaring. Well written descriptions of all the processes. Lots of photos. Reading it makes you wish the sap would start flowing NOW! Highly recommended

Michelle wants to be a ballet star like Dj and Stephine but her family thinks shes really good and shes not very good. So she comes up with a plan,but will it work? Read this great book and you will find out!

This was one of the first chapter books I ever read. When I saw no pictures and lots of writing I didnt think I would love it so much. After reading Ballet surprise I went on to many other michelle full house books and started mary kate and ashley. I learned to love chapter books All because of Ballet Surprise !

"Ballet Suprise" is a wonderful book. I LOVE it

This book not only tells you how to do it, but it shows you step by step (in beautiful illustrations) how it will look as you do it step by step. I was really blown away by the fact that it tells you and shows you basically every tool you will need for the job. I believe this book can help any novice if they are desiring to take on a job of remodeling their own bathroom.

This is a great book for do-it-yourselfers. All the pictures are color photos instead of drawings, which helps to visualize things better. There are step-by-step instructions on absolutely everything, including removing and installing fixtures, tiles, vinyl floors, outlets, vents, ect. A must have if you are going to remodel your bathroom by yourself.

This is the only book you will need if you are planning to take on a bathroom remodeling project, big or small. It covers all of the plumbing questions you might have, or run into, as well as the basics of installing electrical fixtures, and framing new walls.

My daughter who is 10 months old LOVES this book. She loves looking at bear and hearing the great sound of the words of the book. The words flow and are lovely to hear... Everyone should own a bear book...

Bear Loves Water is a good simple book for small children. It teaches about how water can take on many different shapes and also about the various things that water can do for us. Bear has a simple, yet wonderful way of talking to children that teaches them while letting them learn on their own.

My 8 month old, loves looking at this book. The pictures are bold & colorful. Bear takes you through this book with his friends help. My daughter loves to sit on her blanket and look at this book. The pages are easy for her to turn. I would also recommend "Bear Loves Food" These are bearific books for young readers.