House

I have bought quite a few story books for my son and this is definitely the best one. The stories are a decent length and some are a little different than I have ever heard before. After a lot of disapointments in story books this was a refreshing change.

This book has stories that are not in the usual group of bedtime/fairy tales that we have purchased or received. No Cinderella or Princess and the Pea (not that they are not wonderful!). Lovely stories like Young Kate and the Snow Maiden totally mesmerize my daughter! Cannot recommend enough for 4-6 year olds!

This book is a must have! I was on a waiting list for months. I was so determined to get this book that I even called the publisher, who just happened to be in my state. I was told that the book was currently not being printed, but that if I really wanted a copy I should go to Home Depot. I went to Home Depot and found the book. Man am I glad I went through the trouble! This book is full of beautiful ideas! Every project is thoroughly detailed, down to the material list. If you've ever dreamed of having an outdoor fireplace then this book is for you.!

I was on the waiting list for this book for months before it was published and cannot say that I was let down at all.

The book has many pages of detailed pictures for outdoor beehive fireplaces, outdoor traditional fireplaces, barbeques and fire pits. The author also provides full and complete design plans that can be used to obtain building permits. It reviews the construction process and the masonry diagrams in laman's terms so they can be easily followed. Each project also has step by step instructions.

I have not come across another book that is as comprehensive as this for building outdoor entertaining structures. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

Nine years ago Peter Keegan stopped off at a topless bar for a drink, a fight broke out, he was arrested. An inconvenience, but not a big deal for most single guys, but Peter was a priest, is now a bishop and somebody is threatening to expose the incident. It would damage his career with the Church were it to come out, but why would anybody do such a thing? What could they possibly gain? Peter suspects his estranged half-brother, the acting chief of detectives of the Organized Crime Division in the Chicago Police Department.

He turns to Kirsten and Dugan for help. They are a husband-and-wife team-he's a lawyer, she's a PI-and together they run Wild Onion, Ltd., located in Chicago's Loop. Ex cop Kirsten is supposedly in charge of the agency, but she gets plenty of help, a lot of it unwanted, from Dugan, who can't stop worrying about her.

Right from the get go Kirsten has reservations about the case as she blames Peter's brother, Walter, the acting chief, for ending her father's career in the department, but they take the case and try their level best to unmask the bishop's tormentor, tracing Peter's problems back to a dark night in his past. Plus there are other forces at work here, like an anti government group, the enmity between the brothers and then, of course, there is a super twisty ending you'd never expect.

In more ways than one I was reminded of the old Thin Man series as I read though this delightful mystery. I don't know why, but I thought I'd be able to read for a bit, do my early morning chores, go downtown, make a bank deposit, have lunch with friends, then maybe read a little before I went to bed. But it didn't work out that way. The chores got put off till another day, the bank deposit got postponed till tomorrow and I missed lunch (didn't really want to go anyway), but fortunately I finished before dinner, because I was famished.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Dealing with the devil means you must dance to his tune. However, when the individuals involved in the malevolent tango consists of a Chicago Bishop and his brother, the police department Organized Crime Division acting chief of detectives, one hardly suspects evil. Bishop Peter Keegan believes his half-brother Walter is nothing less than Satan personified. When Peter begins to receive blackmail threats involving an incident in his past as well as getting the sensation that someone is stalking him, the bishop feels Walter is involved.

Due to his sensitive position, Peter knows he cannot turn to the police. He has no idea what Walter wants, but figures his sibling will tell him when he is ready to do so. Instead of waiting and fretting, Peter hires Wild Onions, a private detective security firm to help him. The owners Kirsten and Dugan agree to take the Bishop on as a client even as they quickly understand that any dealing involving Walter is a struggle to survive.

A BEER AT A BAWDY HOUSE rotates the narration among three different players (Dugan, Kirsten, and Peter). The technique works very well as David J. Walker makes the three characters feel so genuine. Dugan and Kirsten will remind readers of "Hart to Hart." The flawed Bishop has insecurities that turn him into a human being. The mystery is well-designed and special.

Harriet Klausner

This book is wonderful to look at and very helpful. Especially if you want a period look or a very english look to your dollhouse, which is just what I was looking for. Great value for the money. I find myself looking through it all the time.

I am building a dollhouse for my daughter and this book was invaluable. I wasn't sure about a few things, like painting the house. She told the reader what is best to do at what time. She also gave some great ideas to make cheap furniture, etc. It is definitely worth it to buy this book because it gives you a good overview of this fascinating hobby!

Too often these days children's books and tv shows are simply aimed at keeping a child's eyes glued to a colorful page or to a screen, without much thought to imaginative stories or to helping a child to learn or adapt. Not so with this opus. The subtle, fun, and funny narrative cannot but succeed in infusing in the child reader the importance of going to the doctor and of conquering his or her fears of health care. Although Kiki Thorpe and Tom Brannon do a great job in bringing this into book form, it should be noted that this book is adapted from a "Bear" episode written by the talented Chris Moore, whom Thomas Bonfiglio once called, "The best children's writer since A.A. Milne." I only wish more of his work was available.

This book is an excellent choice for explaining your child's visit to the dotor. It covers everything from eye charts to vaccinations. Bear rids Ojo of fear of shots in a simple way that works for your own little ones. The other characters are enthusiastic about their check-ups, which I believe is a great example and very influential to our children. If I could share one book before a doctor's visit with any child, this would be it. Light hearted yet full of information kids can relate to, this is one of the best "Bear" book yet!

Of all the home repair books I have read or purchased, this is by far the best. The repairs are practical and useful as well as easily explained. Having this book in the house makes for an easy referance either before, during or after a repair situation!

I don't know how good this book is,but if i can get my hands on it,i can believe it is a life saver,when it comes to repair something for your house or just want to learn some information on just about everything.This book probally does not contains all of the great ideas on house repairs,but it could give you or someone else some advice on "how to " .some kind of common things that would be great for just beginners.If it turns out to be good then one day or couple of months there might be another section to this book,and could be call,"the second edition of your house repairs" or anything that becomes to the second on the ideas on the first book.

Stephanie and her two freinds try to fix Joey up on a date.They write a personal ad in a magazine.They get over 1,000 replies from the ad.They went through the mail and picked five dates for Joey to go on.They all had something wrong with them the first one wasa russian woman and she beat joey over the head with her purse.The second one was horrible the date never even happend.And the third went the same way.The fourth date was a man who didnt know it was Joey that was looking for a date.The Last and final date was with some one named Risa.Little did they know that Risa was actually Danny's date Marrisa.She dumped Danny to go out with Joey.That was on Valentines day and Danny and Joey were depressed.Stephanie while all that was going on she was trying to make a valentine for Kyle Sullivan.In the end her and Kyle Went out on a date for valentines.

I loved this book! It was one of the best books I've read in a long time. I would rate this 20 stars if the scoring went that high. Very funny. I'd reccomend this to any Full House fan.

If you have ever wandered around Maine, you will have noticed a unique form of farm architecture. But ask most people why 19th century Maine farmers made such a concerted effort to physically connect the structures on their farms and the answer is "they needed a way to get to the barn through the winter snow." Trust me, I have gone around and asked current dwellers of Maine farmsteads. Thomas Hubka carefully points out that if that were so, we'd see similar connected farm architecture in parts of the nation where winters were even more inclimate and snowier. Yet Maine farm architecture remains almost totally enigmatic. Hubka's diligent field work reveals that forces were at work in mid-19th century Maine that conspired against the rural farmer: industrial competition for hand-manufactured goods produced at home for cash suppliment, a labor drain to other more prosperous farming regions, and unyielding land. The brilliance of Hubka's work is that he evokes how, despite all this, Maine farmers strove to adapt by creating resilliant islands of industry with the structure of their homes that defiantly sheltered year-round dooryard work efforts from wind and snow, but also change abroad. This book is also a perfect source of pithy detail and illustration regarding 17th century cape-style house architecture which, it turns out, is still ubiquitous in New England. Highly recommended, a stiking work.

There's a type of farm layout that you see in New England that you don't see elsewhere in the US. This book is a study of that type of farm, its whys and wherefores, and how it fit into people's lives -- or better, how their lives fit into it.

This book is written very clearly, with numerous graceful diagrams of floor plans, layouts, and photos of representative farms. The author has a deep sympathy for the ordinary farmers and their taxing occupation, as can be seen in the choice of photos (farmhouse buried in snow, barn on fire, farm family sitting in a front yard still dominated by those granite cobbles you expect to be piled into fences). Diagrams tell the demographic story of why these farms were created, why they belong to northern New England; how they were achieved and how people spent their lives in them.

For me, the magic comes in because I fell in love with one of these farms, and its sunny Lincoln-era dooryard. It has a subtle rightness because of its orientation, its site on a knoll, and a certain flexibility of layout. But even if you don't have such a reference point, I think you will be impressed at the perceptiveness of the work, if you can muster any interest at all in the topic.

p.s. I checked on the Web to see if the author is still flourishing. His current project seems to be the wooden synogogues of tiny eastern european towns. Sounds neat...

Incredible book: superbly written essays and... true and relevant! a lot of stories about why you're better off listening to your inner wisdom and needs, and how expectations can be hard to deal with.

I saw a review of the book in USA Today and was compelled by the title as well as the review. I was about to fly across country and wanted a book....I was so captivated by this book, before I landed upon my return, I had read the entire book..!!I might add, my trip was only over a weekend! You will be able to relate to many of the essays(chapters)in the book. If you finish the book on a Sunday, going to work on Monday is a whole lot brighter...GET THIS BOOK..it's also a great gift.

Review of - Blaster's Training Manual, a completely illustrated manual dealing with the responsible, safe and effective use of explosives. By R.K. (Ken) House, S.E.E. (Retired) as reviewed by Lloyd E. Sponenburgh. A journalist once said that the right way to build and support a thesis is to: "Tell 'em what you're gonna say, then say it, then tell 'em what you said." So, what am I going to tell you? I love the book. And I hate the book. It's not well written, but it's a treasure you should own. Am I being ambigous enough, yet? This book is a blaster's training manual. None of the industrial, mechanical, aerospace, or metallurgical uses of explosives are dealt with at all; but blasting is covered in great detail. That detail isn't designed to make you an explosives expert - it's geared toward training a day-to-day working blaster. Author Ken House steers clear of most chemical and technical issues a working blaster doesn't need to know. He generously sprinkles his advice with "contact your dealer" concerning technical questions about explosives. And, to be true, that's probably the best advice concerning highly technical issues he could give someone who needs this book. But Mr. House gives you enough of the purely technical to satisfy the curiosity and background needs of a new student of blasting. Mr. House has produced a work that has the characteristic smell of experience. To loosely quote a friend, "Most books worth having come from the pens of practicioners." Mr. House is apparently a practicioner with a wide range of experience. His career includes such experiences as being on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's counter-terrorism Bomb Disposal squad, training with the U.S. Navy Seals for duty in Vietnam, and a generous amount of time working as a stone blaster commercially. He was also a member in good standing of the Society of explosives Engineers from 1982 until 1991. He is now retired. Despite any shortcomings his book may have, Mr. House's experience comes through. He leads the reader through the eyes of a real blaster who's dug out misfires by hand, and dodged flying rock in a quarry. It's a gritty, down-to-earth manual with the smell of nitro about it. This book has much to offer. Mr. House covers nearly every conceivable aspect of blasting with commercial and (some) military explosives. His detailing of each blasting task is done with a fine brush, taking care to color bare patches in the knowlege of the trainee. He gives safety information liberally, and confirms it with personal experiences and anecdotes. I would enjoy seeing a summary or a followup pamphlet of just the safety issues. Ken House also shows a good sense of organization in the course of study he's presented. He never details a task until he's shown you how to do the prerequisites. And he doesn't insult the intelligent reader by repeating unnessessary detail, once he's presented it elsewhere. Mr. House makes the statement early in the text that " safe and efficient blasting is 95% technical know-how which can be communicated ... through the printed word". His presentation of the subject causes that to be true, even if it were not before this book was written. Most of the 'blasting manuals' on the market occupy themselves almost exclusively with loading rates, velocities, tables of distances for propagation firing, and other important but esoteric information. Such information comprises an important source of reference for complex jobs, but doesn't suit the needs of the beginning blaster. Ken House's book fills those needs. There is a short but adequate background lesson on what comprises 'explosives' in general, and what is their character. There is a short, isolated safety segment - most of the safety information in the book is presented with the tasks to which it applies. About one third of the book is dedicated to the mechanics of preparing and exploding commercial explosives - regardless of their intended use. The remaining volume is filled with specifics on how to load and place explosives to achieve a host of earth-moving, rock-splitting, stump-jumping, and girder-cutting tasks. Pretty much anything the small-scale user of explosives might ever need know about or do with the materials is covered in this manual. It really is a treasure chest of information coming from the mind of someone who has endured nitro headaches, stone bruises, and crimper pinches for years. I'd rather have it the way it is, than risk missing the sequel. No one should try their hand at blasting without hands-on training under the supervison of an expert. But if they did, I'd hope they read this book first. Lloyd Sponenburgh is an author and semi-professional pyrotechnician. His experiences include a tour with U.S. Naval Special Forces in Viet Nam with training and field experience with military explosives. He is presently the Director of Research for Fiscal Information, a computer OEM to the medical business market.

The "Blaster's Training Manual" is a well-thought-out book which delivers what it promises -- a basic course in the various aspects of explosives handling and use. The book is intended for those who have a serious interest in the professional use of explosives for everything from ditch blasting to metal cutting. If you write a good book on pyrotechnics like Tom Perigrin's, you can sell a significant number of copies by word of mouth because there are lots of people who want to play with firecrackers and the like. There are also many wannabe terrorists who will scarf up garbage publications on explosives such as "The Anarchists Cookbook." A serious book on professional explosives handling and applications is another matter entirely. If you want to sell a few copies, you will have to toot the horn yourself because there is no network of hobbyists or wannabes to toot it for you. If you are interested in working as a blaster or want to improve existing skills in the field, you should give serious consideration to acquiring a copy of the "Blaster's Training Manual." Jerry (Ico) Your book is really very well done and fills a void that has always been there in the explosives field. Jerry (Ico) The Blaster's Training Manual is an original work which covers much more territory than the duPont manual. It is a very welcome addition to the limited literature in the field of practical explosives applications. Jerry (Ico)