Opening

This is a repertoire book (I guess that's why the title, huh?) that picks one variation for white in response to each black defence.

The repetoire is based around the Queen's pawn opening (1. d2-d4 followed normally by 2. c2-c4).

The lines featured are typically fairly solid - the authors tend to avoid the highly complex, overly sharp lines that require a lot of memorization.

I have personally had pretty decent results by following the recommendations contained in the book.

The book has an explanation at the beginning of each chapter outlining the ideas behind the opening. This feature alone makes the book valuable, especially for lower rated players who will get nothing out of the typical opening monograph with no words and all symbols.

The books limited size means that a higher rated player, such as 1900+ will definitely have to supplement the book with more specialized materials in order to be prepared for that exalted level of opponent.

There seem to be few (if any) typos in the book and the selection of illustrative games are pretty good.

The only reason I subtracted one star was for the lack of depth in certain chapters.

If you are looking for a repertoire that is solid and agressive, this book is a very good choice.

The lines with 1.d4 and 2.c4 are timeless, good and tested in GM play. To avoid memorization and the need to keep up with opening theory, the authors recommend lines that are relatively less used by GMs. Such lines are, nevertheless, very good (the line against the King's Indian with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nge2 is relatively unknown (among amateurs) and can generate a powerful attack which is not easy to stop - namely the "h" pawn push. White can, in many instances, transpose to favorable lines of the Samich).

What I like best about this book is that most of the lines are easy to learn, positionally sound and strong (white gets a firm grip of the center in almost every line) and fun to play (almost all of them lead to logical strategic plans for white to attack against black's king).

If you are rated between 1300 and 1900, this book alone will provide you with all you need to learn from the white side of the board. If (when!) you reach 1900 +, you can expand and add variety to this repertoire, which is, in spite of the small size of the book, complete enough for any club player.

This book was just what I needed! I read the New Testament, then started on the Old Testament. I found myself confused by quite a bit of what I read. This book validated my issues, and gave a lot of background information that I lacked. I found it to be extremely enlightening, liberating, and truly a blessing.

Robert Kysar's book is a terrific guide for both those who are beginning to interact with the Bible as well as seasoned veterans. Individuals (and groups) who have found the Bible to be troubling, overwhelming,inaccessible, or irrelevant are likely to benefit from Kysar's insights. For instance, while he affirms that the Bible has authority for our lives, he gently asserts that it does not have EXCLUSIVE authority nor does it have ALL the answers to our contemporary problems and pressing issues such as homosexuality, the environment, and the abortion debate to name but three. In addition to turning to the Bible for GENERAL guidance, he encourages us to turn to other sources of wisdom including our experiences, reason, and tradition for more SPECIFIC guidance. We live in a completely different culture than the ones that the Spirit-led, yet culturally bound, writers of the Bible lived in. We need to consider what the Bible has to say about a particular issue but also take into account knowledge, even Spirit-inspired knowledge, that the human race has acquired since bibical times.

I greatly admire this author's ability to put in plain language what it means to change one's life--from the "treadmill"style of living to being guided by our inherent spiritual gifts. The examples she gives, drawn from everyday life, make the concepts of personal and spiritual growth accessible to all readers. Instructions and suggestions for ways to bring our lives into alignment with our spiritual selves are informative and easy to follow. I'd recommend this book for any reader who is presently feeling that there must be more to life than the present routine they are following. There are answers here that are as humble as they are wise. When I finished reading it, one of my thoughts was that it would be a wonderful book for teenagers to read as they faced some of the tough challenges of moving into adulthood. I would also recommend it to any friend who has "hit the wall" in their work or personal life.

I found this book to be very inspiring
and easy to understand. It makes me want
to fine tune my own spiritual energy and
live more in the NOW. This author has
great insight and I am sure is a great
teacher and counsellor as well as writer.

There was a period in China when monasteries switched between Nestorian Christianity and Chan (Zen) Buddhism based on which was the most persecuted at the time. It is therefore appropriate, I suspose, to translate the Judeo-Christian prayer book, i.e. the Psalms, into a Zen Buddhist conceptual world.

In his search for why the Psalms have retained their value as a prayer book over 3000 years, the Buddhist monk Norman Fischer finds a translation of ideas that works for him. For example, he sees the Psalms' concept of the sovereignty of God as a particular kind of consciousness, related to the mindfulness of Buddhism. In this scheme wickedness is unmindfulness and hence alienation; enemies are internal as much as external.

Many of these translations work in that they make one see the Psalm in a new way ... they serve as a catalysis for a new understanding. Their translation is poetic ... the volume is worth reading simply as poetry. However, the volume is not appropriate either in style or in content, to serve as a Psalter for daily prayer.

Place this volume in the same category as The Psalms in Haiku - a useful and thought-provoking version of the Psalms to turn to when the Psalter is growing old ... to return to for renewing the freshness of your understanding of the psalms.

Fischer has reclaimed the essence of these ancient, passionate songs of suffering and praise. In clear, almost transparent language, he reveals the timeless human longing to *be heard* by a presence that transcends suffering. By stripping away exhausted and loaded language imposed by previous English translations, Fischer shows how language itself can be the tool with which we can forge an intimate relationship with the sacred. As he says in his introduction, "Prayer is not some specialized religious exercise, it is just what comes out of our mouths if we truly pay attention. To pray is to form language, and to form language is to be human." As a Jew who has often turned to poets like Rumi and Rilke for spiritual inspiration, I am delighted to rediscover, thanks to Norman, the treasures within my own heritage.

Ok,
First,if you don't like the variations in caro-kann don't blame the book.
The book is not a new one so there should be moves that are not valid now.

But this book will stated a very clear picture of caro-kann.

You can buy this book if you are 100% sure you want to play caro-kann against 1.e4.

Well,I hope you all know how opening books are[True for all books about openings]
There will be moves about 18[more or less] and then the symbols which will tell the end position is equal or slighty favors black or white.
The games are at the back of each variations[topics].

If you can find the latest book about the caro-kann ,it is always better to buy them.

If not,this book is good enough for you.

Varnusz' book on the Caro-Kann has been great to me. Even though it was written in '91, it still covers all the maim variations one is likely to see, including the 4. Nc3 and Short variaations of the Advance variation. This book has a great blend of variations, illustrative games, and textual explanations. I have been pleasantly surpirsed by what a fine book this is.

Don't be put off by the title - foremost this CD set offers a well-rounded flow of asanas that are complemented by the chanting at the end of the second CD. Jai Uttal's music is ideal accompaniment. Rea has, as usual, designed the tracks to be accessible for different needs - length of time, type of practice, time of day, etc. I especially apprecite the gems of poetry (Hafiz) and thought (Upanishads) she has interspersed with her instruction. Altogether a worthwhile purchase!

Shiva Rea teaches at Sacred Movement in Santa Monica and does workshops around the country. After attending her workshop I needed a more regular experience of her enthusiasm, presence, and serious wisdom. While this CD is more a reminder of the experience than the experience, you'll still work hard and then find deep peace. The chanting / Om part unexpectedly opened my chest and allowed for my breath to really vibrate deep in my chest while doing asanas. Very cool.

(that should be 4.5 stars, by the way) I must say, I'm one of these people who will praise King and his works until the end. Everything is GOOD. Nothing is BAD. All works are created equal. But this book broke formation and stood out from the rest. Instead of projecting a film into my head (as he always does.....come on, admit it!), King managed to project an ACTION film into my biased skull. The climax simply blows you away. But it is not just the explosive ending that earns this book the title of STANDOUT.

The characters are engaging (cliche, cliche) and wonderfully developed, and you feel even 'closer' to them than you are normally brought to feel with King books. Mr. Gaunt is quite the appealing Lucifer ("...Fe***tio gives me a headache."). The paced storyline is built up beautifully, making it extraordinarily hard to put the bloody thing down; and when it is all over, you feel quite low in that you are longing for more.

For those of you who read King plainly for the sex and violence/horror, you will not be disappointed. As I said, the book is an action film, and all action films are quite abundant in violence and gore. Enough said. And the relationship between Polly and Sheriff Pangborn (and to a lesser extent, between Myra, Cora and Elvis)should be enough to satisfy any hetrosexuals out there.

So, all in all, a highly enjoyable read that, while perhaps not awarded 'classical' status by critics, is certainly a personal favourite for me. And, for a change, the movie complemented the book (relatively) well.

Please, give it a shot.

Stephen King's "Needful Things" takes place in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. A new store has opened up that is run by a man named Leland Gaunt. He specializes in carrying everything and anything that you could ever want. The only problem, is that each person's "needful thing" comes at one HELL of a price, that could end costing the person their soul.

Stephen King is not my favorite author, but I have read enough of his books to know that some are better than others. To this day, I still feel that Needful Things is one of his best books. The idea behind the story is what really makes this book fun to read. The idea that the Devil himself could come to a town and tempt the town members with their deepest desires is very appealing. The best thing, is that the characters do it all to themselves, because everything is based on free will. All the Devil does is show the characters the way, and convince them to pull a "harmless little prank" on members of the town. The story is extremely well written and moves at a very fast pace. I usually read a 400 -500 page book in 2 -3 days. That is how long it took me to read Needful Things. The 731 pages just seem to fly by, because King manages to create a story that involves you in the lives of each of the characters. As much as I would love to give this book 5 stars, I cannot because of the ending. You are left on the edge of your seat waiting for the end of the book to come, only to be left hanging by an ending that leaves things up in the air. This is the type of story that deserves a clear, cut ending.

I will say this however. King's character development is at its all time best in this book. The reason being obviously because he created a whole town. Every character introduced is enjoyable. The main players are the Devil Leland Gaunt who is King's best villan ever, Sheriff Alan Pangborn who is the hero of the story, Alan's girlfriend Polly Chalmers who suffers from arthritis, Nettie Cobb and Wilma Jerzyck who spend thier time bickering and fighting, and Danforth "Buster" Keaton who is the other main villan.

Needful Things is filled with comedy, romance, suspense, and overall terror. The story is well written and appealing, the characters are all great, and by the end of the story you feel like you have gotten to know a lot of them. With only one major flaw, the book is an overall treat to read.

Stephen King once said about this book, "Everything's for sale, but the only price is your immortal soul. I thought Needful Things was hilarious!!" Sadistic, eh? But I have to agree with Mr. King, because I just loved the town's (Castle Rock) slow descent to madness, and its inevitable destruction. Even though not a drop of blood is spilled till almost page 300, you are hooked from the beginning of the book, where you meet Leland Gaunt, the Proprieter of Needful Things (a store with all your heart's desires, at only the price of your soul and to play a "little" trick on one of your fellow townsmen) till the chaotic destruction of Castle Rock, one of Stephen King's most memorable locales, home to the stories "Cujo","The Dark Half" and the excellent short story "The Body". This book is also superbly written with King's haunting metaphors and spine-tingling characters that scratch at your back, but strangely the last 50 pages or so seem to be not as well written in some of the action sentences, but that dosen't mean the ending isn't good. Also, I think King did a good job of keeping the plethora of characters in order, as SK managed to tell ALL.. the characters' stories without the plot falling apart, and I applaud him for that. Congratulations Mr.King, you have crafted an excellent story that stays with the reader after he finished it, and once again you have entertained me. Also the end was strikingly funny and sadistic to me (The VERY END) and topped off what was to me, a very Needful Thing in my Stephen King collection

This is a pretty good starter book for someone, yet is far from complete... The name is a bit deceptive to claim to be a complete strategy guide... This reads more like a Chess Dictionary than an actual strategy guide... Perhaps a better name would of been Chess Dictionary, Grandmaster Techniques from A-Z... I would say this book is mostly good for those U1600 range... The lower you are, the more this book most likely will help you... Just realize this gives a brief basic idea of what something means... By no means is this a complete work that will make you into an IM or GM... I will try to give a basic idea of what to expect in this book...

Basically the book starts with an introduction explaining the goals of this book and how the idea to write happend... Silman explains how he had a student that basically wrote a book like this in a simple form... He could not deal with how books overwhelm person with too much information... So Silman took that idea and expanded upon it, creating basically an easy to digest Chess Dictionary... It then goes into a short explanation of what the various chess notation symbols mean... This can be good for a starter since its easy to confuse !? with ?! :)... Then he gets into Chess notation, this part bothered me a bit to say the least... I wish he covered and explained descriptive notation since that was something I had lots of trouble understanding starting out... I think that would of helped someone staring out very much to say the least... Also make it easier for them to get older chess books and understand them... Still he covers modern notation rather well and in an easy to understand way...

Then we get into the 4 main parts of the book... They consist of The Opening, The Middlegame, The Endgame, and Practical Matters... I will try to give a basic idea of what each one of these parts consist of...

Part I The Opening... He deals with basic opening strategy, castling, development, fianchetto, then he gets into some opening systems... The coverage he gives on the openings he covers here is pretty minimal... At most he gives 1 or 2 pages with only a few moves mentioned... He tries to give basic ideas of the openings using words, instead of a page or two of variations... This can be good for someone new to the game, since its likely to now overwhelm them... The openings he touches on consist of Albin Counter Gambit, Alekhine Defense, Benko Gambit, Bogo-Indian Defense, Benko Gambit, Boring Opening(Reversed London System), Botvinnik Formation, Budapest Gambit, Caro-Kann Defense, Center-Counter Defense, Colle Opening, Czech Benoni, Dutch Defense, English Opening, Four Knights Opening, French Defense, Giuoco Piano, Grob, Gruenfeld Defense, Hedgehog Formation, King's Gambit, King's Indian Attack, King's Indian Defense, Larsen's Opening, Modern Benoni Defense, Nimzo-Indian Defense, Orangutan, Petroff Defense, Pirc Defense, Queen's Gambit(Chigorin system, accepted, declined), QGD(Capablanca's Freeing Maneuver, Tarrasch Defense), Queen's Indian Defense, Reti Opening, Ruy Lopez, Scotch Opening, Semi-Slav Defense, Sicilian Defense, Slav Defense, Stonewall Attack, Torre Attack, Trompowski Opening, Two Knight Defense, and the Veresov Opening... They are listed in alphabetical order so that makes looking them up rather easy... He also touches a bit on preperation and reversed openings... The part concludes with 20 quiz questions relating to openings...

Part two The Middlegame deals with what comes after the opening... This part starts out talking about attacks on the enemy king... Castling on opposite sides, castling on the same side, and even the classic Bishop Sacrifice... He then gets into combinations and combinational themes... Stuff like Clearance Sacrifice, Decoy, Deflection, Double Attack, Fork, Pins/Skewers, Windmill, X-Rays, and Zwischenzug... He touches on King in the center and Kingside focal points next... After that he talks about Mating Net and Mating Patterns... He even lists several known mates, including Blackburne's, Boden's, and Pilsbury... This is good for a new player so he knows what people mean when they refer to these mates by name... Silman even talks a little bit about Sacrifice and Tactical Vision... Silman also gets into such things as Blockade, Candidate Moves/Imbalances, Centralization, Closed/Open Positions, Compensation, Counterplay, Defensive Strategy, Entombed Pieces, Initiative, Material Advantage, Minority Attack, Minor Pieces, Mysterious Rook Moves, Open Files, and Overprotection... He even touches on more neglected concepts to starters... Topics such as Pawn Center, Pawn Chain, Pawn Structure(Backward, Doubled, Isolated, Hanging, Passed, and Tripled Pawns), Pawn Islands, and Pawn Tension... After that he talks about Perpetual Check, Piece Activity, Plan, Principle of Two Weaknesses, Prophylaxis, Queenside Pawn Majority, Restriction, Space, Squares, Static Versus Dynamic Advantages, Support Points, Trading Pieces, and Traps... If your not sure about any of that stuff, or don't know what they mean... Perhaps this book might be something that will help you out... The part ends with a 33 question Quiz relating to Middlegame concepts... Again the coverage of the mentioned topics is rather on the brief side...

Part III The Endgame talks about what comes after the middlegame... The topics he touches on in this chapter deals with the following... Bishop and Wrong Rook Pawn, Cat and Mouse, Exchanging, Minor Pieces in The Endgame, Passed Pawns in The Endgame(Queen Endgame, Pawn Majority and Outside Passed Pawn, Promotion and Underpromotion), Queen and Minor Piece Fights, Stalemate, Using the King(King and Pawn vs King, Opposition, Saving Pawn Moves, Square of The Pawn, Triangulation), and Using The Rooks(Active Rook, Lucena Position, Philidor Position, Rooks Behind Passed Pawns, Short and Long Side of The Board and Two Hogs on The Seventh)... Again the coverage is far from complete, but still it can get you started on right path... Also help prepare you to read a more detailed/difficult book on the topics... This part ends with a 10 question Quiz about Endgame matters...

Part IV deals with Practical Matters where Silman talks about "invisible" facets to the game... He touches on such topics as Blunder, Draw Offer, Point Count, Psychology, and Time Pressure... He does preach to players to never give up and play to win... This part ends with a 10 question Quiz about Practical Matters that were covered...

So this is a pretty good book for a newer chess player, the less you know the more it will help... If not for a few things I might of given the book 5 stars... Mostly the fact that he does not cover descriptive notation and the books name is very deceptive... If someone buys this thinking it is actually a Total Complete Guide of Chess Strategy, they will find over time there are many gaps... Also some of the coverage perhaps is a bit too brief to be helpful... The end of the book with the Questions and Answers to the Quizzes is rather nice... Instead of just printing the answers to them... This makes it rather easy to go over them without back and forth looking... Other starter books to consider might be Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess and The Mammoth Book of Chess... This book is nicely priced and you get good value for your dollar... Also remember Silman is rather easy to read and understand... Just realize this is more of a Dictionary than anything else... The book is very easy to Digest and Should at least help with Chess terms if nothing else... I might not agree with all Silman says, but I still think this is a good book with a deceptive title...

My first Chess book was Robert Fisher Teaches Chess (a very good book). This one may very well be better. It is a very good opening reference. It gives examples of all of the tactics used during a chess game, it covers middle game strategy. One very important part of the book is its coverage of the mating patterns. There is also an overview of endgame strategy.

This book has a lot of the stuff you will find in the Art of Attack. It is easier to understand, however. I mention this because it may be a much more advanced book than I indicate in the title. So if you don't know how to destroy a castled position or you don't know how many basic mating patterns there are this book is for you. It is also a must if you want to know the names and moves of about 20 different standard opening lines.

International Chess Master Jeremy Silman gives a lot to chess. Most chess authors lack his passion. His web site has numerous book recommendations too.

This is one of the best one volume books on chess. It is geared towards a beginner-intermediate player (ratings between 900-1499). If you know how the pieces move and understand basic concepts, but struggle, this is the book for you. I received it as a gift, and although it was a little basic for me, I was able to still learn some things from it. The book is divided into three basics sections, the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame.

The Opening: This lists just about all of the openings. For each opening, Silman describes the first few moves and the main variations. He'll briefly talk about the objectives and aims for each side. This is quite hand and important. Many big openings references like MCO or NCO list moves, but fail to describe any overall objectives, such as "Black will play for a either a c6-c5 or e6-e5 advance, while White attacks the kingside with Ne2, Ng3, h4, h5." This way you know what you are playing for without have to memorize lines (which you shouldn't do anyway.)

The Middlegame: This lists different strategy and tacics. Strategy is general overall ideas like having active bishops, having knights in advance positions, creating advance positions for your knights, putting rooks on open files, and what situations bishops are better than knights and vice-versa. Silman will shown an example and ask "what should Black do here....well the knight should go from f3 to d6 via d2 and e4. Tactics are basic and simple combinations to win material or the game such as skewers or pins. He'll show a simple example, and then show the same example in a mock game, but with more pieces and perhaps a couple of moves to make before you reach the position. Classic checkmates are also shown in a similar fashion.

The Endgame: Here are described very basic and simple endgame principles. The endgame is an equally important part of a game, but often forgotten by beginners and intermediates. Classic positions and endgame strategies are described. Many of these positions come up in games and it's good to know them

Slater writes about many famous psychologists and about their research. The single biggest problem is that her accounts of famous experiments in psychology, like Rosenhan's and Milgram's, are so full of factual errors that I find it hard to treat ANYTHING else she says seriously. There are experimental design features detailed in her book that were not part of those studies. Despite what some here say, all you have to do is actually read Rosenhan or Milgram to know that Slater just plain gets VERY important facts about what they did wrong.......

i loved this book. lauren slater is an amazing writer - with keen insights and a world perspective all her own. although i am not in the mental health field - i was quite entertained and moved by this book.

I try to teach Intro to Psychology with the candor and real-world emphasis that Lauren Slater writes. Why do most psychologists (and their bland intro textbooks) avoid the really tough real world implications and value of some of the greatest experiments of all time? Lauren does an impressive job of showing that psychologists have taught us much about the human mind, including some things we might find it troubling to know. Do some adults invent childhood memories of abuse? Sometimes. Can almost anyone be persuaded do be immoral? Yes. Are some of our beliefs and convictions simply the result of learning, not free will? Sometimes. Is love all you really need to be happy and healthy? Maybe. Lauren offers these questions, insights, and much more.

Please, Lauren, write an Introduction to Psychology textbook. Your willingness to share the questions psychological experiments truly ask and answer is necessary to help students and others truly appreciate the complexity of the human mind. Until then, I await the paperback edition as an excellent resource for my introductory psychology students.

If you are expecting the type of information you got in Ms Begoun's first book, you want get it in this one.

For instance, I used the BEST BUYS list in the first book extensively and found it to be reliable. This edition has thirty or so items in each category with no mention of the best prices. Also, in her first book I often disagreed with Ms. Begoun on products I have personally used as did many of the blind test groups. There are no test groups in this edition just facts, formulas and ingredients.

I also found her own product line in the book a little too self promoting.

Unless you are in need of a list of ingredients in cosmetics I can't see any point in this book as a reference.

As a self-confessed cosmetics junkie,and a person who has to take extra-special care of my skin,I found this book to be the utterly perfect guide.I agree with Ms. Begoun's views on matte,realistic colors,but even if I didn't,the information on the efficacy of both cosmetics and skincare would be enough reason to buy this book. She states right from the beginning that her views on cosmetics colors are her own,and I agree that the trend towards shiny and/or bright colors has taken over the industry almost to the exclusion of more sophisticated colors.The factual information on ingredients is wonderful-I always had an instinct of doubt about the trend to "natural" ingredients and new-agey ad copy,and now I know why.
As far as Ms Begoun's own product line,I am looking forward to trying it. I think it's wonderful that she put her money where her mouth is and came up with a product line that will meet the shortcomings of the products she reviewed. To me,that only makes sense.If this line meets its claims(which are not unrealistic and don't promise to give you "inner serenity" or eternal youth),then she has done many women a service.And the point she makes of sunscreen is wonderful. Scientists have noted that it's not so much the natural aging process that destroys skin,it's the effect of the sun over time that plays the biggest role.Our great great great grandmothers were ahead of us in this respect!
I know I'll still buy some high-end products,just for the "luxury" aspect of them(Trish McEvoy's lipgloss compact is one-there's hardly anything in there,but the credit-card size of the compact got me,and the tiny lipbrush in there is actually quite workable). But I'll do so forewarned and forearmed with knowledge,not because I've been taken by hopelessly unrealistic hype.
Oh,and I ESPECIALLY appreciated the info on foundation and powder tones. My skintone,like that of the largest percentage of women,is indeed based on yellow tones,and it's only in recent years that cosmetic companies have even begun to acknowledge this.What took them so long? I want to enhance and refine my face,not change or mask it.(The book reinforced many things concerning this that I'd already found to be so,ie Aveda,amongst a very few others,having a decent range of foundations and powders with yellow tones.And Prestige and Jane,two drugstore lines,having a good selection of colors and textures-I was actually very surprised and pleased with Prestige,as I usually scorn low-end makeup.)
Great book,can't wait for the update!(I'm looking forward to the review of "KissMe" mascara by Blinc-I hope it's safe, as I love this stuff,LOL).

Wow, what an amazing book! It's chock-full of information on THOUSANDS of skin care and makeup products. The reviews are organized by product line, and you will find everything from celebrity indulgences like La Mer to department store staples like Lancome to mass merchandisers like Maybelline to drugstore bargain brands like Wet -n- Wild. At the start of the book, Paula describes exactly how she evaluates and rates the products. Although she hasn't personally tested every product (some of her recommendations are based mainly on the product's ingredients), with her makeup reviews in particular, the extremely specific nature of her comments makes it clear that she's actually tried the many of the items. She includes her own line, Paula's Choice, in her reviews, but other than recommending her products (along with many others), I didn't feel that she was self-advertising. I also found her general information on skin care to be very helpful--for example, I now have a much better understanding of the different factors involved in acne prevention. Similarly, her explanations and glossary vastly increased my knowledge of various ingredients and product claims, such as the difference between AHAs and BHAs, the truth behind terms like "non-comedegenic," and the usefulness of miscellaneous exotic contents. I believe that this book has made me a much more informed consumer: I am now better able to read product labels and to select the best product for my needs. I particularly like the "Paula's Picks" feature, and I definitely plan to try some of her recommendations. An indispensible and unique reference book!