5 comments about Route 66 Remembered (Motorbooks Classic).

1. When I bought this book I was looking for help planning a Route 66 trip. While it hasn't really served that purpose, it has provided pages of nice pictures and some degree of inspiration to get on the road. Maybe I'll like the book even more once I've completed the trip and want to take an occassional look back.



2. This book isn't a travel guide or a map-style publication, but a really cool scrapbook of the Mother Road. Witzel's sidebars on interesting segments of road culture are fascinating. The photography is great, too. Unlike a lot of the other 66 books, this one is divided up into chapters on gas stations, motels, restaurants, and other roadside attractions. The final chapter, "Mother Road Memories," recounts the true tales of people who actually took the trip down 66 and really takes you back to the way it used to be when traveling across country. Of all the roadside books I have in my library, I would highly recommend this treasure. It's one of Witzel's best ......



3. I got this book before going on a trip down 66, along with a few others. I loved it. I had a lot of the people I met along the way sign the book and once in a while, got some of the owners of restaurants, gas stations, roadside attractions, and diners featured in the book to sign it. What a wonderful scrapbook to have of one of the last great American road trips!



4. This is a book about a road -- but there's no roadmap! The author chose to structure the book's five chapters around such things as tourist traps, filling stations, places to eat, motor hotels, and "memories". While, of course, these are interesting things along a road, the salient characteristic of a road is that it goes from one place to another. What are those places? What sequence of states/towns/views do you encounter as you travel this road? This book provides no geographical context for its pictures and disjointed text about the Mother Road.
   
   A road also has a temporal dimension. This book fails to provide a sense of how this great road has changed over time. Although there are pictures from various dates, there is no organization, and old photos are indiscriminantly intermixed with new ones.
   
   It is interesting to thumb through the book, but the Route 66 Remembered is only a random collection of scenes with no direction.



5. This is a great book, and not just a rehash of other Route 66 material that's already out there.

5 comments about Collector's Encyclopedia Of American Dinnerware: Identification and Values (Collector's Encyclopedia of American Dinnerware).

1. The title of this book implies that it is an all-encompassing American dinnerware reference work. However, it is sadly lacking in both breadth and depth. Any collector would be well advised to look elsewhere. This work is so superficial that it is virtually useless.



2. Other than the photos, there isn't much here. It's very amateurish. Whole categories are missing -- there is barely a mention of "Fiesta" at all. Makes you think the publisher had an arrangement so as not to infringe on sales of their Fiesta books. There is no mention of Metlox. Also, while there is a price guide, it only lists the specific pieces that are shown in the photos, not all the pieces in the line. This is a major shortcoming. There should be some mention of pieces not shown. The book is also poorly organized, with ads from old magazines interspersed with original writing. It reminds me of an 8th grade book report. Spend your money elsewhere.



3. While the book was somewhat helpful with listing the various companies, it was very short in pattern names, examples and pricing.



4. A wonderful beautifully done book.This is a great book for looking up patterns. There are plenty of color photos which show great detail. I plan on buying the previous and subsequent volumns of this book.



5. I really love this book. I've used it many times to find the names of patterns I have from years of estate sales to sell on e-Bay. Great work.

2 comments about A Collectors Guide to Royal Copenhagen Porcelain (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This book is really only about figurines, with a little history of the company markings. It does not cover any dishes or accent pieces for the china collector. The product description may lead you to think it covers it all, but it doesn't.



2. I ordered this book because of the fact it dealt with figurines. There are a lot of Royal Copenhagen figurine pictures with only a small amount of information, but pretty comprehensive on backstamps used and dates of figurines. Also discusses several of the more famous artists that work on these items. I found it quite interesting and a must have if you are an ardent collector.

3 comments about Model 1911 Automatic Pistol.

1. If you are just getting into the 1911 this is a great book to start with, Campbell is a good writer and doesn't need many words to tell you a lot. The best part is the pages of reviews of different 45's .... very interesting - he tested several dozen different ones and it really helps you decide what is good and what is not. If you are looking for a 1911 this is a must buy.



2. I recieved this book from Amazon and after a couple of days sent it back. The material covered in the book is very basic and you may be upset you bothered ordering this book if you are looking for anything like a reference as opposed to a very light overview. The chapters are usually 2 pages long, sometimes 3 pages long and rarely 4 pages long. As you can imagine, a couple of pages of information on any given topic is very limiting. This is partially offset by the fact that there are a lot of chapters. I got the impression the author was enamored with the idea of two page chapters and, consequently, added fluff or removed germane information just to fit this artifical requirement. I really hate giving a bad review in general but I feel this book deserves it, especially if you already know a little about the model 1911 (that a couple of days surfing the internet would give you). I can however recommend Patrick Sweeny's books (The Gun Digest Book of the 1911 for example) on the model 1911 which have the opposite problem this book does: Sweeny's books come with a lot of information covering a breadth and depth that this book doesn't even approach. The only thing you may not like about Sweeny's books is that, arguably, they contain too much information.



3. I recomend this book for anyone that owns or is thinking of owning a 1911. It is very up to date. Colour photos are first rate.

5 comments about Christopher Radko Ornaments: Value Guide 1986 Thru 2000.

1. A terrific reference book for anyone who collects, or just enjoys Radko vintage ornaments. Great pictures and just a treat to look through. Good info on each ornament, and this book has helped me quite a bit in evaluating my collection, and pricing some of it for resale. I feel you get alot of information for the money. Can't wait for Volumn Two in September!! Kudos to David Olsen!



2. This book is beautifully done. There is an alphabetical index as well as a numerical index, so one way or another you can probably find what you are looking for.
   The ornaments are divided into "chapters" by year and are listed alphabetically within each year. There are special sections for finials, garlands, and Disney. The original price, the Radko product number and a "secondary market" price are listed under each ornament - which is helpful to a certain extent. Nowadays most people are unwilling to pay the "secondary market" price, so it is just there to make you feel good if you own a special ornament (for example the Partridge in a Pear Tree).
   If I had to list one personal disappointment with this book, I would have to say that I was unable to find some Radko that I own which should have been in here! I was hoping to find a name or number for them but couldn't.
   If you like Radko, and collect it - buy this book!



3. One of my fondest memories of Christmas growing up in the 60's and 70's was decorating the Christmas tree with the wonderful glass ornaments that my parents had. My mom would constantly remind me and my brothers to be careful with them because they were very delicate, and very old, passed down to her from my grandmother. I got the most reminders because I was the youngest. Now these were not Christopher Radko ornaments of course, but Radko has produced many ornaments that look like exact replicas of the ornaments we had thirty, forty years ago. My wife and I still have many of those ornaments although sadly, many were damaged in a basement flood some years ago.
   
   The Radko ornaments have captured the hearts and imaginations of many baby boomers like myself as their popularity and collectibility grows every year. Bangzoom publishers have met the demand of collectors with the first of two volumes covering Radko history. The first volume covers 1986 through 2000, and a second volume, due next year, will cover 2001 through 2006. The book begins with a Radko 101 introduction to the ornaments. What makes them so popular and so collectible is the sheer variety of lines. There are limited editions, various series', charity ornaments for causes such as the fight against breast cancer, special event pieces, store exclusives, as well ornaments geared towards various cultures and ethnic groups. It is this diversity which provides something for nearly everyone who wants to collect the Radko line.
   
   The 300 plus page book is packed with thousands of color photos of the ornaments for each year of release. The guide lists the name of the piece, the size, style number and two prices which reflect the value of a single, loose ornament, and a second value reflecting the price for the set. The book also notes how many of a particular ornament came in the set. The first piece that caught my eye was the first page of the 1986 line with the large, round ornament called "Checkers". This is exactly like ones we had those many years ago. It's so simple in its design yet still so beautiful. There are many great examples of those reflector type ornaments. Those are the ones that have a sort of pushed-in indentation with silvery or other color paint that shimmered and reflected light.
   
   As you page through the book, you'll start to see Radko get more bold with his designs as there were more figural ornaments produced. The line got bigger and bigger with each new year. It has never ceased to amaze me at how much care and detail go into these pieces and go into making them look like they may have been made in the 40's or 50's. The first 236 pages display the regular, year-by-year release before getting into the special series lines like Disney, Sugar Frost Follies, and garlands. The book concludes with a comprehensive index. It's a simply gorgeous book from cover to cover. If you're a Radko collector, or want to start a collection, this book is the place to start.
   
   REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON



4. The book itself is fabulous, my mom was totally happy to get it Christmas morning. The book condition was poor. The book was $55 and was in a flimsy package when it arrived. It had dents all along the edges. Also, though there was a huge storm in the Pacific NW, the shipping took an extra 5+ days (without a single e-mail notification I might add.)



5. I've found the overall picture layout of the book and the indexes very helpful and well thought-out. However, it is not by any stretch a complete cataloging of the Radko line, as some of the ornaments I'm aware of were omitted. And I'm certain there must be more. Also several pages of the book were improperly cut in the binding process creating short pages. The proofing of the book prior to publishing is also suspect since I've found several problems. Most of the secondary market values are not representative of values I've tracked in the past 6 years in that they way too low.

3 comments about Chinese Porcelain: Art, Elegance, and Appreciation (Art of China) (Arts of China).

1. A beautiful and informative book for the library of the connoiseur of Chinese Porcelain.



2. A very interesting book. Only drawback for me was that I was hoping to get greater information on actual marks of chinese pottery.



3. Kelun Chen has provided a wonderful essay and overview on Chinese ceramics in this rather tiny volume. The best thing about the book how it demonstrates ways to think about China and its porcelain products from antiquity through the end of the Qing (Ching) Dynasty in 1911. One learns to think of porcelain secondarily in terms of period, but primarily in terms of kiln sites, clay, glaze and color. This is much the opposite of the beginner's or American antiquarian's (my own) typical tendency. The brief 80-page text is rich with details and insights, many of which are sparsley but adequately illustrated in the accompanying photographs in color and black & white. A book such as this must be evaluated (and "starred") in terms of what it intends to be: in this case a thoughtful overview in limited space, not a reference text. There are no indices of markings or summary observations, and the photographs occur with widely varying proximity to the related text, which fails to indicate the illustration under discussion. It takes only modest effort to find them. But the book still delivers an intelligent and thoughtful discussion that a person can go back to and refer to over time, while studying more advanced, ambitious and comprehensive works. A real bargain, and not necessarily a beginner's book. It will stay in my library on ceramics. For a tiny volume, it is really a five star work, and rated at four here only because of the limitations of space provided by the publication series.

4 comments about Wheel and Pinion Cutting in Horology: A Historical Guide.

1. Fanatastic book, and a bargain at the price. This book should be of interest to all clock makers, model makers, and home shop machinist. Anyone interested in the history of machine tools and clock making will also find this work of real interest. The first section covers the history of wheel cutting and the later part deals with all aspects of gear making in detail. Covers a wide range of gear cutting equipment, how to make cutters, and related watch and clock making operations. Absolutely the best book on the subject!!



2. One of the best books on gear cutting written so an average machinist can understand it.



3. This book is thorough. This book covers the topic of wheel and pinion cutting very well. I would like to have seen a chapter on CNC.
   
   Grins



4. This book was a Christmas gift for my brother-in-law who is a machinist who repairs clocks, vintage Victrolas, etc. The book is full of machines that he has never seen before. A true winner!!

No comments about Scott 2007 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue: Countries of the World: G-I (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 3 Countries G-I).

No comments about Marvel Illustrated - Homer's The Iliad #2 (Marvel Comics).

5 comments about Cruising in Seraffyn (25th Anniversary Edition).

1. I loved the book, but always wished there were more photos. Now I have seen the new edition, in hard cover, published by the Pardey's. It is great. They have done it for the 25th anniversary of this book. Lots of color photos, a really updated discussion of cruising costs and a really nice story about what has happened to Seraffyn over the past 30 years. The pictures of the Pardey's new boat and Seraffyn sailing side by side are worth the $2l.95 price. Unfortunately, the book will not be on the American market until June. I got one from a friend who is a book reviewer. I was told you could wait till june and get it at ..., or you can go to the news letters on thier web site, ... and order one early.



2. As other folks have written, this book is lovely to read and inspiring as can be. The new edition, in its hard cover is not just a simple reprint. It is almost a whole new book - the new introduction gives grand info for sailors today, the appendix puts it all where it is for those who want to sail off in 2002. But best of all are the l6 pages of full color photos - stuff to dream about, ideas to use on your boat. Really lovely. If you have the old edition, you'll still want this one. If you've never read the first book, this is the one for you.



3. Now available in a brand new 25th anniversary edition, Lin and Larry Pardey's Cruising in Seraffyn now sports a new introduction, "Anyone Can Go Cruising," and a new appendix, "Affordable, Attainable Dreams." Cruising In Seraffyn is an exciting, detailed cruising guide with a 16-page spread of full-color photos, making it an adventurous reference for nautical buffs and armchair travelers alike. With its decades of sailor's wisdom and inspirational prose, Cruising In Seraffyn is very highly recommended reading for anyone interested in setting sail for pleasure.



4. Page turner - made me want to drop everything and sail. The combination of this book and Slocum's book gave me the sailing bug. Contains useful information for those that are thinking about buying a boat. As seasoned, adventurous, resourceful sailors, the Pardeys' books are useful for salties or salty-wannabes (like myself).



5. As you read this book it seems as though you are right there with Larry and Lin as they build and sail their small boat from California through Mexico, Central America, Jamaica, up the U.S. East Coast to the Chesapeake Bay and finally to Europe. This is the 25th Anniversary edition of this book. It has been updated from the original with pictures and maps. A great book I would recommend it highly for anyone with an adventurous spirit.