1 comments about The New York Times Crosswords for Your Bedside: 75 Soothing, Easy Puzzles (New York Times Crossword Puzzles).

1. I brought this book six months ago, I have done one-half puzzle in it. The New York Times Bedside is harder than other Crossword Puzzles I have done.

5 comments about Age of Empires III: Sybex Official Strategies and Secrets (Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets).

1. Filled with many helpfull tips and tricks anyone who plays Age of Empires 3 needs this guide.
   I don't care if you say you are plenty good at this game already(I was), there will surely be something in that will make AoE 3 even more fun to play! It features:
   Great and in-depth analysises of each civilization as well as strategies for them(even the native americans!).
   Great economic and militaristic strategies as well as multiplayer strategies from the experts.
   A helpful appendix showing every unit, shipment, and upgrade and what each one does.
   Step by step walkthrough for the single player campaign.
   Great strategies and suggestions for your home city as well as telling you what cards are keepers and what ones are not and so more.
   
   The thing I loved most about this guide is that(though the suggested strategies are killer) I was never given the feeling that I had to play the game just like those suggestions said as so many other guides do. You can always mix in your own touch creating a new(and maybe improved)strategy.
   
   This guide is the only one that I have that is not a prima's official; it's also the best. For twelve bucks this 280 page guide is a must have for anyone who owns AoE 3. Even if they don't love the game this guide will shed new light on it and get them begging to play.



2. Online play and single player play are both very good. The variety of difficulty levels, maps, opponents, and development of card decks is fun and let's the game keep from getting stale. Other game features are good, like the naval combat. The graphics are excellent. The combat units don't require micro-management to do their thing, which is also good. The only weak point: storyline for the campaign missions sucks.



3. In a word: exceptional! I don't play many real time games, so a good strategy guide is a must for me. This one is really, really good. I wish the author wrote for some other games I foolishly bought.
   And now the rant: Most strategy guides I've purchased in the last 5-6 years are not worth the price of the paper they're printed on. And a lot of games that don't have one, truly should. I wonder if anyone else has noticed how rare good, clearly written, complete, illustrated game manuals have become?
   Anyway, if you're thinking of buying this guide: do!



4. AOE III tutorial gives you the basics, but then it gets hard. Not a game for a first time strategy players. Bought the book Age of Empires III Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets. The book is good as it describes all the campaigns, but you are really on your own when it comes to coming up with a strategy to defeat the enemy.



5. Rather essential as a guide to AoE3, with good descriptions of the various armies and their strengths and weaknesses and how to proceed. I can't seem to do what they recommend in sending out armies early and often, all I can do is maintain the home town and fend off the AI attacks--so far. Maybe I'm not being bold enough...

No comments about Where's Dildo?: And 99 Other Mind-Stimulating Puzzles.

No comments about Exalted Compass of Terrestrial Direction (Exalted).

5 comments about Making Books by Hand: A Step-by-Step Guide.

1. The information provided is informative for a beginner. However, the MAJOR drawback was that the pictures illustrating the techniques were much too small. Hence, it was difficult following the instructions cause I couldn't see exactly what the author was doing.



2. This is a great book for any beginning bookbinder. The entire book features full-color photos with easy to follow, step-by-step instructions for many simple, but beautiful and impressive looking projects.

   First, materials and how to use them are covered. There are clear photos of all the materials. Then, the author demonstrates how to make corners for 3 different types of paper.

   Next, instructions are given for making several accordion books, a pamphlet stitch journal with either a soft or hard cover, a tied-binding album, & a post album. Two gorgeous box books, & a scroll are also demonstrated.

   There is a wonderful gallery in the back that really helped spark my creativity. Contact information on all the contributors is also included. A resource list and other suggested readings are a great bonus.




3. The collaborative effort of self-employed book artist Mary McCarthy and educator/writer Philip Manna, Making Books By Hand: A Step-By-Step Guide is a direct, to-the-point, "user friendly" instructional guide to the art and craft of creating beautiful and useful scrapbooks, photo albums, diaries, blank books, and more. Full-color photographs illustrate each part of the process of crafting accordion art books, photo albums, box books, scrolls, etc. Making Books By Hand is commended as being first-rate guidebook for those interested in cultivating their skill in a unique and satisfying hobby, or who want to make exceptional and memorable gifts for friends and loved ones.



4. As an experienced bookmaker, I was anxious to try some of the projects in this book. BE VERY CAUTIOUS! I found many errors in measurments in this book, which can cost you valuable paper and time! This book can be very vague about what size your papers should be and exactly how much of it you need. If you simply rely on what the author says, you may find yourself frustrated with a project that didn't work out.

   Other than that, there are some nice inspirational pictures in the book, but I don't know if that justifies the purchase. So, unless you're prepared to do some serious math/measurment checking, I'd go with a book that the editors actually took time to edit.




5. The best thing about this book is the birds-eye-view photos of each step. The projects use only very basic stitching. I think this would be ok for a beginner, but I still think the best way to use how-to books like these is to take a class first; otherwise the steps can seem overwhelming.

No comments about Life: Picture Puzzle Holiday (Life (Life Books)).

5 comments about Classic Carving Patterns.

1. I have been attempting to learn carving & engraving techniques for sometime. I had reached a point where I had exhausted my resourses. I was out of ideas, and lacking enough experence to develop my own style. I believe I can do that now. This is a very well prepaired manuel. My Thanks, William Talley



2. I have to admit, I should have taken the title more literally. This book has some beautiful patterns for those who are lacking the artistic inspiration (myself included in that list). What the book is lacking is the transformation process from drawing board to the actual works rendered in wood. The line drawings are truly beautiful, but some appear to be almost impossible to complete as outlined in the pattern. I would have appreciated more input from the author as to the techniques she prefers to achieve some of the artisitc effect of her drawings. The photos are too few and incomplete, and there is no reference to the rendering process for these lovely patterns. I was fooled by the cover photo depicting a woodworker's bench with a roll of carving tools and a partially carved project. I will keep the book for a reference should I ever become stuck for ideas on a particular project. I don't think it will become one of my most frequently used books.



3. Lora Irish is one of my favorite designers as her patterns are easy to follow and are very detailed. This book is one you will never want to part with. There are many different useful designs in this book well worth its cost. Now make some wood chips!



4. This books contains only patterns for people who has no chance to draw their own (including myself). Patterns are nice but I rated a book in four stars, because, first of all, I did expect little bit more different kinds of patterns and secondly, I did expect some descriptions or recommendations.
   But it's really worthly bbok for those who needs only patterns.



5. This book is just what the title says - "Classic Carving Patterns". It is not a "How to Carve" book. If you don't already know how to carve, don't buy this book.
   
   Once you know the basics, most people want more challenging projects but don't have the experience to draw their own designs. This book picks up right at the spot. It contains patterns of intermediate complexity which will challenge journeymen carvers to improve their skills.
   
   There aren't many books like this available - books with lots of patterns that are intended to be carved. If you're a developing or experienced carver looking for new challenges, or even ideas to incorporate in your own designs, this is the book for you.

3 comments about Shadows of the Last War (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Adventure).

1. While I have not yet run Shadows of the Last war with my PCs, I have looked over the adventure and found much of it to my likeing. The story line is continued relatively smoothly from the previous modual (Forgotten Forge), and a new group of foes for the adventurers are introduced, making for an exiting and well developed adventure. The adventure's primary merrit is, however, the sense of Eberon it imparts. With its technology like magics and cinamatic battle scenes, Shadows gives a DM wishing to learn a bit more about Eberon before writting his(or her) own adventures just the sort of model and set of possible adventure hooks one needs. In adition to this, I found the adventure easily modifiable, enabling me to edit out parts I did not particularly like and replace them with some of my own, with minimum difficulties. My one gripe concerning Shadows is the fact that the principle villians are not those implicated at the end of the Forgotten forge. While this is merely a matter of opinion, and I know that I said that the adition of the new enemies is an overal good touch, if I where a player, I would likely be somewhat dumfounded to discover that the oposition I faced in the last adventure is present only in the start of the modual (albeit in an exelently talored encounter). Over all, the Shadows is a great adventure for an Eberon campagn, and I recomend it to DMs in search of inspiration, bearing in mind that much of it may need to be tweeked in order to make it run best with your party.



2. If your new to Eberron as i was trust me theres no better way to meet this great new world than with this adventure!!!
   Your supose to go from 1st to like 4th level but we got to 5th so the next carry on adventure might be a little bit easy for us but in saying that there was only 3-4 of us playing most of the time.
   A few fights were probley a bit frigen harder than they have should have been but what do you exspect when you walk down the main road into a busted ass town thats the bad guys main base and start a fight!!!!!
   3rd level and had a CR8! But over all i had a great time roleplaying in this world and am looking forward to next week when we start the next Adventure!!!!



3. Definately a different kind of D&D Avdenture.
   
   Eberron is a breath of fresh air to the typical "Midevial Europe" D&D and give technology and such a twist.
   
   The adventure here was really good, up until the last part, part 5 where the charecters seemed to get railroaded a bit.
   
   But all-in-all a great adventure!

5 comments about Fire Emblem (Wii): Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. it helped
   
   the end
   
   
   
   GOOD GAME!!!



2. I strongly discourage the purchase of this guide. Prima demonstrates in this guide that, yet again, if you can't play the game their way, you can't play it at all. The guide is set up in a step-by-step format, telling you specifically what characters to be used, and when they are to be used, turn-by-turn. Because of Fire Emblem's chanciness, the advice offered by this guide is just short of absolutely useless. Utter garbage. Its sole saving grace is the art featured throughout the book.



3. The stategies offer is so-so.
   Too little artworks.
   Flaws and inaccuracy in the data section.



4. This book is a great help for beginners and helps you reveal secret items around every corner within the game. But if you're planning not to spoil yourself like I myself. My words to you would be, not to buy it and experience all the action without the unnecessary spoilers for upcoming battles.



5. When people buy strategy guides there are looking for a collection of facts that will allow them to develop a better strategy. This "guide" is little more than the author's turn-by-turn diary of the way he played the game. The enemy locations and stats are often wrong and only offered for Normal Mode, so if you're playing easy of hard mode you're on your own. The maps are often too dark or too small to get a good idea of how to approach the chapter (especially the one with the bridge). There is hardly any artwork, just screen shots of the game Dan Birlew (author) played. Its almost as if Prima new this guide sucked when they released it with the name premiere edition, certainly suggesting it wouldn't be the only edition. I really wish Nintendo Power would make their own (instead of teaming up with Prima) because their efforts on previous fire emblem game guides were far superior.

3 comments about Entertain Your Brain: More than 850 Puzzles!.

1. This is a great book of puzzles and that is fully illustrated and that adds a good deal to the quality of this fine book. The major contributor to the book is puzzle author Terry Stickels, famous for his FrameGames and Stickelers and his national and inter-national syndicated puzzle columns. Amazon has incorrectly shown the authors to be other than those who actually wrote the puzzles. The two authors mentioned are the editors. Most people who buy books of puzzles are quite interested in whose puzzles they are and could often care less about the editors. This book is a case in point. It is hoped that Amazon will update their listing to show the true scope of this book and especially to mention the major author.



2. The cover of this book tells one NOTHING about who wrote it. I happened onto it through a puzzler friend who knows I am a fan of Terry Stickels. It is a great compilation of some of the best and most interesting puzzles around, and people who have favorite puzzle writers will never find this book. I agree with the other review I saw--why would you put the EDITORS names on the front, and not the authors???



3. I travel a lot for work, so I need to keep myself occupied on flights, etc. What better way than to stimulate my thirst for knowledge? It made the time fly by.