5 comments about Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense.

1. Kantar today is more noted as a bridge instructor than a bridge player. But one must remember that he is both and his latest book demonstrated both the instructional and practical sides. It is (as usual) clear, concise and ro the point. I like Kantar's prose, his ease of explanation and the way he sets just the right tone. Of course, he discusses the bid, the opponent and, most important, keeping track of the play while counting the cards (the one thing that separates the professional from the amateur). Good book with tons of examples.



2. This is a great book on defense, because Kantar covers almost every intermediate situation comprehensively and give you black and white rules for every situation. He doesn't in this book consider varied leading/signalling conventions but just gives one way to play, but that's fine as he explains his method clearly and shows why he recommends everything he does. I'd recommend it to every player.



3. Kantar is exceptionally readable, with a sense of humor which makes a difficult subject enjoyable. He goes through much material, but quite thoroughly and clearly. It's a book that needs to be studied - not merely read - but a good student will gain enormously from Kantar's work.



4. The book focuses on leads, signals (Attitude, Count, Suit Preference), and how to card (what card to play in 2nd or 3rd spot), rather than general defensive principles.
   
   The content is excellent, well presented (humorous!!), and best of all, has lots of quizzes. None of this skimming a section and figuring you know it, the quiz will let you find out for certain.
   
   2 warnings:
   
   1) make sure your partner is using the same techniques, otherwise you may get worse results. Its not that the ideas in the book are radical, they are mainstream. But if pard doesn't understand your signal, they may do something weird and you will be worse off.
   
   2) The book is a bit technical (5 situations where this is a suit preference signal. If Dummy wins with a Q then signal count, otherwise ... If you can see the X in dummy then pard will know to do this, else that, etc.
   You will need to reread it several times, and probably make notes.
   
   VALUABLE STUFF, but ONLY as part of a partnership that understands each other.



5. I found this to be the best book to improve bridge for an intermediate player. I've read it four times and learned from each chapter each time. Since one plays defense on half the hands, it provides the best time investment to improve one's bridge play. It is also an entertianing read. I have recommended it to the bridge players I mentor.

5 comments about Crocheting School: A Complete Course.

1. This is a wonderful book. The photos are very clear, and the colors of yarn used are beautiful. Information on varied techniques is included, such as three ways to make a corner in filet, how to make a multi-level flower. The book is a pleasure to use.



2. this book is a great reference, had originally gotten the book from the library. well had to own it... its so easy to follow the instructions and the pictures are really good too.



3. I saw this book at my library and just to had to have one for myself!! It is my favorite reference book!! It doesn't miss much!



4. If you think you have seen it all as a crocheter, then buy this book! Because there are so many amazing things contained in a book that doesn't appear to be that big (138 pages). I just received it in the mail (thanks to fast and free supersaver mail!), and so I have not tried any of the techniques out. But I have not been so happy with a new book in a long time. I was trembling with excitement, looking over so many things I have never seen before! There are variations on basic stitches that were completely new to me, such as the rib stitch version of slip stitch (p 13), (Yes, I know this shouldn't be such a big deal but I just haven't ever seen that before, and I thought I had seen and done everything as a crocheter), variation of square in double crochet (p 20), Afghan Tweed Stitch (p 29) (This is a tunisian stitch that I have never seen before. It looks pretty cool), etc etc. I also thought it was extremely cool that they covered hairpin lace (4 pages of info, with variations and joining techniques), flower looms (2 pages of info, with joining techniques), and broomstick lace (2 pages worth). To top it all off, the book devotes many pages to showing different techniques for embellishing with crochet (embroidering on crochet, crocheted trims, crocheted edgings, crocheted insertions, crocheting with beads, etc.)
   
   This book is a veritable crochet explosion of technique and inspiration. I highly recommend this to 2 types of crocheters: ambitious and creative beginners and those crocheters who are more advanced in skill and think they have seen it all. If you know someone who crochets, this would make a wonderful gift.
   
   Mrs. K. Kerr



5. This is the best basic book one can buy. The companion knitting book also falls into the same category of BEST BUY!

No comments about Scrumptious Toppers for Tots and Toddlers: 30 Hats and Caps from Debby Ware.

5 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge, 2nd Edition (The Complete Idiot's Guide).

1. This is the most interesting and informative bridge book I have ever read!



2. I bought this book after playing bridge for about a month. I had taught myself mostly by using Bridge for Dummies. BFD is a great book and is more entry level. The Complete Idiot's Guide (CIG) is a great book on its own as well. For instance, BFD will talk about bidding game, but doesn't give point ranges for bidding game. CIG shows that clearly.
   
   This book has great information about bidding, playing the hand and also more advanced techniques. You often see things on someone's bidding card like Splinter bids, or Drury. This books gives you these conventions as well as many more. It has a great explanation of cue bids and transfers.
   
   What makes this book stand out is the humor involved and the bridgebits. It tells you much of the history, and little bits of trivia behind the topic at hand. Learning bridge can be dry (and this is coming from an accountant) and this book makes it much more interesting.



3. The foundation of all bidding must be sound and conservative hand valuation for beginners. The Am. Contract Bridge League,ACBL, has established such standards but this book does not follow them fully and thus players schooled from this book will not be fully compatible with others, who have learnt the ACBL way.
   
   The most glaring deviation is about distributional values. Todays students should be told that shortness is no asset until a trump suit fit of eight or more cards combined has been found. Counting points for voids, singletons and doubletons as opener is premature and is a bad idea
   when they are located in major suits because the prime goal of bidding is to find an eight card fit in a major suit. Since modern biddding rules out opening bids on four card majors one must start with a minor suit bid thereby raising the hope with partner that one has at least three or possibly four cards in one or both majors. Thus being short in one or both majors is a handicap and should not be counted as a point based asset when opening the bidding. In short: counting points for shortness before a fit has been established can be "a tragedy waiting to happen" according to bridge champion Eddie Kantar.
   
   Counting points for shortness in majors will lead to overvaluation of marginal hands and likely poor final bids as illustrated on p.58 with the grossly overvalued hand #4. As a teacher I warn students against such foolishness. Only length has potential value for opening suit bids.
   
   There are various other deviations from ACBL standards in the book, not
   proper to list here. The experts who reviewed this book before publication did not pay full attention to details.
   
   There is a lot of good material far beyond novice level in the book so look at all the other reviews before deciding to buy.



4. After a couple year layoff, I was recently presented with a chance to play Bridge, a game I enjoy a lot. I own and have read a few Bridge books over the years, but in an effort to refresh my memory, I decided to go with a basic book: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge by H. Anthony Medley.
   
   The Guide has almost the same format as any general Bridge book. It starts with the fundamentals: the organization of the deck, suit rankings, the basics of taking a trick and what a trump card is. It then goes into basic bidding: opening of one of a suit, one No Trump, strong twos and preempts
   
   The bidding section continues with responses and rebids and the ever popular Stayman and Blackwood conventions. There are discussions of slam bidding, defensive bidding and the different doubles. After this, like other Bridge books, we are given the general techniques for the play of the hand, whether it is in No Trump or a suit. What to lead, when to finesse, when to duck: it's all described. A final section deals with advanced bidding, in particular cue bids and other conventional bids: Jacoby Transfer, Roman Blackwood, etc.
   
   Medley proposes at the beginning of the book that what he has to offer, compared to other Bridge books, is that he is a writer who plays Bridge, not a Bridge player who is trying to write. This doesn't really hold up: Medley's writing is not much better (or worse) than the other big name Bridge writers (Goren, Sheinwold, etc.). As a result, this book doesn't offer anything really special to the owner of other Bridge books - as long as the other books are up-to-date on the latest bidding styles (for example, older books suggest opening One No Trump with 16-18 points, while Medley follows the more recent convention of 15-17, with other differences for higher point counts). If you are buying your first Bridge book, however, this is a decent pick: Medley does write clearly and with the lay reader in mind.



5. It is proving very helpful in refining my understanding of the bidding and making contract in the bridge game. I am fairly new to the game.

5 comments about Rag Rug Handbook.

1. Paula and Janet did well with this book. I am a novice rug weaver and found the directions to be easy to follow and the results pleasing. Definitely buy this book if you're looking for something on weaving rag rugs!



2. This book is an ABSOLUTE MUST for a rag rug weaver. It is the best book I've found yet that describes not only the art of weaving rag rugs but also tries to give an historical account of looms that were made. I used this book as a reference when I bought an used loom. Since the labeling was missing on the loom, the previous owner could not identify what kind of loom she was selling. I was able to not only identify the loom, but I knew from this book that the type of loom I bought was appropriate for rag rug weaving. If you want to learn rag rug weaving, this is the book to get!



3. This book was great for us as beginner weavers. A loom was given to us - all in pieces. By remembering his grandmother's loom and with the pictures in this book, my husband assembled the loom and is now weaving his second rug. This book has lots of information and pictures and is an excellent guide for us "beginner weavers".



4. A great source of information. Thank you for the speedy service.



5. I love this book because it's hard to remember all the steps to weaving when it takes so long to accomplish any project, and this book has all the stuff I need. It's a resource for my "library" for frequent reference.

5 comments about Learn Bridge in One Hour: Learn in Ten Easy Steps.

1. Hooray! I have searched for a book like this for a long time! I have examined quite a large number of books that purport to teach Bridge, but I have always found them confusing and obtuse in their delivery. 'Learn Bridge in One Hour' is entirely different. It not only delivers the goods, but does so in a light and engaging style.
   
   I think it's greatest strength is that it breaks the game down into essentials and delivers them in bite-sized pieces so that the ideas are easily digested. The book is aptly named, as a new player really can truly begin to play the basic game in only an hour. This allows the learner to feel successful and so creates a pleasurable experience in learning and playing the game right from the start. As common sense would suggest, if you like something, you will want to do it again.
   
   Thank you Mr Riad. I love your book. You have created a wonderful way to 'step' into the fun of the game with easy, clear steps. My search is over!



2. Bridge can be a daunting game. This book helped to take that fear away and get me started. OK - maybe you won't be playing like a pro in one hour - but the most important thing is to get started and then practice. This book takes you by the hand with step by step instructions and photos to make it easy. Bridge is a challenging, complicated, and intellectual game and it was intimidating for me. Not anymore - thanks to this author!!!



3. Gives a novice a good start to learning bridge. Is easy to understand.



4. I joined an already active playing group and felt out of sorts because I did not understand the logic. I quit because the group had no time to start all over to walk me through it--they were busy enjoying playing. This books starts at the beginning and leads you through step by easy step.
   Now I am ready to call in a few people who also want to learn to play.--and I will soon be able to go back to the first group I played with---with a lot more confidence.



5. Very good basic bridge book. Lets one learn the basics without a lot of distracting verbiage. I will also use it as a reference book.

No comments about The Contest Problem: Book VIII (MAA Problem Book Series).

5 comments about Complete Champion: A Player's Guide to Divine Heroes (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. I quite like Complete Champion, which offers more depth on the major D&D religions, some cool feats and alternative class features, spells, and magic items. I didn't think too much of the prestige classes, but I rarely find prestige classes very compelling. Then again, I thought the "Shadowstrikers" have a very cool flavor: sort of a military alliance between the churches of Pelor and Heironious out to save the world. The Summon Holy Symbol and Metal Fang were a couple of handy spells that, upon reflection, should've come out years ago. The new feats include Domain Feats, each one associated with a particular domain that the cleric has to have to take it. The new reserve feat associated with healing (Touch of Healing) could revolutionize how some parties approach healing between battles: so long as you keep a 2nd level or higher cure spell in reserve, you can slowly heal your buddies up to half their total hp without casting a spell or expending a charge off a wand. (The feat is particularly useful for druids and bards.) The Holy Warrior feat is a personal favorite (constant boost to damage, but you need access to the War domain). An earlier review suggested that the book is only helpful for paladins: I couldn't disagree more. There is a divine-style alternative class feature for every class: the ones for ranger I thought were cool, and there are options for fighter and monk that enable them to align their weapons/unarmed attacks without needing a cleric to cast Align Weapon. Most of the magic items work for anybody, although some are only for druids, clerics, or paladins. The rules for joining church organizations, whether or not you're a cleric or paladin, have some neat little benefits: I thought the 1st rank benefits for followers of Moradin (+5 movement for only 500 gp and some easy criteria) is a good example of something any dwarf would appreciate. All in all, I really liked it.



2. While I really enjoy the concept of the domain devotion feats, there just did not seem to be very much to this book. They have interesting variants, but I wish they had more prestige classes in it.



3. I was a little disappointed that this book wasn't more like the Complete Scoundrel. I thought it would be the Scoundrel's complete opposite, much like the Book of Vile Darkness and the Book of Exalted Deeds.



4. Complete Champion works best if you're campaign is set in Greyhawk and/or prominently features the core 3.0/3.5e D&D gods. It's also the most DM-centered of the "Complete" books, which are generally thought of as extensions of the Player's Handbook (PHB). While there are new feats, prestige classes (11 of them, actually) and spells, the rules for creating church affiliations and holy sites take up quite a bit of the book. While players might join one of these organizations, it's the DM who'll get the most out of this information.
   
   Affiliations were introduced in the Player's Handbook II (PHBII) as a way of providing rules and benefits for characters belonging to various organizations. You don't need the PHBII, however, as rules for building your own church affiliations are provided in the Complete Champion. Affiliations are useful because they provide criterion for characters to rise up in the ranks of a given organization (in this case, a church) and provide increasingly valuable benefits for doing so. While all the churches presented in the book are of non-evil Core/Greyhawk deities, there are brief descriptions for the evil Core/Greyhawk deities, as well. Furthermore, rules are given to allow you to create a church affiliation for nearly any deity you choose based on their prominent domains.
   
   Among the usual selection of feats are a new type called Domain Feats. These feats, which can be taken by any character, are each based on one of the core domains from the PHB such as Air, Destruction and Travel. These Domain Feats provides an ability, often only usable once per day, based on the powers associated with the specific domain. This provides a fun, if not always balanced, way to provide non-divine classes with the blessing of a deity, which I like, but there's certainly nothing to keep a divine class from taking these feats as well.
   
   Many of the prestige classes are based on the Core/Greyhawk deities, as well. Pelor has the Shadowstriker and the Shadowspy which are both tied to a Pelorian church affiliation called Pelor's Shadow Guard. While this might sound counterintuitive for a sun god, the description of the affiliation does a great job at explaining how these prestige classes came to be. There's also a prestige class for Hextor (Ordained Champion) and another (The Sancctified One) which can be taken by Ehlonna, Kord, Olidammara or Wee Jas, providing differing abilities for each.
   
   The new spells favor the cleric, but there's quite a few new things for paladins, druids and blackguards as well. There's even a few new spells for Adepts (the NPC class), which is something I haven't seen in a while. On average, the spells are 2nd-4th level spells, but clerics receive a few 5th-7th level spells, too.
   
   Of the new items presented I particularly enjoyed the special holy symbols. These are masterwork holy symbols that each have special powers relating to the Core/Greyhawk deity they represent. There's quite a bit of variety here and these items are relatively inexpensive having more value in terms of status than monetary worth.
   
   The final chapter covers divine quests and holy sites. Again, this is probably more befitting a DM than a player. While players who worship a certain deity will certainly want to visit the holy site and gain the favor of their gods, this material is better served in the DMs hands. Still, these can add a fun touch to any Greyhawk campaign.
   
   Overall, I think this is a great book and I intend on using the church affiliation rules to build my own churches and expand those of the other deities in my Greyhawk campaign. If you're running a 3.0/3.5e Greyhawk campaign or favor the Core deities, this book can definitely help mesh the rules and rewards of belonging to a church to the concepts and flavor of serving a deity. If you don't have any use for the Core/Greyhawk gods, then this book will be of significantly less value to you and I suspect that may be why it's received such low ratings overall. I'm sure I'd like it a lot less if it featured Forgotten Realms or Eberron deities, for example.
   
   So, if you like the Core/Greyhawk deities and want to find ways to make them more interesting to their followers, pick up Complete Champion right away. Otherwise, you'll probably be disappointed. But me? I think it's quite good.



5. All in all this isn't a bad book, it just lacks a certain level of applicability to any campaign not using the "core" deities as detailed in the PHB. More or less all of the fluff and a good deal of the crunch in this book seems to take that as a given. All in all I have been impressed with the Completes series - I was dubious of the "second round" but after Mage and Scoundrel I was generally impressed. This one seemed a far cry in utility compared to the others in the series. It has a handful of useful rules items, but all in all this isn't a great book.

No comments about USA TODAY Celebrity & Pop Culture Crosswords (USA Today).

5 comments about Happy Horsemanship.

1. Having instructed students and trained horses for over 35 years, it's still tough to find books good enough to recommend to people trying to learn about them. THIS book does it with flying colors.

   Everything is in here: safety, compassion, how-to handle a horse and ride, along with why things are done the way they are. Presented in a fun & light-hearted way from the horse's point of view. Very understandable.

   Even though the book was written in '66 it is superior to and far more practical than the tomes being written today that confuse an experienced horseperson, let alone a novice. Whether riding English (as illustrated) or Western this book tells what needs to be known.

   I bought it for my 13 yo niece just starting with horses & have recommended it to adults who have spent years with horses.




2. The name of the book is Happy Horsemanship by Dorothy Henderson Pinch. The book is about how horses behave, how to control a horse, how to trot, stop, canter, gallop, jump, the tools used for taking care of a horse, the materials, you need to ride a horse, the different kinds of reins, what not to do, and how to take care of a horse.
   
   I think this book is great. I think this book would be great for a child that is learning how to ride.-Kristine



3. My husband and I were referred to this book by our riding instructor. We are both grown adults, but have no real horse experience. Even though this book seems to be geared toward children, it is very helpful for the adults who may not want to admit how little they know!!! This book answere all those questions you think may be too silly to ask your teacher! It's great for all ages!



4. I am a beginning adult rider and I absolutely loved this book, it is funny and helpful on all levels for beginners. I think all new riders should read it!



5. I received this book when I was 7 (I'm now 23) years old before starting lessons for the first time. It has remained one of my most beloved childhood memories and favorite book. A MUST have for all young riders and those who are young at heart!