1 comments about The Best Trivia Book Ever!!!.

1. This truly is the most entertaining trivia book I have come across. Queen of Trivia is the best trivia author of our time. The "Fun Facts" are unique, and the illustrations are worth a thousand words. This trivia book covers a variety of subjects, and it is great reading for all ages. I highly recommend this trivia book for anyone with a desire to have fun while broadening their horizons.

3 comments about The Ultimate Playground & Recess Game Book.

1. Guy Bailey has put together an extremely helpful resource that has a wide variety of games that are simple, yet fun. I found it to be organized and easy to understand. Most importantly, my students are having a great time participating in the games used! I highly recommend this book to anyone needing fun and creative ideas to enhance their curriculum. Its great!



2. The Ultimate Playground & Recess Game Book completely lives up to its title and offers classroom teachers, physical education instructors, playground supervisors, youth recreational leaders, and parents more than 170 fun-packed games, sports, and activities for recess and recreational time on the school yard playground, the community park, or the family back yard. Some of these games and sports learned in a school setting or a summer recreation program can be enjoyed for a lifetime. Some of these games will help to reduce student boredom at recess and thereby eliminate a major source of playground behavioral problems. Each game is fully described in a clear, concise, "user friendly" text which is enhanced with more than 150 illustrations to help visualize game directions and setup. An exceptionally useful "Activity Finder" chart makes it simple and quick to find games to meet the needs of the adult supervisors and the children. The Ultimate Playground & Recess Game Book is an indispensable and very welcome addition to any school, summer camp, or family activities reference shelf.



3. This book is very organized and gives you specific times for each activity. Highly recommended!!

5 comments about Exalted 2nd Lunars (Exalted).

1. A big improvement from the 1E version of the same. The Lunars are now not only powerful but have intersting charms and trees that will not make character design a headache. This is with out a doubt the most important update of the 2nd Ed of the Exalted game



2. Well I must first say that english is not my native language so please forgive me if I make mistakes. Thanks.
   
   Now as for the Lunar Exalted Book. WOAW. Simple.
   They completely erradicated all the mistakes of the Lunars First Edition.
   Now Lunars are complete characters full of options and with a nice setting, nice background, history, great Knacks, Charms, Gifts and Fury stuff. Excellent new backgrounds, details on what they been doing this last centuries. A good reasoning of the Wyld core in all Lunar Essences. A great explanation of why they need the moonsilver ink tattoos and their restrictions. Also the Thousand Rivers proyect and their involvement in human populations like Halta, Chiaroscuro, Diamond, etc..
   
   IF I have some disagreements with the book would be that some Charms (7) dont work well. Certain lack of Wyld Mutations to develop the Combat Form of the Lunar (cause they are spread between the Main Corebook, the Compass of Celestial Directions The Wyld and in this Book) I feel like they should have reprinted a complete list of possible Wyld Mutations and rules in this Corebook. Personally I feel that maybe they should have given a little more importance to Artifacts made of Moonsilver and maybe special Celestial Sorcery Spells unique to Lunars. But this is just an opinion.
   
   So far an excellent book. Full of great things.
   I hunger to play a full-fledged Shapeshifter that can edure anything and slay Creation's enemies while saving humankind from threats of the Wyld!



3. I can't really speak to the mechanical improvements, since I have yet to play a lunar character in a game, but the backstory alone is an enormous improvement over 1st ed. Back then, Lunars were like a bunch of old World o' Darkness were____s that had wandered into the wrong gameworld--they hated civilization, preferring the 'purity' of the 'barbarians.' Conan plus anarcho-primitivism, how appealing. That, and the old rules made Lunars probably the least popular Exalt type book in the old edition.
   Now, however, the Lunar backstory and culture are free of fantasy cliches (ie 'Barbarians') and sure to provide great kernels for character creation. The basic concept that the lunars are 'stewards' as opposed to the Solar 'lawgivers' is well developed into an exalt ethos that puts emphasis on mortal self-determination and self-reliance, a really interesting contrast to the Solar and Terrestrial desire to set themselves up as God-Kings. The factions of the lunars are fleshed out nicely--The Winding Path are dedicated to helping as many different societies as possible evolve among mortals. The Sun King Seneschals once merely hated the Terrestrials but now that the Solars are back may want to be the power behind the throne. The Crossroads Society are the sorcerers who trade lore and take a leading role in protecting the Lunars from the Wyld. Finally the Swords of Luna fight the fair folk (that's it) and the Wardens of Gaia are either civilization-loathing primitivists or simply greens who would like to see mortals live in harmony with nature.
   
   In short, while the old lunars book did little more than provide crazed, not particularly fleshed-out antagonists, the new lunars book paints a picture of exalts at least as interesting as the solars who can either have wonderful adventures on their own or add a new angle to a game with Solars.



4. A vast improvement over its First Edition predecessor. Rather than savage barbarians dwelling at the edges of shaped existence, this book offers the a vision of the Lunars as Stewards of Creation. The Silver Pact now consists of diverse factions, many of which not only tolerate the existence of civilization, but who have actively participated in creation and behind-the-scenes oversight of city states and republics. This new take on the Lunar Exalted adds much needed depth to the Children of the Moon, as well as making it possible to play a wide variety of potential characters, beyond the city-hating, civilization-smashing man-beast.



5. Perhaps the most massive revamp of all the exalted types. MoEP: Lunars makes the Lunars as cool mechanically as they are thematically. Not only that, but it expands everything the Lunars are about and ingrains them deeper into the setting.

5 comments about Tome and Blood: A Guidebook to Wizards and Sorcerers (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. This book is good only for explaining the metamagic feats more realistically.

   Beyond that, it's practically useless.

   I bought it because the books I bought for the druid and bard classes were so helpful, and I thought I'd get more help with my wizard/sorcerer characters.

   I should be so lucky.

   The book lacks many new spells that I think are particularly useful to lower-level players.

   The main reasons one would buy this book is for a more clear definition between a sorcerer and a wizard, and because it explains the metamagic feats in a more useful way than the players handbook does.




2. This is probably the guidebook I use most, since I play a spellcaster in my current 3e campaign. I recommend this book if for no other reasons than to upgrade the type of feats you can draw on as a Wizard or Sorcerer and open up a number of new avenues your mage can explore. I really appreciate the metamagic feats, particularly energy admixture and substitution, which give a battle mage new tools to take on the numerous meanies with resistance to specific energies, and scult spell, which allows you to move beyond the circular blast of a standard fireball and into some very exciting alternatives. Among the new spells, the Orb and Lesser Orb spells are a solid choice for low- to mid-level offensive attacks. I had some difficulty with the PrCs, which struck me as being of limited value. Without a DM who tailors his campaign to the inclusion of the elements needed to tap the capabilities offered, many of them would be counterproductive for a player to take. However, if you have a DM who will work with you, there's some very interesting campaign arcs that can be explored.

   Overall, a solid extension of magic options for the D&D system.




3. "Tome and Blood" is a fairly good supplement with a wide variety of useful feat, interesting prestige classes, and a couple of good spells. Some of the prestige classes, "The Acolyte of the Flesh" and the "Alienist" for example, would be hard pressed to be useful for a player character but would be nice NPC's.

   I was slightly disappointed at the variety of schools, lots of innovation for necromancy, but the other schools, particularly illusion seemed to get short handed.

   Also, compared to some of the d20 licensee products like Fantasy Flight Games's "Spells and Spellcraft" or Malhavoc Press's "Eldritch Might" series, this was pretty expensive for the amount of information given.




4. well I got tome and blood for my birthday and I was looking through and I found some alright prestige classes. after a while I read a little bit farther in the prestige class section and found the Dragon Disiple. Since I am a sorcerer I was Amazed.It is literally the best Persige Class is the entire book. after thati look at the spells and I found the lesser acid orbs. they are like magic missle except a bit better.(at least i thin they are better. all in all i think this is a pretty good book.



5. Wizards must have for D&D

4 comments about Magic of Eberron (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Setting).

1. I like magic, and Eberron is a world that represents an archetypical high-magic world. Keith Baker, who wrote the Eberron sourcebook (with help) and developed the world concept, also wrote Complete Arcane. Those two facts led me to have high hopes for this release, Magic of Eberron. What I got was something of a mixed bag, in my opinion.
   
   What you get:
   As promised, there's more information on the Shards, elemental binding, grafting different things onto your body, info on Daelkyr, Quori, Karrnath, and Aerenal magic. The typical run of feats, PrC's, spells, items and creatures including two new races (half-Daelkyr and psiforged). Someone also took the Dragon Totem feat and ran with it, with a number of new related feats.
   
   What you don't get:
   Any information connecting the info in Complete Arcane to this book or Eberron. Magic in any of the realms other than Karrnath, Aerenal, and Zilargo (except how the gnomes use binding).
   
   The PrC's and many of the feats deal with each of the above items. So there's a PrC each for binding elementals to yourself, fighting Quori, Karrns v. undead, protecting Aerenal, and so on. 6 or 8 all together (sorry, don't have the book in front of me). A couple of these PrCs seem to turn character into what their fighting, to some extent. For example, the PrC for Karrns that fight the undead presence in their land gradually becomes more like undead, even to being able to get turned/rebuked.
   
   The feats are mostly related to Dragon totems, Draconic Prophesy, grafting parts onto people, and psionics (specifically relating to Quori). The spells, powers, creatures and magic items were generally related to these same themes as well. There were some new things that didn't relate directly to a theme of the book, but not many.
   
   In all, there are 158 pages, and I thought it could have been improved with another dozen or so pages. Specifically, I think they could have added more information about how the different cultures use magic, where things from the C.A. fit in, and relating more information back to the larger world. Really, it's the usual $30 for smaller book by comparison to many of the other resource books we've been offered.
   
   If this were a movie instead of a book, I'd say, yeah, see it, but wait until it came out on DVD. Should you buy it? If you are running a game, and looking for more hooks or unusual things to bring to the game, sure. As a player, borrow one for a bit to see if the themes interest you. If not, don't waste your money. I gave 4 stars because the book does relate to the world, there are consistent themes, and things tie nicely together. It did not get the fifth star because I would have liked to see at least some connection to the C.A. info, as well as more cultural details around magic, and it was too short a book.



2. This book is great for explaining the various magics in Eberron. Whether you're a DM looking for some loot or encounter ideas or a player hunting for information, this book is a must have. Granted, the detail on some topics is somewhat lacking, the examples/ideas the book puts forward and pictures more than make up for it!



3. At first I thought: "Great, another book with more spells and feats that I have to know about," thinking that it would just be random stuff to fullfill some players need to have more random spells or powers at his disposal. The book however turned out to be great, and is my favorite supplement so far. A lot of the prestige classes and feats deal with dragons and promote more interesting roleplaying, in a way. Other info on dragonshards and magic items comes in handy now and then. Overall I'm pleased with this book.



4. Nice add-on for Eberron. Could explain a little more about the mournland. Could include more magical items. Good overall.

5 comments about New York Magazine Crossword Puzzle Omnibus, Volume 1 (NY Magazine).

1. I wish this puzzle book would have been spiral-bound like Ms. Jacobson's previous regular volumes.



2. Maura Jacobson's puzzles are the best!!! She is too clever for words, pun intended.



3. I love the weekly crosswords and do them every week in new York magazine, but these are obviously older puzzles with more obscure references. I would recommed getting one of the newer omnibuses, like version 7.



4. We (my Husband andI) have been working Maura Jacobson Puzzles for years in both New York Magazine and her published crossword journals...we have never been disappointed and always cleverly challenged (a different topic for each puzzle)...me can't wait for the next Jacobson entry



5. Buying on Amazon is amazing. Everything I have ever ordered has come earlier than expected. My mom loves these crossword puzzles and it was part of a mother's day gift. OF COURSE i got it in time and NY Magazine puzzles are her favorite. Hope another version comes, have bought all 3.
   Thanks Again, love shopping on Amazon.

1 comments about The Simple Book of Not-So-Simple Puzzles.

1. These puzzles are highly original, and quite different from what you find in most puzzle books. I was impressed with the large variety of challenges presented. Why do word puzzles all day when you can cross train your brain with spatial, math, visual, and logical problems? This book has them all. The illustrations that accompany each puzzle are also very nice. Get your thinking caps on, though-these highly enjoyable puzzles are "Not-So-Simple"!

5 comments about Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual.

1. I agree with other reviewers - this is probably the one book to get if you are a serious chess player seeking to get the edge in the endgame. It's advanced, so beginners might find Pandolfini's Endgame Course a good introduction. My only gripe, shared by others it appears, is the quality of the printing. The blue sections, which illustrate the essentials, vary from clear to faint. This is obviously deficient quality and needs fixing for the next print run. It's a pity as the book is intended to be studied, immersed in and pondered on.



2. I have a short attention span and this book gets around that by cramming so much information into every page that I don't have a chance to get bored. I do get bored wading through pulp and fluff looking for something useful. You probably have one or two of those books. Who doesn't?
   
   I'm just an intermediate and I don't think this book is too hard. Jeremy Silman rated it around 1400 and up. I think that's about right.
   
   Dvoretsky has a good sense of humor and his style is, believe it or not, somewhat conversational. The examples are to-the-point and he even covers some basics. The depth is not an all-or-none thing -- you'll get at least something out of the material even if you don't see it from every angle. It's the art of writing for several levels at once.
   
   Good work!



3. This book was a gift request from my chess playing son. He loves it. He said it is so far beyond anything he expected.



4. A superb book, clear, explaining top technics to all.
   
   I recommend it hotly to any Chess player [for you or as a present, you are sure to please], after many years playing chess, for fun and alos in the past in small tournaments, I learned a lot of tricks in ending that are easy to use/remember.
   
   An reference book, very enjoyable.



5. As way of introduction, I am a former USCF master who after many years of inactivity has recently taken a renewed interest in the game and has therefore decided to become acquainted with the current chess literature...which brings us to this highly acclaimed Endgame Manual by Dvoretsky.
   You may know that Dvoretsky is a famous trainer of world class grandmasters, and has perfected a system of training by which he claims he can bring a 2200 level player to the level of grandmaster. His series of books are in many ways comparable to the famous "Think Like a Grandmaster" series by Kotov (and all are also highly recommended). So, the target audience for this book is, I would think, like all of Dvoretsky's books, the serious student who has already reached a high standard and is searching for a way to improve his game even further.
   
   So, if you buy this book, and master it, will you also become a master of the endgame? You of course will be well on your way, and that alone is a good reason to add this book to your library, but still there are 2 major problems with it. The first is unfortunate, and somebody who has mastered the endgame would not commit it. Dvoretsky attempts to formulate universally general principals of endgame play, and then ignores the counter-examples that show the exceptions to his rules. This is OK for a general endgame text, but we are training future grandmasters here remember, and the promulgation of erroneous rules is not the way to do it. So, example, consider this (wrong) Dvoretsky rule on page 152 given in the section discussing rook and pawn vs. rook endgames, with the pawn on the fourth rank, and you will understand the problem with his approach:
   
   "It is important to remember that in case of a knight pawn, cutting off the king by two files is not sufficient for a win." -- Dvoretsky
   
   To support this rule, he then gives the standard position, with the black king on e6, black rook on b8, white pawn on b4, white rook on d1, white king on b3...It is very true, the rule applies here, but move the black king to either e7 or e4, and white to play wins. The sad and ironic thing here is that on page 147 Dvoretsky berates Dlugy for missing a draw against Alburt in the USA ch, Los Angeles 1991, because his adjourned position was in fact analyzed in the classic work on rook endings by Levenfish and Smyslov, and which Dlugy had at his disposal. Well, if Dvoretsky would care to obtain a copy of the classic Levenfish and Smyslov himself, turn to page 38 in either the algebraic or descriptive notation versions of the book, he will find the positions with the king on e7 or e4, showing his rule to be wrong. And, having gotten a hold of Levenfish and Smsylov, he should read the last chapter, the conclusion, where he would find:
   
   "The reader who has accompanied us along the difficult path from the simplest of rook endings to the complicated ones involving numerous pawns may be expecting ready-made rules or formulae for the correct treatment of endgames. He will not find them. The solving of even simple rook endings depends on delicate nuances in the position, to elucidate which requires a considerable amount of analytical work" -- Levenfish and Smyslov, "Rook Endings"
   
   That is also the reason the authoritative "Secrets of Rook Endings" by Nunn is 352 pages -- it is impossible to reduce the endgame to simple rules...and leads us to the second problem with the book...402 pages is just not enough to treat the subject of the endgame in an accurate fashion. So, if you are using Dvoretsky as your only source, it would be impossible to not have serious gaps in your endgame knowledge, which I will illustrate again with a Dvoretsky rook and pawn vs. rook ending example. Dvoretsky gives a fundamental position (in his exercise 9/1, page 144) with pawn on the seventh where by an ingenious maneuver, white can win. The position is white pawn on f7, white king on e7, white rook on g1, black king on h8, black rook on c7. Normally, the black king in such positions is on h7, but on h8, a new feature is introduced, the white rook can occupy g6. The solution main line then is: 1.Kf6 Rc6+ 2.Ke5 Rc8 3.Rg6!! Kh7 4.Rc6 Ra8 5.Kf6 with Re6-e8 to follow which wins. So what's the problem? Move the black rook in the initial position from the c-file to the b or a-file, and it's a draw. Dvoretsky does not tell you this. I would think a student reading Dvoretsky's exercise very likely would form the opinion that with black king on h8 white always wins such positions because the g6 square is always available to the white rook, but that is not correct.
   
   (As an aside, in the first example, Nunn gives both the e7 and e4 king positions on page 143 of his book. Karsten Muller in his "Fundamental Chess Endings" does not give the e4 position. Muller may have used computer tablebases to check the accuracy of his work, but one cannot check an omission. Both the e4 and e7 positions must be given because the winning method is different in the two cases. In the second example, Nunn also correctly identifies with the rook on the b or a-file, the position is drawn. Muller does not give the second example.)
   
   So, yes...buy this book by all means, but realize that you will be forced eventually to supplement it with either the books by Nunn, or the maybe a combination of the old Averbakh endgame series, and of course the classic Levenfish and Smyslov, together with the computer tablebases.

5 comments about Why You Lose at Poker.

1. I have read six other poker books from cover to cover and tried to use the knowledge at the tables. Each book did teach me something and helped my game. However, my losses were always bigger than my gains, albeit not by much. After reading this book, I have not lost ONCE! In a 3-6 hold 'em game, I started walking away with several extra racks of chips each and every game. To be honest, I am sure that I will lose on occasion and I am far - far - FAR from being a pro - I can now enjoy this game recreationally and make some money along the way. This is an excellent book. I just hope I don't face other readers of this book at my table!



2. This book is great for learning poker at a decent level. I really like being able to read what I'm doing wrong, rather than......"if you do this, there's no doubt you're going to win".



3. This book is simple and clear. It helped me take an objective look at my style of play and identify some lapses in discipline and logic that have been causing some serious leaks in my bankroll. Horse sense and discipline, is my short summary of this book.



4. Fox and Harker are succesful poker players and co-wrote an earlier book about NLHE.
   
   Fox, who is a tournament bridge player himself, and Harker, who isn't,
   got the idea for this book after reading the S.J. Simon's classic book and you can tell. Not that I am talking about plaguerism. They just decided to do a book LIKE for poker players and they succeeded.
   
   There are chapters about common errors that cause losing players to
   lose and winning players to win less. Much of this is elementary but
   some of the chapters are very interesting. They are reminders to veteran players and warnings to newbies. Even many very experienced players could use the advice about game selection and the chapter on the economics of tournaments.
   
   The greatest resemblance to is that it ends with some hands played at the club. after which they analyze each player's actions, replacing him or her with a reasonable player to see how much better (or worse) said reasonable player would have done.
   
   This is a very entertaining book. Unless you are a very advanced poker player, it would help your game too. I only gave it four stars because a some very good players would find nothing in it that they don't already have under control. The entertainment value of the book might still make it worthwhile for some of them but not for others.
   
   For fans of
   
   For those who remember Mrs. Guggenheim, the pleasant but hopeless
   rubber-bridge player from by S.J. Simon, it
   might be interesting to know that she is still alive and well.
   Evidently, she was widowed or divorced, I didn't get to ask her which,
   and has married again, to a wealthy and generous man named Goldman.
   
   I ran into her in an entertaining little book called Poker> by Russell Fox and Scott T. Harker, where she was playing poker
   for moderate stakes. She isn't any better at her new game than at her
   old one but she remains indominatible.
   
   The cast of characters is similar to Simon's but only Mrs. Guggenheim/Goldman is recognizable.



5. The book is well written and contains very good advice. It's well worth the time to read, it should help your game progress.

5 comments about The Musician's Guide to Pro Tools.

1. I started home recording with Pro Tools 2 years ago. I went through a lot of books, but this one was definitely a stand-out. I recommend it highly. The BIG difference with this book is that it is written around practical application of the tools. It is not a re-write of the Pro Tools Reference Manual like so many of the other books are.



2. I've used a number of these and this one seems to get down to the practical things that you need to know in dealing with recording with Pro Tools. It's been a while since I've recorded so this was sort of like starting over. This book takes you step by step in set up and gives good pictures and illustrations of what you're doing. It comes with some files you can load but it recommends that you create some of your own. I found that to be very helpful. It took me from hooking up any instruments, drum boxes, or whatever to recording something to work with. It made it more "real world" instead of just following a file you've been given.
   
   It's truly a book from a musician to a musician. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get down to recording!!!
   
   Doug



3. The other reviews pretty much cover what this book is about, but here's another perspective. I consider myself an intermediate PTLE user, but recently upgraded from 6.9 to 7.4. This is the only book I found that covers PTLE up to 7.3.1, and I've found it very helpful in explaining many of the new features that 6.9 didn't have. Even some of the material I thought I knew is covered from a slightly different perspective, which was helpful, and there were some cool tips about things I'd never thought of before.
   
   Overall, the book is well written and edited. I think if you're coming into PT from another DAW, this might be all you need to get to an intermediate level fairly quickly. (Wish I'd had it when I was first starting out.) If you have no recording experience at all, you might also benefit from a more basic primer on general hard disk recording. For a basic PT reference, I like "Pro Tools for Dummies". As others have pointed out, the whole topic of subtleties in mic setup and EFX for various instruments, mixing/mastering in general, studio layout, etc. requires its own material. Check out Bobby Owsinki's books on those topics.



4. This is a great book for learning your way around Pro Tools. It's basically a Pro Tools course that you take at your own pace. A bit of patience is required because it's very important that you follow every instruction sequentially and specifically. If you do that, you will have a good grip on PT techniques when you finish.



5. As stated, Keane wrote this initially as a guide to get his friends who had purchased Pro Tools rigs up and running. The official Digidesign Pro Tools manual is comprehensive, but not particularly instructional.
   
   Keane provides the answers to all of the obvious "How do I do this?" questions, and throws in savvy engineering and production tips to boot. The addition of actual sessions to practice with is invaluable, since seeing is believing...and learning.