5 comments about The Perfect Match: A Dog Buyer's Guide (Howell Reference Books).

1. The reviews were very concise and well focused on the criteria that a prospective owner should consider.
   The book only covers breeds -- it would also be nice to have a chapter on "choosing a mutt" and what the criteria, benefits and pitfalls might be.
   Color pictures would make it easier to recognize familiar dogs, but, ultimately, it's not vital to decision-making.



2. One thing I've always disliked about breed selection books is that they seldom give you a balanced description of the dog. Often it's heavily weighted for a positive outlook which makes every single breed seem like it could be the one for you. This book is different, and that's why I like it.
   
   Describing the AKC recognized breed as of 1996, as well as a few rare breeds, you get a snapshot of the good, the bad, and the ugly with each breed. All of the basics are covered (protection ability, energy level, behavior with children/other animals, grooming) as well as some not typically covered (health problems, working ability). It also describes ideal and less-than-ideal types of owners. For example, the Rottweiler is described as best with strong confident owners who will train and socialize it early, not for pushovers with an invisible fence.
   
   While a more detailed and lengthy description of each breed would be useful, you have to remember that this book has to cover 150+ breeds in less than 200 pages. This book is intended to help you narrow it down to a handful of breeds you might like. Once that's accomplished you go to breed specific books and other resources.
   
   I give it 4 of 5 stars simply because it's from 1996 and doesn't include some of the breeds known today.



3. This book helped me find the PERFECT breed for me. You know how people try to tell you all about breeds from what they hear, or dogs they've known, but often they are wrong, or just plain uninformed. This book is ACCURATE, concise and totally reliable.
   
   A MUST HAVE for anyone who is interested in buying a dog and being educated and realistic about the dog's needs and their own.



4. I keep this book by my desk and use it a lot to get information on different breeds. It gives a quick easy analysis of each breed, giving the reader a real good idea of the breed's positive & negative aspects, the information a person considering buying the breed really needs to know. Things like what health problems are characteristic of that breed and to ask breeders about, what the breed is Best With (for example: "fenced yards, obedience, close human contact, industrial-strength vacuum") and Not For (for instance: isolation, robotic obedience, inactive people")
   The author's comments on English Bulldogs is funny, honest, and a good example. "Sleeping is this breed's favorite activity. Eatng is next, but they do love a good belly rub." "After drinking, they carry water in their jowls, slobbering across the floor. A sense of humor about the breed's propensity for flatulence is a good idea."



5. As an Animal Control Officer, I use this book often to help folks find compatible breeds. It is brief and to the point on each breed with easy reference guides to all the basic questions one would ask while exploring different breeds. I only wish it had color photos.

5 comments about Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms (Nature Guide Series).

1. Caveat: I do not own this book.
   
   I was thinking about buying it but was put off by a comment on Dave Fischer's web page: "Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms is not a good choice for use as a field guide in North America; it is a translation of an Italian work, hence is not a very useful identification manual for this continent. It is, however, a great general-interest mushroom book, with excellent introductory information."
   
   Amazon's great "Search inside this book" feature confirmed it. The copyright page shows "Translation of Funghi" ... "Pacioni, Giovanni", "English translation by Simon Pleasance".



2. I bought this book after someone showed it to me. After quickly looking at it and seeing the format I thought I would really like it, but I don't! I was surprised to open the book to the Pleurotus ostreatus and seeing it in the photo as a very dark brown mushroom. My four other field guides (and the only way I have seen it in the field) show it as a very pretty whitish mushroom like the one this book describes as the Pleurotus cornucopiae. I wonder were the descriptions mixed up or is this how they are in Italy where the book was first written and published. A very disappointing book! I should have read the copy right page and then I would have known that it was not a field guide for North America. I will stick with Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora and the Audubon Field Guide.



3. After struggling in the field using this guide, I almost gave up trying to identify mushrooms. Then I checked the publishing info and found it was written in Spain with photo credits from London, Milano, Paris....This is a European translation from the early 80's, don't make the mistake I did!
   
   I then randomly opened the book and ran a search on the mushroom on the page: Cortinarius Albovioceus My search led to a mushroom expert's site that said this mushroom is found in Scandinavia and no specimen to the expert's knowledge was ever been found in North America.
   
   But I should say that the book has great photos that could be used as a secondary verification of an identity.



4. This is a pretty good book, although it contains mushrooms not found in North America. So they say. I am sure I found one that isn't supposed to grow here. (No analyitacl proof, but it didn't kill me)



5. I was recently hiking in California and also looking for fungi. However, to make sure I can identify any fungi that I may encounter with certain amount of certainty, I needed a field book. Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms was the only one that I found in a bookshop. I was pleased to find the book quite comprehensive both in the number of varieties that it covers, and the descriptions for identifying the mushrooms found. There are also quite a lot of good photographs but are mainly showing the cap and stem and rarely from underneath the cap, which is a weakness of this book. Although it is not specifically for the North American fungi, I find it a very useful reference and not too heavy to carry in a backpack.

5 comments about Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation.

1. Excellent review of history of bees-beekeeping in America from a historical, cultural and global perspective. It is not a technically laden text. This would be a great book for extra credit reading - discussion for an American History college/university course. It is highly recommended for both general and scholarly readers.



2. a very good book about the beekeeping and the history of bees
   in a nation which envy by others



3. I've been keeping bees for 40 years and during that time have assimilated a lot of info from trade journals, academic texts, etc. I was pretty bored with the whole thing. I was not expecting a technical book but I just found it poorly edited.



4. Beekeeping in the American historical context.
   
   Though the text is a bit academic, I picked up this book and couldn't put it down. I read it in about 3 days. The numerous ways that the honey bee and beekeeping has woven themselves into our history and culture is fascinating. Ms. Horn has done some tremendous research on the subject.



5. Tammy Horn has taken a bold tack in her sweeping history of beekeeping in "Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation." It is a bold title and indeed, maybe a little too bold. She endeavors to cover a lot of ground and to draw an analogy to the settlement of a nation with the spread of honeybees and beekeeping.
   
   I found her writing was at its best when describing the history of the importation of honeybees from the old world, the spread and keeping of honeybees in the new world for pollinating those fruits and vegetables from the old world--but now being grown in the new world.
   
   Perhaps her strongest chapter is the one in which she describes the effect upon American Indians in observing the "white man's fly." Here is insight into the trigger event for Indians to remove themselves from their historic grounds, for as the bees came in, so too would settlement and occupation of the land. The Indians realized that that once this happened, their historic way of life was gone. The "white man's fly" was the canary in the coal mine--a sign of danger, time to go. The Indians knew that along with settlement, the white man brought with him old world diseases which American Indians had little or no resistance to, which could decimate their numbers.
   
   Other chapters in "Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation" are uneven. Some are stronger than others. The analogy that Tammy Horn pushes into the 20th century, "i.e., the shaping of America," is stretched a bit too far.
   
   This book will not help a beekeeper keep bees. But that is not its purpose. I think it a strong first work. I would like to have seen a tighter, sharper focus with less editorial.

2 comments about Kentucky Bourbon: The Early Years of Whiskeymaking.

1. Crowgey has delivered a thoroughly delightful in-depth and detailed academic-level history of the origins of America's Native Spirit, Bourbon.
   
   If you're looking for mixed drink recipes or techniques on how to make the latest shooter, you're in the wrong place. If you're truly interested in the wheres and whys of the origin of Bourbon, you'll be in heaven.
   
   Crowgey's writing style can get a bit pedestrian at times but the facts and details here come through loud and clear. He debunks some of the myths, he lays out the facts as they were, and we're better Bourbon connoisseurs for having read him.
   
   You can enjoy Bourbon without reading this book, but you'll understand Bourbon better if you do.



2. In tracing the history of distilling in Kentucky up to the eve of the Civil War, Crowgey dispels many of the myths and "pleasant legends" that have grown up around this native spirit.
   
   There is, of course, much here for those interested in Kentucky history and the history of distilling. However, through his study of early bourbon making, Crowgey also tells us a great deal about early American agricultural history and the settlement and development of the frontier. Originally published in 1971, this is a wonderful little book that deserved to be reprinted.

5 comments about Understanding Baking.

1. This book is great because it covers the fundamentals of baking. I believe that fundamentals are important as they serve as a starting point for pastry chefs. I appreciate the fact that they've included all aspects of baking - from the simplest of information for the beginners to the complex stuff for the professionals.



2. The older editions were geared towards professional bakers
   or those that wanted to be. Joseph Amendola's work is
   hard to see in this latest edition. They have dumbed this one down. To quote "Chemists in large industrial-sized bakeries have actually conducted studies that determined the optimum specific gravity and pH levels for each type of cake. Knowing this, of course, makes it all the more worrisome to be at the mercy of a plain old recipe book, with no such equipment on hand to provide guidance or reassurance. Fortunately, some room for variation exists in cake baking." I just don't see someone of Amendola's background and reputation writing this...Understanding the science of baking is crucial for baking success. Most retail bakers understand and utilize specific gravity when baking cakes...this insures accuracy in baking-and this translates to dollars and wasted product saved. A nice book for the home baker perhaps, but as a text book, it is a regression. Too bad.



3. Understanding Baking gives the student baker all the baking science he or she will actually ever need in day to day operations. This new edition has a much friendlier tone and eliminates a great of the repetition and overly arcane or dated material that existed in the previous editions. Theory and concepts are related to actual products much more clearly. Rees/Amendola lucidly and concisely explain the chemistry of ingredient interaction, baking physics and supply useful ingredient definitions. The reference tables and troubleshooting guides are helpful and clear. The new information on wild yeast starter/artisan bread is timely and interesting as is the discussion of trans and cis fats. Any pastry chef can tell you that the most complicated presentations begin with a good grounding in the basics. From there, it's up to you. Industrial baking, which this edition, for the most part, sidesteps, is now so specialized, automated and artificially preserved you need an whole set of encyclopedias to understand the processes that are usually performed by a machine. On the other hand, with this book and it's companion volume, The Baker's Manual (also recently revised with many, many appealing new formulas), you could start a fine little pastry shop. It impowers you to be the best baker you can be.



4. I am a cake designer by trade and I'm getting ready to teach my first college level course and this is the book that I will be using for my students.
   
   The reason for this is simple: value for money with a clear understanding of baking principles.
   
   Most professional tomes like the Gisslen or Friberg book will set you back 50-75 dollars a book. You can have both of Amendola's books for the cost of just one. Sure, they might not have all the pretty pictures, but why go out and spend hundreds of dollars that you don't need to.
   
   And to set the record straight, I completely disagree with the person who complained that the books were boring and too scientific. The act of baking is not an art - it's all about science and if you think that's boring then you shouldn't be baking.
   
   A good baker and cake designer will know and understand why cakes are made the way they are, otherwise, he or she will not have the knowledge needed to overcome the problems and issues that every baker will face at some point in his or her career, whether professional or home baker.
   
   If you're a home baker and you want a less "science-driven" book then I'd suggest The Baker's Dozen. If you love cake and really want to understand what it's all about then you can't beat Joseph Amendola - he is a master.



5. This book is exactly what I was looking for. I set out to find a book that would give me an understanding of the science involved in baking, and this book did just that. I devoured the book (which is now riddled with highlighted sentences, underlined concepts and handwritten margin notes)and am now able to modify and manipulate existing recipes to achieve my desired results, as well as write my own recipes! An indispensable addition to the library of any serious baker. If you've ever found yourself wondering why egg whites whip better in a copper bowl, or why the meringue on your lemon pie gets runny (and other such questions), this book has the answers for you.

2 comments about Turfgrass Management (8th Edition).

1. After being out of the superentendent side of the business for a few years this book brought me back up to speed. The text is well written and easy to understand. I recommend it highly for anyone who needs a book "just to be sure"!



2. This book went with my entry level class into Turfgrass Management and I have to say it just about covers all you need to know about turfgrass and the practices used to maintain it. I certainly recommend this book to anyone in the turfgrass industry and all students.

1 comments about Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology.

1. This book contains twenty chapters plus a comprehensive index. Each chapter is written by a distinguished individual in his or her field. Each chapter consists of general opening remarks, detailed information about the subject of each chapter, a chapter summary at the end of each chapter, discussion questions and a list of references for further reading. The lead authors have created a text that would serve double duty as either an adequate text for an introductory lower division course on agronomy/plant sciences, or as a supplemental text for an upper division plant biology course which looks at the social and ethical dimensions of biotechnology and genetically modified organisms.
   
   All the contributors share the belief that agricultural biotechnology in its current manifestation is merely an extension of biology in the natural world, and is but one consequence of Watson & Crick's monumental discovery. Chrispeels and Sadava, the two contributors responsible for compiling the text, boldly state that the biggest beneficiaries of the new GM technology will be those living in the developing countries, and as such reflects the standard party line of the pro-ag-biotech groups and organizations.
   
   All inherent biases aside, the book is highly notable because of several bold admissions made throughout the text. First, the authors readily admit that agricultural biotechnology has no defensible place or justification in a world currently awash in plentiful food, but at the same time, they do believe that biotechnology will play an important role in tomorrow's world agriculture. Second, the also readily concede that distribution of food, and not its production, is the main culprit for hunger, but other issues do play an important role. Related to this is their admission that the ability to pay for food matters more than the supply of food itself; if people can pay for it, they will get it (here their words on the subject echo many of the thoughts put forth by Amartya Sen, and before him, Susan George). Third, they admit that most scientists working in the field of population and demography in the late 1960s and early 1970s made flat out wrong predictions about the infamous 'population bomb', and that predictions made today many not come to pass tomorrow- they are just guesses about the future. Here they appear to be backing away from the incendiary rhetoric of environmental luminaries such as Paul Ehrlich and Lester Brown. Fourth, and quite possibly the boldest admission of the text, was their concession that agricultural biotechnology has been oversold. Apparently, they saw fit to stop short of saying that ag-biotech has been and continues to be hyped into the stratosphere, but their very admission alone is satisfactory, as they later lay most of the blame for today's hysteria and urban myths surrounding ag-biotech and GM technologies upon the overselling of the technologies, where it justifiably belongs.
   
   Indeed, the authors' concern for the overselling of the promise and potential of biotechnology is readily apparent in the final chapter of the book, where they address the myths and realities of agricultural biotechnology. However, even the authors can not resist the temptation to sell the reader on the potential benefits of an agricultural biotechnology, and the book includes chapters on integrated pest management incorporating the scientific advances of ag-biotech (Chapter 16), weed control strategies using biotechnology (Chapter 17), GM technology as a tool for promoting green agriculture (Chapter 18), and the use of plants as biological factories (Chapter 19).
   
   Generally speaking, Chapters 1 through 5 lay down the rationale for incorporation of ag-biotech in food production, and chapters 6 through 15 explain the how to, the ins and outs of the technology and how genetic modification of crops is achieved. Also, chapters 6 through 15 cover all the standard topics one would find in a regular course on agronomy, crop science and plant biology, from plant cell and molecular biology, plant growth and development, seeds and seed technology, the ins and outs of photosynthesis and the physical, biological and environmental factors associated with it, soils and root zone systems, nitrogen cycling, to the historical basis for crop breeding (with some paleo-anthropological perspectives) and the gradual leap from breeding via classical techniques to modern, biotech based methods. Chapter 15 also looks at crop disease and its management from a molecular genetic standpoint, and strikes me as a means to include students in plant pathology.
   
   Additionally, the authors paid considerable attention to the problems and challenges of agriculture in Third World countries, in an attempt to demonstrate the veracity of their belief that GM technology can do much to assist the inhabitants there. However, in the process, they belatedly demonstrate that these technologies have been developed to address symptoms of more complex and fundamental problems having an economic, environmental and/or socio-historical basis. Yet, the authors must be credited for admitting that the real need in developing countries is for more research support to address their specific physical and environmental conditions, and for demonstrating that in every single instance where consumer incomes rise and the socio-economic status of women advances, there is an inevitable decrease in birth rates, hunger and malnutrition.
   
   Thus, the contributors freely admit that their research and scientific activities chase phantom problems and non-problems. They also admit, albeit obliquely, that ag-biotech in its current manifestation does not address the needs or the fundamental problems faced in the developing or the developed world. In fact, on the one hand, researchers have occupied themselves with testing the limits of GM technology, seeing what they can do, and exploring different directions, while on the other hand, government institutions and corporations have directed their efforts at technological developments for which they have proprietary control, and increasingly, total control over distribution and other supporting activities. Alas, the authors have chosen, perhaps unwisely, to offer any comments on this state of affairs, and what it may mean for everyone.
   
   In sum, this book makes quite a few bold admissions, some directly, but most indirectly, and as such, is a necessary read for those interested in the topics of ag-biotech, genetic modification technologies, food production and safety, and crop science in general. It is definitely a good and comprehensive book, containing a level of honesty highly uncommon among textbooks on the subject(albeit couched among questionable pitches about potential benefits of ag-biotech), and its sources for further reading are indispensable. I highly recommend the text to anyone looking to place this contentious scientific topic within a social and ethical context.
   
   
   

5 comments about Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry: Breeds, Care, Health.

1. I have found this book to be full of inefficient and unhealthy practices for raising poultry. The author leaves out important deep litter concepts and the importance of fresh grass. Good general information though.



2. More than enough information for the backyard poultry producer. the information included in the book is more for the medium-sized poultry farmer. I did enjoy it as it had a myriad of information I could use for my mixed flock of fowl.



3. Personally, I like this book better than Storey's Raising Chickens. It has just as much information on raising baby chicks as the Raising Chickens guide. Leonard Mercia covers raising all poultry quite well in this guide. Good for any novice of poultry.
   
   In 352 pages, Mr. Mercia covers chickens, turkeys, ducks and guineas all quite throughly. Plus, he writes in a straight and concise manner without being textbooky and boring. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone no matter what poultry they were raising. He covers poultry for profit and butchering how-to, briefly as well.
   
   The only drawbacks I can see with this book is it's in black and white, with only line drawings. Also, only a few breeds of poultry are covered, so I'd pair this with the "Storey's Poultry Illustrated Poultry book" by Carol Ekarius if you haven't picked out your poultry breed yet.



4. This is a good, informative book, like all of the Storey's guides. (We have many of them.) I just had hoped that this book would focus less on chickens, since there is a whole book on them, and more on the other fowl, like guineas, etc. that don't have an entire book of Storey's info. out there. Wish I had ordered a different book, since I already had the chicken one.



5. If you are a poultry lover; this book is a must. Invaluable information and pictures.

1 comments about Raising Earthworms for Profit.

1. As someone with no experience in vermiculture but interested in the subject, I found this book easy to read and inspiring. With lots of pictures and a nice resource listing for further information, it is easy to picture yourself actually raising worms as a business. It's a good read at the right price, and a must for the personal library shelf if you are seriously into worm growing.

5 comments about Parrotlet Handbook, The (Barron's Pet Handbooks).

1. I bought this book hoping to find out more about parrotlet care, training and behavior. Instead, it reads like a mini0encyclopedia of all small parrots. Most of the parrots listed in this book are not even seen in pet stores. The author should SERIOUSLY think about revising this book OR changing the title.



2. Because I keep many birds, I've read many books on the topic by Matthew Vriends. Vriends raises several kinds of tropical birds, visits their natural habitats, is involved in the preservation of wild birds and their habitats, and writes extensively on these topics. He is also a PhD (Dutch born biologist and ornithologist). I bought THE PARROTLET HANDBOOK in spite of the fact one reviewer said there was not much of interest about Parrotlets in this book, mainly because I have read so many of Vriends other books on other birds and found them helpful.
   
   THE PARROTLET BOOK is very interesting, but it is also geared to the breeder of this type of bird. As the owner of two brother Parrotlets, I don't foresee joining the breeder group any time soon, even though Vriends makes a compelling case for becoming a breeder of Parrotlets who are under threat from the deforestation of the Amazon jungle.
   
   In spite of the book's bias - which I truly appreciate, it does include many helpful tips and a good deal of information about the various types of Parrotlets who are companions of people like me. For one thing the book helps one understand the origins the little birds whose ancestors come from South America and who seem be thought of by some as the little brother of the larger Macaw.
   
   My Parrotlet brothers have been hand raised from the egg stage and they are Soooo sweet. However, I am told the Parrotlet can administer a nasty bite should he be "wild" or displeased. My birds perch on my finger (two at a time) and are a lot less messy than my Cockatiels and Love Birds. Maintenance-wise, keeping Parrotlets is a bit like keeping Canaries. However, they are as playful as my Senegal parrot.
   
   I found a really great article on Parrotlets entitled "True Confession-Parrotlet owners bring down the house with tales of pin-sized adventures" in the January 2004 issue of Bird Talk Magazine (if you keep birds or are thinking of doing so, subscribe to this magazine). I recommend both Vriends book and Bird-Talk magazine for the serious bird owner.



3. If you are looking for information on the care of pet parrotlets, take a pass on this one. There are few pages devoted to that topic, and lots and lots about the history of the breed, and lots and lots about small parrots that are not parrotlets.



4. A better title for this book might have been "The Small Parrot Handbook". I thought I was getting an in depth handbook on parrotlet care and breeding, but what I got was a book that deals in generalities of many different birds. Forget buying this book. You will learn much more from surfing the web. A total waste of money. Wait! I have just discovered that if you carefully remove the pages, they will fit perfectly 3 wide by 3 deep in the bottom of my bird cage. Maybe I should give another star...



5. A mi parecer contiene informacion muy util para novatos como yo. Sobre todo es que no hay casi informacion sobre los Forpus en la red. Hay una seccion sobre otras especies que no es muy logica a mi parecer en este libro, pero en linea general me ha gustado.
   
   Very good information for nobels like me. What i did not understand, is why the litle information about other parrots. But in general a good book