Feng Shui Tips for a Better Life

This is the first book on Feng Shui that I've ever bought. It is written so that it didn't scare me away yet offered many valuable ideas. I've given several as gifts to friends who were curious yet had no previous knowledge of Feng Shui. I want to thank the author for introducing me to a wonderful concept in improving my life and surroundings!

Very easy to understand! My favorite book about feng shui so far! Great price, vendor took forever to mail it.

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Great book has vital information and gets right to the point! A must, I feel if you are getting into Feng Shui! Thanks, Debbie

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I am mexican so no much of feng shui going on in my family but my hubby Indian does like this so I read it I implement it some of the stuff on my house do not know if its working but it was easy to read and understand

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Great book full of excellant information. I would buy from this shipper AGAIN

:)

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Great Hair: Elegant Styles for Every Occasion

Quick quibble with book description: the book only has 62 styles, not 100 as advertised in the book review, and some styles are teenager-ish rather than elegant, but there are more than enough gorgeous styles for every length. Each and every style has clear step-by-step instuctions plus a colour photograph illustrating each step. A bit tricky if you're not used to styling your own hair, but the book makes it as easy as it will ever get. I am VERY happy with this product.

Although some of the hairstyles are a tad trashy, most of them are really lovely.

They're explain step by step, and each step and a coloured photograph and instructions.

I would recommend this book to people who have a basic knowledge of hairstyling. They dont teach you how to blow dry your hair perfect or exactly how to tease hair so you'll need to know just a bit to start out.

The hairstyles range from very simple to extrememly complex(even for me I'm a hairstylist), the complex ones look abit messy sometimes.

But all in all its a FANTABULOUS book, and if you actually can get your hands on this, practice, practice, practice, and soon all your family members will be begging you to do their hair up

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This was just what I was looking for. I do hair for special occasions (weddings mostly) and this book gave me some new ideas. There's probably something in there for everyone-elegent, funky, prom. Some of them are a little more work... so not so much a do it yourself.

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I am not a hair professional. That being said, I have healthy, well maintained waist length hair that I know how to style several ways, including french braids, a french twist, twisted rope, inside out french braids, and anything using hair elastics that you can dream up. On other people's hair, I can style it into herringbones, french rope braid, cornrows, etc. so I have a decent amount of experience for a non-professional. That being said, I was really, really disappointed with this book, and really, really glad I got it from the library.

The pros:

Lots of very pretty styles for your longer hair, with clear instructions on how to create each style.

The cons:

There weren't many styles that someone could do themselves. Most required someone to help or do them for you.

Nearly half the styles (or more) in this book use bobby pins. If you have really fine, super shiny hair, bobby pins don't stay in 90% of the time, making several of the styles shown completely useless.

Speaking of bobby pins: If I'm putting my hair up elegantly, I consider it "bad form" to have bobby pins showing. In many of these styles, you can see the pins. Easily.

A few of the really pretty styles in this book use hair extensions. I have waist length hair, and enough of it to probably do some of the styles without an extension, but there aren't directions to do it without extensions. I figured out most of them, but you have to improvise.

Many of the final photos of the completed style are using dark haired models photographed on a really dark background that makes the hairstyle blend in, and difficult to see.

Lots of the styles in this book involve pin curls (basically forming a section of your hair into a curl that is held in place with bobby pins.) While most of the styles were very pretty, I sort of thought that once your hands know how to make a pin curl, it's kind of a waste of paper showing so many styles that are nothing more than a variation on how many pin curls and where they're placed on your head.

This is nit-picking, but one of the styles shows a chain wrapped through someone's hair. I've tried a variation of this style with a soldered shut chain (so the links won't as easily catch in my super straight, super fine hair.) It's a recipe for a hair disaster. The chain got snarled and tangled in my hair so badly I ended up cutting the chain out. I imagine if you have thick & heavy straight hair, this style would work fine. But any curl, frizz, or fine hair, I would avoid, avoid, avoid this style.

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Love this book! Davis Biton has a unique talent for creating updos that are not fussy looking and would be equally stunning on both younger and older women. The creativity of Biton's styles is incredible! I have several hairstyling reference books and most of Biton's styles and techniques I have not seen before. Yes, some of the styles have teased ends or resemble mohawks but I truly could see myself or others wearing these funky styles for a night out or a fun weekend. There is a also a selection of more traditional Victorian-like low-buns, French Twist-like styles and some beautiful curly hair styles if you prefer to wear your hair down (complete with instructions on how to curl your hair if you aren't blessed with natural curls). The styles are demonstrated on women of all races which is a nice touch as well. I am so inspired by this book. Definitely put this on your wish list.

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The Educated Child: A Parents Guide From Preschool Through Eighth Grade

As a mother of three -one in public school, one in private and one home-schooled -I am deeply concerned about my children's education. I've lost count of the number of books I've read in the past 16 years on educating children. Some books were worth my time, many were not. Mr. Bennett's book is standing tall at the top of my list of "best reads". I'm sure we all have horror stories coming out of our kids' education (i.e., the huge amount of wasted time in the classroom, the lack of control in the class, the political correctness of revisionist history), but this book really can help. Mr. Bennett begins by explaining the importance of a solid education that engages a child's imagination by first making sure that child can read well. He builds on that by reminding parents that the main responsibility for educating our kids rests on our shoulders, not the school's. The book goes into detail about more than the Three R's, but covers those subjects extremely well, also. He reminds us that as parents it's up to us to speak up and go to bat for our kids throughout their education thus insuring they get the help they need. Throughout the book are checklists, questions to ask your child's teachers, book lists for you to insure that your child reads what is truly worthy of his time, and tips for incorporating the arts into your child's life. This book is like having a one-on-one conversation with a great educator who will give you the confidence you need to take control of your child's education. Help your child succeed by reading this book and then putting it into practice!

Bennett, Finn & Cribb provide for all parents what parents of special needs children have had for a long time an individualized education plan, a guide for what their children need to learn and a yardstick to measure the school's performance. Since my children are in 3rd and 5th grade, I immediately went to those sections to see how we were doing in our tiny four school district, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that we do well here, but could do better. I found their treatment of issues such as learning disabilty, ADHD and giftedness to be even handed and practical. By using this text as a guide parents (and hopefully school boards and principals) will be less inclined to jump on the latest educational bandwagon, and will instead stay focused on what needs to be done. The chapter on "Temptation and Troubles", dealing with the influences of TV, internet and sexual education is excellent, and the advice here will certainly be distributed in my practice as a child Psychologist. This is a must buy book for any parent who cares about what their children learn during these critical years.

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This is such a fabulous book. I have four children (ages 3-9) and I have found more valuable information, guidance, and great ideas in this book than in all the other education related books I have read -combined. I particularly liked the grade specific study topics (core curriculum), reading lists, helpful tips to improve reading and other ways to help your child succeed in school, questions to ask the teacher, info. on gifted and special needs children, and kindergarten readiness list. Even though I consider myself somewhat experienced in the first three to four years of school (due to the volume of children I have), I found that this book provided me with new insight and reinforced my desire to help my children develop a love for learning. I know I will use this as a reference for many years to come. My only regret is that I did not have this book when my oldest child started preschool! Well worth the price!

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This book looks like a college textbook, but is so filled with practical, down to earth common sense that I simply couldn't put it down. I am a teacher and a parent, and am highly recommending it to every person I come in contact with. It outlines what each grade level's expectations should be, and how to spot good education, spotty education and poor education. This man is a breath of fresh air to the education world. I wish I could take all of this information and place it in each parent's head.

One thing I particularly admire about Dr. Bennett's writing is that it is easy to read and reference. He speaks plainly and simply while making huge statements (ex. "There is right and wrong and it is our job to teach children to choose right"--what a concept lacking in our schools!)

Another thing I admire about this book is that it is not politically motivated. He does have some opinions in the last chapter of this book, but over all, he points out that we are to raise and teach moral, virtuous children that sometimes "make their brain sweat" while working out problems. (My daughter really likes to tell me her brain is sweating, so she must be doing a great job).

Another thing I admire about this book is that it is his feeling that if children were taught pride in themselves as Americans, we would see children turning away from drugs, because to support drug dealers is to support enemies of the United States.

If you have a child in your family or are a teacher or student teacher, I cannot rate this book high enough. If it were out in paperback I would personally purchase it for each of my parents in my class.

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This is a wonderful book, a must read for parents with children of any school age. Better yet, buy it before they start school so you'll know what to look for. It's probably the most useful book you can buy as a parent. Your children will benefit from what you learn as well. Don't send your children to school until you read this book!

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The Women's Health Big Book of Yoga: The Essential Guide to Complete Mind/Body Fitness

I just got this book today, so I haven't had a chance to go through every single page, but I am so impressed! It includes:

* a brief overview of the history of yoga

* language of yoga

* benefits of yoga

* answers to common questions on yoga

* touches on some of the deeper spiritual aspects of yoga (enough to give a taste of it, but not to overwhelm)

* how yoga keeps you fit

* conscious eating and even includes a sample meal plan with a few recipes!

That's just the first 40 pages :) THEN the book goes onto:

* a thorough break down of every essential yoga pose with beautiful photographic spreads that have anatomical cues

* fun 15 minute sequences you can do at home to target different parts of the body (ie.legs, arms, butt, etc...), special health-focused sequences (ie. pms, hangover, carpal tunnel, back pain, etc...), performance sequences (ie. basketball, golf, climbing, etc.), emotional health (ie. anxiety, relaxation, broken heart, etc...) and much MORE!

I am a yoga teacher and I would recommend this to any student seeking to perfect their asanas and gain a general understanding of yogic philosophy. However, if you're looking to get deep into the philosophy of yoga, this would not be the book I recommend. There are many other yoga books on anatomy and philosophy. However, I found this book to be very user friendly and well thought out guide to deepening your yogic practice! I believe that every yogi and/or yogini would benefit from having this book in their library.

I teach yoga and a student brought a copy to class to ask my opinion. I spent some time with it and discovered that Kathryn Budig has created a book very much like herself--it's practical, informative, and downright entertaining. She appreciates the fact that many woman have incorporated yoga into their lives for all kinds of practical reasons, but mainly because it makes them feel good. She provides all of the basic information a beginner or an experienced yogini might need about the many questions that can arise during your practice, and has also shown how to use some of the various poses as a remedy for many of the common challanges we face in our daily lives. If you're interested, she has covered pretty much the full gamut of yoga topics (breathing techniques, dealing with injuries, meditation, "I'm not flexible", etc.) and you can pick and choose to read about those that pique your curiosity. The photography is stunning, and the photos are of real people who have developed some proficiency so that you can have an idea of where you may be headed. There is really good information here and it's not presented in some obtuse, philosophical and hard to comprehend manner, nor does she demand that you adhere to the "my way or the highway" mode of teaching--like I said before, it's very practical, informative and good advice on how to incorporate yoga into your daily life and reap its many benefits. I'm recommending it to all of my women students, and to those men who aren't put off by the "women's health" part of the title. Good stuff, entertaining, and highly recommended.

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This is a glossy, bubbly approach to yoga. Sort of "fit woman's how to add some yoga to your sports routine". You will get some pop-philosophy (where yoga luminaries are given funny nicknames and the author explains how yoga helped her accept that she is too heavy to become an LA actress, her original ambition), some fit girl's real life problem advice (a sequence for when your boyfriend dumps you) and a whole lot of pastel hi-res asana demonstrations.

Now the demonstrations are what makes the book worthwhile: they are excellent and detailed, presented from different angles and contain various practical tips on how to work toward achieving what seems to be impossible at first.

If you can live with the former, buy it for the latter. But if the former bugs you especially if you have some yoga experience already there are better books out there.

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Summary:

This book is dangerous. I'm honestly concerned that someone will hurt themselves with this book.

This book would get torn apart in a peer review, like what I'm doing. The author is a contributing magazine editor. That alone raises some flags on its purpose and credibility.

This book should not have been written. It adds nothing to the subject of yoga and is intended purely to reap profit from buyers. Practitioners are better off not using it.

Far better options exist for yoga books. My favorite being David Swenson's http://www.amazon.com/Ashtanga-Yoga-The-Practice-Manual/dp/1891252089/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1362513861&sr=8-3

Issues with this Book:

• Way too pro-yoga. Yoga is not a panacea for every mental and physical woe, though this book suggests it is. You won't suddenly fix your health problems, chronic anxiety, or get ripped muscles. It can certainly help with those, but the book over-promises. In one part it suggests that. "400 calories can be burned in a 90 minute Vinyasa class!" For reference, I checked other activities that burn about 400 calories in 90min. That list includes things like golf, yard work, and bathing a dog. Some activities that burn slightly more calories: cleaning gutters, wheelchair basketball, hiking, downhill skiing. The point I'm making is that yoga is not high calorie burn activity.

• Cherry-picked scientific studies: She cherry picks studies to prove her point too often (common of Men's and Women's Health), without mentioning counter arguments.

• Writing style. Written like a massive magazine endorsement. Too many exclamation points.

• References: It quotes the dictionary and cites "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrnes.

• It advocates cleansing: Not only is this book the wrong context for cleansing diets, there's no scientific basis for this helping.

• Few modifications are provided to make the poses appropriate for different ability levels. There is the books greatest flaw. For example, being able to do a free handstand is the end result of possibly years of training and many progressions to get there. This book just presents it, with the only variation being a handstand against a wall. Most of the other variations presented are only for the most advanced style of a pose.

• No Feeling: Doesn't say where you should feel the stretch/strengthen of a pose. Triangle pose, for example, is quite technical in feeling the pose correctly.

• No warnings: A lot of the poses presented are dangerous without an instructor's guidance. There are no warnings present for many of them.

• Terrible Series Constructions and Lack of Transitions: The very first series it presents, a quick 15 min one, includes both a standing split and handstand. Those are very advanced poses to do and shouldn't be done without a warm-up. Again, there are no modifications given to progress to the pose. Throughout the other series, there is little consideration of difficulty level between poses. A lot of the specialty series for headache, jet lag, hangovers are just the author's imagination of what might help. For indigestion, it suggests a bunch of twisting poses; for acne, a bunch of inverted poses. It all seems like a pseudoscience of false promises.

• Confused Target Audience: Who is this book for? It discusses basic concepts of yoga, yet includes some very advanced and dangerous poses that could only be attempted after several years of training.

• Great production value and look: This might make it worse, because people will be drawn to the colorful and pretty pictures and think it's an authoritative source for teaching oneself yoga.

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I am an intermediate yoga practitioner I often do it in my home and rarely join a formal class setting. As a result, I was looking forward to this book because I thought that it might allow me to get some great routines and new ideas for my practice.

I loved the images the colors are bright, and the poses are clear. The book is broken down in sections with the first going through various poses, and the second one arranged according to what you are looking to get out of your practice (i.e. relaxation, back pain, PMS, etc.). I appreciate the various routines, but found that it lacked transitions there isn't a clear guide how to go from pose to pose and that is a big part of what makes yoga so effective. I liked the variety of poses, but found that adding additional details about the transitions and in-between steps would have helped.

I also found it strange that Women's Health had a man doing some of the yoga routines it didn't seem like the right setting. I understand that men do yoga, but since this is a Women's Health book, it was a bit odd and unnecessary.

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Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods

This is the only cookbook that I know of that you will read from cover to cover. It is not the dry "do this in this order" kind of book, it walks with you on your culinary endevors like your mom or grandma would, telling you stories along the way, including the secrets that make not just sourdough bread, but unforgettable sourdough bread.

Sandor doesn't just tell us, he shows us, how to be self-sufficient about making and storing food (with little need for a stove or a refrigerator): making sourdough, cheese, miso, making tempeh, making wine, beer and, it seems, almost every other fermented food made the world over. And he gives you a list of resources where you can order the most mundane and exotic of starter cultures and even seaweed from our own Atlantic coast.

And your concept of "self" will never be the same again. He shows us how to reclaim and restore a part of ourselves that has protected us like the ozone layer protects the earth: the world of microbes in and around us, the protective cloak of the microecology that is meant to be a part of us like our skin.

Fermented foods restore a health balance like no probiotics and vitamins can. Happy reading, happy fermenting, happy eating!

While the introductions to the chapters and the recipes definitely catch my interest and make me want to prepare these recipes, I am finding over and over again that the recipes are not written in a way where you could flip to the page and go.

Frequently, the instructions refer in an unclear manner to a different recipe that you need to follow in part, but make some changes.

Other times one of the ingredients is a recipe in itself, but no page number is given for where to find these extra instructions. For instance, many recipes call for "honey water," but give no information about how to prepare "honey water" or where in the book to find this concoction, leaving you to page through and search for it. Once you find honey water, you find that it is in a recipe for honey wine. Are the the recipes that call for "honey water" intending for you to use the ingredients from this honey wine recipe or use the final product? No answer is apparent.

I feel like I will have to re-write each of these recipes to include their FULL INSTRUCTIONS to make them user friendly. I don't know whether this was a choice made to save space, a sign of a disorganized mind, or simple laziness on the part of the author.

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I love this book! I've tried a few of the recipes and just love the results! I can't believe none of the "back to nature" type books and publications I read talk about the simple and healthful ways of preserving food through fermentation!

Sandor does a fantastic job of taking the mystery and careful measuring out of fermentation. Most of the recipes I've read for fermentation say you must follow the recipe exactly or risk food poisoning. I'd rather play around with the recipes, so this is just perfect for me! I'm also impressed with his research into traditional recipes.

I just read that kimchi may cure Avian Flu, and the recipe in this book is a fantastic hit here! We use it as salad dressing with some sesame oil!

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To refer to this as a 'cookbook' is disingenuous; it's a book about life and living foods! Having first read through a 20-ish page xeroxed copy of Katz' guide to fermented foods, I welcomed the increased breadth and volume covered in this published edition. I especially appreciate the cited references, although some works are relied on too heavily and there is a relative dearth of scientific citations. That said, there are some and the critique is balanced by the realization that Western science and nutrition have not been overly interested in such topics. A friend with Krohn's disease is hopeful it will help him to find foods he can more easily digest. Katz' book is an unconventional guide to storing foods with methods proven useful over centuries of preservation....and years in his own kitchen. It's detailed, thought provoking and contains a host of colorful characters worth reading about all on their own. It gets four stars because I look forward to a 2nd edition thanks for a fine book!

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This cookbook has all the mundane and esoteric recipes I've ever wanted to own but have not been able to find all in one glorious place. Non-vinegar pickled pickles? It's there. Amazake? No problem! Kimchee? Likewise! And it's all written in a very intelligent, humorous and engaging manner with short and entertaining anecdotes that do not go on forever or stray far afield. **This book is a gem.** I recently attended a cooking class conducted by the author, who is just as amazing as his cookbook. He is full of energy and enthusiasm for spreading the gospel of these traditional and oh-so-nourishing foods. I own about 60 cookbooks, by the way, and this book is in my top five. I can't say enough good things about it. Buy this book!

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