I used this book with my daughter when she was 5. We had tried a variety of approaches when she expressed a desire to read. She learned enough phonics and sight words to read some very basic readers but balked at continuing with workbooks, no matter how colorful and fun they were supposed to be. This book enabled us to move to the next level. Although I would be leery of using this book to teach reading from scratch, it is great for those children who think they don't need reading instruction any more.

You are able to introduce new concepts painlessly while reading regular books. You use one book for several days and create your lesson based on the words that the child has a problem with in the first reading. The section at the back of the book was especially useful for me because it gives an example of how an average lesson using this system would work. Theory is fine, but it can get jumbled in my brain if I don't know how to put it into practice!

Other reviewers on this site have covered this book in much more detail, and you should check their reviews as well. This is more of a testimonial that the method is helpful. Mr. Thogmartin's book and a set of magnetic letters will get your child past the "hat-cat-sat" stage with a minimum of fuss.

The contents of this book have been wonderful in implementing a successful reading program for my own children. After many starts and stops with complete phonics based programs, this book was a refreshing approach, that actually worked! Very, very applicable for any home-based instruction. Not to mention an enjoyable learning process, as the children themselves help to pick out their "lessons."

The author's target audience is parents who are teachingtheir children to read at home, and he writes in a comprehensiblemanner for those not steeped in educational jargon. On the other hand, he avoids the trap of telling his audience simply what to do as if parents or non-education professionals were not able to grasp the basic principles of literacy development; therefore, this is a book of not only "how to" but "why" and should be quite refreshing for parents who want to know just how reading comes about. The author grounds his beliefs about reading not only in research but also in extensive experience in teaching children to read so that there is a firm connection between theory and practice.

No doubt about it--the act of reading is enormously intricate; yet, the straightforward explanation of language acquisition, the interactive reading process, and observable behaviors of early readers should de-mystify the complex reading puzzle for parents. The author has, therefore, skillfully communicated that teaching a child to read is doable without reducing learning to read to some type of simplistic activity. Further, he states the importance of phonics AND places it right where it belongs in the entire reading process--as a valuable tool for the child's word recognition strategies in the context of real reading and real writing. Reading is so much more than merely learning phonetic elements, and the author addresses what the "more" is for the reader.

Throughout the book are ample real-life examples of teaching children to read and specific suggestions for parents based on literacy research and actual experiences. Included is a lesson plan format, record-keeping forms, lists of materials, strategy development explanation and activities, and recorded dialogue between parent and child as the child is guided through a book for the first time. This latter section of the book is very helpful--this is what a sit-down, read-with-me lesson really looks like. At the end is a lengthy bibliography of books children customarily enjoy--leveled for a parent's convenience.

I am a teacher with 25 years experience in kindergarten and first grade classrooms AND a teacher of parents about reading as well. I would have recommended this book to any one of the parents of my students and do recommend it to parents who are home schooling and those who are interested in how their children learn to read. My suggestion for Mr. Thogmartin is to somehow make his book accessible and available to parents of the various cultures in our society.

Rather than reading Appendix II-E of House of Leaves and then reading Whalestoe Letters, you might as well read the latter instead of the former.

The major difference is that, where II-E shows a fairly linear descent from sanity to insanity, WL provides a more complex story, showing that Pelafina had earlier episodes of madness than II-E lets on.

In and of itself, WL doesn't really do much, but it does flush out the story of House of Leaves a bit.

These were in the appendices of House of Leaves in the edition I read.

These can be very confusing some times but the woman's crazy, so that's expected. In House of Leaves we occasionally learn about Johnny's past and his family and it's nice to see smething from his mother.

The book is short, but it really keeps your attention.

Danielewski does a brilliant job of portraying a woman on, and over, the edge. The first person authoress of the letters comprising Whalestoe's text is a mother in a madhouse, writing to her estranged son, John. She seems a nice enough woman to begin with, if a bit dramatic and given to airs - what is she doing locked up in a loony-bin?

That, of course, is the story. As the letters progress, the institutionalized woman's state of mind becomes more apparent, as does her history. Eventually, it all spills out - and quite memorably, at that.

I'm especially impressed with this book for a personal reason, which is that I knew a woman with a near-identical history in what was then our local mental hospital, over thirty years ago. Like the woman narrating Danilewski's book in her epistles, you wouldn't have had any idea there was anything wrong with her upon first meeting. Once you got to know why she was locked up, it chilled you. I was less than ten years old, and it made the blood drain from my face, even then. But I couldn't help liking her and feeling sorry for her, at the same time.

And that is the real beauty of Danielewski's character portrayal: the writer of the letters remains sympathetic, despite her past. The reader feels genuine pity, once the reason for her incarceration is understood and its effects on her become evident. She's a sometimes frightening woman, but very sad at the same time. Her life has been spent in a sort of penance, and her letters to her son are sometimes heartwrenching. In a number of words amounting only to a glorified novella, Danielewski convincingly tells an entire life story, and makes you feel it with surprising depth.

I haven't read the author's House of Leaves, but will now that I've read this remarkable tour de force of minimalist writing and psychological portraiture.

I liked this book.It had lots of cool predicaments.My favorite
part was when Huck went to the grave yard and witnessed a murder.
Then they tried to solve it.

I think that this book is a really good book for a person to read if they like to read adventure books. The adventure in this book is non-stop. It shows the growth of a young boy going on a adventure. The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin is Mark Twain's literary masterpiece. I think that Mark Twain is brilliant. The story is wrote in the first person from a young boy's perspective. This novel is also a testament to the various dialects of the southern regions. It also shows many of the charateristics of the southern regions. It is a story about freedom. It deals with physical freedom for the slaves and the freedom of the spirit for both Huck and Jim.This book is combined of serious issues but then has Mark Twain's humor. This is a excellent book, and I recommend it to everyone.

Yeah, I really liked this book I just couldn't put it down. It was so much better than a lot of other versions. My favorite part was when every one thought Huck was dead. It's interesting to feel like you are or with the characters on the river. If you want to learn more read this book.

You would think that a showdown between the Ultimate X-Men and the Ultimates (the Nuevo Avengers) would offer an epic battle, but instead "Ultimate War" is pretty much a holding action. This trade paperback which is Volume 5 in the "Ultimate X-Men" series collects the four issue mini-series, which follows up on the conclusion of Volume 4 "Hellfire & Brimstone" where Magneto remembers himself and prepares to put humanity in its proper place. In the wake of the revelation that the Mutant Master of Magnetism was not killed and that Charles Xavier had lied about Magneto's true fate, the X-Men join the Brotherhood of Mutants on the government's hit list and the Ultimates are sent to bring them down.

Of course the lineups of the two groups is substantially different from the first time they fought in "The Avengers" #53, with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the Black Widow added on one side and Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus on the other. More importantly, it takes the Ultimates until issue #4 to track down the X-Men, although the Ultimates do get to tangle with Magneto when Daddy Dearest comes looking for Pietro and Wanda (I do hope that Magneto really is their father this time around because that would be a pretty good change from the first time through the Marvel Universe). Writer Mark Millar and artist Chris Bachalo reduce the "war" to a series of one-on-one battles: Iron Man vs. Colossus, Thor vs. Storm, Captain America vs. Wolverine, and the Wasp vs. Professor X. The problem is that they all take place in one issue, which means we only get a couple of pages for each confrontation. To quote Xander: "Big overture, little show."

The biggest problem with "Ultimate War" is that the mini-series is hamstrung from the beginning: not much can actually happen because the big showdown with Magneto has to be with the X-Men. The end effect is not a complete reset to where we started, but its is close all things considered. There are also some implications for down the road, such as when Captain America recalls Wolverine as Corporal James Howlett of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (of all of the new and improved Marvel Superheroes in this Ultimate book the one I like the most is Cap; the living legend is now much more of a pragmatist than an idealist, which makes perfect sense for somebody who fought Hitler and the Nazis during World War II). Consequently, it is not like you can skip this without being at something of a disadvantage when the story continues in "The Ultimate X-Men," which is precisely the point of such mini-series.

This book is cool, because in the other x-men graphic novels you don't get as much fighting as here. Also you get great characters like: Cap. America, Thor, Hawkeye, Iron Man, and a reference to The Huk. So I'd reccommend it for the price, since it is the cheappest Ultimate X-men graphic novel, even though the story is pretty simple and it doesn't end in the volume, you have to continue in vol.6, The Return of the King.

I have been a fan of the Ultimate line since it began(especially Ultimate X-Men) and this is a great crossover story for fans of The Ultimates or Ultimate X-Men (or anyone looking for a great action packed story). The art is great and just the idea of The Ultimates fighting the Ultimate X-Men(and the return of Magneto) is mind-blowing. Any fan of the Ultimate universe cannot miss this book. Recommended.

I am reading this book and aside from the hidious reacing car obsession by the author, I found that it has good suggestions for reading faster. However, seeing more words-per-minute does not mean comprehending what you just read! This book could become valuable if it had also information about how to retain information read at high speed. my two cents...

I am reading this book and aside from the hidious reacing car obsession of the author, I found that it has good suggestions for reading faster. However, seeing more words-per-minute does not mean comprehending what you just read! This book could become valuable if it had information about how to retain information read at high speed.

my two cents...

I worked through the 10-day program illustrated in the book. The result is amazing! With continuous practice after the program, both my reading speed and comprehension improved dramatically. The author offered many different ways to develop skills to achieve two major goals: faster reading and better comprehension. I've tried all the methods and found the ones that best fit my own needs. I am sure for those who need to read a lot everyday (especially non-fiction material) will be treasured by this simple self-training guidebook.

Douglas may present a clear chronology of events relating to the investigation of Unabomber. However, that is the sole limit of the books's worth. The remainder of the book is a staging ground for Douglas' brand of psycholinguistics, the analysis of a person's patterns of expression and thought in order to provide a psychological profile of the person. Instead of accomplishing that, though, in any meaningful way, Douglas perpetrates a sort of freehand poetic literary criticism on the so-called Manifesto. He completely fails to gain any insight into Unabomber's own statement of policy in "Industrial Society and Its Future". On page fifty-three, Douglas boils down his view by claiming simply that the Unabomber's fixation on wood and nature "...probably served as his rationale for setting the bombs off, his substitute for whatever deeper psychological problems had actually caused him to commit the crimes. A lot of violent terrorist activity is the result of political beliefs, but at the same time, I've never seen a violent terrorist yet who I didn't feel had deep psychological problems and a serious character disorder." Oh, yeh. Lest we forget, Douglas goes on: Unabomber "diabolical" too.

Douglas essentially claims that the Unabomber's activity is irrational and eludes sensible thought. That is Douglas' most egregious fundamental flaw. If he's serious in that claim, then he is less insightful than he himself seems to think he is. On the other hand, Douglas' apparent perspicasity in his craft leads me to think that he has another goal in mind: distributing disinformation to the segment of the citizenry who haven't yet bothered to read, consider, and ponder Unabomber's veritable position. That can be accomplished only by directly encountering "Industrial Society and Its Future", not the perverted and oblique interpretation of it which Douglas works so stridently to champion under a charade of sophisticated psychoanalysis.

Basically, and to his credit, Unabomber provides an analysis of the sociology of technology. His central point is that being human and organization-dependent technology are inherently antagonistic and mutually exclusive entities. This basic tension provides the battleground for a choice: remaining human or allowing everyone to be psychologically, physiologically, and anatomically re-engineered in increments to fit the needs of the aloof and impersonal organizations that determine the course of industrial society; instead of allowing humans to put an upward limit on the intrusion into the psychological sphere that is demanded by the ever-increasing velocity and volume of conveniences that ultimately, and ever more quickly, become indispensable for the functioning of society and any given individual's participation therein. (E.g., ATM, FAX, refridgeration, pharmaceuticals, genetic recombination, etc.)

A careful reading of Unabomber's own words is very much worthwhile. He's talking about us, you and me, not some creature on another world.

And let us not forget what Douglas carelessly sweeps under the rug: Theodore Kaczysnki was arrested in the course of the execution of a speciously expedited search warrant that originated by his brother, David, ratting him out. The government's role in the story should be considered under the optic of a triple treachery: the government policing agencies, fraternal back-stabbing, and Douglas' attempt to obfuscate the truth about Unabomber's quite rational motivations as articulated in "Industrial Society and Its Future". Read Unabomber before you read anything about him.

The book was intersting, but a bit to brief for my liking. The actual story of the Unabomber life took less than 150 pages. The book details each of his bombings and suggests the reasoning behind the target and M.O. Douglas also takes you through his thoughts in the investigation. Many readers feel Douglas is a bit arrogant in his writing. I do not agree with that opinion, nor do I feel this book is written that way.

The rest of the book was not very interesting outside of the inclusion of the full manifesto of the Unabomber. The manifesto contains nothing shocking, but contains what you might expect an outsider hermit radical to say. I'm sure there are better books about the Unabomber than this, so I suggest you try a more detailed account.

I had never heard of John Douglas until one day my sister told me about this great book she was reading. She gave me a copy of 'Obession'. Now I am hooked ! What great reading all of his books are, from start to finish. I am now a fan. Looking forward to more books from this author.

It bothers me to no end to read the negative reviews of this book. Maybe it's because the book is labeled from "casual" to "expert" user. I knew absolutely nothing about web publishing and HTML coding and found this extremely easy to read and follow. Unfortunately there were probably a few people in the "advanced" bracket who needed to slam this book because it did not cover what they expected. It gave me a solid basis for HTML and Dynamic HTML coding and was a great introduction to Java and CGI. When an author has to cover so many subjects related to HTML he's bound to skim over the more advanced applications. Being almost 1000 pages, it does a sterling job. By the way, the CD has a great HTML editor on it!

As a beginner I found the book a tremendous resource into HTML and Web page authoring. I do not believe the book is intended to be an exhaustive reference on every topic but wants to focus on normal day to day concerns. After reading the book I now feel extremely comfortable on all Web issues and recommend the text highly.

Easy and fun to read and learn basics of HTML and well beyond. Logically organized so it works well both for self-instruction and as a reference.

This book is great for beginners in that it introduces and familiarizes readers with tools, lumber, and techniques. In fact, I would go as far as to say it's a great motivator to start building your own projects. As far as the plans in the book go, I recommend either redoing measurement calculations on lumber and hardware, or finding plans elsewhere. I built the lawn chair, and found some measurements to be wrong in lumber and in the screw lengths. I wrote down the corrections as I went along, and found that my second chair only took me a fraction of the time to make, compared to the first. Looks great! Just be careful if you're using the plans! Good luck.

Argh!!! where to start!?! If you're attempting to build anything in this book just be careful. Use it as a rough guideline, but do not follow the instructions. Why? Because they're all wrong! I am building the adirondack couch. First of all the list of materials has mistakes in it. The back slats for the seat call for 1x6 wood. If you do the math, you'll find that 1x6's don't work. You have to use 1x4's. It calls for 11 of them, yet in the written instructions they tell you you'll need 12 of them. One of the diagrams is mislabled. Some of the measurements are wrong. They tell you to nail in a screw (you can nail in a nail and screw in a screw, but can you nail in a screw?). As far as attaching the back to the seat...it's an architectural mystery as to how it's actually going to keep the seat back from collapsing when there are no supports at all. What else...oh. yes. the lovely pictures they have. If you use the pictures of the completed project as a guideline...don't. They don't match what they're telling you in the instructions. They tell you to use carriage bolts, yet the picture doesn't show any. The seat back has the corners cut off to give it some shape, yet, if you do it the way they tell you, you'll soon find out that you're cutting through the top back support.

It's great for project ideas but I definitely wouldn't reccomend it to any beginners. Before you attempt any of the projects, spend some time and double check the materials list and the instructions...especially before you go out and spend money on the wrong materials and then realize nothing fits.

Interesting ideas for your home. I haven't made any yet, but I hope to. Who would have thought about constructing a backyard deck that's portable? Some things are bigger than others, but they are all built to please. Rudimentary knowledge of woodworking is advised, however--you should know your way around a hammer and nails, if nothing else.

I'm a newbie to Autocad. I was fooled by the previous reviewer, thinking this might be a good book to start out my Autocad carreer. When I got the book and realized that the content is too little and it mentions NOTHING on the 3D part of AutoCAd. I have to return this book and got "AutoCAD 2002: No Experience Required". Now this is a much better book to get started if you are a newbie. It covers most of the 2d stuff then has some intro to 3d. Then I got AutoCad 2002 Bible, which covers virtually everything a Autocad.

Too much words with no much information

My Husband's professor recommended this book, and my husband loves it. It is very clear, topis are clearly and understandably explained and easy to find. Recommended for anyone taking a cad class or just wanting to learn cad.

This book is like a college work, it's not for traders. It has a lot of tests, and says a lot about why not to use oscilators. But in the end is the feeling that this book was made for a college lecture, not for discussion with traders. Don't waste your money, nothing can be learned from this book.

This book is not "a breakthrough" about oscillators, but a simple collection of some indicators. It lacks the intellectual depth of the book, "Trading for a Living," by Dr. Alexander Elder.

In the middle of the book, the author presented others' tests on some popular oscillators and the conclusion is indeed ugly for any "meaningful" usage of any oscillators, but the author had to acknowledge numerous times in the book that the oscillators do pinpoint the extremes of underlying markets quite well. The reader is then left wondering what has been gone wrong. The author does not offer any deeper insight than the plain facts. In fact, it is not the oscillators' fault, but the people use and test them in the wrong way.

The later half of the book is even more disappointing. The author just briefly outlined some new ideas and innovations, but never gave any test results. You might wonder why? The author clearly has the backtesting tools in his hands, TradeStation by Omega Research. He could have just run a few model tests on S&P500 or some other indexes and shown those results in his book, but he never did so. Should readers use those new indicators or not? The author did not answer directly to this question, but used the old testing results of some other indicators to conclude his book, "The evidence suggests oscillators function better as discretionary or forecasting tools than as the foundation for systematic trading strategies."

Overall, this book has some value to educate the general readers and introduce the ideas of momentum-based indicators, but fall short of the promise in its title, "Trading with Oscillators."

I was the type of person whom the author describes as familiar on a superficial level with oscillators and their use in trading. This book took me to a deeper level. Lots of good stuff and depth. The author is not shy in documenting oscillators weak-points either, so it's not just a market cheerleading book. Kind of overpriced for a pretty thin paperback, but I'm not sorry I bought it.