This book has a bit of everything. There is a section about wood, another of tools, a section about techniques and a section with projects. This book is like an abridged version of "The Compete Book of Woodworking" which has twice as many pages, is twice as thick and has twice as many projects.

This book has a little bit of everything. It starts with an explanation of what wood is, how it's produced, and what the differences are between woods. Then tools are examined, everything from screwdrivers to bandsaws. Next is a quick section on getting started (plans, safety equipment, etc.) and then one on fasteners and fittings. The next three sections are very good sections on techniques (basic techniques, joints and advanced techniques), and after those are a section on wood finishing.

The last, and largest, chapter is the one containing the plans. For some reason, the projects are not delineated in the table of contents or anywhere else, which is a bit of a pain. For your knowledge they are: wine rack, picture frame, CD rack, mirror frame, magazine rack, (wall-mounted) bookshelf, bar stool, occasional table, storage chest, three-legged chair, display case, bedside cabinet, computer cabinet, butcher's block, bookcase, corner cabinet, (small) dining table, settle (wooden bench), conservatory bench, and kitchen base unit. Each project has a list of materials, exploded diagrams, and color pictures to accompany the step-by-step directions. (Very nice!)

As might be expected from a book that tries to cover everything, it is something of a mixed bag. Some of the information is quite informative, while some is bound to be common knowledge of most woodworkers. Overall, though, I do think that this is a good book for any woodworker, or woodworker-want-to-be to read.

As for the projects, all of them were of the style that I would call Swedish Modern (that may not be the right term, so please do not take this as gospel). That is, they are of a simple, almost stark design, shown with a blonde finish. I must admit that I didn't particularly care for any of the projects, and have not made any of them.

Overall, though, let me say that this is a well-produced book, one that would be of use to most woodworkers. It is a good book, but not a great one.

Although Romney Pringle isn't as interesting and memorable as E.W. Hornung's character, Raffles, I still enjoyed the clever plots of each chapter. Pringle's personality is held a bit in the dark, but the surprising story conclusions make up for it.

One of the better gardening books I've come across. It tells about the kind of soil (acid/alkaline) the plant prefers as well as how fast the plants grows, some known pests, propagation, and cultivation. It includes trees, perennials, vegetables, annuals, bulbs, etc. Part 1 of the book deals with choosing plants for your particular needs (i.e. soil, light needs, color, plant performance, garden design). I think because it is a British gardening book, American gardeners may note a couple of drawbacks: some popular plants do not appear (coneflower, cucumber and coreopsis, for example). When other varieties are named, I'm not sure these varieties are usually available in this country.

While this book displays some wonderful ideas for face painting, the focus seems to be more on the costumes and props that go along with the concept. I do face painting for large groups of disadvantaged children (at homeless shelters, special events, etc.). Therefore, I have only a brief amount of time to paint each child's face. I usually show the children the book and have them pick out what they'd like to be. But they would be very disappointed in the final result if it doesn't look like the wonderful images in the book, which are enhanced by the costumes. Many of the pages in this book are only devoted to creating the costumes (often without any face painting even involved). So it doesn't suit my purposes.

This book had an insane number of errors, including incorrect formulae, incomplete questions and inconsistent answers. Not only that, but the "Practice Tests" were not anything like a true sample MCAT would be. Many questions tested irrelevant detail that would never be tested in this form on a real MCAT (e.g. "A midsagittal section will divide the body into: A. equal superior and inferior portions. B. equal lateral portions. C. equal anterior and posterior portions. D. unequal lateral portions.") Some of the Verbal Reasoning passages were on science topics--the true MCAT would never have science topics in that section. And even the writing prompts for the Writing Sample section are wrong! This book was a total waste of my money.

I found this book to be quite useless. It was poorly written and filled with editorial errors. Furthermore, the supposed "sample MCATs" did not at all resemble the actual test. Oftentimes, the science passages in the book were little more than a paragraph. In addition, the book stressed unimportant trivia while overlooking vital concepts.

the book doesn't even have organic chem questions! so biological sciences were just biology!!! and obscure biology w/ alot of terminology that you'll never need for the mcat! the science passages are far from the real mcat...everything is too easy!