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Book reviews for "Scott,_David_L." sorted by average review score:

Complete Guide to National Park Lodges, 2nd Edition
Published in Digital by Globe Pequot Press ()
Authors: David L Scott and Kay Scott
Amazon base price: $17.95
Average review score:

Very Helpful
This summer we enjoyed our first stays in some of the national park lodges. Not knowing much about the lodges prior to the trip, we located this guide in a bookstore in a nearby town. It provided enough information that we were able to make good choices on which lodges to choose in each park we visited. In particular, we were having difficulty picking lodges in both Yellowstone and Glacier. Both parks have several lodges and we didn't know much about any lodge other than Old Faithful Inn until reading the information in this book. We found the information accurate and helpful.

This is an Excellent Book!
If you like to stay in National Parks, this is the book for you. It provides all the detail needed to weigh all your options for lodging in our National Parks (price, location, views, room options, restaurants). In some cases it even gives recommendations for certain rooms because of the view or the size of the room.

Even if you never thought about staying at a National Park Lodge get this book. There are some wonderful places to stay and staying in the park, even if it costs a little more, adds so much to the total park experience.

I will not be without this book when I travel. I just wish the authors would write a similar book for State Parks.

Accurate and Useful
As a frequent visitor to the national parks, I found the information in this book to be accurate and useful. We had stayed in several of the lodges mentioned in the book but found out about some places we never knew existed. The lodge in North Cascades is one of our favorites. I recommend this book to both experienced and novice travelers.


How Wall Street Works
Published in Digital by McGraw-Hill ()
Author: David L. Scott
Amazon base price: $16.95
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Easy to read, cheap and interesting
Why five stars: cause it's a nice book for those that know wall street without really understanding how it works (so great title). Still it is soft but the content is rather strong, not too boring, short and the p[resentation is very good. Built aroud lots of questions-answers, that might interest a very large public.
Advice: Buy it cause it is very cheap for the information it provides compared to other books
Note: That is a great introductory book

Investment information I could understand
I found this book to be an excellent source of investment information for a novice investor such as myself. Written in common English, the author doesn't try to impress the reader with big words and far out theory. I recommend this to any person who wants to learn the basics of investing.

A very good introduction to investing
This is one of the best books I have found for expaining investing to a novice like myself. The author has done a good job of discussing difficult topics in an easily understandable manner. I highly recommend this book.


Empty Nesting: Reinventing Your Marriage When the Kids Leave Home
Published in Paperback by Jossey-Bass (26 November, 2001)
Authors: David H. Arp, Claudia S. Arp, Scott M. Stanley, Howard J. Markman, and Susan L. Blumberg
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Make the rest the best!
One word describes this book: OUTSTANDING! Given these two statistics: (1) Every seven seconds, a baby boomer turns age 50, and (2) the divorce rate is up 16 percent for marriages of 30-plus years, this book is a MUST READ for all couples who fall into the empty nest/second half marriage category. Don't let the word "fighting" in the title make you think for a minute that this book is only for couples whose marriages are on shaky ground. It is for ALL couples wanting to build, keep, or return to a great relationship.

This book is the best of the best. It is the best of the book The Second Half of Marriage by David and Claudia Arp in which they identify eight challenges every marriage in the second half faces. And, it is the best of the strategies and techniques of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) developed by Stanley, Markman, and Blumberg. Not only do the authors suggest powerful, yet simple, ways couples can upgrade their communication and conflict resolution skills, they also stress the importance of building couple friendship, having fun, becoming empty nest lovers, and keeping the relationship strong.

Do you want the rest to be the best? READ this book!

Just the two of us again
Although we are an empty nest couple, it doesn't seem that way with the pets we inherited from the kids when they moved out. We have 3 cats, 1 dog and an iguana to keep us busy now. I think the kids were easier to raise!

This great book isn't just for couples who have a truly empty nest. Many midlife couples today find that their nests get refilled with boomerang adult kids, aging parents, visits from kids and grandkids, or grandkids on a full time basis.

I liked the section on how to learn about the danger signs of behaviors that can lead couples who have been married for decades to the divorce court. There is also good information on the major issues that midlife couples need to deal with in order to have a strong marriage.


Hong Kong Action Theatre!, 2E.
Published in Paperback by Guardians Of Order (31 July, 2001)
Authors: Nicole Lindroos, Jeff Mackintosh, Chris Pramas, Lucien Soulban, Scott Kessler, John R., Jr. Phythyon, David L. Pulver, and Terry Richards
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Style, Style, Style
Hong Kong Action Theatre! 2nd Edition is a game based on Chinese action films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Killer. It attempts to accurately portray the style of these films and tries to cover all the genres: kung fu, wire fu, gunplay, and so on.

Players portray actors in Hong Kong cinema. Characters are created using Guardians of Order's simple Tri-Stat system, rounding out the character with skills like gun combat and kung fu and special attributes to set the actor apart like Director's Friend or Cantopop Star.

The actor is the character that players will be portraying every single game. Their abilities and attributes will remain stable. However, the character's Role changes from one session to the next.

Each session is a movie, and the Role is the actor's part in the movie. A Role can be anything from Triad Assassin to Hard-Boiled Cop to Drunken Fisherman. Each Role has unique abilities that stack on top of your actor's for that specific session.

Another interesting quirk of the game is Stunts. During combat, players are encouraged to have their characters do the wild and death-defying stunts of Hong Kong cinema. The wilder and more dangerous the stunt, the better the reward. Characters are rewarded by the gamemaster with Star Power points which represent the Actor's pull in the cinema world and his or her popularity with the audience. These can be cashed in for rerolls and other goodies such as script rewrites (e.g. the villain happens to be standing next to barrels of flammable liquid).

The game also contains a lot of "real-world" information on Hong Kong and the history of Hong Kong cinema that some might find interesting and others might find to be a waste of space in a roleplaying game book.

The game is great. With an energetic group with a feel for the Hong Kong action genre, you can make movies to rival Hong Kong blockbusters. In some respects, I feel that HKAT lumps too many of the genres together with no demarcation between gun fu, kung fu, and wire fu films, and so they all get smushed together. In general, it's fun, original, creative game and a worthy second edition to the original by Gareth Michael-Skarka.

Gameplay is episodic, with each game session being a "movie" independent of other game sessions. The movies can cover any of the traditional Hong Kong action film genres.

Kung Fu Action!
This is a solid system for a Kung Fu movie action game. This is made by Guardians of Order, so it uses the Tri-Stat System (if you've played BESM, this will be very familiar). The basic system is based on three stats: body, mind, and soul. You use these base stats to calculate your health, energy, starting star power, and attack and defense values. You then buy attributes and defects that customize your character. HKAT! 2 offers a wide variety of attributes and defects that allow you to build any kind of character. And if the attribute or defect you need doesn't exist, you can make a new one! (The GM, of course has say on what is allowed.) HKAT! 2 has the unique concept that the PCs (Player Characters) are actors playing roles in movies. When you make your character you make an actor, and can only buy an attributes and defects that are open or actor only. Then you use star power to bid on the role you want to play. Now you buy role attributes and defects to add to your character to simulate the special effects crews and such (the role attributes and defects go away at the end of a movie), and you can use leftover star power to improve the role too. What's cool about the role/actor concept is that your group can play a wide variety of games, say a horror action thriller one time, then a waxia (as in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) next. Also using star power, one person can have the lead role one movie, and some else can outbid him for the lead next time, so everyone gets a chance to be at the center of a game. At the end of a movie, the GM hands out star power rewards you use on the next movie. What you get is based on what you bid as well as how well everyone did and bonuses the GM may hand out. This encourages everyone to work as a group, as if the group "wins" the movie, everyone will get more star power. Another good point is that if you die, it's not necessarily bad, because it's only your role that dies, not your actor, and if you die heroically, this can be worth bonus star power!
Make no mistake, this is a Role-playing game, with emphasis on role-playing rather than dice roles and statistics and rules. While creation is a little involved, it's fairly straightforward one you get use to it. For resolving actions the Tri-Stat system offers one of the simplest systems I've seen.
Combat is also petty simple, I won't go into the details here, if you've played other tri-stat games, you'll be on familiar turf. HKAT! 2 does, however offer some optional combat rules that are worth mention. When you attack, you can choose whether to deliver a high, low, or medium kick or punch and you can target an opponent high, low or torso. The type of blow you deliver gives a bonus or penalty to your damage and initiative, for example, a light punch will let you attack sooner, but won't do as much damage as a hard kick. The attack location affects your opponent's defense, if you attack low, but you opponent defends high, your opponent will have a harder time defending.
The system, in summary is simple, yet flexible enough to handle any thing from swordplay and magic attacks in ancient China to a fierce shootout in modern Hong Kong.
And finally, I'll cover the quality of the book. As is typical of Guardians of Order, this is a well-done book. It's a good read with cool art and it is very clear. There is also a lot of extra martial here besides just the game. There is a section on Hong Kong, one on the history of Hong Kong film, one with summaries on a lot of Hong Kong films, and finally some sample adventures to get you started. The extra info is really great, especially for some like me who only has little knowledge on Hong Kong film; this book is a treasure trove of info for creating you own Hong Kong action film game. The only flaw I saw in this book is that the last line in some of the sidebars at the beginning of the book was truncated, and while this is annoying, no impotent information was lost (it was mostly flavor text) and this flaw doesn't greatly detract from enjoyment. Given how error riddled other role-playing games (just look at the errata on 3rd edition D&D) are, I couldn't justify taking off a point for this. I highly recommend this book if you want a simple and flexible system for an action Hong Kong style game.


He Looks Too Happy to Be an Assistant Professor: A Collection of Cartoons
Published in Paperback by University of Missouri Press (1996)
Authors: Vivian Scott Hixson and David L. Lendt
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Most excellent
A lighthearted look at higher education - A must read for anyone who works at a university.


New Tigers & Old Elephants: The Development Game in the 1990s and Beyond
Published in Hardcover by Transaction Pub (1995)
Authors: Scott B. MacDonald, Jane Hughes, and David L. Crum
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INCREDIBLE BOOK!
This book is by far the best I have ever read on the topic of foreign econimcs. I made a deal to order several hundred of these for the Harvard Business School becuase of how helpful this is. I have made thousands of dollars based solely on the advice and wonderful insights of these two authors, being Scott MacDonald, and the always intelligent Jane Hughes. Buy this book now for your own good.


PR Visionaries: Leading Public Relations Experts Reveal the Secrets to Getting Noticed, Making a Name for Your Company, and Building a Brand Through Public Relations
Published in Paperback by Aspatore Books (2002)
Authors: Raymond L. Kotcher, Aspatore Books, Aspatore Books Staff, Andrea Carney, Aedhmar Hynes, Herbert L. Corbin, Dan Klores, Larry Weber, Scott Chaikin, and David Paine
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Outstanding!
PR Visionaries is a remarkable piece of work! It provides you with the techniques and secrets of the best and leading members of the industry, from Ketchum, Porter Novelli, Brodeur Worldwide, and other leading players.

While strong on the strategic side, PR Visionaries is a bit weaker on the tactical side. I don't hold the editors responsible for this, however, as this is not a how-to manual, per se. For the tactical side, I found Guerrilla PR: Wired by Michael Levine to be a more than adequate resource.

PR Visionaries, as the title says, has the giants of the public relations industry tell you how to get noticed, build a brand, develop and protect a reputation, and how to be effective with key opinion-leaders, including the CEO. While it might be overly dramatic to say the book spills their secrets, PR Visionaries covers the various facets on how to successfully manage a powerful public relations campaign on all levels, one that clearly resonates with key stakeholders and publics.


Evidence-Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM (Book with CD-ROM)
Published in Paperback by Wolfe Pub Ltd (15 February, 2000)
Authors: David L. Sackett, Sharon E. Straus, W. Scott Richardson, William Rosenberg, and R. Brian Haynes
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Fine Primer
This well done book is partly an introduction to teaching/practicing Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)and partly an act of evangelism. The authors are concerned not only with describing the basic methods of EBM but also with convincing readers that this is the appropriate way to practice and teach clinical medicine. EBM and its precursor movements are based on the correct realization that physicians tend not to be very critical about clinical practice, much of which is learned by emulation. This book builds on an existing movement and the presence of widely available online resources to tap into appropriate critical evaluations of clinical practice. In doing so, the authors attempt to educate physicians about how to use these resources, relatively simple statistical tools that can be incorporated into application of good clinical literature to practice, and how to teach these methods. Because the authors are academics who wish to influence medical education, there is a good deal of emphasis on educational methods. While this may be an apparent short coming for readers who are not academics, it is actually worthwhile for all physicians because self-education is a constant part of our job. This book is very well done with some nice features. It is small and has a durable plastic cover, designed to carried in pockets or in a medical bag, there is a small CD with good examples, and a set of plasticized flash cards on major key points. Drawbacks are relatively minor. More information on how to analyze clinical trials and studies would be useful but in a concise book, something has to give way. Used carefully, the information in this book may change your practice and teaching methods.

Smashing!
Short and concise, this book really excels at demystifying EBM and making it easier (and more importantly, fun!). The use of flash cards for summarising points is great, and it's clear that the authors are enjoying themselves teaching EBM. This honestly is the first medical book that I'd classify as 'un-putdownable'!

This book will change how you practice medicine.
Evidence based medicine. Those three words cause more frustration and despair than almost any others in medicine today.

This book demystifies all of that. No exaggeration... this is simply one of the best resources ever in learing the practice of EBM. Chapter by chapter, each aspect of EMB is explained... from diagnosis to treatment to prognosis and more.

The math is clearly explained with examples, as are the principles behind them.

After reading this book, I felt that not only could I understand EBM, I could explain it to others.

A must read!


Running: The Athlete Within
Published in Paperback by Cooper Publishing Group (01 August, 2002)
Authors: David L. Costill and Scott Trappe
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Very interesting summary of the physiology of running
This book really ought to be called "The Distance Runner" because its focus is entirely on that topic; sprinting is only discussed when it provides an illuminating contrast to the distance sport. Also, there are an annoying amount of typos and grammatical errors in the book. They don't interfere with information transfer, but they brought me up mentally every time I crossed one and they come across as unprofessional. Those nits aside, this is an excellent discussion of past and current research on the effects of running on the human body and methods to maximize training and race performance. Costill and Trappe discuss the physiology of elite runners vs. the untrained, safe and effective training methods, differences between male and female runners, and the effects on aging on performance. An educational resource for runners at all levels.

For the cardiovascular fitness enthusiast
Running The Athlete Within by David Costill (John and Janice Fisher Chair in Exercise Science, Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State University) and Scott Trappe (Director, Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State University) is a straightforward and "user friendly" guide to understanding how men and women can best balance training, rest, and nutrition into a healthy and competitive running/exercise regimen. Firmly grounded in solid scientific backing, Running The Athlete Within covers the effects of aging on one's ability to run and enjoy it, optimizing one's performance, special considerations for female and pregnant runners, and much more. Running The Athlete Within is very highly recommended reading for the long distance runner and the cardiovascular fitness enthusiast.


Wall Street Words : An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor
Published in Paperback by Houghton Mifflin Co (Pap) (2003)
Author: David L. Scott
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An invaluable desktop reference guide for finance
As a recent alumnus of an Ivy League business school, I naively/arrogantly expected to find Wall Street Words of minimal use and really only purchased it because of a desire to switch careers from consulting to investment banking and a subsequent need for a reference tool in research.

To my pleasant surprise, I have found it almost indespensable. It is always within reach when I read the WSJ and I find myself consulting it regularly.

I think that the 1-star review below is quite unrealistic. While I would agree that there may be a couple of terms missing, for my money it's still the best book out there of its type. NONE of these books are exhaustive. Remember, this is neither a text book nor a course, just a reference guide.

All up, an excellent reference guide that will answer most, if not all, of your financial terms and definitions questions succintly.

The investor's "Blue Chip"...from alpha to omega
Wall Street Words, a reference book for the contemporary investor, affords a succinct, yet extensive explanation of the terms used in today's market. Author Dr. David L. Scott has directed his book toward the financial populace at all levels of expertise. The book is written practically, orderly, and aptly as it defines Wall Street's lingo. In addition, numerous financial tips contribute in-depth examples of many of the terms. I hightly recommend Wall Street Words as an excellent guide for A to Z investors!

An excellent guide to Wall Street Terms
This is probably the single best reference source for Wall Street terminology. It is complete and even includes investment tips. I would recommend Wall Stree Words to any investor who is sometimes baffled by the financial mumbo jumbo of the Wall Street experts.


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