Plant growth habit and culture notes are all too rare in succulent and cacti volumes. This expertly assembled book captures the succulent plants at their optimum phase and accurately records botanical names and growth requirements. I also utilize to accurately identify plants that I use to create living succulent wreaths. The section of 'Bringing the Desert Indoors' is a welcome invitation to indoor gardeners every where to enjoy these sculptural beauties year around.

One of few books dealing with gardening in the dry southwestern climates. Most of the book is devoted to "Plant Selector" which describes the plants, hardiness, cultivation needs, etc. Other sections deal with "Garden Design", "Techniques" (cultivation etc.), and, " Special Conditions." If you have one book on succulent gardening, this should be it.

John Scott's book is very informative and useful in a clinical hypnosis setting. I am glad I chose this book to get an introduction to the basics of psychotherapy and how that can be utilized in clinical hypnosis.

Dr. Scott shows how people react to the traumatic events of their past and how to correct faulty education appearing real (fear) using Medical Hypnoanalysis. We don't behave by accident and Freud wasn't always right. Medical Hypnoanalysis is a brief treatment that works & Scott describes how & why in clear terms with scientific references. There isn't any reason to continue to be stuck with symptoms once you know how they developed & what to do about them now.

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.

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.

This review is for the book: Living Heart Diet
by Dr. William Debakey, et al.

This is an excellent book for those who have had heart problems and for those who do not want to develop heart problems. Poor diet (high fat/cholesterol) is one of the main risk factors for heart disease -- excess cholesterol lays a foundation of plaque in your arteries that can eventually cause heart attacks and/or necessitate heart surgery. This book was developed to help us all eat right and help avoide disease. This book contains recipes, education about heart disease, and nutrition and sodium tables for most of the foods you eat. This is an excellent resource! Use it in good health!

I'm a diabetic and recently had a quadruple bypass. After being introduced to this book, I devoured it and now live it.

I don't have children, but I found this in a children's asile in my local bookstore and I had to buy it! This is the book I have on my backyard picnic table right now and I read thru it daily and love it! It's NUMBER 1 on my list of books to read right now with summer here. The photos are wonderful; the small editorials are written so that anyone can understand them, and as an adult I don't see the "child -like" reading here, but rather a book that everyone can enjoy and learn from and all of Time Life Books are finely manufactured. For a book I'd rate them as "Excellent Quality" and suggest this along with the other's from this series would make a wonderful gift for children and adults alike. You'll learn alot about gardening, how to attract butterflies or hummingbirds to your backyard; wild flowering, A-Z, way too much to mention.

This book is beautifully designed and well organized. Full color photography enhances each page. It includes basic information on gardening with native plants, planning a garden, attracting birds, butterflies, and other wildlife to your yard. Photographs and desriptions of plants and trees, organized by geographic location, are accompanied by maps, field notes, tips, and drawings of animals prefered by each. Lots of references are included in the back. It may be geared more towards the layperson than the expert, but this book really opened my eyes to the possibilities of gardening. Gardening is not just picking pretty flowers anymore! Natural Gardening a joy to browse through and to read.

Looking for a great reference book on the JFK assassination? Tired of searching the bookstores? This book takes care of that. William Scott has written the most complete reference manual I have ever seen.

The book is broken down into two parts. Part One is people and places. From A to Z you find out a small snippet of information about everyone associated with JFK or the assassination.

Part 2 has 18 sections of reference information. From books to singed articles to unsigned articles you won't be able to find a more complete listing than right here. The amount of information is amazing.

This book is not a novel or a research project, rather it is a handy reference book that everyone, from novice to expert researcher should have with them at all times.

Sorting through all the extravagant theories of who killed JFK can become highly frustrating for the Kennedy enthusiast. So many wild ideas have circulated through our modern culture, most evident in Oliver Stone's JFK, that it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between possible truth and well conceived fiction. William Scott's new Reference Guide does just this for both the serious researcher and the interested hobbyist. Only the most reliable and historically accurate sources have been included in this research guide, so no longer does the JFK assassination enthusiast have to sort through the wild theories to discover the respectable facts. A must have for anyone serious about their research.

This book has received an Award of Excellence from the 2001 Southern Books Competition. "You could not find a lovelier title page spread than that in Of Birds and Texas. The sensitive calligraphy and the well-designed two-column text pages support the stunning bird prints." Congratulations to the authors, designer Ellen McKie and the University of Texas Press.

When Of Birds and Texas was first published in 1986 it was quickly deemed the most magnificent book in the history of Texas publishing. Consisting of 40 exquisitely detailed bird portraits and ten Texas landscape scenes, the volume was enhanced with accompanying commentary by the Gentling brothers and a personal essay by John Graves.

Yet the 23" by 29 ½" outsize folio which weighed 46 pounds was beyond the reach and shelf space of many. Thus, it was printed as a limited edition. Now, for the first time, this unparalleled volume is available to a mass audience at an affordable price and manageable size while retaining the original 50 color plates as well as 28 remarques. Retaining the integrity of the original folio, this is truly a work of estimable quality and a collector's item.

In addition, the recent edition offers a new essay by Stuart Gentling, "Of Birds and Texas, Audubon and Us," in which he relates how the brothers' profound respect for the famed ornithologist/artist paved the way for them to create this book, which is inspired by Audubon's work.

The Gentlings are twin brothers, artists, authors, and lecturers based in Fort Worth. Having discovered at an early age the print edition of John James Audubon's Birds of America, they now share a passion for art, world culture and wildlife.

His keen interest in wildlife, particularly birds, led Stuart to learn taxidermy. Both brothers began a serious study of art when they were 14. Their awards are numerous; their paintings may be found in museums and libraries throughout Texas and the United States. This year Scott received a commission to paint a portrait of President George Bush for the Texas State Capitol dome.

Artwork in Of Birds and Texas is created collaboratively by the Gentlings. In the original folio are reproductions of watercolor paintings with the color, blend and atmosphere attributed to Stuart, while the line and small strokes were contributed by Scott.

Getting the first volume published proved to be a formidable task. Plans reached a standstill when it was discovered that the actual production of the folio would cost more than double the estimates. What rescued the project was a lucky find by Stuart in the Philadelphia Print Shop catalog: a listing of Audubon's "The Great Crow Blackbird." The brothers were able to purchase the Audubon for $18,000. After its authentication as an original Audubon, it was sold at Sotheby's for $253,000. Thus, the completion of the original Of Birds and Texas was made possible.

Our loss would be great had this not been so. More than just a work of incredible visual beauty Of Birds and Texas is a joy to read as each color plate is partnered with a bird tale by the Gentlings.

A treasure in itself, the essay by beloved Texas author John Graves is as gracefully written as the classic works for which he is known, From A Limestone Ledge: Some Essays and Other Ruminations About Country Life In Texas, and Goodbye To A River. Once again, Mr. Graves writes with trenchant luminosity.

This landmark volume is dedicated to John James Audubon. It is now recreated for all to enjoy.

- Gail Cooke

For any Rifter, this is the must have of the collection. With details of the Pecos Riders and other such empires, the information alone is worth it. But there is also more character classes, weapons and gear than one can shake a stick at. The best part of the sourcebook it that it'll help recall some of the best (and worst) westerns you've seen and BAM instant adventures.

This book is great. I suggest the preacher, which is good for interesting play. For psychic players, there is a psi-slinger and it is great. The best list for the best TW weapons I have ever seen.

This book is THE complete guide to building an intranet. Killer examples and techniques.

Very impressive compendium of Intranet information and the latest HTML techniques