Dictionary Reviews

This book was love-at-first-sight. It doesn't blab unnecessarily about the fabric, just lets you touch and see it for yourself. While being very visual and tactile, it also devotes a page with all the relevant information about each particular kind of silk (and who would have thought there would be so many?!): how to care for it, how difficult it is to sew, the ideal projects for each fabric, its characteristics, its approximate price per yard, hints/tips for working with the fabric, etc. I wish there was a reference book like this for everything! It has really inspired me and given me the confidence and knowledge that I need to both shop for silk and start some projects.

This is the perfect book if your local fabric store doesn't carry any (or enough) silk to learn on your own. Words just can't replace running the fabric through your fingers to see if it will work for your project, and this book lets you do that and more. The information collected here is worth twice the asking price. Now you can order what you need off the internet sites and have a better idea what to expect.

I got this book through the Crafter's Choice bookclub, but I had to come here to recommend it. It is ideal literally for anyone. Someone who wants to know more about the fabrics they wear, or as a book for someone like myself who knows a good deal about fabrics to refer to, which I often do. I'm a student at Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, so I've taken textile classes before and know my fair share. I even have a swatchbook with many fabrics but this books is just exceptional. I will definitely buy the wool and cotton versions of this book eventually. Silk is my favorite fabric to sew in so it was a priority. The book has a really great layout also, making it not too much reading and easy to find the information you are looking for. You can find in the book what to expect from each fabric when you're sewing it, how to take care of it, all its variations, suggestions on fitting, really anything important that you'd need to know about a fabric.... and then more, making you knowledgable on the subject.

I loved this book because it showed you how many possible things there are to make lists about. It's a wonderful book. There are many unusal lists. We gave it an A+++...!
Though we did find a small mistake, the book was GREAT!!!...

I love this book! I enjoy telling my parents facts and seeing them wonder where I found it! My answer is the same every time, "The Book Of Lists." From ghosts found in the White House to good things about being an only child, this book is the best. I never get tired of reading it.

This book has a lot of lists of different things like: Pizza Facts, How to make money grow, "Magic Potions," 45 Phobias, and a lot more. I would recomend reading it.

This book is great for quick reference of brand and generic drugs and theraputics.

As a medical transcriptionist, I need a complete and easy to use reference book....I have never found a better one. I like the way it lists the medications, their generics and what illness the medication is used for. My choice of drug books for 14 years. Do not hesitate on this one.

I'm a medical transcriptionist and this is the best drug book I've seen. It does cost more than most, but it's because it's the best.

Christopher Bruce's encyclopaedic work is a magnificent compendium of all of the major 6th to 19th century Arthurian sources.

As a publisher of books and games based on the original Arthurian sources, I have turned to this book not as my 'Bible', but as a sort of 'Bible Concordance'. Which stories can I find Percival (or his many alternative names) occurring in?

I found this book to be worth ten, if not a hundred times its cover price in terms of compiling years of research into a single treasury of Arthurian knowledge.

I was amazed to discover how young this first time author is. He has produced a profoundly complete and thoroughly researched scholarly work that is a "must read" for any student of the Aurthurian Legends. Mr. Bruce has researched even the most obscure references and stories of Arthur and the other characters associated with the legend. Thank you for your excellent work.

Mr. Bruce has certainly done a wonderful job compiling volumes of information into one comprehensive work. It would be difficult to find a more complete reference. A must-have guide for any Arthurian-lover's library, as well as an interesting book for any reader to peruse.

I am an instructor for the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) Professional Medical Coding Curriculum (PMCC) and often recommend this book as a way for a student to be fully prepared to take our course.

I love the CD ROM with the excercises (that's the instructor in me :) as well as the fact that there are pronunciations. This is truly a "self study" course and I highly recommend it.

Laureen Jandroep, OTR, CPC, CCS-P A+ Medical Management & Education...

As a provider of Medical Transcriptionist training, I wouldn't suggest people try to replace a comprehensive course with this book. But anyone would profit by adding it to their course materials. It is particularly strong in supporting retention, which is a rare quality in textbooks.

Wow! I wish I had found this before I blew two weeks salary on a medical transcription course. This book covered more ground than the manuals that I received, and for a fraction of the cost. Without this book I don't think I would ever have picked up the terminology - and I would have missed out on such a great career! (2 years and going strong!)

A very good introduction to a beautiful sounding language. It helps if you speak and understand Italian as the basics of the grammar are similar. Another advantage being that a lot of Sicilian utilises Italian with a different inflection. I recommend this book to anyone who loves Sicilly and its culture.

Beginnger's Sicilian is indeed a great tool for learning the Sicilian language. There are a great number of exercises and real dialogues listed. Once you finish doing all the exercises, you will be able to speak and understand basic sicilian. However, it seems that the grammar itself isn't complete, especially the part of verb conjugation. I recommed this book to people who would like to chista bedda lingua

This excellent book by the author "Basic Sicilian: A Brief Reference Grammar" provides for some of the exceptions noted by "A reader" (from Idaho Falls ID). There are exercises in learning basic phrasing to deal with specific needs (e.g., accommodations, transportation, restaurant service, asf). The brief grammatical entries are presented in parts of speech order (articles, adjectives [several], aumentatives and diminutives, numerals, pronouns [several], cojunctios and prepositions, adverbs, and finally verbs (no specific section seemed needed on nouns which are dealt with in context. Vocabulary is introduced with each lesson. The book doesn't pretend to do more than introduce, but it does that well.

It's about words and phrases I relax with, at least conversationally and at least with those with whom I'm most comfortable. It's a hilarious review of a vocabulary we all recognize. Lawrence Paros, while writing a scholarly book, manages to include background, analysis and humor that make these priceless phrases, words, and euphemisms more than merely bawdy and so very much part of our language.

I would be VERY careful about reading this book in a public place. I was paging through the marginal trivia and quotes when I first got this book while I was waiting for my friend at Starbucks.

I soon realized that most of the people were looking at me like I was a lunatic because I was gasping and laughing so hard and did not realize it. At one point, an elderly lady asked me if I was OK, or if she should call somebody.

Needless to say I was quite embarrassed after the fact. I then went home and continued to read privately and did not cause such a public scene.

The book's most outstanding achievement is that it TASTEFULLY dissects the most vulgar words in our language. If you ever wanted to know ANYTHING about the origins of any "bad" word, you can get the answer here, professionally, tastefully, and riotously. Not recommended for cardiac patients.

John R. Minarcik, MD

I opened this book somewhat reluctantly because of my presumed feminine "delicacy," but my interest was so quickly engaged that I simply had to read every page.

The subtitle is apt - not only is it about everything I was afraid to say, it's about things I didn't even know I could say, and I'm no innocent! Who knew this subject could be encyclopedic in scope - it's quite a scholarly work.

It's written so wittily and gracefully that I didn't utter a single squeamish "eeeww." The subject is rendered fit for polite conversation - an amazing feat. It's full of great puns and superb turns of phrase. The illustrations are classic and though naughty, quite artistic, Aubrey Beardsley's being my favorite. The sidebar quotes are wonderful finds from people modern and classical.

All in all, my reaction was Wow! This should be a hot seller!

I keep this by my side at all times, even after years of working in astrology, there are times you need a reference made or verified. This encyclopedia is the perfect reference book for beginners or advanced.

If you were limited to only one astrological reference, this should be it. It is thorough, interestingly written and concise. You can sit down and actually read this like a text. Wonderfully annotated articles so that you can reference better detailed sources if the thorough but concise treatment of a topic is not enough. The paperback version gives you great "bang for the buck". Some articles are well illustrated or diagramed and the text is pleasantly set with judicious use of bolded text to get critical names or concepts through in a hurry. Wonderful coverage of all asteroids and hypothetical planets. An excellent addition to any astrological or occult library.

This book was very informational and it helped me to find the answers to a lot my questions. It brought me more into astrology and made me what to learn more about it. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about astrology.

Overall, this book provides lots of great exercises and a lot of information about the Esperanto movement itself. My only criticisms are: (1) The format of the book is a little difficult to read (the publishers use almost no white space to separate one exercise from another, so everything just runs together. This gives it the appearance of not being well organized and certainly not easy on the eyes), and (2) The English translations of the Esperanto texts are word-for-word. This was probably done intentionally, to give the student a literal translation of Esperanto's word-building rules, but it can also make the translations seem stilted and unnatural. However, if you can overlook the less than ideal textual formatting of the book (the publisher's fault, not the author's!) and don't mind literal, word-for-word translations, then you'll certainly benefit from the lessons, readings and detailed information (including addresses) of various organizations in the Esperanto movement.

This book was effectively used in an Esperanto Workshop (credit available)at University of Hartford,CT, a very few years ago. The author was obviously a talented teacher, and his experience at teaching shows in the book. It may not be ideal for the absolute beginner self teaching, but it is not easy to fault. The references and examples interspersed add greatly to understanding the language, its purpose,and its functions. As a college professor emeritus (University Of Connecticut) I have read this book and seen it "in action" although I have not directly used it in my limited teaching of Esperanto. I truly like Conroy's book. (I've been familiar with the language for many years, and have used it a few times outide the United States. )

Studying Esperanto is most enjoyable and a relatively easy language to learn. However, gathering information relating to this international culture was a daunting task until I discovered Beginner's ESPERANTO by J.F. Conroy. It was like finding 'gold'! Not only is it a comprehensive text book, but also an inspirational reference guide into the world of Esperanto. My only criticism is that, while each of the lessons has its own helpful word list, a dictionary at the end of the book would have been extremely useful.

Learning a foreign language can be a nightmare, but the Berlitz book takes you slowly, step by step, through the Italian language. It made a very complex language simple to learn.
I'll never speak as fluently as Marcello Mastroianni but if and when I go to Italy it will make my stay there a lot more fun.

An interesting thing about this book is it is just fun to pick and look at the inside of the book. It was first published in the late 40s and has kept the same format. This style of learning, which is 50 years old is better than any style to date. I recommend it over software, tapes, anything! It is unfortunate although, that some of the older languages such as Hebrew, Russian, and Portuguese are no longer published. If you want to learn a language a very charming way this is it! Thank you Berlitz!

I cannot say enough about this book! I have tried so many tapes, books, techniques, you name it! I became overwhelmed by numerous rules to learn, conjugations to memorize, and the like until I grew discouraged! This book is simple. Each lesson builds on the previous one. There are minor notes to guide you, to remind you- and you will practice real conversation in the exercises. Each and every word has an English phonetic guide so that you instantly pronounce Italian words correctly. Not only is the technique used (almost no grammer rules to memorize, which is how you learned your 1st language) incredible, but it is extremely fun! The format is friendly, youthful, energetic, charming in style, and extremely user friendly. I could go on and on! This book is the best thing to happen to Italian language aquisition, ever!