General Books

The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary

Merriam-Webster

Amazon Price: $7.50 List Price: $7.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Merriam-Webster Amazon Marketplace: 51 new & used starting at $3.37

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> Board Games -> Scrabble
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> Reference
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> Word Games

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 152 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

scrabble dictionary 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This scrabble dictionary is by Merriam-Webster is very easy to read. I keep it near my computer because it's doesn't take up a great deal of room.

scrabble dictionary 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

this book shows scrabble words that the regular dictionary does not..it is really a great asset to the game

Great purchase 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have gottne hooked on Scrabble on my iPOD and this book has been a great help..you also learn new words. Keeps the mind fresh too.

Perfect Gift For Scrabble Fans 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Looking for a gift for your Scrabbled-obsessed friend? Look no further. This guy is perfect and it quickly resolves any word disputes that come up. Fits nicely in my Scrabble box.

Great Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book was in like new condition or was new. Would buy again from this sender. Thank you

Editorial Review:

New edition! An inexpensive edition of the book that SCRABBLE® players call their bible. Ideal for recreational and school play. More than 100,000 playable two- to eight-letter words including 4,000 new entries. Includes variant spellings. Endorsed by the National SCRABBLE® Association.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

American Psychological Association

Amazon Price: $25.15 List Price: $27.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: American Psychological Association (APA) Amazon Marketplace: 554 new & used starting at $15.00

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Mental Health -> General AAS
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> History

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 261 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Very useful 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Very useful and to the point, with clear examples, helped me a lot with my MA thesis.

APA Manuel 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This manaul is very helpful to reference the many in's and out's of APA formatting for research papers, including how to cite references from the internet.

A must have for any higher education student 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I never knew I didn't know how to write until I got this book. I have had to use APA style for my undergrad degree and didn't have it, but starting graduate school, I found I really needed it! Now, if I have any questions about how to put together a paper, I have a manual that is considerably more words than my thesis, yet not quite dissertation length, to guide me through my errant ways of writing.

Scavenger Hunt, agreed. NEEDS EXAMPLES. 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I agree with the previous review. This 'APA Bible' is complex and not well organized. The sections are listed in such a way that if you happen to be looking for something simple, like how to do a citation for a book, that can be found easily. However, if you are in the book section, it is not easy to then find how to do a citation for a book chapter from a unique author or how to cite a textbook, 3rd ed. As such, I found the book to be cumbersome, even after some serious time working with it in graduate school.
One suggestion for a major improvement would be to include a large section (or a supplemental guide) with a grouping of papers that are examples. These examples could cover a broad range of paper types. It could also highlight common errors in the use of APA style and how to correct them - both within text and in citations. Generally speaking, this book is fine for a reference tool, once the reader already knows APA style. It is quite insufficient for a student who is trying to learn and write simultaneously. As such, most students make use of on-line tools and quick reference guides, rather than consulting the manual. APA, please provide assistance for beginning users. Thanks!

Editorial Review:

Style manual for writers, editors, students, educators, and professionals across all fields. Provides clear guidance on grammar, the mechanics of writing, and APA style. Includes examples, new guidelines and advice, and more. Previous edition: c1994. Softcover, wire-spiral edition is also available. Hardcover edition due later.

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

Max Brooks

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Three Rivers Press Amazon Marketplace: 95 new & used starting at $6.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 372 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset—life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is a book that can save your life.

Easy Spanish Phrase Book: Over 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use (Dover Easy Phrase)

Amazon Price: $2.00 List Price: $2.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dover Publications Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $0.01

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> People & Places
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> Spanish
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 115 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Waste of money 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Very small book that gives you such bare essentials that you really get nothing at all. If you have to go to Mexico tonight and this was the only book you had then maybe take it because its better than zilch.

strange and outdated 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book was certainly cheap and it is certainly easy to carry. But it was also almost entirely useless. I know only a little Spanish, but enough that this book was not useful to me, because I already knew how to say anything in it that was meaningful to our travels. My husband, on the contrary, knows almost no Spanish. When attempting to shop on his own, he discovered that this book will tell you how to buy gold cufflinks, scarves, gloves, and almost every item of apparel except shirts and pants. It contains a very strange collection of phrases and does not appear to have been updated since its first publication in the 50s. Not useful if you want to ask the location of an internet cafe.

Editorial Review:

More than 770 basic phrases for everyday use enable you to communicate instantly on a host of topics: health and medical situations; essential services; boat, plane, and train travel; much more.

Elements of Style

W Strunk

By: Collier-Mac. Amazon Marketplace: 3 new & used starting at $3.84

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 369 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Reference 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE is a great little pocket reference for all writers (creative, essay, or nonfiction).

What is most amazing is how it consolidates a wealth of information into accessible, bite-size chapters that are easy to search on and then easy to comprehend.

The sections that I have found the most helpful are:
1) Verb Subject Agreement for the exceptions, "one of" and "each and every".
2) Why using the Active Voice is better through exhibition and not b/c it's the general rule.
3) Putting statements into positive form (something I had not considered).
4) And the entire section on "Approach to Style".

I think that for the price, you can not go wrong with this one. I have GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT by Stilman and SOLUTIONS FOR WRITERS by Stein, both of which I recommend, but if you had to choose the order in which to buy: ELEMENTS OF STYLE, SOLUTIONS FOR WRITERS (as it's not just about writing but the craft of story telling), and then GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT.

Editorial Review:

A book that will help any writer become a better writer.

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature

Steven Pinker

By: Allen Lane Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $10.58

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Subjects -> Reference -> Words & Language -> Linguistics

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Lacks 'stuff' on the physiological and cognitive origins of language 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Although Pinker is renown in the field of linguistics, I was a bit disappointed with the single sidedness of this book. In it, he examines the origins of the English language, but to a large degree fails to introduce the factors attributing to the physiological and cognitive results from the birth of language. I anticipated a book with more in-depth research on the origins and effects of language on the formation of consciousness and cognition. An example of such book is Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza's "Genes, Peoples, and Language,' which I highly recommend.

Still a Good Read in Spite of its Flaws 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I confess to being an unabashed fan of Steven Pinker's books on language (I am a multilingual life-long student of linguistics with time to read and study in retirement), which is why I bought this book.

I agree it has some serious flaws that have been mentioned in negative reviews, such as political and social beliefs intruding where they do not really belong. (Well, he's a psychologist, not a linguist, so I don't expect anything different.)

Still, the book is quite fascinating and contains some very compelling analysis. In particular, I find his dissection of political (or perhaps better, politically correct) speech of various groups to be well worth reading.

But what is most fascinating to me is the analysis of what I think of as "subconscious grammar." My personal favorite example of what Pinker is explaining here is when my Russian-born cleaning lady scares my cat with the vacuum and says "He is scary." (I answer, "No, the vacuum is scary, Tashi is scared.") What is there in our brains that figures out that "scary" is what emanates from elsewhere, but "scared" is what we feel?

Why is it that in German I would say "She came back to her home town" (even though I am not in her home town and never have been, but for her it is "homecoming"), but in English I am supposed to say "She went back to her home town" because she moved somewhere other than towards me?

For anyone fascinated by this sort of linguistic analysis, this book is valuable and interesting.

I also enjoyed the analysis of "slow evolution" -- the fact that we humans change our environment much faster than our brains can evolve to cope with current circumstances. He says nothing new and startling here, I think, but as always with Steven Pinker, his detailed examples and apt analogies make the subject matter come alive.

If, like me, you don't need the political stuff or the overly explicit analysis of cursing, just skim over that.

501 Spanish Verbs: with CD-ROM (Barron's Foreign Language Guides)

Christopher Kendris, Theodore Kendris

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Barron's Educational Series Amazon Marketplace: 87 new & used starting at $10.14

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Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> Foreign Language -> Spanish
Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> General
Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 235 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Barron’s is today and always has been the Number-One reference source for verb usage in virtually every major language. With more than 1.5 million copies in print, the all-time best selling 501 Spanish Verbs beats all less well-established rivals with its brand-new 6th edition. It’s printed in two colors, it features tinted page edges for ease of reference, and it comes with extra help for Spanish language students in the form of a CD-ROM. The book presents the most important and most commonly used Spanish verbs arranged alphabetically with English translations in chart form, one verb per page, and conjugated in all persons and tenses, both active and passive. The accompanying CD-ROM gives students practice exercises in verb conjugation plus a concise grammar review. This combined book and software package is a comprehensive guide to Spanish verb usage with a wealth of reference material and language tips, including a bilingual list of more than 1,250 additional Spanish verbs, helpful expressions and idioms for travelers, and verb drills and short tests with all questions answered and explained.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Anne Lamott

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Anchor Amazon Marketplace: 210 new & used starting at $3.07

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Subjects -> Reference -> Words & Language -> Speech

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 307 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Touching and funny 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Anne teaches writing and this book is based on what she shares with her class. I love the personal stories she tells, especially about her son, Sam. Writers often talk of "voice", and I feel I know Anne through this book. I can hear her voice.

She makes the serious memorable, but also funny. Writing is important, but she does urge us to not take it all too seriously.
She talks about the thrill of seeing oneself in print, but then the raging doubt and the self-loathing that can come sometimes.
It is full of lessons, like seeing the world through a tiny window and just describing that bit - and then widening it. Don't start with a big project, just write a short assignment.
Writing is not just for publication - it is it's own reward. Commit to finishing. She is realistic, encouraging but without promising the world. Highly recommended!

Editorial Review:

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was  ten years old at the time, was trying to get a  report on birds written that he'd had three months to  write. It was due the next day. We were out at our  family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen  table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper  and pencils and unopened books on birds,  immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my  father sat down beside him, put his arm around my  brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.'"

1001 Most Useful Spanish Words (Beginners' Guides)

Seymour Resnick

Amazon Price: $2.00 List Price: $2.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dover Publications Amazon Marketplace: 51 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 101 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Why Is This Book Useful? 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

After learning German from scratch, I realized about eight months later that my unwieldy and large German-English dictionaries were a drag. They were slow and clunky. When I decided to learn Spanish, the first thought I had was to find the right reference book for starting out with the basic vocabulary. This book has the perfect form and function for the beginning student. When I'm doing exercises, I can find the word I need in this book without skipping a beat or losing my train of thought. Buy this book if you're looking for efficiency. It has, for the most part, all the vocabulary a beginning student needs without the clutter of word entries a student doesn't need. It's easy to work with because I know from the moment I need it whether it will have the word I need or not. It's a two dollar workhorse that's a pleasure to use.

Editorial Review:

Indispensable learning aid includes definitions of common Spanish words arranged by such categories as foods, numbers, days of the week, months, colors, seasons and family. At the book's heart is a dictionary, from a to zapato, where each word is used in a Spanish sentence (with English translation) demonstrating its proper use.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Lynne Truss

By: Profile Books Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $2.68

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 544 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Your library has 10 copies of this book--guarenteed! 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

If you must: I suggest your local library. That, or you could buy it used. They are currently selling used copies of the hard back for one cent.

That's about all it's worth. Her information is fair, but her attitude is horrible. She insults every facet of the very audience that is asking her for help.

It gets folks fired up, doesn't it? 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

My punctuation is definitely not perfect, but I enjoyed "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" a lot because I too am frustrated by the insanity that has writers putting an apostrophe before the "s" in any word ending in that letter! Drives me batty! I believe that the author has toungue planted firmly in cheek and found myself laughing all the way through her book. I am glad that even in punctuation, humor can be found.

It also heightened my awareness of "writing right" and made me want to do a better job of using reference guides to understand why things are done as they are, instead of just going by the seat of my pants and "I think it looks right, oh I'll just throw in some more commas."