March 9, 2020
Chessmaster Savielly Tartakower once defined “tactics” as “what you do when there is something to do” and “strategy” as “what you do when there is nothing to do.” Learning both techniques are the main goals of savvy chess players—and a major thrust of author Norman Chan’s blueprint for mastering Xiang-Qi, a version of chess more […]
September 30, 2019
Chances are, most sailing buffs don’t know a lot about A Cats, a small class of racing boat, 28 feet long, 11 feet wide. Only about a dozen of them exist in the water today, and they’re concentrated in a small geographical area on the East Coast. But William Fortenbaugh’s book about the A Cat […]
June 13, 2016
Huichuan Chen, a veteran gambler who comes from Taipei, has some radical—and possibly profitable—ideas on how to win at casino blackjack. But unfortunately, her ebook primer, The Secret of Blackjack, presents many challenges to accessing those thoughts and strategies.
Chen’s writing is excessively difficult to navigate. “The variation and random order of the flow is […]
September 14, 2015
Sim Eng Hiang’s photographic skill and passion for his tillandsia plants and floral arranging reveal themselves in every page of this stunning book that highlights these unusual floral creatures.
There are over 600 species of tillandsias, members of the large bromeliad family. Sometimes called “air plants” because they seemingly exist on air, tillandsias don’t really […]
June 22, 2015
After nearly 40 years of teaching, Diane Robbins knows the value of saving time. In Time Saving Art Projects for the Busy Teacher, she hopes to help other teachers by providing reproducible templates for creating over 20 seasonal paper crafts. Each reinforces skills such as following directions and strengthens eye/hand coordination through scissor skills, measuring, […]
November 24, 2014
In this helpful nonfiction book, the author gives a first-person account of designing her dream home over 25 years and offers suggestions for readers creating a similar house for retirement. Although not an architect or engineer, the author claims that a life-long interest in houses and floor plans inspired her to design her own home.
[…]
October 14, 2013
Margaret Rose Ngawaka offers a wonderful guide to a traditional craft of New Zealand’s Maori people in her new book, Kete Whakairo: Plaiting Flax for Beginners.
A kete whakairo is a decorative tote bag that would look perfectly at home in contemporary wardrobes. Handmade in one piece from local flax, a kete whakairo is shaped […]
November 19, 2012
If miniature evening dresses and lace-trimmed skirts get your heart racing, this is the book for you. The author created this loving, colorful, 8-1/2- x 11 book of 25 glue-together outfits after doing projects with her granddaughter, Taylor. Even the craft-averse doll lover can follow these thorough instructions for creating clothes for a Barbie-sized doll.
[…]