This is a self-help guide to reducing your stress levels by choosing to care only about those things that are important to you.
I found this a very odd book to read. In almost every chapter, I found myself disagreeing with his evidence and examples, often thinking they proved the opposite of what he was trying to use them to prove, yet at the same time agreeing with some of the premises.… Read the rest
This is the annual observer’s guide published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Each year, the Observer’s Guide is produced and sold to amateur and professional astronomers across North America, and those astronomers vary considerably in their capacity and interests. It’s hard to serve any “one group”, but as I am at the intro stage to the hobby, I’ll review from that perspective.… Read the rest
Kottler reflects on the literature and personal experiences as a psychologist about the elements that lead people to not only make changes in their life but also sustain those changes over the long-term.
I had the pleasure of hearing Kottler speak as an honoured guest at my wife’s university graduation ceremony, and he intrigued me enough on the subject of “change” — what we know and what we don’t know — that I bought his book.… Read the rest
This textbook-sized book includes ten case studies across America where former big box stores – Walmarts and Kmarts – have been put to new use after the store left or closed.
I was drawn to the premise of the book as I have frequently seen large big box stores in Canada, anchoring malls and plazas, move out and languish empty for a number of years.… Read the rest
This is the annual observer’s guide published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
One of the most obvious challenges for an Observer’s Guide of this kind is balancing the needs of newbies and moderate amateurs with the needs of advanced astronomers, photographers, and outright astro-physicists.… Read the rest
The academic analysis of recent Canadian international development assistance is long on political economy and light on “realities on the ground”.
The text had a strong opening for its goals, even if the administrative context didn’t quite match their estimated / presumed political context. When it came to hard statistical analysis (Chapter 6) and mimicry of other donors, the paper was sound.… Read the rest
The author is a book reviewer for the Washington Post; this is the story of his life up until graduation from university.
Dirda was recommended to me by a colleague from work, whose appetites for reading are far more literary than mine. He actually recommended Bound to Please, which is a collection of Dirda’s reviews of more literary prose from throughout history, but I tripped over this book first.… Read the rest
This book is an anthology of women’s experiences in Canada during World War II. The anthology is a collection of first-person narratives from 57 women who served in various branches of the armed forces, auxiliaries, private industry in Canada during World War II. Each of the narratives have similar chronologies and approach – what the women were doing before the war, how they joined the Armed Forces or supporting occupation, their experiences during the war (both personal and professional), their life-in-brief after the war, and, finally, a chance for them to pass some judgement on “what did it all mean” for them or for women in general.… Read the rest
The premise of this book is that there are many people who never feel satisfied, nor take the time to feel satisfied, and are always looking forward to the next obstacle, next project, next item on their to-do list — and whatever they have done, or accomplished, is never enough.… Read the rest
A mixed-tone argument that you can be “addicted” to reading and owning books, with some examples of book hoarders from years-gone-by.
There are some really good “humour” lists, kind of like a Letterman top ten list for:
Schwarz starts with a commentary by a Chinese scholar that some people are handicapped by reading too much, and not thinking enough about what they read. From there, she looks at the books she has read in her life and the role they have played. It is not a heavy analytical tone throughout, but rather a personal commentary on the books that have been important to her in her life, and the elements of her life that took place in and around books.… Read the rest
Good resource, short on tutorial and long on information.
Good for syntax and great appendix sections.
Not quite as detailed as other books, and not much theory.
Good overview from beginning to end
A bit dated at the point of reading (1999), with some of the “new features” old hat, and as well, some of the “old features” had changed. However, the approach is light, and easy to follow, from beginning to end, and what makes this such a great resource is the CD-ROM disk that comes with it, containing some great software and sample coding to save the tired typist.… Read the rest
Instead of going through all the bits and pieces (which it does very quickly), Pirouz instead has focused on some elements that spice up web pages.
A programmer wouldn’t necessarily want to use all of them, but a new designer will find some really great tips and tricks here.… Read the rest
A reference guide for HTML
Good as a simple reference / encyclopaedia tool.
Not so great for learning the intricacies from the bottom-up, short on tutorial or theory side.
A cookbook disguised as a novel.
Nothing.
It was ADVERTISED as a combination of a cookbook with stories about Dr. Kay Scarpetta, and in that light, it fails on all counts. There IS no story, and nothing happening in the non-story — and worse still, none of the characters act like they do in the novels.… Read the rest
Having met the author when I was a student at the University of Victoria when he was the Director of Graduate Admissions, I had a lot of confidence in his ability to present a no- nonsense approach to the idea of Distance Education. And for the most part, he delivered.… Read the rest
Stephen J. Cannell is an expert at pulling PR successes with fluff on the TV airwaves. This book is no exception. It takes a wealthy playboy (who never measured up to his father’s standards) and a black female cop (who came from the streets) and throws them together to investigate a crime committed by Asian tongs.… Read the rest
The first five years of the Blue Jays, as covered by a female sportswriter.
Many thoughts assailed me. Sure, I had heard she was nice, came from a respectable family, etc., but we had never met before. What if I didn’t like her in *that* way?… Read the rest
