The Chambers Crossword Dictionary certainly is a fine book, a solid hard-back the same height as the familiar dictionary but only 800 pages long. It promises 290,000 solutions for cryptic and quick crosswords and will, I am sure, be popular and a safe Christmas present for any crossword fan.

This is a thesaurus with 15,000 definitions as headwords. Each of the entries in the dictionary leads to a list of words with of similar meanings sorted alphabetically by length. For example looking for a horse of seven letters, I quickly picked out bronco, centaur, charger, hackney and mustang. However,this work also has extensive reference lists and I went on to the list of horse and pony breeds and discovered Comtois, Criollo, Finnish, Furioso,Hackney, Hispano, Jutland, Masuren etc. It is the reference listings that are the strong point of this book; for example the entry for city is followed by a section on ancient cities, capital cities and almost four pages of towns and cities. This is the place to find the names of famous people, kings, criminals, authors, actors, astronauts - they are all listed. Moreover because all of the entries are listed according to their length it is easy to find the correct answer. Project consultants for the Chambers Crossword Dictionary were Don Manley and Jonathan Crowther and short essays by both are included in the introduction. Azed writes lucidly on the art of the crossword setter and gives an interesting insight into his methods. One comment which bemused me was that he used Chambers Words to search for words of a suitable length to fit his puzzles. I too have a copy that I bought 20 years ago. I have tried to buy one recently to replace my tattered paperback but to no avail. Don has written a superb and individualistic piece on Crossword English, explaining how to read a crossword clue. He lists 20 clues and explains each one. This essay would make an excellent introduction to the cryptic clue for a beginner to the art. There is also a section on anagram indicators.

The Chambers Crossword Dictionary is a lovely book and would be a great help in solving cryptics such as one finds in The Times and would make definition-only puzzles a piece of cake. Its reference sections, garnered from other Chambers databases such as their Book of Facts, will certainly be a help for me, if only to check the name of a protein or a physicist.

Everything you ever wanted to know about crossword puzzles in a single handbook. Don Manley covers the history of the puzzle and gives a detailed explanation of the different sorts of cryptic clue. Advice for the solver with examples and explanations is followed by suggestions for the budding composer. Not only this, but the book contains over a hundred puzzles, ranging from the fairly easy to the virtually impossible. This book is ideal for the crossword lover, whether a beginner or a master.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of quotation books. But not many offer over 20,000 quotations. This one falls into the group of massive quotation books that are categorized by author, rather than by subject. it makes it easier to familiarize yourself with the thoughts of a specific writer or speaker, but harder to find quotes based on topic or subject.

You have to compare this with the grand old book of author categorized quotations-- Bartletts. And this book comes out looking pretty good, with more than 50% more sources of quotations, including some very unique contemporary ones.

While I tend to prefer subject categorized book, I've found this one to be fun to browse. It's still too much effort to dig through these author categorized ones while doing an in depth subject search, but it is an excellent book, in the same general class as Bartlett's and Oxford.

The cover looks a bit stodgy, but inside, there are a wealth of new faces with new ideas. The publisher reports that a team of 40 researchers worked on this. This is particularly reflected in the great job they do of putting a decent bio of each speaker right there where the quotes are-- no need to dig the info up from the back of the book.

Easily the best book on architecture, and mere observation, that I have ever read. Great even for those with little or no knowledge of the field.

Chambers Words lists every single word in the extensive Chambers dictionary; but without definitions, according to the length of the word. So if you are stuck for a 6 letter word beginning J-P, within seconds you will have found Japuti: of course, the well-known palm tree! This handbook is an essential aid for both solving and setting crossword puzzles or for judging Scrabble games. Chambers is the usual standard source for English words.

This is the book that convinced me that Candelaria is the lyric poet laureate of Canada. His poetry is deceptively simple, hauntingly musical, and speaks with a voice that transcends the personal.

Consider these three "simple" lines from "Past Postscripts" (p. 47)

her hourglass / too exquisite to keep time / with his broken clock

Simple? No - exceedingly complex. Personal? Yes - but not the confessional personal - the universal personal that all poets should strive for.

Candelaria is, and shall remain, the master of the universal personal amongst Canadian poets.

As we approach the start of the Year of the Horse, children will be learning all about the Chinese New Year. In this A World of Holidays book by Catherine Chambers, students will learn many of the rites and rituals of the Chinese use to celebrate their New Year. This included no washing or baths on New Year's Day, firecrackers, charms made of peachwood, poems written on red paper, drums, dancing lions, and lighting lanterns. This book is filled with color photographs showing all of the above are more. Chambers does a nice job of covering a lot of specifics about the Chinese New Year in a clear and concise manner. Teachers and students will learn a lot from this book that they can use to study and celebrate the holiday in class. In the back of the book there are suggestions for how to celebrate the Chinese New Year by making a lion mask or a lucky red envelope. The rest of the book will provide lots of other ideas as well. Note: I am so embarrassed; I looked at the front of the cover of this book several times before I recognized the head of the dragon. Sigh.

Nothing spectacular to write home about. When I bought this book, I was hoping for the old radio dramas that I used to listen to when I was a kid on Sunday nights. I will say that there were some very good stories. But a few left you rather wanting.

This is a great book for any glass artist seeking ideas & inspiration. It also makes a great coffee table book. It is in full-color & features a wide variety of beautiful, fused, blown, painted, lampworked & stained glass artwork.

Artwork is arranged by artist. Most have more than one example of their artwork shown, along with biographical information. Captions list the artist, title, date, size, techniques used, & photographer.

One of my favorite pieces is a nude woman lying down & resting her hands on her face. I also enjoyed two unique dragon stemmed glasses & a blue sand-carved vase with white flowers. The dragonfly bowl is also quite impressive.

A history of glass art with photos of antique pieces provides a prelude to the marvelous contemporary work that makes this book such a delight. The selections are outstanding and all beautifully photographed.

good novals have fine reputations because they teach people a true lesson