The information in this book is by no means ground breaking. However, it is a well written book that provides solid all around advice for the new investor.

The book touches on many aspects of investing without being biased toward any particular one. It basically gives an overviews of many of the tools available to make investing decisions and leaves it to the reader to choose and learn more. For example, it starts out with an overview of economic factors and then moves into fundamental analysis, charting and buy/sell guidelines. It then touches on options, IPO's and tax issues.

Compared to other "newbie" books such as those by the Motley Fool, I think this offers a much more rounded approach. These books (and others) tend to present a biased view of the "correct" way to invest. This book gives a broader view that gives the reader more starting points to continue their learning and ultimately make better investing decisions.

One final comment -- there is not a lot of advertising for the thestreet.com in this book. Many chapters are accompanied by lists of websites to help you explore the topic presented in the chapter. Naturally, thestreet.com is often in the list, but all websites are given very fair treatment throughout the book.

Robo sapiens is a collection of short interviews with people from all over the field of robotics. Each interview is at most a couple of pages long and is accompanied by beautiful pictures as well as supplementary commentary by the interviewers. The interviews themselves are pretty lightweight. You'll get some idea of what people are working on in the field, but don't expect anything in depth. Overall the book is a good, lightweight read. You can pick it up and read an interview or two and then not touch it for a couple of days. Some reviews have suggested this is a bad thing, but I think it is exactly what the book intends to provide.The book itself is rather large and contains beautiful photographs that have an artistic element to them. This adds to the browseability of the book and makes it something you might want to leave out for others.

The National Geographic Photography Field Guide is a well written, easily accessible guide that is a great beginners guide and reference for experienced photographers. The first half of the book covers the basics of photography including cameras, film, lenses and light. Each of the chapters is concise and contains handy tables and charts. For example, the chapter on filters has handy charts to help you determine when to use certain filter types.

The second half of the book contains chapters devoted to various subjects. Some examples are landscapes, weather and people. In between some of the chapters are small sections on National Geographic photographers that give a short bio and their options on photographing the subject being discussed. While these sections don't provide much in the way of additional information, they make for interesting reading and add character to the book.

Beyond the written content, the book itself is a work of art. It is filled with beautiful pictures that are great examples of the topic being discussed. Also, it is printed on glossy paper that adds that extra touch of professionalism. All in all, a highly recommended guide.

After enjoying Singh's "The Code Book" I picked up a copy of Fermat's Enigma. The problem itself was somewhat interesting to me, but I hoped Singh presentation of the story would be as good as "The Code Book". I wasn't disappointed. The solution to the problem is wrapped in a compelling story that takes you through the history of mathematics, starting before Fermat's time. Along the way Singh takes time to point out both the highlights and tragedies of mathematics, while weaving in elements of Andrew Wiles' life.

While the math behind the final solution to be problem may be out of reach for most people, Singh successfully communicates the essence of the mathematics used. The book is not complex or saturated with equations and is accessible to just about anyone. For those more interested in the mathematics, Singh includes a complete set of appendices containing problems and proofs from each era of mathematics he discusses.

All in all, a great read. Highly recommended.

I was never really interested in trading, but wanted to learn a bit about it so I decided to pick up a copy of this book since it looked like it might bridge the gap between investing and trading. The writing style is very accessible and the authors clearly discuss the diferences between trading and investing. In this respect, it met my expectations. However, I felt that the book was nothing more than a set of "rules of thumb" that were cobbled together in a book. I certainly enjoyed the read, but the lack of well defined rules makes me reluctant to try the methods discussed. I was even more disappointed to find that the authors mention that these methods are "statistically proven", but never present any of these proofs. If you are interested in learning more about trading this book might be worth a quick read, but I'd recommend finding something more technical if you really want to take a quantitative approach to trading.

When I first got this book (shortly after it was published) I was a bit skeptical because it seemed to go against a lot of what I had been reading. Now that I've had it for a while I really believe it is a fantastic reference guide and one of the most complete bodybuilding books around. It covers virtually every exercise you can think of in great detail -- how to perform the exercise, which part of the muscle is used, etc. Beyond this it contains a wealth of information about designing training programs for different body types and skill levels and how to prepare to be a competitive bodybuilder.

I still question some of the training schedules (lifting 6 days per week really seems like a lot to me), but it is worth the money just as an exercise reference -- even if you aren't interesting in competitive bodybuilding. Whenever I am changing my training program or looking to verify my form I consult this book.

Effective Perl Programming is a concise, well written guide that is packed with useful Perl tips. The book is a series of "Items" (in the same style as Effective C++) that are each a tip about how to use Perl. Each tip is accompanied by a detailed description that discusses the pros and cons or each tip and several examples. The tips are then arranged into sections such as "Regular Expressions" and "Object Oriented Programming". In a relatively small book the authors manage to present an enormous amount of helpful information.

This book is a worthwhile purchase if you are a new or intermediate Perl developer. The tips presented here will really help improve your code. However, if you have been working with Perl for a while then this book isn't worth the money. There might be a tip or two that you don't know, but chances are you know most of what is presented.

Overall this book is well put together. The hikes are organized according to their location in the park so you can quickly find hikes that are close the entrace you are using. The descriptions of each hike are clear and and easy to follow and include a small map of the hike with the description. Each hike is accompanied by color photos which really set this book apart. This is a worthwhile purchase, but it has a couple of downsides:

- None of the trails are rated. I really enjoy guides that rate each hike and define their rating system (such as the "Don't Waste Your Time" series) so I can quickly determine what the authors really thought of the hike. When I picked up this book to quickly find a hike to do the next morning I had a hard time figuring out which hikes would be most worthwhile. I ended up picking one close to the entrace I was using since that is how the book is organized.

- The maps included with each hike could be more detailed. Having the maps is nice but they aren't very helpful in pinpointing your location on a trail or knowing that the upcoming terrain is going to be like. A full topographical map would be ideal.

- It would be nice if each hike had an area for writing notes.

I was a bit skeptical when I was first handed a copy of Object Oriented Perl because I tend to be biased toward O'Reilly books. However, after reading it I felt it is one of the best Perl books I have come across. Most Perl books deal with Perl as a scripting language. Conway treats pull like a real development language. He gives the standard introduction to object orientation and objects in Perl and then quickly moves past this to look at some of the unique features of Perl's OO development in Perl. For example, he covers blessing every type of reference possible, why you would want to bless a particular type of reference and what the pros and cons are of each approach.

Conway also gives a very thorough coverage of implementating true data encapsulation in Perl and presents several methods for doing so.

Another thing that struck me about this book is Conway's attention to detail. In his code samples, he carefully explains why each line was written a certain way. He even notes which version of Perl a certain feature or module first appeared in.

All in all, a wonderful book. Even if you have been developing in Perl for a while this book has something to offer.

The Greenwich Diet is another take on today's popular low-carb diets. It is similiar to many low-carb diets, but addresses some of the concerns associated with those diets. The diet involves consuming a fair amount of high quality protein. Unlike other low-carb diets, animal fats are restricted. Colker seems to feel that saturated fats are a health risk and concentrates on consuming healthy fats -- fish oils, etc. The only carbohydrates allowed on the diet are incidental carbs that occur in vegetables. Direct carbohydrate sources such as breads and pastas are off limits. Vegetable consumption is very high and is used as a source of fiber and other nutrients.

On the downside, I was disappointed with the lack of detail in the book. Colker describes the processes that cause a low carbohydrate diet to result in fat loss, but doesn't give the detail I was hoping for. After reading the book I found myself purchasing additional books to help understand how these diets really work.

Since Colker was a former bodybuilder and powerlifter I was hoping for more information about how this diet relates to athletes. Exercise is covered in the book and he emphasizes how important exercise is to include with any diet, but he doesn't discuss the issues of athletic performance and this diet. In particular I was looking for information about energy and muscle growth in carbohydrate restricted environments. For this information you'll need to look elsewhere ("The Ketogenic Diet").

Finally, other reviews have complained about the many references to a particular supplement company in this book. On my initial read I didn't think too much of these, especially after reading the note at the end of the book which states that Colker receives no money for promoting these products. However, on subsequent reads I think he could have de-emphasized this company a bit and talked about the supplement industry as a whole. The repetitive plugs have made me a bit more skeptical.

One closing note -- I tried emailing the address given at the end of the book with my questions and was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply from the author within a couple days.