Spanish Cities of the Golden Age: The Views of Anton van den Wyngaerde

Average customer rating:
Spanish Cities of the Golden Age: The Views of Anton van den Wyngaerde
Richard L. Kagan
Manufacturer: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TT8SME

Book Description

Author and speaker Christine Hrib Karpinski takes readers through all the steps necessary to purchase and rent out a vacation home. This book contains practical, hands-on advice that shows the reader how to do it without property management companies, and keep 100 percent of the profits. It offers realistic strategies to create a situation in which renters pay the mortgage, while still allowing the owner several weeks a year in that little slice of paradise.

Customer Reviews:

Very informative and easy to read.......2007-09-11

For a person like me who is going to start in the Vacation Rental Business, this book was very helpful and informative. For someone who has experience in the business maybe will find it too elementary or too basic. For me it was a good start.

A great starting point............2007-08-28

I own 5 rental properties, 2 are vacation rentals. I bought this book with pretty high expectations. Well, even though I've been doing this for 15 years, Christine still had some new advice to share. I thought her formula was great for some areas, but in Colorado Ski country it just doesn't work.

I love how she does give a couple different points of view pertaining to financing your vacation home.

I would also preferred more depth, that a chapter on properties outside the US, and buy multiple properties. But as some reviewers have stated, it is an excellent primer.

I do think that her book on booking rentals, The Vacation Rental Organizer is a very useful organizer for the money. I intend to purchase one each year.

Very, Very Useful Primer on Vacation Rentals.......2007-08-01

I have to laugh at the previous two reviews, obviously written by the same person, an admitted student with a bone to pick with the author. Christine is the most well-known expert in the very small field of vacation rental consultants. She literally "wrote the book" to walk potential investors, vacationers, and home owners into successfully taking advantage of the blossoming vacation rental market.

This student disagrees with Christine's recommendations that owners not rent to those under 25 years old, then proceeds to show a perfect example of why owners shouldn't. He attempts to trash her reputation, rather than someone's rental property. I'm a rental owner and have the same rule, based on personal experience and the many experiences of friends and acquaintances. I imagine this student has stayed in 1 or 2 rentals and as a result is now an "expert"...much like the hotel commercials we all laugh at.

As the student says, some of the information in Christine's books is on the Internet, as is information from every book ever written. However, this new version of her "How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner" contains everything anyone needs to know to look for, purchase, furnish, and rent a vacation home. Some of the information is common sense but much is 'insider information' from her many years as a seminar leader, training thousands of owners and being a 'by owner' property manager herself.

Take the previous reviews for what they are, feeble attempts to get even with someone that disagrees with him. If you want to learn about this industry and how to rent 'by owner' get this book and read it cover to cover and decide for yourself how valuable it really is.

Nice title, but way too basic info, too wordy (filler).......2007-07-31

I thought the title of the book was exactly what I was looking for. I had a property to rent and thought about making it a vacation rental. So, I bought the book thinking it would help point out some not-so-obvious issues about renting a vacation property. But after reading it, I was disappointed with the lack of any real advice or tips. There are a A LOT of words, but they seem to be mostly filler with only very limited and basic useful information. I would not recommend this book to anyone interested in running a real business.

Limited and biased.......2007-07-19

I purchased this book with the intention of gaining a working knowledge of vacation rentals to start a small vacation rental project in Baja California, in Mexico. This guide was not particularly helpful at all, providing only rudimentary information that was already somewhat obvious. It also relies on some dangerous business practices, fundamentally on speculating on the property that you are going to buy and trying to make significant profit that way. It seems to be very limited and unprofessional, almost hokey, in its view of vacation rentals.

I was personally offended as a student in that it explicitly recommends discriminating against students or anyone under 25 as customers.

Selling Your Home: Tax Guide 404 (Crouch, Holmes F. Allyear Tax Guides. Series 400, Owners and Sellers, 404.)

Average customer rating:

Selling Your Home: Tax Guide 404 (Crouch, Holmes F. Allyear Tax Guides. Series 400, Owners and Sellers, 404.)
Holmes F. Crouch
Manufacturer: Allyear Tax Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Buying & Selling Homes | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Investments | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 094481736X

Book Description

Covers the 40-year life-span of home ownership and improvements.

Owner's Guide to Selling Investment Real Estate

Average customer rating:

Owner's Guide to Selling Investment Real Estate
John Reed
Manufacturer: Jt Reed Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Investments | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0939224208

Book Description

2000+ entries; subject/director indexes; much more

Customer Reviews:

Great Guide to Independent Gay and Lesbian/Queer Cinema.......2004-09-14

Although now a little out of date, this gem by "The Queer Movie Poster Book" (2004) and "Homo Promo" (DVD, 2004) documents the explosion of gay and lesbian films large and small since Stonewall. Particular notice has been afforded small films and shorts which before the Internet and DVD were nearly impossible to find outside Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Film Festivals. This book served as the foundation for PopcornQ, now part of PlanetOut.com, the indispensable online resource for those who love Queer movies. Belongs on the shelf of both serious students of Queer filmmaking, and the interested filmgoer alike. The only downside, I suspect due to an academic publisher: no photogaphs from the films. Recommended.

Average customer rating:

The book reviews the circumstances of several musicians.

Was Mozart Poisoned?: Medical Investigations into the Lives of the Great Composers
John O'Shea
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312054815

Customer Reviews:

The book reviews the circumstances of several musicians........1998-08-25

This very interesting book speculates how Mozart died... Was he, indeed - Murdered? The book offers circumstancial evidence that perhaps he was. That his skull was recovered from an unmarked grave by the grave digger who had placed a wire around the neck of the corpse.

The book also explains the illness of Beethoven, Paganini, and several other great composers.

This book is quite interesting reading.

Average customer rating:
WAS MOZART POISONED? MEDICAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE LIVES OF THE GREAT COMPOSERS
John O'Shea
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTA24Q

Average customer rating:

Explains Magic strategies simply

good book

Great book to read, it helped me alot since I'm a beginner.

This is absolutely the best book for a beginner to buy.

bethmo is simply the best writer around on M:tG

Magic - The Gathering Official Strategy Guide: The Color-Illustrated Guide to Winning Play
Beth Moursund
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Magic | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Strategy | Gaming | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Magic The Gathering Advanced Strategy Guide: For Advanced and Expert Magic Players

Magic - The Gathering: Official Deckbuilders' Guide

Pojos Unofficial Total Magic: The Gathering

The Unauthorized Strategy Guide to the Magic: The Gathering Card Game (Secrets of the Games Series.)

Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia: The Complete Card Guide, Volume 5

ASIN: 1560251492

Customer Reviews:

Explains Magic strategies simply.......1999-06-16

Only being a novice with only a few cards, I wanted to know how to best utilize my time and money to get better at Magic. This book takes you through all the steps necessary to bring your skills up to par. I enjoyed the section about deck building since I had no experience (and no cards). Probably the best part of the book is everything is explained visually. You can see and read each of the cards and how they interact. The only concern I had with the book is that it is set up for Release 5, not the current release. But that's not that big of a deal. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand this game.

good book.......1999-06-12

i liked it a lot. good rules explanations

Great book to read, it helped me alot since I'm a beginner........1999-01-23

This book breaks it down into its simplest terms. I was able to understand and follow the directions easy. A definite need for those of us that are new to playing Magic the Gathering.

This is absolutely the best book for a beginner to buy........1998-09-02

I can't think of any book that will teach you the finer details of the game better than this. As a beginner, photos of actual cards help immensely in learning the game. Only "Official" books show the actual cards. This book is great for a beginner who wants to advance to intermediate and tournament level play. The book is dedicated to teaching you all about the strategy of playing with the 5th edition cards. There is a fantastic attack sequence description in this book. The book also details banding, instants, and interrupts which can be very confusing to beginners. Good information is also included for creating and playing with the 5 basic decks: an inexpensive Weenie Deck; a Big Creature Deck; a Burn Deck; a Permission Deck; and a Land Destruction/Discard Deck.

bethmo is simply the best writer around on M:tG.......1998-07-07

Beth Moursund, bethmo, is simply the best writer there is on Magic: the Gathering. She has a simple style, but makes very deep points. Time and again I have read her discussion of a card or a strategy and been amazed at her insight.

This is a book for the beginning to intermediate player. Actually, it's a book for all but the expert. (And even an expert would appreciate her writing.) In this book, bethmo discusses both how to play the game and how to build winning decks. She illustrates her approach with plays and with decks, so that her theory and practice can be seen side-by-side. Most wonderful of all, the book has illustrations of all the cards she discusses, so you don't have to wonder what the heck some card says. It's right there for you to see. Also, don't worry that the decks will involve out-of-print cards that will cost you a small fortune to procure. bethmo deliberately uses only in-print cards from relatively recent (and still very available editions of the game). She's so good that she doesn't need to take refuge in a deck full of $20 to $200 cards.

By all means, by this book. Once you read it you'll be a bethmo addict, too. Then you can go out and buy other of her books, like her guide to Tempest, the single-card strategies (outdated unless you have the computer game or $1000s to spend), or one of the encyclopedia volumes.

Book Description

With 200,000 copies in print since its original 1974 edition, Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country was instrumental in addressing the needs of the original "back to the land" movement. Over five updated editions and nearly 30 years, it has continued to serve those seeking a new start in a country or vacation home.

Since the publication of the first edition, dramatic technological changes have made rural living a viable option for many people seeking to leave behind urban stress. Even those committed to city living are creating a boom in the market for second homes, often rural homes, farms or ranches.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent resources if you are looking for land.......2007-07-16

I read the book, it cover a lot of the things that I haven't even think about for owning land. Anyone who is looking to buy land to invest, this book is a must read.

Great starting point for beginning land buyers.......2007-05-07

My husband and I are considering buying some undeveloped land. While we own a house, we know nothing about rural land purchases and didn't even know what questions we should be asking. This brook provided a good overview of issues to consider, and the checklist at the back of things to inspect/ask about for each property was especially helpful.

A Bible for rural real estate........2007-03-28

This guide has everything I could imagine and alot I couldn't....which is of course the point.

almost too much info.......2007-03-09

If comprehensive is what you want, this should make you happy. The problem is that if you follow every bit of advice in this book you will have to quit your job and make finding your place a full time endeavor (or spend years part time). The advice is all good, but it almost makes the task seem more daunting, not less. Still great for learning all the issues and things to look out for, then you decide how much effort to put into footwork before buying your piece in the country

Fabulous!.......2006-07-19

A wonderful delicious book for anyone who owns or is thinking about a place in the country.

Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country

Average customer rating:

Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country
Les Scher
Manufacturer: Macmillan Pub. Co., inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H5AIKA

Average customer rating:

Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country

Manufacturer: Collier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GDF2RC

Average customer rating:

Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country
Les Scher
Manufacturer: Collier Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UGEFUK

Average customer rating:

finding and Buying Your place in the Country

Manufacturer: Collier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GDA51K

Average customer rating:

Finding And Buying Your Place In The Country -
Lee Scher -
Manufacturer: Collier Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QSA76S

Average customer rating:

FINDING AND BUYING YOUR PLACE IN THE COUNTRY

Manufacturer: Collier Books; MacMillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HTLIZ0

Average customer rating:

FINDING AND BUYING YOUR PLACE IN THE COUNTRY
Les Scher
Manufacturer: Collier Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N17EYG

Average customer rating:

Finding And Buying Your Place In The Country
Les Scher
Manufacturer: Collier Books, NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O7SU0G

Average customer rating:

Finding and Buying Your Place In the Country
Scher
Manufacturer: Scribner Paper Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8VN90

Book Description

In this stunning, emotionally charged memoir, Ken Dornstein interweaves the moving story of his own coming-of-age with the promise of greatness his brother never lived to fulfill. The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky is a heartbreaking but profoundly hopeful book about finding beauty in the midst of tragedy and making sense of it.
David Dornstein was twenty-five years old, a handsome, charismatic young man on the verge of becoming an extraordinary writer, when he boarded Pan Am Flight 103 from London on the evening of December 21, 1988. Thirty-eight minutes after takeoff, he died, along with the 258 other passengers and crew, when a terrorist’s plastic explosive ripped the plane apart over Lockerbie, Scotland.
David’s brother, Ken, was nineteen, a college sophomore home on winter break, when the call came. All his life Ken had looked up to David, confided in him, followed where he led. David’s death left Ken with a void that both crushed and consumed him. What were his brother’s plans when he died? Was David really carrying home a draft of the great novel everyone knew was in him? Was he in love with the woman he was living with overseas? Ken Dornstein needed to learn the truth about his brother’s life and death. In this harrowing and affecting memoir, he records what he found out.
It was years before Ken could bring himself to confront the stacks of notebooks and letters David left behind, but once he began to read he was drawn deep into his brother’s world. From David’s early obsession with writing down his every thought to his misadventures on the streets of New York, from an unraveling love affair in Israel to a devastating childhood secret, piece by piece Ken assembles a complex, disturbing portrait of an artist struggling to find a voice for passions that often threatened to tear him apart. Then, by chance, Ken runs into David’s college girlfriend on a train and everything changes once again. He starts to question his motives and his memories, and finally sets off on a complicated journey to finish the book that his brother started.
As haunting as a dream, as electrifying as the day’s news, The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky is an incandescent and unforgettable account of one man’s struggle to find inspiration in his brother’s life and create a life of his own. What begins as a tragedy turns into a love story of deeply affirming power.

Customer Reviews:

There's nothing I can say that will do this justice.......2007-10-01

I kept coming across this book on bookstore shelves and failed to pick it up each time. Finally after searching the library shelves for hours, I gave in , therefore making on of the better book choices I've made in years.

I was sucked into the story and didn't stop until I reached the end. I turned back to the beginning and re-read it again. It's a story of love, siblings and ultimately finding oneself. It's made me appreciate my own siblings a bit more. I've recommended this book to all of them and hope that they can gain what I have from this compelling story of brothers.

Excellent book!.......2007-04-03

Wonderfully written, touching "memoir" about a brother's love and finding a way to honor that love and life when it is gone.

Pure narcissism.......2007-01-11

For those who enjoy rambling, narcissistic screed. In an unintentionally amusing chapter, the author Biblically rationalizes his attempts at shtupping both of his deceased brother's girlfriends, which is truly an innovative way of coping with grief. The brothers shared narcissism as a trait, but at least the deceased one had an undiagnosed mental illness (bipolar) as the potential cause.

Misses somewhere.......2006-12-27

The premise of the book was interesing...a man finding himself through the exploration of his brother's life. But it lost my attention somewhere. I put the book down for a couple weeks and then finally finished the last chapter. The beginning of the book was compelling and moving. However, by the end, I just didnt care about the outcome. The author, in my opinion, while he tries, did not fully convey how he was able to move on.

As others have stated, i tried to like this book, but couldnt.

I Wanted to Like This Book.......2006-10-05

As the saying goes, "I wanted to like this book." A brother's attempt to reconstruct the life and genius of a sibling killed in the Lockerbie bombing should have made compelling reading. Yet the real tragedy of David Dornstein is not his death on Pan Am 103, but the years of agony he endured with untreated manic depression.

The cyclic unraveling of a life is painful to witness. If you find that fascinating, read this book. I am left wondering why David went undiagnosed and untreated. Were there no interventions, or was everyone lured into the myth that only tortured souls can produce great art?

We can only wonder what a functioning David might have contributed to the world. Might he have worked in a soup kitchen or tutored someone in English? Instead we are left with another set of narcissistic ramblings from the young and grandiose. Is there a real parent in this book? What a tragic reminder of the mindless price untreated mental illness exacts.

The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: A True Story

Average customer rating:

The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: A True Story
Ken Dornstein
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SUYMRY

Customer Reviews:

Good introduction to rational choice theory.......2007-06-08

Rational choice theory has become an important perspective in many of the social sciences. The essence of rational choice theory is presented quite straightforwardly in this book by Shepsle and Bonchek. Indeed, I have placed this book on reserve in some of my classes, to introduce students to basic concepts and assumptions of the perspective.

The basic starting concepts include: (a) preferences, which represent various of humanity's want and needs; (b) self-interest, by which people behave according to their preferences. Making decisions occurs under conditions of uncertainty. As the authors put it, (page 18), "More often than not, individuals may not have an exact sense of how an instrument or behavior they might adopt relates to the outcomes they value." Beliefs, another key concept, ". . .describe the hunches an individual has concerning the efficacy of a given instrument or behavior for obtaining something he or she wants. . . ." (page 18). Beliefs, then, connect instruments to outcomes. When a person acts in agreement with both preferences and beliefs, the end result is "instrumental rationality."

For a rational choice theorist, any choice is rational if it is in agreement with one's preferences. People develop a preference ordering, with some ranking higher than others. When one uses higher ranking rather than lower ranking preferences to determine what action to take, the result is "maximization" of results. Shepsle and Bonchek put it thus (page 34): "Making a decision under conditions of risk involves choosing from among alternative lotteries. A rational choice entails choosing the 'best' lottery. The rule of rational choice is known as the Principle of Expected Utility."

In essence, one would follow this principle by selecting the choice that maximizes payoffs in terms of one's preference ordering. Rationality calls for people to make decisions on the basis of expected utility.
The key underlying assumption is that people can carry out analyses consistent with the principle of expected utility, engaging in a sort of rational means-ends analysis.

While this is a major theoretical orientation now, it is subject to considerable criticism as well. There are many well done critiques "out there." Nonetheless, if one wants an introduction to rational choice theory, this is a pretty good starting point.

A Reviewer.......2005-06-24

A decent general overview of its subfield, but not exactly well written. Also, it assumes rat choice is viable on its own, not even acknowledging the work of Chong and others who have been able to couple rat choice with qualitative methods to great effect.

In summary, a somewhat narrow view for an ambitious title.

Simply the Best Book in its field.......2005-02-11

This book analyzes politics from the ground level up. It begins by analyzing individual decision-making, moves onto the collective decision-making processes of groups, and then to the institutions of government. Each of the higher levels is built upon the foundation of the preceding level. This allows the authors to explain such (apparent) paradoxes as how a group of people--each making a rational decision--can produce irrational collective decisions, why a group (as opposed to an individual) can not actually have a preference, and so why the outcome of an election may not represent anything as amorphous as "the will of the people" but be determined by the procedure used in the election process (See also, William Riker's The Art of Political Manipulation, particularly the amusing yet shocking chapter, "The Flying Club.").

Be forewarned, this book is about rational choice theory, and how it explains political outcomes. Whereas a Marxist or social constructionst approach would analyze how group or social structure affects individual choices, Shepsle and Boncheck are analyzing how individual choices create social structure. It's not that easy of a read, as it includes formulas and graphs that most people do not intuitively grasp. But one of the great successes of this book is that most of it can be understood even if you ignore those things. The brief case studies, which show how the ideas apply to actual political issues and events, are particularly well-written, and make the book understandable for the average person.

I would add, that despite the "bad" reputation of rational choice theorists, Shepsle's a heck of a nice guy. Not at all the kind of arrogant snob you might picture as the typical Harvard prof!

Analyzing Political Theory.......2000-07-26

Myself, SUKANT VYAS,am a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Dyal Singh (Evening) College of the University of Delhi, India and I also teach postgraduate students - Liberal Politicl Theory and Marxist Political Theory. I have reviewed many books on political theory specifically and have written research articles. This particular book has by now become a handbook for me as a teacher of political science. I do not think there is any better comment for this very useful book for all the scholars of political science. This book is recommended for all interested in politics.

Analyzing Politics; Rationality, Behaviors, and Institutions.......2000-06-14

I am using this book as the primary text of a graduate level course in Rational Action Theory. It is very clear and easy to read, and takes several different and complex matters, and simplifies them. The subject matter involves: How we make decisions, Politics, Statics, and Probability. Of all material that I have read on the subject matter including The Federalist Papers, The Prince, Microeconomics and Behavior, and An Economic Theory of Democracy, this is by far the easiest to understand. I rate this book four stars. I would have rated it five stars if it used examples that were more interesting, and held the reader to the relatively dry subject matter a little better. I am not trying to find fault with this very good work. I just think that it could have been even better if some minor changes had been made.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books