An Advancement of Learning

First things first. I am quite pleased to learn that this book cover is not the only one in print, because this one is absolutely awful. An Advancement of Learning is actually a rather exciting mystery novel, but I would have never chosen it if it weren't for this reading challenge.
Ok, now on to the juicy, mysterious details. The first thing that distinguishes this book among other mystery novels is the fact that it is written by a man. Reginald Hill immediately drew me in to his book with his descriptive visuals. The word play is quintessentially British and helps define the characters within the story.
This is the second book in his Dalziel & Pascoe series, following the adventures of two Yorkshire detective partners. The two are hardly alike, but their separate strengths seem to help discover "who done it". The book follows the typical mystery structure, with an obvious exposition, scandals, false leads, chase, and a nice wrap-up explaining how everything happened. The only real criticism I have is that it is too long. At least too long for my tastes. Otherwise, quite a fun read.

Rating - 3

Advanced Stickfighting

How do you teach stick fighting with a book? By filling most of the book with nonsensical spiritual vagueness. Masaaki Hatsumi suggests that these spiritual explanations are fundamental to stick fighting, but if that's true, then surely they belong to a book about basic stick fighting instead.
But I don't want to give the impression that I disliked reading this book. I want to frame every photo in it to hang on my wall. It does seem a strange way to teach a martial art however. I may not be an expert, but I assume that live instruction or even video would be much more useful. I had difficulty understanding the sequence of movements even with the photos.

Rating - 2

Advanced Skateboarding

Ah skateboarding. Something I have very rarely attempted, with less than desirable consequences. This particular book didn't exactly inspire me to pick it up again, but I still found it to be a serviceable read.
Advanced Skateboarding by Aaron Rosenberg is part of a larger book series called The World of Skateboarding. The books are short, concise, and complete with loads of photos to help illustrate the techniques described. Terms are explained nicely and the color scheme and layout help the reader progress from one idea to the next.
If you already have mastered the ollie, but want some advice on cool new tricks to learn, this book may help. Or, you could just watch a million videos on the same topic.

Rating - 2

Advanced Screenwriting

Often times, I begin reading a book with a preformed opinion of how it's going to be. I try not to read the little blurb about the author until I'm finished, so as not to shape my bias toward or away from his or her expertise.
Advanced Screenwriting by Linda Seger is one of the more boring books that I've read to date, and I've recently read about household plumbing. The tagline makes me want to retch: Taking Your Writing To the Academy Award Level. This gives the reader the sense that the goal of the instruction in the book is not so much to improve ones writing abilities as much as it is to cater to a particular group of people for the purposes of an award. That may not be Seger's goal, but it does give that impression.
Why is this book advanced? The topics covered seem pretty basic to me. She does use a lot of examples to illustrate her points, but then she goes on and on for pages talking about what happens in a handful of movies. The examples would be more meaningful and instructive if she toned it down a bit and left out some of the embellishment.
This is, of course, only my opinion, but that's why it's my blog. If you want to advance your screenwriting skills, don't bother with this book.

Rating - 1