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

Advanced Origami

This origami book is SUPER advanced. It's difficult to tell that some of the images are even made of paper. If you're interested in origami, I would recommend mastering the simple dry folding technique before turning to the wet folding shown in this book.
From a literary perspective, the book achieves its purpose with very detailed folding instructions (more clear than most origami I've seen), as well as in-depth recipes for various folding papers. My one real criticism of Michael LaFosse is his flowery stories about each animal and why he's inspired by them. Really not necessary.

Rating - 2

Advanced Home Plumbing

So, I probably wouldn't have read this, but it's tiny and mostly pictures. As such, I finished it in one morning. Not sure if I learned much of anything though. The projects illustrated in the book are the type that most home owners would hire a professional for, unless they are trying to build their own home. I wonder how reliable the book is when it's published by Black & Decker, the very company that is trying to sell its tools and supplies. I'm gonna try not to think about it too much, and just enjoy the photos of the man in plaid.

The Advanced Genius Theory

It's hard to know how to describe this book. Jason Hartley is an amazing writer. Perhaps the word "genius" is what really threw me off at first. This theory was discovered by Hartley and one of his friends after wondering why some of their favorite artists seemed to lose their way or "sell out". The theory states, that they weren't really crap all of a sudden, but rather they were advanced beyond their fan base's ability to comprehend. Like I said...hard to explain. If these people are Advanced, the artists who don't advance are merely Overt. In other words, they are obvious about who they are and what they're doing and fans know what to expect. I can't explain it as well as Hartley.

"Don't worry, I don't think the Advanced approach the status of gods. They still screw up and make bad art from time to time, but their mistakes are at the very least interesting and serve their evolution as Advanced Geniuses."

"The Overt find faith in a Christian or Muslim God to be absurd, though they frequently believe in other kinds of spirituality such as yoga or quasi Buddhism that don't prohibit believers from getting drunk or having sex before being married. What is interesting is that Overt people typically find religious people closed-minded and intolerant, but they too have a very specific set of rules about what makes a person acceptable or unacceptable."

"I'm not saying Elvis is a messianic figure or anything. Elvis was more like Obi-Wan Kenobe calmly allowing himself to be light-sabered by Darth Vader. If he is Obi-Wan, then we are Luke, yelling "No!" because we can't understand that by leaving the physical plane, Elvis/Obi Wan gets closer to the Force and will give us some of his power when we are ready to destroy the Death Star."
Advanced British Artists are more likely to keep their fan because Europeans have more advanced taste.

"One of the greatest challengs all parents face is having "The Talk" with their child..."But whenever the time comes--and it will--we parents are going to have to sit down and try to explain where James Brown came from."

Rating - 4

The Advanced Cyclist's Training Manual

I'm rather biased when I respond to this book because I love cycling. I would consider myself in no way advanced, but Luke Edwardes-Evans was able to teach me a few very practical things. I thought at first that it would leave me depressed because I'm not even in good enough shape to do RAGBRAI, let alone a race.
This is a different kind of book. It's not about training schedules and mantras (although it does have its share of both). Rather, it's geared toward the rider as an individual. Yes, hardcore training is important if you want to race well, but if you set out with no regard to your schedule, relationships, and fitness goals, you will burn out fast. One can only hope that doesn't include an injury in the process.
The information was surprisingly NOT over my head and March was the perfect month to read it, as this is about the time when I get really obsessed with cycling. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating - 4

Advanced Cancer

Hooray, another cancer book! Ok, it's not that bad...the book that is. This is part of a series of books from the American Cancer Society called Quick Facts. It is exactly that.

The book covers all the basics without delving into flowery language or overly technical jargon. It is specifically about advanced cancer, where there is little or no chance of recovery. Prevention, diagnosis, which types of cancer tend to spread where. It's all there, compacted into a quick, easy to navigate read.

Rating - 2

Advanced Bread and Pastry conclusion

I wonder how much of all this I'll remember. What a huge book! In case anyone suspects that this is a recipe book, they are mistaken. There are, however, many "formulas" for breads and pastries. I love carbohydrates, but after reading this book, I'm becoming gradually convinced that humans aren't meant to eat bread. The percentage of actual nutrition is rather small.
But that didn't stop me from lusting after the many photos of grandiose concoctions. My only negative comment is that the author veers too far from the bread and pastry topic and spends a considerable chunk of the end talking about things like syrups and sugar molds and *sigh* chocolate. Lovely topics on their own, but he could have spared me a few hundred pages and a few pounds to boot.
If you're considering a career in baking, this book is a must read. If you're a casual home cook, I'd recommend a simple cook book instead and leave the chemistry to the professionals.
Rating - 3

Advanced Bread and Pastry Pt.1

A two dimensional photo of the cover cannot begin to show how HUGE this book is. It's over a thousand rather large pages. Michel Suas is either brilliant or he had a lot of input from outside sources to complete this book. Or both. This book is definitely a text book for the professionally inclined baker. The first chapter goes through the history of baking. The second is about cleanliness and sanitation in the kitchen. Did you know that the croissant was created in Budapest, representing the crescent of the Ottoman flag?
The next few chapters go into great detail about the baking process including more chemistry than I could ever wrap my brain around. I'm not sure how much of this new info is going to stick, but I've already got a better idea of how to make my own bread slightly better.
More to come...

Advanced Digital Black and White Photography

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book by John Beardsworth. I enjoy viewing photography but it's never been a skill that I've picked up or truly studied. I supposed you could say that it's something I'd like to be able to do some day, but it always falls below other priorities.
This book is very advanced. It assumes that the reader already has a grasp of darkroom techniques and photography jargon, as well as digital editing software. Most of the book is made up of step by step instructions to digitally master black and white photos, mainly in Photoshop.
Apart from it being way over my head, it is very well-written and organized. High recommendation for anyone interested in the topic.

Rating - 3

Advanced Autograph Collecting Conclusion

I survived! The second half of this book was slightly more interesting than the first. It started to discuss how to detect forgeries, which is a bit more fun for me, since I work at a bank. The book covers every basic topic necessary for autograph collecting. I'm not exactly sure what makes it "advanced." I got a kick out of one part where Baker suggests America OnLine as a good source to search for new autographs.

So excited to move on to the next book.

Rating - 1

Advanced Autograph Collecting Pt.1

How boring does this sound? I never knew the art of autograph collecting required a manual, let alone "advanced" collecting. I'm still questioning this.

Chapter 1 was frenzied and confusing. Some of it pertained to autographs. Some was more for collecting in general. I think I would have more interest in the book if there weren't so many typos in the first few pages. Chapter 2 deals with how to date and identify autographs, and is much more interesting. Interesting if you like all the details on the progression of writing implements.

More to follow.

The Adults

Well, I WAS really impressed with Alison Espach's writing style through most of this book. It's written from the perspective of an adolescent. We get to see how she sees the world, the dialogue is witty, and the story is compelling. But it all started going downhill as soon as her best friend claimed to be sleeping with the English teacher. The weakness of too many writers is in writing only about what they know: language and sex.

Rating - 0