Coins Books

Excellent prospects for updating values in husband's small coin collection. Should prove to be a worthwhile purchase. Thank you.

Great book, gave it as a gift. The shipping was fast. Would purchase other products from seller again.

A very useful manual for selling our old coins.

I'm from abroad and I'm fond of US coins, expecially for quarters. This guide is full of details to get more confident with US coins.

Love this book! It is a great resource for tracking coins and to be able to know the accurate value of the coins. Easy to understand and read. This books is a must for all coin collectors!

My second grade granddaughter could not put this book down and go to bed the day I gave her this book. She really enjoyed it and all of the others in the series.

ISBN 0590200313 - New to Cam Jansen, I might be expecting more of the books than they can deliver. I really do enjoy them, and realize kids won't necessarily nitpick the way I do.

Cam and Eric think someone has followed them on their way to school with their science fair projects. Shortly after they reach school, the camera Cam made disappears and the trail leads to a coin store that's been robbed. Using her photographic memory and some skills of observation, Cam is on the trail to solving crimes even before anyone else knows they've happened.

I found it odd that the kids were on their way to school, which would sound like day time, and then chase a man into dark woods. It's always nice to see that Cam and Eric always get the police involved, rather than chasing criminals alone. Illustrations by Susanna Natti continue to not impress me and I think the books could do without them, since the target audience is pretty well past the picture book age.

- AnnaLovesBooks

You have to love Cam Jansen. When you're a kid, you read all of these stories about magic powers, mystery, and adventure. But everyone tells you magic can't exist. Cam Jansen manages to solve every case without the use of magic... she's a real girl. That's what makes her special and what makes you want to read more and more. She lives her life and has friends just like everyone else. Cam Jansen is a real kid superhero, and the thought that a person like her could actually exist... makes her the best kid detective ever! Kids can really associate themselves with Cam and her friends. Our family loves Cam Jansen!

You have to love Cam Jansen. When you're a kid, you read all of these stories about magic powers, mystery, and adventure. But everyone tells you magic can't exist. Cam Jansen manages to solve every case without the use of magic... she's a real girl. That's what makes her special and what makes you want to read more and more. Cam Jansen is a real kid superhero, and the thought that a person like her could actually exist... makes her the best kid detective ever! Our family loves Cam Jansen!

I read this story. It is a great book. I think that if you read the book you will be interested in it.

Bought this as a gift for a friend who collects paper money, she loves it says it is one of the bvest gifts she has received this year.

I found this book to be very informative & an important book for any collecter/history buff.

It's been many years since I've had this book. All of my expectations were satisfied. This book has been the "Bible" for US Paper money as long as I can remember. If you want to understand grading, pricing, or just want to learn about an important piece of American history, its worth the money.

This is good book about our money and is very educational.
Well worth the price.

This book has been so helpful in my collecting quests. I spent about an hour in Borders trying to find a book that gives values of modern as well as old currency for ranges up to Unc-63. It provides all the necessary information (such as signatures, series, quantity printed) for almost all bills and has a nice informative section as well. It gives price points that help you place a bid on valuable bills. This helps all collectors, experienced or not. I highly recommend this book.

This guide , to my mind is the creme de la creme of guides to Biblical coins.The scope of the learning is breathtaking and I feel a bit humble
to own such a useful book

Few people have the resources to own ancient art unless it's in the form of coinage.

Likewise, few people have the ability to assemble their museum of bible history again unless it's in the form of coin ownership.

In this book you will discover that you can come to own the following coins all for less (sometimes significantly so) than $100 a piece:

1) Coinage from the time of the creation of the Second Temple. Minted under the Persians and later the Greeks these small silver coins are known as Yehuds for the use of the Hebrew letters for Y H and D on the coinage minted to denote its use in the Judah or Yehud district of those empires;

2) Coinage from Hasmonean reigns. Referred to as "Widow's Mites" in the New Testament, these coins overwhelmingly minted during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103 to 76 BCE) and remained in common circulation for over two hundred years...well through the New Testament era;

3) Coinage from Pontius Pilate. In the years 29 and 31 Pilate minted two different varieties of small bronze coins. They have obvious value today for their connection with the events mentioned in the New Testament.

4) Coinage from the First and Second Jewish Revolts. Just as today, the Holy Land in the first century was a hotbed of action and political turmoil. The two most prominent manifestations of that turmoil were during the years 66 CE and 73 CE (during the First Jewish Revolt) and during the years 132 ant 135 CE (during the Second Jewish Revolt). In each case, it took the full weight of the Roman military to restore Roman control.

In this great book, Hendin also describes other coinage issued from the ancient Holy Land and shows copius pictures so that you can at least view the coins that may exceed your purchasing power.

I first read this book as more or less a total newcomer to the world of ancient Jewish coins. The stories of Hendin's introduction to the subject and his experiences in the world of ancient coin dealers are fascinating. The historical information presented in each chapter is informative, reliable, and will be appreciated by anyone with even a passing interest in the history of ancient Israel. Of course, the real reason for owning this book is that it is an indispensable and authoritative general reference on ancient biblical coins, and probably for the library of anyone interested in collecting or studying them. If there is one minor improvement that I might wish for in a future edition it would be to update the photographs of the coins with higher resolution images, preferably in color. Still, even in black and white the book is worth every penny.

Having collected ancient coins, mostly Judaean (and related Greek and Roman) for over twenty years, I use this reference more than all others combined. My collection is organized by "Hendin number".

I would recommend that any potential collector buy and read this book BEFORE buying their first coin!

Aside from its value as a reference, the stories alone are worth the price of admission.

David Hendin makes not only great standard references, but includes many wonderful anecdotes about his experiences as a collector. The chapters are well divided, and there are plenty of plates and line drawings. A must for the Biblical coin collector, and makes for an interesting read even for the non-collector.

This is a GREAT book. I really enjoyed reading it.
There is alot of adventure and cliffhangers.
It's a great historical fiction with alot of information
on how the Vikings really lived.

Spoiler alert! This book continues the Viking Quest saga, which is full of adventure and lessons in faith. Bree and Devin learn about forgiveness and to realize the fact that God's will is sometimes different than our own. At one point the gospel is presented, but the author never preaches to the reader. It's a great series, but only read on if you're interested in knowing more of the working out of the plot.

In this, the second of the Viking Quest series, Bree has escaped from her Viking captors, along with a Lil, an eight year old girl. Bree works out a disguise to protect her as she fishes for the food they need, and she is careful to hide her tracks to the girls' hiding place. As they trek across the mountains, they are confidant of escaping from the island, and back home to Ireland.

Bree discovered that Mikkel, her captor, was not only interested in recovering the two girls for their value as slaves, but he also believed that she had stolen a bag of silver coins. The penalty for this theft was death, although it seemed perfectly fine to the Vikings to have stolen the coins from the Irish (We find later in the book that the coins were actually stolen from a Norseman living in Ireland).

Meanwhile, Bree's brother Devin is also heading home, from the other side of Ireland where he was left by the Vikings. He nurses his hate for the Vikings, making a bitter enemy of one who had followed him. On his journey he comes to Dublin, and meets a Viking who was a friend of his own father. Devin comes to understand that he must surrender his hate, and learn to forgive.

Forgiveness was not a lesson Bree had yet learned, however. Lil became very sick on the mountains, and they stopped their journey over the island to wait for her recovery. She told Bree she was not afraid to die, and explained why she was lonely for heaven, giving the plan of salvation. Just after Lil's fever broke, however, the girls were discovered by Mikkel. He had decided to search for them himself, fearing that his guards might harm them if they found the girls first. Bitterness and anger filled Bree, especially when she heard that Mikkel had prayed, not only to Thor, but to the Christian God, her God, for help in finding the girls. How could God help him? Didn't God want them to escape? How could she be a light to the nations in captivity?

To clear her name, as well as to save her life, Bree set her mind to identify the real thief of the silver coins. Hints were dropped through the book, but you may be surprised to find out who he really was! His resentment at being detected turns into anger toward Bree.

The book concludes with Devin back home with his family, and Bree's arrival at Mikkels home, where she is to be his mother's new slave. She thinks she has seen her long lost sister, but that, as well as all the other unfinished threads, is left for other books.

I'm only thirteen...and I'm already reading this series for the third time! It's a book that never gets old! You'll read it over and over again and never get tired of it! If you could give it a million stars...I would!
The way the book is written...is magical! You want to read it slowly to get every word, yet at the same time yourself reading it as fast as you can! It's got mystery and danger...but unlike most...it's so real! The best thing is that the characters always turn to God when they need help instead of panicking or thinking they can do it on their own!
As soon as I was done reading the first book...I picked up #2! The first one was a million stars....but they get even better! (If that's possible!)
I'm not gonna tell you what happens...cause you need to find out what happens for yourself in this one too! You'll find yourself totally rapped up and lost in the book without even realizing that hours have gone by... again!
This is defiantly a must read! For everyone!

this was a WONDERFUL book!I finished it in a day. I reccemend this to boys and girls ages 8-15 This is one of my favorite books and it is awesome!

The day thirteen-year-old Bree O'Toole and was captured by Viking raiders, her life changed forever. Now she is far from her home in the green hills of Ireland, in a strange new country where all she has to look forward to is a life of slavery. Determined to escape that fate, Bree and one of the other captives, a younger girl named Lil, escape the Viking ship and head into the hills of Norway, hoping to make their way to a trading village where they can find safe passage back to Ireland. But the hardships she faces on her escape cause Bree to struggle to hold on to her courage and to her faith that God will protect her. And as her captor, the young Viking leader Mikkel, searches for her, he faces a personal struggle of his own: did he do the right thing by leading that raid? Meanwhile, Bree's older brother, Devin, who was set free before the Vikings left Ireland, is determined to find a way to go after his sister, but he struggles with his feelings of anger and hate toward the Vikings who tore apart his family.

This was an excellent continuation of the first book in the Viking Quest series, Raiders from the Sea. The historical details are wonderful, and I loved the unique setting. I'd highly recommend this book to all readers who read the first book, but new readers should start at the beginning of the series, otherwise this book won't make as much sense. I look forward to reading the other three books in this series and seeing what happens to Bree, Devin, and Mikkel next.

I strongly reccommend everyone read 2 or 3 books before spending a dollar on a coin. This book would be 1 of the 3 books I would start with. Excellent info and easy to understand. The detailed descriptions of each of the grades ( no matter which U. S. coins hold your interest) is great. You most know what your spending your money on and this is a truly wonderful source. Good luck and read READ READ.

I collect mostly wheat Penny's, if the book is correct my collection has all went up one grade from what i thought. THANKS

Thanks so much. I reference coin values in this book as I am on-line bidding.

Jeff

If you want the true grade and able to judge the true value of a coin, you need to be able to grade according to ANA standards yourself. There is no better book than this, with clear explanations and pictures. I buy and sell a lot of coins, and I use this book many times a week and recommend it to all.

Very well done. The introductory information is key to understanding the rest of the book. Grading is made undertandable.

Very Good!

This is another excellent set of stories - truly a modern Arabian nights - that you will read and treasure. Unlike her first book, which I greatly enjoyed and read in a few days, for this book, I took the time and treasured each story one by one.

I really love the way the stories all relate and turn in upon one another. And the locations and characters are so magnificently original. A real treasure.

There's actually not a whole lot I can say about the concluding volume of Valente's The Orphan's Tales. I loved it. I was satisfied. I didn't want to put it down, and thanks to a four-day weekend, I really didn't have to. I did find myself wishing that I'd had the chance to read this volume immediately after volume I because there's a lot of subtle detail and symbols and entangled storylines that I found myself straining to remember. But the good thing is I love these two books so much I look forward to reading them again in the future, back to back, just like I wanted.

The Orphan's Tales is the kind of story that rewards re-reading. I know that when I go back to volume I, I'll get far more out of it now that I know how the whole thing ends. There's a certain kind of joy in that knowledge, and I don't say that lightly, because I don't like re-reading stuff. But this, in its own way, it reminds me of The Lord of the Rings: something rich and developed enough to return to year after year. Granted, the two stories couldn't be more different: Valente's world is rich with diversity, symbolism, feminism, fairy tale, and magic. The way these stories weave themselves together is nothing short of beautiful, and I hear, again and again, that The Orphan's Tales are structured after The Arabian Nights, which I've never read, so I don't know how it really compares, only that Valente's work is a jewel and any fantasy reader's library is sorely lacking if these two volumes aren't a part of it.

This is a book (or, with its predecessor, pair of books) written on an old model: The Thousand Nights and a Night. Yet I found it as original, and delightful, as any book I've read in years. It consists of fairy tales, yes, but not retold fairly tales. Rather, entirely new tales, abundantly imaginative, gorgeously written, and stunningly and intricately framed.

The outer frame is set in the garden of a Sultan's estate. The Sultan's daughter is about to be married. The Sultan's son has befriended the orphan girl who lives in the garden. She tells him stories written on the inside of her eyelids (and eventually he tells her the stories written on the outside). The Arabesque setting of this frame immediately suggests The Thousand Nights and a Night, and so too does the way the stories do not come to immediate conclusions. But Valente's design is more complex than Scheherazade's: instead of simply ending stories in the middle and completing them the next day, these stories encounter other stories in their midst. So the character in one story will meet a new character with their own story to tell, and the first story will pause as the subsequent tale is recounted ... and so on.

The book is divided in two main parts, "The Book of the Storm" and "The Book of the Scald"; each dominated, to an extent, by one story. "The Tale of the Crossing", in the first part, concerns a one armed boy crossing a lake in the company of a ferryman in search of the girl who has been his companion during a terrible childhood. The lake is clearly enough analogous to the Styx, and the ferryman to Charon ... but of course he has his own story. In the second part we read "The Tale of the Waste", about a Djinn imprisoned in a cage, and her story concerns her position as one of the Queens of the Djinni, and the attack she is ordered to lead on the city of Ajanabh.

As the subtitle suggests, much of the focus is on a couple of colorful cities, both in terrible decline. The city of coin is Marrow, and their coins are most horrifying created. The city of spice is Ajanabh, but, as we learn, the spices are all dead. Despite the current state of decline of these cities, The Orphan's Tales is packed with wonders. We read of living Stars, of mechanical women, of manticores, of a giant who is the gate of a city, of courteous kappas (and what happens when a kappa bows), of repentant sirens, of edible gems... Valente's imagination is prodigious, and she weaves lovely new patterns with existing mythical threads, and she finds gorgeous new fabric as well. And all knitted together with poetic prose.

The stories are not just intertwined structurally, but thematically as well. And characters from one story will sneakily pop up later from a different angle. Time is rather fluidly treated - the book seems to cover perhaps the entire history of its exotic world. (I can imagine an annotated version attempting to arrange the events chronologically.) One repeated theme is marriage, and for the most part (though not entirely) the marriages treated in the book are sad. (Which seems to bode ill for the Sultan's daughter's wedding.) But perhaps more central to the book's theme is Story - the way in which the stories change depending on the teller, or on the focus, or on the outcome, is fascinating. As too is the way Valente toys with our expectations for Story - the way in which familiar patterns are altered.

Stories within stories, interwoven with both a modern and classical sensibility. Beautiful written and conceived. A delight for any adult who loved fairy tales and myths as a child.

It is rare to find a duology this complex, multifaceted and complete. The author uses beautiful, evocative language to tell layer upon layer of strange, beautiful stories. She wraps everything up in a totally delightful way.

If you love fairy tales, fantasy books, or wonderful language you need to read this duology. There are very few books that can compare to the wonder of the Orphan's Tales.

I recently received my copy of the new 4th edition of the Krause-Mishler (KM) 18th century catalog. Here are my impressions of the book, with some emphasis on the changes from the 3rd edition. The photographs are definitely much better than in the last edition. Unfortunately, that may be the only improvement over the last edition I can think of.

Some countries have been moved around - Vietnam is under "V" instead of "A" for Annam, Salzburg is back where it started under Austrian states, early Burma coins are no longer listed under Myanmar, and there's a new listing called "Central Asia" for Bukhara (formerly listed under Uzbekistan) and Janid Khanate (new?). Within several countries, the coins are no longer listed in the same order, and early Austrian coins have new KM numbers yet again. The editors have spent a lot of time on the notes for each listing, with more information about what's on the coin, including legends.

There are a few more photos than in the last edition (18,000 instead of 17,900, according to the book covers). For some reason, maybe to save space, several photos from the previous edition have been deleted. On two successive pages, 29 of the 35 photos in the previous edition for Courland, Crimea, and Curacao were deleted. Space did seem to be at a premium, with one country's listings beginning immediately after the last one ends, even if it's in the middle of a column.

It always seemed odd to me that KM had separate catalog numbers for the different mints under France. Now they've done the same thing for Iran. The Korea section is much shorter, reorganized, and easier to use. The last edition had separate listings and catalog numbers for Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, etc. Now they've combined these into one listing with a note "Series 1-10." I guess that's another good thing.

I hoped I would find many price corrections, because it has been 5 years since the 3rd edition was published. The market has been very strong in many European countries, and the euro is worth about 50% more than it was 5 years ago. However, the vast majority of coin prices are exactly the same as they were in the 3rd edition. Half the book is devoted to Germany, India, and Italy, and those countries' listings are virtually unchanged. My one-per-country collection includes 85 German state coins from the 18th century. The prices of 4 of them went up, very slightly (why those 4?). The largest change was in the opposite direction: my Nassau-Weilburg 4 kreuzer (VF) went down from $45 to $35, and Schön lists the coin at 120 euros. And prices in Italy are way up.

The only relatively large section with extensive price changes was the Swiss cantons, where someone adjusted many of the values to reflect those in the new HMZ Swiss catalog. I noticed that in some cases where HMZ did not price certain coins in higher grades, the KM values for the higher grades were not changed. That created situations where the higher grade is said to be worth less than a lower grade. For example, the catalog shows many of the Chur KM-263 bluzgers with higher values in VF than in XF. The catalog says the Reichenau-Tamins 2 kreuzer is worth $4,750 in VF but only $1,600 in XF.

Here are the other countries I saw with the most price increases: Denmark - many values up; Dominica - very few types, but the prices are higher; Ethiopia-Harrar - prices twice what they were; Great Britain - prices up only slightly, despite large increases in the British catalogs; Ireland - mostly up; Luxembourg - many prices up; Malta - prices generally higher; Portugal - prices higher, as they should be; Sierra Leone Company - prices up quite a bit. The common penny went up from $20 to $100 in fine, $50 to $200 in VF, and $80 to $400 in XF; early US coins - prices up. The values for most Russian coins didn't change, but I noticed that some of the large rubles were way up. The KM-149 1714 ruble in XF increased from $3,500 to $70,000.

For several countries, prices for the first type went up, but none of the others did. It's almost as if someone changed the first prices to indicate the country needed to be changed, but nobody finished the job. I realize the incredible amount of work it would take to really update a catalog of this magnitude, and I know KM does not have the staff to keep up with it. They may be putting more of their resources into numismaster, the online listing - at least one of my coins that's missing from the catalog is listed there. I would have thought that numismaster updates should find their way into the printed catalog. Nearly all of the 18th century coins in my collection that were missing from the previous edition are still missing from the current edition.

Under Netherlands, just about all the coins are now priced in uncirculated. And for the silver Batavian Republic coins, there are also values for BU. I can't imagine that there would be too many of those available to buy. Under Netherlands East Indies, there are no longer separate listings for Holland, Gelderland, Overyssel, and other provinces. These coins are all listed under United East India Company, with descriptions like "crowned Holland arms" or "crowned Gelderland arms" for the provincial coins.

I noticed quite a few mistakes in the catalog - probably the biggest one I found was a listing under Hejaz/Mecca of all the Hejaz coins from KM's 20th century catalog. I wonder how that happened. Another odd one is the photo for a Peru a gold 8 escudos (KM-82.1) - the photo is a 1951 Mauritius rupee.

If you collection 18th century coins and do not have a catalog, you should definitely have this book. It's by far the best comprehensive 18th century catalog available. But if you already have the 3rd edition, about the only good reason I can think of that you'd need to buy the new one would be that your old one is falling apart, like mine was. Or, if you're a dealer you might want to check out the countries I mentioned where the prices are up. The book is $47.25 with free shipping from Amazon.

It's a complete and very informative book about world coins. I used it everyday as a price reference and getting the right description of old coins.

My collection of 18th century coins is virtually non-existent and their value is so low that this catalog cost me much more than they are all worth. But I did not buy it to see how rich I am or how wisely I invested my money. I treat this book as a very special history book. I read it every now and then, starting from a state I have never heard of to discover some new information from the past. This is the imperfect but only source to dig into the history of minute Italian, German or Indian states which often had nothing but minting rights which they excercised profusely. About sovereigns who believed themselves mighty enough to have their profiles struck on multiple thalers only to disappear from annals of History within just a few years. About political plans, expectations and pretences of which we can't remember anymore but they were all detailed on coins.
Coin-collecting is not a way of investing money (it well may be though in most cases it is rather by luck than wise planning), it is a life-time of studies. You have to invest your time, and coins will start speaking to you. Half-worn faces will become flesh and blood individuals from the past. Strange letters will mean their might and their dreams. You will probably never have too many of these coins (even if you have the money, actually) but this is the kind of book which can give you knowledge. And knowledge, in time, may turn into wisdom.

Certainly this is the book for 18th century coins, unless you are mainly interested in one country like the UK or France -- in that case you would find more information more attractively laid out, along with other centuries, elsewhere, usually more cheaply too. But for its coverage of the world, including hugely complicated countries like Gemany, Italy and India, it is unbeatable. This 3rd edition is an improvement over earlier editions, because more pictures (especially of the smaller coins) and more obscurities have been included.

For users in countries which do not speak English, the conversions such as VF = TTB = BB =MBC are very useful !
The book is not difficult for foreigners to use.

I need a guide so I just do not blindly pay big bucks for cute pictures. There are a lot of good guides and some more specific on particular eras and locations such as Westphalia. But as you do a coin search you are bound to run across something you are not familiar with and need a guide. This guide is a great place to start; it is easy to navigate and gives cursory information on particular locations and times surrounding the coin's production.

Keeping in mind that this is just a guide, there are holes and the coins are not displayed in color. On the other hand the coins shown are in actual size; size is hard to translate form internet pictures.

With all the electronic references today it is nice to have something tactile, static and transportable. This book meet al those needs.

There is no denying that this is unequivocally the best book on starting or expanding a Coin Laundry mat business. When I first purchased the book, I thought it was peculiar that there were no used copies in vast expanse of cyber space; but now I know why. It is cliche to say, but this is truly the bible for Coin Laundry owners.

This book gives you a detailed plan in how to construct your own laundromat, how negotiate with the landlord, chart analysis and even technical plumbing techniques to analyze and evaluate a laundromat based on location, equipment age as well as pricing a laundromat correctly.

This book is indispensible for anyone interested in owning or operating a coin laundry. In fact I highly recommend it to anyone interested in starting any small business.

I decided to buy this book after finding not much else in this business field. I am well impressed. This book has answered questions that nobody else will answer. More importantly, it's doing so from an unbiased opinion. Information, charts, evaluation methods, that are detailed in the book. Its like from an insider's perspective. This book is like a mentor with years of experience, showing you the ropes and holes to avoid. A must buy for anyone thinking about getting into this business. Especially a new comer to this industry.

THis is a must read for anyone who is serious about owning a coin laundry business,full of helpful information

I bought this book after listening to a segment on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. After listening to Jim Gladstone and Scott Simon play some of the verbal games over the air, I was interested. I wrote the name of the book, purchased from Amazon.com, and have now played nearly all of the games in the past 3 or 4 years.

I have three children under the age of 4 and they are intrigued by the games, but they are much much too young for any of the games listed, but someday... someday.

I'm also the coordinator for the gifted and talented education program at my elementary school. These games are EXCELLENT for gifted students. Some of their parents report that my GATE students would rather play Sprouts or some of the games from this book than watch tv or play video games. Victory!

I look forward to nights, after my three girls are asleep for the night, when my wife and I can sit in the living room and playing "free" versions of Boggle or Scatergories. I love this book.

Buy it. For $10, you can't go wrong. (And it also makes a pretty good Christmas gift.)

Thanks to this great instructional book, no games boards or electonic devices are needed to have fun with your friends. Lots of great word and entertainment-based games. Ah, simple pleasures! Great (cheap) gift for your game-loving pals, too.

I bought my first copy of this book at a bookstore after browsing through it and discovering some old games like Ghost and Grandmother's House that I remembered playing with my folks as a kid. The new variations on these old games make them fresh again, and there are many other games that I'd never played before -- and which are definitely not 'just kids' stuff'; there's a game called Gravilex that's going to be a big part of my summer this year. I also appreciate the way the book shows you how to play famous board games like Boggle and Scattergories without having to buy the boxed games...It saves money and also lets you play these games anywhere, without having to carry around the box, board, dice, etc. This is a great little book to stockpile and give as gifts -- I'm going to send it to my nieces and nephews at sleepaway camp this summer (Since my chocolate chip cookies are now considered contraband!). In any case, a super little book and a really good value.

I decided to check out this book after reading an interview with the author at UsedWigs.com. I thought it sounded like fun for 10 bucks. Turns out that while some of the games are easy standards that I already new (Password, Ghost), the most interesting stuff here is brand new and really involving. The last board game I bought was Scattergories, which cost like $30...well, this tells you how to play that one without buying any special equipment (its obvious, but I never thought of it), so you end up getting dozens of games for less than what a single one costs when you buy the boxed version. Good deal. Smart stuff.

In this day and age of constant visual and aural stimulation--marketing and advertising messages, music of all sorts, cellphones, PDAs, you name it--it's SO refreshing to see that not everyone has given up hope. Jim Gladstone is obviously someone who values the grey cells, and puts his talent as a writer where his quirky interests are. Not only is this book FULL of original and updated games that often require nothing more than what many of us had on-hand in first grade: a pencil, some paper, a little extra time and a sense of playfulness (okay, and maybe a little competitiveness, too), it's also beautifully designed, durable and very portable. Buy this book and keep it in your backpack, briefcase--whatever you drag your stuff around in. Next time you're stuck on a plane, bus or even your own car and your sick of listening to the garbage on the radio or watching the fluff on TV, pull out Gladstone's Games to Go and give your brain a much-needed workout. For parents who've had enough of GameBoys and giant headphones that keep your kids as alienated from you in the car or on a plane as they are at home, Gladstone offers some fun ways to interact that won't cramp the style of even the most jaded teen or tween. And for the rest of us who just like a good, challenging game now and then (and hate it when dinner party conversation starts to wane), you're CRAZY not to have this book at arm's reach.