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.Mother Tongue: The English Language
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by: Bill Bryson

September 26, 1991
I liked this book. It is written with Bryson's usual witty and engaging style. It is a book that is absolutely of the high standard any reader of Bryson's previous books will have come to expect.

Having said that, this book is certainly not for everyone, even if you have thoroughly enjoyed many of Bryson's previous offerings. I have an amateur's interest in language and this book provided me with an informative introduction to its history and quirky nature. If you are not interested in the subject I think you will probably find this book very dull indeed.

There are some downsides to bare in mind, even for those with an avid interest. Firstly, it contains lots of list of words in the text which can be tedious, to the ... Read More:
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.2009 Moleskine Soft Large Weekly Notebook: 18 Months (Moleskine 18 Month Diaries): 18 Months (Moleskine 18 Month Diaries)
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by: Moleskine

May 10, 2008
I've been a fan of Moleskine products for a while, but these new soft covers really do provide the icing for the cake! Moleskine have taken a great product and made it even better. Considering how long they last their certainly worth the money. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this new range of diaries and notebooks.
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.Writing Your Dissertation: The Bestselling Guide to Planning, Preparing and Presenting First-Class Work (The How to Series): The Bestselling Guide to Planning, ... First-Class Work (The How to Series)
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by: Derek Swetnam

April 01, 2000
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!
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.Philosophy: The Basics (Basics (Routledge Paperback))
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by: Nigel Warburton

May 13, 2004
Like 'Philosophy - the classics', this is an excellent book, reference and general reader. It gives a useful reading list at the end of each chapter.

The Basics takes a topic based approach, including Philosophy of : Science, Mind, Religion, the external world etc. and starts off by expounding the theory (say behaviourism) and then the arguments against it.

Warburton writes really clearly and this book is a useful resource for student and anyone interested in Philosophy.

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.The Art of Looking Sideways
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by: Alan Fletcher

June 30, 2001
Alan Fletcher was one of the creative powerhouses of design from the 1960s on, and this book puts together some of his musings on life, the Universe and everything. The book is designed to spark ideas and thought, so even the paper used changes from page to page.

In typically quirky fashion, only the left hand pages are given a number so if you buy this book you actually get over a thousand pages of inspiring graphics, calligraphy, typography and photographs collected over the course of a long and illustrious career: he founded Pentagram; he designed logos for Reuters and the Victoria and Albert museum. The book gives a glimpse of the thought processes that went in to that work. For the money it's an astonishing bargain.
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.Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
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by: Lynne Truss

July 05, 2007
On the state of the nation's punctuation: this sounds like the kind of essay topic a prefect would award a wayward junior as punishment for some minor infringement ("500 words on the inside of a ping-pong ball", etc). However, this book turns out to be a funny, clever and witty tragi-comic diatribe.
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.Practical English Usage (3rd Edition)
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by: Michael Swan

April 21, 2005
In my time as a TEFL teacher this book came in useful on numerous occassions. TEFL textbooks have notoriously shoddy guides to grammar, which are often detrimental rather than helpful for student and teacher. Swan doesn't have any practice exercises, but everything is laid out plain and simple, from the most straighforward grammar points to the complexities of cleft sentences.
As a teacher, especially in my first year, I would have sunk without a trace if it hadn't been for this book. You simply cannot do without it as a TEFL teacher, or as a serious English language student. There's not much more to say about it than that!
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.Collins Concise English Dictionary
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference
from: Collins

June 02, 2008
Having lasted me more than half my life, seen me through High School, two university degrees, authorship of two books and hundreds of thousands of words of journalism, my crumbling copy of the Oxford English Dictionary was looking rather jaded, not to mention out-of-date. Collins Concise Dictionary is a more than decent update. I like the clarity that comes from reading from clear white pages, the words listed in blue print; I like the Encylopaedic entries (look up any town or city and it will give you basic details; ditto contemporary and historical figures). One thing it could have expanded upon was word origins - but that is a minor quibble that can be attributed to its size more than any editorial omission. What more can I say? It's a good dictionary and will hopefully last ... Read More:
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.Italian: Beginner (Collins Language Revolution) (Book with 2CDs): Beginner
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by: Tony Buzan, Clelia Boscolo

March 03, 2008
As explained in the other reviews you get a two CD set and an A5 booklet with this pack.

It's all been nicely put together for the beginner (this is definitely aimed at the phrase book/ tourist market) and the stand alone CD is a good idea.
However the main problem with this is the inclusion of Tony Buzan's mind maps - I just can't see that they are helpful in learning a language.

It's also quite annoying that he lays claim to teaching techniques that really wouldn't surprise Plato or Socrates! If you can get past Buzan's self advertising this is a very well put together set and will put you well on the way to learning enough to get you by on a business trip or holiday.
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.The Rough Guide to Paris - 11th Edition
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference
by: Ruth Blackmore, James McConnachie

January 10, 2008
As explained in the other reviews you get a two CD set and an A5 booklet with this pack.

It's all been nicely put together for the beginner (this is definitely aimed at the phrase book/ tourist market) and the stand alone CD is a good idea.
However the main problem with this is the inclusion of Tony Buzan's mind maps - I just can't see that they are helpful in learning a language.

It's also quite annoying that he lays claim to teaching techniques that really wouldn't surprise Plato or Socrates! If you can get past Buzan's self advertising this is a very well put together set and will put you well on the way to learning enough to get you by on a business trip or holiday.
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Used Price: £6.97