Status
Available
Description
Play the System National Champions Play Over the last 20 years a consensus bidding system among American national champions has been chosen and is now the lingua franca for hundreds among the pro circuit, top junior players and strong tournament players. This book will introduce you to the system, called Standard Modern Precision (or SMP), with lots of examples, quizzes and real-life hands bid by actual world champions. Part 1 covers the basics, and provides a working knowledge of the system so you can start playing and winning right away. A partnership may choose to continue on to Part 2 (The Full System) or Part 3 (Optional Gadgets). Also included are step-by-step instructions for setting up hands to practice on Bridge Base Online and a cheat sheet for reference when bidding. It's time to start winning with the high-octane system that more tournament players are using, just like the pros.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member lizandmill
For me, five most important cli-fi novels that have emerged so far are:
– The Sea and Summer, by George Turner, Australia (this novel should be brought back into print and read worldwide, way ahead of its times)
– Flight Behaviour, by Barbara Kingsolver, USA, an emotional tour de force
– Odds
– Shackleton’s Man Goes South, by Tony White, UK, (which is set in Antarctica, of all places) and is a literary novel released by the Science Museum in London
– Polar City Red, by Jim Laughter, USA, a little-known “cli-fi thriller” from 2012 that describes the desperate life of people in a domed “polar city” in Alaska in 2070. It is set after Mexico, Central America and the lower 48 states of the USA have been abandoned, as millions of climate refugees seek survival in Canada and Alaska. It is in this film James Lovelock’s 2006 vision of future humans serving as “breeding pairs in the Arctic” takes literary form.
– The Sea and Summer, by George Turner, Australia (this novel should be brought back into print and read worldwide, way ahead of its times)
– Flight Behaviour, by Barbara Kingsolver, USA, an emotional tour de force
– Odds
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Against Tomorrow, by Nathaniel Rich, USA, a tragic comedy about Manhattan under water in the near future and completely flooded by a fierce hurricane of untold proportions– Shackleton’s Man Goes South, by Tony White, UK, (which is set in Antarctica, of all places) and is a literary novel released by the Science Museum in London
– Polar City Red, by Jim Laughter, USA, a little-known “cli-fi thriller” from 2012 that describes the desperate life of people in a domed “polar city” in Alaska in 2070. It is set after Mexico, Central America and the lower 48 states of the USA have been abandoned, as millions of climate refugees seek survival in Canada and Alaska. It is in this film James Lovelock’s 2006 vision of future humans serving as “breeding pairs in the Arctic” takes literary form.
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LibraryThing member muddyboy
Part of a series of mysteries written in the golden age of British crime novels. The book centers around a pair of brothers. It appears they are involved in a love triangle with John having an affair with William's wife. When John turns up dead William is the logical suspect. However, shortly
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thereafter William also turns up dead the victim of an apparent suicide. This unleashes a complex series of twists and turns that lead to a very satisfying conclusion. Detective Meredith must unravel layer after layer which he does in a very methodical way. An old style who dunnit (perhaps a bit slow for some) but I liked it. Show Less
LibraryThing member muddyboy
This is a really impressive debut novel. It deals with a criminal family that crosses three generations who live in the mountains of Georgia. It is told from the perspectives of many characters over the years. One member of the family takes a different route by becoming the local sheriff to the
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chagrin of his brothers who have linked their operation to a "big" city organization in Jacksonville, Florida. Throw in a federal agent who is trying to bring everything down. You have a wonderfully well written book that doesn't leave you lost in a pretty complicated plot. Great book! Show Less
LibraryThing member NelisPelusa
This book was cute! I fell in love with Sawyer and Clover. Sawyer needed a buffer to save him from his matchmaking mama. So his crazy brother, sends an add for someone, to come to his rescue. Enter Clover, she needs a temporary position so that she can save money to go to Australia. Sawyer is about
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to send all the buffers in his office away, since he thinks it ridiculous and that he does not need one, but when his mother enters with two candidates, Clover gets up and sends his mother away. Sawyer is shocked and hires her on the spot. The banter between these two was funny, and their chemistry was awesome. Enjoy! Show Less
LibraryThing member strangebrew
Before America Singer there was Queen Amberly. This novella touches on Amberly's life as part of the Selection. There are hints of abuse in the story as well as Queen Abby being a drunk. All in all it was an okay read. I think reading about Amberly from start to finish rather than this short story
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would've worked better, but it does give you an insight of her life before she became Queen. Show Less
LibraryThing member staceyftwo
I thought this (like book 1) of this series was great. I couldn’t put them down..
LibraryThing member Marypo
Anna Rose Johnson's debut takes readers to Michigan in the early 1900s to explore themes of family, belonging, and the quest for security and happiness alongside young Norvia, the main character of the story, who has to navigate a new school, new family after her parents divorce and her mother
The characters are another part of what makes this story as engaging as it is. Dicta, for instance, the youngest of the children, had a unique sort of personality as well as a physical disability, spoke her mind on all subjects, and was vain and not at all tenderhearted. There's a sort of innocence about her in spite of her curious and disregarding manner, and the way she carried out her ideas with her youthful confidence and enthusiasm brought a certain light to the story.
Elton was the second-oldest after Herman, the brother who left the family to be employed elsewhere, and his time was spent in the fields doing work that he loved and being the steady remaining older brother to his siblings.
Casper's role wasn't as front and center, but he learned valuable things about choice in education, training, and hard work.
And Norvia is the one of whom Dicta remarks in the second half of the book that she is "never happy." I didn't realize that until she pointed it out, after which it became glaringly obvious. She found solace in books and in trying to make things the way they were in some ways, but she wasn't really happy, and she couldn't truly be happy for others either. Part of that has to do with her journey in the book, as she wanted a better life with the ability to make her own choices. Her goals and outlook change as she does, and it was such an intriguing journey.
Of the school friends, Kitty seemed one-dimensional at times, with her unfailing loyalty to the protagonist and the way she was made out to be a flighty, clumsy scatterbrain of a sidekick. I wish we could have seen more of her value outside of her usefulness to the main character. She seemed like such a sweet and kind person, and Norvia's ideas of what Kitty ought to be would certainly not be kind to her if they were carried out.
Altogether, The Star That Always Stays is a children's book geared perhaps towards older children, with its content of messy family relationships, childbirth, and sorrow/helplessness. There's a certain thread of hope that ties the story together, perhaps most evidently at the end, and it creates an experience that is hard to forget. I've enjoyed my time with these characters, and I look forward to reading more by Anna Rose Johnson.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through the publisher for review purposes. A positive review was not required.
Content: joking about ghosts and a crazy wife locked in a room, fear in reference to that conversation, fairies and witches mentioned, a character stares into his teacup "as if reading his future in the [tea] leaves"
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remarries, and new sources of comfort and discomfort as she tries to take control of her life. That constant quest for security and happiness is partially what keeps readers turning pages, as the author raises question after story question that the reader must have answers to.The characters are another part of what makes this story as engaging as it is. Dicta, for instance, the youngest of the children, had a unique sort of personality as well as a physical disability, spoke her mind on all subjects, and was vain and not at all tenderhearted. There's a sort of innocence about her in spite of her curious and disregarding manner, and the way she carried out her ideas with her youthful confidence and enthusiasm brought a certain light to the story.
Elton was the second-oldest after Herman, the brother who left the family to be employed elsewhere, and his time was spent in the fields doing work that he loved and being the steady remaining older brother to his siblings.
Casper's role wasn't as front and center, but he learned valuable things about choice in education, training, and hard work.
And Norvia is the one of whom Dicta remarks in the second half of the book that she is "never happy." I didn't realize that until she pointed it out, after which it became glaringly obvious. She found solace in books and in trying to make things the way they were in some ways, but she wasn't really happy, and she couldn't truly be happy for others either. Part of that has to do with her journey in the book, as she wanted a better life with the ability to make her own choices. Her goals and outlook change as she does, and it was such an intriguing journey.
Of the school friends, Kitty seemed one-dimensional at times, with her unfailing loyalty to the protagonist and the way she was made out to be a flighty, clumsy scatterbrain of a sidekick. I wish we could have seen more of her value outside of her usefulness to the main character. She seemed like such a sweet and kind person, and Norvia's ideas of what Kitty ought to be would certainly not be kind to her if they were carried out.
Altogether, The Star That Always Stays is a children's book geared perhaps towards older children, with its content of messy family relationships, childbirth, and sorrow/helplessness. There's a certain thread of hope that ties the story together, perhaps most evidently at the end, and it creates an experience that is hard to forget. I've enjoyed my time with these characters, and I look forward to reading more by Anna Rose Johnson.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through the publisher for review purposes. A positive review was not required.
Content: joking about ghosts and a crazy wife locked in a room, fear in reference to that conversation, fairies and witches mentioned, a character stares into his teacup "as if reading his future in the [tea] leaves"
Show Less