Beginning

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies: A Book of Zombie Christmas Carols
$9.99
I would give this book five stars simply for Jeff Weigel's black-and-white illustrations. There's a zombified Elvis, Norman Rockwell family, Griswold, Nutcracker, Frosty, and Tiny Tim. What really seals the deal is the zombie using his own intestines to decorate the Christmas tree. The zombie Christmas carols by Michael P. Spradlin occasionally sparkle, but there are only so many brain-eating jokes that one can take (even at a slim 81 pages). Still, it's hard to resist such wonderful titles as "We Three Spleens" and "Good King Wenceslas Tastes Great."

Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers
$16.99
Ten years ago, my son was struggling in first grade phonics program. He was performing below grade average on their phonics readers in class. I knew he had issues with auditory stuff that might explain some of the difficulties. I wanted to teach him using sight word methodology, but it was competing with the school's lessons and confusing. He could sound out stuff, but couldn't seem to stick pieces of a word together. Growing up with sight reading myself, it was very difficult for me as the parent to help him through that last hurdle.

Enter BOB Books. I don't remember how or why these books found us, but they literally fixed everything. They combined the simplicity of graphics with simple sight words and basic phonics. Whatever he was missing from the phonics heavy environment was corrected with this method.

In less than a month, he went through two or three sets with ease. No drama, it was quick and fun. After that, he breezed through the first grade readers the teacher offered. Then, he moved on to Magic Treehouse stories. By the beginning of second grade, he was reading 3.5 grade level. When the second graders read boxcar children stories, he read 3rd and 4th grade materials independently and worked with the teacher one-on-one for analysis type skills. This started a love of reading that hasn't stopped yet. In school, he's in accelerated English classes. When I think back to his beginning years, I always think about these books. They were an awesome tool for entering the world of reading.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
$19.95
Excerpt from my original review at [...]:

When you think you have it rough, remember someone out there always has it worse. That's the message Scratch Beginnings: Me, 25 Dollars and the Search for the American Dream delivers. While most recent college grads are out starting their careers and partying on the weekends, Adam Shepard chose a dramatically different route.

I really enjoyed this book; I read through it in about 3 nights before bed. Adam glamorized nothing about his journey and it made me think twice when I complain about situations in my life. Some critics have argued that Adam wasn't really homeless and this book was an affront to those that are. They also said that he was taking up a spot from someone that really needed it just for the sake of selling books. Whether he was or wasn't, for the time he was in the shelter, he was indeed homeless. From what I gather, there was still room on the floor for another if needed. Could Adam have quit anytime and went home to his parents? Yes, I suppose he could have. There certainly would've been a lot easier ways to make a buck. But he didn't. And that's the point, he saw the journey through when most would've bailed.

Beginning iPhone 3 Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK
$39.99
As a computer scientist, I have read a plethora of programming books that attempt to teach you a particular framework, language, or programming technique. "Beginning iPhone 3 Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK" far surpasses them all in regards to ease of information consumption. I tried many times to learn iPhone development, but I could never find the right book, tutorial, or site to help me get started. Most of Apple's documentation is great for the advanced iPhone programmer, but they are quite lacking when it comes to users who are just coming to the platform. This book was just what I needed to propel me into iPhone development.

The book explains everything very well, and if there is a concept that they are not yet ready to introduce, or if it is out of the scope of the book, they make sure to inform you of such skips AND provide you resources that will assist you in discovering that particular part of the technology.

All-in-all this has been a wonderful book that is easy to read and easy to follow. They also offer up-to-date source code at their forums in case you are having trouble or if there is an error in the book. You can even submit corrections/errata for the next edition!

If you are considering moving to the iPhone platform, I would highly suggest this book to you.