Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been using, and learning about, Arduino for a few months. I bought a few other books to help me get moving, and have not been very pleased with them. So, recently, I wanted to start trying to do some of the more difficult things with Arduino, like using data storage and Ethernet. I looked on various web sites for tutorials, and examples, and found that none of the ones I downloaded were very good examples. The Ethernet subject was probably the most difficult. Many example programs would work sometimes, and not other times. Some never worked at all. But, worst of all, some examples had so many errors that I gave up on trying to fix and recompile them, and was never able to load them to the Arduino. Then, about a week ago, I saw this book by Simon Monk, and decided to order it, and give it a try. I have not regretted that move at all. The two best working Ethernet programs that I have found both came out of THIS book. I am using them as templates for building the more complicated applications I wanted. Unlike the other Ethernet examples I've had, Simon's examples both worked on the first try. I only had to change the IP address and MAC address in the program to point to my own Arduino devices. He has obviously tested them thoroughly before publishing them. How I wish everyone was that conscientious! Then, as I started to use these programs as templates to build my applications, I found myself going back into Simon's book for more examples, and more explanations on other topics. I used more of his code examples as building blocks for my data storage, and other functionality. Again, the examples in this book are very simple and solid, and they WORK. That's exactly what you need to use as a framework to build your own applications. This book is small, filled with solid, simple, working examples with good, concise explanations. It delivers on the title - it gets you started with some good sketches for various functionality. What you need to use, and need to know, is not buried in a huge textbook. A beginner doesn't need to wade through reams of technical details, hopelessly trying to pick out the parts they need. And beginners don't need a book full of flawed example code, either. They need a book like this one, that cuts to the chase, and gives them a solid beginning that works. So, if you need some help getting started, this is a very good book for you. If you need the giant Arduino reference book, that covers everything under the sun in minute detail, then this is not for you. For its intended audience, purpose, size, and cost, this has been an extremely helpful book for me.