Book Reviews

These are editorial reviews of my published books. These books were very well-received for their time. In fact, the Sams books were never off of Ingram's top 100 books and the O'Reilly Book sold over 10,000 copies (which is excellent for a computer book.

Mac OS In A Nutshell (O'Reilly and Assoc., June 2000)

"for the intuitive and serious Macintosh user"

--Boardwatch, Nov 2000

"This is as comprehensive a reference as can be imagined, yet one that is comfortably accessible both to the experienced power-user or to the beginner, or rather, to the beginning power-user. Material is covered in a straight- forward, non-intimidating style that uses excellent and copius screen shots to insure that the explanations can be followed and understood...Ms. Lewis's writing style is concise, clear, admirably organized, while technical enough to satisfy the hoary power user and not so technical as to confound the new user. If you use your Mac, use this book."

--Bob Rivkin, Maryland Apple Corps. January 2001

"very helpful and certainly worth the list price of $24.95."

--Ann Marie Sanfilippo, Mouse Bytes, December 2000

"Designed for serious Mac OS users, Mac OS in a Nutshell is a new comprehensive reference book that systematically unveils little-known details of the operating system in a consistent format. It covers almost every command and utility, Internet configurations, and clever ways to do familiar and not-so-familiar tasks."

--Kris Newby, Apple Developers News, July 2000

"This well-written book covers all aspects of the Mac operating system from beginner to advanced. Concepts are explained very clearly and illustrated by easy to follow diagrams. Ideas are easy to understand for beginners and make a good review for users of all levels. Interspersed with the old basics is some updated newer material such as contextual menus and spring-loaded windows. Behind the basics are often some explanations of how things work on a deeper level. The history behind some parts of the OS help it to make more sense. Nuggets of less well known information are thus found as pleasant surprises."

--Judy Haber, Fresno Mac Users Group, September 2000

"This book is useful for experienced Mac users, but is especially handy for those new to the operating system."

--ComputerWorld Canada, August 11, 2000

Click here for a sample chapter. You wil need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to read this PDF file.

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Sam's Teach Yourself Mac OS 8.5 In 24 Hours

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Sams Teach Yourself Mac OS 9 in 24 Hours provides you with insight into the new OS 9 features and technologies. Focusing on tutorials that teach you how to get around on a Macintosh system, you'll learn to customize the desktop, manage files, use fonts and color, learn about audio and video features, and how to search and use the Web. This book gives in-depth coverage of popular features, such as Sherlock and QuickTime. In addition to providing instruction for new users, this book meets the needs of people who want to dig deeper into Mac OS 9 by introducing you to some of the advanced features of the operating system. Advanced subjects include automating the Mac with Applescript, optimizing the Mac, and troubleshooting.

In just 24 hours or less, you will be up and running with Mac OS9 using a straightforward, step by step approach allowing you to learn the essentials of the Mac OS 9 from the ground up. Softcover.

Sam's Teach Yourself iMac in 10 Minutes

Rita Lewis's Teach Yourself iMac in 10 Minutes is a quick book but is not necessarily a beginner's book. In fact, the ideal audience is probably a current (or former) Mac user who is just now entering the iMac world. Much of the text, organized in bite-sized portions, describes how things are different from previous incarnations of the Mac operating system, and it reveals countless new features (like Sherlock's indexing and searching of file content as well as file names) that a former Centris user, for example, would never imagine. Lewis also offers a few tricks for dealing with the iMac's lack of an external floppy, customizing the desktop and software, installing peripherals, and troubleshooting. Though little time is spent defining terms or orienting readers who are first-time computer buyers (what is backside cache, anyway?), the numerous screen shots and step-by-step guides are helpful once you've got your machine up and running. The text may not be comprehensive as a reference guide, but Teach Yourself iMac in 10 Minutes is perfect for getting up to speed with all the major features that the iMac has to offer.

--Patrick O'Kelley

The Adobe Press PageMill 3.0 Handbook (Hayden Books)

Click here for a sample chapter.

For computer users who know no HTML to those who do, April 20, 1998
Reviewer: A reader
I checked out three other Pagemill books. One was too specific, giving directions for specific types of web pages, and another was humorously written (and verbose) but didn't teach me what I wanted to know about Pagemill. Rita Lewis is straightforward. She starts at the beginning with an overview of the internet and what can and can't be done with Pagemill, yet is never condescending. The graphics, notes and FYI boxes are informative. It is easy to understand, and well written. I am looking forward to putting together my hompage (and finding out what goodies are on the included CD)