Barron's Educational Ser.

Barron's guide to the most competitive colleges, 5th ed.

The most recent edition of Barron's Guide offers prospective college students descriptions of 74 colleges deemed the most academically competitive in the U.S., including both large and small, and private and public institutions. Each entry features an essay written by recent or soon-to-be graduates of each of the colleges, describing what it's really like on campus. For the fifth edition, two schools from the previous edition no longer qualified and were dropped, and essays for seven new schools have been added. Essays for schools previously listed were either rewritten by new authors or the factual information was updated by the schools to ensure its accuracy. Several appendices offer strategies regarding the application process, including essay writing; financing options; and study skills. No subject index; indexed by state only. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

German-English dictionary.

Designed for American speakers of English, this contains over 100,000 words, phrases and examples. Entries include the basic words followed by an extensive list of applications, including explanations of proper usage and warnings about colloquialisms and potentially offensive terms. The editors include bilingual lists of numerals, phonetic symbols, abbreviations, and geographical names as well as a set of full-color maps and helpful cultural tips (do not confuse words that mean "pickle" and "pimple," for example). The charts on irregular verbs are particularly good, as are those on pronunciation. This works well as a student dictionary but could also serve as a general reference, even for first research by specialists. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)