GelGelada Posted October 12, 2018 Report Share Posted October 12, 2018 I recently purchased The Complete Guide to Rearing the Eastern Hercules Beetle and Other Rhinoceros Beetles... however, I am not too satisfied with the quality of the book I received from Amazon. I am aware that there are more complete books out there, but I wanted a thinner book as I only plan on raising this one species of rhinoceros beetle for now and I wanted something I could carry to read and memorize while I was out. Anyway. The quality of the paperback book is... suspect. I am not sure if it is supposed to be this cheap feeling, but it feels as though someone made a photocopy of the original hardcover book and simply stapled it together. Most of the photos are black and white and poor quality. There is one set of color photos in the center, but the rest of the photos are somewhat pixelated and it makes it difficult to see details in some of the more important photos, such as the photos of the grub underbellies for sexing or colors for substrate reference. The font within is about size 11 or so and easy to read; no pixelation with that printing, thankfully. The book is 40 pages and I have noticed a few typos, but information is clear and it is not a difficult to understand text. The information inside is mostly what you can find here on these wonderful forums, so I will not detail all that unless specifically asked. However, I would say that if you are thinking about getting the book, get the "Ultimate" book and get it in hardcover. Your quality will likely be much better... and it will look much better on your shelf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugboy3092 Posted October 17, 2018 Report Share Posted October 17, 2018 Most of the “complete guide”s are like that, if you’re gonna get a beetle book, the ultimate guide is the only one you’ll need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GelGelada Posted October 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2018 Yeah, I expected that but I wanted to note it here in case anyone else was planning on getting the thinner one so they would know? Especially about the thin version's picture quality. I don't know if the big one doesn't have that issue or if it still does. I just got this one to start with for space-saving reasons because I JUST started beetle keeping and I don't need anything for other species quite yet; just the basics for what I have for quick reference. Thanks though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexW Posted October 20, 2018 Report Share Posted October 20, 2018 Some of the Ultimate pics are a bit blurry but most of them are quite decent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reyes Posted October 25, 2020 Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 This book saved my larvae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevink Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 Mcmonigle's Ultimate guide to raising Beetles, a super source- I've got some of those pamphlet style books, seeing my first was a surprise, but- you get what you pay for, usually. Besides the book(s) I have, and if a person wants their bases covered, you need a library, and even 50 year old books are useful. Everyone has a different experience. A lot of good information is on the net as well, with experience a person learns to put all the information in your mental blender and take out the pertinent information. No one person has all the answers all the time, and there are always people who use different methods successfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reyes Posted November 6, 2020 Report Share Posted November 6, 2020 Also, I bought the book for a pretty expensive price and received a magazine like book. But, the content is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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