All Things Considered: Advanced Reader of Modern Chinese.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for American students
Review: Many Chinese textbooks try to be all things to all people. This book, however, is written by for American students. The articles will be of interest to them, the explanations will be easy to understand, and best of all, the book includes both simplified and traditional characters.

I also like how each chapter is relatively short. If you find it uninteresting for some reason, you don't have to suffer too long; there's another one coming up behind.

Rating:
Summary: All Things Considered: A good textbook
Review: This book progresses from traditional speech lessons to more difficult newspaper readings that have been edited to better suit the level of students. The vocabulary/crib sheets are extremely helpful as well as the exercises. The only slight drawback is that while the text is written in both traditional and simplified characters,the exercises are written only in simplified characters.

Rating:
Summary: a comprehensive Chinese language textbook
Review: This Chinese language text is appropriate for intermediate to advanced students. It contains 32 passages divided into two sections. The first part is a series of dialogues while the second part is a collection of newspaper articles. Each lesson is followed by grammar points used in the text, with additional examples, and by exercises based on grammar and vocabulary. Both vocabulary and passages are given in simplified and traditional characters. Chinese (pinyin) and English indexes with page references are also provided.

This book has many strengths and, as a student, it's one of the better Chinese language textbooks I've come across. The dialogue and article format exposes students to both spoken and written Chinese. Also, passages are long enough to familiarize one with vocabulary and grammar but not so long as to become repetitive. Occasionally subjects are recycled but in a way that reinforces vocabulary and/or demonstrates variations within the language. Probably the most refreshing asset is the scope of topics. Everything from food, travel, and etiquette to Chinese culture to social and political issues (and yes, even sex) are covered. This is one of the few books that provide relevant vocabulary and discussion for students and does not feel vocab force feeding.