Recent numismatic book procurements

For Christmas I got three numismatic books. Now that I've had a chance to read and/or look through them extensively I'd like to give my impressions:

1) Illegal Tender: David Tripp
This was the only one of the three that I read cover to cover (because it was not written as a reference book). I enjoyed it thoroughly and would recommend it as a good read but it is not the best non-fiction book I have read. It would be in the top 10 though. Broken into three parts, the book traces the situations that lead up to Roosevelt's gold recall, the mysterious emergence of several 1933 double eagles in the numismatic community and the secret service's attempt to seize them, then finally the emergence of a specimen in England in the mid-90's and the ensuing legal battle to sell it. The biggest problem with the book was that it climaxed very quickly and the ending was not as interesting as the beginning. This is not the fault of the author. Tripp tries to make the attempted sale in the 90's seem exciting and it partly is but falls a little flat. The same goes for the auction. Reading about the bids at auction was very tedious. Most people reading the book know the final sale price of $7,590,020 so reading about different people bidding just doesn't get the heart pumping. Overall, the book is a good read and a must for coin nuts and history buffs. The books comprehensive nature will give all a great look into the economics of the depression, the gold recall that lead to the destruction of the majority of the double eagles, etc.

2) A Guide Book of United States Type Coins: Q. David Bowers
This is a real gem of a book. I've been tempted to sit down to read through it but being a reference it is quite dry. However, I've already found it immensely useful in looking up diameters and compositions of several coins. It gives a lot of basic information (though nothing terribly indepth) including size, composition, the designer, mintages, estimated survival populations, and overviews of each denomination. For the $20 that it costs, it is well worth the money.

3) Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins: 1795-1933: Garrett and Guth
I asked for this book on a whim and am glad that I did. Though I don't own many gold coins and probably never will, this book has a paragraph or more on every single gold coin ever minted by the US Mint in the time span indicated above. It'll be helpful when looking for specific coins to know what they are generally like and potential pitfalls. The book is rather expensive ($70) but is so because every page is full color. I wouldn't suggest this book to a beginner because of the cost and relative specialty of it. Even though I might not need it as frequently as I do some of my other books, I am glad to be in possession of it!