Acceptance: A Novel

Acceptance: A Novel
Average customer rating:

Somewhat disappointing

All the ingredients but ...

A fun read

Boring

Hiaasen-esque Dialogue and Crazy Suburbs Make You Laugh

Acceptance: A Novel
Susan Coll
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374237190
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

A comic chronicle of a year in the life in the college admissions cycle

It’s spring break of junior year and the college admissions hysteria is setting in. “AP” Harry (so named for the unprecedented number of advanced placement courses he has taken) and his mother take a detour from his first choice, Harvard, to visit Yates, a liberal arts school in the Northeast that is enjoying a surge in popularity as a result of a statistical error that landed it on the top-fifty list of the U.S. News & World Report rankings. There, on Yates’s dilapidated grounds, Harry runs into two of his classmates from Verona High, an elite public school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There’s Maya Kaluantharana, a gifted athlete whose mediocre SAT scores so alarm her family that they declare her learning disabled, and Taylor Rockefeller, Harry’s brooding neighbor, who just wants a good look at the dormitory bathrooms.

With the human spirit of Tom Perrotta and the engaging honesty of Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep, Susan Coll reveals the frantic world of college admissions, where kids recalibrate their GPAs based on daily quizzes, families relocate to enhance the chance for Ivy League slots, and everyone is looking for the formula for admittance. Meanwhile, Yates admissions officer Olivia Sheraton sifts through applications looking for something—anything—to distinguish one applicant from the next. For all, the price of admission requires compromise; for a few, the ordeal blossoms into an unexpected journey of discovery.

Customer Reviews:

Somewhat disappointing.......2007-09-02

I received this book as a gift from my husband, and that's the only reason why I finished reading it. It's just another example that not every jounalist is cut out to be a novelist, too. Susan Coll starts out developing a quite complex set of characters, but then the story just fails to take off. Throughout the book I felt like I was stuck in some type of introduction, and suddenly you're at the end and there was no story.

All the ingredients but ..........2007-08-16

This book seemed to have all the ingredients for a really interesting and lively book, but the pace just seemed to plod along. There were several "main" characters - three different students, the parents of two, and the acting dean of college admissions, in addition to some recurring figures - friends, teachers, guidance counselors, therapists, etc. I found myself having difficulty recalling who the secondary characters were in each of the several plot lines and perhaps that explains why the book never really seemed to take flight.

There was very little dialogue in the book, with most of the book taking place in the introspections and thoughts of the main characters. There was a nice mix of types of people, with each having different perspectives of the importance of college placement. Since the whole premise of the book was the college application and placement of students from a high school in (I suppose) the fictitious Verona, Maryland, it was a bit one dimensional and that made it somewhat flat as well. There was little, if anything in the book that didn't pertain to college preparation - as if this was the only thing in each person's life.

While I yearned to be done this book, I found myself compelled to see how it ended, even if the book actually became nearly boring in the exclusive focus on college. It didn't come to a grand conclusion with the outcomes of each student finalized, it did come to a conclusion that was oddly in a direction the rest of the book could have used.

Given the subject, I think parents of children who are about to or have gone through the whole college admissions process could find more to relate to than I could.

A fun read.......2007-07-30

Having been thru the process twice now, a lot of this rings true. It is an entertaining read.

Boring.......2007-07-13

As someone fascinated by (and in a constant state of being involved with) the admissions process, this book was a disappointment. It was extremely boring to read, the characters were forced and unrelatable, and the ending was extremely anti-climatic. Olivia's character/POV seemed out of place and almost irrelevent. The characters had uncreative problems (issues with parents, workaholic, mommy drinks, etc) and there is a distinct lack of follow up in the minor arcs/tangents the author starts. This book was poorly written, hard to read, and uninteresting. The only redeeming quality about Acceptance is that it's topical.

Hiaasen-esque Dialogue and Crazy Suburbs Make You Laugh.......2007-05-28

For the middle or upper middle class parent of the 21st century, the statements made in this book are not only true, but bitterly true.

Parents of today are addicted to the blogging statements and statistics spewed from the most conventional sources: college confidential, college board, Fiske's, Barron's, U.S. News and World Report and more. If you did not know all of the above-recited sources, there are only two conclusions: you don't have college-age children and their importance does not thankfully exist in your world, or you are deep in doo doo when it comes to handling yourself at cocktail parties in the suburbs like Verona (a D.C. suburb) - the setting of this fictional novel.

The main characters are not average, but they are typical. A minority student who is a jock (swimmer named Maya), an "uber" kid who has been aiming for Harvard since his mother's gynecologist burped him (AP Harry) and a mixed up teenager (imagine) whose emotional conflicts are hampering her life for the stars - as her top 15% and great SAT scores may deliver her to - and do I dare say this? - an unknown LAC named Yates (Taylor).

These three kids and dysfunctional families (typical suburb families) are followed throughout this book. The dialogue and events remind me of Carl Hiaasen - there is real wackiness in these pages.

One statement is hard to tell the parents or the children - there is more than one school for the child. They don't know this their junior year. And, this book which divides chapters by months from the spring of the junior year to the summer of senior year, delivers the characters and the reader to the realization that the previously enunciated statement is true. Some of the characters do not get into the "castle in the sky" school of choice, but so what. Other schools, they learn, are also great. Maybe greater. Maybe better? Whoa, do people at 17 or 18 realize this? Better yet, do their helicopter parents realize this? You will have to read the book to obtain an answer.

Many of the references in the book show the author's deep knowledge of this area. From study? Probably not - any parent seeking to place their child (which the cover admits the author recently did) into college learns the system, the nuances, the craziness, and the madness associated with the college-entrance world of today.

For those who are in this muddle or about to enter it, this book will do two things: (1) make you laugh and actually educate you on a few fine points; or (2) make you think this is too wacky to be true. Unfortunately, each point is only too reflective of the truths lived in suburbs like Verona in 2007.

Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds

Average customer rating:

So you've been admitted to a top school; now what?
Better the second time around
Making the Most of Light
Pretentious
3.5 Stars... Worthwhile reading for/re incoming college freshmen

Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds
Richard J. Light
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067401359X

Book Description

Why do some students in the United States make the most of college, while others struggle and look back on years of missed opportunities? What choices can students make, and what can teachers and university leaders do to improve more students' experiences and help them make the most of their time and monetary investment? And how is greater diversity on campus--cultural, racial, and religious--affecting education? How can students and faculty benefit from differences and learn from the inevitable moments of misunderstanding and awkwardness?

Two Harvard University Presidents invited Richard Light and his colleagues to explore these questions, resulting in ten years of interviews with 1,600 Harvard students. Making the Most of College offers concrete advice on choosing classes, talking productively with advisors, improving writing and study skills, maximizing the value of research assignments, and connecting learning inside the classroom with the rest of life.

The stories that students shared with Light and his colleagues about their experiences of inspiration, frustration, and discovery fill the book with spirit. Some of the anecdotes are funny, some are moving, and some are surprising. Many are wise--especially about the ways of getting the best, in classroom and dormitory, from the new racial and ethnic diversity.

Filled with practical advice, illuminated with stories of real students' self-doubts, failures, discoveries, and hopes, Making the Most of College presents strategies for academic success.

Customer Reviews:

So you've been admitted to a top school; now what?.......2007-06-13

If you are interested in this book, check out the hard-cover edition which is available both new and used for substantially less than the paperback.

I was introduced to this book by a friend who is heavily involved in undergraduate advising. I had not heard of Prof. Light or of this work previously, and I wonder whether it is less widely known than it deserves to be.

The title and cover of the book are a bit misleading. It could easily be mistaken for a self-help book and/or a book that covers a wide spectrum of college environments. For this, I fault the publisher rather than the author. Readers who come to it expecting one of the above will indeed find it lacking. It assumes students are motivated and goes from there. If you're looking for a book to provide motivation, this is not it.

The book in fact presents the results of ten years' research, primarily around Harvard undergraduates. To understand the context fully, one should read the first item of back matter, "The Assessment", first. There has been some attempt to generalize by involving faculty from 25 other institutions (which are neither named nor characterized), but the real focus is on Harvard.

There are good reasons for this. Harvard is a very selective place, and its administration has both the wherewithal and the motivation to make every student's experience as rich as possible in the full knowledge that for every student who disengages, there were ten other equally qualified applicants for whom there was not room. Thus, Harvard funded the study, the results are particularly applicable to it, and its own press published it. It is unrealistic to carp that the book wasn't about something else.

So who should be reading this book? Sadly enough, it should most be read by those Harvard faculty members who are not particularly interested in developing undergraduates to see what they're missing. Perhaps Harvard's recently-launched initiative in excellence in teaching will help; the question of advising remains murkier. Academic staff anywhere who aspire to do a better job in helping their students launch their adult lives are bound to find useful perspectives and practical nuggets. I think the book will be mostly lost on undergraduates; I wouldn't have understood it then, much as it might have been useful. Parents of high-potential college students might find it helpful in understanding what their children are going through, but to use it as a guide to advising their parentally-resistant (or, worse, parentally-dominated) offspring may be unproductive. Using it in a peer-advising context is a waste of time, as you can see from other reviews. I suspect there are good nuggets here for secondary school educators as well.

This book makes an interesting contrast with the more recent book, "Excellence Without a Soul" by Harry Lewis, who was the Dean of Harvard College during the time Light was finishing this book. Lewis's book reflects personal opinions on the same issues (and more); its underpinnings are based on his own experiences rather than the extensive interviewing process Light uses. Taking the two together provides even better insights than either separately.

Goodness: Among his many detailed points, Light talks (sometimes through the students) of the importance - and difficulty - of clear exposition in reporting on scientific research and of the value of evidence-based discourse, and this book provides an exemplar of both. The book is not heavy on theory with consequent bulky endnotes, and the bibliography is of reasonable size.

Quibbles: Light intermixes Harvard-specific terminology (e.g., proctor) with more generic equivalents (e.g., dorm supervisor) without making the connection for the reader. He presents most of his dilemmas from the viewpoint of a student in the social sciences, which are somewhat different from those encountered by students in the humanities or - especially - the natural sciences. There is so little indentation in the extended quotes from the students that it is sometimes hard to tell whose voice is speaking. The inner margins in both the hardcover and the paperback are so tight that it's hard to read without breaking the spine. And the editing could have been a bit tighter.

The above could easily reduce my rating by a star, but on balance I think the importance of the work and the clarity (if occasionally redundant) of the exposition overcome these. Perhaps I should say five stars if your desired frame of reference is a selective, research university, and four stars otherwise.

Better the second time around.......2006-06-02

The first time I read this book (in 2002) I wasn't at all impressed. As a student affairs professional, I kept thinking that Light (as is the case with most academics) basically ignored the role of student affairs as a significant source of student support and education. I also thought he was writing the obvious.

I re-read the book in 2005, however, and had a very different experience of it. Light refutes some of the "conventional wisdom" (such as the common feeling that it is best to get all of the "requirements" out of the way early) and backs up what he says with solid reasoning.

The major weakness of this book is it's focus on Harvard students as the research sample. The book would have gained considerable credibilty if Light had made a diligent effort to reach beyond Cambridge and beyond the Ivy League to learn what makes students at other kinds of campuses successful.

That being said, this is an important book for anyone who advises college students: faculty, academic advisors, and student affairs professionals. I would also recommend it for High School guidance counselors and parents. Students might or might not enjoy it; again, the Harvard focus could make it seem perhaps irrelevant to many.

Making the Most of Light.......2005-11-07

I am a peer academic advisor at a West Coast college. I was assigned this book as part of my peer advising training, so I read this book from the perspective of a student. Overall, I found the book mixed in its helpfulness to students.

Chapter 3, "Suggestions from Students", contains the bulk of practically useful information. The title itself underlines one of the book's key ideas: students learn from each other. While substantial student interaction occurs behinds classroom doors, Light notes correctly that "learning outside of classes, especially in residential settings and extracurricular activities such as the arts, is vital" (p. 8). More subtly, Light suggests that college leaders and other individuals must make conscious efforts to develop the kind of environment that facilitates symbiotic learning between students. He writes,

when students refer in their interviews to those that build campus culture, they do not just mean deans or residence hall directors or leaders of student organizations ... They are really characterizing _every student_, in the old-fashioned sense of believing that each person can make a difference by setting an example (p. 194, his emphasis).

Later, he continues,

deans and adults should convey to all incoming students that they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience, in their college years, a new set of people with new ideas that may challenge their own. They should encourage students to see these few precious years as a special chance to meet, work with, and get to know others who are unlike themselves (p. 196).

So far so good. The rest of the book, I felt, was short on concrete advice for students. Here, I'll mention some thoughts that occurred to me while I was reading the book.

First, despite Light's claims, I am unconvinced that his results generalize. Light is a statistician by training, and I was surprised that he did not offer any comparative statistics to substantiate his claims; as such, his work may be more aptly called Making The Most Of Harvard (or more accurately, How Faculty Can Help Students Make The Most Of Harvard).

Second, not only does Light's results not generalize across colleges, he also does not provide evidence to show that they generalize across a diverse group of students (strange, since he devotes a large part of the book to diversity). There are no tables, graphs, charts, or summary statistics that back up his claim that his results generalize; in particular, the book focused mostly on students who are ex ante driven and motivated towards success - Light says nothing about the selection bias that arises from sampling a group of Harvard students, who are more likely than not to possess the characteristics necessary for success.

All in, I found Light's book informative, but unhelpful. I will not deny that there are lessons to be learnt if one puts some thought into it. As a peer academic advisor, however, much of the book was made up of clichés, platitudes, and findings that were irrelevant to my work. Faculty and administrators, however, may find the book more useful.

Pretentious .......2005-09-21

It should have been titled, Making the Most of Harvard: Students Speak Their Minds. We were required to read this book for an English writing class. Some of the suggestions in the book are helpful, like time management and getting help if you are not scoring well but only if you read this book *before* you go to college.

Light makes suggestions that may not be feasable, including finding a class with very few students because it will be benificial. Our class also felt that Light's suggestion of picking roomates according to race is ludicrous.

3.5 Stars... Worthwhile reading for/re incoming college freshmen.......2005-07-08

My son and I went through the college search process in the past year (he'll start college next month), and we actually had quite a good time doing the college campus visits, narrowing down his choices, etc. Now that he is about to start college, I fell upon this book by accident.

"Making the Most of College" is from some professor at Harvard whom I readily admit I've never heard about before. But the author actually makes a number of (seemingly) good points that I thought made a lot of sense (disclaimer: I did not go to college in the US but in Belgium, so I cannot easily compare it to "the old days"). The book does get tedious at times,and as such is not geared to/written for incoming freshmen but more for parents and teachers. I cannot imagine too many incoming freshmen reading through the whole thing (my son certainly did not), but I did discuss certain passages of the book with him. What good (if any) it will do him, who knows... only time will tell :-)

Average customer rating:

Catholic Study Bible
Great bible. Narrow and uninspiring commentaries and helps
practical
When you can't get to the Cathedral on time
So much better

The Catholic Study Bible Second Edition

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195282809

Book Description

Since its publication in 1990, the Catholic Study Bible has been widely accepted for use by advanced students that have benefited from its wealth of background information on the historical, literary, and theological dimensions of the Bible. Now this landmark resource for Catholics has been significantly upgraded. The study notes have been completely rewritten, there are new and expanded essays (including ones treating Catholic traditions of biblical interpretation) and sidebars on special topics in the study materials and biblical text. The heart of the CSB's ancillary materials is an extensive Reading Guide that leads the reader through the Scriptures, book-by-book. Helpful marginal references in the biblical text point to specific pages in the Reading Guide, easing the retrieval of important background information. Also included are the complete lectionary readings (for Sundays, major holy days, and weekdays), 36 pages of authoritative, full color New Oxford Bible Maps (with index), and a 96-page New American Bible Concordance. The Catholic Study Bible, Second Edition remains the unexcelled resource for use in parish and higher education settings.

Customer Reviews:

Catholic Study Bible.......2007-08-25

Excellent book if you want some footnotes and maps. I saw this same book at our local store priced $45.00 so really it's a bargain at Amazon, and the whole Bible is in it.

Great bible. Narrow and uninspiring commentaries and helps.......2007-06-18

Believe it or not, this is the bible I use in my everyday life. My copy is underlined, crossed over, and written in. I have lived with the NAB Catholic Study Bible for a long time.

However, I would never recommend that a fellow Catholic do the same. The NAB is great in that it has excellent cross references that really help with comparative scripture study. It is a good and scholarly translation. This edition has a handy mini-concordance in the back as well, which is a huge help.

However, the "scholarship" in this bible's "Readers Guides" is abysmal, biased, and downright schismatic.

First, allow me to address what strengths the various study guides have.

1) Modern historical/critical scholarship in the Roman Catholic "tradition" (I use this word VERY loosely) is presented.

2) The bible is well organized and easily used. The "readers guides" are at the beginning and share the modern historical/critical perspective on the texts.

3) The "readers guides" cover the entire bible, including the apocrypha.

These are the only three strengths I can think of however, and that even garnering these was a stretch. This Study Bible's weaknesses are myriad and fatal. A few of the most egregious problems follow:

1) The essays focuses solely on the insights of the historical critical method, and are egregiously liberal and politically correct to the point of being distracting. The scholarship is definitely a notch or two below the New Jerome Biblical Commentary, which is also very modern and biased. I should point out that the historical critical method can and does provide valuable insights. However, it can be problematic in that it takes skepticism as its starting point. Its conclusions therefore can be biased against faith. One example is the dating of texts that include prophesy. The historical critical scholar will postdate the text to after the prophesy had been fulfilled. The assumption is against the idea that a prophet from God could have warned about the future BEFORE the event occurred.

These sorts of biased statements against faith happen ALL OVER this Bible.

2) Historical critical method, by definition, can only address the literal sense of scripture. (Who wrote the text, when was it written, what is the author's agenda, what does he or she want tell us etc. etc.) In Catholic teaching however there are four senses of Sacred Scripture, the texts of which are Holy, inerrant, and inspired by the Holy Spirit. These four senses are: a) the Literal b) the Allegorical c) the Anagogical and d) the Moral. The study helps in this bible, by their very nature, ignore most of the Catholic view of the scriptures because they can really only address one sense of scripture effectively. This bible addresses none of these truths.

Read the totality of the "study helps" in this bible and you will find no reasons for Catholic belief. None at all. The sin of Onan for instance has nothing to do with contraception. When Paul wrote about examining oneself before receiving the Eucharist for example there is no mention of confession. In fact, the Catholic view of the scriptures is contradicted more often than supported by this bible's "study helps."

3) The best current scholarship seems to have left the Catholic camp (sadly). NT Wright (an Anglican) is one example. His works on Paul and the historicity of the Resurrection for instance have totally eclipsed Ray Brown, Fitzmeyer, et all. This scholarship would be considered "conservative" by the compilers of this study bible and insights from evangelical and conservative protestant scholars are routinely dismissed by them as biased or unscientific. The opinions of more orthodox scholars don't even warrant a mention by the authors of these "Reader's Guides." This makes the study helps in this bible decidedly myopic in favor of a more liberal and modern view of the dating and authorship of the various NT texts. What is disgusting is that these liberal scholars are trying to pass themselves off as purveyors of Catholic truth. This is repugnant. At least present the Church's viewpoint before contradicting it!

4)Eastern Christian bible scholarship has a long and beautiful history in drawing out the spiritual meaning of biblical texts. This "Catholic" study Bible ignores the East altogether. This is not a joke. Not a single Eastern mystic, saint, or scholar is included in the study helps. It breathes with one lung only (the western one), and the VERY modern and liberal wing of western one at that. The Church offers a HUGE treasury of biblical theology that this "Study Bible" simply dismisses. This is outrageous, and again provides a very narrow view of the scriptures.

5) There are FAR better study Bibles available for the Christian. For instance, the Navarre Catholic Bible (while more expensive than this volume as it also contains lengthy commentaries and footnotes to the biblical texts and is published in many volumes) includes not only the insights of historical critical scholarship, but also the insights of the saints, mystics, and biblical theology. Furthermore, historical scholarship from more than the liberal wing of the academy is included. The Navarre Bible Commentary is far richer than the NAB Catholic Study Bible as result.

If the Navarre bible is too expensive for your blood, Ignatius is putting together a Catholic Study Bible that is solid. So far several inexpensive single books have been published, including The Ignatius Study Bible: The Letters of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, Timothy and Titus (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

In short, I would avoid this "Catholic" bible until one has a deep and solid grounding in Scripture. The study helps are very liberal and skeptical. They ignore the riches of what the Church has to offer. This Bible is marketed as a Catholic commentary to the laity and this is a misnomer.

practical.......2007-06-04

I have found this version of the Bible to be useful and well translated.

When you can't get to the Cathedral on time.......2007-03-30

This is wonderful when you can't get to a Catholic bible study and need nourishing of the word. Catholic 101 at all stages of faith.

So much better.......2007-01-18

I'm just adding my vote to the several reviews that list all of the reasons the Second Edition is better than the first. It is SO much more readable and better organized. My first edition stayed on the shelf. This one stays out where I can pick it up and read it at any time.

Average customer rating:

Particularly Apt for Me
Teacher Man - Slightly Disappointing
school'd
"Listen. Are you listening? You're not listening"
Boring

Teacher Man: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743243781

Amazon.com

For 30 years Frank McCourt taught high school English in New York City and for much of that time he considered himself a fraud. During these years he danced a delicate jig between engaging the students, satisfying often bewildered administrators and parents, and actually enjoying his job. He tried to present a consistent image of composure and self-confidence, yet he regularly felt insecure, inadequate, and unfocused. After much trial and error, he eventually discovered what was in front of him (or rather, behind him) all along--his own experience. "My life saved my life," he writes. "My students didn't know there was a man up there escaping a cocoon of Irish history and Catholicism, leaving bits of that cocoon everywhere." At the beginning of his career it had never occurred to him that his own dismal upbringing in the slums of Limerick could be turned into a valuable lesson plan. Indeed, his formal training emphasized the opposite. Principals and department heads lectured him to never share anything personal. He was instructed to arouse fear and awe, to be stern, to be impossible to please--but he couldn't do it. McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own. He was a kindred spirit with more questions than answers: "Look at me: wandering late bloomer, floundering old fart, discovering in my forties what my students knew in their teens."

As he did so adroitly in his previous memoirs, Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, McCourt manages to uncover humor in nearly everything. He writes about hilarious misfires, as when he suggested (during his teacher's exam) that the students write a suicide note, as well as unorthodox assignments that turned into epiphanies for both teacher and students. A dazzling writer with a unique and compelling voice, McCourt describes the dignity and difficulties of a largely thankless profession with incisive, self-deprecating wit and uncommon perception. It may have taken him three decades to figure out how to be an effective teacher, but he ultimately saved his most valuable lesson for himself: how to be his own man. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

Here at last in paperback is Frank McCourt's critically acclaimed and bestselling book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises of teaching in public high schools. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents.

For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption--and literary fame--is an exhilarating adventure.

Download Description

"Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York. Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write ""An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God""), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!). McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. ""Doggedness,"" he says, is ""not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."" For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption -- and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure. "

Customer Reviews:

Particularly Apt for Me.......2007-10-07

I am in the middle of a life-career change. I'm going to be a teacher.

A friend of mine lent me this book a while ago simply because she had read it. I don't think she had any idea how pertinent it would be for me.

This is the circuitous tale of Mr. McCourt teaching in the schools of New York City. He starts (and spends a good deal of time) teaching in vo-tech schools and eventually ends up in one of the premier private schools in the city.

Throughout the book, his self-deprication is humorous and apparent, as is his appreciation for the people he teaches. Yes, he's frustrated, often. But at the same time, he's the strangest english teacher I've ever heard of.

Reciting recipes as a part of creative writing? That's weird. Sorry.

I really found the tales amusing, and I can understand how he'd be a wildly popular teacher: he has the Irish Bard's gift of the tale. Teachers like that often do.

This is, however, not his first book, and it seems like he's searching for some tales to fill this tome. Not by much, though.

A solid 4 stars.

(*)>

Teacher Man - Slightly Disappointing.......2007-09-18

Frank McCourt's poverty-stricken youth in Limerick, Ireland, so aptly described in the Pulitzer Prize winning Angela's Ashes actually comes to his rescue in his chronicles in Teacher Man in New York City's public high schools. His first day as a high school English teacher at a vocational school on Staten Island is a whirlwind of confusing strangeness, as if he just stepped off the boat all over again. His college education did not prepare him for these exuberant adolescents, the likes of which he never knew in Ireland because he left school at thirteen to help support his mother and brothers. His stories saved him: the rambunctious adolescents, who spoke a seemingly foreign language and behaved according to the rules their own secret, sub-cultural sect, actually sat down and listened when he told them his stories. Magic. The magic of good storytelling.
This magic spell of the storyteller saves Teacher Man from the ill effects of its lack of depth. Humorous anecdotes compensate for the absence of substance in the classroom. Indeed, McCourt accomplishes much in revealing the daily struggle of teachers, an "in the trenches" portrait of five classes a day with over 150 students. Clearly, the author describes the plight of the overworked, underpaid educator, a member of the "downstairs maid of professions", and readers will sympathize. But, the realities of sandwich throwing, wisecracks, and requests for "the pass" to use the bathroom overwhelm the lesson plans. And so, especially at the start of his career, Mr. McCourt regaled them with stories simply to keep them quiet. Although silence is valuable in the classroom, the curriculum must be addressed as well.
To his credit, McCourt does learn to become a good, perhaps even a great, teacher. Small snippets early on hint that he does possess the natural talent to translate confusing concepts into analogies his students can comprehend. For example, one epiphany relates his discovery that "grammar is the way language works" just like psychology is the way a person's mind works. Students get this, just like they understand the structure is like the structure of a ballpoint pen - both need something to make it work. A pen needs a spring like a sentence needs a verb. Another brilliant idea that sets his students to work is the "excuse note" writing exercise. After a hilarious study of their own excuse notes, many of which are forged, Teacher Man asks his students to write excuses from Adam and Eve to God, from Al Capone to the authorities, from Hitler to the Jews. These bursts of inspiration compensate for the drudgery, such as correcting mountains of compositions (170 students multiplied by 500 words each) that amount to reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.
McCourt's career contains segments of unemployment, the acquisition of his Masters degree, and a failure in attaining his Doctorate at Trinity College in Dublin. Interspersed throughout the memoir, the author includes both humorous and depressing incidents concerning his personal life, including an unsatisfying marriage and a bout of psychotherapy. McCourt reaches his stride as a teacher (not a "taskmaster") at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, where his principal encourages him to be innovative and his creative writing classes spawn ingenious techniques to motivate his students. Students sing recipes and learn to write stories others want to listen to. In 1976 Mr. McCourt earns an award as one of America's Teachers of the Year.
Although Teacher Man may lack pedagogical content, the memoir entertains and causes one to consider the problems of the American educational system and the difficulties teachers encounter on a day-to-day basis. The author maintains an open mind and always learns from his students. He learns that being honest is paramount as a teacher. His honesty prompts him to tell his life's story, and in doing so, his students are motivated to write honestly themselves. For that alone, Frank McCourt deserves the accolade of Teacher Man.

school'd.......2007-09-18

Teacher Man was I think the best of the three. You have so much sympathy for Frank as he tries to teach America's youth while being teased for his "Irish Brogue" the fenetic spelling of how the kid's talk easily let's you hear the dialogue in your head, as well as get a real feel for their cultural backround, the Mexicans, the Italians, the Blacks it's fantastic, I'd say that book taught me a thing or two about life in general.

"Listen. Are you listening? You're not listening".......2007-09-12

A smile. A reminiscence of the good old school days. How many times did our teachers address us with that remark? If you are a teacher, how often did/do you say it to your students? Countless times. Mr. McCourt recounts his 30+ years as a teacher in various high schools in New York. For those of you who were, are or will be teachers, and for those who were, or are students, or if you simply like real-life stories, this is the book for you.

Honing his teacher's skills as the years went by, Mr. McCourt delivers a true insight of life in the classroom, with its laughs, its tears, its frustrations, its joys. This book is constellated with memories of his past, which he would often talk about to his pupils who always listened avidly and eagerly and were encouraged, in turn, to open up and believe in themselves.

His passion for teaching is all there in those laughs, tears, frustrations and joys. Unquestionably, teaching was what Mr. McCourt was meant to do, no matter how undervalued a profession it often was/is, but if you love it, that passion is the fuel igniting everything.
His writing is, as usual, witty, harrowing, poignant and humorous at the same time. He explores his own weaknesses and strengths squarely, learning as he teaches, facing hundreds of challenging minds every day.

After "Angela's Ashes" and " 'Tis ", this is perceived by the author as the last book about himself. Should it be the case, please allow me to quote him once again by saying that I'm so glad that he "sang his song, danced his dance, told his tale". Auspiciously, he'll write some more.

Boring.......2007-09-05

One of the most boring books I've ever read. I had to force myself to keep on reading, then when I started just skipping large sections of it I knew it was time to quit. I didn't finish it and I'm not sorry!

A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League

Average customer rating:

Overrated.
A Beautiful Mind
Awesome Book!
Hope is seen
Inspiring, but I'm not a fan of Suskind's style

A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League
Ron Suskind
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education

ASIN: 0767901266
Release Date: 1999-05-04

Amazon.com

Ron Suskind won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1995 for his stories on Cedric Jennings, a talented black teenager struggling to succeed in one of the worst public high schools in Washington, D.C. Suskind has expanded those features into a full-length nonfiction narrative, following Jennings beyond his high-school graduation to Brown University, and in the tradition of Leon Dash's Rosa Lee and Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here, delivers a compelling story on the struggles of inner-city life in modern America. While it appears to have a happy ending (with Jennings earning a B average in his sophomore year), A Hope in the Unseen is not without a few caveats (at times, Jennings feels profoundly alienated from his white peers). Trite as it may sound to say, this book teaches a lesson about the virtue of perseverance, and it's definitely worth reading. --John J. Miller

Book Description

It is 1993, and Cedric Jennings is a bright and ferociously determined honor student at Ballou, a high school in one of Washington D.C.’s most dangerous neighborhoods, where the dropout rate is well into double digits and just 80 students out of more than 1,350 boast an average of B or better. At Ballou, Cedric has almost no friends. He eats lunch in a classroom most days, plowing through the extra work he has asked for, knowing that he’s really competing with kids from other, harder schools. Cedric Jennings’s driving ambition–which is fully supported by his forceful mother–is to attend a top-flight college.

In September 1995, after years of near superhuman dedication, he realizes that ambition when he begins as a freshman at Brown University. In this updated edition, A Hope in the Unseen chronicles Cedric’s odyssey during his last two years of high school, follows him through his difficult first year at Brown, and now tells the story of his subsequent successes in college and the world of work.

Customer Reviews:

Overrated. .......2007-08-26

A Hope in the Unseen was an engaging read and I absolutely fell in the love with the beginning. Cedric's life was put into a perspective that I could connect to and it was as if I could see everything through is eyes. It is a story that is uplifting and can be appreciated by people of any gender or color.

However, I did find a few things to frown upon. One part of the book that bothered me was the constant racial labeling. Understandably it is one of the main themes throughout the story and it is what makes this book so appealing to many. You get to see a struggling young black man make it out of a situation where many others would have gotten swallowed up. Yet, to me it became annoying because when I would finally reach a moment when I could connect to the characters as people the writer, and sometimes Cedric, would draw the whole focus back to who was what race and where they come from. It is great to be proud of who you are and what your background is but it doesn't have to define you.

During one of the later chapters we encounter Cedric and Zayd eating lunch. Zayd's friend, Josh, wanders over and immediately Cedric makes a remark about he should not be seen with two white guys. Whether he meant it jokingly or not it hurt Josh's feelings and created an awkward situation. Maybe it's because I just don't understand it but I think it was a little insensitive of Cedric. This was the only flaw that I had problems ignoring. It just seemed as if Cedric felt that he was entitled to be at Brown simply because he was a minority. Even if he wasn't in the minority, I sense a certain attitude that develops from attending an ivy league institution. It is almost as if by having your name on their roster that it makes you superior to everyone else.
This is definitely not the case and if people to hold on to such a mentality is disturbing.

Another problem I had with the novel was that after finishing such an uplifting story you start wondering what is next and if the system has ever changed. Sure, Cedric made it out and became successful but what about everyone else who was left behind? What about the students who were not as academically inclined or those who were not fortunate enough to have people supporting and pushing them like Cedric did? This book gives people an insight into a world that many are oblivious to. This could have been a great opportunity to open people's eyes about social injustice and to spark their interest in finding a way for more students to become like Cedric. I believe the author could have steered this book into becoming a link between the readers and social activism. Plenty of people have either had similar experiences or are now more aware of such situations and would be more than happy to support and contribute to any programs that are trying to turn this around. I believe more could have been done with A Hope in the Unseen in this regard.

All in all, this story was fairly interesting and inspiring. It was definitely helpful to read about the transitions from high school to college and to see how one person dealt with the common worries of university life. However, I do not see myself recommending this to many people and I believe that it is highly overrated. I do not believe it is "formula shattering" as one reviewer described it. In fact I think it follows the basic guidelines to any underdog story. I felt as if I could have been reading any number of stories, except with a different setting and character. A Hope in the Unseen is good for classroom reading assignments or book clubs because it has many discussion points and may lead readers to be more aware of the various issues it touches on. Other than that, I must truthfully say that I would not have read this given the chance to choose it for myself.

A Beautiful Mind.......2007-07-07

Ron Suskind's A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League is reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash. In "A Beautiful Mind," our hero, John Nash, faces and fights his own demons to finally succeed and excel in the Ivy League world. In "A Hope Unseen," our hero, Cedric Jennings, fights and faces demons of societal injustice to finally succeed and excel in the Ivy League world.

Suskind's riveting narrative of Jenning's ascension from inner city life to Ivy League life paints a portrait of the contrasts between cultures like few other books ever have or ever could. More importantly, it tells the story of moving beyond suffering to a place of hope through persistence and resilience based upon Christian faith, maternal wisdom (mother wit), and the inspiring tradition of African American music.

Reviwer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Soul Physicians, and Spiritual Friends.

Awesome Book!.......2007-02-06

This is an awesome book that I would have never read if it weren't required by one of my classes! Even though I paid for standard shipping, the book arrived quickly! I am very pleased with my purchase from this company.

Hope is seen.......2007-01-22

Moving story about a young man struggling through life in the inner city, who through grace, faith, determination and hardwork achieves the dream. The story follows him through high school and college. Outstanding novel for anyone to read, but especially for young black males.

Inspiring, but I'm not a fan of Suskind's style.......2007-01-04

I read A Hope in the Unseen recently and found it to be an uplifting story which had the potential to create awareness about DC's inner-city schools - but that's where it stopped.

I had been hoping for a bit more research within the story on the inner-city situation and proposals for its improvement, but I was let down in the face of a lot of needless detail which I did not care about and which had no lasting impact on me. The book is a nice story, but I finished it feeling as though I had not really learned anything new and although the book had a personally inspiring effect, its value as a tool for social activism is not there. That doesn't in any way make it a bad book, but it certainly could have been better, perhaps in the vein of Ted Conover's work - a combination of research, storytelling, and activism together.

I didn't feel that paragraphs devoted to such things as what CD Cedric happened to be holding were relevant, and was generally irritated by their inclusion. Suskind's "invisible author" perspective bothered me greatly, and could have been better handled in a different fashion. Those things said, the book was indeed a nice story - but it just could have been so much more.

Measuring ITIL: Measuring, Reporting and Modeling - the IT Service Management Metrics That Matter Most to IT Senior Executives

Average customer rating:

Schaum's Outline Guide to ITIL Metrics
Short but useful
I like it, but yet to prove out if these metrics really matter
Excellent resource for IT Metrics Managers
ITIL in the trenches...

Measuring ITIL: Measuring, Reporting and Modeling - the IT Service Management Metrics That Matter Most to IT Senior Executives
Randy A. Steinberg
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Foundations of IT Service Management: based on ITIL (English version)

ASIN: 1412093929
Release Date: 2001-01-01

Product Description

How do you measure and report your ITIL processes? Which ITIL metrics matter the most to Senior Executives?

Finally, there is a book that shows you how! This is not a theoretical treatise, but a practical guide that shows you the operational metrics to use and how these can be calculated into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Critical Success factors (CSFs) that resonate with Senior Management. In this book you will learn about:

Defining and building a comprehensive ITIL metrics program; Which metrics are the most important and how to calculate them; Dealing with staff resistance to a metrics program; Tips and suggestions for what to do if inadequate tools and reporting exist; Suggested work plan for how to build your metrics program step-by-step.

In addition, this book contains a helpful CD with a helpful IT Service Management modeling tool that covers all 10 ITIL processes. Simply enter your key operational metrics and the KPIs and CSFs get automatically calculated!

This is a comprehensive guide for building any ITIL metrics program with all the information you need in one place.

"Finally, someone tackled the mystery of ITIL metrics and put it all in one place!"

"No theory hereâ¦this gives us the real metrics we can easily go afterâ¦"

"A fantastic addition to our ITIL reference library and our IT Service Management solution set!"

Customer Reviews:

Schaum's Outline Guide to ITIL Metrics.......2007-08-28

Randy Stienberg gets to the heart of the measurement and metrics very quickly with practical lists.
I found the information to be an instant hit with my customer management and my team.

-Arun

Short but useful.......2007-05-14

Short book that has a quick (1 hour) read. Practical to follow, but short on depth. Get if you want to quickly implement reporting but do not expect details on actual implementation.

I like it, but yet to prove out if these metrics really matter.......2007-03-26

This book is set up clearly within the ITIL framework, and a co-worker and I now call this book our "bible" as we review our organizational metrics. However, one thing I found annoying about this book is that answers are posed in the form of a question. Example: the KPI is Incident Labor Utiliation Rate and the Question Being Answered is How much available labor is spent handling incidents? The question I get is what does is mean not what question does this answer. They do not like being told what they want to know. Perhaps I'm not convincing enough in telling them they want to know this information - that remains to be seen. In short, I find this book very useful most most managmenent levels but not as exciting to executive level management.

Excellent resource for IT Metrics Managers.......2007-01-10

This text presents the components of evaluating your IT Organization with clear and concise terms and offers a practical terms and approach. It is a quick read but extremely informative. It's fully aligned with ITIL but cuts through much of the complexity to provide a clear path for implementing a metrics program.

I highly recommend this book to senior management, the program manager and his/her team and the participants from within the organization that will be charged with identifying Key Performance Indicators and Critical Success factors for their areas of the business.

ITIL in the trenches..........2006-12-11

Folks,
After you have suffered sitting through the courses on the philosohy of ITIL, buy this book, "Measuring ITIL", and also purchase "Visible OPS". These two books will give you a practicum on implementing ITIL for your infrastructure operations. And yes, your IT infrastructure operations will improve as a result!

Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home

Average customer rating:

Are these people organized or what?
Road Trip???
For me, more of a 3 1/2 star book but since halves are not an option, 4 stars.
Entertaining and loaded with great info
listen to the voices of first-hand experience

Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home
Phil White , and Carol White
Manufacturer: RLI Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0975292803

Book Description

Where would your dream take you if you had a whole year to just travel? But perhaps you're thinking, "if I only knew how to start planning my adventure!" This detailed "how-to" guide will get you moving from the dreaming to the doing in no time at all.

Included is step-by-step, real-life information on planning the trip you've always wanted to take -- along with generous doses of humor and advice on topics such as:

* How to pay for a year away from home * How to unravel all your current commitments - to family, work, and organizations * How to plan on the fly and enjoy every day * How to pack in 3 small drawers and 24" of closet space - for two! * How to handle the emergencies that crop up along the way * And the most asked question: How to enjoy your traveling companion on a 24/7 basis!

Once you've decided to "leave it all behind", Live Your Road Trip Dream takes you along on an action-packed, whirlwind tour of the authors' trip - just to help you visualize what months on the road might really be like, and to offer a glimpse into how decisions and discoveries are made along the way.

This is the ultimate road trip planning guide.

Customer Reviews:

Are these people organized or what?.......2007-10-12

This is not a directory of parks where you can take your RV. Nor is it a road guide to every stop in the U.S. with details of what to see and where to sleep. It is a combination of a how-to-do-it guide and a personal journal of a trip. And it is incredibly useful in the planning of the trip. As a completely disorganized person I admire the highly tuned organization that went into this trip.

When you come down to it, this book could be used by a couple going on an extended automobile trip as well as an RV. All those questions that come up: what to do about mail and bills (especially unexpected ones). Who watches the house or do you rent it out? What happens if there is an accident--either to the vehicle or to the occupants? How do you deal with an emergency at home? (I had no idea it was so easy to simply park your RV in a motel parking lot and take a plane home if need be). And of course--how do you keep out of each other's hair?
You do get to know the Whites personally through the book. They are obviously good sports. No whining when Carol breaks her ankle. The trip goes on and she hobbles up and down the terrain. They are defintely the poster couple for active retirement--trudging through national parks, rafting down the white water, golfing when they come upon a welcoming green. They are not only active they are obviously well-to-do and are able to stay in motels and eat at the better restaurants when they desire.

It doesn't matter if you don't have their stamina or their yearly income. What they have outlined is a very usable roadmap for taking the year off and traveling while still keeping in touch with family, friends and finances. They have also worked up a budget for a more frugal journey (around $44,000 rather than $78,000).

I mention this book in my newly published "Crafting the Travel Guidebook", because I consider it an excellent example of the double category book. It also happens to be a good read!

Road Trip???.......2007-10-06

These two authors basically drive around the country and pour out verbal diahrea on boring facts about their trip that no one in their right mind should care about. They are actually proud of the fact that they only???? spent 80k in one year of travelling. They must have lived like anaimals! Also, Carol seems to use the exclamation point way too excessively in her writing! If you are not retired and are somewhat of a young age please avoid this book. I did give it one star because if you have a good sense of humour you might enjoy her little stories!

For me, more of a 3 1/2 star book but since halves are not an option, 4 stars........2007-10-03

The first chapters of this book provide excellent guidance for planning a one-year trip away from home. The authors guide you through the entire process of planning and preparation. Definitely four star information. The authors purchased a small RV, set up their budget, rented out their house and got ready to go. This book shares what worked for them and walks you through all the necessary steps that need to be accomplished prior to your departure including a planned/actual budget and a more frugal version. Both budgets seemed high to me, but if the trip were made today, both might be a real bargin.

The second portion of the book, a journal of their year on the road, seemed sketchy and a bit disjointed. There isn't a lot of information on any of the areas visited, so not as useful as it might of been for some actual travel planning. They spent so many nights at hotels that I'm not sure the motor home was a good investment, but the authors thought it was.

If you are considering traveling away from home for an extended period of time, you will find this book a helpful addition to your library along with one or two good travel guides. If, however, you are more interested in reading about traveling the USA in a small RV, Barbara Thacker's books, while older, are fun armchair travel reading along with Ron and Barb Hofmeister's books on full timing in a much larger RV.

Entertaining and loaded with great info.......2007-08-26

This is a very entertaining book loaded with great information about extended traveling. Be it just a few weeks or a year or more, the authors have dispensed great ideas on how to handle the everyday life you leave behind (for whatever period of time).

I finished the book in about a week, reading it for it's entertainment value. I will be retiring soon and my wife and I plan on taking extended "vacations" in our RV. I will read the book again (and again) so I can garner as much information as I can.

listen to the voices of first-hand experience.......2007-07-19

Phil and Carol White amply demonstrate that anyone can live "a road trip dream" as they thoughtfully share their proven insider tips for enjoyable RV travels. Interesting to discover, according to the authors, that a big mistake first-timers make is overplanning. Read this book and "just do it!"

SPHR Exam Prep: Senior Professional in Human Resources (Exam Cram 2)

Average customer rating:

SPHR
OK but the SHRM materials are better
Should not be your only source
SPHR Exam Prep: Senior Profesional in Human Resources
Use this book to help you pass the test

SPHR Exam Prep: Senior Professional in Human Resources (Exam Cram 2)
Larry Phillips
Manufacturer: Pearson Education
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0789734974

Book Description

Score higher on your SPHR exam with the most comprehensive book on the market. The SPHR Exam Prep is the most comprehensive SPHR book on the market. Written by Larry Phillips, a leading expert on the SPHR exam, each exam objective is thoroughly detailed, providing you with the exact information you need to know to score higher on your exam.

The SPHR Exam Prep also features the Exam Prep Proven Method of Study, which includes Exam Alerts, tips, notes, sidebars, hundreds of SPHR practice questions, relevant exercises, review breaks, a glossary, objective reference sheet, a practice exam CD, and a full practice exam in the book. The book provides succinct information regarding the various sub-disciplines of the body of knowledge of Human Resource Management and emphasized those areas that are covered on the SPHR examination.

The SPHR Exam Prep will help you assess your exam readiness with practice exam questions along with helping you develop effective study habits tailored for SPHR exam preparation. As an HR professor, the author has unique and time-tested methods that will help you make effective use of your time and preferred learning styles. This book will serve as the perfect complement to the larger and very deep SPHR training courses that exist today. The SPHR Exam Prep book will cut to the chase and tell you what you need to know in order to pass the exam and what content to focus on should you attend larger training courses.

Customer Reviews:

SPHR.......2007-10-06

This book is very well rounded and it gets right to the point! I think the content is great. However, I've found at least 10 typos and so far I've only read the exam, the glossary and one chapter! It's distracting when you're trying to to study. There's even a mistake in the answer key. The correct answer to #79 is B. The explaination is written correctly, but the letters are transposed.
Dispite the poor editing, I've found it to be a very helpful tool.

OK but the SHRM materials are better.......2007-07-14

I bought this book as a more portable supplement to the SHRM materials as I studied for the SPHR, which I took in June 2007. While the book is pretty good and comprehensive, I thought it was a little brief in the depth it went on some areas. I felt like the SHRM materials gave me more to understand the concept from front to back, where this book sometimes gave me a term or case site then didn't expand it enough for me to understand it more than just a concept. It's pretty good in that it's portable so if you use your SHRM materials for when you have time to really buckle down and study, this is a good thing to take a long with you for when you have a few minutes to brush up on a module and read a chapter from the book. Also, it would be a good tool if after you've completed the SHRM materials, you went through this book to reinforce, but I wouldn't use it as a sole study souce. The disk that came with it was pretty much useless, the tests were horrible so I stopped using it pretty early. Overall though, it might have helped me because I passed!

Should not be your only source.......2007-06-03

The good news is book was well laid out with easy to understand information. The bad news is the typos and the incorrect test answers on the CD. I had to abandon this book and rely on the SHRM learning system as the incorrect answers on the CD test were compromising my learning. Accurate information is a key essential to passing the SPHR and if you are not well versed in HR this book and primarily the CD could compromise your ability to pass the test. I would only recommend this book to someone who was using it as a supplemental study guide or someone who knows HR inside and out.

SPHR Exam Prep: Senior Profesional in Human Resources.......2007-05-21

The book is very similar to that of Anne M. Bogardus book, PHR/SPR Professional in Human Resources Certification. The material in this book was good, but I did notice a few typos. The enclosed CD does not contain electronic flash cards like Anne Bogadus book, and you have to have access to a computer to take the final prep test online, but overall the book served its purpose!

Use this book to help you pass the test.......2007-02-01

I used this book to supplement a well known HR textbook, and was really pleased on how well it prepared me for the SPHR exam. This is a well-organized,well-written, and comprehensive study/reference guide for the HR professional. This book and my many years of HR experienced is all that I really needed to pass the SPHR exam. I bought another PHR/SPHR Professional in HR Certification Study Guide, but it was extremely poorly organized.

One minor drawback of the book: hopefully the editor will do a better job next edition catching typos and errors. Some of the answers on the study guide are incorrect - but there weren't that many - but still should be corrected.

The RealAge Makeover: Take Years Off Your Looks and Add Them to Your Life

Average customer rating:

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
The more you know....
RealAge
More of the same...
The RealAge Makeover

The RealAge Makeover: Take Years Off Your Looks and Add Them to Your Life
Michael F. Roizen
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nutrition | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Healthy Living | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 006081702X
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Amazon.com

Dr. Michael Roizen hopes to discover a cure for the common birthday. The author of the bestselling book RealAge and Oprah guru, Roizen translates groundbreaking medical research into a series of calculations and choices that promise to reduce age-linked symptoms and diseases. The RealAge Makeover begins with a self-test of 132 health factor questions that compare your calendar age with your "real age"--based on healthy habits plus heredity, he rounds up the usual suspects (sun exposure, sleep patterns, good fats) as well as the unusual (the kind of chocolate you eat, the number of nagging unfinished tasks, your catsup consumption). Although Roizen flags heredity, he focuses on the three key factors of aging: arteries (heart attack, stroke, memory loss), immune systems (prostate and breast cancer), and environmental stresses (lung cancer, STDs). He offers a sliding scale of difficulty in his "younger every day suggestions." Whether talking about stress, diet, or disease, Roizen offers case examples and subtle and engaging strategies such as describing the role of living beyond your means in aging or the difference between "four-legged" and "no-leg fats." Readers looking for a quick fix will benefit less than those who follow the recommendations that require focus and commitment. As Baby Boomers age and books about turning back time increase, Roizen's will remain a standout. --Barbara Mackoff

Book Description

The bestselling author of RealAge has more ways to turn back the clock and get a new lease on life.

Thousands of Americans are younger today than they were five years ago. How? By following the specific recommendations that reverse aging in the bestselling book RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be? People who were previously much 'older' than their chronological age have taken 10, 15, up to 24 years off of their biological age. It's been called The RealAge Makeover.

Almost daily, there are news items about ageing or age–related disease. One food is found to increase the risk of heart disease, while another has been found to decrease it. In The RealAge Makeover, Dr Roizen makes sense of recent critical medical findings. Plus he offers steps that will reduce or even prevent 80% of the diseases that make you feel or be older. Roizen believes that if you are well informed, you can control your genes to a very large degree. For example, just eating the right chocolate or drinking a little coffee can help you reduce inflammation dramatically and preserve your arteries, joints, and memory. But the wrong choice can lead to needless aging and loss of energy. The RealAge Makeover tells you how much (in years) each such choice is worth. Why not live at 60 feeling like you did at 35?

For that extra inspiration, readers' personal success stories are interwoven throughout the book. They followed the RealAge program and became younger biologically and are now living happier, healthier lives.

o Aimed at those getting older and those who want to preserve their youth.

o The RealAge Makeover unifies all aspects of ageing, explaining the relative impact of the behaviours that age us and providing a numerical guide for age reduction. The basis of the RealAge program is that certain foods and behaviours can make you older or younger, and it offers a range of age–busting strategies for a healthier, younger body.

Customer Reviews:

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.......2007-08-28

And "prevention" (of aging and disease) is the underlying message of this makeover program.

The Dr. Roizen (who partnered with Dr. Oz for the successful "You" series of books) provides easy to follow guidelines for doing the things you know you need to do for better health.

This isn't necessarily a book you'll sit down and read cover to cover. It may work better for you if you turn to the chapter that addresses your most pressing concern (weight, smoking, etc.), and start there.
Because the other underlying message is that you have to start SOMEWHERE to get your health under control.

With this book, the plan is laid out for you in easy to understand language. The implementing may not be quite as easy. That part takes determination.

So if you're determined to do something about your health, you'll find what you need here.

(So why 4 stars, not 5? Because, unlike the "You" books, this one has no "cute" illustrations, and it is dense with text. Something that may be off-putting for readers who like their medicine to go down smoothly, and with a touch of humor.)

The more you know...........2007-07-19

Roizen tells you easy ways to improve your health and well being.
His methods are straight forward and completely obtainable.
The hard part, incorporating these practical and easy steps into the formation of your new habits.
Before you buy this, you probably already know that you need to change your lifestyle and habits. If you have the will power to change, you will love this book. If you don't have the will power, you will need a very wobbly table to level before this book will be useful to you.

RealAge.......2007-05-12

It is OK. Uses the hype: Your younger than you think are, as long as you take care of yourself. Daaaa

More of the same..........2007-05-07

You can find this info on line so I wouldn't spend the money unless you're a real health nut and need to read everything and anything written on aging etc. It's OK but the internet would be faster and just as informative.

The RealAge Makeover.......2007-04-13

Great information. Now, I just need to actually apply this new found knowledge to my life.

Powerful Conversations: How High Impact Leaders Communicate

Average customer rating:

Learn how high impact leaders communicate
Excellent Leadership Tool
A piece of the jigsaw
Insightful!
Excellent guide for impactful conversations and leadership

Powerful Conversations: How High Impact Leaders Communicate
Phil Harkins
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Communications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0071353216

Book Description

"Phil Harkins has it exactly right. To be a leader is to communicate powerfully—as he does in this thoughtful book." - Robert B. Reich, Professor of Social and Economic Policy Brandeis University.

Powerful Conversations breed a powerful organization. POWERFUL CONVERSATIONS is packed with goal-oriented strategies, tools, and real-life examples from great leaders. Use its deliberate, directed techniques to achieve exceptional levels of performance, create and maintain valuable relationships, and forward the goals of both yourself and your organization with every word you speak. Mastering the three stages of a Powerful Conversation—from shared feelings and beliefs, to an exchange of wants and needs, closing with action steps and mutual commitments—will help you exercise more control over your interactions, and greatly enhance both your leadership skills and your success.

Look inside to discover:
How to plan, conduct, and measure Powerful Conversations;
Using the Tower of Power as a tool in coaching;
The four Cs of Trust—clarity, caring, consistency, and commitment
Five strategies to satisfy—and keep—your best employees
Tools to turn the company grapevine from a poisonous plant into a pathway for learning
Determining your leadership competencies through the Leadership Assessment Instrument
Targeting Passionate Champions to drive an Agenda for Change.

Leaders across the country are praising POWERFUL CONVERSATIONS:

"Phil Harkins has it exactly right. To be a leader is to communicate powerfully—as he does in this thoughtful book." - Robert B. Reich, Professor of Social and Economic Policy, Brandeis University.

"Powerful Conversations have made a real difference in the effectiveness of the Operations Senior Leadership Team. We are delivering unprecedented results thanks to the clearer communication and improved working relationships." - Larry Gundrum, Senior Vice President, Kraft Foods.

"In my business, Powerful Conversations are leading to believability and a growing sense of achievability by our employees that they can drive a massive agenda for change." - Linda Coughlin, Managing Director, Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.

"In a fast forward world, candor and clarity are prerequisites for success. POWERFUL CONVERSATIONS is a must read book for leading into the 21st century." - Steve Ozonian, Chairman and CEO, Prudential Real Estate and Relocations Solutions.

"A powerful guide, both savvy and wise, to emotional intelligence in action. Phil Harkins has given us an essential handbook for leaders at any level." - Daniel Goleman, Author, Working with Emotional Intelligence.

Download Description

Powerful communicators are made, not born. Powerful Conversations outlines the conversational techniques and tools that leaders from all walks of life use to create a bond with their listener, motivate others to achieve exceptional performance, and achieve business goals with each conversation.

Noted leadership expert Phil Harkins packs years of research and interviews into Powerful Conversations. His step-by-step blueprint will show every reader how to conduct and control effective, productive conversations and includes:
-- The power conversation strategies of Oprah Winfrey, Jack Welch, and others
-- Diagrams, models, lessons, and tests exploring the latest conversation technology
-- A hands-on workbook for practicing powerful conversation techniques

Customer Reviews:

Learn how high impact leaders communicate.......2006-02-21

It is no secret that some leaders can inspire people to heroic levels of greatness, while others can not even stimulate individuals to the level of mediocrity. Some organizations can inspire fierce employee loyalty while others watch their top talent depart regularly. The author of this book argues that often the reason for these situations lies in the way the top leaders of an organization communicate with the rest of the organization.

The author of this book shares his insight as to how high impact leaders communicate. By sharing the stories of some remarkable leaders who use Powerful Conversations techniques to spread their voice throughout their organization, to instill trust and loyalty, and to effectuate deep and profound change when change is necessary, the author hopes to share:

· why you must always say what you will do and what you say;
· how to use the four-step Tower of Power to guide companies through Powerful Conversations that lead to action;
· how to really listen to people so that organizations hear their message and they know that you understand;
· how to create Agenda for change and implement it to create profound change within the organization.

The author shares the five competencies-focused drive, emotional intelligence, trusted influence, conceptual thinking and systems thinking-shared by all high-impact leaders.

Excellent Leadership Tool.......2003-11-24

Prior to reading Powerful Conversations: How High-Impact Leaders Communicate, I had anticipated a manual to the proper rules of conversation. However, this book turned out to be much more than a manual of sorts. Harkins not only provides ways to develop excellent communication as well as leadership skills, he also explains what powerful conversations are, how they are structured, and what types of impacts, accomplishments and outcomes they render.
Being able to communicated effectively is critical in today's corporate world. Harkins reminds us of some of the most basic skills that most of us don't even consider to be as important in communication as they actually prove to be. Skills such as the ability to build trusting relationships and listen carefully to others.
However, not all the techniques discussed are as basic. It does indeed take practice to become a master of powerful conversation. Harkins provides six tools which can be used to enhance your communication and leadership skill in order to ensure greater success. I found Tool 1: Planning, Conducting, and Measuring Powerful Conversations, to be an excellent guideline for the preparation and implementation of powerful conversations. This tool also provides a series of simple but very relevant questions that you can ask yourself to determine what type of outcome resulted from your conversation.
Harkins also includes a self-scoring sample of the Leadership Assessment Instrument (LAI) to help you gain insight into your own leadership abilities, which I found to be extremely helpful.
Overall, I found this book to be very beneficial and would recommend it to professionals, students, and anyone looking to enhance their success.

A piece of the jigsaw.......2003-07-15

The title Powerful Conversations: How High-Impact Leaders Communicate led me to believe that this book was primarily concerned with interpersonal communication. I found, however, that it is largely focussed on the ethics of leadership and the philosophy of emotional intelligence as applied to big business. The book is of high calibre in this respect, and for this reason I gave it 4 stars. But if you are looking for a hands-on manual on communication you will need to look elsewhere.

Anyone who is sufficiently motivated to read this book will no doubt be already aligned with the basic philosophy of trust, openness, honesty, and clarity. The challenge lies in implementing such a philosophy. No doubt Harkins takes a more practical approach in his corporate training programme, and it would be a very large and expensive book if it were to contain such a programme in full. However, I find it frustrating that Harkins spends far more time explaining why than he does explaining how. Some methodology is woven into the text, but on the whole, the presentation focuses largely on principles and attitudes.

All of these elements, of course, provide a necessary foundation for any system; after all, rote behaviours are largely unsustainable. But there is also a need for clear directives on the progressive action steps that need to be taken. The book must serve exceedingly well as a door opener for corporate clients, but the owner/operator of a small business will not find definitive steps that he or she could progressively implement from the book alone. I should add that I am not advocating the rigid paint-by-numbers formula that some other motivational books follow.

What I most question is Harkins' representation of trust as a primary focus, rather than as an outcome of deliberate and conscious process. Trust, far from being a subjective quality only, is an objective competency that employees as well as their leaders must progressively develop and demonstrate. For example, in his book, Leadership, Rudolph Giuliani describes the functioning of his mayoral team with great frankness. In so doing, he demonstrates clearly how trust is not assumed at the beginning; it is developed over time and established through frank and honest appraisal of each team member's verbal and practical input. I miss this in Harkins' book.

I have nevertheless reserved a place for Powerful Conversations on my bookshelves. But to round out Harkins' perspective, I have added books like Rudolph Giuliani's Leadership, Jim Loehr's & Tony Swartz's The Power of Full Engagement, Dorothy Leeds' The 7 Powers of Questions and Meryl Runion's Power Phrases. Together, they make a mighty team.

Insightful!.......2001-04-24

When you talk, do people listen? Communicating effectively is essential in the business world. It is the first step in the path toward leadership. While other business books discuss leadership as a whole, this one focuses in on one of the most basic - and often overlooked - prerequisites to leadership: excellent communication skills. While most of the suggestions presented in Powerful Conversations seem like simple common sense, the book does get you to focus on critical points that you probably take for granted, like building trust, preparing in advance for potentially touchy conversations and actually listening to what other people say. In addition, it offers some helpful conversational strategies and pointers for determining when your meeting is heading south. We [...] recommend this book to executives in leadership positions, who will be reminded to brush up on their conversational style and delivery, and to business people and students looking to talk their way to the top.

Excellent guide for impactful conversations and leadership.......2000-02-25

This book provides the necessary tools for leadership and impactful conversations. It provides real-life technologies and tools for leaders at all levels of the organization. Inspiring and educational, this book should be on the shelf of all emerging and current leaders.

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