Resources Books

I purchased several of these books to lead a spiritual formation group in my parish. The book has helped my people share their faith and their struggles in that faith. It has also introduced them to the concept of accountability, which is always good.

The only problem that I encountered is the tremendous amount of oral reading required for each lesson. Some of my folks are self-conscious about their reading skills and as you take turns reading, it can be laborioius. Other than that, I would highly recommend this workbook to anyone wanting to go deeper in their spiritual life.

Adding in the how to the why. This book is a great handbook to go along with Streams of Living Water.

Streams is a book that takes about the different "streams" of Christianity and provides references and information on those different streams.

This handbook brings out the how of each stream. Each chapter deals with a different stream and how to practice that stream. There are real live applications for you to use to become better immersed in the particular stream.

This is a great book for someone who is working on the spiritual formation and needs help in the direction of figuring it out. This is also a useful guide for a small group or Sunday School class who wants to review the history of the church and the many streams that make it up.

I really enjoyed the Charismatic stream and what it had to offer in terms of understanding spiritual gifts and also fruits of the harvest.

I've worked as a small group minister for years now, and I feel that this workbook is excellent for starting a group of established Christians. Each discussion is clearly mapped out with leader's instructions in the margins. Through the course six different aspects or facets of Jesus are presented, and almost no one is intimately familiar with all six, so it stands to minister to long time church goers. But the new Christian will be strengthened too.
Other Christian authors are writing about Jesus as presented by various denominations (like Brian McLaren and Philip Yancey)but this little book is very easy to use for generating discussions.
What I found most important is that each section ends with several exercises or disciplines to practice in the time between sessions. Group members will surely experience spiritual growth if they practice the disciplines.
Lastly, it ends with an invitation to continue on as a group, using what has been learned through the study as a format for continued group life.

This is a great resource for bringing more balance into your life. The book describes six ways of meeting God - Holiness, Charismatic, Contemplative, Social Justice, Incarnational, and Evangelical - and sometimes these words don't mean what you think they mean. The authors encourage the reader to broaden their relationship with and vision of God, and for me, I was able to see God working more powerfully, and in many more ways, than before.

What separates this small group guide from others is that it provides a framework for all future groups that actually contains concrete paths to real character transformation. That framework has some key components: (1) An emphasis on trying spiritual exercises in your everyday life, with plenty of ideas for exercises provided; (2) An emphasis on growing toward a balanced spiritual life, centered around 6 areas of spirituality: personal prayer, holiness, interaction with the Holy Spirit, compassion for others, gospel knowledge/sharing, and interweaving the sacred into the secular life; (3) Seeking spiritual growth in partnership with other believers who will encourage and listen to one another; (4) A non-judgmental, non-legalistic attitude.

The content of the studies is solid, based on the life of Jesus as He modeled for us the 6 areas of spiritual life. There are also well-thought out discussion questions that allow for deep reflection. There is virtually no prep time because each session is read through and discussed together.

I am currently going through this study for the second time with a larger group (15-25), and it works well even in the larger context, especially when we break up into smaller groups for some segments. I have heard from several people how great this study is. I believe that if churches used a framework like this one for their small groups, the Church of Jesus Christ would see an astonishing amount of fruit that would surprise the world.

This is the first of Martha Brooks books that I read and it is still one of my favorite books. Her characters are real and the way this book explores what happens to a family in the midst of grief while still trying to go on with their lives, will appeal to teens as well as adults.
If you like books by Sarah Dessen, you will love this book.

I loved the book. It was really something I could relate to. I could put myself in Sidonie's place and feels what she felt. Her stress, emotions and problems were really common in the teenage years, so i knew how she felt. She was dealing with her mother's death and there was alot of details that made it interesting. It was written in a way that I could understand, it wasn't too complicated. And it was also written in a way that I could feel like I was there. It doesn't have a boring place in the book and there's always a cliff-hanger everywhere. I think it was a wonderful book!!!

This book rocks! I've read this books a million times and it's still as good as the first time i've read it. This book is about family relationships, and love. It's a really good book for mature 12 year olds and up. It's a story about a girl who becomes interested in the boy across the street. Read it and find out what happens.

i am a big reading fan, and this is one of the best reads ever. i love this book so much. you laugh, you cry, and it has a totally awesome story. too bad its not a series

I think this book was really good and really easy to relate to. Sidonie was a really brave and independent teenage. The stress and problems she dealt with is really common in teen years. It was a happy yet sad story at the same time. It really shows that when you're feeling bad, family is always something you could count on. It was a wonderfully moving story, it showed that you shouldn't blame yourself for someone's actions. I liked the way it described everything in a way that I could understand it but without TOO much details. I think it was a great book and I could probably relate to it later on in life.

this book should be a companion reader to the "OZ principal" in order to "see it" you need to know what your looking for. this book gives good insight to what your workers are thinking and feeling.

Over 50,000 employees tell why company morale and productivity are low and loyalty nonexistent in 30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers: What Your People May Be Thinking and What You Can Do About It. In synthesizing the surveys of over 50,000, this book helps pinpoint common problem areas, solutions which apply to the real world and work, and insights on the psychology of these solutions. A focus on each issue and how to resolve it lends practical analysis to the matter, making this a top pick recommended for both managers and business libraries seeking to quickly identify problems and enact changes based not upon time-consuming trial-and-error, but tested real-world experience.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is simple, practical and easy to read. Citing data from Discovery Solutions wide normative database created from years of employee surveys, "30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers" highlights many of the more prevelant problems facing management today and offers clear tips and solutions to help make things better.

This book belongs on your bookshelf.

This book will be helpful to any manager. Bruce Katcher identifies organizational vulnerabilities that are often unknown to managers and executives. Each of the 30 chapters offers psychological insights and practical solutions to management problems from an outstanding organizational psychologist. I believe that Bruce Katcher's book can be a spring-board for the careers of readers. It presents valuable lessons that could take a life time to learn.

Mark Campbell, Author, "Five Gifts of Insightful Leaders"
www.mjcampbellassoc.com

The fact is that most employees don't really hate their managers. But lots of them are frustrated. In this glass-half-empty book, veteran organizational psychologist Bruce L. Katcher plumbs the survey research he has gathered over almost two decades to distill the 30 biggest frustrations of working men and women, including managers. More importantly, for each frustration he cites, Katcher offers up solutions that are as easy to implement as they are sensible. The wonder is that solutions like these are not more widely practiced. With books like this pointing the way, maybe one day they will be.

I have been interviewing & hiring candidates for several years now, but recently decided to do a little more research into the topic. This book is excellent. It is written in a manner that is easy to open and read at any relevant chapter, making for a quick reference style use or for more in-depth reading if needed. The suggested questions are insightful and the analysis for each question helps you take the candidates answers to the next level. The sections on checking references have also helped me move beyond the paralysis of not knowing what I am legally able to ask, therefore making reference checking the useful tool that it is meant to be.

This book is a must read for anyone that will be interviewing others, or will ever be looking for a job themselves. It provides insight into the standard set of HR questions, that an interviewer ought to know. "What are your strengths"... "Weaknesses"... Why ask these questions unless you know what you are looking for? This book provides an indepth discussion of these and other questions with sample answers, what you should look for in an answer, and possible follow up questions. It clarifies the interviewing process. From a job hunting perspective it helps to hone your skills, and to prepare you for the HR onslaught of seemingly arcane questions.

Paul Falcone worked as the Employment Manager for a very large mortgage company. His 96 questions are a compilation of questions that he gathered over the years that help narrow down a candidate pool. These questions are above and beyond the normal tested legal quidelines, they ask whether a person can do the job as described.

If you are a hiring manager, this will help you to have a template to ask great job related questions. For those organizations who like to have structured interviews, this can be used to pick and choose questions for various managers to help compile a great profile from the interview process. Structuring allows you not to repeat the same questions and shows the candidates that you are careful in your selection process and are interested in getting the best.

If you are a recruiter, manager or even a job seeker wondering what may be asked in an interview, this is a great tool to have in your library.

Falcone offers invaluable advice as to how to "identify high performance candidates, probe beyond superficial answers, spot 'red flags' which indicate evasions or untruths, get references which provide reliable information about candidates, and negotiate job offers which attract winners." The value of this book is perhaps best indicated by the results of research conducted by Bradford D. Smart of more than 4,000 executives in 50 of the "Fortune 500" companies, shared in Topgrading which I have reviewed previously. The results confirm Peter Drucker's assertion that "The ability to make good decisions regarding people represents one of the last reliable sources of competitive advantage, since very few organizations are very good at it." For me, the most stunning revelations in Smart's book are found on page 50, in Figure 3.2, "Cost of Mis-Hire Study Results." According to the results of Smart's extensive research study, the sum of total costs of a mis-hire (on average) are as follows:

Base salary Less than $100,000: 14 times salary

Base Salary $100,000-250,000: 28 times salary

All Salaries: 24 times salary

Sobering statistics indeed. In his book, Falcone includes two recurring sections which define the context within which each of the 96 questions is asked: "Why Ask This Question?" and "Analyzing the Response." He also alerts the reader/interviewer to relevant "Red Flags" which might otherwise be invisible. Books such as this (and it's one of the best) can guide and inform a rigorous process by which to identify those candidates which offer the strongest talent, skills, and (yes) character. I strongly recommend this book to any and all decision-makers and decision-influencers who are involved in their organization's hiring process. But please keep in mind that candidates may have also read this book. For interviewers, it is highly desirable to reveal the person "behind the resume." It is also imperative to obtain "real information" from credible reference persons. My own opinion is that they as well as candidates need to be thoroughly checked out.

From a job seeker perspective, this book has been worth personally more than 2000 times its list price. It is like being able to read the other team's playbook before the championship game! If you are seeking a job in Corporate America, don't go in without reading this book because this book will get you half way there......and in some unfortunate "buzz-word company" cases - all the way. It tells you everything they want to hear and why. Satisfy HR first, and then worry about your potenital new boss. Why waste your money on learning what you could say during an interview from other books. This book truly allows you to switch seats with your interviewer. This book is truly deserving of the yellow cover with black stripes and should be entitled, "Interviewing in Corporate America"

Always good to be open to all choices.
Very detailed and helpful.

provides insightful thoughts and alternative viewpoints to attacking route causes and focus to vexing problems -- not just alcohol

Kuddos to Ms Solomon for helping break us out of this religious tyranny. A much needed resource guide
to other approaches to alcoholism and addiction. My impression is that AA is just about the best recovery
program the 12th century has to offer. It is time to get into reality based programs with some scientific
basis as opposed to this faith based psycho-christian nonsense.

Reviewed by Louise Landeta for Reader Views (2/07)

The author's main point is that there are many other programs and approaches to dealing with addictive behaviors besides Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and its twelve steps; yet the alternatives, while perhaps known within the recovery community, are not widely made known or available. She contends that AA is not as effective as most people think--her statistics are quite dismal, and some of the other programs have much more success. Mainly, Ms. Solomon wants to drive home the fact that while AA might be good for some people, and she has nothing against it, there are numerous other approaches that are effective as well. People are diverse and need diverse approaches to fit their individual needs.

Ms. Solomon shares the pitfalls of her own journey with addictive substances and her attempts to find help and support through AA to no avail, even though her own father was quite successful with the program. Her inability to recover through AA was a source of great sadness for her until she came to realize that lots of other people fail to recover through it as well. It was only through her own unrelenting search for alternatives that she found other programs and eventually something that worked for her.

The author is a good writer--her verbiage and syntax are on par, she provides data to back up her contentions, the content is well-organized and she cites her sources.

The basic theme in her thesis is that not everyone accepts the concept of a higher power and the basic assumption that they are helpless in the face of addiction. I believe this is a valid point. My only suggestion is that she seems to soft pedal this. I would be more comfortable if she would come right out with it--don't skirt around it. Be right up front with it.

I was interested in reviewing "AA Not the Only Way" because my work as a chaplain brings me into contact with various types of addicts. It will remain in my library as a useful future resource. I give it an A for all of the reasons cited above.

AA Not the Only Way is a resource for those seeking addiction counselling. Everyone has heard of AA but this type of program quite simply does not work for everyone. The author has personal experience in this situation. She tried AA and like many people when she kept relapsing she blamed herself for somehow failing the program. This pattern changed when the author found a program that suited her needs and specific issues.

Since AA does not suit everyone's needs and because most people don't realize that they have other options, the author has compiled information on alternate programs. Some programs require total abstinence and others look to teach moderation. There are also programs specifically tailored for women or specifically for men. The overlying philosophy, background, and contact information is included for each of these programs. Lists of licensed professionals, treatment centers, and other useful resources are also included.

I read Alligator Baby. I liked this book because it has funny pictures. In the book I read that the "gorilla grabbed her mom's ear and the father's ear and they both yelled Aaaaaaahhhhhaaaaa!" This helped convince me that it was a good book.

I love Robert Munsch and this is one of his books that the kids in my 2nd grade class loved the most!

This is a good book for when bringing home baby. We bought it for our toddler as a fun way to explain that we are bringing him a baby brother from the hospital.

I really liked this book, because it was funny. Kristen's parents kept bringing home animal babies from the zoo instead of a people baby. Kristen saved the day because she went to the zoo and got the right baby from the gorilla's cage. But it was funny at the end when all the mommy animals break into the house to get their babies back

We got this book as a shower gift when our son was born. We read this over and over to his older sister. I can't imagine a better, more entertaining book for a 3 year old who is welcoming home a new sibling.

I searched for an alternative to your typical soporific journal of effective leadership/management "nuggets", and I found this book instead. Outstanding book with great lessons. This book stayed glued to my hands for the 3 days it took me to digest it in its entirety. Regardless of your management experience, many lessons are to be learned from this easy read.

I have been a supervisor for over 15 years and could totaly relate to what Justin (the main character) experienced. This book is well written and the short chapters make it very easy to follow. I also laughed, cried and experinced numerous emotions while reading this book as mentioned in another review. This is the first book a have read in a few years and I finished it in 4 days as I could not put it down. I would strongly suggest that all supervisors new and experienced read this book.

Practical business skills woven into a heart filled story that benefits all relationships.

Learning happens best when it's something we can relate to. In Ask Dr. Mac, author Greg Giesen weaves a story that almost every person in management and human resources can relate to well. Relating is easy for many because the story is all too familiar...the employee who is thrust into management without adequate preparation, thrown into the deep end of the pool with no swimming lessons. Instead of floundering and improvising for every decision, Giesen shows us how "authentic leadership" can be developed by sharing the sound principles of effective human relationships and management. Based in part on a real life mentor, who, like the author, I was privilaged to have known, Ask Dr. Mac provides a guided path through the trackless and sometimes confusing wold of the new manager. Greg Giesen adds to this wisdom the welath of knowledge that has come from his own long and highly effective career as a business consultant. Read it, and put it to use!

I laughed, I cried, I learned!
The characters and storyline are well developed making this an interesting read, not dry like so many management books. The leadership and relationship skills can, and should, be utilized by everyone - not just new managers.

Dan Poynter's book is a virtual gold mine for authors and publishers. He shares his years of experience in the publishing business with a dictionary of every aspect of publishing, promoting and sales of books. Dan shares the secrets of e-books, audio-books and where to go to get the author's books changed to digital copies for mass marketing on the internet. This is his best book yet.

Poynter's Encyclopedia and Shepards' Aiming at Amazon are both perfect manuals for anybody interested in self-publishing. Brief, informative, and easy to use - what else is needed? Highly recommended.

Yuval Lirov, Practicing Profitability - Billing Network Effect for Revenue Cycle Control in Healthcare Clinics and Chiropractic Offices: Collections, Audit Risk, SOAP Notes, Scheduling, Care Plans, and Coding

Poynter, as always, knows his subject: Self-publishing. This book hits all the high points in an easy-to-access format.

Loads of useful information for the self-publisher/author. I would have
preferred to have it in chapter form. That would have made it more readable.

If you have questions about the publishing industry, you will be hard-pressed to find a better resource than Dan Poynter's book, The Book Publishing Encyclopedia. This alphabetical resource guide is filled with facts, figures, tips, and tactics.

Any resource guide filled with so much information is bound to motivate a writer to continue striving for the exciting status of publication. It becomes a matter of absorbing enough information and doing enough research about all the available publishing options to make the right decision. Not all authors are destined for Random House, but that doesn't mean they have to remain unpublished. There are alternatives! Whether you are seeking an independent press, a mainstream publisher, or the convenience of a turn-key publisher, this book defines the terms you should know. - Brent Sampson, author of Self-Publishing Simplified

If you plan on working with the younger crowd, then this is a great book for you. It has a lot of creative ideas to help children in your classroom along developmentally. If you are running out of ideas for your classroom, I suggest buying this book. It will ensure you never get into an idea slump again.

I ordered this book when I started teaching in an infant/toddler classroom. Despite my five years of college, I had little knowledge on what these little guys could do. This book has been an AWESOME resource. I love how the lessons are separated by age groups. It provides detailed explanations as well as additional information on why and how each activity is developmentally appropriate. Of the several books I ordered, this one is most professional and designed for teachers. I highly recommend it!

This is and excellent and useful guide to help you determine what you can do with your baby each day to help him/her develop skills that prepare them for school. The book take time to explain what exactly you are helping to develop and each day can be something different.

Creative Resourcees for infants & Toddlers (Creative Resources for Infantas and Toddlers) is a great book, I wish that I would have gotten it alot sooner. It has really helped me with my homework assignments.

Good book, lists lots of games to play with child. Shows developmental goals you child should be hitting.

I admit to more than a bit of bias since many of the authors are colleagues of mine; however I urge you to look at this book. It's the only one on the market, I believe, with diverse contributors and methodologies. The commonality among the authors is that they are all highly experienced and successful executive coaches, and I doubt that there's a "certified" coach among them. Some of these authors are also contributors to The Executive Coaching Handbook: Principles and Guidelines for a Successful Coaching Partnership, January 2004, third edition. It is written by The Executive Coaching Forum, (TECF) whose charter is to advance the highest standards and best practices of executive coaching with all members of the "coaching partnership" (Executives, Coaches, HR Professionals, and others interested in Executive Coaching). The Handbook is available to read or download at no cost at TECF's website: theexecutivecoachingforum.com

Executive Coaching: Practices & Perspectives, is an excellent and timely text consisting of 16 chapters written by 20 contributors, the editors also being contributors, providing a wide breadth of information and references. It provides a rare opportunity to shadow many experienced coaches from diverse backgrounds and learnings. I applaud the editors for what is a very successful attempt to weave many different "essays" into a coherent book. The writing styles and approaches are different for each of the chapters resulting in many practices and theories, and many modes of learning for the reader. Executive coaching is still a fairly new profession and this book provides a wide variety of perspectives not typically shared among peers.

Although titled Executive Coaching, it indirectly explores the diversity of individual and organizational learning and change with a keen appreciation for the complexities of the human mind. For executive coaching, as in organizational development consulting, one size does not fit all. The diversity of approaches from the respective authors reflects the strength of belief in their own methods when dealing with the complexity and diversity of the human mind; and reveals the many barriers to individual learning and ultimately organizational learning. In many ways the book is about organizational development and organizational learning brought to an individual level.

Most of the contributors have psychology backgrounds; however, the editors have made a good attempt to look at executive coaching from a variety of lenses, with a noticeable influence of Carl Jung and Robert Kegan. As an organizational development consultant and executive coach, I find some bias toward the need for a psychology or psychotherapy background in some of the chapters. Does one need a degree in psychology to have an understanding of a variety of perceptual views through intentional, behavioral, cultural, and social dimensions, for example? I don't believe so.

There are many issues that emerge when we have conversations at personal and sometimes intimate levels. Do we dare go where no non-psychotherapist has gone before? I believe the human psyche is much less fragile than most psychotherapists, and even psychologists, might have us believe. And as organizational change consultants, how much damage have we inflicted because we dared not to tread, or even look, in those heretofore-protected domains?

Where is the line drawn between learning and repair, or between personal growth and cure? The authors have drawn their lines and they are in different places. I do believe, when coaching Executives, it is essential to have a greater depth of knowledge and abilities as an observer and guide.

I believe executive coaching can increase the potential for profound change. Peter Senge, in his book The Dance of Change, describes profound change as "organizational change that combines inner shifts in people's values, aspirations, and behaviors with 'outer' shifts in processes, strategies, practices, and systems ... In profound change there is learning." (p 15) W. Edwards Deming said, "Nothing changes without personal transformation."

Executive coaching allows us to further shift the learning paradigms of our clients. We are beginning to apply to individuals what we have applied to organizations. Coaching appears to be the natural progression to double-loop learning at a personal level, in addition to the organizational level, and further progression to triple-loop learning. Double-loop learning is a concept developed by Chris Argyris and Donald Schon based upon the work of Gregory Bateson. The term "triple loop learning" was used by William N. Isaacs, in Taking Flight: Dialogue, Collective Thinking, and Organizational Learning. "Double-loop learning encourages learning for increasing effectiveness. Triple-loop learning is the learning that opens inquiry into underlying 'why's.' It is the learning that permits insight into the nature of paradigm itself, not merely an assessment of which paradigm is superior." Effective coaching includes the practice of Dialogue at a one-to-one level. This "third" level of learning can be called transformational learning. As such, this book could be about transformational learning.

A noticeably missing piece was a chapter on distinguishing coaching from therapy, and addressing some of the boundaries to be considered and what resources the executive coach should have available in assessing and dealing with those boundaries.

Another missing piece was the role our body plays. Recent studies suggest a more holistic approach is needed in our learning - the integration of language, emotions and the body. I am referring to more than the traditional concept of "body language." Albert Einstein said, "My primary process of perceiving is muscular and visual." Richard Heckler, a psychologist and director of the Rancho-Strozzi Institute, says in his book The Anatomy of Change, "An education that connects us with our body would teach us the difference between what we are experiencing and what we are thinking and fantasizing about." (p 12)

Full awareness goes beyond what we are thinking. The body can reflect what we are thinking and feeling and the body can support what we desire to think and feel. Stuart Heller, mathematician, operations researcher, and psychologist, says in his book Retooling on the Run, "To make a change in any part of you, you have to change all of you." (p 10) "Your results are a function of the way you organize and use yourself. By studying your patterns of reaction, belief, tension, feelings, and posture, you learn how you both hinder and help yourself." (p 17)

I highly recommend this book to anyone involved with coaching and executive development. In addition, it offers many insights to any organizational change consultant wishing to search deeper in the psyche of an organization. Many organizations, and individuals, are struggling to find ways of breaking free of traditional thinking and modes of operation to enhance continuous learning. At a minimum, these insights may help forge better partnerships with clients and help facilitate greater awareness, reflection, and ultimately learning.

This book really is what books on coaching should be. Solid, theoretically-based and applicable. Beats most of the other executive coaching books hands down. One of the best books on coaching around.

Organizational consultants Catherine Fitzgerald and Jennifer Garvey Berger offer a collection of articles by 16 executive coaches, including themselves. The essays cover executive coaching perspectives, practices and management. This book examines the range of managerial and psychological approaches shaping this emerging field. These expert articles provide a diverse overview, varying in complexity, practicality and therapeutic philosophies. The hazard of anthologies is the mix of voices, so there is some blurring between what is coaching and what is therapy, and some drift about exactly who is being spoken to, the coach, the manager or the executive. The book seems to focus primarily on the analytical, psychological and tactical tasks of coaches. However, we from getAbstract suggest that if you are hiring a coach for yourself or your organization, you may find this very practical in understanding what coaches do and in being sure you select a good one.

The editors, Catherine Fitzgerald and Jennifer Garvey Berger, came up with a high quality, lucid and readable book which is a diverse collection of contributions from an elite group of experienced and knowledgeable executive coaches. I was excited to go through the different perspectives and methodologies which should appeal to a wide readership.

Those wishing to develop their coaching skills will find the book fascinating and enlightening. I believe that this is one of the most important coaching related books on the market.

The book is excellent reading for coaches, executives, human resource professionals, trainers, consultants and others with an interest in executive coaching.