Other The Books

This was a hilarious book and I laughed throughout the whole thing. I think it is meant to be more humorous than an accurate test of personality. I had a lot of fun with this book.

I have seen the author perform and she's awesome. But writing and performing are very different disciplines. I have to say I was blown away by how funny she is on the page. Amazing. The jokes come rapid fire. I think the "relationship" theme is great but people should be aware it's not serious selp-helpy, it's just really really funny, for men and for women. It's the perfect gift for any friend who has gone through dating madness... and who hasn't?

Lots of fun, somewhat helpful

Not only did I laugh out loud at every page - but I actually gained insight into my relationship! This book is extremely well written, irreverent, and speaks to smart funny women. Buy it and enjoy!

Even an old married lady like me had a few things to learn from this hilarious take on heterosexual romance. If you've seen Allison's standup or "one woman, two backup dancers" shows, you'll recognize the wacky, knowing tone. (And if you haven't, shame on you.)

What can I say besides this is a great book. It really helps understand Ringeck's work. Get this book if you are interested in German Longsword fighting. Though if you are starting off I would recommend the excellent book Fighting with the German Longsword, also written by Tobler.

This book also works well with Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of The Longsword by Lindholm and Svard. Same material but some different interpretations.

If you are interested in this book go to the publisher's website. It's in stock there at the regular price, not this inflated used market price at Amazon.

This book is essential for anyone interested in doing medieval swordsmanship. Tobler has done all the hard work for you, he has interpreted the moves perfectly. There is very little guesswork left up to you, each move has many pictures showing every subtle change in position. Easy to follow and the pictures are very clear. A great book, none better.

`Western martial arts are every bit as sophisticated as their Asian counterparts. The German martial systems incorporate both armed and unarmed combat, with and without armor, on foot and on horseback, using daggers, long and short swords, bucklers, shields, falchions, and spears and poleaxes.'

In Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship, Christian Henry Tobler has done an outstanding job of introducing the reader to the skills and methods of the Germanic man-at-arms.

The book is broken down into five major sections:
>> Longsword Techniques
>> Sword & Buckler
>> Wrestling Techniques
>> Armored Combat
>> Mounted Combat

Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship is an interpretation of the teachings of Master Johannes Liechtenauer and of the later work in the 15th Century of Sigmund Ringeck, a descendant of the Liechtenauer school and master-at-arms to Albrecht, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Duke of Bavaria.

While there were, of course, no photographs in the 15th Century ~ Christian Henry Tobler has filled Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship with hundreds of photographs demonstrating the techniques of the masters. He has made an accurate interpretation of the techniques described in the writings of the masters and displays that described in photographs.

Each photograph is clear and in sequence allows the reader to learn the techniques of the masters. These techniques are highly effective and the more one practices, the greater insight one gains into the secrets of the masters of arms of the 15th Century.

The book concludes with a glossary of terms well-worth learning to improve understanding of this text and others related to it.

I found Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship to be an absolutely indispensable reference for the student of Medieval Swordsmanship and Western Martial Arts.

This book is very clear, well written, and wonderfully photographed.

It provides an excellent view of 15th century european martial arts as being every bit as advanced as those of the orient.

The instructions are clear, and the methods practical.
If you fence, practice kendo, or any other sword art, and are interested in learning how fights were really fought (as opposed to how Hollywood wants us to think they were) I fully recommend this book.

I first bought Mark Rector's _Medieval Combat_, but I didn't feel I truly grok'd many of the illustrations in that book until after I read this book.

For the most part I think that Mr. Tobler's interpretations of Ringeck's verse are dead on target. But in many cases, it seemed pretty nebulous what Ringeck meant - not that surprising considering we are trying to take a very abstract description of a full-sensory 4d event - verbal, and put back all those lost details.

In those cases were I couldn't figure out for myself what Ringeck meant, Mr. Tobler's work seemed at least internally consistant, and well thought out.

Again, excellant.

See a Grown Man Cry: The prose is jagged, visceral, potent, vigorous and muscular. Every syllable aches and screams. This is adrenal overload. This is the assassination of mendacity, of mediocrity. The gelatinous underbelly of culture is exposed, cleaved and forcefully displayed. Then Henry eviscerates from the inside. The raw energy of this work is as naked, observant and perceptive as anything Bukowski ever committed to print.

i have never read anything by henry rollins before i purchased this book. and i fell in love w/ his writing. i have now bought almost every book by him and in the process of reading them. his books touch me in a way, and help too. its hard for me to find a book, let alone an author that i like as much as henry rollins and his books

this is the most honest, heartbreaking work I've read. It puts your personal misery into perspective, reminding you what it means to live life. Even after you lose those that make you whole.

7 years ago, a friend of mine read me a poem from "Now Watch Him Die" (They were seperate books back then). It's the one on page 164 of this volume, the one that starts with "I love you and you'll never know." Since then, I have not gone anywhere without a copy of these books close at hand. They are an all-encompassing chronicle of one man's solipsism, isolation, desperation and depression. This may not sound fascinating, but that man happens to be Henry Rollins, who has a talent for intensity and a command of words rivaled by no one of this era. Not since Bukowski has someone used so little to say so much. If you are ready for a descent into a maelstrom of anger, violence and pure, blinding pain, then this is the book for you. If you're looking for something sappy, sweet and redemptive, then try Oprah's Book Club instead.

There is so much farcity in the world today that it's so good to come across a writer like Henry who's willing to show everyone what he thinks, how he feels, what his life is like and how he perceives the world around him.

This book is very brutal and honest, which I think always makes for good writing. He has a very clear perception of the people around him and how they think, which lets him view the world from all sides including his own. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to open their eyes to someone else's reality.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RZR11YJABGDYK This is a video review of Spanish Verbs and Essentials of Grammar

If you need a book that will give you a good, quick review of Spanish grammar, this is the one you need. Everything is explained, from the present tense to the Spanish subjunctive.

What separates this book from others is that it doesn't drill a bunch of rules into your head. Instead, it gives several examples. Many people learn better from examples because it is the context that tells you what you need.

Brandon Simpson

This is an excellent book on Spanish grammar.

It is composed of many short chapters each dealing with a specific topic.

The explanations are clear and to the point. They are well organized. The chapters on the subjuntivo (subjunctive) are exemplary in this respect.

There are no exercises--the book is thin--but many examples illustrating the salient points.

The book is lightweight, unlike almost any other grammar book I've seen and bought, so I took it into work many days, using it during lunch or on the commute. Often I would bring along a sheet or two of exercise or homework that I had scanned or copied.

The advantage of this book is its conciseness, clarity, excellent organization, and its portability. The disadvantage is the complete lack of exercises.

Supplement it with The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice, the best overall in my opinion, for the exercises and additional coverage and you'll be pretty much set for grammar. At least, these two did it for me. They were totally superior to the pathetic required--and hugely expensive even when used--textbooks.

Because of its low cost and since there's always room for improvement no matter how excellent a product is, I plan on also purchasing the new 2nd edition.

Buy this book. This book provides a comprehensive guide to verb use and grammar. Other topics include idioms, pronunciation, practical rules, time, suffixes, numerals, letters and extensive vocabulary. The book is easy to read and examples are abundant. The topics are easy to find because the book is brief and well organized.

As the editor of the Learning Spanish Products Reviews (LearningSpanishProductsReviews) site, one of my responsibilities is to review learning Spanish book that are listed on Amazon. I am also a native Spanish speaker and a professional private Spanish instructor, and the author of two learning-Spanish products offered here at Amazon:


1. Anna Rivera's 1000 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Words

2. Anna Rivera's 800 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Phrases

This a rather compact book that covers both Spanish Verbs and the fundamentals to Spanish grammar. In 33 short units, the author Ina W. Ramboz covers the major verbal and grammatical concepts of Spanish. The books is arranged so that each unit is dedicated to covering one particular concept. This enables the user to quickly and easily find specific information.

In addition to providing explanations to help the student understand the key concepts of Spanish verbs and grammar, the author also gives the student numerous examples to guarantee that the student grasps a full understanding of the material and is well on her way to mastery of Spanish verbs and grammar. Unlike some books that use impractical situations and uncommon vocabulary to demonstrate usage, this book uses contemporary vocabulary that reflects real-life situations that one is likely to come across while living in or traveling to Latin America.

Unlike many of the books on the market that cover both Spanish verbs and grammar, this book is small enough to be conveniently carried with you almost anywhere, but also thorough enough to be considered a true guide to mastering Spanish verbs and grammar. If you need to quickly develop a thorough understanding of Spanish verbs and grammar, but you lack the time or patience to read books such as Spanish Verbs and Tenses, the Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice, etc., then this may be the book for you.

This book is being used in a Spanish club by a small group of seniors ages 82 to 93. This is the fourth side by side book that we have used. We wish there would be more.Stories from Latin America : Historias de Latinoamerica

Good book! Great to learn a little about the culture while also learning/improving my spanish vocabularly and understanding. I think it's great to incorporate reading spanish in order to attempt to fully understand the language. I liked this book in doing so, but it would be nice if there was a gradual immersion into all of the new words. I've also looked into verb books which I think would be very beneficial as there are some conjugated verbs that you can't find in the dictionary because their so different from the original word. Plus, I've heard this is very beneficial in really learning to be fluent...Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses by Dorothy Devney

This is a fantastic book for Spanish review and practice. Very easy to check yourself and translate vocabulary because of the accurate English translations. The stories give you cultural insight,as well.

The book is a fine addition to help one who is studying the Spanish language. Es un buen libro.

Excellent stories covering the history and culture of Latin American countries. Makes for great reading and a valuable learning tool.

This is a great book. The beginning starts rather sweetly and relies perhaps a bit too much on a Kafkaesque-Proustian pastiche, but then the whole thing comes alive with the Father, the birds, and his theories regarding the Second Genesis. When the father assumes the podium-the book ceases to re/present and enters into Being. His monologues are fantastic! It is a pity they are so short. Schulz was a man of rare genius. His dual pursuit of writing and the visual arts make him an even more fascinating figure. I am eager to get his book of drawings.

This book reveals a great talent that was taken from us. The richness of the sentences, their imagery and use of language reveal a great depth of talent. Who knows what Mozart might have done if he'd lived another 36 years? A slim volume worth every penny.

Awe and perhaps a bit of terror are the appropriate responses to this work. Schulz wrote like a man possessed by the spirit of creation - his sentences are alive, they breathe and hiss with color and form as a revelation of the world is made. His control of imagery incarnate in language slides and shifts from the most gracious to the most grotesque. Beyond it all is a vision of the cogs and gears upon which the cosmos turns, a radiant pattern from the Baroque era. Schulz dropped down to the mythopoeic essence at the core of time and crafted stories that told more of his childhood than any more literal record could've.

Ten stars, and sadness for the premature passing of one of the greats.

I first heard about this book through the pages of the 5-star novel "The History of Love." What is most unusual about it is the author's lack of intention to actually publish his writing. This book is a manifestation of personal letters he had addressed to a geographically distant friend. It is by no means an easy read. The language is powerful and supremely complex and requires absolute focus and sometimes the need to reread a paragraph a few times to truly appreciate the intense magnitude of brain power that this author possesses. This is a book of highly exaggerated proportions. Schulz takes "magical realism" to another level.

Convoluted ideas that twist into abstract thoughts walk through dark alleyways and emerge triumphant. This is how I would describe Schulz's writing. This is not the sort of book you can breeze through but rather, like a dense and flavorful truffle. You will want to savor every word, let it sink in and roll it around in your grey matter before you can appreciate its true meaning and beauty. There is real depth and symbolism in Schulz's writing. That said, it is certainly not for everyone. If you're looking for a lighthearted bedtime read, skip this book. On the other hand, if you're looking for mental stimulation and a book that truly promises an escape from reality, you won't be disappointed by this street of crocodiles.

I am not sure I got this book in a real way. I had heard of and read of Bruno Schultz as a writer of the Shoah(The Holocaust) but the events of the Shoah are not a direct part of this story. The Shoah connection is given in the fact that Schultz was murdered by the Nazis.
The book itself I found disconcerting, bizaare, and difficult. It is filled with descriptions , word- pictures which seem at the one hand beautiful, and on the other somewhat unreal. I suppose what bothered me above all is the narrator's tone and relation to the events which are happening.
As the major action of the work relates to the physical and mental deterioration of the narrator's father I was taken aback by the lack of human sympathy displayed . In fact the whole disconnectedness of the human beings in the book to each other is another thing which makes the work so troublesome.
There is a world in this book, a mind in this book which is not like anything I myself have experienced even in reading.
But however beautiful some of the images given by this mind it seemed to me so fundamentally alien that I could not really grasp it.

What an author. Dr. Stanley grasps the purpose for goals in this book so well that I could not help but start setting them in my life immediately. As a result, I have not drank in excess for over a year. Primarily because I'm too busy having a "go" at accomplishing my goals. It's important to note that they need to take part in filling our lives with needful action. Action that makes our day our years and our lives.

This book by Dr. Stanley is like God's roadmap to success. The book reads like a how to book for success. Dr. Stanley doesn't just talk pie in the sky theology that only seminary students understand. He breaks down the issue into several bite size chunks to make the issue easier to understand. He then gives the reader a workable plan of implementation to make success happen. The material is also written in such a way it is easy to understand. The material flows easily from one subject to the other.

There is one thing that makes this book radically different than the tons of other self help books. This one is very grounded in the word of GOD. Each of his suggestions come from a verse in the bible. To me such references give his insights the ultimate validation.

As Christians we all tend to just coast through life in the pursuit to "be like Christ", but never have any real goals that we strive for. This book helps you define goals for all areas of your life and motivate you to work towards them. It doesn't matter if you are a missionary, a stay-at-home mom or a corporate worker, this book will have a major impact in your life. It sure did for me! I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book! It was more of a devotional book than anything else, touching on the principles of reaching true happiness, success, and evils such as greed and being negative. Success God's Way reminded me that in order to have true success one has to put God first and everything else will fall into place. I have now adapted one of the techniques that Dr. Stanley stated in the ladder part of his book, which is prioritize the initiatives and goals that you want to accomplish for the next day on a flash card before you go to bed and then put it in your pocket throughout the whole day. It is amazing how much more one can stay on task. The true examination I believe that this book illustrates is are one's goals Godly purposed goals striving to go along with God's plan, or are they individualized goals that do not fit in God's initiative, which makes their purpose lost and unmeaningful? Definately read Success God's Way!!!!!

Once again, Stanley has written a down-to-earth book with practical advice. The Lord's definition and way of success radically differs from the world, and Stanley encourages us to focus on how precious we really are to God.

Among the many excellent points Stanley offers are:

1. God's ways are different from the world's ways.
2. Principles of goal-setting.
3. Ask God for guidance and leadership when goal-setting.
4. Keys to good time management.
5. Time wasters to avoid.
6. Keys for successful believing.
7. Principles about persistence.
8. Trust God to order your steps and arrange the details of your life!

Again, these are just a few of the many excellent topics covered in the book. Highly recommended and is an excellent supplement to the Bible!

Ooo la la - this book is hot. You will get burned touching it. This will appeal to anyone that wants to be enticed by some serious erotica. Zane has put together quite an ensemble of short stories by various authors that will make you... well you know!! Read it and feel the burn!!!

SUCCULENT: CHOCOLATE FLAVA II, the Eroticanoir.com anthology, is more vintage Zane-esque erotica and you know what that means. Hotter than hot stories, unique storylines and undeniable entertainment. Stories like Curiosity Stirred My Cat, which features a curious love triangle, and Emma's Triangle, which puts yet another sultry spin on love triangles, had me turning the pages and fanning myself. Likewise, 'Til Death Do Us Part, was both touching and sizzling, and definitely in the running for favorite status.

Page for page, it doesn't get any sexier than this. So if you've got a sweet tooth for in-your-face erotica, this anthology doesn't disappoint. ZANE keeps bringing it, harder and hotter, and she always manages to round-up talented authors to help her pull it off. This one is worth adding to your collection.

Reviewed by T. Shelly B
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

Once again, Zane keeps it BLAZING HOT! I thank her for introducing us to an array of talented authors from Tigress Healy, Ms. Lovelie Ladie, B. F. Redd and then not letting us forget who the master is by saving herself for last! Absolute favorite stories were Emma's Triangle, An Arresting, Intoxicating Situation, Cougar, Come See Me & Trisexuality. Please keep em' CUMMING :-)

I've satisfied my sweet tooth and any other cravings with this one for awhile! I especially enjoyed the story with the older woman accepting his wife's pregnant mistress, the friend going home with his boy for the holidays and getting lucky with the mother and the daughter, Riding the Friendly Skies was another favorite with it's engaging storyline that offered you something more than a sex scene was on point. Now the mile high club sounds like my kinda of place. Where do i sign up so i can ride the friendly skies?

Overall this book is a scorcher and deserves it's due. So if you want that itch scracthed or that sweet tooth satisfied then this is your book!

If you love chocolate like I do then you'll love Succulent. Be aroused as you read this erotic treat! LeBlanc author of "Characters of Lust" in stores now. Click here Characters of Lust

very good,worth reading,written by various people.....
enjoyable,gets you thinking,nice photographs too.
As you may or may not know African coyly hair is quite unique in vision, texture, behaviour and probably in chemical make up too. Coily haired women around the world, go to the most extremes in terms of spending.
(Spending time, spending pain and the spending price to have African coily hair styled)
A hairstyle that we believe looks good or will help us to become socially and economically advanced.
Or maybe for our own self-esteem and maybe to attract the charms of a love interest. Either way your hair is a reflection of the state of your consciousness, your internal beliefs and your relationship with the world.

This book is like having group therapy or interviewing other women,but it is not all black women's views.I am reviewng it because I think it is worth a read.

As you may or may not know African coily hair is quite unique in vision, texture, behaviour and probably in chemical make up too. Coily haired women around the world, go to the most extremes in terms of spending.
(Spending time, spending pain and the spending price to have African coily hair styled)
A hairstyle that we believe looks good or will help us to become socially and economically advanced.
Or maybe for our own self-esteem and maybe to attract the charms of a love interest.
Either way, psychologically and philosophically I believe that your hair is a reflection of the state of your consciousness, your internal beliefs and your relationship with the world.
What about exploring physics through african hair?
For example how much pressure, gravity and tension and tearing do we put our hair through by combing it?
let alone excessive harsh combing.
Mathematically speaking how many of you readers can tell me how many curls/coils per inch your hair has, and does it vary in coil and moisture?
Next question:When does the nature of the hair change and why?
(i know it does!)
It seems to me all these books on afro hair are good and I welcome it, but we still need to be more informed and they all seem to need better editing, just like Black American beauty magazines.I must campaign for better grammar and less air brushed photos!!!
It is as if we like to see ourselves falsely rather than the reality of what we are...
Black women need to demand more scientific reasoning from our books and be less competitive over black men which only fuels their egos and as a result probably creates more baby-mothers!!!
Sorry but I had to vent out my opinions.

I give this book four stars for the effort and time invested as a writer I know it takes time...
I maintain that it is still worth reading,more than any carcinogenic chemical so called hair treatment that you pay for.

Anyway what do I know I am a black african british woman!!!!
Most of you Americans think we in Britain have no trains or any kind of progressive development!!!
Anyway if I wrote my book answering my questions that I put to you how many of you would buy it?

This is a wonderful book for anyone who would like to explore the issues that Black women face vis a vis our hair from a variety of viewpoints; not just the "politicaly correct" ones.

The book was all that, very positive, and at times emotional (I'm thinking of the passage where a father is trying to figure out how to braid his daughter's hair since her mother is across the country. His trying, and eventually getting it right, turned into bonding sessions for them. It was beautiful.) Of course the book had my favorite culture critic, bell hooks, and as usual she gave me a new persepective: to look at the whole "perm" phenomena as initiation into womanhood. Just about any Black woman who was on the brink of adolescence and was dying to get a perm should relate to that. I did. That's what this book does, it helps Black women to see just how similar our trials have been with our hair; and it's not just a generational thing. Black women from 50 to 80 years ago had the same issues and thoughts Black teenagers have today. Everyone remembers hot combs and Goody pink rollers and Royal Crown grease. Looking back many women had feelings of remembered pain, and not just from the burns on the tips of their ears and on their scalps, but inside their hearts for our collective struggle with an unattainable beauty standard.
What I also admired about this book was that it touched on the subject of hair and erotic intimacy. There was a whole section devoted to hearing the responses of Black women and men when confronted with the bedroom question: Can I run my fingers through your hair? It showed a depraved relation to our hair. In order to get and keep that salon fresh look, sleek and shiny, it must not be touched (by you and most especially your lover). Hair does not bring pleasure in the sense of us luxuriating in how it feels. How can you when it's not even yours? Weave. A woman tells the story of a young man with whom she was getting intimate with, and he wanted to run his fingers through her seemingly long shiny tresses. The moment was interrupted when he felt the hard tracks on her scalp before she could effectively slap his touch away. "You have to train these men early," another woman admonishes, "not to touch the hair." A man married for over 20 years complains of his wife's hair roller pins always poking him when she's "going down on him." He also hates, but has gotten used to, her wearing a head scarf anytime they make love. It is described in the book as Black folks having perpetual menege trios, he, she, and the head scarf. Another man wakes up to his girlfriend's "100% Korean Hair" all over the bed and floor after an especially heated night; he later ends up paying $200 dollars to have it all put back in again. The women speak of not even wanting to touch their own hair, refering to it being "hard as a rock" from gels and hair sprays. It's all in the name of a certain look, the processed one. (It's this look that lured their mates in the first place right?) It's sad that Black women talk about orchestrating certain sex positions around not messing up their fresh 'do. "You don't even think about it after while." They compensate not allowing their men to touch their hair with confidence and boldness in their performance, "It's so good he won't even be thinking about touching my hair."

I love this book. It isn't just politics or just us behind closed doors. Every possible reference to what is done to our hair is mentioned, even going bald. A Muslim woman opened my eyes to how not showing her hair takes away from having to compete for attentions based on beauty standards of hair, by being above them. It reminds us that as women, we shouldn't let physical beauty define us, even though most times it does, and we let it. "Ms. Strand" tells her tale with humor, cultural criticism, African storytelling, and 'round tha way truthfulness, barring nothing from the conversation. Truly, Tenderheaded should not be passed over.

I expected to really enjoy this book, but was disappointed. Some of the stories/essays were very good, but some of them were poorly written and/or could have done with some serious editing. It might have been better if some of them had been omitted: the book would probably have been half as long, but the overall quality would have been significantly improved.

I was also disappointed by the way the book was laid out. It seemed jumbled and poorly conceived. Photos, illustrations and cartoons/comics were seemingly thrown in randomly, with little context or relation to the surrounding content. The graphic content of the book was good, but the layout just did not display it to full advantage.

The idea behind this book was a good one, but the execution could have been a little bit better.

This is a very unique book. I have to say I LOVED IT! My being a young black woman, all the stories hit close to home. This book gave a non-bias look at black women's hair, and black culture all around the world including here in America. It gave many view points, from men women, blacks and even whites. I recommed this book to anyone who is confused about their hair and themselves. Nappy is defiantly Happy!!!! Peace.

Mike Shanahan shows how people can learn from mistakes, be flexible, and organize a team (business or sports).
Much can be learned from this book and help one form good habits for success.

In review of the autobiography I read, Think Like a Champion: Building Success One Victory at a Time by Mike Shanahan, I learned a great deal about succeeding on the football field. But more importantly, I learned about succeeding in life.

The book begins with Shanahan in college at Eastern Illinois University. Shanahan played quarterback on the Eastern Illinois football team and was routinely tackled during games. However, after being fiercely tackled during one particular game, Shanahan was rushed to the emergency room. Within hours Shanahan had undergone surgery to remove a badly ruptured kidney, and was soon told he could never play football again.

Wanting to remain close to the game he loved, Shanahan decided to try his hand at coaching. His first coaching stop was in Oklahoma as a part-time assistant coach for the University of Oklahoma Sooners. That year the Sooners won the National College Football Championship, and Shanahan was soon offered coaching jobs at other universities. He was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Eastern Illinois University, and at the University of Florida before moving to the professional ranks. As a professional football coach, Shanahan coached teams like the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos. Under Shanahan's direction, both of these teams won Super Bowl Championships.

Throughout the book, Shanahan states that he has learned something from every step he has taken in his coaching career. He notes that coaching football was not what he had wanted to do with his life; he wanted to play the game. But he acknowledges that he would probably never have made the pros as a player and would never have had the opportunities he had experienced as a coach.

In the book, Shanahan identifies a few key things he says are critical for success on and off the football field; preparing, sacrificing, competing, and persevering. Without any one of these items, success would not be possible. Shanahan also says that life may take you a direction you weren't planning to go, but that it is important to do your best, no matter what life has to offer.

After reading this book, I have a new perspective on coaching, and a new outlook on life. Hearing that perspective shared by a future Hall of Fame candidate, like Mike Shanahan, makes it even more powerful. Think Like a Champion: Building Success One Victory at a Time was more than a book about coaching the game of football. It was about being in, and succeeding at the game of life.

Straight-forward, crisply articulated and with practically no unnecessary fluff, Mike Shanahan's book, "Think Like a Champion," compellingly argues that the game of life is basically won or lost before the "players" take the field. Shanahan asserts his point of view over sixteen easy-to-digest chapters (each about ten pages or less) on the diffent tenets of becoming the best at what you do.

What I liked about this book is that while the author culls specific examples from his football career, the "moral of the story" is clearly applicable to ANYONE seeking to become the best in any endeavor. Offering an excellent, enjoyable read to both sports enthusiasts and non enthusiasts alike, the author's writing style is to neither excessively arm-wave nor make unsupported generalizations.

In fact, part of the Shanahan's credibility here is in his willingness to name names when providing examples of people living up to a credo espoused in a given chapter or more dramatically, falling short.

Written with humility, Shanahan's book leaves the reader feeling that there is nothing magical to becoming a huge success -- other than having a plan and putting in the blood, sweat and tears required to make that plan a success. Or as the author concludes, citing legendary coach Vince Lombardi, "Your quality of life is in direct proportion to your commitment to excellence." So true.

A die-hard Broncos fan from the days dying watching those ridiculous striped socks and watching Fran Tripuka get killed, what a job Shanahan did turning it around into two Super Bowls in a row.

Learning of his background and his principles makes me now not only a more avid Bronco fan, but also a Shanahan fan as well. His perseverance from the days of his kidney injury to how he became part of Sooner coaching staff till today is truly one of principles of success through hard work, not gifts or who you know or any of the other myths most people who never get anywhere fall for and are unmotivated. Most of them just don't ever want to work hard at anything, but have it handed to them. Shanahan disproves all that bunk and shows how it came to be. Unbelievable that when given the Raiders head-job, didn't even have the downpayment for a house.

This guy is very endearing to so many of us who never had the backgrounds for those connections, but wanting something bad enough, and always believing it, achieve it one goal at a time.

Great advice, especially appreciate his concern for balance.

Excellent read. Thanks, Mike, from a new fan and admirer.

I have heard this advice before: If you want to be successful
at something, find the most successful person you can in that area, listen to what they say, and try to follow it. Well, its hard to imagine a football coach more sucessful than Mike Shanahan. Here's a guy who started with a dream: to be a head football coach, started as an unpaid volunteer for a college team, and worked his way to be one of the best, most respected, coaches in the NFL (winning 2 consecutive Superbowls) at a young age.

The great thing is, he has written a book that is designed to help people win beyond football, in any area of life. Shanahan breaks it down for you: the way he prepares, some struggles he's had, some ways he motivates people (including the little things that we learn are so critical), very good wisdom concerning life, and a lot more. Also very critical is the fact that this book is very easy to read and understand.

You even get a bonus section in each chapter written by some of the greatest people and minds in football: Paul Tagliabue, Jerry Rice, Bill Walsh, John Elway, Deion Sanders, Steve Young, George Seifert, Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, Al Michaels, and more. They give their own take on the subject being discussed in the chapter, which is not only informative, but like the book itself, filled with wisdom.

The chapters consist of 16 basic areas to focus on to become successful, things like: Preparing (all of life is preparation, and not preparing is preparing to fail), Sacrificing (don't expect to get anything good done without sacrifice, if it was easy, everyone would do it), Learning (without learning, you will be hopelessly stuck where you are), Detailing (the devil is definitely in the details and that's where things often break down). This is just a taste of the wisdom in this book. Highly recommended for people looking to improve themselves.