Quality Time Books

I've been a professional speaker, trainer and consultant for over 20 years now, and this has got to be one of the best (top-3) books on pro speaking I've ever read. I wish I'd picked it up years ago.

Inspirational and moving, the hundreds of paragraphs of tips from top speakers like Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, Tony Robbins and of course the Walters are absolutely vital, extremely helpful (even at this stage in my career - this one will really help me!), and a wonderfully valuable book.

I've bought virtually every book on public speaking available, and this one is one that touched me a lot, on both personal and professional levels. Think of it like an "inspiration for those who speak", sharing the deep, personal insights from some of the world's top speakers.

This one's a must-get if you are a seminar presenter or speaker. Bravo!

Thanks,

Ken Calhoun

Book has great ideas and ways to become a better public speaker. Very good overall.

Lilly Walters focuses on the success stories of 19 top speakers and their hints for speaking well. She highlights their backgrounds, turning points and key sayings, and then provides tips on becoming a top speaker using their methods for developing and giving effective presentations. Hearing what these speakers say about the principles of good speechmaking is interesting, but their "insider" tips are pretty obvious, even to an outsider. Most of their advice is widely known within the speaking industry and is presented here repetitively. Don't be put off by the "read this resume" nature of the initial introductions, because they put the speakers in context and show their success. We [...] recommend this book to virgin public speakers or those who want a refreshing booster, to those who book big-name talkers, or to those who like to read recreationally about celebrities and their ideas.

I really wasn't as enthused about this book as the other reviewers. And I'm writing my review because I based my purchase of this book on the many glowing reviews preceding mine.

I bought Secrets of Superstar Speakers thinking I would learn the tips the superstar speakers used so I could use them myself. But Walters only superficially goes into those tips. And many of these tips were obvious and seemed to be "filler". For instance, one section tells you how to stay motivated in the lean years, and tips from "superstars" include: loving what you do, hanging in there, there's no quick fix, and having faith. This advice sounded trite and isn't much help to a reader who's looking for simple speaking tips.

When Walters finally touches on practical and useful superstar tips, she delves into them only superficially and often advises the reader to read her other previously published books to learn more. In fact, Walters plugs her other books quite a bit throughout.

I was also disappointed that the only superstar speakers Walters discusses are motivational speakers. I hadn't realized this was going to be the case, despite the subtitle "Wisdom from the greatest motivators of our time." I thought this book would include great businesspeople, salespeople, lecturers, who are also talented motivators (they motivate you to buy, sell, do, etc.). If you've got more than Tony Robbins-type motivation to talk about, then this book is not for you.

I also felt that Walter's advice was repetetive. She would suggest a tip only to repeat it again on the same page and the next page and the next. Funny enough, the tip to repeat your message was repeated ad nauseum.

The grammar and writing skills were sorely lacking, which was distracting and detracting. To wit, on page 226: "As you put all of these skills on the platform, remembering to appear natural and unrehearsed, takes a great deal of preparation and practice." Sentences like this had me shaking my head.

Only when you get to the last 40 or so pages, you get good meaty tips, which is why I gave this review 2 stars instead of just 1. But the rest of the book is really just superficial filler about motivational speakers.

Finally, I have to say that I also found it offensive that the author managed to squeeze in references to God, religion and Christianity on practically every page. It doesn't seem to occur to her that her readers might be of another religion or might not be religious at all. And since this is not a book about religion, I felt the vast number of religious references were entirely unwarranted.

I love this book! Reading how the greatest motivational speakers motivate themselves--gets me motivated!

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated

PS I am a big fan of Jack Canfield. There is a lot of stuff from him and Mark V Hanson in this book. For example, here is a little excerpt from Jack:

"At my seminar I do a section on `discovering your life's purpose'. We start off by hitting it from the external, then we eventually approach it from the inside. We get them to answer questions like: Who are you envious of?

I was envious of Kenny Rogers, the singer. I had to ask myself, what is it I am envious of? One, he brings pro-athletes down to his ranch in Virginia. He's got a football field, a baseball diamond, a basketball court, tennis court, all built in. He brings in John McEnroe from the tennis world, Larry Byrd from the Pacers, football players. They divide up into teams and have a mini Olympics type event all week. They play all day, then at night they get massages and have gourmet meals. Kenny is also a great portrait photographer, so he takes pictures of everyone. I thought, what is it that I envy about that? I realized it is that I love hanging out with people who are the best at what they do. It helped me realize my passion is for information, for sharing, for generosity, for making a difference.

I start with the envy question, then I ask, 'Think back in your life, when did you feel most alive? When did you feel most happy? When did you feel most loved? What was your greatest success? What was it about that success that made it a success?' As they answer these, people start to see some patterns
.
Finally, we ask, 'Who do you admire most on the planet alive or dead? If you could be anyone on the planet, who would you be?' If someone says Tony Robbins, that is a real different statement than Mother Teresa. It helps define what they want to express.

With their eyes closed I have them imagine they are climbing a mountain, they go into a temple, and this wise person comes and brings them a gift. As they open the gift, it will symbolically represent their life's purpose. People open it and get things like a children's book, this because they are supposed to write a children's book. Some get little poor kids looking up a them with hope, this because they are supposed to go empower those kids. People get in touch with their passion and their purpose." --Jack Canfield

The author is a renowned expert on addressing the work and life deficit in America. He is in the forefront of a Buddhistic approach to life. It is for the living and not acquisition.

This is a must-read for every working person in America. I'm going to buy it for everyone on my team and the senior management at my company (along with Julie Morgenstern's 'Never Check Email in the Morning', a more clinical approach). Joe encourages the blasphemous idea of putting ourselves and our lives first, which in turn has a positive impact on our work productivity and health. My inner dialogue has already changed dramatically at work and I'm not even done with the book. Brilliant!

I finally found the time to read Mr. Robinson's book Work to Live. But, it isn't because I've been working. Au contraire. I quit my job in August 2002 to go answer a few questions I had about life, and to make a life change (I don't like that word career). While I've been back for 5 months as of this review, that was after 7 months straight of traveling Asia (Thailand, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Singapore, among others), and a loop around Australia, and parts of Arabia. That was a follow up to 3 months driving around the US, 6 weeks in S. America (Rio Carnaval!), and 3 weeks in China & Taiwan. I'll be on the road again soon! My change in life was fueled by personal events and only reconfirmed by Sept.11th. I may not have quit if I had more time off (Though I am vey glad I did in retrospect!). Our antiquated vacations laws are something I became consciously aware of (And mad!) when I traveled to Europe for business or when I met fellow travelers in other places.

In the eye of the storm, it is difficult to see the truth. And that is what applies to the masses of the USA in regards to work. We can't see the forest for the trees. Mr. Robinson discusses so many ideas that I have come to on my own - including the distortions of our productivity reporting. I may someday write a book that takes these ideas even further.

So many "difficulties" our country faces are ripple effects from our lack of time to see the big picture. On this fact alone, Mr. Robinson's work is in my list as one of the most important books of the present for Americans. Read it!

In the book Mr. Robinson quotes Hewitt Associates a number of times. Hewitt is the #1 benefits consultant in the US (World?). They have a reputation as a great place to work. So much so that supposedly they were no longer ranked, they were consultants to the "Best Companies to Work For" list. Funny thing is, I worked there for 9 months in 1997 as a system consultant and there was a very high employee churn rate. Of the 6 people that interviewed me (One a company veteran of almost 20 years and my mgr), all but 1 were gone within a year of my leaving. One of the reasons - they counted face time, not productivity. It was a pressure cooker for hours, it was like a cult. Maybe it has changed. I doubt it. I even have a PDF comparison chart of vacation time that Hewitt posted on their website not long ago!

I agree with almost everything Mr. Robinson is talking about. I just think he could have cut the book by 25-33% to get the same point across. The first half of the book especially just seemed to be a rehash of the same thing over and over. The 2nd half of the book is more concise.

Stressed? Spending too long in the office? Been working so hard, but can never catch up with everything? This book will really open your eyes and make you question your priorities in life. Too many people are defining their self-worth by the quantity of work time they put in at the office. This is especially a problem in Japan. People just can't say no. This book will teach you about setting sensible boundaries, work-life balance and give tips for restoring sanity to your life.

I recently finished reading this book and hope that managers and corporate leaders read it as well. Overtime in this country is quite out of control and we as leaders have to start looking at how we treat people that work for us. Joe Robinson is a pioneer for the work/life balance movement and I agree with everything he says.

Chris Ortiz, author 40+ Overtime Under Poor Leadership

The way we think about work has evolved. Now it's okay to have a life outside of the office. If you're one of the millions who would like to cut back on the amount of time you spend working, but think reduced hours would hurt you financially and hinder your career progression, pick up Elaine St. James' book Simplify Your Work Life: Ways to Change the Way You Work So You Have More Time to Live.

In this small self-help book St. James offers tips on how to work smarter and more efficiently, but more importantly she aims to change our mindset about work. The main message is that it's not necessary to sacrifice your entire life for a paycheck

Very pleased with the condition of the book...like new. Good price and it was delivered in the time it was promised. I would purchase from them again. Thanks. Dchanilj.

This is a great book filled with very practical tips to help employees simplify their work lives. Each section addresses a different aspect of working. There are tips to reduce the hours you work, to become more productive, to change the way you think about work, and to change the way you work. There are sure to be several tips throughout the book that will benefit each reader. Because every situtation is different, some tips won't appeal to some people but everyone is likely to find something that will help them. This book is worth the time to read thoroughly or to skip to the parts that interest you.

I've had this book for several years and I'm still fond of carrying it with me on weeks where there is a lot happening in my 12 year old firm. What's particularly nice is the fact that St. James has such small smippets that I can quickly read and easily digest--one at a time.

When the author states she feels "healthy, wealthy, happy and fantastic," it is obvious that the assumption here is that there are plenty of funds to cover the basic necessities -- food, shelter, and medical care at her house.

Most of the tips are basic ones such as "handling mail only once;write checks immediately." The assumption is that we all have the financial ability to do that. Another assmption is that we are all in control of our workdays. No advice or acknowledgement of any sort is offered up for those of us who cannot cut back or quit work.

I found the advice of rationing family members one towel and one wash cloth laughable and what one would expect if living in an institution, not in one's home.

These tapes contain some good advice and are very helpful for those persons who already enjoying a good income. However, for those living from pay day to pay day, these tapes will have little benefit.

Wow! is all can say about this book. What the poems show is that even after 5000 years, our passion for romance, our feelings about one another has never changed. If anything, this anthology shows the emotional and spiritual evolution of mankind in a direct and personal way. When I get down on the human race, I read this book and the poems give me hope again. Because the volume is so big, I always find something new.

The breadth of this anthology is amazing. I pull it off the shelf and browse through it at least a few times each week.

Just about as close to perfect as is possible, this book has served me as inspiration, source, and example since I bought it new when published. My only complaint has always been that it is so big and heavy! If I had lots of space, it would have its own library table and stay out accessible all the time. (In fact, I might actually just live in a library!) There is such a wide variety on any general subject - despite my propensity for getting "lost" in it - I can always find something perfect for my need of the moment. And usually also a send-off for finding a new need of the next moment. This is a much better solution than searching the internet for a concept on which one wants a quote and getting either thousands of possibilities unranked with regard to personal preference or a few, narrowed down, which don't quite fit the bill.

There's always something new and breathtaking, and poetry from many different cultures and times. A refreshing break from just English/American poetry. Seeing all the different works in one volume gives you a delicious sense of the different textures of world poetry, a scintillating tapestry of words, a symphony... I loved it.

This is an astonishing volume packed with beautiful poems. I honestly cannot think of a better gift for poetry lovers (or, indeed, plain lovers or anyone else...). Akkadian poetry, Nazim Hikmet, Tagore.... almost every single poet that I love is here. How did the editors manage do it???

As a boomerangers myself I can totally relate with this book. It's an amazing read.

Fascinating look at what people go through when they move back home. I just got home 2 months ago because of layoffs after 12 years of living on my own, and it's been really weird. One minute my mom is looking at my emails, asking me who so and so and my dad is yelling at me to change all the lightbulbs in the house. Even worse my old room is horible.. It's become this huge catch-all for my mom's magazine collection and all my dad's old clothes and paintings. Furman is pretty funny and doesn't talk down ever!! Which is nice since everyone says people who move are basically losers with no life. I have a graduate degree and have held down excutive positions so it's kinda strange to be in this position. But as soon as I find a job I'm moving out again, hopefully by next year.

I had to move home three months ago to help my dad after (...) divorce to my step mom. I left my job, my friends, and moved to a new city. My friend had read about this (...) and gave it to me as a present when I moved home. I read it cover to cover and it really made me feel better to know that other people were going through (...) same thing. I especially liked (...) section about dealing with single parents, cuz it's so true what she writes about. I'm taking Furman's advice and setting a move out date so my Dad doesn't get too dependant on me living at home. Thanks.

Which writer was it wrote the "you can't go home again?" He was right. I have tried it twice and neither time has it worked. But, Elina Furman in New York City was thinking of another way to go back home. It is increasing done these days (18 million have done just that to the dismay and disgust of their parents), and is getting to be a pattern of not being responsible for one's own destiny. Going back in life is never good, as you are not moving forward -- the past is never better than the future.

She did survive a second time around living at home and is proud of it, but I'd really like to know what 'side of the story' her parents would reveal. It is never easy to have a grown up son right under you feet at all times. Didn't he learn anything in school about coping? I have a friend here whose thirty-something son moved in her small apt. with his child out of wedlock. My youngest son, age 30, did the very same thing with his dad only when the girlfriend left, she took the child with her.

As a result I lost contact with the two grandchildren I love the most as their mother moved them to Athens, Alabama, to keep them away from their stupid father, my ignorant son. It may benefit the grown up 'kids' (if you can call them that -- they are supposed to be adults when they finish college) to not have to pay rent and get all the free food they desire, free housekeeping and utilities. None of the responsibilities of adulthood. Will they ever grow up? Not as long as the long-suffering parents let them get away with this intrusion.

This is much more than a silly boomerang game. It is serious business and should be stopped. Let them go out and see how the homeless live; they'd get free clean clothes everyday, a free bus ticket (so they can look for work!), free meals and a place to sleep, but they are on their own (and the town) the rest of the time. They lug around all of their belongings and beg for 'change' to buy shoes (ha) -- they get free shoes (I've told them which church will give them walking and hiking shoes.) and to buy a cup of coffee. I bought two of the morning 'specials' twice not realizing I would have to carry around two cups of coffee, which I spilled. One fellow asked for change to buy a cup of coffee, and I said, "I will give you a cup of coffee." Just today, one young man asked for change to ride the bus, I told him I didn't have any. He was able to get fifty cents from a man and promptly walked away, telling me he was not going to ride the bus. I was waiting for the bus. So, what else is new? Let some of those freeloaders who take advantage of their old parents see what it is really like if they don't grow up and get a good career to take care of themselves. How's that, note-worthy friend, to talk about something I know something about. Elina Furman wrote THE EVERYTHING AFTER COLLEGE BOOK and THE EVERYTHING DATING BOOK.

I was disappointed in this book because it focused too much on one specific living situation - young adults who are moving home with their happy suburban parents. In several places, the author suggests that doing your own laundry and not coming in at 3am trashed will greatly improve many relationship issues with your parents. It never actually occured to me to ask my folks to do my laundry - I think I'm missing out here. Also, there are many mentions of things like how to deal when your hip parents when they want to go to happy hour with you and your friends, and how to understand that they are tired from the workday too and might want to hit the bar. What about dealing with retired parents, single parents, ill parents, and all those other things that bring us home that raise many issues (like privacy, expenses, mealtime, etc.). Finally, it was difficult for me to feel bad for the people in the book who lived in the 'burbs and had to drive a whole hour to get to their friends hang outs now that they lived at home. There is a large portion of people who don't live anywhere near a metropolitan area for a quick fix in an hour's drive. The suggestion that those of us in small towns still have places to go to meet people our own age - like the local bookstore - perplexed me. We have two stoplights. I haven't noticed a bookstore at either intersection - but I can dream. On the bright side, it was nice to see some stats in the book about how many young adults really are returning home (for various reasons) and there are some good web sites metioned in the book for things like health insurance, moving, finding jobs, and meeting people. If you are not an early 20s college grad who just moved an hour away from a major city and are suffering by living with your extremely hip working parents who refuse to always look the other way when you drag kegs into your room, then definitely only get this book only for some humorous stories - not actual advice.

This book by Martin Christopher, is one of the better if not among the best books on supply chain management. Written by Professor Martin Christopher of the Cranfield School of Management, the book deals particularly with best practices in supply chain management in the current era of globalization. Responsiveness, reliability and relationships are the basis for successful logistics and supply chain management. Strategies like Just-In-Time (JIT), Lean and Agile thinking are reviewed, and last not least, there is a very solid chapter on supply chain risk, which is what interested me in particular. That chapter alone is worth buying the book.

Keeps repeating the same things over and over using different words. Very boring and nothing new to learn.

This is a wonderful book and introduces the practioner to some of the frontiers of strategically driven service response logistics. In other words how to design, deploy and organize integrated SCM for corporate strategic reasons, not just for functional cost control. Probably one of three key books for understanding the frontiers and highly recommended.

Key is the process, customer value and system integration perspectives threaded throughout but particularly in the last several chapters. The chaper on service response logistics is worth the price of the book.

As a practioner dealing with advanced SCM I found this very worthwhile and found myself wishing I'd written it. If you are relatively new to the field you need a decent baseline grounding and Stock & Lambert's book on 'Strateigc Logistics' is a perfect complement. To move slightly higher up the food chain get the recent compilation of HBR articles called 'Managing the Value Chain'. Together the three make a perfect bookshelf set for any practioner, student or corporate executive who needs to understand what integrated logistics, SCM or the future of e-business might be doing to your career or your firm's competitive prospects !

After reading many books about logistics and supply chain issues, this third edition adds value to the field.

The author confirms his visionary approach and provides new thinking on supply chain risk and resilience. Not only agility is now more elaborated and explained as an important logistics strategy together with leaness, but also, hybrid strategies are proposed and practical cases are developed.

As always, the author ends with a view to the future and introduce the readers in the ever challenging thoughs of business transformations.

After reading various textbooks on logistics, quantitative analysis and strategy, this book was very refreshing, in large part from the fact that it is a short and non-technical book. The title of my review says it all, this book is summary for busy people wanting to get som insights into what is going on in logistics and organizational theory . I got through the book in two readings, which is a very valuable aspect for busy people.
Still, despite being brief, it touches on most important aspects, and points you to further areas of importance if what you read here makes you want to change things in your organization.
So: Not technical, easy read, 4 stars instead of 5 because it is too brief to be truly useful for those that actually want to learn the subject-matter.

PS: The printing I recieved was a defect, pages 247 to 278 missing (Replaced by duplicate pages 215-246), ust watch out for that.

This book, as others have said, is much like "The Goal". It is not a silver bullet, not the final solution or even the best business book ever written. It is a clear concise way to explore a more realistic paradigm than the one you probably exist in now. It coaches you on implementation, partcipation and collaboration. It is simply right on and it will drive your mind to next level of understanding.
I recommend this for everone at any level. It re-states the power of synergy and how to tap into it. Get your 80% work product efficiency and 4X improvement now - it works.

Thumbs up, but I'd recommend you attend his workshops over the book if the opportunity presents itself.

The book is written as a fictional account of a company's journey from process hell to an environment where engineers can devote themselves more completely to the craft they love. It is complete with protagonists and antagonists. The many men and women who have devoted large portions of their careers to wrestling with new product development process issues and trying to improve the quality and efficiency of product development processes may justifiably take offense at being cast as the antagonist, but it wouldn't be much of a story without the villains.

The book raises some very good issues and points out some very good practices that have contributed to Toyota's success. Toyota's design philosophy is optimized for lowest possible risk to model year goals. American management teams would do well to think about optimizing for low risk instead of highest efficiency and lowest development cost. For many companies the cost of developing a new product is a fairly modest portion of their overall cost structure and the price they pay for missing new product introduction dates is far greater than the gains from tailoring their internal processes for the lowest cost development.

The implementation of highly redundant development paths (called sets in the book) will be far less revolutionary than the book would have you believe. It really comes down to a willingness and ability to make the necessary investments. Readers who have studied Japanese companies will find much that is familiar. Publicly held Japanese companies are far less driven by quarterly results than are their American counter parts. Japanese companies typically have few (if any) small stockholders looking for short term gains. The largest stock holders in a Japanese company are often other Japanese companies. They tend to set long term strategic goals e.g. to dominate the world car industry in 5 years. While these businesses must make money to sustain themselves they are content with smaller earnings than their American counterparts making it possible to re-invest larger portions of their revenues back into the company. Some of that reinvestment shows up as investment in engineering work that reduces risk to new product introduction dates. But make no mistake about it, there are no miracle cures. During the initial stages of introducing a risk adverse strategy you are getting less (new features) with more (investment), but on time, likely with better quality, and you can build economically on that investment for a future stream of new products.

Efficiency can be a huge problem, but not always. In many organizations engineering efficiency is disappointingly low. The book tries to make the case that Toyota's engineers are 4X more productive than the engineers of the fictitious company in the book (approx. 80% productive compared to ITRs 20%). The measure of productivity is not explained, but it is implied that it is simply the number of hours/week that engineers spend engineering instead of (presumably) unnecessary process compliance. It is unlikely that Toyota's engineers are on average really 4X more productive than the best of American engineering teams. A comparison between Toyota's engineering and one of America's best is probably a better comparison than a fictitious engineering team. The book does not sight any objective evidence for the 4X claim. Although few companies share their productivity numbers, 65% is a widely accepted number for staff utilization. If Toyota's staff utilization really is 80% then that would put them about 1.23X more productive. In actual fact productivity is far more complex to measure and since it is so complex many observers chose a metric and then measure changes rather than focus on an absolute #. Lack of evidence aside, the book does highlight some interesting opportunities for improvement in the area of knowledge retention and reuse.

I have no doubt that there are companies whose developers are 20% productive. Lack of stability in the organization is certainly a contributor. The ineptitude and unending churn of engineering management teams is a frequent cause. Many companies have suffered at the hands of corporate management teams looking for quick fixes to the perception that their projects take too long, cost too much, and fail too often. They are often executives who have no engineering experience and no way to objectively assess the performance of their teams. They are driven by fear and uncertainty. They have often set goals that are hopelessly impossible to begin with. The result from the engineer's perspective is an unending stream of organizational change meetings to roll out the new engineering management team, introduce their dramatic new ideas, and get the teams trained. This is immediately followed by or coupled with a call to heroic self-sacrifice in an effort to meet the hopeless goal with the new structure. Sound familiar? If you we're drawn to this book it probably does.

The first thing that any student of Japanese industry learns is its strong reliance on life-time employment. While there has been some decline in longevity in recent years it remains the expectation for most Japanese employees entering the workforce. The long-term expectations and thorough understanding of the company and its markets which the most senior managers obtain during their long careers fosters more emphasis on incremental improvement rather than radical re-birth. Either strategy can work, but the highest probability of long-term success is with the incremental improvement paradigm.

Mr. Kennedy is a joy to talk to with a refreshing directness and wealth of experience. The book has a "sensational" tone, but you'd expect that in a work that was intended to get your attention and interest. The advice he offers in person is well reasoned and sound. Well worth the price of admission.

Even in the academic literature, there is no better reference. Note: do not buy the book "the minding organization" where the author refers to in the book.

For anyone interested in the next stage of Product Development -- this is a must read. The Toyota system encorporates what I felt has been missing in the product development process for so long. It takes into account the chaos that exists during development and actually encourages it instead of covering it up.

I've beginning to incorporate these concepts into our process and am excited about the results I'm seeing.

Everything written is a bullseye with the exception of glaring ignorance regarding Six Sigma - what it is and isn't. What is written relative to Lean here should be taken verbatim as applying to Six Sigma also - there is no difference. Similarly, the written characterizations of Six Sigma should be ignored. To quote Senji Nihwa, Taiichi Ohno's lieutenant at Toyota for decades, in a good-natured ribbing, "You Americans, always trying to categorize things. Call it Lean, call it Six Sigma, it makes no difference to us...it's all the same." And so it is.

The book is extremely well written and accurate with the exception noted above. If readers can simply meld the descriptions as also being characteristic of a Six Sigma organization, and discard the mischaracterizations of Six Sigma as written, they are in for a very positive learning experience.

This is the best homeschooling book I have read and my most valuable homeschooling resource! This is a must read for anyone considering or currently homeschooling. I am constantly re-reading this over and over. I find/learn something new each time. You will not be disappointed!

I found this gem at our local library and have renewed it TWICE. In that time, I've read through it two times and started a notebook to take extensive notes on each chapter!

Curry presents a very realistic and attainable ideal of what the homeschool should be, particularly for the Christian family. She encourages the homeschooler to look to God's Word for instruction and encouragement and move away from external ideas on what learning "should" look like.

This book, in addition to Mary Pride's Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling and Catherine Levison's A Charlotte Mason Education have been highly influential in the development of our homeschool program.

Curry covers all the major "subjects," as well as art instruction, music and much more. She gives practical, low-cost guidance on teaching, along with a huge helping of encouragement and admonition to the homeschooling family.

I also recommend Ruth Beechick's books.

VERY highly recommended!

The value in this book is that we don't have to be overwhelmed by all of the curriculum choices out there and there are other options which can be more frugal. Her techniques are quite simple. I felt this book to be very encouraging while also laying out some principles we may want to consider in our parenting and homeschooling.

My favorite chapter was toward the end, "Abiding in the Vine." I felt inspired to continue on homeschooling while striving to do even better.

The author is correct in saying that we may want to limit TV viewing for our children. I can see where such graphic intensity has diminished many peoples desire to read and to read at elevated levels, my own and my children's as well.

Over all a great book to read before purchasing curriculum and just starting out homeschooling.

I read this book eagerly thinking it would give me great tips on doing home school in an easier manner. It does do that, but the writer's style is extremely off-putting. Though I am a Christian, I could not stand the implications that if one let their children read anything other than the KJV of the Bible or let their children watch TV, they were not being good parents or good Christians. Too much for me to wade through to get to the good stuff.

After researching homeschooling for 11 years and actively doing so for 5, I am STILL reaping so much from this book. I read it through once and then re-read it making the suggested lists and checklists and all I can say is WOW!
I WISH I had read this book first!! I checked out "Easy Homeschooling Companion" from my library a year ago but I was still in the "I-need-to-know-WHICH-curriculum-to-choose" mindset so I didn't get anything out of it (I'm going to get it again...I bet I missed out on a LOT!) I have always felt the
lead to design our own curriculum and have had "How to Create a
Low-Cost/No-Cost Curriculum" and ALL of the Design-A-Study books for many years but have never been able to "put it all together" with a plan...so I kept searching for THE curriculum for us. I knew there wouldn't be a "perfect" program but I figured the changes should be minor to warrant the continued
use/purchase of said program. Unfortunately, the changes were always wholesale so we dropped it. But now, since reading this book I have been able to define my vision for our home education journey...I can finally SEE an "overall" plan for
our homeschool as God has been leading! Even in your book there are things we probably won't focus on; but I have gained SO much from seeing your overall plan based on your goals for your family. I can see how we can now focus our daily journey to have our homeschool as my husband and I first envisioned. I took your advice and didn't buy any ("more" in my
case :-) curriculum until I finished your book. I did finally buy a program I believe with minor modification will help us reach our goals. But unlike before, when I made this purchase, I have a MUCH better idea of what types of materials will help us reach our goals...because I have my goals written down! I've read before about setting goals but the way you lead the reader in the SPECIFICS is unmatched! I LOVE your use of checklists and have begun using this listing technique all through our home and lives.

I have THOUROUGHLY enjoyed and learned SO much from reading this
book. I used to recommend Gayle Graham's "How to Homeschool" as THE homeschool book to purchase first or if you could only have one. I will now move that down a notch and recommend "Easy Homeschooling Techniques" as THAT book.

Ponn has an amazing ability to captivate her reader's attention and "relate" to women's needs to slow down and enjoy life and family more. Once I started reading, I could not put it down. She inspired me to not be so worried about "doing it all". God has given her a wonderful talent, the ability to write and touch the soul through her circumstances. This is the best thing to come along since "Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul".

Having shared Ponn's inspiring tone, this is a wonderful resource not only for networking skills but personal and spiritual growth. Like listening to a good friend give you advice. In business we sometimes forget to take the time for ourselves and appreciate our own accomplishments. This book will give you all the skills you need to "power network" as well as many tips to succeed as a woman in business. I believe this is a must read for all women, therefore I look forward to offering this book to all of my Team Women members. (Team Women, the world's first "women-only" network marketing organization)

Ponn's message is touching and inspirational and has touched so many women that are balancing family and work fulfillment (whether an exec of a fortune 500 company or a work-at-home mom), showing that you can succeed in any obstacle that is set before you. She is the poster woman for striving and succeeding unlike anyone I've every seen. She's a true inspiration and her book is at the top of my must-have list!

To your "Empowering" Success Ponn!

Yours Truly,

Melissa Maynard
(...)

"I am passionate about helping women to overcome obstacles and reach their highest potential. So I become excited when I meet someone whose commitment to helping women become empowered resonates with me. This book focuses on helping you to become empowered and once I started reading it I found it difficult to put down. It is filled with insights designed especially for women and is written in a style that draws you in and makes it easy for you to put the ideas into action. Ponn's story is a moving account of her experiences and triumphs. This is an excellent book for any woman who is ready to empower herself to build quality relationships." -Yvonne Brown Women's Advocate and founder of www.JADcommunications.com the company that
focuses on helping women to reach their potential

Ponn is like the "Miss Manners" for the new entrepreneurial woman who offers sage advice and rich resources. This book gives you a healthy dose of "you can do it" and Ponn graciously plays the part of your free-spirited and ever optimistic girlfirend who believes in you, so you can believe in you!

Kelly Nault
Parenting Author and Founder of UltimateParent.Com

Ponn emphasizes the importance of respect and integrity in this networking how-to guide. Her combination of down-to-earth advice and heartfelt faith makes this an unusual and powerful entry in the women's empowerment field. From up-to-date online resources to an affirmation of the importance of clean underwear, Ponn brings a breath of fresh air to her subject. You always know this is a real person talking to you ... an incredibly accomplished and driven person who is recognizably and endearingly human. I want Ponn in MY network!

At last!!!! Harriet Schecthter's inspirational book "Conquering Chaos at Work" is here and it's a gem, providing practical, no nonsense solutions to those organizational challenges that frustrate us daily at work.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" fills a gaping void in previous organizational literature by not only addressing and resolving where our personal attempts to get organized may have failed, but also providing vital suggestions and systems to encourage and help the organizationally impaired people around us who may impact negatively on our own effectivess.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" is a must for anyone who aspires to becoming more effective at work and at life.

Do yourself and your organization a big favour and pop one in your shopping trolley now!!!!

I think this is best for people who have some major blind spots when it comes to other people's responsibilities and to their own boundaries. Yes, it gives examples and solutions. But it all seemed obvious.
I don't think I had any "ah ha" moments. If you agree that it's for people with major blind spots, I think you'll agree it should address the readership as well, since such big blind spots generally come with other issues that can get in the way of following the advice in this kind of book.
In my corporate experience, it is usually the more subtle behaviors that don't get addressed and fester, or problems that are more systemic and pervasive as part of the company's culture. But The Addictive Organization it isn't. If it went farther, it could be a codependence recovery book about deeper changes that have to happen to deftly handle the situations it addresses.
If the folks that gave those five star reviews can come back a year later and say that their work lives were really changed, then I'd be more open to the idea that this book is relevant.

A lot of books about organizing only deal with time management. In this book, the author deals with other types of disorganization. I had to laugh when I read the part about the deceptive chaos creating boss. I now think of that former boss as only a guy with nothing more than a clean desk and a leather Day-Timer. On the surface, he looked organized, in reality, he was never prepared for many of the meetings.

At last!!!! Harriet Schecthter's inspirational book "Conquering Chaos at Work" is here and it's a gem, providing practical, no nonsense solutions to those organizational challenges that frustrate us daily at work.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" fills a gaping void in previous organizational literature by not only addressing and resolving where our personal attempts to get organized may have failed, but also providing vital suggestions and systems to encourage and help the organizationally impaired people around us who may impact negatively on our own effectivess.

"Conquering Chaos at Work" is a must for anyone who aspires to becoming more effective at work and at life.

Do yourself and your organization a big favour and pop one in your shopping trolley now!!!!

Harriet Schechter's Conquering Chaos at Work is fun to read and very comprehensive. It covers different types of chaos creators and provides methods to deal effectively with these habits, whether they exist in ourselves or other people. In describing the way that people can contribute to unnecessary disorganization, the book does more than describe general behavior and various tips to overcome these tendencies - she gives interesting case histories as well. This is part of what makes it fun to read! It has just the right balance of substance and light-heartedness. I highly recommend it as an easy read that is well worth referring to again and again.