Companies Books

Read this book if you have experienced the grief from losing a loved one physically as in my case or you are broken from a life circumstance. This book along with the word of God will uplift you and see you through those difficult days when again your tears seem to be the only medicine for your heart. I love that each day starts off with a scripture. I usually will read the scripture then look it up in my bible and do a small study on the scripture. I will then read the devotion for that day. This book and Oswald Chambers devotional book is what I read daily. I recommend it for anyone who has walked down the road of losing a child, parent or sibling. It also makes a great gift for someone facing cancer or for the single mom who is struggling to makes ends meet and feels hopeless. Whoever you are and wherever you are you will be blessed by the golden pages and by the sweet quiet whisper of Gods spirit revealed in the writing of this book.

This is a great book for anyone going thru a difficult time. I received my book after the death of my son. Took me four years to actually pick it up and I am so glad that I did. It gives me hope for each new day. I just purchased four more to give to friends that I know are struggling. I hope that it can help them as much as it has helped me.

This is one of the most hopeful devotional books I have ever found. If you are having difficulties or going through trials, this devotional will help light your way using God's word and uplifting thoughts, poems, and other writings. This book enriches my relationship with God and helps me trust and rely on Him more. Well worth the money.

I heard about this on GMA. Robin had said that her mother had one and had almost worn it out. I love this journal. It has Bible quotes and messages from individuals along with a place on the side to write your own notes. The one I purchased is leather and the quality is unspoken. I loved it so much I bought one for my Sunday School teacher. I imagine my will be worn and fraziled someday. I would recommend this journal to anyone.

Don't buy this and dont read it. If you put small amounts of poison in your food, over time it will kill you. This book has lies, scripture out of context and a God who is like an abusive father who beats children to teach them. This has to be the worst "Christian" labeled book I have encountered in 25 years. Heres a quote that shocked me from Sept 30 / page 369. "Our Almighty God is like a parent who delights in leading the tender children in His care to the very edge of a precipice and then shoving them off the cliff into nothing but air."
My Almighty God is not like that at all, and neither is my Jesus. There are many such statements and quotes throughout this work to render it with the label of "poisoned bread". It will destroy your faith or seriously distort it over time and bring ruin to your relationship with God. It even makes reference to Jesus being our Elder Brother! I was LDS at one time and that is a big lie. We are Gods creations and handiwork, Jesus was God the creator incarnate. We do not have his nature, and we are adopted. I am considering burning this to keep warm on a winter night instead of giving it to someone and spreading spiritual sickness. Best advise I can give is read the Bible. Try the Gospels, Psalms, Proverbs,or Pauls letters. Why settle for trash when you can have treasure. Test all things...Don't be decieved...If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God.

If you want to know more about your subc.I heartily recommend these CDs

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
The Master Key System
Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World
The Science of Getting Rich
The Science of Mind
Think and Grow Rich: Original Version

I have read many books from Catherine Ponder, everyone is the complement of the previous ones. Very good job.

I originally bought this book three years ago. I had read the Game of Life by Florence Shinn and I was looking for more info about prosperity. WE have used the laws, specifically the law of vaccuum- giving things away freely,writing things down, visualization, affirmations and the most powerful law- tithing. I can't begin to tell you how using these laws have changed my family's life. It is like clockwork, everytime we use these laws wonderful things come about in unexpected ways. Actually, I have a list of things I wanted in life from three years ago when I bought the book and even though they seemed a bit unnattainable at the time, I can say that as of today, every single thing on that list (and more) have miraculuously came true. Now I stock up on copies of this and the Game of Life and give them to people who need and want to learn the laws.

This is the first Catherine Ponder book I have read and, while I normally read a lot of motivational material, I likely will not read any more Catherine Ponder anytime soon. Her message is certainly worthwhile: making affirmations in your own life will help you to draw upon God's assistance to achieve your goals. She is also a minister, which explains why she draws her approach from a sprirtual angle. While this effort is certainly worthwhile for a reader, her supporting examples are not specific enough to satisfy my need for "proof". In Ponder's book, her examples are full of "a woman I know...", "a businessman...", and other such vague statements. Contrast that with Napolean Hill's book "Think and Grow Rich." Hill's examples are specific and precise: "Thomas Edison tried over 10,000 times...". Napolean Hill and Catherine Ponder both have a similar message in their books. But while Catherine Ponder's message is meaningful and worthwhile, her examples are not down to earth enough to suit my tastes.

If I had known Catherine Ponder was a minister, I would never have bought (and returned) this book. If you believe prayer and positive thinking will bring you prosperity, I suppose this book will be fine for you. If you aren't a devout Christian, however, you might find this book hard to deal with.

I've read some reviews and have to repeat what someone else has pointed out: Readers need to keep in mind that this stuff happened in the 40's and 50's. You can't criticize the smoking, because at that time, people didn't know smoking around kids was harmful. Smoking was a very normal activity for many adults. If Marie Killilea had known that smoking might be contributing to her miscarriages and ill health of her kids, I'm sure she would have stopped. People didn't know.

You can't criticize Karen's parents for not creating a cerebral-palsy playgroup for her, because they were the groundbreakers in treating cerebral palsied kids like "normal" kids. They were flying by the seat of their pants. My guess would be that they decided they should raise Karen "normally," and having her play a lot with other handicapped kids would not have seemed "normal"--after all, what they were fighting were doctors and other professionals who recommended placing Karen permanently in an institution FILLED with other handicapped people. This book is not a recent book and it has to be read in the historical context. I mean, schools were still segregated when Karen was born. Geez.

I read this book and "With Love From Karen" when I was in about fifth and sixth grade, after my mother gave me "Wren." Honestly, I never thought much about the cerebral-palsy side of the books. I was an only child, I loved animals, and I thought that Karen was lucky to live in her family. The cerebral palsy was kind of a side issue for me. We didn't go to church, and I didn't understand a lot of the Catholic stuff either, but I loved that the family sounded so close.

I think the concern someone posted about publishing this book when Karen was still young has some validity, but--her mom was desperately trying to draw attention to the fact that handicapped kids were okay. She succeeded in a huge way, through this book. She influenced a generation of people, people who would have looked at her daughter strangely if they ever met her, due to her handicap, but, instead, looked at Karen as practically an angel, because they felt they knew her through this book. And after all, when Marie wrote the book, she would have had no idea that it would end up being in print for decades and read all over the world, and that Karen would still be hounded by fans in 2007 (which apparently she is, when they can track her down).

I guess what I'm saying is, before anyone criticizes Karen's mom, they ought to keep in mind that their opinions about what's right and wrong for handicapped kids were probably shaped by Karen's mom, whether they realize it or not. Our whole society was influenced by "Karen." Yeah, everyone knows you don't keep a kid with cerebral palsy hidden in the basement of your house--but hey, America didn't always know that.

I just found a website where I read that Gloria's two daughters, ages 9 and 7 at the time, were killed in a house fire. I actually cried over this. Although of course I never met any of these people, they felt like my family when I was a kid.

I picked up this book in a library toss bin recently and foolishly (not realizing it was out of print) left it on the airplane for the next passenger requiring inspiration. The many 5-star reviews should give an objective reader a clue as to the type of book this is, and the type of writer Killilea was--and that does NOT mean Jane Austen. Because I am something of a 3-star Sally in my reviews, I must add that my usual complaints (poor writing, confusing organization, insufficient editing) are not my reasons for faulting this book. It is fairly well-written (back when editors were editors!), with the insousiance that pervades works by well-fed, country club ladies of the 1950's (Jean Kerr comes to mind) who bore none of the crosses feminism would later burn figuatively on their expansive front lawns.

My beef about this book--please do NOT send me nasty e-mails!--is that I did not find any of the characters, and I include the title character and the author, particularly appealing. As to Karen herself, she was a little girl undergoing a particular education regimen. It was rigorous and stressful, and, being a little girl who, like most little girls, wanted desperately to please those whom she loves, she survived it. But living to tell the tale is not the same as heroism, though nowadays you would never know it, and if Oprah were interviewing Homer about Troy, we'd be listening to the story of Aeneas rather than Hector. I doubt that Killilea's intention was to raise her daughter to a pinnacle, though, and anyone who views the child's story as a triumph over adversity is misreading the book. I believe that Killilea's point was that Karen's story could be ANY child's story, given the same set of favorable circumstances.

So, having attempted to view the author's intentions in a light most sympathetic to me, I sadly must now add that I really didn't like the author ONE BIT. She represents a type of unquestioning, anti-intellectual, rigid Catholicism that makes it hard for other Catholics to be Catholic. Since she flaunts her Irishness, I feel free to whack the ball back into that court by saying that the Italians where I grew up in New York thought people like the Killileas were crazy. I do not know how many Roman Catholics she and her ilk have caused to lapse over the decades; any healthy religion has a spectrum of levels of dogmatism, but this particular group seemed to dominate the Church in New York for a long time (if you think I lie, check the list of bishops in the NYC archdiocese even now).

But I should not air this dirty laundry online! And I should not let my intellectual response to the book be colored by the fact that I now am sojourning in a city that gives full testament to the Catholic Church's exhuberance, wackiness, theological depth, and sensual excess. Killilea was probably an above-average product of her isolated little smoke-filled (literally as well as figuratively!) caucasion world. (I normally make my home in the Baltimore/Washington area, and found quite enlightening her descriptions of the people of color who carried the Killilea luggage on the way to Johns Hopkins Hospital).

Speaking of smoke-filled: Amen to the reviewers who point out the frightening excess of tobacco-dependence. I do believe there was a point in the book in which the author and her husband sit around smoking in the same room where lay their daughter Marie, at that very moment suffering from some type of long-term lung failure. Excuse me? Is there a doctor in the house? (No, wait; the doctors were the ones offering cigarettes.) Maybe just someone with an inquiring mind? (See, it's getting back to the Catholic thing . . . . )

I am 49 now and read this book when I was about 8 years old. (Why a book with curse words was available in the Weekly Reader Book Club for little children to read, I'll never know.) I have never dwelt on any of the negatives that readers are commenting about, with the one exception of the smoking. I do not have CP, but as a child I knew something about me was different. I was premature, late learning to walk, and the slowest runner of all the children - no matter how hard I tried to run faster or how much I loved to run. I had frequent stomachaches & got sick with sinus/allergy/URI's/dehydration regularly every 3 months or so. I almost died at least twice. My ankles turned or twisted very easily. I hated being crowded or hearing loud noises. My legs hurt often, & if I fell on one of my kneecaps, it felt broken because the pain was so horrible. The pediatrician said this was "growing pains", but it wasn't. At the age of 28, I learned that I had "fibrositis", now called Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS or CFIDS). This incurable chronic disease - an autoimmune, muscle, pain, allergy/sinus, urinary, colon, and neurological/cognitive disorder in one - can be disabling. In fact, it has been compared to mild cases of spastic CP. Microscopic tears that grew into huge tears (caused by the FMS) made me need to have major reconstructive surgery of my right knee at 13 and my left knee at 24. So reading about Karen's struggles from a young age helped me to also conquer challenges that my own disability has brought into my life. I presently work a full-time job as an administrative assistant for a global company. I love Big Marie's different writing style. Like today's very popular cable show about the Roloffs of Roloff Farm in Oregon (married dwarves who have 4 children, only one of which is a dwarf), who have the problems and disagreements every family has but struggle as a team to make it in an oversized world, the Killileas were a normal family dealing with a precious child who was labeled "abnormal". I loved that they turned the living room into a physical therapy room and invited the "normal" kids over to watch and join in the fun. I loved that there were gouges in the furniture where Karen had vacuumed, and they didn't care. I loved that Karen was not a little saint - she was human, as proved by the stunts she made her little brother Rory carry out, and the "female dog" term she used to get rid of an obnoxious stranger who invited himself into their house. I loved that Gloria had the maturity, discipline and self-control to wait 7 years for Russ, her true love. I'm not Catholic, but I loved that they regularly went to Mass and had spiritual insights. I loved that they taught Karen to take part in what physical activities she could, such as swimming and horse riding. I loved that Karen dealt with severe pain every day (as I do) and HATE that they put that spreader between her legs at night to stretch her leg muscles - like torture! In short, the best part of "Karen" is that she never limited herself by listening to what doctors and therapists told her she could never do, but she surpassed all their limitations and expectations by victories like walking, writing by hand, and getting up & down off of chairs alone. I'm still inspired by this book today.

I have read "Karen" a number of times since my teen years, though prior to purchasing the book, it had been at least 10 years since my last reading. This story of a girl born in 1940 with cerebral palsy -- and all the trials, tribulations, and stigma that went along with its diagnosis, treatment, and daily living at that time -- remains intriguing and engaging.

More than simply an eye-opening account of life with a severely disabled child, "Karen" is a window into another era, even another culture (the story takes place in the well-to-do suburbs north of New York City). The Killilea's were a devoutly Catholic Irish-American family. This is before Vatican II and the changes it brought to the Mass and to the church itself. Smoking was socially acceptable, its health risks not well-consdidered. These things all play into the story.

I feel compelled to address Marie's (author/narrator) comment, during her husband Jiimmy's serious illness, that she would sacrifice her children. I believe other reveiwers have mis-interpreted her remark. She wasn't minimizing her love for her children; she was expressing her extraordinary love and devotion to her husband. Again, remember that the book was written in 1952 and should not be judged as if it had been written in 2006. Language, customs, beliefs, and even our culture were significantly different.

In summary, "Karen" is a fascinating story. Should you take everything in it at face value? No, of course not. Is it worth reading? Absolutely, if not for the day-to-day details of life with cerebral palsy, then for the window into life in suburbia in the early 1950's.

It is also worth noting that Marie Killilea was instrumental in founding United Cerebral Palsy, the organization that still advocates for and supports the cerebral palsied today.

I read this the first time as an adult. I had asked a librarian if she could recommend a good heartwarming book, and she insisted this was what I needed to read. It instantly became one of my all time favorites. The main reason I wanted to review it here, is I notice so many fellow readers complaining about the mother's approach to her daughter's disability, etc, and I want to point out,when Karen was born, the world was a different place entirely. 'Political correctness' had not been coined yet.
Smoking was not recognized as the evil we now think of; in fact, it was common for doctor's to smoke in their offices with their patients. Mother's were not told to quit smoking because they were pregnant. I could go on, but my point is, for the time in our history when Karen was a child, there was no Disability Rights Act. The idea to treat a disabled child with dignity and equal rights were sadly un-common, and this is not the fault of Karen's family. Like all of us, they did the best they could with what they knew how to do.
I think all this P.C. talk is taking away from the underlying feeling of the book. It is a triumph of the human spirit and I see that so clearly and am left feeling good about the strength and courage inside of us that we don't know is there, unless we are forced to summon it, or learn about someone like Karen, who had no choice but to live life the best she could.
I am not condoning smoking or other bad choices mentioned in the book. I am simply attempting to suggest that if that is all you are looking at, you are missing the boat.
This is the kind of book that I love most; it makes me laugh and cry and most of all, it is the kind of story that makes me realize how small most of my problems are.
It brings to mind other humbling people such as Helen Keller. It may not be an equal comparison, but the feeling I derive from it is the same.

Driven is a great book giving new insight into wealth creation for individuals and organizations.

I found it concise and thoughtful and a great roadmap to understanding the economic world around us.

I would recommend it to all business leaders challenged by today's ever-changing international economy.

SDS

In Driven, Dr. Frigo and Mr. Litman provide the background to "Return Driven Strategy", which is a strategic framework that underlies the importance of integrating a business strategy, the execution of that strategy, and ultimately how those pieces relate to a company's valuation. Through their detailed research of high performing companies, Frigo and Litman provide example after example of how strategic decisions, including how one defines wealth, can impact the ultimate success of an organization.

The framework is applicable to any number of audiences, whether it be senior managers of large organizations, consultants, small business owners, or even for individuals as the framework can be easily applied to career development.

Strategy and execution are so important to success in business, yet receive such inadequate study and analysis in business schools, the corporate world, etc. Most strategic thinking consists of buzz words and double talk by high level executives. Driven won't let them get away with it! It takes you into financial analysis of strategy and execution and actually ties data to strategy framework and execution without getting bogged down in analysis paralysis. An excellent read which provides an essential framework for success.

Driven was one of the best business strategy books that I have come across. It is really a simple book to read yet has such a holistic view on Strategy and Execution. The book introduces Return Driven Strategy, a framework that offers a unique perspective in creating and maintaining "wealth".

I was fortunate to attend some of the seminars on the Return Driven Strategy framework hosted by Dr. Frigo and Joel Litman. Reading this book and attending a seminar is absolutely a must for all managers.

Frigo and Litman are a dynamic duo. DRIVEN is a must read. The framework is a fantastic guide which can be applied to any industry.

C. S. Lewis is not only one of the 20th century's finest minds, he's also amazingly perceptive of human behavior. This well-written description explains so clearly the four kinds of love and with such accessible illustrations from real life. Most eye-opening for me was the chapter on "affection" where I began to understand for the first time why we moms think we are so misunderstood; in actuality, our "affection" (storge) for our family has gotten out of hand! You'll need to read in order to understand. I highly recommend this book.

This is in my opinion C.S. Lewis's best nonfiction work. The premise has been done before, but rarely with the sort of insight given here. His overviews of Affection and Friendship are much too often overlooked and glossed over as unimportant, but here they're given a status they really deserve.

The section on friendship, and the idea that people are bonded through mutual passions, and his grim statement that people who are just looking for a friend will never find one, was spot on. Friendships are formed as an extension of a passion for something bigger than the individual. A mutual cause drives people, whether they be sports fanatics, a tribe pining for survival, or art critics.

The pitfalls he explains for the loves such as lust, bigotry, elitism, etc. are self explanatory, but it's also practical. Friendships are exclusive by their very nature, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with such a thing. Eros is most certainly exclusive. He emphasizes that we can't be friends with everyone, love everyone with Eros, but we can love everyone with Charity, the final section of the book.

One could write a book three times longer and not come close to the depth portrayed in this little book. Strongly recommended.

CS Lewis does a wonderful job defining the four Greek words for Love. I would recommend this book most highly to the man (women are less likely to make this error) who thinks he needs no friends. Lewis shows the importance of friendship to a good life.

It Is One of those books that should be sitting on a coffee table. It defines the various types of pure love: agape, venus, and storge to name some. It truly defines where the 'heart' is and perhaps defining the brotherly love, the parental love, or the true love...



Susan Saige

Within this work, Mr. Lewis is quick to point out the inherent difficulty with regard to the concept of love facing individuals whose native tongue is English. That is, it is easily recognized that there exists an extreme deficit when one applies the same word to describe the sentiment shared with one's spouse, as well as their favorite food. In such extreme cases of difference in terms of the word's application, clarification is hardly needed and might be written off as an embellishment about that which one feels about, say, strawberries or chocolate. However, other instances are more difficult to write off as a poor choice of words; such as, love for friends, family, a spouse, and God. One must surely agree that the sentiment in each of these instances of love can exist and be experienced in significantly different ways. While love is the umbrella under which all of these sentiments rest, they are, as far as most people can tell, very different things. That being said, it is lucky for the reader that Mr. Lewis, almost immediately, circumvents the language barrier and begins to illustrate the foundational understanding which must be apparent for further exploration of the concepts of love to proceed. For those who have struggled with this, even the simplest concept of love's significance, as this reviewer has, the first chapter alone is worth the price of this work's purchase.

Building upon a necessary base of knowledge, Lewis begins to explore the nature of love beginning with that love which might be the gray area between the words love and like, or either of the two, as spoken in the English language. Lewis continues his endeavor by tackling what people often consider the more significant forms of love such as friendship, erotic love, and the love of and for God. While no attempt will be made here to convey the significance of the final chapter regarding actual Love in fear of diluting a brilliant message, each of the chapters leading up to that point share common threads. That is, Mr. Lewis illustrates the difficulty which can be had with love in any form if left to our own devices. This illustration is achieved in the author's typical fashion of profound analogies and appeals to common experiences. One can be certain that while this recognition of the volatility of human love is of extreme importance, it is the overriding concept that only by surrendering these loves to Love that one can achieve happiness, solace, and purity in Love which makes this work unquestionably valuable to those that are fortunate enough to read it.

I didn't find this book all that special. The style seemed stilted and awkward. Characters seemed emotionally flat and I didn't buy the romance in the story. Not a bad read, but half way through I was ready for the book to end.

One of the things I like about this book is that it manages to retain an archaic feeling without sounding fake (you know, the type of dialogue that sounds like a bunch of college students roleplaying). Pope's choice of using modern language for the dialogue doesn't spoil the setting at all, whereas trying to force readers to jump back and forth between Elizabethan dialogue and modern narration could be annoying, e.g. Patricia Wrede's version of "Snow White and Rose Red".

Overall, Pope's characters are really well fleshed out, and she's also a master at describing atmosphere. The supernatural terror that Kate is subjected to in the underground halls kept me up at night for a while after both times I read this.

I didn't know the plot of "The Perilous Gard" was related to an actual legend till I stumbled across the name "Tam Lin" elsewhere on the Internet. Now I'm fascinated...

This book is beautiful. The proud elves! The historical drama! Probably the best theory for where elves/fairies came from, oh, and the answer will suprise you!
This books haunts you in that though there are mystical, magical elements in this story when you done reading you have to admit that it really COULD have happened. This book made me cry, I love it when books have the power to make you feel that much emotion. Do yourself a favour and read the book!

The Perilous Gard

The Sherwood Ring

The Perilous Gard is a book I still reread as an adult. The Sherwood Ring is good also. I just wish that Ms. Pope had written MORE.

The Perilous Gard is a wonderful rainy afternoon book. The characters seem real and the Elizabethan England that is described seems real and charming but none too easy to live in.

The best part of the story is the characterizations of the fairies themselves. Not the fluttery, glittery creatures beloved of Walt Disney, but a real, proud alien race at one with nature. The queen particularly is both admirable and cruel, pitiless and pitiable.

I enjoyed this book immensely once I got into it. The first chapter didn't impress me, but after that the book held my attention. The main character, Kate, was a great heroine that I enjoyed reading about and she had her own flaws, which I thought was great. Because most books in this sort of genre have the perfect, beautiful, strong, intelligent, courageous heroine, which I always found somewhat unbelievable. This book is adventursome, fantastical, and has some romance thrown in too. Its my kind of book! I plan on looking for more books by this author.

Someone gave me Sandra Boynton's Family Calendar several years ago as a gift. It was so useful that I buy it every year and I've also given it to my friends as a gift. There are only four of us, but it is large enough to keep the schedules for a family of five. It is vertical so every family member has a box for each day of the week/month. It comes with pre-printed stickers, like "concert", "dentist", "doctor" so that you can easily tag your days. I could use more tags so I purchased another set, but otherwise this calendar is a lifesaver. Everyone can clearly see what is going on and when!

This is just your basic calendar. Nothing special. There is enough room to fit a couple of people.

Those cheery Boynton characters star in a useful calendar. There's space each day to write appointments for Mom and up to four others.

We've used these for several years, and the blocks have provided enough room to write what we've needed. Meanwhile, the illustrations have brightened our days. We'll be back for another of these calendars next year!

I love this calendar more than any I've ever had. It takes some getting used to at first because you read the calendar vertically rather than horizontally. But other than that, it's perfect in every way. The stickers are really cute and add some pizazz to my scribbly mess. My life stays organized at a glance. It the first thing I look at when I come down to the kitchen in the morning.

I highly recommend this item to anyone looking for a easy way to get your family organized.

Words can't describe how usefull this has been for my family. We have 4 people in our household so the unused 5th column gets to be the Birthday notice - again, super useful. The stickers were ok, but not necessary. In a busy household with 2 realtors, 1 teenage girl who is vety involved in school and 1 old man with lots of doctor's appointments, this calender has been FANTASTIC. I'm going to recommend this to all my friends.

I've not yet read this book. BUT, working for Georgia Pacific before and after Koch bought and left his mark,,,,These principles DON'T work here. Sorry, wish I could say better. I've waited and waited. I've done what I could in my limited capacity to "Live the process". I don't have decision rights. Can't get anything fixed, and everything is run till fail. Fail it does. Often and repeatedly. I guess Charles is just waiting for us to fall on our face and can't get up, then he'll shut it down, tear it down for scrap, sell the land (which is still worth something I'm sure), and a new Casino will end up here.

When I get a few more nickels together I'll get the book. Then I can read how the Fairey Tale was supposed to end. :(

I only say that because you'll receive a free copy once you sign on with the company. I bought the book after I accepted a job there and lo and behold I had two copies of The Science of Success.

As far as the book goes, it was pretty good, the only thing that it was really weak on were examples of how Koch Industries actually used MBM to make money. After having worked there I really can't tell you how they have used MBM to make money either because during the two day MBM training you only hear one example and you'll be left saying, "Why of course we made money off of that because we're in oil!"

Other than that it does a very good job of outlining the economic principles that have made up the Koch management structure. Each company within Koch is very nimble and small and we really weren't bogged down in bureaucracy (mostly just accounting rules) like most companies are. The book also gives a very good look into the culture at Koch which was the strongest asset and the best thing I took away from working there.

I am so sick of nonsense books written by corporate thieves about the "secrets of success". Koch stole millions from American Indians. Google it, just google "Koch and Indian lands" The principle of wealth through theft is ancient. That's why "thou shall not steal" is one of the 10 commandments.

This is not a self-help book. It is an excellent slim introduction to free market economics and economic thinking masquerading as a business book.

While I picked up the "Science of Success" to see how he applied economic thinking to running a business, I was blown away the authors clarity and elegance in describing economic thinking.

I also found his business system - MBM (Market Based Management) The Science of Human Action Applied to Organizations - to be interesting. It was not a how-to guide though.

The Science of Success is going to be a business classic. If you're in business, especially if you want to make your business work better you need to read this book.

Check that. You need to read and re-read and re-read this book. And you need to try out what you learn in experiments in your workplace.

That was one of the first things I got from this book, the idea of seeing trials of new ideas as "experiments." It's a powerful concept because it immediately washes away all the "risk of failure" that makes it hard to try new things in so many companies.

Koch's idea is amazingly simple. When you try something new, you see your trial as an experiment. Then you measure the results and learn from them. Whatever you learn, you've succeeded.

It's like that old story about Edison trying a gazillion different things as a filament for the electric light bulb he was try to invent. Time after time he tried. And, one after another, the filaments he thought would work didn't. "I haven't failed," Edison told a person who questioned how he could stand all that failure. "I've found a gazillion things that don't work."

One reason this is a great book is that there are those incredible insight like that all through it. You find yourself thinking, "Wow. That sure makes sense." You reach for your highlighter. You drape the book in sticky notes.

The book is also great because it reminds you of basic concepts that you knew once. For example, you probably learned about "sunk costs" and "opportunity costs" in college.

Koch will remind you of the definitions, but he does something more and more important. He shows you how to use those concepts in your decision process. Let's see how he does that.

On page 33 he reminds you that a sunk cost is "an unrecoverable past expenditure." And he tells you "Such costs should seldom be taken into account when determining what to do in the future because, other than possible tax effects, they are irrelevant to what can be recovered."

The money you put into developing that new product? It's a sunk cost. It's not an investment. You won't get it back. That means that it's irrelevant to whether or not to kill the new product or put more money into marketing it.

Koch shows you how the economic concepts of sunk cost and opportunity cost ("the value of the most valuable alternative that must be foregone to undertake a given act") should affect your decision making.

Another reason this book is great is that it brings together a very intelligent business owner's lifetime study of economics and human behavior and how they apply to making a company work. This isn't an academic treatise either. Koch has used these principles to run his company, where he is the primary owner.

You many not be familiar with the name Koch Industries, but you surely know some of their brand names like Stainmaster, Dixie Cup, and Georgia Pacific. Koch Industries is the largest private US company. It got that way, in part, because Koch used the principles in this book to run the company. In 1960 Koch had revenues of about $70 million. In 2006 they were $90 Billion.

In other words, this is not just theory. Koch has actually, truly, really put his money where his ideas are. In The Science of Success, he lays out what he's learned over a lifetime of study, thought and, more important for you, experimentation. Here's how he's structured the book.

Chapter 1 is short history of Koch Industries. You'll learn about how the company evolved and get introduced to the experiments that worked and many that didn't.

Chapter 2 is about Market-Based Management (MBM), which is what Koch calls his system. That's something of a misnomer. He's not referring to "market-driven" management. "Market-based" refers to "based on free market principles." This chapter also introduces the Science of Human Action.

The Science of Human Action is "the study of how humans can achieve their ends through purposeful behavior." It's the action steps connected to economic principles and psychological truths.

In the chapters that follow, Koch defines five dimensions along which you apply MBM. They are Vision, Virtue and Talents, Knowledge Processes, Decision Rights, and Incentives. There is a wealth of good ideas under every single heading.

There are two downsides to this book. At times, Koch writes like the engineer that he is, but the ideas and concepts pull you right through the rough spots.

The other downside is a result of the value that's here. It took Koch a lifetime to write this book and you won't get more than a fraction of the potential value from it unless you read it more than once. I'm staring my fourth read.

No matter what business you're in, no matter where you are in your career, you should read this book. It's a new business classic, on a par with Peter Drucker's Managing for Results. It's got the same strength of intellectual underpinnings, the same solid logic, and the same rich simplicity. The biggest difference is that The Science of Success is written by a man who built a great company using the concepts he's writing about.

I've not yet read this book. BUT, working for Georgia Pacific before and after Koch bought and left his mark,,,,These principles DON'T work here. Sorry, wish I could say better. I've waited and waited. I've done what I could in my limited capacity to "Live the process". I don't have decision rights. Can't get anything fixed, and everything is run till fail. Fail it does. Often and repeatedly. I guess Charles is just waiting for us to fall on our face and can't get up, then he'll shut it down, tear it down for scrap, sell the land (which is still worth something I'm sure), and a new Casino will end up here.

When I get a few more nickels together I'll get the book. Then I can read how the Fairey Tale was supposed to end. :(

I only say that because you'll receive a free copy once you sign on with the company. I bought the book after I accepted a job there and lo and behold I had two copies of The Science of Success.

As far as the book goes, it was pretty good, the only thing that it was really weak on were examples of how Koch Industries actually used MBM to make money. After having worked there I really can't tell you how they have used MBM to make money either because during the two day MBM training you only hear one example and you'll be left saying, "Why of course we made money off of that because we're in oil!"

Other than that it does a very good job of outlining the economic principles that have made up the Koch management structure. Each company within Koch is very nimble and small and we really weren't bogged down in bureaucracy (mostly just accounting rules) like most companies are. The book also gives a very good look into the culture at Koch which was the strongest asset and the best thing I took away from working there.

I am so sick of nonsense books written by corporate thieves about the "secrets of success". Koch stole millions from American Indians. Google it, just google "Koch and Indian lands" The principle of wealth through theft is ancient. That's why "thou shall not steal" is one of the 10 commandments.

This is not a self-help book. It is an excellent slim introduction to free market economics and economic thinking masquerading as a business book.

While I picked up the "Science of Success" to see how he applied economic thinking to running a business, I was blown away the authors clarity and elegance in describing economic thinking.

I also found his business system - MBM (Market Based Management) The Science of Human Action Applied to Organizations - to be interesting. It was not a how-to guide though.

The Science of Success is going to be a business classic. If you're in business, especially if you want to make your business work better you need to read this book.

Check that. You need to read and re-read and re-read this book. And you need to try out what you learn in experiments in your workplace.

That was one of the first things I got from this book, the idea of seeing trials of new ideas as "experiments." It's a powerful concept because it immediately washes away all the "risk of failure" that makes it hard to try new things in so many companies.

Koch's idea is amazingly simple. When you try something new, you see your trial as an experiment. Then you measure the results and learn from them. Whatever you learn, you've succeeded.

It's like that old story about Edison trying a gazillion different things as a filament for the electric light bulb he was try to invent. Time after time he tried. And, one after another, the filaments he thought would work didn't. "I haven't failed," Edison told a person who questioned how he could stand all that failure. "I've found a gazillion things that don't work."

One reason this is a great book is that there are those incredible insight like that all through it. You find yourself thinking, "Wow. That sure makes sense." You reach for your highlighter. You drape the book in sticky notes.

The book is also great because it reminds you of basic concepts that you knew once. For example, you probably learned about "sunk costs" and "opportunity costs" in college.

Koch will remind you of the definitions, but he does something more and more important. He shows you how to use those concepts in your decision process. Let's see how he does that.

On page 33 he reminds you that a sunk cost is "an unrecoverable past expenditure." And he tells you "Such costs should seldom be taken into account when determining what to do in the future because, other than possible tax effects, they are irrelevant to what can be recovered."

The money you put into developing that new product? It's a sunk cost. It's not an investment. You won't get it back. That means that it's irrelevant to whether or not to kill the new product or put more money into marketing it.

Koch shows you how the economic concepts of sunk cost and opportunity cost ("the value of the most valuable alternative that must be foregone to undertake a given act") should affect your decision making.

Another reason this book is great is that it brings together a very intelligent business owner's lifetime study of economics and human behavior and how they apply to making a company work. This isn't an academic treatise either. Koch has used these principles to run his company, where he is the primary owner.

You many not be familiar with the name Koch Industries, but you surely know some of their brand names like Stainmaster, Dixie Cup, and Georgia Pacific. Koch Industries is the largest private US company. It got that way, in part, because Koch used the principles in this book to run the company. In 1960 Koch had revenues of about $70 million. In 2006 they were $90 Billion.

In other words, this is not just theory. Koch has actually, truly, really put his money where his ideas are. In The Science of Success, he lays out what he's learned over a lifetime of study, thought and, more important for you, experimentation. Here's how he's structured the book.

Chapter 1 is short history of Koch Industries. You'll learn about how the company evolved and get introduced to the experiments that worked and many that didn't.

Chapter 2 is about Market-Based Management (MBM), which is what Koch calls his system. That's something of a misnomer. He's not referring to "market-driven" management. "Market-based" refers to "based on free market principles." This chapter also introduces the Science of Human Action.

The Science of Human Action is "the study of how humans can achieve their ends through purposeful behavior." It's the action steps connected to economic principles and psychological truths.

In the chapters that follow, Koch defines five dimensions along which you apply MBM. They are Vision, Virtue and Talents, Knowledge Processes, Decision Rights, and Incentives. There is a wealth of good ideas under every single heading.

There are two downsides to this book. At times, Koch writes like the engineer that he is, but the ideas and concepts pull you right through the rough spots.

The other downside is a result of the value that's here. It took Koch a lifetime to write this book and you won't get more than a fraction of the potential value from it unless you read it more than once. I'm staring my fourth read.

No matter what business you're in, no matter where you are in your career, you should read this book. It's a new business classic, on a par with Peter Drucker's Managing for Results. It's got the same strength of intellectual underpinnings, the same solid logic, and the same rich simplicity. The biggest difference is that The Science of Success is written by a man who built a great company using the concepts he's writing about.

This book provides good, simple advice and interesting case studies that provide good examples of how to use the advice.

I have read hundreds of parenting books and this one is one of the best by far. It gives you concise, easy directions on things to follow. I keep it out to use as a reference all the time. You cannot go wrong with this book.

This book is priceless. All my friends who have a second child get a copy of this book. ****The trick to this book is to re-read it every 6 months.*** We all have a tendency to fall back into old habits. I always know when it is time to re-read it because my kids start fighting and getting on my nerves again. I stumbled across this book accidentally and it has made alll the difference in my life and my kids life. It won't solve all the problems your kids have with each other but it takes you out of the loop so it doesn't bother you so much and they learn to deal with each other in a healthy way.

This book sure helped me survive being a parent! It helped so much that the book was written in a way that I could pick it up, read quickly for the few uninterrupted minutes I could actually get, and then put it down. The cartoons were great- there were some that I copied and hung up around the house as reminders to myself, for the habits that I wanted to form. This book especially helped me learn when to step into sibling disputes, and when to let them work it out. Now that my children are pretty much grown, I'd have to say that this book was probably the most helpful in raising them. They get along quite well!

A wonderful book on helping siblings get along. But I also highly recommend for parents and teachers the book:Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullying. More than a bullying book, this really focuses on practical strategies,scripts, actual lessons and stories to teach children conflict resolution, friendship and communication skills; the importance of helping others and getting along with a great design for creating environments that foster love and peace.