Industry Books

This book presents a solid foundation for what IBM is calling "Services Science" and SAP "Business Process Platforms."

The basic argument is that if you are thinking "outside-in" about creating a customer-centric business then you need to think about services. Customers buy services.

Making the linkage between services that customers (or employees) use and the business processes that companies actually automate using enterprise applications is the fundamental contribution of this book. The authors use numerous case studies to illustrate how services-centric business go about architecting their blueprints.

Highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in understand the architecture of a services driven business.

The authors have done a fantastic job of illustrating how to design and implement digital business processes in the post dot-com era. This is one of the first books that truly gets into the concept of multi-channel business process design.

The most useful part of this book was how it ties together the online digitial business strategy, composite business processes, and the emerging business process management platforms/systems areas. The book uses the concept of services to link the strategy side to the process side. This is emerging strategy being followed by SAP, Siebel, Peoplesoft, Oracle, IBM, HP and even Microsoft.

The other good aspect of this book are the variety of best-practice case studies that truly illustrate what business problems, web services and services oriented architecture is meant to support. The case studies on J.C. Penney, Eastman Chemical, Nike, Wal-Mart, GM, McDonalds, New York Times Digital, Georgia Pacific, IBM were quite interesting.

The audience for this book is defintely marketing, operations and IT managers who are trying to figure out what to do with their organization's different first generation portals. Most of the customer facing, employee facing and supplier facing portals built during the dot-com boom are out-dated and need to be completely overhauled. For those who are facing this problem, this book will be very useful.

Highly recommend this book. It is thought provoking and insightful.

Despite contrived terminology, such as "digitization", this book truly lives up to its title because the authors provide both a blueprint for services in today's economy, and a roadmap for making it happen. The authors stay focused on business instead of technology. More importantly, they show how to shed outmoded thinking about business processes and supporting systems, and highlights how you should be viewing the marriage of services and processes to be successful.

The essence of this book is in the authors' equation, Services Blueprint = Focal Point + Services + Processes + Applications. The ten core focal points given in this book clarify one or more critical success factors to any business, and the clear advice for executing to achieve objectives associated with focal points is invaluable.

I like the way the authors distill a set of complex, interrelated elements into a coherent approach. For example, they breakdown service blueprints into types (three major ones); provide execution methods that aligned to organizational goals, and reinforce these using case studies from well known corporations. In addition, the discussions of processes, application integration, and how to tie everything together into a coherent view and execution strategy is among the most realistic and clearly articulated I've come across. I also like the way the authors support Six Sigma in the design and implementation of processes. If you are not familiar with Six Sigma, the clear and succinct treatment in the book will provide everything you need to know to understand its value. Of course, it will not teach the associated techniques to the point where you can effectively apply them.

Overall, this book is cuts to the key issues and challenges to align a business to today's economy. The approach is not only sensible and realistic, but the only one I've come across that 'gets it'.

I bought this book after reading the Darwin Magazine excerpt and having the read the authors previous best seller "e-business: raodmap for sucess". This book is really very insightful about the changes talking place in the e-business and business process management space. The book is a very clear exposition about what is being termed BPMS.

Design of an process integration framework....The book is a must read if you are a consultant who is following some of the latest moves by SAP, Siebel, Oracle, Peoplesoft and others like Tibco. The book ties together rather nicely the business objectives with business processes and enterprise apps.

Design of self-service apps... The authors take an outside in (customer or employee) perspective to the design of business processes. The authors argue that customers interact with services rather than processes. For instance, you go to Amazon.com because they are the best at digitizing the book selling service and making it easy to use.

Design of business process management... The ability to translate services into underlying business processes is the critical aspect of next generation self-service applications. The authors systematically illustrate the different types of BPM platforms that are emerging in SCM, CRM, PLM and Spend Management.

In sum, this book is worth reading for consultants, MBA students and others interested in knowing where e-business is headed. The authors have done a fantastic job of synthesizing the fragmented bodies of information and presenting a framework that ties everything together.

This was an interesting book to be sure. However, as I read the book, I felt like I'd read it before from the continued use of tired buzzwords such as "digitization." Enough on DIGITIZATION! I enjoyed the process templates provided by the authors, but they clearly do not understand some of the foundational technology concepts they mentioned, such as Web Services and Services Oriented Architectures (SOA). The Authors equated application servers with SOA, which is at best a massive oversimplication, and at worst, innacurate. This led me to believe that the authors are buzzword compliant but do not really understand Web Services. Also, reducing the entire world to PORTALS as the ultimate killer app is also a massive oversimplication as well. Portals are mainstream technology now and to be honest not that exciting anymore. Everyone offers it or uses it one way or another.

So, this book started out with a good premise but didn't deliver in the end. The process templates are good baselines for process understanding for those unfamiliar with business processes. This is a nice try by the authors, but I felt a little bit shortchanged by the book...

Enjoyed this book! It delivers as promised. I picked it up hoping to get a clear understanding of options and how they work. I was more than pleased, as this book provided all I was looking for, and more. The author presents material in pleasant, easy to grasp language. I now have a very clear understanding of options. The covered call writing strategy sounds good to me. I never knew it was so easy to obtain some safety for my stocks. I have already opened my options account and my broker is offering encouragement.

This book delivers, I did not know about options prior reading, the simple and yet comprehensive presentation allows to develop a good grasp of how to use options on a conservative and solid fashion.
What he advocates (protection and enhancement) of a portfolio is well presented and plan to use his advice.
More likely will now seek more information and knowledge with more elaborated books (not sure is really needed) but the basics are here.
thank you Wolfinger

I found this book to be just what I was looking for. After a complete introduction to the topic, Mr. Wolfinger helps the novice options investor clearly understand one conservative strategy. The author is very dedicated and thorough in explaining the concepts. He makes no assumptions that the reader has previous knowledge of what he teaches, yet he is never condescending. I also appreciate the easy to read font size. The text is large enough that I can read it without my glasses! Many thanks to the author for having the patience and know-how to start a beginner from "square one". I look forward to other books on the subject by this author.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but it was recommended to me by a friend so I ordered it. When I got it, my first thought was
"Wow. Short book is right." But don't let its length fool you. It is for people new to options and it's a very condensed volume of information that focuses on covered calls and touches on a few variations of them. It starts out with an overview of options and gives good easy to understand examples. It then moves into buying and selling options and finally focuses on covered call writing. It gives very good examples of various trades and the affects of yields and volatility.

You can use this book to get started on covered call writing with good confidence. I really liked this book a lot because it was very focused on teaching one very effective and conservative options strategy instead of trying to teach several confusing strategies all at once.

The book is unquestionably the best book on writing covered calls available. The writer is efficient without bias and without the use of puffery to make a point.

I love to read about women war workers of WW2. I have many books about the subject and this is hands down my favorite. Perfectly written. Very descriptive. Detailed. My only complaint....it's not 500 more pages! It left me wanting more...much more. If the author ever reads these comments, I want to thank her for her service during the war. Way to go!

"Slacks and Calluses" was exactly what I'd hoped it would be and then some. The honest, unvarnished depiction of daily life for young women war workers at a bomber factory. The two women recount the insane process for getting their jobs (after an interview that consisted mainly of being asked, "Are you available? Good, you're hired.") and the many stations and stamps and officials that they were required to endure. Their training in building bombers was scant - they were responsible for not terribly important parts at first, but the parts still had to go on, and the factory had to have bodies to put them there.

Co-workers were - then as now - a collection of the hard working, the working hard at hardly working, the brilliant and the stupid. Bosses were much the same, but more to be listened too. Life outside the plant - the officers who were no gentlemen for refusing to give up bus seats to these women who were building 'their' bombers, the sadistic woman ice-cream vendor who flat out refused to serve the women, the never ending attempts to wash all the dirt, aluminum dust, grease, and oil from skin and hair, and the inability to have any time for a real life outside of work.

The authors were two high school teachers, who subjects - English and Art - made them the perfect duo to write this book.

Too often books are written solely because the author wants to; this book would have been missed by the world if not written.

LOVED this book. The author is the mother of one of my book club members and she came to the club meeting after we read the book. She is even more delightful in person, if you can believe it, even 60 years later. What a gem this book is and what a delight the author continues to be.

This is a wonderful little book! Written in an easy and unpretentious style, it has merit not just for "women's studies" readers, but for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of period airplane manufacturing and indeed, the whole spirit of Homefront America in World War II. This book is both very entertaining and a real slice of "you are there" in a bygone era. Good history and good writing.

This book is a find--a first hand account of two Rosie the Riveters. The contemporaneous memoir of two school teachers who spent the summer of `43 building B-24s in San Diego fascinates with details--getting hired, what was security like in wartime factories, how were these two educated women treated differently when they donned slacks and became factory workers? The writing is quick and humorous, like Betty MacDonald's The Egg and I which has remained popular since 1945. Constance Bowman Reid's epilogue, written in 1999, is a touching finale. You'll want to know what she's been up to in the intervening 50 years.

I bought this book because I was never a tea drinker, but always felt left out as the popularity of now drinking tea started. I knew nothing about different types, how to serve it, what to serve with it, and just the simple things everyone knows. This book helped me with all of that and now I even like tea. After a few hours of reading, I know more about tea etiquette than anyone I know.

This is a wonderful little book. If you enjoy "all things tea" then this is the book for you. Easily read, with details about proper etiquette for every type of social and business situation. It truly would be a nicer world if people (including children) were more often taught these things. Mrs. Johnson intersperses the chapters with interesting personal stories and recipes. I highly recommend it.

I am starting a small catering business doing tea parties! This book is perfect! It has everything you always wanted to know about preparing, enjoying and serving tea. From the different types of tea from Cream Tea to High Tea and what to do with the tea bag after you've taken it out of your tea cup. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to serve and to enjoy a proper afternoon of tea. Thank you for being so thorough.

This is a very informative and enjoyable book. A pleasure to read, it gets right to the point and does not waste time. I would recomend this book to anyone interested in Tea for Business and Pleasure!

I find this book very useful and informative. The author presents the material in a concise and down to earth manner. The etiquette portion of this book contains do's and do not's that leaves no questions. The tone of the book is conversational just like the topic it explains. If you are thinking about having a tea party for the first time or attending to one, this book is a must read!

I was very pleased with the vast wealth of information provided in this book. It was easy to understand and covered all aspects of the state of the media world!

This is an excellent overview of all aspects of the television industry and what it is morphing into. I can see this being invaluable to anyone already directly involved in, or on the periphery of this industry.

It is educational as well for those not working in the business, or those looking to invest in the emerging technologies.

This book is a must read for those navigating the changing waters of the media industry. It contains a comprehensive industry overview, insightful analysis of current trends, thought-provoking predictions....and, it's an interesting and entertaining read as well.

Television Disrupted is an excellent book, well written and intelligently describing a wide range of complex topics surrounding traditional TV and internet delivered video. It does a particularly good job in describing the recent changes and potential future directions of the television industry.

Working within the software industry serving traditional television, people have frequently asked me what they can read to build their knowledge of the TV business. Historically, this has been a tough question to answer as there have been a few discrete magazine articles that were interesting, but I was unware of any books that were current, accurate, or made sense about the future of TV. Television Disrupted has solved this dilema by providing a great overview of the historical television industry as well as the massive changes that are pending as the television business takes advantage of the opportunities provided by internet delivered video.

In Television Disrupted, Shelly Palmer does a great job at presenting the probable futures of TV. From broadcast to narrowcast, from linear to dynamic and time-shifted,from analog to digital, Shelly explores and tries to anticipate the response of "old media" (networks) to "new media" (networked). How will "IP" and user generated content overcome inertia and established advertising / revenue models? All fascinating questions in a well thought-out framework. In the end and as always consumers will choose and define what is to become a much richer experience known as Television 2.0!

This was by far of the three books i have red by william mccolskey the favorite he has another book called fish decks cannot find on amazon have to let you know about that one.

unlike highliners and breakers this one is nonfiction and follows along as the author goes back to alaska and around alaska where he served in the coast guard 20 years before and now is crab fishing and goes fishing around georges bank of the coast of chile and new zeland ,indonesia,and japan.looking for fish and shellfish. it also extensively covers the wreck of the exxon valdezand the effect on the fishing industry and the enviroment.Fisherman were making more money selling back buckets of oil back to exxon.He goes to the tokyo tsukiji market which i have seen on a national geographic program. This place is huge they figure they have on any given day 330 different species for sale which come from all around the world for example They have prawns and shrimp from 64 nations the market and auction generate enough trash to fill 200 trash trucks a day.It cover alot of the political side of fishing and how the different regulations have come about to protect the fish.
You read this book it is amazing that they fish with nets miles long and never think about depleteing the resources.Also learned tha over fishing was not the only thing affecting the amount of fish being caught runoff from farms both animal and agricultural.And fish farms that apeear on the surface appear to be a good thing end up causing harm to native fish.

Coming from a new generation fisherman, I find it very frustrating that the thousands of people who eat fish never appreciate its origin, or the work to attain such seafood. Such is the life of a farmer, a cattle rustler, a steel worker, the carpenter. The very root of our existence and the ability to maintain it comes from the working man, the most underestimated yet still proud individual.

The best book I've read dealing with the social AND political AND cultural aspects of commercial fishing. Making no excuses for the industry or the people who condemn it. His stories are compelling and enrapturing as well as extremely informative. It'll give understanding of why the worlds oceans are in the state they are in and all the players who have caused it to be where it is. Enjoy!

The author knows his subject matter but gets too heavy with all the legal bs and too light on the human stories. Seems like the author couldn't decide if he wanted to write a text book or a down to earth type story.

This is a superb book. McCloskey writes from such a deep base of personal experience, that within a few lines we are transported to the heaving, noisy and often foul-smelling deck of a rusty trawler pitching in a cold northern sea or the cramped camaraderie of the galley on a Japanese squid boat. You feel the shudder of the steel deck as the boat pitches into a steep swell, taste the salt in the air and gag on the stench of diesel fumes and dead fish. The book is a collection of essays, exploring the challenges that face commercial fishermen in various parts of the globe. We hear lots of languages - Russian, English, Spanish, Norwegian, Japanese and more - and experience very different cultures, each united by the sea and the grueling task of pulling food from its depths. Gradually, the similarities grow much larger than the differences. No matter where he is, McCloskey can rapidly blend into the crew becoming just one more figure shrouded in foul weather gear pulling in the nets. This remarkable desire to muck-in with the deckhands no matter how hard the work or how severe the conditions, is the secret to his vivid and exciting writing. I can never look at a piece of sushi or a bag of fish and chips in quiet the same way.

This is a "Must Read" book for all trainers - both beginners and experts. You get drawn into the book through the insights about learning partnerships and by discovering your readiness for training from the heart. Then in each Chapter, the authors share personal experiences that help you learn along with them.

After reading the book, you will discover that it is like a "spacious meadow" that you can turn to for inspiration when you need it. I keep returning to the Chapter on "Creating a Service Motto". Maybe you will want to return to the Chapter "Become Intimate with the Client".

I found the book to be very helpful in managing my attitude toward training in a non-supportive environment. I have taken the time to create a motto that has taken me places and opened the doors for new discovery. I was pleased to find that meeting Cyndi and Barry in person at a CCASTD meeting was just as enlightening as the reading. Thanks to you both for opening my eyes a little wider and taking the chance to grow.

You would expect by the title that this would be described as both warm and thoughtful, but the bonus for this 160 page book is that it is also highly pragmatic and useful. Barry and Cyndi's approach is rooted in research and experience but much of the wealth comes from their myriad of anecdotes that supplement each and every topic. As trainers, we know that participants learn from our stories and tales, this is evidentally true for the written word as well. The authors share their years of experience with us but without the usual "ivory tower" approach that many authors take. A few weeks ago I read Barry and Cyndi's words about generative learning and used the concept in a recent train-the-trainer. The true worth of a book comes from its application in the real world: this book's worth far exceeds whatever its cost.

Having worked with(and admired) both Cyndi and Barry, I was delighted to see how well this wonderful book brought me back to the learnings I had gleaned from watching and listening to these master trainers. The real value of this book is that the tools for self-development and skill improvement are here along with a generous dose of the passion that comes from making a commitment to learners and following through. Master level training not just about knowing your subject, it is understanding how to help your audience grasp their own learning from the experiences, content sharing and practice opportunities they begin in your classroom. Read and enjoy, then use it.

This is one of the few books that I have read on the subject in the last several years that I not only kept in my library, but continue to read and recommend to others. The information covered is broad enough to be relevant to just about anyone in the training field, whether you train internal staff or are a trainer/speaker in the outside world. Getting 2 authors' experiences and perspectives is an added bonus. This book is an easy read that you will probably find yourself going back to again and again, which is rare to find in our information overload society!

This book is simply amazing in providing what many books on the subject do not and cannot, because most writers do not have the depth and breadth of personal knowledge required. Bambi Vincent & Bob Arno have done an extraordinary amount of research, covering many countries over many years. The wealth of details gives the reader what are possibly the best weapons against the many cons covered in this extensive advisory - education and awareness.

I needed something to help me really understand what I might be up against, and Bambi Vincent and Bob Arno's work has it in spades. The book is well written, well documented (including photos of crimes in progress), entertaining, and above all, educational. The amount of background work they have done to prepare this book is remarkable; the research is all-original, leather-on-pavement, with a very ballsy personal commitment. It was done not for a few months like most well-researched books, but over decades.

This book covers details of many varieties of con that are only hinted at in other work on this subject, evidently because the authors have spent many years researching, walking, talking to con men and their victims, and living on the road while looking for cons to record - in print, on film and in videos. It is possibly the definitive work on this type of crime, although I would be hard put to say precisely what that covers. There are many categories involved and the word 'con' is about as good as I can do to describe them. Preparing me to meet them effectively, mostly through awareness and continuous vigilance, is the job the authors have taken upon themselves. After reading this book, I think I am as ready as I can be.

Perhaps if I spent years learning and practicing the techniques myself, as Bob Arno has done for his work as an entertainer, I could do better. But getting this much information into an easy-reading book is by itself a major accomplishment, and Bambi Vincent deserves great credit as the primary author. Very strongly recommended for anyone who travels, whether it's to a foreign country or the other side of their own city.

I will make one suggestion. I would like to see this couple develop and market punitive pocket/purse devices for travelers. Perhaps a wallet that when opened sprays a permanent dye, or potent, disgusting, long-lasting odor spray. Perhaps leather that contains deadly tetrodotoxin, poison arrow frog poison, or at a minimum a pocket mousetrap (possibly with an upgrade to amputate an uninvited fingertip, with further option to deposit infective bacteria)--something cruel to ruin the thieves' holiday much as they ruin those of their victims. Sort of a miniature Charles-Bronson-in-a-Pocket.

Six stars out of five.

After reading some brief articles online, I was wondering how a whole book could be made out of the subject without getting really dry. This book managed that. Lots of ideas (to watch out for!) and very interesting reading. I'll definitely be more prepared and already used some ideas on my recent four trips.

Each chapter of this book, standing alone, would be worth the price of the book. The photographs, alone, would be worth the price of the book. Where else could you find so many photographs of pickpockets and street scam artists in action?

Do not let the word "Travel" in the title fool you. This is a must-read for anyone who goes out in crowds, even in their own home town. Pickpockets work at sporting events, concerts, shopping centers or anywhere they can blend in anonymously with the crowd. Help put pickpockets, hotel thieves and street scam artists out of business. Buy this book.

As an RPCV who has lived for 2 years in a third world country, I thought I'd seen it all until I read this book. The information the authors share can make any American's vacation abroad safer and more interesting.
The last chapter on IDENTITY THEFT (it's not money you should worry about losing--it's your credit cards!) alone is worth the price of this book. Identity theft is growing at an alarming rate in America. Even if you never plan to travel abroad, we all need this information to protect ourselves at home.
Carolyn Proctor

Most of the time, especially when traveling, paranoia is good!

I have traveled extensively internationally for the last 15 years and consider myself travel savvy. Recently, in Peru, I have been robbed of my passport, camera, credit card and ultimately, my peace of mind. This robbery happened in broad daylight, 100 yards from a policeman (in Peru the police are known for their collaboration with criminals and their corruption). If I would have read "Travel Advisory" before this trip, I am sure I would have been more vigilant, yes, more paranoid. Thus, I would have correctly thought, in a paranoid way: I am "fresh meat" among unseen predators.

Bob and Bambi masterfully lay out the world of professional cons, rip-off artists, and the pejorative and prolific street thief. In incident after incident they show the mind of you, the unsuspecting victim and more importantly, the mind of the thief. Read "Travel Advisory" and you will soon understand the techniques of thieves, their M.O. and why you, looking like a tourist, acting like a tourist, are like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming Peterbuilt.

Bob and Bambi tell you plainly, the criminals are out there in force, they are professional, very savvy and the police are at best inconsequential. After 9/11 the focus of the police has clearly changed. Very, very low on the police "to do" list is catching a purse-snatcher. Caveat: You are the only defense that you have.

Though the book is very good, it could be helpfully improved. There are no statistics. There are no lists, maps or charts that delineate the most dangerous tourist destinations. There is no appendix to help you with additional reading and/or web resources. There is no critical critique of 3rd world police (corruption, collaboration, complacency). Sadly, there is no mention of the punishment given to those thieves that Bob and Bambi tells us were apprehended. After being robbed, I want the satisfaction of hearing jail doors slamming.

There is not a traveler who could glean some beneficial tips from reading "Travel Advisory!"
It does us all well, prior to every trip, to remember the words of Stephen Still's song "For What It's Worth" (Buffalo Springfield 1966) "Paranoia Strikes deep, into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid, you step out of line the [thief] man comes and takes you away." "Travel Advisory" excels at making you look over your shoulder, more than once. Read it. Strongly recommended. 4.5 stars.

I recommend this book to all fans of the Lonely Planet travel guides. I love how the travel guides are organized. I also loved the TV series and even their calendars so I couldn't resist opening this book when I saw it. Reading this book tells you how the business of Lonely Planet started. It's a story of survival and courage. It's also brutally honest at times. Tony mentions which books were a success and which ones weren't and why. Sometimes the Wheelers meander in their discussions (much like how they meandered in their travels), but you won't mind because the overall story is so captivating. The most amazing thing is how Tony and Maureen managed to travel and raise two children all while running a business. Lonely Planet has always been an inspiration and will doubtless continue to be to its readers.

While the book is well written and covers many fascinating travels throughout the world, including obscure places in Southeast Asia, it is offensive by describing "September 11th and all that." September 11th may have been a joke to wealthy people who live their lives travelling and being paid for travelling, but it was not a joke to the people who lost their lives and the only thing this author can do is complain that there was a "Sept. 11 downturn" in donations to a Lonely Planet Charity. Give me a break. There are more important things than seeing the next 'exotic' destination and playing drums with the natives. While travel is important, and who does'nt love it, is it not the end all, be all. There are times to judge and there are times to take a moment out and say "where did I come from? Did 3,000 of my countrymen just get murdered." There are times and by poking fun at 9/11 and complaining that it led to less donations and pretending that the deaths of people is a joke this book does a disservice both to travelelrs who have morals and to the world. Civilians don't deserve to be murdered and making fun of them is degrading and offensive. Eveyrthing else in this book is interesting but the 9/11 rant spoils it all.

Seth J. Frantzman

Lonely Planet Publications began in 1973 when the authors self-published a unique travel guide ACROSS ASIA ON THE CHEAP. What began as a one-time publication evolved into an entire publishing company specializing in places where few conventional tourists traveled. UNLIKELY DESTINATIONS is a wonderful addition to any travel library: it blends autobiography, business history and travel and covers the authors' personal story and the evolution of their budget travel guide business. Armchair travelers and any familiar with the Lonely Planet lineup of excellent independent-travel guides will relish this expose of how they came to be.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Tony and Maureen Wheeler talk about all the places they have visited so far, how they built Lonely Planet as a publishing house, and share their personal views on several topics.

The Wheelers' have travelled so widely that even the names of all the places they have been to can be tough to follow! They understandably have to rush through them. The most interesting part of the travel memoir section is the comparison between how the places were in the 70s/80s and how they are now, something the Wheelers' always point out.

Besides being a travel memoir, this is book about building a boot-strapped busines. The Wheeler's show that building a business is more than just pursuing your dreams, it is about keeping a tight leash on finances, building a good team, competing with similar and larger competitors, staying ahead on the technology curve and reacting to external changes. The chapter "All about guidebooks" is an interesting introduction to how guidebooks are produced - from writing them to getting them printed. As a business book, it is similar to the Starbucks story (Howard Schultz, "How Starbucks built a company..").

The book does not come together as a captivating story. In the first few chapters, the authors describe a chronological order, but that breas down in the later part of the book. Chapters like "All about guidebooks", though very interesting on their own, do break the flow of the story. In addition, there are topics that the authors pick up but do not do justice to (e.g. comparison with competitors is incomplete).

An interesting book overall about travel, how travel is changed over the last three decades, and the challenges of building a business even if it is your dream business.

If you love to travel and love the idea of making your passion pay for itself, then this is a must read. An open and honest look at the creation and evolution of Lonely Planet!

This book is a charmer full of well-crafted and wise tales. I recommend it to anyone desiring nuggets of ancient insight about human nature.

This wonder book brings Chinese wisdom to the reader, who has no prior knowledge of Chinese history, through delightful, inspiring stories. The stories (there are more than a hundred in the book) may be well-known in China, but not in the West. Most of them I read for the first time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've learned a lot from this precious volume. I'm going to apply some in my life.

China has long presented the Western world with stories of folklore and proverbs; this contains stories relevant to business success, retelling Chinese tales to fit the business model. No prior knowledge of Chinese history and folklore is required in order to appreciate these fine tales of wisdom.

This is a unique book for those who seek wisdom from Chinese classics to apply in their career and life. A one-stop shopping for quintessential Chinese wisdom conveyed through more than a hundred of delightful stories by a remarkable author. For a lay person like me, no prior knowledge of Chinese history is required. I love the book's beautiful design and elegant calligraphy. Nichloas Kristof of New York Times sums it up better than I can when he says: "Treat this as a story book, and you will be entertained; treat this as a history book, and you will learn the richness of Asia's past; treat this as a book of wisdom, and you will be inspired."

If you have time to read only one book on Chinese wisdom, this is the one that will surely uplift you, enlighten you, inform you and entertain you. I love the book for its wide scope, its witty stories and inspiring messages, its elegant package and its practical application to many aspects of modern life. The author's insightful comments at the end of each story are very helpful for me to fully appreciate its embedded wisdom. I visited the author's web site michaeltang.com and would like to recommend it to all interested readers. The author's uncommon experience and accomplishment make the message of his book all the more valuable.