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One of the reasons I got this book was to understand the various properties of the stones and crystals I work with both in my spirituality and in my craft, jewelery. I love the completeness of the descriptions however it does not have an index that allows you to figure out what stones and crystals are associated with the different aspects of life and spirit. This makes it more difficult for me to use this book since i frequently have to read everything tto figure out what I want. I do however, use it when siting a book on the properties. I recommend this book but with understanding of its major flaw.

Clear, informative for the beginner and all seaking to understand basic properties and more about crystals

I ordered this book for my daughter's boyfriend. He is into crystals and their elements, ect. I did not know that much about it, but I got this book for him and I will admit looking through it, there is so much information and pictures of the stones along with what they mean, where to find them and more. I wish I had bought a copy for myself. I rate this book A+.

Excellent. This book will provide in depth detail of the power of crystals. It will not however give physical healing references. It has become a daily reference book in our home.

Great book, have gained lots of new points of interest from reading this book. Well written, excellent pictures with a wide range of crystals making this a valuable resourse for my work with crystals.
This book had already come recommended to me by a crytal lover, on reading it I understand why. Must have book!!!!
Will be keeping an eye out for other books from these authors.

Wally Hatford is a 10 year old boy who started a war between the Hatfords and the Malloys. He has three brothers, Peter, Josh, and Jake. The Malloys just moved in from Ohio to the Bensons' (The Hatfords' best friends) old house, and the boys want to want to oust the Malloy girls, Caroline, Beth, and Eddie (Edith) out of Buckman.

Wally is in Mrs. Applebaum's class, right in front of Caroline, the wanna be actress. He is the mastermind for the boys in the war between the Hatfords and the Malloys. Wally wants peace between the boys and girls to see how long it takes for a waffle box to travel down the river, to jump off a tree, and to climb a church steeple.

I could relate to Wally. He is like a kid in my class named Jake. Jake, like Wally, can think up of ideas to win a war against anybody, boy, girl, or parent. Jake also is curious of just things in normal life.

The Boys Start the War is a book just for children seeing that adults aren't interested in wars between boys and girls. It is easy to understand all of the humor and vocabulary in the book. I loved the book and went on to read the whole series.

The Hatford boys were looking out the window with their binoculars waiting to see three boys moving in their friends house across the river.When they see their girls moving in and not boys.They makea plan to sent the Malloy girls back to Ohio.Throwing dead animals to dead bodies.Playing bad tricks on the girls.Will the girls get back on them?Is the war barly begining?Are the girls going to get even with the boys. This is a really funny book to read.

This book is a hilarious book. The Hatford brother's best friends, the Bensons, moved away from Buckman to Georgia. The boys were expecting 3 boys to move into the Benson's house, but they were surprised when they found out that it was actually 3 girls. The Hatford brothers decided that they would try to make that the Malloy sisters so miserable that they would want to move back to Ohio and the Bensons would move back because no one would rent their house. The boys are in for a surprise when they have to go against the Malloy sister's cleverness. The pranks go on from dead fish to dead bodies and from floating heads to washing windows. The boys and the girls keep going at each other. They both can't tell their parents because then they would have to tell about all their other pranks. The war goes on and on to other sequels.

I like book because of all the pranks. The pranks are all thought up cleverly but something always goes wrong. A quote that shows something going wrong is, "`You got the flashlight?' Jake asked Wally breathlessly. `Heck, no. You were carrying it.' `I thought you grabbed it,' Josh said. `Someone did!' But that someone was already inside the house." This shows how the Hatfords lost their flashlight while pretending to be a floating head outside Beth Malloy's window.

Another reason I liked this book is because it's a humor book. I don't read many humor books but this book made me laugh. This book is filled with many hilarious events. Caroline Malloy draws a funny picture of her teacher but Wally manages to steal it and blackmails her. The things that go wrong are also funny. Just when one side thinks they've won, the other side finds a way to get even. There are many other books in the series and this is only the first.

My favorite part of the book is at the end of the book when the final prank is played. When the girls go to get Caroline from the Hatford's tool shed, they think they won because they made Jake say to them, "Your faithful, obedient servant." As they were leaving Wally comes out with Mrs. Hatford saying that the girls were coming over to help peel the bushels of apples the Hatfords had picked. I thought this was hilarious and was a great way to end the book to keep you hooked.

Just when the Hatford boys were expecting three boys to move into the house across the river the Malloy girls arrived instead. Wally and his brothers decide to make Caroline and her sisters so miserable that they'll want to go back to Ohio, but they haven't counted on the ingenuity of the girls.

Cast of Characters:
Malloy's:
George Malloy-father-football coach
Jean Malloy-mother
(Edith Anne) Eddie-11-6th grade
Beth-10-5th grade
Caroline-8-4th grade
Hatford's:
Tom Hatford-father-mail man
Ellen Hatford-mother-hardware store worker
Jake and Josh-11-6th grade
Wally-9-4th grade
Peter-7-2nd grade

This is really cool.It can be for 3-??yrs old.Pluse it takes places in my hometown Buckhannon,WV.The school they go to has beem turn into a building for 5-18 year olds,called Stockert Youth Center.The Mallory girls are really cool!!The Boys are trying to get the girls out of their old best friends house by playing tricks and being mean,and the girls try to show the boys the can't tear them away from Buckman wich really is Buckhannon.Read it!!Its cool!!

After reading this book and doing what it said, I saved over $4,000 on my new Camry. If you're looking for a new (or even used) car, this book will teach you what discounts the dealers receive, what the kickbacks are, what you should expect to pay for your new car and how to get the best deal possible. The book will teach you how to pit the dealers against each other and give you the upper hand when it comes to negotiating. No more sitting in a dealership for hours while they play their waiting games, no more high-pressure sales, no more haggling. The "fax attack" portion of the book tells you where to get the information about your car, how to present your deal, and who to fax your information to. It's that simple. With just a little research on your part, you can make a really great deal. Simply put, do the research, create your fax, send to the dealers in your area (the more the better), wait for the phone to start ringing with great offers on the car that you want. Take the lowest offer and call the dealers who will, in turn, try to beat the offer. Do this until all of them are done bidding. Go pick up your car.

If you are reading this review then your must be considering buying a new car. Don't even think about walking into a dealership and talking to the salespeople. Except of course to test drive and see which one you really want. After that run out of the showroom. I highly recommend using Mr. Bragg's strategy for buying a car. It is so easy and stress free and you will have the dealers eating out of the palm of your hand. I also highly recommend visiting his web site fightingchance.com and purchasing his information package. Actually if you get the package you may not even need the book. But the book is a good read in any event. I was looking for a compact car which typically doesn't have a lot of wiggle room for dealers because they generally don't come with expensive extras like leather seats, real wood trim etc.... I was able to get mine for $1150 under dealer invoice and maybe could have even gone a little lower but I had to stop the dealers from chasing me at some point. It was crazy. I finally just said enough. It works that well. Before finding Mr.Bragg's information I probably would have been happy to get a couple hundred of the MSRP. I can laugh about that now. One word of caution would be if you use this method and have a trade-in the dealers might try to really stick it to you on your trade. They won't be making much if any money on the sale of the car to you so they will most likely try to make it by low balling you on your trade-in. That was my experience until I told them I'd take it some where else and sell it. Bottom line is if you think you can walk into a showroom and negotiate the best deal, you're CRAZY. Buy the book or buy the info packet. And pocket the rest of your hard earned money.

James Bragg has made a successful career out of helping people through the intimidating process of buying cars. And his success is well-deserved. I just recently bought my first new car. I had put off the process for a long time, because:
(1) I'm young and could be seen as an easy target by car salesmen
(2) I was intimidated and had how idea how to even approach the car buying process.

So I began to do my homework, researching car buying on the web. I found a lot of advice out there, much of it conflicting. One thing people never disagreed upon was the value of the Fighting Chance, the information service by James Bragg. When I finally decided that the time was right, I ordered the Fighting Chance and bought this book. Armed with the all of the knowledge and preparation I needed, I now knew exactly what I needed to do to launch a successful "fax attack" on dealerships surrounding me. I knew exactly how to field every response from car dealers. I knew how not to fall into their traps. I knew how to defend myself and control the situation. I was doing everything on my terms and not letting the salesmen know too much or dictate any of the terms. I got a great price on a car (way below invoice price). And when I went to the dealership to sign all of the papers, I knew exactly what to do and what to look out for. I drove away feeling happy, satisfied, and NEVER taken advantage of.

This book will arm you with all of the knowledge you need to buy a new car. You'll know exactly what to say in every situation. And you'll know how to not fall into playing a car salesman's games. Whether you've done it before or not, you will be amazed by how effective the techniques taught in this book are. James Bragg's writing is entertaining; you'll breeze through and thoroughly enjoy this book. As one reviewer said, this book does somewhat play out like a long infomercial for the Fighting Chance service. But it fleshes out a lot of areas that Fighting Chance doesn't. And for someone like me who has never done this before, it helped me walk into the dealership with full confidence that I would get what I want.. with no surprises. It is a vital companion piece to the Fighting Chance package.

If you're in the market to buy a new car, you need this book. If you think you can get a great deal by walking into a dealership (or a few) and negotiating well, you are greatly mistaken. Buying a car is like a high stakes game of poker. And the dealership is holding most of the cards most of the time. This book will give you a chance to level the playing field. And it will enable you to have the upper hand in getting the best price for the car you want.

This book provides good practical advice for buying or leasing a car. It is clear and easy to understand and takes all the mystery out of the process. I also learned about my own motivations for buying a new car and how car stores are ready to separate me from my money. The book, however, is a couple of years out of date. It's not critical but more up to date data and more info available on the internet should in my opinion be included. The techniques offered for saving money are sound.

The "fax attack" method for purchasing a new car is genius. I not only got my 2007 Honda Civic for the least expensive price out of the 18 dealerships I faxed in Illinois (darn near the whole state, excluding some northern Chicagoland dealers), but I was able to sleep at night. Not ONCE did I wonder, "could I have gotten this at a lower price?" because I knew for a FACT that the price I got was not only the lowest at that time for that model, but was also fair. Ever get burned by a dealership? (Don't lie, everyone has, even if it was just a waste of time.) Well, buy this book, study it well, and you won't get burned again.

Never got this book yet,,,please don't charge me for it.

thanks,
c. gusic

This is another excellent book but all of Romans books tend to repeat themselves. Still I have 4 or 5 of her books and underline and go back and re-read things during my devotional times. No major changes in my life have been necessarily produced through her books but they are comforting words that would be absolutely wonderful if they really did work.

Can't figure out why certain things are happening to or not working for you? You could possibly find the answer in here. "If any area of your life is not working, one of your beliefs in that area needs to be changed" -from the book.

Many universal laws and principles are covered in this book. ie: Energy and how to sense and work with it, love, forgiveness, pain, how your imagination is a very important tool, (and the way it works with your subconcious is pretty amazing.) Each chapter ends with a 'Playsheet' which is very helpful, and gives you excercises to think about and try for yourself.

Besides the abundance of information, another nice thing about this is, while it's great to start at the beginning and read through, you can open this up randomly and read something beneficial.

This is an 'Orin' book, which means evidently the book is channeled from this entity through Sanaya Roman. I've only read a few books that claimed to be 'channeled', and I don't have a problem with it especially when the information is geared towards helping people to make positive life changes. There are lots of ways to grow and learn from reading this book and applying the new knowledge.

I really love sanaya's books, they leave you with a warm feeling and an inner knowing. This book was very good but i wish there were more excersizes like her other books ie spiritual growth.

I initially read Personal Power through Awareness about a year and a half ago. I was COMPLETELY amazed. It felt as if this book had been written specifically for me. The adage, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear is absolutely true. Sanaya Roman's book encapsulated my entire stuggle for the first 35+ years of my life. I so desperately wanted to be the good son, the perfect minister, ideal Christian, husband, friend, employee, etc. I wanted to please everyone, but the one who matters most.....me. This book was momunental in helping me reclaim myself and getting in touch with my energy. I even quote the following reference in my own book. "Being alone, sitting quietly, allowing yourself to rest physically, emotionally, and mentally will give you an increasingly clear sense of self. In those still times you are not playing out any role or any identity, and your soul can speak to you more clearly. You have the clearest sense of your own energy when you are not around others, when you are alone." I just finished reading this book again and even after five times through it, I still walk away with something new, timely, pertinent, and extremely helpful. I have no doubt whatsoever that you will do the same.

There are so many words to decribe Emotions. It was turly an enjoyable read. I like reading novels that make you think. Joi the main female character could be anyone. I loved the passion that Michael brought back into her life, but at the same time, I could see that the passion she had with Michael, it was the type of passion she once shared with Phillip (her husband) and long to rekindle. Emotions lefted you thinking that us married folks with some years under our belts, can still have passion, but just like anything worth having, it takes work. Yes Joi had fellings for Michael, but not only did she love her husband, she was deeply in love with her husband as well. It takes a strong couple, and a strong MAN to deal with what happened and get through it. I might be the only reader that was happy whit the ending.

Timm, I miss your writing. More importantly, I miss your friendship.

Fran

.........and self-discovery. Emotions by Timmothy McCann is a lesson on "things happen for a reason." Why do certain folks come into our life when they do?

Both Joi Weston, actress in the autumn of her acting career, and Michael Brockmier, an author in a musician's body trying (seemingly unsuccessfully) to live up to other's expectations, are two people who are instantly drawn to each other upon first site. Joi, however, is "happily married"....at least so she proclaims. Nonetheless, the chemistry is so strong, these individuals come together inspite of it all.

While Brockmier is in NYC dealing with the perils of the publishing industry, Joi is down in Florida trying to determine how to obtain some of her true passions as she aproaches 40 yrs. old. Can she be content as the wife of a politician (which is not too far from being an actress)....or, is L.A. calling her name to pick up on her acting career?

What I liked about this book is how the author was so vivid in his descriptions that it was more like watching a movie instead of reading a book. I also thought it was special to read about someone who was in her 40's; her thought processes, fears and dreams.

Inspite of all the pain, sorrow and soul-searching decisions Joi (which rhymes with star) has to deal with, you see a woman who realizes that no matter what age, we are always evolving.

This story tells us that sometimes we learn more from our adversities than we do our successes. This was a smooth, thought provoking read. One that's great for book club discussion, complete with a readers guide at the end. Check it out!

This brother knows how to keep you in suspense. I truly enjoyed reading this novel. The characters were great. The story line was great. It was just a wonderful book. The ending was not very realistic in by book but who cares. It is afterall just a book. I always enjoy reading Mr. McCann's novels. He never leaves you with a dull moment. Keep them coming and go out and purchase this book.

How Do You Say Good Bye To A Friend?

For seven years I have written professionally and for seven years you have shared with me your likes, and dislikes about my words. Sometimes I was able to move you... some times I was able to touch you... some times I may have even confused the hell out of you. But it was my endeavor to at all times make you think.

I have written my last sentence. And when I say that's hard to type as a man who once declared "I write for the same reason I breathe," it's true. Why? The industry is changing and I have not willfully changed with it. While reviewing a contract for a 5th and 6th novel, it became apparent to me that if I signed it-I would be signing away apart of my soul and if you have read me you know I would never do such a thing.

When I wrote UNTIL... it was written from the heart. It was a story I wanted to hear so I wrote it and the same holds true from each subsequent novel.

No, everyone did not love my work... but then again every one does not even love the Bible so this I understand. But for the readers out there who felt cut off when the site was closed down. For the readers out there we felt shunned when they could no longer e mail me their thoughts. For the fellow novelist out there that felt I walked away from friendships, I apologize. Please charge it to my head and not my heart because you will never know how much it means to look at AMAZON and see a note posted by readers from all over the world. To my author friends I felt like a divorced spouse... who's friends all are married. I trust you will understand.

Remember how you felt when you found out there was no Santa? That's how I felt when I decided to move forward in my life. I mean... my 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9th novels were outlined. I wanted to tell you these stories and I now I will only have them in the attic for my kids to read.

Speaking of kids. They are now 12 and 13 and as a single dad my days are numbered so I decided that it was time to enjoy the moments I still have with them.

But at the end of the day I was just a brother telling stories. You honored me by reading them as you honor me by reading this letter. For this I will forever be grateful.

In closing my first novel posed the question, "have you ever seen someone for the first time and just knew how much you missed them?" After writing this letter to you... after a seven year love affair, after having my heart broken by conditions beyond my control, after apart of me having drawn its last breath, I now understand....

Until...

Timm

I personally have not read these books, but I have been purchasing them for my niece for special gifts, for her. After I gave her the first three books she said she really enjoyed them, because she likes horses alot. Then when I gave her a few more she was very excited because she didn't realize there were more in the series. In March I will have given her through book 10, so there are still more to come for her. I enjoy giving the gift of reading to children.

In 5th grade my AG reading teacher told me about the Heartland seires I used to not like to read but these books hve changed my mined!I am on #15 but Every New Day is my absolut favorite Heartland book! I love the new charachters and the new setting!! I loved the way Huten (amys moms freind) works with his horses and helps with Murcery I wish I could Give it thousands of stars!!!!!( I will Be sooooo Sad when I Have read them all but im looking faward to the nw series Chesnut Hill!)

This book is Very Good. In the book Amy takes a horse mucerey that once loved to jump but now he refuses even the tinyest jumps. When Amy can not figure out the problem she takes mucrurey to a guy (Huten) that once new Amy's mom. Amy had seen the man work his own horse and she thought they had a very speical bond. Once Amy is there it is almost time to leave and her and Huten haven't worked with mucerey one bit, instead Huten takes amy out on walkes and talkes about stuff. Read this book to find out if what happens. I would recomend this book to any horse lover(like me). I Really LOVED it.

This book is so cool. Whenever Amy and Ty are alone together, I just want to be with them!

go out and read it NOW!!!!!! This was my all time fav tied with new beginnings. amy goes 2 the appilachians with mercury, a horse that wont jump. the reason amy takes him is because she wonders if the ppl there could help mercury. when amy gets there, huten, a native american friend of her mom (,and a wise horse healer), doesnt seem 2 do anything 2 mercury. instead he helps her understand with strange sayings. but wat huten says is really true. go out and buy it NOW!!!! :) peace out,
a huge heartland fan

I have a number of Ramona CD's so thought I'd venture out into Henry Huggins. As much as I love Ramona, this Henry CD is the best, due in part to the voice of Neil Patrick Harris. My son loves to listen to a CD every night before going to bed, and he requests this one more often than any other. It's amazing to think that Beverly Cleary's book, written 50 years ago, can still appeal to youngsters today. It's timeless. Thank you Beverly Cleary!

I started reading the Henry Huggins books to my son when he was 5 years old. We read a chapter every night and my husband would come in to see what was going on because we were laughing so much! When Henry's mom gave him a home haircut, we cried we laughed so hard. My son is now 22 years old, and he still has his Henry Huggins books. He is saving them for when he has children of his own. I highly recommed these books and anything by Beverly Cleary. Reading with your children is such a joy and these books bring back the wonderful memories that my son and I made while hanging out with Henry and Ribsy.

I read this book when I was a child and I truly enjoyed it. I am now home schooling my son and we are going to read the entire series together. I think that any child from the age of 7-12 would enjoy this series. Especially little boys. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. Happy reading. Carol Salyer from the great state of Tennessee....

Henry Huggins is a boy that lives with his mom and dad in a house on a street called Klickitat Street.Henry is a ordinary boy that nothing excited ever happens to him except when he was 6 years old he broke his arm by falling out of the cherry tree. When Henry goes downtown to swim at the Y.M.C.A he finds a dog thta he wants to keep and then his life changes when he has that dog as his pet. He relizes how pet are important and hard to takt care of.He needs full responsibilities to take care of his dog named Ribsy.

Henry Huggins wasn't the best book that I have ever read, but I did enjoy it. One of my favorite parts is when Ribsy, Henry's dog, rolled in the mud right before the dog show. Henry saw another boy putting white powder on his dog to make him look whiter, so he tried it also. He was surprised that the powder was not white, but PINK! Since Ribsy was wet from the mud, Henry could not rub the powder off of him, so he decided to cover him completely in pink. At the end of this chapter Ribsy won a silver cup for being the most unusual dog at the show.
I would read Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary again, and I think that boys would like it even better.

(Note from mom: I read chapter one aloud to my first grade daughter whom decided to read the rest to herself. This is a good read for a child who is ready to go beyond simple chapter books, but is not yet ready for something too long and thick.)

I thought this book offered some different ways in the effort to learn more about myself. The exercises are thought provoking and easy to do and provide a good insight into my own thoughts, habits and self. I don't think it is ground breaking or the answer to the million dollar question "Who am I?" but it does offer exercises to learn more about self and I think it is an excellent read and book.

Wishcraft is divided into 2 parts: the wishing part and the 'crafting' part. The premise of the book is that you cannot get what you want unless you have done the wishing you need. So the first part of the book takes you through a series of exercises designed to get you to dream your wildest dreams about your life and what it could be. It is both powerful and freeing to do this. Barbara Sher also gives you ways to distinguish between 'real' dreams (the ones you really truly want) and fantasies (things you just think you want).

Once you have some clear ideas about what your dreams are, the second part of the book gives you great approaches to achieving them. One of the most fantastic aspects of this section is the focus on the problems list. barbara says that your list of problems are like gold. in the beginning i did not realize what she meant but once you have clearly articulated what problems you have then you can start attacking them one at a time. So the problems lead you to the dream.

Don't get me wrong, this book will require you to work hard but the exercises are great and her writing is fantastic. Having a dream (or 20 perhaps) is something I had forgotten about as I make my way through a busy and complex life. Now I feel like I am taking control of where I am going with the aid of her wisdom and direction.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to make life changes, career shifts, or just wants more from their lives.

This was Barbara Sher's first book, but until now I'd only read (and loved) her follow-up books. I've read alot of other books on positive affirmations and projecting to the Universe what you want and was stunned to see that this "oldie, but goody" was really one of the most simple and straight-forward approaches to that concept.

Even if you've read lots of other self-help books, this classic is still one everyone should read.

I got the 1979 copy of this book about 4 years ago on a recommendation from a therapist who saw that I was drifting along with no real goals. I had tried college twice before (by this time I was in my late 30's) and each time quit because I didn't know what I wanted to do or to be. The "college career center" was no help whatsoever. The test I took there had me taking courses for industrial engineering, which I had zero interest in, but I figured maybe the test saw some hidden talent that I didn't know I had. Wrong. I started reading this book and doing the exercises and slowly discovered what it was that I wanted to be....an interior designer! I would have never thought of it in a million years without this book changing my way of thinking. I felt like it was a huge revelation! It was a relief to finally know, at the age of 38, what it was that I wanted to do! I started college again and had to quit after a year and a half due to a pay cut at my job. The old me, the pre-Wishcraft-reading me, would have just given up right then. Actually, I DID freak out for about a week. But the new me sat down and brainstormed like in the book and thought long and hard about what needed to be done to be able to stay in school and follow my dream. I'm happy to say that I only took a year off of school and am actually now in a better school. I've also been so inspired by the other reviews for this book. I have recommended this book to friends and will always keep my copy no matter where I go in life.

Growing up Asian without knowing I was an ADD scanner, I really struggled with "why am I so different?!" Reading Wishcraft in college was my first and best ray of hope towards creating a life I love, finding ways to learn and live that really work for me, and also coming to appreciate all of who I am.

In 8th grade, I thought that I had No Talent whatsoever and had no idea "what to do with my life", now I'm amazed at all the talents that keep showing up now that I know how to find what works for me!

I currently love teaching voice lessons 5 days a week, performing with my Global Jazz band, and I'm creating my first full 2-hour musical theater production with a Persian Iranian jazz singer friend of mine called "Memories & Media Myths of Iran & North Korea" -- for which we received a Minnesota State Arts Board / National Endowment for the Arts grant!

THANK YOU BARBARA!

Why do people start businesses? Why doesn't the high failure rate dampen their enthusiasm? "The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By" is an examination of modern entrepreneurship and what makes it all tick. Taking a good, long look at the reality of it all, "The Illusion of Entrepreneurship : The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By" takes into account the industries that are popular for start up, how they are financed, the characteristics of an entrepreneur, and strategies for new businesses to survive when they first start. Scholarly written and researched, "The Illusion of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By" is highly recommended for any community library collection with an interest in economics and business, and should be required reading for any aspiring entrepreneur.

I was drawn to this book when Dr. Shane gave us a quiz about the FACTS of entrepreneurship. Believe it or not, although many of us might have thought we were savvy in entrepreneurship, we got almost none of the questions correct. After that, I placed a pre-order for this book and waited for months before this book was first in print and available. It was quite a worthwhile.

What we got wrong? If you read the book you will understand why many of us got them wrong. His data (much of them from public sources) basically strikes you like this:
* Can you believe the most entrepreneurial state in the US is not California, nor Massachusetts, but Vermont?
* Can you believe U.S. is not the most entrepreneurial country in the word, but instead three times less entrepreneurial than the top country? (The book uses various measures of entrepreneurial activities)
...
This long list of debuted myths are summarized in the end of each chapter.

Most important, each chapter explains WHY the myths turn out to be wrong. Without these explanations, the book would become simply a stack of striking facts that you found hard to believe. What makes this book highly insightful and convincing is that the author not only points out what is the truth based on reliable data, but also tells us why the surprising truth makes sense.

Certainly, to buy in his points, you need to first buy in how the author defines entrepreneurship--starting a new (for-profit) organization, including self-employment, etc. This is a fair definition in the research on entrepreneurship.

If you teach entrepreneurship or related courses, the book will be a perfect tool for you to draw students' interest. Students become more involved and learn more when their stereotype mental model is challenged with a sound reason.

One more thing to note: The author has a notable merit across his writings: clear, and easy to follow. This book is of no exception. You can easily grab what he wants to say in this book even when you read it when traveling on a plane or before going to bed.

This is an OUTSTANDING book that should be very useful to entrepreneurs, researchers and policy makers.

The author is one of the most respected scholars in entrepreneurship. He uses a lot of research papers and industry reports to present the facts and bust the "myths" about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs.

The book has ten chapters with a total of 67 busted myths. Chapters 2 and 7 should be very useful to entrepreneurs. Chapter 2 tells us that industry selection matters in starting a business. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs select industries that they know better and in which it is easy to start businesses. Further, most entrepreneurs don't select the most profitable industries but instead pick industries with the highest firm failure rates. Chapter 7 tells us that success depends on more important factors than entrepreneur personality or psychological traits.

The book raises some serious questions about conventional wisdoms. Here are two examples:

Concerning the typical entrepreneur, "The characteristics that make people more likely to start businesses aren't all desirable; people are more likely to go into business for themselves if they are unemployed, work part-time, have changed jobs often, and make less money. The typical entrepreneur earns less money than he would have earned had he worked for someone else and has worse job benefits."

Concerning government policy to promote entrepreneurship, "We have no evidence that in the absence of government intervention, people were creating too few businesses or that without government action the wrong firms would get started or financed. Moreover, we have no evidence that creating additional new companies is a good thing. ... there is ample evidence that when governments intervene to encourage the creation of new businesses, they stimulate people to start new companies disproportionately in competitive industries with lower barriers to entry and high rates of failure."

I find the book interesting and entertaining. It is well-written and easy-to-follow, without unnecessary academic jargons. I would highly recommend the book to anyone who is serious about entrepreneurship.

I took two major lessons, and provide a suggestion, from Scott Shane's "Illusions of Entrepreneurship":

First, "Start your business for the right reasons," is a key issue that Shane notes, and it's an issue that can help ground potential entrepreneurs in reality. This book provides a portrait of entrepreneurs that is refreshing to read, noting that the romanticized view of being an entrepreneur is something much different than the "as is" state. People who are good "craftsmen", even in an unglamorous field, will feel good about going it alone after reading his book.

Second, I suggest that this book comes at an important time in our nation's business history. With the concerns about how innovative and entrepreneurial we are as a nation, and what that may mean to our future economic development, this book helps de-bunk stultifying myths about pursuing an entrepreneurial career. That can only help us.

Third, my suggestion: Not only will people who want to be entrepreneurs benefit from the objective analysis in this book, but policy-makers would do well to be steeped in the reality of entrepreneurism presented here. Maybe they will think about how to clear a road for new enterprise formation versus bureaucratically impede business success.

For those familiar with Scott Shane's academic articles, this book does offer a comforting familiarity to Scott Shane's straight-to-the-point and easy-to-read writing style. He wrote this book with the customers in mind and truly he wants to give us the essential truth in a simple way, not simpler. I find that very refreshing.

Going into the content, indeed he busted many prominent myths for which the word 'facts' probably more appropriate. I am tempted to go into the details and list the many important myths proven to be counterintuitive, but the task is easier said than done for every single busted myth is so mind-changing. I will be quick to say that this book is a must for any party interested in entrepreneurship-related activities. Making comments before reading this book could make one look naive. To me, that is high praise for Scott Shane and this book.

Welcome to Mason County, where even the census takers were baffled when they came to a town where blacks looked white. Isabel is the main character in this story. Every one calls her Belly in Mason County. That all changes when a series of events after her childhood friend Teeny got pregnant, led her to Jamison county to stay with her Aunt Rachel. She takes piano lessons from a woman name Ophelia that calls her Isabel, shows her what a real lady is, wins over her heart, and also the heart of Uncle Avery, Aunt Rachel's husband. This causes a lot of problems in Belly's life and causes her to learn a lot life's lessons pretty early. This book was written very beautifully and opened my heart back up to my childhood. I won't tell the rest of the story but all of the characters were endearing and I'll never forget them.

Revisit childhood and relive it in a marvelous way! I felt that I grew up with Belly during the tale of "Miss Ophelia". After reading how her family interacted with each other, their personalities and histories, I felt like I knew them. I laughed out loud at their antics and conversations. You probably will too!

The book seems to start off a little slow in the beginning, but don't let that fool you. This is one to savor. It takes time to get to know this family and watch Isabel (Belly) come of age. While there were events that many of us could relate to, this book lacked the over-the-top, crazy drama that can be found in some other books about childhood family experiences. How refreshing! Belly actually had a good childhood! It was joy to read about. She also had some tough issues to deal with, and this kept the book grounded in reality.

Belly spent part of an important summer taking piano lessons from Miss Ophelia. Miss Ophelia left a powerful influence on Belly, and their time together was a "defining moment" in Belly's life. The way the author described their interaction and other aspects of Belly's life before and after was beautiful. I could picture everything, but the writing style wasn't too wordy. The style was very natural, and the characters seemed so authentic.

I took my time reading this book and looked forward to reading it every time I picked it up. I felt so contented while reading it and satisfied even after I'd finished it. I highly recommend this book. Reading it is time well spent.

This story is sooooo wonderfully written and told. This is one hot summer that readers will surely enjoy. The summer heat is not just in temperature, the heat also rises from the pages in the form of anger and passion.

This story of young Isabel (Belly) is very endearing. Each summer, Belly visits with her aunt and uncle in rural Virginia. She learns lessons that are never taught in summer school. When Miss Ophelia teaches Belly to play the piano, she also teaches her life lessons about love, friendship, responsibility, and accountability.

Though she appears to be very quiet, Miss Ophelia has deep passions about music and love which she eventually shares with others. You will enjoy the music as well as those who play it!

this book was an excellent read. it captured the whole time era and gracefuly put it into words. the author of this book seems to draw the reader into being a part of the novel. she gives you the sense of being there as a bystander, watching and understanding Belly's life that summer. i love the plot, the use of words and the key message. of friendship. i hope this isn't the last piece of work by this author. i highly recommend this book. you'll never want to put it down, and will continuosly find yourself hoping that it never ends.

This book hit me where the heart is!!! The characters: Belly, Willie, Miss Janie, Miss Rachel, Mama, Uncle Avery, Miss Pheenie, And of course, the lovely and dearest of all, Miss Ophelia. When I first got into the book,( first quarter of the book),It primarily focused on teen pregnancy and the main character (Belly's) best friend, Teenie getting sent away to get "rid of her problem", which hurt Isabel Anderson/Walker.
The way the book portrays Miss Opelia, and her warm and kind personality was so well-written, that in the end, I cried, thinking about the True love that could never be, between...
Oh!!!!! Youre just going to have to read the book and see why most of these people(including myself, of course) rated this book 5 stars.