Brian Books

Once you discover a really good book that works well & easy for you, all you want to do is RAVE about it!! With this outstanding book from one of America's greats - Brian's Tracy, why not? It really "does exactly as it says on the label" (or front cover in this case.)

You only have to briefly scan all of the reviews below to see that this is a powerful book that works. His message in simple & obvious, but with this book Brian shows you why & how so many of us don't or can't succeed in our ambitions to be happy & successful, when it is the right of everyone to enjoy life to the full.

If you've read his other book "GOALS!" first, then don't despair. This book has exactly the same message but goes much deeper into the workings of how health, wealth, happiness & peace of mind can all be achieved, providing you with a dearth of inspiration & motivation to try it out instantly & get going straight way.

This book is a little larger & a little harder going than "Goals!", only in that the chapters aren't broken down into convenient sections where you can pause & take a breath/ Nonetheless, it is written in such an enthusiastic way that keeps you interested all the way.

This ought to be the very last book you buy on the subject, but before you read (& more importantly re-read) it, please make sure you have a fresh note-book (preferably A4) & pen to hand. The book is jam packed with all the essential information to kick you off in the right direction the minute you start reading.

If you've got this far already then you need this book, look no further, your intuition was right in looking here. You won't be disappointed. It's quite a long book but with a little perseverance, you too will be glad you bought & read it. Check out the Amazon sales ranking to see how high this book is valued by thousands of likeminded customers.

From Joe Catal, author of the book " Telesales Tips From The Trenches". Being a national phone sales trainer, I constantly see the difference between high producing people and low producers by the way they see themselves.
This is a book about life and how to live it. It has hundreds upon hundres of tips and strategies that you can apply today.
If you've been wondering why things never seem to go your way or as much as you try things never seem to workout, this book will tell you EXACTLY why thihgs are happeing to you.
An excellent book and I highly recomend it.
I would find it hard to believe that this couldn't improve your life. A definite read and book for your collection.

I've read several hundred books about self improvement and reaching my potential. This is one of the top five! He takes us through a down to earth, easy to relate to process of moving toward becoming the person you are supposed to become. Isn't it time to make your life a masterpiece

Im reading this book, so i would like to share my comments about it. It has good structure, a very comfortable written style and it is very oriented to the 3 Microsoft Core exams, but it could be one of your support books at job, easily. It includes a CD with tests to check your skills and adaptative test too! I guess NT 4.0 exams will be retired by dec 2000 (Microsoft says) so if you still want to take this exams, hurry!

Over the past eleven years of working with computers Microsoft has been the driving force that has turned this industry upside down at times. The number of the NT networks has grown and so has the popularity of the MCSE certification. This book gives you the jumpstart to success and career advancement.

Taking of the NT Workstation (70-073), NT Server (70-067) and the NT Server in the Enterprise (70-068) exams Brian Schwarz gives you the benefit of his expertise and brings the exams down to an understandable level for every technician of any skill level.

From the installation of NT Workstation through the Control Panel, Registry and Boot Process you'll find information that makes short work of the exam objectives. Schwarz also includes information on application Support, server management, user management, networking and client setup.

Over 700 pages of exam and on the job help is included. The book also has tables, figures, screen shots, hints and tips as well as review questions at the end of each chapter. The book makes sure you are ready for the exams and all you have to do is pass them.

Included is a cd-rom with hundreds of practice questions to help in assessing your progress. The cd also includes an adaptive test format and for an additional $79.00 you can get over 500 more questions to practice with. For less that the cost of one exam you have the ability to pass three, a value that may be hard to beat.

If you are searching for a way to quickly get your MCSE core exams behind you All-in-One MCSE NT 4 Cerification Exam Guide is the book that can help you do it! The all-in-one approach that this book uses saved me from having to spend hundreds of dollars on a variety of study aids for the three core exams -- Workstation (70-073), Server (70-067), and Server in the Enterprise (70-068). Up front the author stresses that all three exams have overlapping material covered on them. Now that I have taken and passed all of the exams, I know it's true and feel that this study guide was instrumental in helping me through the cross-over material.

The CD that comes with the book has lots of test questions for each test (be sure to look for the ones in the 'Total Seminars\Adaptive' folder on the CD). You can practice on a standard test format and with the adaptive format, which was similar to the adaptive tests I took. The practice tests have a great 'assistance window' feature that gives hints, tells you where to read more information in the book, checks and explains the answer to each question.

In short, this book is a smart purchase. Not only will it help with the exams, it will also serve as a great reference in the future.

What can I say about this order? It was easy to find, easy to order and it arrived quickly to my residence in excellent condition. For books, Amazon is the place to go. I would do it all over if I had too.

This book had all of the material I needed to pass with a 900+ score on the first try. Very good material.

I read through this book rather quickly as I have plenty of experience with Windows 2000 Security. It answered all of my questions and was the only reading resource I used to prepare for the exam. I found the exam questions spot on with the way the exam and nothing but case study questions! I would have liked to see more non-multiple choice questions on the practice tests but other than that this book is perfect.

We were assigned this read for an arts marketing class, and I can say it is
the best text all year. Grounded, informed, and makes for great discussion in class.

Dan Solomon and Brian Reich push the reader to revisit the term "media" when evaluating communication strategies. According to the authors, media is no longer just what we simply read, watch or click but should be considered as almost anything that touches our lives and not be limited to some format. There's a potential danger of making the definition of media so broad and all encompassing that the term becomes useless. But Solomon and Reich use this broad definition to make us appreciate fundamental shifts that are happening in how we communicate as a society. Framing insights from business and thought leaders from the past and on the front lines into actionable, memorable categories, the reader is given a potential path to organize the cacophony of communication technologies and punditry. The authors do not pretend that the path to mass communication enlightenment is through their book but they effectively point you in the right direction.

Media Rules should be purchased by every marketing and sales person in an organization who who wants to progress and star in a tough economy. It should e read by every CEO, CFO and CIO who wants to lead their organization deeper into this century. It should be read by every kid just graduating college who wants to get a good job by harnessing the tools they already use.

It's out there folks, you just need to understand the new terrain that controls our environment. Great insights from the authors along with terrific anecdotal evidence that will make you stand up and want to get to the office.

One word of warning - don't read it before trying to go to sleep - the topics are way too stimulating.

The details are somewhat burdensome, HOWEVER they are a part of the book's strength. The 'scientific' approach lays a strong foundation for the conclusions reached vs. conclusions based on feelings and/or prejudices.
I sense that the writers were carefully chosen, so I trust that process and basically trust the writers. Thus the conclusion sections were valuable to me.
It is helpful to have the writers suggest how CWM composers could correct present deficiencies in current CWM.
John Witvliet's concluding chapter is meaty.

This well edited publication put into words what I had often felt: something was missing or awry in our contemporary church music. The best part is that each author offered constructive criticism and suggestions. This should be in the hands of worship leaders and pastors across the country in all types of churches. What a gift to the Christian community!

The Message in the Music: Studying Contemporary Praise and Worship
Brian Walrath and Robert Woods have brought together a series of essays on contemporary worship music. The ten essays are authored by knowledge-
able people from a variety of disciplines. The author of each section of the book gives a broad and honest appraisal of the history and the impact of contemporary Christian music.

The book gives the reader the feeling of attending a seminar on the subject of Christian music where the presenters deal with various aspects - both positive and negative - of contemporary Christian music and the influence of this music on the church.

The Message in the Music will be a great help to music students and to those who teach in the field of Christian music. Pastors, worship leaders, theologians, and writers and producers of Christian music will find this book a valuable resource. The book would also be very effective for small group discussion.

I found the book a very good read and most inspirational and informative.

Here are images drawn by a young man destined to be one of the premier designers of our time. They were done in the 1960-62 time frame when Mr. Graves was a student in Rome. He traveled across Europe sketching, painting and photographing. His subjects were primarily architectural, but also included images that his eye could pull out of a scene that the rest of us would miss.

These two years, Mr. Graves says in the Foreward, taught him to experiment with media, style, even places to paint other than in his studio. This was two years of independent graduate study that in part gave him the background to go on to the success that has made him almost a household word.

These are fascinating drawings, often showing the essence of a point of design with only a few strokes. The next picture captures what an architect of centuries earlier designed in a Roman structure. Once in a while there's a photograph to capture a particular scene. All in all, a view of what a talented person sees.

Prior to creating post-modernist architecture and becoming a household name (thanks to Target), Michael Graves' career took him to the American Academy in Rome from 1960 through 1962. While there, Graves immersed himself in the architecture of Rome, Italy, Greece, Turkey, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom which have been collected into a book aptly entitled "Michael Graves: Images of a Grand Tour".

The drawings within "Images if a Grand Tour" are grand themselves as they vary from quick pencil sketches to elaborate pen and ink sketches of full building perspectives, details, and partial cityscapes. All of the drawings exhume a certain elegance in their composition and mannerism despite the level of time and detail Graves may have paid to them.

Two important lessons can be drawn from the collection of Graves drawings. The first is that the importance of drawing to the representation of architecture - be it built or conceived - is unparalleled. The drawings contain gestures of ideas, form, etc. that Graves was highly interested in. This point is further reinforced with the inclusion of Graves' writing entitled "The Necessity for Drawing". The second lesson that can be observed from this collection is the emergence of Michael Graves as an Architect. Graves' noted architectural style evolves with his studies during those two years, and one can begin to see many of the forms and shapes arise from what Graves is immersed in.

Whether or not one may love or loathe the work of Michael Graves, "Images of a Grand Tour" is a superb collection of drawings that are worthy of note and worthy of owning.

In his newest book, Professor Brian Ambroziak eloquently displays the sketches, washes and images created by his mentor, Michael Graves, during his two year stay in Rome (having won the pristigious Prix de Rome). The most important thing about this book is that it is far from being a mere collection of work, beautiful though it is. Ambroziak asks us to look deeper into the work and search for the artistic conscience- for the connection between mind and hand that Graves exemplifies in his work. Looking at Graves' work while considering the education of the architect is an inspirational experience. I can imagine Graves' eye following the line of the horizon as he sketches the landscape of Rome- his pencil traveling carefully over the edges. In a similar way, Graves has a way of embedding architectural ideas into his drawings- they are not just documentation of a place. His "Theater of Dionysia" from Athens, the "Tempietto" from Rome, "Arch of Janus" on the Capitoline Hill, "La Rotunda" in Vicenza- every work in this book evidences the mental processes that Graves underwent during in his explorations of Italy, Greece, Turkey, France, Spain and the UK.
Attempting to understand the way in which architects think in terms of the connection between what they see and what they draw is vital to the understanding of architecture (and representation in general). I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to architecture students. There is much to learn from this work.

I found this book to be very clever, fun and useful. I have used this book to teach character education lessons including: community, sharing, diversity, acceptance, cooperation, and friendship as well as nutrition education. The rhythm of the verse is catchy and effective - and you can really "ham it up." The illustrations are a colorful food bouquet for the eyes. I especially like the intriguing cover, as well as the last page where a little girl looks with inquisitive puzzlement at the outside of her kitchen fridge! Adults can help children get so much out of this book; again and again and again.

This is a very delightful book. Not only are the pictures well done and vibrant, but the book is composed in lively verse that kids will love. All the foods argue about who is the best. One food says kids like him best because he's sweet but Spinach says he's the best because kids need vitamins. Then Hero Sandwich comes to the rescue, providing kids with the moral that they should eat a variety of foods. Quite clever and even teaches kids a good lesson. They'll love it!

The Midnight Fridge uses clever rhymes and puns along with illustrations filled with sight gags to convey a lesson in cooperation. Parents will not tire of reading this book again and again -- and from my experience and that of others, that is exactly what will happen. This book truly deserves to become a classic.

WOW! This guy researched his topic!! THis book, hidden behind the name of a "buyer's guide" is more like the "ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S GUIDE." The serial number lists alone set this book apart from any other M-M book out there.

This great book is set up in a easy to read model by model format. Included are, serial number runs, weights, sizes, pictures, details and facts. This book also cotaints locations to Moline related internet sites. All the sections of this book are usefully for a fledgling enthusiast (like me). This book is a great guide thats helped me enjoy a great hobby. A recommended buy!

Great book full of information on which tractors to buy, parts availability, collectibility on all models. A must have for anyone interested in Minneapolis Moline.

What a psychotic and hyper little book! And yet I found myself as much into the nutty and somehow amazingly educational songs as much as the kids were. Clearly is truly a master of getting kids to learn and he explains the concepts of addition in a way that actually makes sense, complete with jargon and plenty of realistic examples. Not to mention that the book is a complete blast to read.

I am the mother of two small boys, and in my attempt to give them an academic edge, I have come across this series of books....they are outstanding...I have and will continue to recommend these titles to everyone....They are simply the best for teaching your kids.....

Cat-loving illustrator, Brian Gable, and punny, poet Brian P. Cleary have combined once more to make a tough topic teachable and learnable. I love what they did with the WORDS ARE CATEGORICAL series (which include such titles as A MINK A FINK A SKATING RINK; WHAT IS A NOUN?), and it looks like they're bringing the same expertise to the arena of math for little people!

Corpses that move at night, a ghostly locomotive, a black stone monolith looming out of an overgrown country graveyard; with these elements, the stage is set for spooky mayhem in Brian S. Wheeler's new horror thriller: Mr. Hancock's Signature.

The setting is a small town somewhere in America's flatlands that is haunted by its past and has trepidations about its future. A river snakes through it, its waters haunted by the ghosts of dead children. The complex plot unfolds with a kind of hearse-like gravity, its dark currents moving slowly, cloaked in a mist that is rich with American gothic themes. At the center of a plot that swirls like a dark eddy under a railroad bridge is a body that won't sit still. The deceased, Mr. Hancock, is the last of his family, and the community has almost forgotten him. When the body arrives by train, the first impulse is to plant him in the Hancock family graveyard on a plot of land now owned by a wealthy penny pinching farmer named Drumming--but Drumming refuses to allow the burial, claiming he promised the dead man never to bury him with the rest of his family. The care of the body is relegated to the local undertaker until the issue can be resolved--but neither the matter nor the body rest there. In the next few nights, the corpse is repeatedly removed from the funeral home to assorted locations throughout the town by some unknown agent, and an enormous golem-like creature is glimpsed by several citizens limping through the dark streets. Dark questions surface like diseased carp. Why won't the body rest? Why does an invisible train rattle past an old warehouse? What secrets linger in a burned out movie theater? Why does a hard drinking minister carry two ancient revolvers through the streets at night, and claim that he sees dead children in the corners of his vision?

Since the days of Washington Irving, the supernatural thriller has been a staple of the American reader. The challenge of the genre is to create horrors on the page that tap the fears that each of us feels and that touch the center of our lives. The gothic impulse, even back in Europe (with ponderous tomes like Walpole's Castle of Otranto) relied heavily on an essential spookiness of place--but this was even more true on this side of the Atlantic where the density of persons in places was far thinner and the unconquered wilderness spoke more loudly and with a more earthbound (and perhaps even more terrible) voice than could be found in the ancient cities and haunted edifices of Europe. Poe's House of Ussher, is made infinitely more terrible by the haunted tarn that surrounds it. The thunder Rip Van Winkle hears in a mountain glen is as chilling as the mutterings of Hamlet's paternal ghost.

I won't give away all the book's secrets. Suffice it to say that in Mr. Hancock's Signature, Brian Wheeler pulls out all of the stops to extract every ounce of terror from his chosen landscape, creating a plot of enormous complexity and many (perhaps too many?) supernatural elements. There is ambitious storytelling here, reminiscent of the awesomely complex work of say, Steven King's Dark Tower series, but woven into a much simpler landscape--and not always achieving similarly successful results. Like King, Wheeler juggles valiantly to keep many dark balls in the air, building the tension in dark layers--but King is more successful in harnessing his demons and steering them toward specific narrative goals. Nevertheless there is fine writing here, some truly creepy moments, and a good supply of story telling courage--the latter being a reasonably rare commodity. Those looking for a richly dark book to read by the fire on a night when the wind howls outside will find that this book serves their purpose admirably.

When was the last time you read a great ghost story--for instance, one like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? For me, a great ghost story is not full of ugly, murderous ghosts, it is a literary tale of delight and wonder, one that keeps you on the edge of your seat as the storyteller shares his words of how those in the afterlife may sometimes make the life of we who are left behind just a little different--and sometimes in necessary ways to right the wrongs committed in the past. I am very pleased to introduce Brian S. Wheeler's Mr. Hancock's Signature--a ghost story extraordinaire!

In a little town in Monteray County, a young man named Stephen Hancock rocked on his porch as one by one every piece of furniture was being sold at auction. He was the last of a family who had lived long on their land, farming and providing for their needs. They rarely left home, choosing to bury their own right in the front yard where they could keep the small plot free from weeds and filled with flowers. Now people roamed through the flowers, sat on the tombstones, waiting to find that treasure that had lived in their neighbor's home. If they thought about Stephen that day, it was only to pray that they never would see the end of their family's line and also lose their homes. But Stephen just did not have the skills and heart to carry on the farm. His brother had been the one who had loved the land, but he had gone to war and when they sent home a casket, the only thing inside was an American flag.

Stephen's father was still alive at that time and his father sent him into town to find a stone that would do honor to the son who had given his life for his country. Stephen roamed through row after row of stones, trying to find the perfect one. All afternoon he searched, until finally, in desperation, he was taken into an old shed, so dark that they had to use a flashlight. And then that light disappeared, seemingly lost as it hit something that refused to reflect the light. That's when Stephen found the obelisk, its blackness was so deep, that he couldn't look away. Where did it come from? The salesman couldn't recall ever seeing it before... Later, Stephen and his father planted the empty box at its feet.

And it was there at the obelisk that Stephen said goodbye to his family and left the only home place he had ever known. It was also the place where Ian Washington, a young boy out for a bit of mischief, heard Stephen as he spoke to his dead brother, even though an empty casket was buried. And it was there that Ian saw a bright light and heard a humming sound that would stay with him through his life. He later wondered whether it was fate that brought him back to that little country town to become its city engineer.

For it was not too long after his arrival in town that the ghost train made it first visit back to the old train station. And when the sounds of the whistle from invisible steam coming from the invisible train disappeared, there was a coffin left alongside the old tracks. And surely it was fate that when the security guard found that coffin, the only city official he could find to sign off on its burial was, Ian Washington, the new engineer.

When that coffin was opened, there was nobody living in town who could identify the man who had died and been brought there--that is, until Mr. Drumming, who was one of the oldest and most prosperous farmers, was contacted and it was discovered that the body was that of Stephen Hancock. Indeed it had been Mr. Drumming who had purchased the land that had been the Hancock farm, for a lower price than it was worth, plus a promise.

Ian Washington could not share the secret that he had eavesdropped on the last prayers of Stephen Hancock, but he also couldn't forget his declaration that there would be nobody to bury him when it was his time. Ian Washington knew he was meant to ensure a proper burial, but there was no room in the little family cemetery that was now completely encircled by rows of corn. And Mr. Drumming was not interested in working with Ian to provide additional land.

And so the body was taken to a funeral home. There William Compton cared for him just as he would for anybody and promised to keep him there to wait for final burial as soon as a location could be found. But by the next day, the body had disappeared. It was found later that day and returned--only to be again stolen that night. There were some who said they caught sight of something that looked like a man dragging a dead body. At least one knew it was a golem of a man.

Jack Johnstone had seen that golem, just as he saw the others--those that lived in the depths of the river. As a young boy, he had been one of those children who challenged the river by jumping from the train tracks into its depth. And it was Jack who had one day convinced his young friend that it would be easy and would gain him a good reputation in town. The young friend instead became one of those who never came up to the surface but stayed there, waiting. It was then that Jack had begun to see them, as they taunted and followed him as he left.

Jack Johnstone had become the town drunk and during those hours under its influence, he would start talking about what he saw. Soon he had a following and it became a church, a strange church indeed, where all the men carried guns and Jack Johnstone carried Fire and Brimstone, two ancient pistols that he laid across the Bible each Sunday.

And as Mr. Hancock's body was moved from place to place, it was Ian Washington and Jack Johnstone who joined together with the now-haunted funeral director and other town people to help ensure that the dead walking in Monteray would finally be able to go home. But would they succeed? And would the engineer of the Ghost Train wait?

This tale is riveting, yet brilliantly written in a voice that tantalizingly tells of a small country town where the dead walked, until neighbors stopped fighting and drew together to help those who could no longer help themselves. You'll be sorry if you miss this one!

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (5/08)

"Mr. Hancock's Signature" is the story of two dead brothers, and civic planner Ian Washington, who bring restoration to a flatlands community in Monteray County. The story is filled with unexpected, strange events and peculiar people. A golem, water sprites, and a ghost train add to heighten the level of fear in a community steeped with a heritage of superstitions, myths, folklore, and stories of magic.

Brian Wheeler is a wordsmith extraordinaire. Whether describing the "leaves rustling a mournful melody through the trees" of the cemetery or "a faint trickle turned into the thumping sound of heavy rain on a shingled roof," Brian paints word pictures of the flatlands of a fictitious community in Monteray county.

Brian's characters take on a life of their own through dialog. He uses a natural flow of conversation to introduce background material and insight into the setting, as well as certain traits of the characters. Wheeler skillfully creates dialog to further enhance the strength of the narrative. He incorporates the use of specific speech patterns and accents to establish the time and locale of his story while interjecting natural physical actions during a conversation. "Like I told you, Gerald" - Mr. Drumming pulled at his suspenders - "I had to make a promise...."

I found myself involved in Ian's struggle. As a teenager Ian witnessed an eerie experience in a cemetery, an experience that haunted him. Years later he returns to Monteray County. Through his position with the county Ian has an opportunity to ensure the proper burial of the "man from the cemetery," Mr. Hancock, when his corpse inexplicably appears at the railway station, then disappears from the funeral parlor's basement to be mysteriously dragged to several historical locations in the community. Ian, a colorful preacher, and the funeral proprietor seek to resolve the unusual dilemma of Mr. Hancock.

Brian skillfully uses the cycle of conflict, tension, and momentary relief to keep the reader caught up in a complex plot to the final dramatic conclusion. Throughout the narrative Wheeler purposefully weaves in questions of a spirit world inhabiting the community that leaves the reader with unanswered questions as to their personal feeling regarding the realm of the unknown, glancing sideways to catch faces and movement out of the corner of the eye or to listen for whisperings in the darkness.

"Mr. Hancock's Signature" is a book for the reader who enjoys intrigue, fantasy, and the unexplained. I was personally intrigued by Brian Wheeler's writing style, compelling plot, and memorable characters. I eagerly await the next novel in this series. Compelling and haunting.