G Books

"With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else matters."

That's one reason why Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis wrote Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls. The other belief is that the study and literature of judgment don't offer much helpful guidance for business leaders.

In thirteen chapters, the authors set out to remedy the lack. They come to the task with two important qualifications. Both are students of the subject and they offer us a blend of research from a variety of disciplines. Both have spent a lot of time "hanging out" with leaders and they bring us the stories of what they've seen.

The first chapter, Judgment and Leadership drives their stakes firmly into the ground. They tell us that making judgment calls is the essential job of a leader.

They also set long term success as the sole measure of good judgment. This is a bit of a problem because several of their examples have only recently gone through their decision process. Jeff Immelt's judgments may be great, for example, but it's too soon to tell if they meet the test of long term success.

This is also the chapter where the authors identify execution as part of the decision process. Most other writers on business decision making take us only up to the point of decision and leave execution as if were foreordained by a good decision.

Other writers see decision making as the work of the leader and execution as the work of his or her subordinates. Making follow-up and follow-through a part of the judgment process makes this book truly valuable.

Because they see the process as including execution and adaptation they avoid the overly rational, straight-line models of other writers. This gives us an understanding of judgment more likely to work in the real world.

The second chapter, Framework for Leadership Judgment, defines judgment as a process, not an event. The process involves recognizing the need for a decision, "naming and framing" the call, and execution and adjustment.

The authors also define the three critical domains where a leader will make decisions. They are people, strategy, and crisis. Effective judgments in people often prevent poor strategy judgments and the need for crisis judgments.

Having a Storyline is a chapter about what the authors call "Teachable Points of View," inevitably shortened to TPOV. We're told to imagine the better future and develop compelling and practical storylines to help others understand the issues and decision.

Chapter 4 is about how a leader must have Character and Courage. That means having clear standards and the strength to maintain those standards in the face of pressure and the challenge of obstacles. They tell us that "Character without courage is meaningless. Courage without good character is dangerous."

With a clear idea of the process and the importance of storylines and character, the authors are ready to start devoting chapters to judgment calls in the three domains. They start with People Judgment Calls because they see them as the platform for good strategic and crisis judgments.

Selecting a CEO is the most important judgment call and we're told that hiring from outside signals a failed process. There are plenty of good and bad examples of CEO Succession processes.

A lot of time is spent on the GE succession processes for both Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt. The authors point out that at GE there are lots of people doing lots of assessments which helps make succession effective throughout the organization. They also note that the board is only involved in the succession process for CEO, adding another level of assessment that includes outsiders.

Chapter 7 is devoted to Strategy Judgments. Strategy judgments constantly evolve and should be made by the CEO, not some corporate planning staff. The authors make a key point that's often overlooked, that the best strategic judgments are a mix of logic and feel, of left brain and right brain.

If you ever wondered where Noel Tichy has spent most of his time, all the references to GE in this book will give you the answer. Chapter 8 is entirely devoted to Jeff Immelt's Strategy Judgments at GE.

There are three key insights in Chapter 9, Crisis Judgments. Bad judgments in people or strategy are a common cause of crises. Leaders need to take personal responsibility for handling crises. And, a common mistake is to lose sight of your overall mission. Once a crisis happens, teamwork and focus make the difference.

Bennis and Tichy suggest that we see Crisis as a Leadership Development Opportunity in chapter 10. The basic points they make in this chapter are good ones. You should prepare in advance for crises because when they happen it's too late for thoughtful decision-making. And the crisis can provide you with a wonderful opportunity to use meeting the challenge as a form of leadership development.

This chapter also illustrates a weakness in the book. The authors were involved in many of the processes they describe. That's good. It gives them first hand experience.

The problem is that it leads them to write about situations that simply haven't played out enough to meet their test for long term success. Jeff Immelt's strategic judgments are one example. Another is Circuit City which gets lots of ink in this chapter.

Circuit City also illustrates the willingness of the authors to take what client top management tells them at face value. How else to describe the way they deal with Circuit City's layoffs of their top sales staff in the stores to replace them with less expensive (and less knowledgeable) people.

The authors tell us "The judgment to make cuts was good. The PR was not so good." In reality more than the PR was not so good.

The layoffs were ham-handed at best. They removed knowledgeable sales staff from the stores, resulting in far lower add-on business.

The way things were handled was also completely at odds with the CEO's TPOV that "what is good for associates is also what helps customers." In fact, Circuit City fired the very associates who could help customers the most and replaced them with low-wage "tag readers."

Chapter 11 builds on the Knowledge Creation theme. There are three key points. Leaders should critique their own performance. Knowledge creation for all levels should be an explicit goal. And frontline employees are the new knowledge workers. The authors identify four kinds of knowledge that leaders need to make effective judgments: self-knowledge, social network knowledge, organizational knowledge, and contextual knowledge.

Then we come to chapter 12 which is the story of the New York City Leadership Academy. On the one hand, this is a good, comprehensive case that is well rendered. But it's also a very different leadership situation for everything else in the book. A comprehensive business case would have been better. So would eliminating this chapter entirely.

After a short (2 page) Conclusion, the book is filled out with a Handbook for Leadership Judgment. It covers the same ground as the main book, but with lots of questions and charts. It's a good addition because it gives you a way to consolidate personal lessons.

This is a superbly-written business book by two experts in the field who share both research and excellent teaching stories. Their core insight (that execution is part of judgment) is powerful and different from other business authors. Their simple process will be usable by all business leaders.

If you are in business and make decisions, you should read this book.

Here's a quick summary of my thoughts.

How this book is different:

The authors write about a process of judgment that includes preparation (including naming and framing the issue), the decision, and execution and adaptation. This is virtually unique among writers on business judgment, most of whom treat decision as something the leader does and execution as something followers do.

This process is much more real world than I've seen elsewhere. Unlike overly rational models, it stresses the need for both logic and "feel." Unlike straight-line, one-time-through models it includes adaptation and re-do loops.

This is a comprehensive approach. The authors see the process in time as one dimension of judgment. Others are domains (people, strategy, and crisis), and constituencies. They also say that a leader needs four kinds of knowledge to be effective: self-knowledge, social network knowledge, organizational knowledge, and contextual knowledge.

Strengths:

A simple, yet sophisticated and easy to understand and implement process for making judgment calls. It identifies long term success as the sole measure of good judgment. You can use this process in any kind of organization.

Excellent writing that combines research from a number of fields with good storytelling. The stories are long enough to make several points. They include stories where things didn't work right the first time.

A "Handbook for Leadership Judgment" that follows the main book and gives you a way to apply the insights in your own situation.

There are excellent descriptions of workshop and learning processes that you can take and modify to suit.

Warnings:

The authors write mostly about organizations that they've been involved with and that leads to two problems. They include judgments that haven't met their own test of long term success. And, they've often drunk their own Kool-Aid and present things as seen from the executive suite and not from either the front line or the outside.

There's a lot of GE here because Tichy's been involved with GE since the 60s. Sometimes that means he settles for an easy to find GE example instead of digging out a better example from elsewhere.

There's no discussion of how a CEO gets information or sorts wheat from chaff. Those are important parts of decision making.

This book, like too many others, is written as if the reader is a big company CEO. While the points are all good, the perspective means you will have to do some adapting.

Bottom Line:

This is a must-read for business leaders.

Here's an important book on judgment and decision-making--and how leaders focus on the consequential. The authors write, "Jack Welch used to say at GE that if he wasn't careful with his time, he could spend days at the company's headquarters knee deep in bureaucratic crap and add no value to the company."

Another customer reviewer here nailed the importance of this book. He called it a "gem among a sea of brain-dead business books." I agree on both counts. When Warren Bennis speaks, people listen. Normally, hot books create their own buzz, but my circles are not talking about this one yet. It's a weighty topic (392 pages) and a slim-jim novelette wouldn't do it justice.

Judgment, preach the authors, is "the essence of effective leadership." It involves three domains: people, strategy and crisis. Interestingly, those are three of my 20 management buckets: the People Bucket, the Strategy Bucket and the Crisis Bucket in my book, Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit. They call judgment the proverbial elephant on the table--because it's rarely addressed. "Without a deeper and more compelling understanding of how leaders exercise judgment, the study of leadership can never be complete," they write.

"Take any leader, a U.S. president, a Fortune 500 CEO, a big league coach, wartime general, you name it. Chances are you remember them for their best or worst judgment call." Examples: Harry Truman (atom bomb), Nixon (Watergate), Bill Clinton (Monica), Coca-Cola's Robert Goizueta (New Coke), and Carly Fiorina ("for destroying HP's redoubtable culture").

The stories and anecdotes are rich, sometimes page-turning (wow--they do not like Fiorina). The 100-page "Handbook for Leadership Judgment" is a model for what's missing from other brain-dead business books. Buy it. Read it. Study it. You'll enhance your judgment and decision-making. Guaranteed.

I throughly enjoyed reading this book. I have studied Warren Bennis extensively within my Doctorate program in Organization Development. Tichy and Bennis are throughly enjoyable to read.

The audio book CD version of "Judgment" is excellent. Tichey & Bennis offer a thorough and practical framework- framing & naming the issue, making the call, and execution- for considering and making business judgments. Tichey is highly regarded in the field and provided many useful examples from his tenure running GE's famed Crotonville Leadership Center. Unlike some other business books, Tichey & Bennis were not afraid to say when bad judgments and mistakes were made, such as HP's Board's hiring Carly Fiorina along with numerous bad judgments made during Fiorina's tenure as CEO. It's an excellent guide to the judgment process.

If you are a manager who wants to develop the skills of executive management, this book is for you. The authors provide a methodology that is not simple, but still quite understandable. It would be ideal for a course of MBA or Executive MBA students wanting to get a framework for decision making.

The book has 13 chapters and then a handbook. The handbook is designed to help you take the material learned in the book and apply it to your personal situation. The chapters start by showing you the connection between judgment and leadership. They then provide a framework (a matrix) for "leadership judgment". This process is used heavily throughout the book, so pay attention to this chapter.

Chapters 3 through 6 are key to understanding the personal aspect to leadership and judgment. The authors want you to have a story line that you can not only communicate, but teach to others and in that way lead. The connection between character and courage is explored including where courage becomes foolhardy and takes you off the rails. The two chapters on the importance of people judgment are very important and you should pay close attention to them.

Chapters 7 and 8 focus on judgments regarding strategy while chapters 9 and 10 deal with judgments in times of crisis (and how to prepare for it and how to prevent most of it). Chapter 11 shows the connection between good judgment and continuous learning and chapter 12 talks about teaching leadership. I wasn't particularly wowed by this material.

The concluding chapter is a two page summary of the book and notes that the dimensions in which the complex process of judgment unfolds are time, domain (people, strategy, crisis), and constituencies (being aware of your audience, who is and needs to be involved, and how to interact effectively). Tichy and Bennis also reiterate the four types of knowledge a leader must have to make good judgments: Self-knlowedge. Social Network Knowledge, Organizational Knowledge, and Contextual Knowledge.

The book is full of great examples from real companies and real people. They illustrate the points of the text quite aptly. However, they are the one bone I would pick with the authors. It is easy to intentionally or unintentionally mislead readers with stories of success and say that these successes were the results of this method or demonstrate that our principles work because they worked in these instances. However, the positive connection to them is not proven beyond the sheer number of them. But leaders with good judgment also fail at times because a certain amount of randomness is built into the system.

Jack Welch is quoted as saying that he gets his people decisions right about 80% of the time. OK, I don't want to argue with him about his perceptions, but what exactly does "getting it right" mean? Jeff Immelt is heralded in the book, but recent events show him able to make huge mistakes as well. Does this mean he wasn't prepared to lead? Or that he turned stupid? Or is it that sometimes reality overtakes even the best preparations and plans? You can make your own judgments. However, I would love to see the book where the authors look at current events at the time they are writing the book and make strong and precise PREDICTIONS as the do in analysis of past events. If they can get those right, I will trust their analyses more.

Still, quite a good and useful book.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Yum! This book is great! Easy to follow. Check out the BBQ chicken. My parents came over for the first time for dinner (I'm a newly wed) and they ooohh and ahhhh over the BBQ chicken and wanted to know what I did. Anyways, I can't wait to try other recipes in the book! A must recipe book to own for busy or newly wed people like me!

I can't say how much we have enjoyed this cookbook. It inspired my son (older teenager) to actually learn how to cook and cook well. Instead of grabbing a hamburger, he now looks in this cookbook and makes something to eat at home. The recipes are healthy and tasty and easy to prepare.

Fantastic book for treating myself right with a tasty, healthy dinner a couple nights a week.

Has also put me at ease with a few practiced recipes that I am confident serving to dates.

Jen's approach makes it just as easy and fast to whip up a healthy personally crafted meal as it would have been to warm up some Stouffer's. A MUST OWN for anyone who needs a cook book.

This cookbook makes it possible to cook healthy, tasty food after you've worked all day and without any compromises. Jennifer is an extremely talented and inspiring writer and cook and unlike most cooks, knows nutrition! As a busy Mom herself, you can't get better advice on what pleases kids. This is not just a list of good healthy recipes (the wonton soup and fruit compote for example are fabulous), but unlike other cookbooks, she actually explains in her introduction professional cooks' best kept secrets and is an inspiration for maintaining the delight of being with your family for a simple, delicious home cooked meal. Say goodbye to those styrofoam take-out dinners, Jennifer shows you how to cook a healthier, cheaper meal in about the same time. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that there are so few pictures, but the layout and design are topnotch.

As a mother of two picky under 8-year old boys this cookbook has been a treasure. My kids enjoy helping whip these dinners, lunches and breakfasts up with me and on top of that they enjoy eating them also.
We now have banana pancakes with honey-butter for breakfast instead of the usual high fat, high sugar, low nutrient breakfast cereals. They enjoy sandwiches other than pb&j for lunch (and yes, they are no-trade lunches as the title of the chapter says!) with veggies and a little dipping sauce. Our dinners are not as stressful for me because Jennifer teaches you how to stalk your pantry so you can get home and answer that age-old question "What's for dinner?" in a matter of minutes by surveying your supplies. Jennifer's cookbook brings the fun back to the kitchen. Thank you!

I followed Martin's swim via his web site from start to finish. Needless to say I couldn't wait for the book. I read it in just two sittings and found the insites into the man and his crew to be simpley amazing. Matthew wrote this as a day to day diary, just as the web site did. For those of us that will never experance the Amazon in person, it gives you the feel of the jungle and the strength and determation of this man. He has to considered one of the greatest and most unselfish people on this planet. To do this, to open the eyes of the rest of us to what is really happening with the inviornment is an accomplishment that no politican or hollywood movie could ever do. If we had Martin Strel running the governments of this world it would be a better place for all of us. Martin proves that anything is possible if you really want it. A must read for anyone who say's "I just can't do that".

This is your quintessential "page turner." Despite being fully aware of how the story ends, I found my fingers glued to the book, just dying to know what would happen next. In addition to chronicling Strel's astonishing athletic feet, Mohlke also allows the reader to voyeur his or her way onto the boat as we meet members of the crew and delve into small human dramas which unfold as they travel deeper into the deadly jungle, (I, too, can't wait for the movie.) All is written by an author who was masterfully able to marry articulacy with slang, and eloquence with wit. I loved it.

What Martin Strel did is unbelievable! This story is written beautifully to chronicle the journey through the jungle, as well as unveil the different sides of a man who seems incredibly human, yet not human, at the same time. The daily, journal style arrangement of this book has an easy, exciting flow and makes it near impossible to put down. I am exctied for the documentary "Big River Man" to come out, to put a face to all of the characters of the book!.....Here's to hoping that Martin's dream of peace, clean water, and friendship will be realized.

The story of a 'fat man' with the heart of a (sea)lion who swam the Amazon is one to inspire all of us who see ourselves in our dreams as athletes. It is compelling because it is often a life and death struggle with this overwelming monster of a river. It is also full of humanity, strength, frailty and beauty as it is the story of Martin and his support team who appreciate and deeply experience the wonder of the great river, the jungle and the different people along the way.

From the very first page, you know you are in for the story of your life. It is overwhelming to even think of the logistics involved in this unprecedented level of accomplishment - and even more so that it was the grueling feat of a man who, in most walks of life, would be well past his atheletic prime. Author, Matthew Mohlke, brings the reader onto the expedition, the highs and the lows. And if it is Martin's intent to remind the world of the need to preserve the beauty of our forests and rivers, he has accomplished just that with his passionate and unswerving devotion to this cause. In The Man Who Swam The Amazon, the authors share the danger and the beauty; taking the reader on a page-turning adventure that no script writer could ever improve upon. Thank you Martin and your whole incredible team for sharing all 3,274 miles with us; I could have read a page for every mile.

I needed this book right away for a Summer school class, and I received the book less than a week after ordering it!

This is the wonderful first edition of The Mathematical Experience written by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh. However it is NOT the study edition which was designed for use in the classroom. The ISBN number for the Study edition is: 0-8176-3739-7.
The authors are Davis, Hersh, and Marchisotto

In my view, this book (which looks like a collection of articles gathered up under several rubrics) shares typical achievements and flaws of all popular-math literature; namely, it's enjoyable and enlightening as far as historical and philosophical aspects of the material presented, yet when they authors actually get to mathematics, it becomes fragmeted, jerky, and confused. Symptomatic of this is the chapter on nonstandard calculus: the historical narrative is very interesting, yet the math proper is confused and incomprehensible. Perhaps that is because it's impossible to express it fully and right in a popularizing context; perhaps it is so because I'm too obtuse to have understood it (but then the most of the target audience is probably no better); or maybe it's because the authors didn't do a terribly good job of it. The next chapter (Fourier analysis) suffers from the same.

Overall, I say, it's a good, although overrated, book. Read it, get what you can out of it and don't fret about the rest: the book is really a collection of articles, apparently written for different purposes, at different times, and for different publications; the quality of writing varies from section to section, although the overall structure and topicality are unquestionably very good. The book has an extensive and diverse bibliography along with a rather mediocre (close to names-only) index. Well, no book is perfect, including this one: overall it's solid four stars -- recommended.

The authors deal with various important aspects of mathematics and about practising mathematics. They also deal with the philosophy of mathematics. By and large, they do it engagingly. Specifically, they tackle why mathematics seems to 'work'; how a mathematician actually goes about doing mathematics; they offer some light treatment of a few mathematical topics, and they illustrate mathematical thinking as well.

This book is best read by students thinking about choosing mathematics as a career, or even just as a field of study. Although, any layperson will come off with a greater appreciation of what mathematics is, and what mathematicians do.

The Mathematical Experience by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh
1981 Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston

Is all of pure mathematics a meaningless game? What are the contradictions that upset the very foundations of mathematics? If a can of tuna cost $1.05 how much does two cans of tuna cost (Pg. 71)? If you think you know the answer, don't be so sure. How old are the oldest mathematical tables? What is mathematics anyway, and why does it work? Can anyone prove that 1 + 1 = 2?
This is a book about the history and philosophy of mathematics. I'm certainly not a mathematician, and there are parts of the book I will never understand, yet the balance of it made the experience well worth while. The authors presented the material so that it is interesting and (mostly) easily understood. They have a creative way of making a difficult subject exciting. They do this by giving us insights into how mathematicians work and create. They live up to the title making mathematics a human experience by adding fascinating history. Frankly I was shocked when they pointing out how even mathematicians have made questionable assumptions and taken some basic "truths" on faith. They show the beauty of math in the "Aesthetic Component" chapter. Ultimately the question that comes up again and again is the question of whether or not we can really know anything about time and space independent of our own experience to make an adequate foundation for a complete system in mathematics. If you have ever wondered about the world of mathematics and the personalities involved you might consider this book. If you are a mathematics teacher you should read this book. If you are a mathematician you could find it quite unsettling.
It contains eight chapters, each one broken up into many subtitles so if you do get bogged down in the mathematics it isn't for long. There are 440 pages. I'd like to see a much more complete glossary for people like me who need it.

I enjoy being able to carry this in my purse. I use it several times a week. There are some very good applications in the book.

If you're looking for another book "like this one", I recommend DEAR JESUS. It's even better than this one and is the same small size for your purse or desk.

Beth Moore's inspirational words and accompanying scripture "raise me up" on a daily basis. I don't know how she does it, but her writings always seem to hit me where I live. Excellent daily devotinal!

The book is very thoughtful and stimulating. Helps one to actually think about Christ, your moment by moment gift of life, and most of all, to be thankful and humble, if you read the words with your true heart.

This little devotional is a wonderful little book. It is dated of course by the day. So you can use it year after year. The mighty wisdom of Beth Moore is such in inspiration to keep you close to God. I admit some days I don't get my devotional in, but its easy to catch up on or pick up where the next day begins. Love it!!!!!!!

I enjoyed the book very much. There are features that can be used daily.
I'm so glad I found an almost new condition copy on Amazon.

This book is so endearing. It truly is a challenge to keep our society G-Rated. The Hatch family is the Swiss Family Robinson of the 21st Century.
Buy this book for any parent that you know!

Brent and Phelecia Hatch have seven children; and they are parents who are unafraid to admit they're not perfect. I met Brent at Book Expo America and joked, "I tell my husband he's the calm and I'm the storm." He said he and his wife were the exact opposite. The Hatches admit their shortcomings and help you learn how to overcome those shortcomings and others. Now that I've read this book, maybe my children will see the movie "Old Yeller" in the DVD store and not think it's about me!

I am father of Six truly believe if everyone followed with the advice in this book we would have less problems in our homes and society.
Devin Willis

I have raised three children myself and it would have been wonderful if this book was in circulation at that time. There are so may different experiences the Hatchs have come across in their life time and I'm sure each of us can relate to at least a few of these. Their helpful ways to look at these situations is so informative. Just to step back, look at our own relationships and reactions, then give that hug, count to ten, take that walk, and make that necessary change to help move forward today. It's never to late and although different experiences may take longer than others, raising children in this X rated world or just handling all relationships for the better, make this book worth it's reading. Thank you Brent and Phelicia.

I had the pleasure to see Brent Hatch deliver the Keynote address at the Parenting University in Valencia, California. It was excellent! Brent Hatch's positive attitude is absolutely contagious. It was everything I expected from the book and more! He had the audience laughing, hugging, crying, and more importantly, motivated to be better parents. The 10 tools in his book and seminar are simple and immediately applicable. After the seminar, everyone was walking around using the Hug Card, laughing and giving each other hugs. I overheard many people saying that they did not come from "hugging" families, but that they wanted to change that with their children. People were excited to go home and immediately start a "Cotton ball jar" or "Band-aid Magnet" with their kids. What a different world we would live in if everyone applied the simple concepts that the Hatches teach.

This is my favorite book of all five books I have.You see it starts out with a couple skating competition that Ranma and Akane are in. Exept not only are they doing this to prove that Ranma can do any materials arts (even skating!) they also compete for the cute pig side of Ryoga who was captured by this new character (I forgot what her name was) during the time Akane was skating in the ice rink in volume 2.The new girl (who when ever finds something cute picks it up and names it)is also competing for what she calls the cute pig side of Ryoga Charrelote! Akane being mad at the fact gets into the competition. But during the competition there is a black out! I don't want to ruin the surprise and tell you the rest so i geuss you will have to figure out yourself buy it I'm sure you will love it . Oh! and it also has the first apperence of Shampoo! The kick butt chinese chick!

Just when it seems that things are going right for Ranma Saotome, they promptly go wrong again.

That's the way it is with the entrance of one of Rumiko Takahashi's most popular characters, the won't-take-no-for-an-answer Amazon Shampoo. The third volume of "Ranma 1/2" has Ranma and Akane reaching a new level of interest in each other.... only to have Shampoo shatter it.

The day dawns for the martial-arts skating competition, and Ranma is more determined than ever to beat womanizing Mikado Sanzenin (who gave him his first kiss in the previous volume). But Ranma is given a savage beating that almost kills him -- and soon Ryoga/P-chan/Charlotte has entered the rink, determined to beat the figure skaters as well.

No sooner have Ranma and Akane gotten off the rink than a new problem arises: A Chinese girl batters through a wall, announcing "Ranma, I kill!" She's Shampoo, a Chinese Amazon whom Ranma defeated in one-on-one combat in China. Now Shampoo won't be satisfied until (female) Ranma is dead.

But when she encounters Ranma in his male form, and he accidently defeats her, Shampoo falls in love with him. Now Akane is seething with jealousy, and Ranma is trying to evade a new fiancee who wants him as a guy -- and wants him dead as a girl. Even worse, Shampoo's devotion to her new "groom" extends to giving Akane selective amnesia -- she remembers everything except Ranma.

Before this volume of "Ranma 1/2," the romantic problems were pretty straightforward, and the only rival was a guy who is too shy to say how he feels. But with the arrival of Shampoo, the tangled web of love starts to form -- and poor Ranma is stuck right in the middle of it.

There's more romance than martial-arts in this volume, despite the long-awaited skating match. Poor Ranma is being pursued romantically by a womanizing skater and a deranged Amazon, and it's rapidly becoming a lot more than his limited skills can handle. And only Ranma could pull off a little frilly skating dress.

Romantics will get a few thrills in this volume: Ranma threatens Mikado for saying that he'll kiss Akane, and later vows that he will make sure Akane remembers him. And when Akane takes her jealous frustrations about Ranma out on a straw dummy, she remembers his threat, and them gently hugs the dummy.

Romantic problems get more intense in the third volume of "Ranma 1/2," with the arrival of Shampoo, Fiancee No. 2. And things only get more complex later on....

I was having dinner with my boyfriend at his parents house and after dinner i noticed his sister had this book sitting out. As an avid book lover who devotes her entire being into reading a book, i naturaly inquired about it. My boyfriend and his dad gave it rave reviews and his sister was so far very amused and impressed. Such high ratings from non-book lovers! The sarcasm and humor (yes on every page) are a riot! What can i say - I'M HOOKED! :D

Living in Japan comes with numerous perks. First off, I can brush up on my marginally acceptable Japanese-speaking skills, but I also have access to some things that I just couldn't get enough of anywhere else. Well, Ranma 1/2 lurks near the top of that list.

Rumiko Takahashi, arguably one of the best and most creative writers of manga in history, presents us with the longest-running series of her impressive resume - the story of a teenaged martial arts master, Ranma Saotome, and his irresponsible trainer and father, Genma. Genma takes him to Jusenkyo, a collection of hot springs in China. If only Genma had known how to read Chinese, he would have known that the springs afflict those who fall into them with evil and seemingly irreversible curses - as Ranma and Genma unwittingly duel it out atop bamboo poles high over the springs, Ranma kicks his father into "The Spring of Drowned Giant Panda" ... surprise, out jumps a Giant Panda, ready to resume fighting. Bewildered, Ranma is hit by the panda into "The Spring of Drowned Young Girl", and meets the surface with the curse that haunts his life - you see, once Genma and Ranma make contact with cold water, Genma becomes a panda, and Ranma becomes a female version of himself. Not to completely worry though, because hot water will bring them back to normal every time. But that's only the beginning of the story. Genma trained with a man called Soun Tendo, the father of three teenage girls - Genma and Soun agreed to marry Ranma with one of his girls. The money-grabbing Nabiki and the impossibly-kind Kasumi, the elder sisters, elect the unwilling boy-hating Akane to become fiancees with this "hentai otoko", and this is the rocky start to the relationship that the series revolves around.

Having already read the entire Ranma 1/2 series, I can honestly say that the third book (fourth in Japan, somehow) was one of the best. It begins with the continuation of the ice-skating competition, with not only one, but TWO of the cutest scenes you'll ever see, plus a great appearance by Ryoga, who is lovestruck with Akane. It's after the competition ends that we're introduced to the sexy Chinese Amazon warrior girl, Shampoo. Female Ranma defeated Shampoo in a tournament of sorts while he was back in China. That's wonderful and all, but the only problem is that Shampoo gives "The Kiss of Death" to all females who defeat her - it's the vow that she'll hunt them down and kill them, whatever it takes. Well, she's followed Ranma into Japan, and now he's on the run again. Just one thing - she has never seen the male-version Ranma. He ends up defeating her as well. Expecting the worst, the terrified Ranma is pushed into another "Kiss of Death", but, somehow, this one is a bit different: Shampoo kisses him on the lips, and means it. The other half of Shampoo's vows are that if a male defeats her, she vows to marry him. And with that, Shampoo is trying to kill one half of Ranma, while trying desperately to seduce the other half. The irony here is obvious and hilarious, and it's situations like these that Rumiko Takahashi has the ability to work with flawlessly.

As you can imagine, Akane (although she won't admit it) is quite jealous and annoyed by Shampoo's advances towards her fiancee - and although Ranma and Akane would rather die than admit any sort of more-than-platonic feelings for each other, we can start to see the sweet silhouette of some sort of attraction between them when Akane meets her first rival suitor for Ranma. Akane, being the violent tomboy, picks a fight with Shampoo. Ranma realizes that Akane is no match for Shampoo, so he comes to her rescue to find her lying on the ground - she wakes up with part of her memory gone - the part of her memory that has anything to do with Ranma, that is. Of course it's Shampoo's wily tricks that did this to her, and Ranma is determined to find the '911' formula shampoo that will bring her memory back. He ends up successful in bringing Akane's memory back, and all is well for everyone. Well, except for Shampoo. It's then that she discovers the shocking secret that Ranma keeps, and is devastated. She leaves (presumably for China) with tears in her eyes ... but distance makes the heart grow fonder, as they say.

If you're as in love with this series as I am, you must read on, it's definitely worth it. The beginning is all about introducing main characters and building the foundations of their relationship with everyone else, but as we progress through the story, the relationships start to develop and Rumiko Takahashi can leave us all with endearing smiles on our faces at this very sweet, hilarious, and exciting action-packed romantic-comedy.

Just when it seems that things are going right for Ranma Saotome, they promptly go wrong again.

That's the way it is with the entrance of one of Rumiko Takahashi's most popular characters, the won't-take-no-for-an-answer Amazon Shampoo. The third volume of "Ranma 1/2" has Ranma and Akane reaching a new level of interest in each other.... only to have Shampoo shatter it.

The day dawns for the martial-arts skating competition, and Ranma is more determined than ever to beat womanizing Mikado Sanzenin (who gave him his first kiss in the previous volume). But Ranma is given a savage beating that almost kills him -- and soon Ryoga/P-chan/Charlotte has entered the rink, determined to beat the figure skaters as well.

No sooner have Ranma and Akane gotten off the rink than a new problem arises: A Chinese girl batters through a wall, announcing "Ranma, I kill!" She's Shampoo, a Chinese Amazon whom Ranma defeated in one-on-one combat in China. Now Shampoo won't be satisfied until (female) Ranma is dead.

But when she encounters Ranma in his male form, and he accidently defeats her, Shampoo falls in love with him. Now Akane is seething with jealousy, and Ranma is trying to evade a new fiancee who wants him as a guy -- and wants him dead as a girl. Even worse, Shampoo's devotion to her new "groom" extends to giving Akane selective amnesia -- she remembers everything except Ranma.

Before this volume of "Ranma 1/2," the romantic problems were pretty straightforward, and the only rival was a guy who is too shy to say how he feels. But with the arrival of Shampoo, the tangled web of love starts to form -- and poor Ranma is stuck right in the middle of it.

There's more romance than martial-arts in this volume, despite the long-awaited skating match. Poor Ranma is being pursued romantically by a womanizing skater and a deranged Amazon, and it's rapidly becoming a lot more than his limited skills can handle. And only Ranma could pull off a little frilly skating dress.

Romantics will get a few thrills in this volume: Ranma threatens Mikado for saying that he'll kiss Akane, and later vows that he will make sure Akane remembers him. And when Akane takes her jealous frustrations about Ranma out on a straw dummy, she remembers his threat, and them gently hugs the dummy.

Romantic problems get more intense in the third volume of "Ranma 1/2," with the arrival of Shampoo, Fiancee No. 2. And things only get more complex later on....

My ten-year-old son and I loved this audio book. We couldn't wait to hear about all the "wonderfuls". Highly recommended.

So I am a sucker for all those downhome novels celebrating small-town life. Oh well. This book fits that niche of mine well as it blatantly declares to the world that even the most simple of places may be hiding something extraordinary. Granted, the discoveries made here would probably be the mock and scorn of more civilized areas, but they held a sweetly strong spirit that appealed to my sense of story-telling. The writing is bright, cheerful, and expressive. I was impressed by the assortment of well-drawn characters complete with their personal drama, humor, and mysteries. I expected a pretty caged plot, but the story was loose enough, depending on its characters with their individual stories, to let itself become entrenched in emotions. It's not at the level of Kate DiCamillo or Richard Peck, but Ms. Birney did make something pretty darn sweet.

Our town chooses a book each winter, which they call the "One Book, One Community Project". We just moved here so this is our 1st and I am very excited about the project. As soon as I heard about it, I went to the library and checked out the book. Even before my 3rd grader started it in school. The book is so engaging and really gets your imagination juices flowing. I really am enjoying the events our community is putting together that tie into the Wonders of Sassafras Springs. We have projects like finding wonders, Applehead doll making & discussion groups. We even had a woman play the saw at our kickoff party.
I went out and bought the book and the same day my 3rd grader picked it up and did not put it down until he completed reading all 200+ pages.
Today we will be making an Appledoll instead of watching tv or playing video games.

This book was easy to read and a great story. My mom and I read it together. We both enjoyed it.The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs

Sometimes we get so caught up in doing things and going places, we forget about the things around us that are so important and beautiful! We forget to smell the roses. This book is so easy to read and you want to read it. I was intrigued by trying to figure out what he might find next. I loved this book!

My ten-year-old son and I loved this audio book. We couldn't wait to hear about all the "wonderfuls". Highly recommended.

So I am a sucker for all those downhome novels celebrating small-town life. Oh well. This book fits that niche of mine well as it blatantly declares to the world that even the most simple of places may be hiding something extraordinary. Granted, the discoveries made here would probably be the mock and scorn of more civilized areas, but they held a sweetly strong spirit that appealed to my sense of story-telling. The writing is bright, cheerful, and expressive. I was impressed by the assortment of well-drawn characters complete with their personal drama, humor, and mysteries. I expected a pretty caged plot, but the story was loose enough, depending on its characters with their individual stories, to let itself become entrenched in emotions. It's not at the level of Kate DiCamillo or Richard Peck, but Ms. Birney did make something pretty darn sweet.

Our town chooses a book each winter, which they call the "One Book, One Community Project". We just moved here so this is our 1st and I am very excited about the project. As soon as I heard about it, I went to the library and checked out the book. Even before my 3rd grader started it in school. The book is so engaging and really gets your imagination juices flowing. I really am enjoying the events our community is putting together that tie into the Wonders of Sassafras Springs. We have projects like finding wonders, Applehead doll making & discussion groups. We even had a woman play the saw at our kickoff party.
I went out and bought the book and the same day my 3rd grader picked it up and did not put it down until he completed reading all 200+ pages.
Today we will be making an Appledoll instead of watching tv or playing video games.

This book was easy to read and a great story. My mom and I read it together. We both enjoyed it.The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs

Sometimes we get so caught up in doing things and going places, we forget about the things around us that are so important and beautiful! We forget to smell the roses. This book is so easy to read and you want to read it. I was intrigued by trying to figure out what he might find next. I loved this book!

Tramp for the lord is an eye opener for you to look at where you are, where you have been and where you are going. A good read for those moving through life and a must read for those that want to celebrate life to it's fullest.

If you read this book you will NEVER forget it. Such wonderful testimony to the miracles that the Lord is still doing in the world. I highly recommend it. It's a real page turner.

Tramp for the Lord is ONE of the most rewarding books I have ever read in my life. Everyone should read this book. She too was a human who sinned and came short of the glory of God. Corrie shares so much of her heart and life - not only because of her experiences in prison, but in every day life as she traveled the United States and to other countries to share God's work. As she experienced real life situations with ordinary people, that grew her daily in her walk with God, because as Paul learned, God's work was not easy. It was those situations that she shared in "Tramp for the Lord" that she was also growing with each situation she faced as Paul did as he continued in his day discipling for God. Corrie's book, "Tramp for the Lord," is a must read after "the Hiding Place" and will be hard to put down.

This book is a sequel to "The Hiding Place" a biography about Corrie Ten Boom's experience during World War II, arrested and sent to a German concentration camp for hiding Jews.

Corrie surrenders to God's Will for her life to take the Gospel and her story to the entire world. Because of her humbleness, she is able to connect to people from all walks of life, from royalty to prisoners. She was especially able to connect with prisoners who were hopeless because of her own experience of being locked up.

It was easy for her to minister to the victims of WWII, but Corrie resisted going back to Germany, the land that she dreaded. But she obeys and goes to Germany where she meets one of her former prison guards, one of the cruelest, walking up to her after a meeting. A chill grips her heart and bitterness wells up when he asks for her forgiveness. Leaning on the power of the Holy Spirit, she was able to forgive her enemy and found God's love overflowing.

Each chapter is a story and devotional about a situation Corrie encounters. My favorite one is, "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go, Dear Lord... but Not Up Ten Flights of Stairs."

An excerpt of this book might say it all (from Chapter 5)...

"A great ocean separated me from my homeland. I had no money. Nobody wanted to hear my lectures. All I had was an inner word from God that He was guiding me. Was it enough? All I could do was press on--and on--and on--for His Name's sake. Before going to sleep I opened my Bible, my constant companion. My eyes fell on a verse from the Psalms, "The Lord taketh pleasure...in those that hope in His mercy" (147:11). It was a thin web--a tiny filament--stretching from heaven to my little room on 190th Street in New York. I fell asleep holding on to it with all my strength."

Oh, what a joy to learn that God is for us and not against us! I highly recommend this book.