Hill Books

We have a son with severe expressive language disorder (apraxia) and this book combines humor and honesty about speech and language disorders. It felt like the author was sitting at my kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee with me and explaining all about my son's condition. A lot of information about how aggressive you need to get with therapy and what kind of therapy will work best for you and your family.

I have just begun my journey of educating myself more about my son's speech delay/developmental delay. This was the first book that I purchased and couldn't put it down. It is so easy to read and understand, not to mention interesting. Since finishing the book, I have moved on to other ones - they just don't hold my attention. I don't want a book that you need a degree to read! This book is very informative and gives you very important information. I will definitely use it as a guide/resource for a long time! The author herself has gone through the same issues with her two kids, so she has more perspective and emotion about the topic.

This is the book that I wish had been available when we first started trying to find help for our son with his speech delay. Debbie has clearly done her research, and lays things out in a informative but accessible way. More importantly, she's been there herself, and she has helpful insights included throughout the book from other parents who have experienced raising a child with speech and language problems. The chapter on dealing with insurance companies is especially helpful. Debbie has provided an extremely useful tool for families to use!

This book is an excellent resource for anyone who has a child with speech and language difficulties. There is an enormous amount of information but it is very well organized, and easy to reference in a hurry. The quotes throughout from parents who have "been there" make you feel like you aren't alone. It's very easy to feel overwhelmed when you first get a diagnosis, but this book helps the process of really understanding what you can do to help your child, and the support that is available.

This book is very well written. It gives tons of information about the process of being evaluated to different types of therapy to web sites with more information... The list goes on and on. It is written in a way that is easy to understand and not full of technical terms that make you fall asleep. I highly recommend this book to anyone whose child is about to enter the speech delayed evaluation process.

The book's objective: "To combine a conceptual approach to modern physics with an exploration of its deeper meaning and philosophical significance."

What the book tells you: As a Trekkie, I have been intrigued by the way physics plays a crucial role in shaping up modern and future technology. Reading a physics textbook is not an option for me to know more about the subject. The overwhelmed amount of mathematics and statistics involved is too intimidating. This book makes my dream come true. The author is very good in making difficult subjects entertaining to read. Once I started with the first chapter, I read through the rest of the book in a very short time. It reminded me of the time when I read the Da Vinci Code and the Angels & Demons. The subject covered ranges from Newtonian physics to Einstein's relativity to quantum theory. Each topic is divided into 1-2 pages sub-topics so the readers will not get lost as they try to understand it. Bear in mind that is book is about conceptual and not applied physics. I found the philosophical chapters not as entertaining to read as the former part.

What the book does not tell you: The "applied" aspects of physics such as the topics you will find in Hawkin's Universe (singularity, black hole, galaxies) or the Star Trek's stuff (wormhole, anti-matter). String theory was mentioned but very briefly. Isn't this the theory that tries to unify both the relativity and the quantum? If so, it deserves more space as one of the ideas of "Twentieth-Century Physics That Everyone Should Know."

From reading the earlier customer reviews (none more recent than Jan., 2001), one might assume that this book had reached its intended audience: "...The Rest of Us," i.e., those of us who are not trained physicists. Even the title of the book seems clearly to imply that audience. But the title and the comments of the earlier reviewers are misleading. I would argue that the author was hoping for (and deserves) a wider audience. In particular, his message should resonate strongly with the professional scientific community itself.

The author does provide some of the most intelligible explanations of the major concepts of modern physics that I have ever read--and I've read quite a few. Although my own background includes much technical training--chemistry, mathematics, electronics engineering, and philosophy--I must admit to having stumbled badly over general relativity and quantum mechanics. The pictures the author paints of these theories are probably as close as the human mind can come to visualizing what (we must realize) can not be visualized.

There are also excellent accounts of the Big Bang, quarks and bosons, the expanding universe, dark matter, the four fundamental forces of the physical world and the intense search for a theory that will demonstrate how they are all really different aspects of a single force: a grand unified theory that will explain everything.

If this was all the book was about, the title would be accurate and the author could return to his job as a college professor, secure in the knowledge that he had produced an excellent book on physics for the lay public.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that interwoven in this excellent work on the concepts of modern physics was a profound and articulate criticism of the role of science in contemporary society. As I read further, it occurred to me that this critique of science was, in fact, the most important topic in the book.

In the author's view, science has become the unofficial religion of our society, a new form of "idolatry." It pervades our institutions, our government, industries and educational policies...and it has done so at the expense of other vital human activities, especially those (e.g., religion and the humanities) that have traditionally vested human life with a sense of purpose and meaning. This is strange stuff coming from a scientist!

Happily, Jones is not a religious fanatic or scientific Luddite who is arguing for a return to the days of old, with science replaced by alchemy, astrology and the Inquisition. His plea is for a balance between science and the humanities. Although science has proven its efficacy at manipulating the physical world, it can not generate those initial ideas or sparks of genius that lead to new, fertile theories; those come from the human mind. Nor can science tell us anything about what we should or shouldn't do with our discoveries--should we use our knowledge of radioactivity to make bigger bombs, or should we save lives with nuclear medicine? Those decisions are ethical ones and must also be human, perhaps originating in something we used to call the "soul."

The author argues forcefully for the usefulness of science. At the same time, he deplores the demise of the humanities, the arts and religion. Most importantly, he warns us that, without increasing the average citizen's knowledge of science and technology, we have little hope of reversing a dangerous trend. The first step is to provide a knowledge of "physics for the rest of us." Then we will be able to take the second step: to regain control of the role that science will play in our lives. There is much food for thought in this book...and Jones' lessons on the concepts of physics are just the first course.

Having a basic understanding of how the world around us works is essential knowledge everyone should have. While it may not be exactly practical to understand time dilation while sitting in traffic, simply knowing something so abstract to everyday thought allows one to imagine other possibilities in life far from one's everyday life of eating, working and sleeping. This book attempts to fill those gaps left by most high school educations and give its reader a deeper understanding of the universe in which we all live.

This book was most effective for me in its chapters on Einstein's special theory of relativity and general theory of relativity. These theories had never been fully explained despite general science courses and physics courses in my high school education. I soon found out why: they are by no means easy to teach, let alone to your garden variety high school students with attention spans rivaling that of a gold fish. Admittedly, most of the passages on relativity required a second or even third look, but once clear in one's mind you realize how revolutionary these theories are when compared to more conventional Newtonian physics. These chapters also contained thought exercises from the point of view of Einstein. While obviously not his exact thoughts, these passages do aid in the understanding of the theories. Instead of simply laying out the respective theories and their premises, you are guided in thought through the various processes that it took to come to the conclusions that Einstein reached.

Much to my dismay, the remainder of the book did not cover the material in the way that relativity was. Perhaps it would have been better off as a closing chapter, or at least towards the end once you have already gotten a handle on the more basic Newtonian physics. Moreover, a good half of the chapters have nothing to do with science, let alone physics. They instead choose to delve into the more abstract questions and subject generally left off to philosophers and religion. The sudden change in gears is almost jarring in that you suddenly can go from hard facts to his views on the interpretation and place of science in the world. It seems like he is trying to play off his opinions as fact rather then what they actually are: his opinions.

To me, these chapters focused on the philosophy rather than the science took away from the book itself and tempted me to skip to the next chapter to return to what I was reading the book for, physics. In a book titled as such, I expected much more of a focus on the actual physics that many people should know. I expected some diagrams for the more difficult sections, I expected the same attention on other subjects as was given to relativity, and I expected to walk away with a good review of all the basics from my previous classes for which I had forgotten. For the most part, I was let down after the relativity chapters.

The remainder of the book focuses on studies normally found in chemistry classes. Sure all sciences branch fundamentally from physics, but I expected a more practical look into the world of physics. Perhaps a more apt title would be science for the rest of us. At any rate, these chapters focusing on physical chemistry, the "mechanical" workings of atoms seemed especially dry. Admittedly it would be difficult to spice this subject up, but it may have been better to leave out entirely. Personally, I find I enjoy the larger scale subjects much more-after all you can feel the acceleration of a car, your inertia as you round a corner, you can look up at the stars, but you cannot see electrons changing orbits as you turn your headlights on.

It seems as if the author was just trying to round out a book after the relativity sections. It is clear he is passionate about the subject, even excited to teach it as it's the first thing you encounter in the book. However this haphazard arrangement could deter readers not committed to reasoning out the text. Chances are if you are picking up this book, you're a little rusty on your physics knowledge. Wouldn't it make sense to brush up on some more basic principals before delving into one of the most revolutionary ideas of recent time? After all, you're talking about a dimension for which we cannot visualize not to mention all of the other basic knowledge of physics that is required to keep up in the chapters.

While this book is worth reading if you are just brushing up on your general knowledge, it is no substitute for an actual professor and a text book. The views presented in many of the more philosophical chapters have nearly nothing to do with science so it certainly helps to be able to distinguish the two sides of the author. I also feel that the book could have used some more organization-build up on the reader's knowledge as they progress through the text and save the more complex for last once they have the other stuff down first. The book could have also benefited from the same enthusiasm as exhibited in the beginning. Why not go through the thought exercises the Bohr did, or Copernicus? While I generally was not impressed with this book, I do have to give props for the presentation of relativity. If, like me, you were never taught it or never understood it, hit the Newtonian physics chapters first and then go to the relativistic chapters. This was one spot in the book that did not fail to impress.

I took this book on a beach vacation, and was so happy I did - it engrossed me more than I was expecting, and quickly became the envy of my trip-mates...the idea that I could now explain what the speed of light really was was so appealing.
This book does just what it says it will - you'll come away with understanding of the major concepts in physics you always felt uneducated for not knowing.

As I read this book, it clearly explained many of the things I wanted to finally know about and understand. From the equation E=mc2, to the concept of space-time and the quantum theory, this is a very great book, that was able to actually teach me about the theory of relativity and many other things. So I highly recommend this book to those whom are curious about what E=mc2 means, or what space-time is, or what the quantum theory is all about. The book also shows how all of this physics has impacted our lives and thus, why physics is so important, and even has a chapter on science v.s. religion. So this should be the #1 book for those whom are curious about the world of physics, whether they are experts on the subject or not. You need not be an expert on physics or even know anything of physics to understand and enjoy this book.

I concur with the vivid enthusiam being shared in these reviews for Ms. Kelsey's book and the loss to the world of plant-literature of Ms. Kelsey's retirement from the written word. If there could ever be written prose that comes close to the perfection of Ms. Kelsey in Plants, however, it is undoubtedly the review of Plants written by a brillant New York Critic, Ms. Amy Listerman (see review below). Ms. Listerman, in her poignant and moving critique of Plants, touches to the very soul of Kelsey's style and influene. Ms. Listerman is not swayed by the pulls of the masses, like the blossoming seedling Herb from Alaska or our mystery readers from NYC and Oxford. Ms. Listerman, by referring to her own wasted-by-non-plant-pursuits youth, is a critic not to be overlooked in the rush to, quite deservingly, praise Ms. Kelsey. Ms. Kelsey is, after all, a peach (or so we hear from various sources).

A lot of career information was packed into just 96 pages. Written in an easy-to-read style, "Plants" gives young people a chance to review many career choices for those who enjoy working with plants. The reader is offered a variety of choices of careers requiring PHD, MS, BS, or little education. The authors interviewed culturally diverse people with a variety of life stories to tell. They included information on salary, getting started, and education required. This book is a must for high school career centers and junior high libraries.

Miss Anderson and Miss Kelsey's book on careers in botany is a wonderful snapshot of a variety of avenues people working with plants have taken. Both informative and captivating, interviews with men and women working in the field of botany bring children and adults a first-hand glimpse of the character of their work. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in plants or gardening. Two green thumbs up!

Sarah Anderson and Jane Kelsey provide an insightful and engrossing overview of the world of careers with plants. The breadth and depth of the various career portraits are impressive, and speak to readers of all ages. The authors' non-patronizing and earnest tone makes the book an enjoyable read. This book is a must-have for young scientists and plant enthusiasts!

This book is a true American classic. Plants demonstrates the tremendous maturation process Ms. Kelsey has experienced since her original work, Science. Written in lucid prose, Plants demonstrates Ms. Kelsey's masterful grasp of English language and ability to express complex concepts with the uptmost clarity. Through her heartwarming tales examining the lives of several complex characters, Ms. Kelsey has guarenteed Plants' position among the most beloved of American novels. Memories of Patrick Elvander's enduring love of Botany, and Justus von Liebig's life-long sacrifice and struggle culminating in the invention of Liebig's Extract will remain with Plants' readers and shape their lives. Ms. Kelsey's work is truly a masterpiece to be shelved alongside Faulkner, Austen, and Dickens, and will be a valuauble tool in classrooms for decades to come. It is a tragic loss to the English language that Ms. Kelsey has discarded her pen for other pursuits, but fortunately she has blessed us with a glimpse her brilliance. Ms. Kelsey's brief career will remain an enigma for years to come as literary historians debate what masterpieces she could have produced had the obvious talent manifested in Plants been cultivated in other works.

Pros:

1. Excellent for the first semester of precalculus, especially the study of different families of functions.
2. Does a good job of explaining topics in detail and providing examples of problems.
3. Provides plenty of problems for practice of concepts.
4. Provides excellent end of chapter tests for review and feedback.

Cons:

1. Trignometry section is lacking. Needs more detail on trignometric identities.
2. Lacks information in the second semester of precalculus. Does not have anything on vectors, parametric equations, polar equations, statistics, or limits.
3. Does not have anything on rotating conic sections.

I am one of those pathetic cases who should have been a math major, but could not stay awake during the freshman pre-calc lectures conducted by bored and boring grad students. Now, nearly 40 years later I am determined to self-educate my way through calculus.

At first I took a crack at the Wiley "Precalculus A Self Teaching Guide". Holy cripes, what a disaster! Unnerving to find such an improbable number of errors, especially for student picking up after decades of non-study.

Then, I grabbed Rhonda Huettenmeuller's fine work, and am doing the practice at the end of chapter four. I actually remembered some of my advanced algebra and managed to work my way through the problems.

Well written and clear, she provides enough dimensions on problems to give you insight, then gives you room enough to have to think a bit. The answers are all provided, and are *correct*. Well, at least we agree, so that is certainly a good sign.

I especially appreciate how she teaches this from the perspective of tackling calculus as the next step, pointing out issues that particularly apply, and how, to more advanced mathematics.

Now, if we can just get her to write more books...

I took a tough Precalculus class last year and found myself half-way through the semester totally and hopelessly confused. I couldn't afford tutoring (financially or time-wise - I work full-time and take night classes) and seriously contemplated dropping the class to save my GPA. I bought this book and ended up aceing the class. I know that sounds unlikely, but the author has a way of describing the concepts in a totally understandable way and it all just clicked. I enjoy math, but tend to be a little slow at picking things up, and the lay person approach of the book really worked for me.

It was a great book, gave me what I needed at the pace I found acceptable. I also jumped into the middle of the book once to give a friend a hand and it was on polynomial functions. In ten minutes flat I was already calculating them! Amazing! If I continue at this rate, I can slack off in my Pre-Calculus college class and still pass! No, but seriously though, it's an awesome book and have recommended it to all my friends.

I received this book 2 weeks before my college entrance exam to smooth over what I momentarily learned in high school--I Do not want to end up in a lower than Calculus math class, paying for a class that does not give me any college credit.

So far I have been getting through a chapter each day, in about hour and a half of on and off study.

It is continuing to get me more comfortable with my math skills in a very short time. I Recommend it to anyone who fears there college entrance exam, or interested in learning Precalc on their own.

Principles of Electrodynamics by Melvin Schwartz is a very well written, very didactic book. The principles of Electrodynamics are clearly shown and the author explanations and demonstrations are rigurous but easy to understand. The book is a very good reference for certain topics of Electrodynamics not so well covered in other text books.

This book is somewhat famous for its heuristic derivation of the full Maxwell's equations using Lorentz invariance, but every topic is covered in an exceptionally lucid manner, on a par with Feynman at his best. The book is also a neccessary antidote for the excessive detail and overgeneralization of Jackson.

C'est de loin l'exposé le plus clair sur le sujet à ma connaissance. Quant au rapport qualité/prix, on voisine l'infini

This book is the best introduction to advanced electromagnetic theory I have ever encountered. The author does a masterly job at simplifying the mathematics without over-simplifying the physics. If you're looking to gain a deep understanding of electromagnetics and its relation to the theory of relativity, this book is for you!

Bref, c'est tres bien sauf que beaucoup d'erreur se sont glisses dans le livre. C'est le probleme principal de ce livre est que l'audience est tres restreinte aux eleves de secondes. J'en appelle donc au serieux de l'auteur pour se relire quand meme.

Il est ecrit que Integrale infinie de la derivee est egale a la fonction identite, non c'est faux. la constante a disparu. Beaucoup d'autres erreurs similaires sont surprenantes.

Carol's new book is refreshing blend of science, stories and advice. It's a fast read -- yet full of thoughtful questions and counsel for women (and men) of any age. I especially loved the Passion Principle Cliff Notes at the end. Thank you, Carol!

As i read Dr. Cassell's book i realized that it contains valuable information primarily for females but much can be learned by the male partner. This book is well written with well researched backup and presented with a style and humor that keeps one reading. My adult son who is in a new relationship after a divorce was perusing the book and started laughing when he read the passage ,no one can ever know what goes on in someone elses head, and said "boy is that true". It is presented so well as are many passages in Cassells' book. Since I am an older person. yes even elderly, I responded well to Take Away Messages and body images---they do suck but now I just throw myself a kiss . I have purchased two books and plan to pass them on to my adult children

This review is by Mary Sue G. (posted by carol cassell)
**************************************************
In Carol Cassell's easily read book, PUT PASSION FIRST, I found chapters and passages for women of all ages.

After our children left home and my husband and I were in retirement, I realized we had no boundaries in our home, no space to be alone, to read, to write or even a quiet moment to think. The TV was always on for noise as much as for watching. I realized I wanted a more quiet lifestyle and decided we had to have boundaries. It was Cassell's book in the chapter of "Alone Together" that showed me how to make this happen. Kahil Gibran's words of "Let there be spaces in your togetherness" took on a special meaning.

My daughter, who recently survived a divorce, took an interest in the chapter, "Just Be You and Love Like You've Never Been Hurt'. She's in an exciting relationship with a loving man and is trying to do that very thing.

I gave my granddaughter, who is grieving over a lost love, Cassell's book and pointed out to her the chapter, "When He Says Those Fatal Words". After she read it, she looked at me and said, "This makes things better."

Cassell's book is down-to-earth-everyday-living. All of us, in every stage of loving, should read it.
Mary Sue G.

With Put Passion First, Dr. Carol Cassell, a major contributor to the field of women's sexual health, has written another winner. In her charming and personable writing style, Dr. Cassell has distilled the science of sexual desire into a comprehensive set of truths about how to love a man and be loved by him. She rejects the notion that sexual enthusiasm naturally dies out in a relationship and that companionate love is our long-term destiny. Instead, Dr. Cassell places sexual chemistry front and center of what keeps a couple's bond solid. Sounding very much like the wise and experienced girlfriend who can support her observations with scientific research, Dr. Cassell offers sound advice for every woman eager to understand quite a bit more about how to be happy with a man.

Carol Cassell is a wise, compassionate, informative, witty guide who can help you find the unique sources of your own sexual passion. I've been recommending her earlier book to clients for years--and this book is definitely new good news if you want to put yourself and your relationship first. The Heart and Soul of Sex: Making the ISIS Connection (Shambhala Pocket Classics)

Recharge in Minutes by Suzanne Zoglio, has 101 ways to rev up your focus, confidence, and energy. This book has ten easy-to-read chapters with titles and topics like Chapter 1 "I can't think straight" for finding mental focus, Chapter 3 "I'm OK...Just stuck in a rut" for revving up, Chapter 5 "I haven't got a clue" for inviting inspiration, Chapter 8:"If I'm so smart, why don't I know it" for boosting confidence, and Chapter 10 "Just my luck" for acknowledging abundance. Chapter 10 is also good for those `pity parties' and `why me' feelings.

Dr. Zoglio has done an outstanding job organizing each chapter into nine to eleven one page tips, called Quick Lifts for resolving the chapter's main issue. The chapters start with an explanation, followed by the list of the Quick Lift suggestions. Each Quick Lift has its own page with a brief statement and several action suggestions.

What I like about Recharge in Minutes is each of the 101 ways has several suggestions which are short to implement. One of Quick Lift 97, Share your bounty, suggestions is silently say a pray for someone who is facing a challenge. Another is share a funny story to someone who could use a cheer. All of the actions are quick and easy to implement and specifically designed to address the Quick Lift.

Recharge in Minutes is highly organized and efficiently written to deal with life's many problems. The 101 ways are useful for work or at home and simple to implement. It is organized and simple to reference the particular life problem and Quick Lift, making it an excellent book to keep around!

Recharge in Minutes by Suzanne Zoglio
2003. Tower Hill Press, Doylestown, PA

This excellent, short, easy-to-read book gives 101 ways to raise your mood. Most of these ideas have been advocated by many writers and experts. The strength of Recharge in Minutes is that each idea is described in a single page or less. If one is depressed, it is difficult to read a long, detailed manual about what to do. Just a few minutes with this book can boost your mood.

I have used many of these methods to battle depression. When I'm depresed, I'm confused. I don't know where I'm going. I can't see the big picture. I need to get in touch with my inner self. This book reminds me of what me in the past and tells me what will help now.

These tools put you in touch with your soul. They can help you find your destiny, what you want to get out of life, and what you want your life to have meant to the world.

Many therapists have cited the benefit of writing in a journal. Rechange in Minutes gives you many things to write about. One method is to write a "dream letter" to a friend. You are to pretend it is 2 years from now, and you are to describing your ideal life.

We used (and are still using) Recharge for our High Performance Leadership Team as a teaching/learning tool. Each member has his/her own copy (35 in all)to be used for reference. At team meetings people are sharing how they are using the many bits of advice found in Dr. Sue's wonderful book. With the reduced number of people and funds that seem to be a way of life anymore, it seemed as if our Leaders were getting sapped of their energy, trying to do more with less. Recharge opened our eyes to methods that really work... at work! We don't have to take a vacation get that recharge!

If you really want a recharge, have Dr. Sue personally deliver a mini-seminar on the subject. We did and the results are fantastic!

Reading Recharge in Minutes was an enjoyable activity since I was sitting out in the sun and that seems to "recharge" me physically. As I was introducing our new kitten to the deck, she slept happily in the sun. The scent of flowers in the planter lingered in the air and the clouds were slowly drifting by. "This is more of what I need in life," I thought.

This book will not only help you reduce stress in your life, it will also only take less than an hour to read. With pen in hand, I jotted down ideas like:

Instead of running away from home, sit out in the sun more often...
Stop the stress response through more exercise!
Goal: read one book a day or more if possible
Morning Intent - Decide to bless lives on a daily basis or make a difference instead of just making a "to do" list.
Eat more Belgium chocolate!
Listen to Thunderstorm CD while taking long baths...oh and buy more candles.
Decrease contact with energy sappers...
Avoid whirlpools of negativity!

Suzanne Zoglio also encourages you to write out your dreams. Where do you want to be in a year? What will you be doing? Where will you be living? Her book encourage you to solve the unsolvable, calm yourself down in times of stress (breathing techniques), take risks and find out what is important.

If you have noticed that your energy is often connected to your emotions, this book will be enlightening in that regard. Your emotional well being is very connected to your energy and just being around positive people can make you feel more energetic.

We all know that unmanaged stress is a major health risk. If you want more peace, passion and purpose, Suzanne Zoglio has ideas for being more assertive and setting boundaries. After reading this book I made an appointment for a facial. Life is short, the spa awaits.

~The Rebecca Review

Dr. Zoglio continues to inspire and provide new approaches to addressing daily challenges and opportunities. I have read this book several times and find myself applying the concepts across all areas of my life from the office to home and in re-creational activities. I consciously call on those Recharging 'minutes' if my enthusiasm or energy is waning in a situation - and I readily get my game face back. I'm using the ideas in this book as tools and as weapons. The book is clear and as always you can appreciate Dr. Zoglio's innovative style and ability to convey the message.
I also went back to the shelf and re-read Tickle Your Soul - the book that left me waiting for this one.

I have learned alot from reading this book! As a parent of a teenager with a disability, I often wonder if I am doing everything possible to help her reach her full potential. This book is helpful as it it a voice from different adults who have had disabilities since childhood and how their families impacted their future in both positive and negative ways. I highly recommend this book!

As a parent of a child with a disability, this book challenged my "over protective-ness" and helped me see things the way my child may see them. The insight given is amazing, and has assisted me to see that my child can do more than even I give him credit for. A must read for parents!

Fantastic book for those who live with disability and those who don't. Truly a masterful tool in helping the nondisabled understand what it means to live with a disability and know that we are NORMAL people. At a time when most books tell the story of a disabled person for them Mr. Klein has done an excellent job in letting the authors speak for themselves. A must have for parents and families raising children with special needs.

This book is a collection of personal narratives by adults with a variety of disabilities. As the parent of a child with cerebral palsy, reading these stories is a great experience. I have absolutely no doubt that my son will be a happy, loved, employed adult - but at the back of my mind is always the question of "are we making the right choices." It is really hard to balance all the "work" that comes with the territory of CP (physical therapy, OT, medical appointments, etc.) with the "play" part of being a child - and it helps to read stories of grownups on the other side. I recommend this book highly.

The personal essays in this book are incredibly helpful for anyone whose life is touched by a child with a physical or emotional challenge. As a parent of a child with a chronic illness, I found the first-hand advice unique and straightforward. The essays are short and really diverse -- each one of them had a gem that I could apply to my child's situation. This peek into the lives of the authors helps parents create a life that is blessedly ordinary for their kids when life may not feel very ordinary at all. The greatest gift of this book is that most solutions are quite simple -- it's our desire to overcome the disability that prevents us from treating it as another normal part of life. A great read for anyone touched by a child who faces medical challenges.

I recently read, The Road to Organic Growth How Great Companies Consistently Grow Marketshare From Within by Edward Hess. Companies do it by:


1. They are generally in one business most can define their business in one sentence.

2. The companies are relentlessly focused and disciplined - they do not take their eye off the ball.

3. They drill down to the line-employee level to ensure that their people understand the business and why their job is important, why certain measurements are being made, and how employees can contribute to their own success.

4. They incrementally improve with continual top-line and bottom-line initiatives by

They involve and engage their staff:

The people doing the work need to understand the business and the importance of their individual jobs, as well as how their success will be measured and what is important to the success of the business.
Everyone has to buy into a system of accountability and a culture of constant improvement.

Only by giving employees "ownership" of their jobs can a company truly have a constant improvement culture that works.

People need constant, reliable, and objective feedback in order to learn and improve. So they have a high focus on measuring results.

It was a good book - not great but just good. I did get some ideas and it was an easy, quick read. Certainly was attracted to the title.

Ed Hess' book helped me a great deal. I own/run a small business that espouses similar values that can be found in this book, but it also taught me that in our quest for growth that some of our priorities have clearly been wrong. As a result of this fine, easy to read book, I feel more confident that our company will be kept firmly on the growth curve.

G.M. Ball
[...]

This is a phenomenal work. This book provides the attributes and tools of what it really means to "grow" a business. Hess brilliantly reveals some of the most fundamental concepts that make a "great" business great. Pages full of evidence and stories about engaged and loyal people, humble servanthood leadership, dynamic client service, and clear and conscise business models will stir entreprenuers as they read this excellent volume.

Hess has done it again. The Six Keys to Organic Growth
cuts through traditional leadership thought to show what great organic
growth leaders really do - execute. This book offers terrific insight into
some of the great organic growth companies. The Six Keys to Organic
Growth should be required reading for all young executives and MBA students who want to win.

A great book! I loved it. It is broken into nine chapters as follows:

1. Why is organic growth important?
2. Discovering the DNA of organic growth.
3. The organic growth winners: Interesting Facts.
4. An elevator-pitch business model.
5. Instill a "small-company soul" into a "big-company body."
6. Measure everything.
7. Build a people pipeline.
8. Leaders: humble, passionate, focused operators.
9. Be an execution and technology champion.

Chapters 4 - 9 are the ingredients to building a company through organic growth. If a biz can be explained in a just a few words while riding up an elevator, then it's leaders/managers can probably focus well on growing the business from within. If a biz is comprised of workers who care about the company instead of just showing up to work and collecting a paycheck, then the business will probably grow from within. The business will probably also have a pipeline of new managers if the employees care about coming to work for reasons other than just collecting a paycheck. These are the types of things discussed in the last six chapters of the book.

Generally speaking, companies either grow through "organic growth" or by "mergers and acquisitions." Many companies grow by using both methods, but the author only discusses the organic growth method in this book. There is talk that growth may take place by playing accounting games and engaging in financial manipulations. However, this really is not a method to create growth. Manipulations are just that - shifts of revenues and expenses from one accounting period to another. If there is gain today via manipulation, then there is going to be a loss next week or next month - guaranteed.

A small company soul is what this book is about. And I really enjoyed reading it. I liked the list of "Growth Questions" at the end of each chapter. They helped pull the chapters together for me. If you are putting together a business plan for a start up company, then I recommend you read this book. You will want to incorporate many of the ideas and concepts discussed here into your business plan and your implementation of your business plan.

I would have liked the book better if the print had not been so large. And since the spine of the book was not all that thick I got the feeling that the book was padded by increasing the font size of the text. The book could have been longer if there had been more examples of real world situations regarding what was being discussed. And I would have liked a chapter comparing organic growth to mergers and acquisitions. To discuss organic growth as the best way to grow a company, and to ignore M&A's as though they were a bad way, just didn't feel right to me. In fact, M&A's are a great way to grow a business. But the book was well-written and informative. 5 stars!

I purchased this book to make a quick review of Math and help my son. I am so happy that I will buy the entire collection from elementary Algebra to Calculus including Differencial equations, Geometry and Trigonometry. Great help for those who need a solid foundation in Math. You can't go wrong with Schaum's Outline.

As a student returning to calculus, after many years without touching the subject, I found that the hardest part for me was just going through the simple mechanics of algebra. Conceptually early calculus is not that difficult, but often to get the right answer it requires a lot of intricate algebraic manipulations. I found myself making easy mistakes and my calculus book less than helpful at refreshing the algebra I needed to know (and had forgotten). I ended up getting this book as well as the precalculus and calculus books by schaums, but have found the Intermediate Algebra book to be by far the most helpful. The pre-calculus and calculus books glossed over areas where I really needed more examples. The practice problems helped me to eliminate simple mistakes in my work and gave me more confidence going into complex problems. I noticed that classmates of mine who were struggling got caught up on concepts because they didn't have a rock solid understanding of the algebra. Transformations that the instructor took for granted eluded them because they were still trying to figure out where the negative sign went. While there are some errors, for the cost I really couldn't recommend this book enough - especially when compared to my $175 Calculus book. It helped me get an A in second semester calculus.

People learn in many different ways and my way is to know exactly what is going on in the problem and why the equation took that next step. Many of the problems in the book do this but there are a nagging few that do not show what formula they used. Of course the skills are built upon each other and it assumed that you remember the past formulas. For me though this doesn't always work out.

It is a great outline for those who need to brush up on their skills and it also helps out the beginners. Take lots of notes and remember the formulas to help out in later chapters. For the price it is a great help and I am happy to have made this purchase.

Great tool too have, especially if you haven't had Algebra in over 16 years!

This book, I must say, is very good companion for any high school or middle school students who want to master the subject. I like this intermediate algebra better than the elementary one--simply more interesting. But to well prepare yourself for college math/algebra, you only need this book: the most useful problem or resource book that I have ever read in English :
Algebra: A study aid for self-education
ASIN: B0007C0IUS
in my school library. This book is just so useful that every problem is provided with sufficient background information. You can ACTUALLY MASTER the subject by working out the problems ON YOUR OWN--solutions are provided to every problem as well. Moreover, every pair of problems is typical, help you sharpen your skills while teaching you much about it. If you are ambitious and want to get even better in the subject, check it out. It's very user-friendly but very informative and interesting!