Family Resources Books

Provides an excellent step by step approach to working with people. Exercise at the end of each chapter reinforces the concept and is very practical. I would suggest this book to any one who wants to express themselves well and understand why people sometimes behave strangely.

This is a helpful book. Unfortunately, I think it would have been better, though, if it was a little more generic and not so business-oriented. I found myself tempted to skip quite a few of the sections. It is definately worth a read.

The book is beautifully simple, straightforward, and practical. Very helpful. A great resource for interpersonal communications and human relations. Well-written and user-friendly. I highly recommend it.

The author outlines 8 useful and neccessary skills to become People Smart:

1)Understanding People. Author provides a succinct explaination and usefulness of MBTI indicators such as ENTP.
2)Expressing yourself clearly. I didn't find this chapter too useful. As long as you speak clearly and choose your words carefully, you are at least a decent speaker.
3)Asserting your needs. Useful only to for those who can't assert themselves).
4)Exchanging feedback
5)Influencing Others. This is the best chapter by far. Influencing others involve making a connection and figuring out what their needs are (security, acceptance, ego, self actualization) and then making a persuasion in align with their needs.
6)Resolving Conflict. This is only if you argue with people all the time.
7)Being a team player.
8)Shifting Gears.

I did not finish the book - it is more like a 'workbook' than a book. I was hoping to get some insight into how to deal with people in the workplace - this book is full of material that I consider to be common sense. Little emperical or formal evidence is offered.
I suggest 'The Secret Handshake' by Kathleen Kelley Reardon for readers interested in improving their polical skills in a business setting.
That's my take - loopster - Chicago, IL

If you are a young widow/er this book is a must!! It has been helpful to know that I am not alone... a real comfort. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is doubting their feelings in a time of grief.

This book is a very good read. The format gives a history, then the personal reflections of two individuals who have walked through the loss of a spouse. My husband is a widower and I bought it to understand what he couldn't tell me. Highly recommend due to the perspective of the authors who love God. The chapters can be read out of sequence. I went to the last chapter first to see what the Other Side looked like and realized we weren't there yet!

I recommend this book for anyone who has had someone die. It helped me with my own grief process when my spouse died. I still needed to do the grief work after 2 1/2 years and this book helped me understand more fully and helped me not feel alone.

I lost my husband the end of Feb/07. I found this book on a website www.griefshare.org It has been both helpful,calming, and wonderfully written. It has answered many of my questions. I give this book 5 stars and will be refering back to it again......I highly recommend.

...then you need to look elsewhere. I ordered this book for my mother and eventually returned it. It piles on the religion thick and heavy. If you are a devout (read: VERY RELIGIOUS) person, this is the book for you. If you are simply spiritual or just not terribly religious, this book borders on being offensive. There are a lot of other terrifically helpful books available for newly widowed spouses that don't push the religion aspect as heavily as this one does.

This is a wonderful book. It simply, explains what the church truly needs to do in today's world. So often we Christians try and "do" something to cause the Holy Spirit to move. Truly the work has been done already, and we should wait upon the Lord. All our "good" deeds are merely expresions of the love of God that is in us. Without Fresh Power we become ineffective. This is not a book about rolling down the isles, it a book full of truth and fantastic examples of how the Spirit has moved in Cymbala's ministry and how it can be in all our lives if we simply wait with faith filled hearts expecting God to move. In short, we must strive to let the Hoy Spirit into our lifes so He may use us to do the work that God has for us to do.

AS MOST OF YOU PROBABLY REALIZE THIS IS ONE OF CYMBALA'S FOLLOW UP BOOKS TO FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE. - WHICH HAS BEEN A HUGE SUCCESS.

FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE FOCUSES ON PRAYER AND ITS ROLE IN CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY. FRESH POWER FOCUSES ON THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

I DON'T HEAR AS MUCH BUZZ OR PRAISE FOR THIS TITLE, BUT I ACTUALLY LIKED FRESH POWER THE MOST OF ALL OF HIS BOOKS.

I THINK THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A TOPIC THAT WE AS CHRISTIANS TALK LITTLE ABOUT.
THERE ARE TONS OF BOOKS ON JESUS AND GOD, BUT THERE AREN'T NEAR AS MANY ON THE IMPORTANCE AND IMPACT OF THAT "OTHER" PART OF THE TRINITY.

TO SPEAK PLAINLY: I RECOMMEND THIS TITLE TO EVERYONE.

This was an awesome work by Jim Cymbala! I love how he tells it like it is! I'm living proof of how Cymbala said that as a Christian, you will be tested and you will go through trials.

There are a lot of great true stories in this, including David Berkowitz, (Son of Sam) and lots of people who are in Cymbala's church today. This is basically about letting The Holy Spirit work through us! And Cymbala has the scripture verses to back it up.

My only regret is that I seem to be reading his works backwards, so now I have to find "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" and "Fresh Faith". And some people say about this book, "Ah, this is nothing compared to his earlier works." I guess those will be 5 stars as well. This was awesome!

Jim Cymbala's work in this book is a much-needed reminder to every believer of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and our tendency to ignore Him. This book will remind you of great truths, it will convict you of our complacency toward the Presence and Person of God in our lives and will challenge you to think, live and pray differently. Cymbala pulls no punches in dismantling much of the excess of the Charismatic extremists, but also nails the typical person or church who largely relegates the Holy Spirit to a Piece of Information rather than the real Power that He is for us. If you read this book, prepare to be convicted and changed.

Where "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" was a brilliant and commonsense vision of what the contemporary should look like, and how it should function, "Fresh Power" continues by showing us how we are supposed to live as contemporary Christians. This book uses and interprets biblical passages to explain what we are called to do as Christians and the power that the Holy Spirit enables us with. You can not read this book, and feel that you are too sinful to live for Christ. You will be reminded of your sin, and even more so, reminded of the Lord's grace. After reading this book, I'm very excited to explore the depths of the Lord.

In Vital Friends, Tom Rath makes two main points.

* One is that having friends at work is very beneficial to the employer. With a best friend at work, you are much more likely to be productive. Without a best friend at work, there's only a 1 in 12 chance you'll feel engaged! With three good friends at work you are 96% more likely to be extremely satisfied with your life. (All the numbers are from a Gallup poll.)

* The second point he makes is that you can't expect all your friends to be all things to you. He says different friends fullfill different needs and describes the different types of friends:

o Builders
+ Motivators and coaches
+ They push you
+ They know our strengths
+ They provide moral support
o Champions
+ Stand up for you
+ Sing your praises
+ "Thrive on your accomplishments and happiness"
o Collaborators
+ Share similar interests, ambitions and passions
+ Do a lot with you
o Companions
+ Always there for you
+ Make sacrifices for you
+ First person you call
o Connectors
+ Always introduce you to others
+ They seem to "know everybody"
o Energizers
+ Your "fun friends"
+ Make good days, great
+ People you call to have a good time or to relax with
o Mind Openers
+ Ask good questions
+ People you share ideas and express yourself outloud with
o Navigators
+ Give advise
+ Steer you
+ Share dreams and goals

Interestingly, he says that in friendships we don't play the same role to each other. So you might be a mind opener to your friend and your friend might be a champion for you.

This book was an easy and interesting read. You can easily read it in a day. (I read it on a two hour plane ride.) However, I would have liked a lot more detail and depth.

I've heard of good friends, close friends, old friends, casual friends, best friends, even "just" friends, but I had never heard the word "vital" to describe friends until this book. And that is exactly what Tom Rath proceeds to explain, that having friends, real, meaningful engaged relationships, is absolutely vital to our health, our well-being, and our personal and professional success. Not "a good idea" or "important" but actually "vital"- absolutely necessary.

He starts the book by stating that so much of the focus on personal and professional success is on self-improvement. But is that really the key? His answer is, "The energy between two people is what creates great marriages, families, teams, and organizations." In fact, his first chapter is entitled, "Who Expects You to be Somebody?" where he wisely observes that it is almost always the influence of meaningful people in our lives that drives us to achievement.

The second chapter, "The Energy Between," discusses how, "Focusing on the individual is too narrow -- and focusing on the entire group is too broad. The real energy occurs in each connection between two people, which can bring about exponential returns." His next chapter, "Better than Prozac?" cites some interesting research, including a Duke University study showing people with less than four close friends had more than double the risk of heart disease.

The most helpful concept he develops in the book is that of "the rounding error" in chapter 5. It is easy, he says, to expect a friend to be "well rounded"-- in other words, to be good at everything: inspiring us, being a companion to us, giving us an energy boost, expanding our horizions, and a dozen other different things. This often subconscious expectation is both unrealistic (no one person can meet all our relationship needs) and a potential relationship killer, both in friendships and in romance and marriage.

In a similar vein, he warns us of expecting friendships to be "reciprocal." In other words, I may be an energizer to my friend, but he may be a mind opener for me. Expecting to receive the same of what I give to a friend again is both unrealistic and a potential relationship killer. I surmise that is why the Duke health research found that it takes at least four close friends-- because different people will speak different things into your life, and you need different kinds of friends to have well-balanced friend "nutrition" for your soul, just as you need different foods from different groups to give your body what it needs.

The second part of the book goes into more detail about the vital importance of friends at work, citing both anecdotes and research. The final part of the book more fully develops his system of eight vital friendship roles:

Builder
Champion
Collaborator
Companion
Connector
Energizer
Mind Opener
Navigator

He discusses how these roles differ and how to develop these roles both in your life and in the lives of your friends. The book also gives you an access code to a website where you can take a survey to help classify your own friends as to the roles they play in your life.

I realized the importance of my friends before I picked up this book. But after reading Vital Friends, I had more appreciation of my friends, new insights into the nature of our friendships, and greater skills & determination to develop our friendships further.

Learn how valuable your friends are, and then go one step further by developing friendships with your co-workers.

I disagree with the reviewer who liked the book but found it disquieting. Rath simply shows the value of friendships at work. The part the reviewer found disquieting was where Rath shows how the friendships can be used in productivity. He is not, in any way, fostering the idea that we become friends with someone because of what they can do for us at work. He is encouraging business leaders to create an environment where natural friendships are encouraged and showing them that such an environment will reward them as well because their happy and content employees will produce more and better work results and will not be out of work due to illness.

My book club read Vital Friends last week. The men responded well to it; the women seemed lukewarm. All of us liked the book's values.

Rath's survey study reveals surprising connections between productivity and policies promoting friendship at work. Rath also developed a structure for analyzing dynamic components common among friends, a structure available on-line.

Our book club men found the analysis especially revealing when applied to their personal lives. Our women were less inspired, perhaps because thinking about friendship was not such uncharted territory.

I liked Vital Friends much better after talking about the issues it raises. The bottom line: thinking aloud about friendship is important to both private and public well-being.

I purchased this book expecting oodles of great ideas...One great thing is the way that it organizes themes with each unit broken down into days and learning centers. However, the actual ideas are pretty general and although some are interesting, I have definitely found better ones- some of them don't even seem to correlate with the theme they are listed under...

I did get some good ideas, but would suggest 2 much better options for the money that provide more themed ideas with details rather than just general activities. Try: "The Complete Daily Curriculum" by: Pam Schiller and Pat Phipps AND "Creative Resources for the Early Childhood Classroom" by: Judy Herr

I was disappointed with this book, if I had flipped through it before buying I don't think I would have bought it. I was expecting step by step instructions for activities but rather it seems very general. I think a lot of the ideas seem obvious. The GOOD thing is that it is grouped and organized for you. I admit that I need to spend some more time with the book and give it another chance, maybe I'll change my mind. But the two books that I can't live without, in my preschool class (3 year olds), are R IS FOR RAINBOW (Anselmo Rollins and Schuckman) and YEAR ROUND ACTIVITIES FOR THREE YEAR OLD CHILDREN (Anthony Coletta and Kathleen Coletta).

I don't think this is an awful book, but I was disappointed, that's all.

I run a daycare and bought these books to help guide our daily activities. I've only been using it for a few weeks, but love it. I also bought the Daily Curriculum book co-authored also by Pam Schiller, who helped write this one. They have a lot of similar things, but enough different that I kept them both. There is lots of ideas in the book for kids with varying interests and it's made planning educational stuff a lot easier for me.

This resource have great idea to choose from when you need a Theme for the week. My Co-workers love it also.

Lots of learning center ideas. We are involved in a preschool homeschool co-op and this book helps us plan centers for the children to explore and learn.

I could not finish reading this book. Boring, without much substance, full of gross stereotypes and generalizations, this is at best an article. Somehow authors managed to stretch it into a book. Way too long, fails to engage the reader. They run courses on this topic, if they talk about the same stuff in the same way, I can imagine what that must be like ... I'd prefer a root canal job, thank you! Pass.

I saw David Stillman speak and was fascinated by his insight on how the generations are struggling to work together. It really gave me a greater understanding of my 20 year old son, what influenced him and where some of his priorities came from. The theories are spot on and the examples are amazing. This is a great read for an open-minded parent who really cares what his/her child is really thinking about. Also helps with understanding and appreciating our parents. Not just about workplace issues, incorporates life experiences and insights.

An excellent and easy read with plenty of real-life examples that demonstrate the writers' experiences while lecturing, mentoring and
consulting with businesses.

Anyone who has managed people from different generations can relate to the notion that different generations prompt people to have different ideas about how the world works. That may be a given, but when it rests on a manager's shoulders to keep the team productive or on course with corporate goals, having insight into the component members' behaviors is a very useful tool. I've managed the generation born during World War Two, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and my kids represent the Millenial generation. Believe me, there are distinct differences.

This book attempts to catagorize generations, not to promote stereotypes and to put people in boxes, but to highlight how common experiences can mold people. True, there are socio-economic differences (I am in the same generation as Caroline Kennedy, but aside from that our experiences are vastly different), but being in the same age group does create bonds among people. Values change over time and those values are what shapes people's ways of thinking.

The manager's job is to manage; to get the work done given the employees at hand. If we could pick our own teams we may not select those people we have on staff, but aside from professional sports teams, most managers can be more or less stuck with what they got. The manager is expected to make the best of things. If the manager can't do this, it's easier for the company to find one who can.

Lancaster and Stillman present an interesting argument in how generations are defined, and what their expectations of careers are. The savvy manager will read a book like this with an open mind and use the information presented herein to learn to work with staff for the mutual benefit of all involved. Of course not all managers are savvy, or even very intelligent. Those who could benefit most from a book like this will probably never read it. But then again not all companies are successful in developing people and market strategies. These companies may not be around to get a second chance at success.

This book is well thought out and well presented. Some of the chapters, such as the chapter on rewarding employees may be a bit off the mark, but that doesn't hurt the overall message coming from this book: understand your staff and learn what makes them tick. Your company will benefit.

This has been very enlightning to look outside one's own generation. Awareness is half the battle. Excellent resource.

I have a grandson who is gay, my daughter recommended this book to me so I ordered it. The book is excellent, full of helpful advice and information on how to deal with this subject. It is a touchy issue in our family but something that I needed more help in dealing with. I intend to refer to it time & time again.

This book was excellent. It not only offered clear explanations and examples it offered a plan for parents to follow in regard to healing this issue. It offers much hope. Remember it's about love and s/he who loves the longest and the strongest wins -- and this is a true statement. I see it working in my own family

This fool was interviewed on the radio this morning. This book has no merit whatsoever.

As a psychotherapist, I assure you that reparative therapy is not only an ineffective and unethical practice, but also damaging to the soul and self of your loved one. Acceptance is what you and your family needs. The American Psychological Association has deemed reparative therapy unethical practice, and the author of this book, provided he is utilizing this therapy with clients, could and should lose his license to practice. There are many other books available on Amazon.com that can help (What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality or Positively Gay: New Approaches to Gay and Lesbian Life), but this is not one of them!

From a recent review of this book:

"When my husband and I found out that our son was gay, we were devastated beyond belief. We tried everything - from simple exorcism to electroshock therapy and Chinese water torture to more elaborate methods like the Brazen Bull - to expel the demon from his soul, but nothing seemed to be working."

This is horrifying beyond belief, and a good example of the need for education about homosexuality. These monsters' son should have been taken away from them long before they indulged in this kind of abuse.

My heart goes out to him and I hope he will find a way to accept his sexuality and heal from the wounds these abusive parents undoubtedly inflicted.

The things people do in the name of God and "decency" is beyond evil.

The book The Barn contains many different characters with their own problems. Ben is a smart young boy who loves to help; Ben is also the first child in the family to go to school. He wants to help his family take care of their sick father. Second character is Harrison he is strong and tall. Harrison has worked in the fields his whole life that helped him get big strong muscles. Number three is Nettie she is the oldest and wisest out of the children. Nettie is about to get married and move away with her fiancé but stays longer for her brothers. Last character is Father who is sick and dieing and has no way to do anything with his children. Father has palsy and it is making like a ghost. The many different characters in the book The Barn have their own problems but in the end it all comes down to one thing.

I felt this was A fantastic book. It had a lot of detail and really made me want to read more. A good age group for this book is 9 to 11. My favorite part of the book is when they finish the barn because it is a lot for children to do. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books that deal with family issues and how to overcome problems.

My book"The Barn" is about where the family of four,the boy Ben He is school and his brother and sister ,Nettie and Harrison they work at home. Nettie takes care of father.The father is very sick and dying. Harrion takes care of things outside.Their mom has died.The father worse so Nettie had to go get Ben to help around at the house.Ben thinks that father wants ben to build a barn.Even when things were getting worse Nettie brought home her boyfriend home and announced that they were getting married.

This book starts out with a boy named Ben, and while he is at his private boarding school in Portland his father has become ill and Ben will have to tend to him. On the way home his sister Nettie talks of the incident. It was worse than Ben had thought. When he and his sister get back to Oregon they see their brother Harrison tending to father. As they plow the fields every day, Ben starts to notice that father is trying to communicate in some fashion.

So Ben finally understands some of the communications and tells Nettie and Harrison and they don't seem to believe him. Later on they see the communications and can not believe it themselves. They start to think that he is getting better and take him out to see how much plowing they have done and they enen let him come to sit at the dinner table.

Then after Ben, Nettie, and Harrison realize that their father is trying to tell them something. Once they figure it out they will have to find a way to piece it all together and work together in ways they never thought they could.

I really like this book because it was a book that wanted you to keep reading and reading.

Five Star!!!

I am a sixth grade student almost going into seventh grade. Avi is one of my all time favrite authors ever since 5th grade where I first learned to love reading, and I always look forward to reading his books and this was no different. This book was touching, I really loved it and it was good for a quick read so I read it in one night. I think that Avi wrote this from the heart maybe his life similar but not entirely to this story. Tears came from my eyes when I read the ending, only someone with no heart would NOT like this book. I absolutely recommend it especially if you want a quick read on those rainy days, this is a book that will surely take your mind away from reality.

amanda

This was written by a professional (clinical social worker), but can be easily understood by laypeople. It gives stages of Alzheimer's--what one can look for in the early, middle and later stages. And is also helpful about how to seek help.

My mother is nearly 90. She's just beginning to develop Alzheimer's. This book would be good for those whose loved ones develop Alzheimer's at an earlier age, but I didn't find it very helpful.

Have not finidhed thid publication but have covered approz 125 pages. The info conveyed is excellent and has caused me to modify my approach to my wifs's condition. Unfortunately she has several other probems that complicate the situation. Rgardless this bookis vey helpful so far and I expect the balance to be the same.

Many books have been written about Alzheimer's disease. However this book gives the reader an easy to understand yet thorough explanation of what a family or caregiver should do when someone (s)he loves or works for has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Susan Berg is the author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby: Meaningful, Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones, and Involved Professionals.

A really informative book that points you in the right direction as far as finances, estate planning etc. I would recommend this book to family members who are caring for someone with this condition.

"Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership" looks at the paradox of personal dysfunction. The book addresses three issues, understanding how the dark side develops, discovering the issues experienced most often by leaders to help the reader determine their dark side, and a five-step plan for redeeming or overcoming the dark side.

The authors, Gary McIntosh and Samuel Rima speak from their own discovery of personal dysfunction and share how they recognized their dark side and began a life long journey of self discovery, healing, and fulfillment in their ministries.

Stories from the lives of well known public figures, from Biblical leaders, and from classical stories are used to illustrate the dysfunctions of the compulsive leader, the narcissistic leader, the paranoid leader, the codependent leader, and the passive-aggressive leader.

I personally found the "targeting insights," and "applying insights" features at the end of each chapter to be excellent tools for self examination and self discovery. The appendix listing available personality profiles, an accountability group covenant, a sample personal constitution, and a performance evaluation were also helpful resources.

Significant and relevant, this is an important and helpful book for pastors, and leadership at every level of church ministry.

Excellent book that enabled me to re-examine my past and accept my weaknesses now as strengths.

The author's main purpose is to make every one realize, particularly those in or considering ministry, that the drive that causes effective leadership has a dark and dangerous side. They not only identify the symptoms and potential dangers, but seek to provide practical ways of mitigating the effects of the past.

This work is very insightful and practical. First explaining how our dark sides are problematic but also how they grow out of some very positive characteristics that serve us well. Then, the authors name and describe five different types of dark sides and how they play out in our lives. These are made very helpful by the inclusion of a tool that assists the reader in determining their individual mix of dark side tendencies and share a five step method overcoming them. Engaging and helpful in giving direction, this is one of the best tomes I've read to see one's personality make up from a uniquely helpful perspective.

In the light of the many failures and downfalls of Christian leaders, this book examines what may be the cause of many of these downfalls. The failures of Christian leaders have actually put many barriers between the general public and the savior. The cause of Christ is losing ground if Christians cannot stop this alarming trend. The first step in overcoming these problems in Christian leadership is to first recognize the problem, and this book labels the problem the `dark side'. This obviously represents the defeated sinful nature inside every believer, but it also represents the different traumatic experiences that the sinful nature can use in our lives. The author argues that the ability to `overcome' the dark side is much more important than the managerial or leadership skills that are so often espoused in contemporary leadership thought.

The book does an excellent job of showing the painful reality of victory that leaders' dark sides have accomplished over many Christian leaders. The dark sides of these leaders do not develop and appear over night, but downfalls of Christian leaders happen slowly, often so subtlety that the leaders often are blind to the development. A lot of psychology is used to explain how the different types of `dark sides' develop and control leaders. And self-tests available in the book are helpful to discover if you personally may be susceptible to one of the different types of `dark sides'.

The last part of the book is the most helpful, showing HOW to overcome the dark side of leadership. Five helpful steps are provided for leaders to follow in order to prevent the dark side from gaining control. First, the leader must recognize the dark side. Second, the leader must examine his or her past. Third, the leader must resist unrealistic expectations. Fourth, the leader must be continually feeding himself or herself and checking himself or herself. And finally, the leader must have a strong sense of self-identity in Christ. I believe these are very helpful and a chapter is devoted to each of these steps.

The book is written very well, and especially helpful are the numerous examples and illustrations (including the lives of the authors). The book does a great job of showing the urgency of this issue, but it doesn't stop there. A well thought `remedy' is given for overcoming the dark side, and it isn't an easy fix that you find in many self-improvement books. I believe any Christian leader would do well to read this book and apply it to his or her life.

I have always recognized the existence of my dark side, but I have never understood the complexity of it. Although I had a hard time placing myself into one of the four types of the dark side given in the book, I could see things that I could possibly be susceptible to and I also saw things that I have actually experienced in the past as a result of my dark side.

Especially helpful were the five steps at the end of the book. I believe these steps are founded upon biblical principles, and they are very simple, but it is amazing how hard it is for Christians (and leaders specifically) to apply these truths. I learned that more accountability would be helpful in my life. I was also reminded that having a firm, continual acceptance of my identity in Christ is vitally important. So many problems from the dark side come from insecurity issues and issues with our relationships, but if the Christian leader understands his identity and security in Christ and also that this relationship is the most important relationship that can possibly be cultivated, these problems can be avoided. This leadership was a great encouragement to me.