Tracks Books

Beautifully illustrated story that is perfect for my emerging readers. It shows the harshness and beauty of winter as well as the comfort of various animals in their homes. Even as an adult teacher reading it to my class I was entranced by the quiet beauty that follows the entire story. It's simple to read, but even those simple words are smartly written.

This book evokes the peace of winter in the woods. Animals travel home, each in his/her own way. We see the animal moving in the woods, then snuggled up in its own cozy home. The illustrations are beautiful. I've purchased two copies so far--one for my sons and one for a cousin. I'd highly recommend this peaceful book to anyone with a beginning reader in the family.

This one is quite well done and is an excellent choice for the entry level reader. The text is quite simple, easy to follow and to the point, yet is, for some reason, very peaceful. You actually enjoy listening to the child read. I cannot say enough about the delightful paintings of the various animals in this book. Technically, the artist in spot on the money. I note that each picture leaves plenty of room open for discussion with the child as they read the book, or better yet, after they have read it several times. This is certainly one you will want to add to your child's library or your school library. Highly recommend this one.

In this beautiful book readers follow a variety of different wild animals home, as they seek shelter from a winter snowstorm. Vivid watercolor illustrations by Jacqueline Rogers set this level 1 beginning reader apart from others. Rogers uses contrasting warm and cold hues to distinguish between the cold outdoors during a winter storm and the coziness of home. Her realistic renderings will satisfy even the toughest critic, each page a new masterpiece. Young readers, especially animal lovers, will not only be captivated by the illustrations, but will also find Benjamin's simple text a comfort. Repetitive words and theme, and use of various action verbs keep the reader interested. More complex words are kept for the latter part of the book. This book will remind all readers of how peaceful yet powerful nature is. It is the perfect book to enjoy while curled up with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day.

Great book. I found this book is much more practical than many other related books. It contains countless specific tips and steps you can take. And as a previous review notes, there are plenty of books on how to land a job, but this is the rare one that tells you how to excel once you have the job. Very readable, valuable, practical and even humorous at times. The last thing I'll mention is that I like the way the author drew on interviews from a number of sources. I'm suspicious of books that tout the approach of just one successful individual. I might not be like that individual. I find the interview approach much better because it identifies common themes and approaches that have worked for a range of people.

The content of the book is accurate and new. But, most of all it is practical.

The major focus is on attitude and doing good work. Between these two focuses you will do great. The book explains how to maintain and brand yourself with an attitude, while also providing the tricks of the trade in doing good work. The book is simple and straight forward. There is very little B.S.

I am at the beginning my career and have seen great results so far. After reading the book, I have given to a colleague and to a friend. Both have enjoyed it and wish they had read it earlier in their careers.

Numerous guides cover how to land a job - but few focus on how to succeed as a new hire. From New Recruit to High Flyer covers everything from project and people management to understanding office structure and relationships, providing real-life examples from those who have succeeded as new hires. Common pitfalls and how to overcome them are included in a 'bible' every new hire needs to make the most of a new position.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book has been great and it is helping me a lot. Even though I have started my career some years ago I am still missing some key points. The fact that the author is not only giving his own advice, but he is using the best bits and pieces from people that went to Harvard. I guess that quite a few of these are really intelligent and ambitious guys.

Topics that are covered are how to get the right attitude every day at work, how to be systematic in your approach to your career, how to develop the right tools for doing research, how to write and speak effectively, and how to communicate in different situations, and other three important topics that are hard to address when you are just starting in the business world: networking, mentoring, and politics.

If you don't think you know it all get this book it will have a possitive return on investment!

I bought this book when it first came out in 1996. I have now just gotten around tor reading it (1999). I am bad about putting off things I suspect are going to be very good (Delayed gratification).

One of the great pioneers of not just running, but healthy living via serious play, George Sheehan, wrote a book that is the final work of his life. Subtitled, One Man's Journey To The End Of His Life," Sheehan has his eyes wide open, avoiding clinging to pure emotionalism and the could-of-should-of-would-of mentality, looking deep into his own felings and observations.

This book is not for everyone. It is for those that choose to face life and death with their eyes open -- willing to face themselves and what makes them tick.

Just as you cannot put a bandaid on cancer, George Sheehan doesn't try to cover up his humaness. He fully embraces what he was, what he is now, and acknowledges the similarity between the very young and the very old.

Unfortunately, this book will hard to find if you have an interest . . . Long overdue for a reprint.

G.R. Ford

This was the first running book I ever read, I am trying to read all of his books. But some are hard to come across. A touching story of a man and such a stong devotion of the meaning "life," god bless him.

While George Sheehan is best known for his expertise in running, he may be more accurately described as a philosopher than a runner. Going the Distance is a wonderful journey through a dying man's thoughts and reflections on dealing with the end of his life. Diagnosed with prostate cancer, Sheehan embarks upon a journey to battle the disease, and then come to terms with his own mortality when the battle is lost. As per his usual work, there is the obvious emphasis on running, but even the non-runner will enjoy this book. Not merely a book for "jocks", Sheehan once again displays his artful writing style and philisophical nature. A must read for the runner, walker and couch potato alike!

I would give this book 10 stars if I could. First, I should mention this is *not* a book about running any more than Moby-Dick is a book about whales. Rather, it is a discourse on how best to live one's life, written by someone near the end of his. I read this every year, and every year I'm amazed at how wise Dr. Sheehan was. Like Shakespeare or the Bible, it opens up to me the more I read it, and every time I learn something new, if only because I've changed and understand it better through experience. It helps me measure my own growth. I can't express what an influence it has been.

Nice going Hal you've put out another great book for runners to follow as they progress through their sport.

It seems that my biggest challenge these days is motivation and nutrition where my athletes are concerned. There are just too darn many fads out there and the real "easiest" way is when you put in the study and the work.

Hal Higdon has taken the problem out of researching your needs and put it right in front of you in this book. Read what he's giving and then incorporate it into your program.

Written by "Runner's World" magazine's senior writer, this book takes the form of question and answer over a wide range of topics. Simply put, it's a FAQ manual for runners.

One small problem with this format is, there is only one question and answer addressed per topic, so the information imparted is very specialised. To counter this, the book covers a wide range of topics from beginning running to marathon training, to injuries, to advice for young and older runners.

I would recommend this book to the beginner / inexperienced runner. Those who have been running for some time would very likely have come across most of this information before. If you're looking for a repository that contains a great deal of accumulated knowledge that can be accessed easily, here it is.

Although I considered myself to be a seasoned runner, I knew there was much that I had yet to discover before taking on my first marathon. This book helped incredibly - with everything from nutrition to preventing potentially painful or debilitating injuries. Though training to run a marathon is most certainly an arduous and daunting task, Higdon's book helps to put running into perspective and removes it from the realm of "only the talented can do it." He gives running back to those who don't know everything about the sport and are willing to learn.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who is considering a marathon or even a 5K for the motivation, the advice, and the knowledge.

Hal Higdon is my grandfather, and I'd love this book even if it wasn't written by him. :-)

While Mr. Freyvogel is a businessman and not a philosopher, I think his book and the idea of building deeper more meaningful relationships with everybody in our daily life is something is great. Look for his interview on the Get Wisdom Now blog, I heard about his book there and now I own it!

The book takes the basic schmooze and networking and shows some basic ways to increase your schmooze

Despite the unusual title, this is a very powerful book. I found that an odd word (Schmooze) can speak to a lot of what we do everyday to not only be successful, but also enjoy the process. This book presents that as a lifestyle, a way of living that can then increase the trajectory of success and enjoyment.

There are useful anecdotes and exercises. It is also a fun read. They should probably charge more.

With the tremendous emphasis on technology and impersonal internet sales, the concept of the "schmooze" is fascinating. It has wonderful application to both personal and business situations. I think it's part of the more kind and more gentle environment that we live in since 9/11.

While easy to understand the concept of schmoozing, this book makes it simple for people who are not naturally outgoing and interested in others. It is truly amazing how much we can learn by being friendly and listening.

Ty has struck a nerve in everyone that is too busy, in too much of a hurry. If we take the time to interact with those around us, our lives will become enriched, and so will the lives of the people with whom we schmooze. Schmoozing becomes natural and sometimes profitable.

The children found this book to be very entertaining. They went through it rather quickly.

The rap on kids sports today seems to be about too much, too soon, too much specificity, too much competitiveness, too much pressure, too much incentive to specialize early and practice one sport.

And then there's Carol Goodrow's vision of Kids' Running, which is the the reverse of every reason parents might be afraid of getting their kids involved in sports. Want to run? Great, here's some ways to have fun doing it. Want to ride your bike today instead? Jump rope, play some kickball, play a game with your teammates? No problem, go ahead, you won't even notice you're still running. Want to do a race or two? Nothing but good news.

This book is a reassuring reference for parents, but it's also an empowering menu of fun stuff for kids, too, enough to make their parents wish they were kids again and could be out running the butterfly loops with their friends, too. For more advanced readers, there are characters who can be followed through the book as they figure out this sport for themselves.

Carol has been able to carry forward the delightful style of the "Kids Running" web-site into this equally delightful book. With so many pictures of kids (and their ever-present pet dogs) enjoying the many running activities, and with so many cute rhymes about running and healthy eating, it's hard to imagine any child NOT getting caught up in the fun and excitement!

As "Professor Shoelace", I was also pleased to see that Carol promotes the virtues of good fitting running shoes or sneakers, securely tied with shoelaces. This comes by way of advice on the very first page of the book, as well as by example in the countless pictures of kids wearing colorful running shoes, all neatly tied with colorful shoelaces.

Carol Goodrow breaks through the finish line with a gold medal finish again!

Recommended for grades 1 to 6, this 82-page gem has content stimulating enough for adult readers, yet colorful, clever and charming enough to read to toddlers.

The information is rock-solid, perfect for a lifelong foundation in health.

This book is a cheerful antedote to wearisome complaints of youth with too much screen time and too little nutritious food. It is not preachy, and has enough informative tidbits and silly riddles to keep readers returning again and again.

Librarians, teachers, parents and grandparents will want to get this mighty treasure.

A gem, you'll laugh hard enough to miss a line call

This is a terribly funny book! Though I am buying it for all the tennis freaks on my Christmas list, you don't have to know anything about tennis in order to enjoy it (although it helps to know something about people!).

I laughed until my sides hurt. I highly recommend it for anyone, even if they have never picked up a tennis racket. Loved this book.

Not only is the author a top tennis player but a gifted writer. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection and bought all my tennis friends a terrific gift. If you haven't read Herb Rosenthal's columns, buy this book!

I would highly recommend this logbook for anyone who has thought about using a training log, but has found them to be too daunting and clumsy. LogbookONE is so simple(very orginized,) and fun(great visual symbols,) that I actually look forward to writing down my daily runs. Being much more of an "intuitive" runner, I was able to tailor the logbook to fit my style. I used more of the space to describe my dreams and the mood of the run.LogbookONE can be easily used by the most "scientific" of runners, leaving space and symbols for resting heart-rate, weight, sleep, ect. I've seen my training improve since using the logbook and believe every athlete could benefit from using it!
-Michele Tetreault
(just completed 50 mile trail race after using this book!)

Logbookone is the most asthetically pleasing training log I have ever seen and as a runner for most of my life I have seen a lot. It is very well thought out and perfect for runners of all abilities. Highly recomended.
-Sean O'Brien
Nike Farm Team 1500m pr - 3:38

Finally!! A training log that is simple, easy to use and lets a runner get into the detail that he/she needs to keep an accurate log of their training.

I have been using this book now for a month and I love it. You can start the log on ANY date, so you are not tied into the normal calendar. It has places for things that you just don't find in a normal log. Things like time of sleep, heart rate, weights, interval sessions, heartrate, massage, are all easily listed. Only complaint is what took the running world so long to make a log like this!

This book smells like....Victory.

Doug Consiglio 1988 Olympic Track and Field Runner (1500m Canada) 3:53 miler.

I have been running, training and racing for over 20 years, and this is the best running log that I have come across, by far. This is the only log that I have seen that has been user-friendly. The book is not predated, which is great. Therefore, an athlete can start using the book in January or August. Or you can put the book aside for awhile and start using it later.

I wish this log was around when I was coaching a few years ago, when I was coaching. It would have helped me keep better track of my athlete's training. My kids would have used this book--if for no other reason than the pictures of current and past superstars like Steve Prefontaine, Nicole Teter, Joan Benoit, Mary Decker and Fred Carter. Each picture corresponded with an inspirational quote. The journal allows athletes and coaches to not only track mileage, course and effort--but also heartrate, the amount of sleep each night and several other training aspects. The icons used in the book are really creative and well done. They really did help, and save a lot of writing space (one of my criticisms of other logs, and the reason I used a paper notebook since I graduated high school). The other thing I liked about the journal was that it didn't try to overextend itself by trying to be a training journal, and a how-to-run-a-marathon guide.

Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (6/06)

Sy Nazif, the author of "Never Mind the Track" is quick to point out that this book is not a memoir. But as all good writers know, the best material for a novel is real life. And Sy draws on his background as a mechanic, motorcycle thief, and assistant to a Hollywood literary agency to create this exciting book.

The main character, Eddie, is a tough kid from Pittsburgh, or at least he pretends to be. He is into muscle cars, heavy metal, and mostly motorcycles. If you don't know the difference between a Honda 350 and a DKW 250, get ready to be educated. Eddie and his brother Eric are into street bikes and café racing. Eddie's mantra during a daredevil street race is "I am afraid of nothing". This mantra carries him not only through the races, but through life as well. As he drops out of college, falls in love repeatedly, and lies his way into jobs Eddie may act tough, but we realize that he is really afraid of commitment, rejection, and stability.

The title of this book is inspired by a Hunter S. Thompson quote: "Never mind the track. The track is for punks. We are Road People. We are Café Racers." When I began reading this book, I didn't really understand what that meant. Now I get it, not only as a literal reference to motorcycle racing, but as an overall theme for the book. Eddie does not follow the standard life track of school, marriage, job. And when he tries, it doesn't work out. He resists the ordinary. He wants to be out on the open road, riding fast and dangerous.

This coming of age novel references the music and culture of the 80s and 90s. However, this book is for anyone who can recall the freedom and rebellion of youth. Nazif's brash writing kicks into gear on the first page and takes you on a wild helmet-free ride.

Sy Nazif's writing style is influenced by Hunter Thompson. Hunter Thompson is famous for his "gonzo journalism". This genre of writing blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction, author and subject. "Never Mind the Track" is written from Eddie's point of view. Sy not only gives Eddie first person narration, he gives him ownership of the book. Eddie is telling the story, jumping in with asides, and getting ahead of himself as he gets excited. This style is very effective for this book. The reader gets immediately drawn in. I didn't feel like I was reading a book. I felt like I was at a bar listening to an old friend catch me up on his life story.

"Never Mind the Track" is a fun read. It's a great way to take a break from reality and think about what would have happened if you had taken that dare, gotten off the path, or married that girl in Las Vegas (just for a few hundred pages). Then you can get back to that desk job and your secure life. But I bet you can't help but occasionally stop and wonder, what's that Eddie up to now?

Nazif's debut novel, Never Mind The Track, is written as eight self-contained stories, but the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Written in the first person, we first meet the novel's protagonist, Eddie, in sixth-grade English class. Eddie proceeds to share one of the "most embarrassing moments of [his] entire life." By the end of page three, the reader is hooked. Throughout, Eddie acts in ways that make the reader smile, laugh at loud, and at times want to scream at him through the pages. Nazif's writing is fun, daring, and wholly original. He tells a story with such ease that the reader truly feels like one of Eddie's pals by the end of the novel. The reader wants to shake this lost and misguided, yet somehow loveable character, show him where he is going wrong. But all the while, the reader knows that the kid would never listen. Never Mind The Track is, in a word, fun. It will remind you of people you grew up with, and make you wish that you had been a little more carefree and foolish in life, and thankful that you weren't.

Sy Nazif is an incredible writer, which he proves without a doubt in his debut book, "Never Mind the Track." I was hooked from the first page, and laughing out loud. During the eight chapters of the book, we really get to know Eddie as he grows into a man. I feel like I've been a voyeur riding on the back of his motorcycle as he cafe races with his brother Eric. I sit invisibly behind him and stifle a snicker as he lies his way into a job. Eddie's life is about living, and Nazif makes you "feel" Eddie.

He's the friend you envy for being able to do and say exactly what he wants when he wants. And what's more, he doesn't care what other people think. He tells his father what he's going to do, doesn't care that his father calls him a fool, and does it anyway. That's what I love and so many times wish I could be!

The book is brash, brazen, and ballsy, as Eddie says exactly what he thinks. On motorcycle helmet laws, he says, "Clearly, the only person who could get hurt by my not wearing a helmet is me. Now, people will make the argument about health insurance costs, nonsense like that. But for one thing, the law doesn't pay for or even require me to have health insurance. It forbids me from riding without a helmet, period... You can't legislate against stupidity, really. And should you, in a free country, be allowed to?"

Nazif is the Kerouac of the 21st century, and I cannot wait to read more from him!

Never Mind the Track isn't so much a novel as a handful of linked short-stories in the vein of Hemingway's Nick Adams. And while the protagonist is not the kind of man you'd like to marry your daughter, he is a man with whom you for damn sure would enjoy sharing a drink. A modern-day adventure through the wilds of the Eastern seaboard, Never Mind the Track is smart, well-written and sexy. This is enthralling fiction. Recommended.

This book has the goods - it is very serious, not a typical sports book, but it teaches at every level. Civil Rights. Science. Women. Black Power. It is tough to think of what it leaves out. Starts slow, but really picks up and by the time it is done, it's like you've been watching PBS for two hours and didn't feel it. Learn.

This book really helped to open my eyes about the events surrounding the 1968 Olympics. More than that, it also talks about many other significant issues such as women's roles during that time, the way certain people saw various events before, during, and after the times. Be prepared to be patient when you read this. Dr. Bass takes her time and goes way back with her research leading up to the games in the late 60's. There were some areas I was not too interested in, such as some scientists' claims that black superiority in the athletic arena is due to biological and genetic advantages. Yet there were other times in the book like when Tommie Smith explained the MEANING, the TRUE MEANING, behind he and Carlos' actions that really made me take it in and appreciate the courage they had to take a stand at that time on that particular stage. From the black socks to the scarf Smith wore on his neck to both of them not wearing shoes on the victory stand while the national anthem played. More than just discussing the Olympics, she digs deep into the perception of the black athlete, from the 1930's when Jesse Owens was the man to the 60's, and to the 90's with Michael Jordan. Like I said earlier though, be prepared to be patient when you are reading this. There were some parts that I had to bear with to get to what I wanted to read, but all in all, it's a read that can definitely challenge your views not only about the black athlete, but sports and life in general.

A work that provides insight into how race is understood and projected in U.S. society -- and the world -- and where its ties to nation, class, gender, etc. come into play most dramatically. This exploration of the black power movement at the Mexico City olympics is a critical examination of a multitude of topics: television, sports, civil rights, humanity, globality -- the list is varied and important. Complex, complicated, interesting, imperative. A learning experience for all who turn its pages.

I learned so much from this book. I thought that it might be too hard to read, but it was worth it: I will never watch sports -- especially the Olympics -- the same way again. There's too much to list contained here: the Olympics, the media, race, sexuality, women -- it goes on and on. I think everyone should read it.