G Books

Eduardo is an awesome person. I saw him speak in person. He is very good at helping to put the audience in the right 'space' in regard to working with/understanding Native people.

A wonderful and deeper telling of Dances with wolves. I liked it very much.

This book is well written and comes from the many seasons of the author life and work. Dr.Gustafson draws from his many years as a Jungian Anayst and his personal experience with his native american friends. There are some wonderful stories here from the authors life and some powerful insights that will be helpful to those seeking a deeper understanding of their soul.

A beautiful work of sensitivity and insight from a man who truly understands not only his soul, but the spirit of the Native Americans he has come to grow with. An amazing Jungian analyst and talented writer, this book opened my eyes to a world I could not see before.

This is an incredibly insightful book by Gustafson, who shares his own story combined with the teachings of NA people and Jungian psychology. Definitely a "must have" book for therapists working among NA populations.

Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet is a superlative English mystery. It's witty, the use of language is superb, and when one gets to the last 100 pages, it cannot be put down. I think this work belongs in the same category as Dorothy Sayers and Dame Agatha Christie. I can't wait for Malliet's next book, "Death and the Lit Chic." If it is anything like this first novel, I will be overjoyed.

Have to admit, I bought DEATH OF A COZY WRITER (in large part because it was reminiscent of the M.C. Beaton titles) and jumped the gun by skipping to the excerpt from DEATH AND THE CHICK LIT. This novel has a very cute opening, obviously parodying chick lit. Hope Kimberlee is the victim!! Anyway, the first pages promise a good, tongue-in-cheek excursion into the commercial publishing world. For a traditional British mystery a' la Agatha Christie with a contemporary twist and light romance, try Christmas is Murder: A Rex Graves Mystery by C.S. Challinor, by the same publisher.

G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer is a good old-fashioned British drawing room mystery. The ill-fated writer of the book's title is Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk, whose best-selling series of Miss Rampling mysteries has left him rolling in pounds. Sir Adrian's favorite sport is altering his will, disinheriting one or another of his four children in response to real or perceived slights, or for exhibiting questionable taste, among innumerable other possible offenses--torturing them by playing a sort of Russian roulette with their inheritances. Eager to see them all squirm simultaneously and in close quarters, he invites his brood to Waverly Court, Adrian's 18th-century estate in Cambridgeshire, to celebrate his impending nuptials to a woman all four assume will be a British version of Anna Nicole Smith. The invitations prompt the expected amount of shock and complaint. The get-together itself proves to be murderous.

Death of a Cozy Writer is the first in a new series featuring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Sergeant Fear. The crime-fighting pair are not introduced, however, until we are some one hundred pages into the book, after a crime has been committed. And when St. Just and Fear do appear we are not told that much about them. Some details emerge: Fear has a daughter; St. Just has a cat aptly named Deerstalker. But while the other characters in the book are described in great detail--the malevolent Sir Adrian and his scheming brood, the help at Waverly Court--the detectives themselves are not fleshed out. This seems odd, as it is St. Just and his right-hand man who will have to anchor the series as its recurring characters, long after the Beauclerk-Fisks have been left on their own to run through their inheritances. It is interesting that the author has elected to breathe life into characters who will (presumably) be replaced in subsequent outings rather than beefing up her portrayal of St. Just.

Malliet's writing is lovely:

"Natasha admired the woman's self-possession. It was an excellent impersonation of aristocracy putting the revolting masses back in their place. Natasha, who had done her own research, found the act nearly pitch-perfect--for an act it was, she was certain. She wouldn't have put it past Lillian to have arrived at breakfast dressed in jodhpurs, cracking a whip against her highly polished boots, despite the absence of a stables for forty miles or more. Instead, Lillian had opted for the simple wool sheath bedecked with a king's ransom in pearls at neck and wrist: the uniform of the bored society matron. But not, Natasha recognized, quite the done thing for breakfast in a country manor house."

And the mystery certainly kept me guessing until all was revealed in the requisite drawing room scene at the book's end. (I am left confused about one issue I should have liked tied up, though, having to do with the identity of Sir Adrian's secretary.) All in all a delightful read. I look forward to more in the St. Just series.

-- Debra Hamel

G.M. Malliet is a professional journalist and copywriter with degrees from Oxford and

Cambridge Universities. DEATH OF A COPYWRITER is her first mystery and has already garnered the Malice Domestic Grant and the Romance Writers of America 2006 Stiletto Award in the thriller category.

Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk is as phony as his title. He has also produced one of the truly great dysfunctional families. He is ensconced in his eighteenth-century Cambridgeshire manor, and has married a woman who was accused of murdering her first husband for his money. He delights in using Violet to torment his grown-up children, all of whom have their own foibles. The result naturally turns to murder, and it is up to Detective Chief Inspector St. Just and his sidekick, Detective Sergeant Fear, from the Cambridgeshire Constabulary to sort out the mess. The servants also have their own secrets to cover up, and the result is a jolly investigation marked by hilarious dialogue and commentary:

"The poor bugger really was dead, and he'd been dead awhile. St. Just thought it was little wonder the man who said he was his brother was in such sad shape. The body in the wine refrigerator or whatever it was called was a mess, the skull thoroughly crushed in. The face, itself, however, was intact: In profile, it retained the aristocratic, pampered visage of what the coroner would undoubtedly describe was a well-nourished, middle-aged man."

Malliet writes this little "cozy" with a sense of humor and an eye towards thoroughly confusing the reader. The connections made by St. Just are nothing short of Sherlock Holmes at his most coherent.

Malliet is not unaware of the perils of alcoholism to the family unit, and she uses this as a vehicle to produce the family secrets that would otherwise emerge as far-fetched. But in Ms. Malliet's able writing, it all makes a sordid type of sense. The result is a page-turner that is both entertaining and exhilarating. A most excellent first mystery!

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Let us begin this review with a blunt declaration: G.M. Malliet can WRITE. And, more vitally, she can tell a story.

The plot of Death of a Cozy Writer revolves around a wealthy, aging aristocrat's will, a storyline harkening back to Kyd's Spanish Tragedy and Shakespeare's King Lear. Ms. Malliet's novel's central conceit is a British detective procedural that gently skewers the Cozy mystery sub-genre within an English country house setting. Familiar ground, brilliantly re-traversed. Moreover, Malliet manages to honor the sacred concord between mystery writer and reader by faithfully observing the requisite genre conventions, but in her own quirky, tongue-in-chic style.

The author uses the early chapters to depict the various characters with wit and unusual insight. She then deposits them at the nimbly executed meal en famille, a model of nuanced familial interaction and serial revelation. Once the estimable DCI St. Just and obligatory sidekick are introduced into the mix, the pace quickens and the reader is catapulted into a dizzying vortex of misdirection, surprise, and, echoing Greek tragedies, recognition and reversal. So sure, so authoritative is Malliet's grasp of character, plot, and convention as she propels the intricate plot to conclusion, I felt I had witnessed a display of narrative virtuosity equal to that of any first rate mystery writer's very best work.

Appetite whetted, I avidly await the gifted G.M. Malliet's next literary outing. Perhaps she will even include a "Death of an Amazon Reviewer" book in this promising series. Hmmm, I better hide the cutlery......

This is my favorite, the attention to research and detail is without compare. The Maxwells are excellent and I'll buy any book with their names on it. Thanks for hours of great reading!

Elizabeth Lowell is brilliant at writing about atmosphere - I could almost feel the sweat pouring off my body and the claustrophobia of the tunnels. Her characters here are very likeable and you are rooting for them all the way.

The only book by Lowell that I like more than this one is Tell Me No Lies. I read it years ago and still re-read it.

When Erin inherits a diamond mine in Australia from a great-uncle she never knew, her life changes dramatically. Cole had won half of the mine from her great-uncle in a card game years before. Erin and Cole are drawn thrown together to find the mine and avoid everyone-- especially enemies-- who crawl out of the woodwork once the presence of the mine is know. Since the mine could make or break the diamond cartel, the political and economic implications could be earthshattering.

I really enjoyed this book with the action and romance that doesn't quit. She's an admirable heroine and he's the complex hero that's worth waiting for...sigh...

I read this book many years ago, it was one of the first of Ann Maxwell's (aka. Elizabeth Lowell)that I had read and it's still one of my favorites. I've read it four times. Her characters are very well drawn, the dialogue is crisp, plenty of action and it is romantic without being mushy. It is a "romance" book I think a man would enjoy. I would also recomend Ann Maxwell's "Tell Me No Lies".

Contains a wealth of solid and in-depth information aimed at scholars and educated lay persons. Articles are well written (and can be a bit dense), very informative, and contain a select bibliography for further study. An indispensible tool for any serious student of the Bible.

This book is a great resource. Very deep info. It is a wealth of scholarly information and covers every topic. Amazon has the best price on these books with free shipping. What more could anyone ask for. Aslo quick service. Amazon also ships quickly to APO/FPO boxes and is still free! Awesome.

Over 150 articles comprise the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, which covers the books of Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

Each entry is concluded by an extensive bibliography and useful cross-references to other articles in the Dictionary Of The Historical Books.

A unique feature that enhances the readability and usefulness of this dictionary is that the entries are in reality "macro-essays" on larger categories or topics instead of separate smaller essays on the component parts. For example, "Absalom" will be found in the discussion
of "David's Family," and "Anat" under "Canaanite Gods and Religion."

The entries discuss and evaluate many of the key interpretative problems and the relevance of comparative data from literary, cultural, and archaeological sources that pertain to these biblical texts. Archaeological studies are used extensively throughout the entries, with numerous sites being treated separately in addition to their citation within other contexts.

With a wide range of backgrounds and points of view among the 120 contributors, this dictionary contains fairly even and well-balanced entries that provide a panoramic view of the present landscape in this segment of scholarly research on the historical books. It must be noted, however, that the contributors to the dictionary do not merely present but also evaluate data. While some readers no doubt will take issue with some of the interpretations of the various contributors, the entries articulate the state of the question for these issues and topics and offer new directions and interpretative possibilities for the future.

The volume concludes with three indexes: Scripture, subjects,
and articles. Whether you are a scholar, a graduate student, or a layman looking for a summation of scholarly opinion, this volume is for you!

This is an outstanding resource book for the novice or the scholar. It is well written and very easy to understand. Arnold covers the Old Tesatment thoroughly. You will not be disappointed.

Editors Bill Arnold and Paul Williamson have enlisted an international cast of scholars; each addressing topics within their specialties. In the past twenty years a burgeoning list of titles addressing the historicity of the OT has appeared, thus making it necessary for a dictionary that addresses these particular concerns. With entries ranging from "agriculture" to "Zion traditions," DOTHB packs competently presented information cover-to-cover. One of the best dictionaries I have encountered.

Discord in Harmony is not only a well-researched vision of what life was like in a little coastal California town during the depression, but a mystery that is full of suspense and page-turning intrigue. Copeland's mysteries will keep you reading straight through.

I enjoyed Discord in Harmony very much. It was the kind of book I love--each time you have to put it down, you look forward to getting back to it and continuing the story. The characters were deep, the plot had twists, and the setting and historical background were compelling.

The saying "time flies when you're having fun" was meant for this book. Copeland has a way with words that makes it impossible to put this book down. Now that I'm finished, I'm ready to read it again! Buy this book for you...and all your friends!

The saying "time flies when you're having fun" was meant for this book. Copeland has a way with words that makes it impossible to put this book down. Now that I'm finished, I'm ready to read it again! Buy this book for you...and all your friends!

The Central Coast of California has long been a favorite vacation spot for my family. The sign, "HARMONY Population 18," would always draw a smile as we wound our way up Highway 1. Recently, we stopped and visited the quaint artist town. As I walked down the street I could not help but wonder what this town was like years ago when perhaps it was a bustling community.
Alicia Copeland has marvelously crafted just such a "wondering" with Discord in Harmony. She has authentically captured the feel of a simpler time and place while presenting to us characters that are complex and nuanced. The story revolves around a mystery, which begins with petty theft but then darkly evolves into scandal, cover-up and murder. And through swirl of conflicts, both internal and external, our little town of Harmony is thrown into discord; yet Cletus Haley, our protagonist remains true as a father, Sheriff, and as a man.
So convincing is Ms. Copeland's storytelling that I can well imagine myself visiting one of those old, abandoned cemeteries on the Central Coast and finding the graves of Cletus and Ruby. How did their lives unfolded after we had left them in Discord? I can only hope that a sequel to this excellent and highly recommended novel will assuage my curiosity.

Excellent book for any new manager as well as managers with experience. I like Mr. Blair's approach to leading people vs managing them. His examples of situations he has experienced really show his understanding of leadership and ability to execute results. This would be an excellent book for companies to give to new managers before they have the opportunity to make unnecessary mistakes with their employees.

There is not a lot of good information on the important considerations for a new manager. Howard Blair has done a good job of describing some of the most important things a new manager should know. I wish that I had been able to read a book like this when I first started as a supervisor many years ago.

"Don't be a Dead Fish" has sixteen of the fundamental rules of great leaders in an easy to understand and logical format. The author says this book is designed for new managers (leaders), but even experienced executives will find some areas where they can improve. "Don't be a Dead Fish" is easy to read, concise, to the point, and contains advice all managers can use. You can't go wrong with this one.

Don't be a Dead Fish is definitely not a dead fish - it's a great read! The author is speaking with over forty years of experience in higher management and he presents several management techniques in a clear, concise and entertaining manner. I think this is a must read for both new and veteran corporate leaders alike.

Who should read this book? Anyone who supervises people, who is going to be supervising someone, or who will be working for someone else (in order to find a boss that will be a joy to work for).

It is a marvelous list of examples to show how to avoid being a "dead fish" manager, and instead, become a real leader. It is applicable to any organization: big business, small business, government offices, non-profits, volunteer organizations and, to some extent, even a family.

If everyone who reads this book takes the suggestions to heart, organizations would be more productive, more efficient, happier places to work, and the leaders would progress up the ladder of success much more rapidly.

The life of Dorothy Day has captivated people both during her lifetime and after her death. We have many of her own writings as well as a number of biographies, so her story still speaks to people and inspires many. Of the many biographies available, few are repetitive. Biographers seem to gain new insights into her life, work and spirituality and it's my guess that this will continue in the upcoming years since her life touches so many people in different ways. This work contains familiar information but it also has a new and fresh approach.

Rosalie Riegle is familiar with Dorothy Day's life from her research for her work VIOCES FROM THE CATHOLIC WORKER. In this work she gives us a biography that contains the story of Dorothy Day but isn't just the standard story. Riegle has collected stories, vignettes, and remembrances from the people who knew and worked with Day. Readers familiar with Dorothy Day's life and her work with the Catholic Worker will recognize many writers of many of the remembrances included: Jim Forrest, Robert Coles, Tom and Monica Cornell, Eileen Egan, Robert Ellsberg, and Fr. Richard McSorely. Some of the writings included are published for the first time in this work. She also includes remembrances from people who died before the book's publication but are an indispensable part of any Dorothy day biography: Peter Maurin, Thomas Merton, Sr. Peter Claver. While the stories associated with the familiar people associated with day are wonderful, there are many stories and vignettes from people not so well known but help compose the intriguing portrait found in this book.

Readers who are familiar with Dorothy Day's life will enjoy this book not because of the new light it sheds on Day's work and accomplishments but on the many stories and anecdotes that have been included that cannot be found elsewhere. We see day with all her gifts and all her quirks told by people who loved her because of who she was, and perhaps at times in spite of who she was. The Dorothy day we meet in this book may be a saint, though she was not always saintly. We see a woman of conviction, a woman of talent, and a woman open to God's direction in her life. While this is an excellent stand alone biography, it is an even better as a companion for the classic biographies of William Miller's DOROTHY DAY: A BIOGRAPHY (now out of print) and Jim Forrest's LOVE IS THE MEASURE.

As I was thinking about writing this review of Rosalie Riegle's book Dorothy Day: Portraits by Those Who Knew Her, I started reading Mary Pipher's newest book, Writing to Change the World. She quotes James Baldwin:

"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't....The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way...people look at reality, then you can change it."

Pipher says, "Good writing enlarges readers' knowledge of the world, or empowers readers to act for the common good, or even inspires other good writing." Just as Dorothy Day wrote her newspaper for these reasons, Rosalie Riegle writes about Day to remember her and her work for the common good, as well as to empower and inspire her readers in the same direction. This is a book of interviews going back to 1988 and Riegle's second book on Day's work, following Voices from the Catholic Worker.

Dorothy Day was the co-founder, with Peter Maurin, of the Catholic Worker in 1933. It is both a newspaper and a community movement. The ideology inspiring it has been described as "Christian Anarchist."

Although I am neither a Christian nor an anarchist, through the years my life has crossed paths with those involved in the Catholic Worker movement. The first one I remember was Michael Harrington, who spent time at the Catholic Worker House in New York in the fifties. He was one of the many people interviewed by Riegle for her book. In the early sixties, he stayed with my husband and me when he came to Bloomington, Indiana to speak for the Young Peoples Socialist League at a public meeting at Indiana University. We stayed up into the night talking about the problems of the world and their possible solutions, and we were fascinated by his stories of his time there. In the sixties, he was a leading socialist and gained national fame with his book The Other America, which is credited with inspiring Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty.

Another interview was with Karl Meyer, who was householder of a Catholic Worker House in Chicago during the time I was there, and known as a peace activist. While they lived in Chicago, Glenn and Anne, a couple who were among my best friends, visited the Catholic Worker house often. After I moved to New Mexico, I met an artist who had spent time living in a rural Catholic Worker community in New York state when she was a single mother with a young child. Then, in 1996, I met and became friends with Rosalie Riegle at the International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women in Adelaide, Australia. At that time she was already working on this book. Her book has makes me understand her better as well as being inspired by Day and her followers.

Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker, radical pacifist, friend of the poor, has been called the conscience of the American Catholic Church. Lately she has also been called a saint. But who was she, really? In this moving and entertaining portrait, drawn from the memories of those who knew her best, Dorothy Day emerges as a woman of courage, humor, and love, who left an unforgettable mark on the lives of all she touched. Included are 134 voices of those who knew Day as a friend, a writer, a mother, a champion of the oppressed, and a spiritual guide. They tell what it was like to march with her on picket lines, to go to jail, to pray the rosary, and to discuss her favorites novels or the news of the day. This collective portrait best captures her many sides as a woman who was both ordinary and unique and includes an insert of rarely seen photos.

This is a great portrait of an inspiring woman, Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Riegle interviewed dozens of people and paints a very human picture with their short stories. The book can be read in long sittings or in short snippets. Our world needs more people like Dorothy Day and Riegle shows us why.

Dorothy Day, saint of the unwashed and unwanted, pacifist/anarchist,who actually lived the verses in MATTHEW 25 about the least among us,was an astonishing gift to Catholicism of the 20th century. Her influence is as great as any prelate[read any bishops letter on poverty,nuclear war,justice and you can see her gentle,firm hand there],yet it is/was as the co -founder of the Catholic Worker movement that she is best known for. these essays highlight Dorthy Day in her graciousness and deep prayer,her temper and moemnts of depression,her undying faith in the church,and unfailing criticism of the state. Dorothy day is not for the faint of heart or spirit.She disturbs,by her constancy and beauty. I am in constant awe...Hugely Recommended

Item was received as described by the seller. Also, the item was received in a great timing - took about 1 week to receive the item.

Book arrived in the nick of time. Brand new! Although, I can't blame the C grade that I received on the book, I will say it helped me stay average. Thanks a bunch! Science is so not my thing!

My kids love this Science book. It is very interesting, there are lots of pictures.

I have been using "Earth Science" by Tarbuck and Lutgens both at the high school and college level for 15 years. I think that iotr one of the best available.

This book was a wonderful resource for my Earth Science class. It has many colorful pictures, and great explanations.

Harrison & Davis offer intellectual property (IP) professionals - including IP attorney's seeking to advocate for their client - a better and more effective understanding of how to manage IP as a strategic business asset. Unlike other books on the subject, Edison, and it's sequel, "Einstein in the Boardroom" (2006), offers rare pragmatic advise with evidence-based outcomes from a community of IP-savvy companies on the benefits of becoming proactive in identifying, protecting and leveraging all forms of intellectual capital to address strategic business objectives.

Julie Davis and Suzanne Harrison's book, Edison in the Boardroom, takes readers deep enough into the field of intellectual property management for them to incorporate presented theories into their respective professional disciplines - researcher, attorney, licensing exec, etc. - without the book becoming unwieldy. Excellent balance. This book can become a cornerstone text for any professional involved with intellectual property to direct his or her focus for additional study and to ensure his or her working knowledge of the challenges confronting professionals in other disciplines that together form a corporate intellectual property management program.

Professor Thomas G. Field, Jr., Franklin Pierce Law Center

Few variables are more likely to dictate short- and long-term commercial success than a firm's ability to convert intellectual assets into intellectual property (IP). The smaller the firm, the bigger the need, and the need only grows.
Most companies are careful to avoid IP infringement and are eager to sue direct competitors who do not. Many firms also educate key employees on their roles in perfecting and protecting intangible assets. Fewer give full attention to IP and antecedents that might nevertheless be regarded as assets. For example, those who would not hesitate to monitor and sue infringing competitors may not monitor non-competitors as potential licensees.
To extract the most from intellectual assets, many factors, e.g., legal, technical marketing and sales, must be weighed. Edison in the Boardroom offers important advice to help firms take steps to meet that need. Despite its reference to "assets" in the subtitle, however, most of this book focuses more narrowly - on IP, and on patents specifically.
Davis and Harrison, said to bring "a quarter century of IP consulting accomplishments between them," document that some companies have long engaged in trying to optimize the value of their intellectual assets. The authors also assign companies to a five-level hierarchy based on a range of IP-management strategies. A goldmining metaphor is usefully advanced at one point to describe those levels as: defensive (staking claims), panning (cost control), mining (deeper profit seeking), processing (integration), and sculpting. The heart of the book consists of five chapters that discuss these levels seriatim and offers a host of useful ideas and anecdotes.
The book is generally well-structured. For example, early in each of the five core chapters is a description of what "companies are trying to accomplish" at the corresponding level of IP-management sophistication. At the defensive level, of course, companies have processes for seeking, maintaining and enforcing IP. Yet, in the discussion of second-level companies, said to seek to reduce costs by exercising judgment about what is brought into and kept in their patent portfolios, it becomes clear how much various levels overlap. The first two topics may usefully be segregated for purposes of discussion, but it is hard to imagine any company that can afford, literally, to pursue protection without attempting to balance portfolio goals against concomitant costs. Indeed, one thesis of the second chapter is that no firm can seek the strongest protection for everything of potential patentability, much less seek it in every possible country.
The third chapter diverges considerably. Companies featured there are said to seek, e.g., to extract portfolio value as quickly and cheaply as possible. Several have gone well beyond suing competitors or easily discovered, non-competing infringers. The most aggressive of such firms regard IP departments as profit centers and actively solicit licensees. Their success is sometimes remarkable. As the authors point out, "Worldwide revenues from patent licensing have grown from $15 billion in 1990 to over $100 billion in 2000." Echoing the central theme of another recent book, Davis and Harrison also point out that, "Some experts estimate that companies are sitting on $1 trillion per year in unexploited licensing fees."
Fourth- and fifth-level firms are difficult to distinguish from ones discussed earlier - or from each other. For example, level-four companies are said to seek to integrate "IP awareness and operations throughout all functions of the company." That seems necessary, too, for allegedly less capable compatriots. Further, when level-five firms are described as embedding intellectual assets and their management into the company culture, it is difficult to find divergence.
The last are said to have as additional objectives: (1) staking a claim on the future and (2) encouraging "disruptive technologies." Still, these could easily been collapsed into "Get a Crystal Ball!" Heuristics for meeting them non-serendipitiously are weak.
Consider, for example, the mouse and graphic interface as commercialized on Macintosh computers. Steve Jobs is said to have derived both from the Alto computer developed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. While Jobs became a billionaire, "Xerox completely failed to get into the personal computer business, missing one of the biggest business opportunities in history." To avoid repeating such mistakes, Davis and Harrison suggest that companies should "identify ways the corporation can benefit from [ideas outside their business capacity] before moving on." They, not surprisingly, can offer little guidance.
One IP attorney recently stressed the need for his colleagues better to understand the identification, protection and use of intellectual capital "effectively to address strategic corporate objectives." Those for whom this is novel terrrain will find Edison in the Boardroom helpful.
Also, senior IP counsel better acquainted with the topic may find the book useful. Some will face difficulty in convincing those at the same level or higher in the corporate hierarchy of its importance. To the extent that their advocacy of the critical role to be played by IP counsel is perceived as serving selfish aims, the book should help allay suspicions.
For these and other attorneys, the value of Edison in the Boardroom could easily, and vastly, exceed its modest price.

The basic concept of this book is very intriguing: Briefly examine the life and career of Thomas Edison and then suggest direct correlations between his achievements with real-world situations in which various companies are now deriving substantial value from their intellectual capital. The authors also make skillful use of Edison's own recorded thoughts and feelings. Of special interest to me was what he had to say about the creative process. For example, "Men are just beginning to propose questions and find answers, and we may be sure that no matter what question we ask, so long as it is not against the laws of nature, a solution can be found." This what the author refer to as "The Edison Mindset." Edison apparently had almost no concern about a given experiment's "failure" which he continued to view, rather, as non-success to that stage. Too often, senior-level executives become preoccupied with results and neglect the process by which they can be achieved. Among Edison's greatest (and perhaps least appreciated) achievements was the establishment of the first research laboratory in which he and his associates would collaborate on various projects. Edison was a pioneer in recognizing the importance of assembling the best available talent and providing them with sufficient resources as well as a culture wherein those talents could be fully utilized. Davis and Harrison obviously have this point in mind when observing that "benchmarking best practices without any regard for the underlying culture of the firm can be problematic."

NOTE: For those interested in this subject, I highly recommend Organizing Genius in which Bennis and Biederman examine the collaborative efforts of those involved at the Disney studios which produced so many animation classics; at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) which developed the first personal computer; at Apple Computer which then took it to market; at the so-called "War Room" which helped to elect Bill Clinton President in 1992; those active in the so-called "Skunk Works" where so many of Lockheed's greatest designs were formulated; at Black Mountain College which "wasn't simply a place where creative collaboration took place. It was about creative collaboration"; and at Los Alamos (NM) and the University of Chicago where the Manhattan Project eventually produced a new weapon called "the Gadget."

This is an extremely well-organized and well-written book in which Davis and Harrison use the life and career of Edison for guidance to understanding subjects of major importance today such as breakthrough innovation, collaborative effort, the development and management of intellectual property, and effective organizational transformation. They suggest that companies (indeed all organizations) function in one or more of five levels which comprise "the hierarchy of value" for intellectual property, a model created at Andersen's Intellectual Property Management Practice and then at ICMG:

1. Defensive: "If a corporation owns an intellectual asset (such as a great business concept), it can prevent competitors from using the asset."

2. Cost Control: "Companies focus on how to reduce the costs of filing and maintaining their IP portfolios."

3. Profit Center: "Having learned how to control many of their patent-related costs, companies at this level turn their attention to more proactive strategies that can generate millions of dollars of additional revenues while further continuing to trim costs.'

4. Integrated Level: In this level the IP function ceases to focus on self-centered activities and reaches outwardly beyond its own department to serve a greater purpose within the organization as a whole."

5. Visionary Level: "Few companies have reached this level of looking outside the company and into the future. In this level, the IP function, having already become deeply ingrained in the company, takes on the challenge of identifying future trends in the industry and consumer preferences."

After an excellent Introduction, the authors devote a separate chapter to each of the five Levels and then provide a case study of the Dow Chemical Company, followed by three appendices: Mining a Portfolio for Value, Competitive Assessment, and Integrated Performance Reporting. They suggest all manner of similarities and differences between and among these five Levels, in process suggesting also a wealth of strategies and tactics to consider when attempting to achieve the desired results at any of these Levels.

To a greater extent now than at any prior time in human history, with all due respect to major developments such as the light bulb, telephone, automobile, and personal computer, corporations (indeed entire societies) seek "exciting, new, novel, and discontinuous innovations....For centuries, companies have linked ideas and money by embedding their new ideas (legally protected or not) into products to be sold or bartered. Today, however, an exciting new concept is revolutionizing the way companies extract value from their ideas: an idea no longer needs to be embedded into a product or service to create value. Today ideas are licensed, sold, or bartered in their raw state for great value." And they are getting that value through intellectual property management (IPM). Hence the importance of encouraging and supporting "The Edison Mindset."

Here in a single volume, the authors provide a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program. It remains for decision-makers in any organization now considering or at work on the design of an IPM to select whatever material in the book is most appropriate to their organization's specific needs. One value-added benefit of this book is that Davis and Harrison can assist with that selection process. A point made earlier, however, deserves repeating: "benchmarking best practices without any regard for the underlying culture of the firm can be problematic."

The authors provide an excellent framework for companies to manage their intellectual property - without using too much consultant speak.

They quote examples at different levels of their framework and look at companies who are suceeding at managing and valuing their IP effectively. This is a skill which can only be more and more wanted in the future.

The most interesting takeaway is that most companies are very bad in this field, and there are very few success stories.

This review is for all three books in Jenny Nimmo's Magician Trilogy (The Snow Spider, Emlyn's Moon, and The Chestnut Soldier).

Jenny Nimmo's writing style is very powerful, and her characters come to life as you read these books. The descriptions of locations (people's houses, the Welsh countryside, the town, the school) are so vivid that you can immediately picture yourself there. These books have a few scary parts, but the endings are very positive and satisfying.

These books are recommended for anyone who enjoys fantasy or Welsh mythology. Similar books include Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence and Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles.

This is the 2nd book in a trilogy. Jenny Nimmo is a great writer. This book follows very nicely with the first, but the first isn't necessary to get what is going on. My 10 year old enjoys them too. Jenny Nimmo writes to kids and makes the reading easy and fun.

I think this book is a good book for fantasy lovers of all ages. This is the second book in the "magician trilogy" series so if you like it you should read the first or third book. This story is based in the welsh mountains in the present day. Gwen Griffiths lives a good life in the highest house on the top of the mountains in Ty-Bryn. But his cousin Emlyn is having problems. Emlyn's mom suddenly left without cause and he wants to learn why. But there are dark secrets in their past and when Gwen with the help of a family friend tries to help them, it will change their lives forever.

If you like Charlie Bone and Harry Potter this is another you should read. Great for Kids.

My grand daughter just loves this book and all of the trilogy. She is only 7, but can't wait to read more.