Audiobook Books

I have read all Maxwells books on leadership. His common sense, straight forward approach makes tremendous sense. As you read his books there is a great deal of overlap, I have never felt 'taken' however as Maxwell's writing is interesting and insightful. If I were picking a coach purely for leadership, John Maxwell would be a great choice.

This book makes you think the way we should each day. eye opener and enlightening.

This book is a must read for anyone involved in leadership. This book will take your leadership skills to deeper depths and higher highs.

I recently delivered a presentation on the qualities of an effective leader. "The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader" was an excellent resource for my presentation. Not only does Maxwell clearly describe the 21 qualities, but he gives practical tips on how to improve in each of these areas. The book is well laid out which makes for an easy read. I highly recommend this book for burgeoning leaders and seasoned leaders.

John Maxwell has done his best to make this an easy-to-read and useful text - and he has indeed made it an easy read. The chapters are short - most being around seven pages or about ten minutes worth of reading. Each of the twenty-one qualities can be read and digested independently; a great advantage for the time-efficient reader. The language Maxwell uses is simple and straightforward, almost bullet-like at times, and his format makes reading almost effortless. Each chapter contains a story, an explanation of what the story means in terms of leadership skills, and a reflection on the particular leadership virtue he is discussing. Then, so that the read can make use of the material, he adds a "bringing it home" paragraph and a "daily take-away" paragraph at the end of each lesson, making the text read much like a how-to workbook.

How useful this workbook might be to the reader however, is another matter. While Maxwell attempts to be as brief as possible, leadership is not a subject that lends itself to brevity. Concepts like Focus, Generosity, and Courage are complex and abstract; something Dorothy and her friends did not consider before they were off to see the wizard. And just as magical as it was for the wizard to pull these virtues from his bag, it would be equally magical for the reader to learn these characteristics from such abbreviated lessons. While the image of a leader that Maxwell depicts seems to be right on the mark, none of the personal leadership attributes are explained in enough detail to turn a mediocre leader into one who excels. Maxwell's condensed explanations give the reader the impression that leadership and vision can be quickly learned and mastered, which in the everyday world of leading is just not so.

The one real `turn off' in this book is the author's many references to his other book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership as the better text. Maxwell seems to continually remind the reader that Qualities of a Leader is better explained in this other, more complete text. This is always very disappointing to a reader and only leads one to feel that they have purchased the wrong book, and consequentially to wonder why it is worth reading and finally, to question why Maxwell bothered to write it at all. This is where, as with so many self-help books and programs, the intimate author-reader bond begins to feel like the much less intimate, and less comfortable, profiteer-consumer link.

I would recommend reading Qualities of a Leader for several reasons. Most leadership texts, this one included, generate reflection and lead to improvement. However Qualities of a Leader does not provide enough substance or outline changes in any direct or specific way, making this book a good companion or an excellent preface to the reading of more substantial leadership texts.

My kids love these Pooh stories (and so do I). They listen over and over. We have all of them on DVD, but I often would rather they listen than watch, so this is perfect. What I really think is great is that it's the original versions. Excellent buy!

The combination between the book and the CD is very nice. My daughter loved them.

For a Read-Along book, they simply missed the point. There is no chime or tone to remind the child when to turn the page and therefore 'read along'. Also, the narrator has one tone and limited voice intonation -- she makes no effort to distinguish between characters. Cheaply edited, not worth the money. See "Disney's Read Along Collection" for a better quality product.

I purchased this book after reviewing several other similar books with CDs. This book has 4 stories and 8 poems. My son is almost 3 and keeps saying "Winnie the Pooh bear stories". He absolutely loves it! We were keeping the CD in the car so he could hear it on drives and we would read the book together for story time. But now he wants to hear it all the time! The female voice who narrates is wonderful and has a very soothing voice. I would highly recommend this book. It has quickly become our family favorite!

I made an unfortunate selection in purchasing this storybook before a similar review (H. Hudson Aug 14) was posted. Had I waited I could have benefited from that review. Instead I must post a similar review. The most disappointing thing about this storybook is the CD does not let the child know when to turn the page. We also expected to hear familiar voices for Pooh and the gang rather than just a full narration. At this price there are much better selections if you are going to be turning the pages yourself.

From the very begining of this series i was hooked and they seem to just get better every book, the best part is how Jenny Nimmo leaves you hanging and wanting more!

Great childrens book series. My grandson read the original six books and has been anxiously awaiting the new book. He was not disappointed!

Interesting book. It inspired me to spend more time working on my own (small) garden. I learned new things about lactose intolerance and cheese making, and I'll probably try my hand at making cheese sometime soon. I also learned a bit about slaughtering fowl, which I haven't had the opportunity to do.

However, I found the main premises of the book annoying. The author wants all our food to be generated locally, by independent small farms. She opposes the long distance transportation of food, primarily due to the general wastefulness and energy/pollution expense of the process. She opposes corporate farms because they are involved in questionable GMO practices, pollute, and are leading toward reduction of species diversification.

All of these points are valid, and there are certainly reasons to be concerned. However, her insistence on a return to an agrarian society is retrograde at best. This is not the direction humanity is taking, nor should it. The way forward certainly involves GMO, and we need to be thinking about how to use it to our advantage, not fighting a pointless battle against it.

The ubiquitous and cheap availability of exotic foods from other climates is a wonder of modern society, not something to be dismissed out of hand as the author does. The ability to get fresh bananas and berries at any time of the year, anywhere in the developed world is an example of positive progress, not a social disease.

The author correctly identifies several negative side effects of our current situation, but addresses them in the wrong way. Rather than preserving the positive advances and isolating the specific causes of side effects, she seems to prefer that we roll the whole system back to a previous, simpler, agrarian time. This proposal is absurd, of course, but she constantly hammers it down on you throughout the entire book.

Rather than thinking about our systems in reactionary, retrograde terms, we need to be looking to the future and thinking about how we can optimize our advancement.

Barbara Kingsolver uses her very readable style to encourage us all on a journey to understand the effects of the standard American diet on our own health as well as the health of the earth. This book is a fun and heart-touching read that also contains great recipes and short insightful inserts regarding the negative impacts of the US agricultural and food production system. The authors provide hope that personal choice in selecting locally grown and natural whole foods can positively impact our future. It helped me make the move to a more healthy lifestyle. This book will also make a great gift for family and friends.

As some of the reviewers write, I, too, believe that the premise of this book is a good one - eat local - however, there has to be a better way to present this book than through a preachy tone. I kept reading, but also kept putting the book down, which is unusual for me.

Our family tested our gardening skills this year and have grander plans for next year, albeit nothing like Ms. Kingsolver's foray. I kept reading this book because Ms. Kingsolver would throw in some really good information on certain topics (it would have been nice if she had created a plant chart as an appendix). The recipes were interesting to look at, but I'll probably only try one or two of them because it looks like I like a much spicier dish than Ms. Kingsolver's family (or maybe the spices were allowed because they weren't locally grown?). Apparently they are available on the book website, so you don't need to buy the book if you want to see the recipes.

Cheese-making is something I'd like to explore thanks to reading this book. I might try adding to my bread ingredients too, thanks to Ms. Kingsolver's husband.

So, all in all, I thought the book was interesting because I already was in the position to want to try some of the things that Ms. Kingsolver's family did. However, Ms. Kingsolver's presentation comes out very preachy, so those who just want to read the book for entertainment may find it too tedious.

How to rate this book was difficult as there were portions that I enjoyed. But by the time the friend came to visit from Arizona and I heard again about the waste of gas to bring food I felt I had been preached to too much. A shortened version of this book would be better.

This book is very inspiring for those who are unaware or unclear about how much buying produce from far away affects our environment, our farmers and biodiversity. I loved it, and starting following the principles - they make sense.

I bought all 3 Miss Nelson titles for my four year old grandson for
christmas. He loves them as much as his now 20 year old uncle did at that age. The are funny, well illustrated and clever. We haven't listened to the CD yet, but I'm sure it ill be enjoyed on car trips.

BOYS DO LOVE THEIR DINOS....THIS WAS A NICE CHANGE ;PLUS MY SON HELD THE BOOK HIMSELF AND HAD TO TURN THE PAGE AT EACH BEEP SO I KNEW HE WAS PAYING ATTENTION.PERHAPS IT HELPED WITH WORD RECOGNITION AS WELL

Creepy-cool history of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, intertwined with the history of the serial killer H. H. Holmes who was operating at and around the Fair and may have accounted for anywhere from 9 (confirmed) to 50 (suspected) to even 200 (conjectured) murders.

Reads like an atmospheric slasher novel, except it is history, and thoroughly footnoted from contemporary accounts as well as secondary sources. The couple of scenes where Larson assumes an omniscient authorial viewpoint are noted and his historical sources for the conjectural fiction are noted and explained.

Oh, yes, and there was a World's Fair going on at the same time, and that story fascinates as well, with the conflicts of personalities and politics that plague every large public project. These interactions result in sometimes bizarre, sometimes postmodernicly hip juxtapositions of buildings, events, and landscapes where millions would celebrate the latest of everything in their world.

If you live in Chicago or have lived in Chicago or just love Chicago you must read this book. My appreciation of the city, especially the architecture, is greater. And my knowledge of the city's history (an incredibly fascinating history) grew as well. I am a much better tour guide of Chicago to friends and family because of this book!

The book has a quick pace and reads like fiction. And there are sections, such as the ones regarding Holmes, that you wish were fiction. The writing style is uncluttered and straightforward. And the story progresses smoothly. It is a wonderful read.

As an urban planner, I found the history of the 1893 World's Fair fascinating, but what was great is that this book was a good beach read. So the other plot of a Jack-the-Ripper (true story) murderer spiced things up.

It's amazing what a huge effect that World's Fair had on our lives even 110 years later.

I enjoyed this book because I just returned from Chicago and heard rave reviews about it from city tour guides etc. The book is a fascinating look back on the Worlds Fair in Chicago plus serial killings going on at the same time.

The Chicago World's Fair at the turn of the century and a gruesome serial killer. The 1891 World's Fair was America's coming out party...

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell is a trippy field trip to both the exciting and the mundane locations along the way to three presidential assassinations--Abraham Lincoln's, James Garfield's, and William McKinley's. Vowell, the NPR commentator, is forthright in her disdain for our current president, analyzing her feelings against the backdrop of those just crazy enough to commit murder for their ideology. Vowell is humorous and her opinions are clear without being overwrought, but more than anything she is informative. She's fascinated by presidential history, and reveals details both obscure and eye-popping. Even after reading Manhunt, the excellent analysis of Lincoln's murder by James Swanson, I still picked up new insights from Vowell, particularly the preponderance of evidence against Dr. Samuel Mudd, the doctor who assisted the fleeing John Wilkes Booth. The life of Garfield's killer, Charles Guiteau, is explored and the reader is acquainted with the odd Oneida Community cult of the 19th century. Guiteau was a frustrated failure at this free-sex community where he was often referred to as "Get Out" by the non consenting ladies. Finally, McKinley's murder in Buffalo (by Leon Czolgosz) is explored, a story which features the assassin's punch-out by a waiter and the dramatic ride of Theodore Roosevelt from the crest of the Adirondacks to take command of the country. A great read through-and-through, Assassination Vacation scores an A-.

I usually don't write reviews, but when i saw that this book didn't have 5 of 5 stars i was shocked! I loved it. Not only do I own the book, I own the author narrated audio version!

America needs more Sarah Vowell. Perhaps more importantly, I need more Sarah Vowell. I know this review won't exactly make me one of Amazon's Top Reviewers. Nevertheless, I'm just saying. Sarah Vowell, here's five stars -- for you.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It focused on Abraham Lincoln and took the author to some interesting places. I found it educational and entertaining, even though it isn't something that I would normally read about.

I am not that into recent American history, and that may be why I didn't enjoy the second half of the book as much. Presidents Garfield and McKinley aren't that interesting to me. I didn't think that it was any fault of the author, for she seems to really get into geeking out at historical sites, and likes things that make my eyes melt from the boredom.

I think the book is worth reading, just for the first half, and if you are interested in the other two men, you will enjoy it even more.

This book makes me want to throw my kids in the car and drive them as quickly as possible to the nearest historical memorial/museum/old graveyard/bronze plaque and giggle, tell stories, do ANYTHING other than fret over their brains turning to mush on a Webkinz/Sims diet. Assassination Vacation is not just history for a witty leftie reader. Can you imagine how someone in the future will write the history of OUR time? Do you want just the mentioning of a war in Iraq and details about the number of people who died, or do you want someone to read the part about missing weapons of mass destruction? If you're the kind of person who thinks details like missing WMD's makes the story of our time come alive, you'll really 'get' Assassination Vacation. And you might also learn to love James Garfield and his special, comfy reading chair, which is worth the price of purchase by itself. Great writing.

I saw Hal on Matt Lauer.

While he may be on topic on raising kids, he is appallingly ignorant when it comes to gifted kids.

As a former gifted child and a parent of a gifted kid, I'd like to weigh in.

Gifted kids are at great risk for psychological problems if their gifts are not recongnized and they are not accelerated. What Hal proposed is not the recommended approach for dealing with gifted kids and will very likely lead to the kids being stunted emotionally and mentally.

Interested parents should look up Dr Ruf's book as a starting point on raising gifted kids, rather than listen to an ill-informed person who is out of their area of expertise.

Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind

Hal E. Runkel offers amazing insight into the dynamics of parent-child interactions in his book/CD series, Screamfree Parenting. Not so much a how-to author, Runkel instead helps the parent identify systems of their own thought/behavior which have an impact on their children's development. He aids the parent in adjusting their responses to their children in order to encourage positive and benificial growth in their child. I've put his theory into practice with my own children with immediate and profound results. I highly recommend this book/CD series to any parent who is willing to look inside themselves to find causes and solutions for the myriad behavioral delimmas we all encounter when raising our kids!

The idea seems very selfish; "focus on yourself first and your child second". However, it's more generous than it first appears. If I am able to focus on my needs, emotions and well being, I will be in a much better position, more optimistic, more energetic an less anxious then if I am totally child-centric. I have, as a father, become so consumed with how to "make my kids behave" that I have left myself out of the picture and lost control. (Once or twice) It's easy to say things like "YOU are making ME angry!" But really it is me allowing myself to get angry. ScreamFree really does an excellent job of making the case that we need to remain in control of ourselves and not give that control over to our children (at any age).

I don't believe the author means that our children shouldn't be in the top priorities a person has, in fact, he says as much. But if we don't take care of ourselves first we can't remain healthy, balanced and in control (at least in control of ourselves).

However, the book is a little unclear, at least in my opinion, on how best to keep the focus on ourselves and let our children make their mistakes without getting sucked into emotional traps. This, I believe, is especially the case in critical or embarrassing situations like in a library or church, and playing around hazards (like a lake or busy street). The younger the child the greater their need to have parents that will look out for them above any personal need we have at the time. Although, I will say that the story of a little 3 year old girl attempting to manipulate her father, so she wouldn't have to straighten up, or get ready for bed was very helpful. The instruction and illustration in this story was excellent.

For the most part, this book is right on target. I think that it is probably best suited for older adolescent and teenage children because they've been through and learned most of the life threatening and socially acceptable behaviors.

The book really dovetails nicely with the books from Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish, not to mention the work of Dr. Haim Ginott.

I bought this book to help my sister handle her stress when dealing with her 3 year old daughter, and it worked, she stop screaming and even my nice has improved her bad temper.

I've never seen a self improvement book that does less to guide you to overcome your problem. The author must have ADD. He seemed to lose sight he was writing a book instead of just rambling for his own entertainment. He might be fine therapist in person but, his book just bounces around and doesn't seem to give any kind tips, or suggestion to help. It just make you feel bad for when you've lost you temper and have screamed.
I feel like this author has screwed me over. He got my money and my time with a book that could be summed up in about 1 page of very to the point suggestion.
Don't waste your money.
I'll sum it up- Don't yell at your kids, give them personal space, try and let them made decision on there own and don't label them.

Arrived within a few days and was in an unopened package Was bought as a gift for a Spanish speaking friend, so did not try actual disc

Great Product, The lessons a seemed really easy to learn, because of the way they were layed out.