change Books

After reading Dies the Fire I immediately picked up the second book in the series, The Protectors War. This novel picks up eight years after the events of DTF and we see that the main characters are prospering as well as multiplying. The story begins to move the good guys towards and an inevitable showdown with the Protector and his forces. The title of the story is slightly misleading because there are never any major battles in this story. Don't misunderstand me, it's still chock full of nasty combat and blood is spilled by the bucketful. I don't think I need to go into the cardboard like characters because I would think you have already read DTF. For me I don't mind them being one dimensional, I don't need deep and complex characters in a story like this. I also found it VERY farfetched that the Lorings were well acquainted with Sam and that they all wound up together. Having said that I still thought this was a great novel. Looking forward to the third installment.

The first in the series was very uneven, but there were enough interesting ideas that it seemed worth laboring on. This book starts out well, with an account of post-Change England which introduces some new characters. However, we almost immediately get yet another absurdity - how in the world are the English managing to navigate? Certainly sextants could be raided from the British Museum and other sources, but using one is both an art and a science - and when you also consider that all the calculations must be done by hand (or perhaps with a slide rule), it seems a tad unlikely that things would go so well.
There are some fine battles, and interesting developments in the new cultures - I was hoping to see some cracks appearing as Astrid becomes both more powerful and more deranged.
But, the pace is slow. We have far more detail than is ever needed, particularly since much is repeated again and again. Rarely does anyone merely draw a bow - rather the author must remind us again that they take the archer's T and draw the (insert long description of arrow) from the (insert description of quiver), place the arrow on the string, draw to the kiss-ring and loose . Let's not forget the sound effects either.
Implausible coincidences are piled high ,and the reader still finds no reasonable explanation of the Change. (And , oddly, very few characters seem to dwell on it much either.)
Sigh. Don't buy this book.

I enjoyed Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change. I did, I really did. The story was interesting and the characters not too cliched or wooden. The pacing, however, detracted from the rest of the book.

In The Protector's War: A Novel of the Change the pacing sucks all the enjoyment out of the book. I struggled to finish the novel. The story wasn't as interesting as Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change or enough to overcome the plodding pacing.

Overall, three stars.

Despite it's title, S.M. Stirling's The Protector's War, the second volume in a trilogy that started with Dies The Fire isn't about war in the Post-Change Williamette Valley so much as it's about the precursors to a war between survivors in a new world that seems all but inevitable.

This second volume starts eight years after an event, as yet unexplained, that renders in operable all modern technology and reduces humanity to a level roughly comparable to the European Middle Ages. And, appropriately enough, it starts in Europe itself where we get a small glimpse of how the Change has impacted the rest of the world.

Suffice it to say it isn't pretty. With small exception pretty much all that's left of Europe is in an England ruled by King Charles III who, and this for some reason doesn't seem too far a stretch, seems to have gone mad with power. Form there we follow Nigel Loring, a former SAS officer, on a trip around what's left of the world that eventually leads him to the central stage of the story in the Pacific Northwest.

Ingeniously, Stirling is able to unravel dual plot, occurring months apart, and then weave them together at the point when the protagonists finally meet. Done differently, the whole plot would have fallen apart half way through the novel, but Stirling weaves everything together in a way that makes complete sense.

There are, as with the first volume, annoyances in this volume of the trilogy, most of which center around Stirling's fascination with the Wiccanism of Juniper Mackenzie, but those are minor compared to the things that make this a great part of a great story.

On the whole, this was a worthy continuation of the trilogy

This is an end-of-the-world novel, set about nine years after "the change", which was sort of like Mother Earth's menopause, only not so fun. Any physical process that requires high energy density stopped working sometime in March 1998. Guns, motors, generators, computers, etc. ground to a permanent halt all across the world. (Presumably the change was limited to Earth and its immediate environs as the sun continues to burn faithfully throughout the novels.) After a chaotic interlude of gigadeath starvation and plague, a new order rises: one based on muscle and primitive weaponry.

It's a neat premise for an apocalypse. Stirling competently maneuvers his characters through a variety of old-is-new action sequences. There's much here to like. Too bad it had me grinding my teeth throughout.

Who survived the fall of civilization? In addition to the requisite farmers, trained soldiers, ruthless killers and fortunate character actors, Stirling postulates that a bunch of weenies from the Society for Creative Anachronism, medieval scholars, and folk singers come through. Indeed, this group of deeply irritating geeks do more than simply survive; they thrive. The whole post-collapse civilization is based on their tiresome religious and political ideas. A brief exposure to the Wiccans had me seeing the Salem witch trials in a whole new light.

In real life, there are few more sadly embarrassing sights than Americans trying to be echt-English or Irish. Imagine an entire civilization of sweaty teens putting on a fake English or Irish accent. Sweaty teens with unfortunate choices in facial hair. Truly, the lucky ones died in the initial blast (or starved to death or got eaten or whatever: trust me, anything is better than sitting around and singing traditional Irish songs while sharpening axes). Stirling uncharacteristically steps outside the narrative to poke fun at his characters' speech patterns from time to time, as if to indicate that he's in on the joke. At the same time, however, even the actual English characters talk like Kipling characters. In fact, young Prince William makes a brief appearance and doesn't sound like the slangy transatlantic cool-Britannia jet-setter that he actually is.

Finally, I wonder if perhaps Stirling was catering to a group of armor fetishists. The only men I know who rhapsodize over clothing in as much obsessive detail as Stirling devotes to various characters' hauberks, greaves, sallets, vambraces and the like have extremely refined tastes in websites, if you know what I mean.

Bottom line: If you know your Erse from your codpiece, these are the books for you. Everyone else: why not try Nevil Shute's "On The Beach" to see how real middle-class Anglophones face the apocalypse?

I get my college textbooks at a fraction of the cost than buying them on campus. I get my books quickly, in good condition, and just as promised. This book was no exception. It came 5 days after my order was placeed, it was in great condition, and just the text I needed.

This book is full of unfortunate truths, but things people should know if they wish to know the truth about the world around them. The statistics came in handy for subsequent paper writing, references and for fast fact information to spout to others.

It seems all of the negative reviews of this textbook are from people who perhaps read something in this textbook that they did not want to know or something that did not conform to their worldview. Usually when semesters end, I sell my textbooks back... this is one that I kept. This is an extremely eye opening textbook and immensely educational.

I am currently a teaching assistant at a large university and I find this book to be both biased and boring. I tend to be more socially liberal, however, I believe students should be given both sides of an issue and then be allowed to draw their own conclusions. This book does not allow students to do that, and tends to only discuss the liberal sides of all social problems. Also, the book is a slow and boring read. I had a difficult time managing to stay awake while reading, so I can hardly imagine how a first-year student (who isn't getting paid) can do it. On a positive note, the text does include discussion on disabilities, which other textbooks tend to neglect. I would recommend a different text, such as Macionis or Henslin.

This book is, simply put, horrible. It should not be considered a text book. Any professor using this text should really reconsider whether their interest lies in teaching facts and sharing information, or rather, if their true interest is in spreading their own politcal beliefs.

This teaches students that all corporations are bad, that all people earning beyond the poverty level are bad, that home ownership is bad, etc., and that everything unfortunate in our world is caused by the greedy who dare to have more than others. It even refers to illegal activities as the "informal economy" throughout the book.

I hope that any students taking a course with this text assigned really question what they read in the book and also question the things their professor tells them. Don't just accept the things you're told as truth - regardless of the source.

This is my first GMAT guide so far but I have found it very helpful. Every section reviews standard test taking as if you have never taken one before. Also, it goes into deep enough details that you feel comfortable when taking all of the sample tests. This book may not be the only book that one should purchase before taking the GMAT, but it is a helpful tool towards doing well.

Apart from the official guide, there isn't much to choose from out there so Kaplan provides a needed resource.


* Questions don't reflect the same degree of difficulty as the real test but at least there is an attempt to present new material as opposed to the "real" questions that you will come across in other resources.

* The coaching style Kaplan adopts in offering advice on strategies is useful. Timing is always an issue so a good tip I would offer is apply the strategies to your weak areas first and test them out.

* Still on timing but from another perspective, whilst everyone is different, Kaplan should recommend a specific prep time and not sit on the fence. Realistically, prepping for the real test requires more than a month - and before you shout you did it in less (!) I'm talking about the least stressful approach.

* Neither the official guide nor Kaplan tackle the complexity of the math tests - I would recommend additional resources if you are weak in this area - possibly EZ.

If you are only just embarking on this path, I suggest that you take your first practice test "cold", i.e. without referring to any guide whatsoever. THEN start your coaching program. You will find the measurable improvement as you continue to take practice tests (and you should take as many as you can)will motivate you and give you the confidence you need to keep going!

In conclusion, could you pass the test without this book - perhaps, but why take a chance? It's not perfect but it's very good. Is there a better one out there? I haven't come across it yet so if someone else has, would be glad to hear of it.

I hope this helps someone out there.

I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to prep for the GMAT. I had previously purchased a Kaplan book in prep to take the PCAT- and it was a great preparation for that test, so I had no hesitation in going to Kaplan a second time for GMAT prep. The format for GMAT was unlike any other test I had taken, but this Kaplan book was right on with explaining how to tackle the different types of questions they throw at you.
I didn't have much time to prepare for the test, so I focused mainly on my weak areas (in math!) - and ended up getting a 600 , enough to get into my intended program.

I think this is a very good review product for the GMAT exam, especially for the ones who work full-time and try to prepare for the exam. The information is very helpful and the explanation is detailed. I am glad that I chose this book to help me to prepare for the GMAT exam.

This is a helpful guide to studying for the GMAT, but not an exhaustive one. I recommend using it at the start of your GMAT studies to get a good introduction to the test's mechanics and a general sense of each section. For practice questions and more in-depth, area-specific review, look elsewhere.

The book provides a succinct, easy-to-understand summary of each section and the key takeaways, but if you have any area-specific weaknesses or knowledge gaps, this book will not be enough. For example, there's a great section in the back that provides a review of almost all the basic math knowledge you'll need to have down cold, but the explanations given are short and sometimes represent only one way (and not always the fastest or simplest way) of doing a particular type of problem. Knowing all the basic math is not enough; you have to know how to apply it in many different ways under time-constrained conditions. The Kaplan guide is not going to fill that need for you, and in fact, if you use some of Kaplan's strategies (e.g., plugging in numbers) without a good grasp of the underlying principles, you could be worse off because the GMAT is designed precisely to trip you up on such mental shortcuts.

The practice questions skew toward the difficult side and answer explanations vary from decent to good, but as other reviewers have mentioned, some of the questions are not representative of the actual types of questions you will see on the GMAT. I also noticed a few typos and question errors sprinkled throughout the book and the CD, which seemed sloppy for a guide book to a test where attention to detail is key, and one that has already gone through multiple editions.

In short, if I could do it all over again, this is how I would use the book: at the start of my prepping, read over the strategy sections to get a basic understanding of the GMAT, and later on in my studies, do the practice questions once I've exhausted all Official Guide practice material and have those down cold.

After reading the reviews given to this book, it is obvious to me who are the ones who were told to read the book and who are the ones who were asked to read it as well as offered support with the content. It is just like our students. If we just say "read the book", how engaging is that? If we are given the support to utilize the theory, the book makes much more sense. So, I can understand both ways of seeing the book. I, fortunately, am in a district where we were asked to look into this program (which is really what Working on the Work is) and decide if we would like to use it, as a district. We first, though, were given the opportunity to attend a conference where the presenter was from the Schlechty school. This was where the "practicality" came from. The reviewers are correct in that the book does not give those practical, concrete examples and studies we, as teachers, crave for our own learning. But, that is exactly the point of the program. How can we make our tasks as engaging as we are? The standards at the back of the book are going to be the most useful for teachers. Those are how you structure a lesson to be most engaging. So, I highly recommend that if you get this book that you pair it with some kind of support or research, so that the practical part can be understood along with the theory.

The thesis of the author, offer students work that is meaningful and engaging, is a paradigm shift. The usual way of improving students' experience in the classroom is to offer professional development seminars to teachers so that they might become better educators. However, Schlechty shifts the focus away from improving instruction to working on the work that we require students to do.

I thought the book was convincing of its proposal and an approach that educators need to work on. My only disappointment with the book is that the author did not offer any examples of what "engaging" work might look like. Educators often are bombarded with "theory" and little "practical" examples - which would have been great to have in an Appendix. It is in the "practical" that the book is lacking. Yet, it is a great read and a revolutionary approach.

Anyone with educational experience knows that good teachers try to make lessons engaging and meaningful. All this program does (if your district uses it) is create more work for educators with no real support or help, just a lot of demands in time and paper work. If you don't or didn't share and get help from your colleges before this program shame on you! How did you get through your Collage of Education? Anyone with business experience knows this is just a great example of marketing; it plays on the notion of helping and lets administrators look like they have a plan to the public. If your district administrators needed this program they should have resigned their positions. After a few years of experience you should not have to invest the kind of money and resources this program requires. Who is making the money? Who gets the kick backs? Not the classroom teacher who works longer hours than paid for already. Don't fall for the hype; this is just the latest educational reform gimmick. Making someone rich? Mark Twain had it figured out when it came to school boards. Look it up.

This is the sort of book school administrators love and teachers hate. It's long on vague, lofty sounding goals and absolutely no specifics to help teachers get there. What teacher wouldn't want to be more engaging? Who wouldn't want to inspire their students? Simply stating "be more engaging" doesn't get a teacher there any more than the teacher telling their student to "be smarter". But admin types love Schlechty's program. It puts the burden on the teacher to "work smarter, not harder...", "work the work" and "be more engaging and entertaining", and absolves students, parents and administrators from any responsibility for student improvement.

I'd like to see specifics. And I'd like to see specific approaches backed up by hard research that will tell me the approach works. I haven't seen that yet, not in this book or any of the other 1,000 wunderkinds that run around the educational establishment spouting the latest miracle makeover.

But I'm an optimist. I'm still looking for any information that will help me become a better teacher, information that's backed by experience and hard, objective research showing measurable results. I didn't see it here....

Schlechty's Shaking Up the Schoolhouse is the parent to Working on the Work. Both books make the effort to provide information and put forth a different perspective. It's disheartening to read the reactionary comments from educators who are familiar with Schlechty and the WOW book. When is the blame shifting going to stop? How long will teachers focus on all the things they cannot control instead of on the things they can? Nothing gives a teacher more freedom by administrators than success. By shifting our focus to what we give our students to work on, we do work smarter, which brings more joy to the passion for kids that led us to teaching. Teaching the same way we always have is why we continue to have a 30% drop out rate at the high school level(and rising). The book does not say that no teachers want to be more engaging. It simply gives a framework for improving the tasks that we assign our students. If you don't like your job, get out! Education has to continue to make the paradigm shifts needed if we are to expect a responsible, informed citizenry. Here are the facts:

-Research tells us that the engagement precedes learning. Without authentic attention and investment, true and deep learning does not occur.
-Research tells us that a variety of tasks and instructional delivery is required to meet the needs of the variety of learners in any given classroom.
-Research tells us that the most effective teachers are those who are risk-takers in the classroom and make great effort to connect personally with their students.
-Research tells us that last year's lessons won't necessarily work with this year's students.

Any job you take will be evaluated, be it education or not. If we, as teachers, do not continue to reflect on the kinds of work we give our students, then we are simply a warm body in the classroom. What's the great harm in looking more closely at our lesson design and thinking outside the box? I say this book is an interesting read that can encourage any educator to take stock of what is happening in their classroom. Open your lessons up for some reflection and criticism. That's the only way we can grow as educators.

This is a text book of modern negotiation. A great place to start your studies for the classic ideas, or a great place to go for the expert looking for fresh ideas. This book is worth while because the method works! Basically, the authors use the most advanced problem solving approaches and apply them to the study and practice of negotiation. Nice work!

Most books on negotiating fall into the win-win or win-loose categories, or some hybrid, but all of these focus primarily on the face-to-face tactics at the negotiating table. This book distinguishes itself by focusing not only on at-the-table tactics, but also on two other critical dimensions: 1. deal design, concerning value, substance, outcomes, and occurring "on the drawing board" and 2. setup, concerning architecture, and happens away from the table.

The authors delve into each of these three dimensions (tactics, deal design, and setup) in great depth, providing a powerful analytical framework, cases, and numerous guidelines and creative insights. This is a an outstanding and substantive book!

For an experienced business negotiator, this paints a broader, "global" negotiating paradigm that is well worth read.

Not as readable as "Getting to Yes" or "Getting Past No", but very well-written. Not too academic, but deep enough for the professional negotiator. Accessible for those first being exposed to the topic.

Most books on negotiation combine the hardball win-lose tactics with the more effective win-win approach. 3-D Negotiation is different: it adds a new third dimension to negotiation, mainly the need for developing a dynamic strategy on how to set up and shape the optimum situation and overall conditions for negotiations (away from the table), and well before negotiations start. Of course, the authors believe that negotiators must employ all three dimensions as needed during most negotiations.

This new third dimension includes, among other things, "acting to ensure the right parties have been involved, in the right sequence, to deal with the right issues that engage the right set of interests, at the right tables, at the right time, under the right expectations, and facing the right consequences of walking away if there is no deal."

Here is real-world example of acting to ensure the right parties and the right sequence: A US firm was looking to establish a joint venture in Mexico and had identified three potential partners (one excellent, one good, and one that barely meets the set criteria). Should this firm start negotiations with the best prospect, and if those negotiations fail, then move to the next, and so on? Or wouldn't it be far better if this US firm makes it known in the industry (in Mexico) that they are looking for a joint venture partner, and induce these three prospects to come to the US firm? Negotiating simultaneously with the three potential partners was indeed better, especially that the US firm set up the negotiation conditions whereby the three Mexican prospects were rushing to compete for the joint venture!

Although this book introduces a third dimension to negotiation, the other two dimensions are also well covered by the authors, with a large number of real-world examples. The second dimension covers designing value-creating deals, including the traditional concept of enlarging the pie, and how to make lasting deals. The first dimension focuses on the tactics at the negotiation table, including problem-solving tactics such as shaping perceptions, setting ambitious target prices, interpersonal skills, cultural empathy, and many other tactics familiar to those who have read traditional negotiation books.

In short, 3-D Negotiation is a welcomed addition to the topic of negotiation, especially due to its strategic approach to negotiations. I particularly like the idea of backward mapping the negotiation process, starting with the desired target or outcome, then mapping all the parties, their interests, no-deal options. I was also intrigued by the authors' philosophy and the 3-D strategy of: "Let them have your way", as well as their concept of "Zone of Possible Agreement".

Although this excellent book is written with important and complex deals in mind, the 3-D approach can be indeed applied to simpler deals and negotiations. In fact, the reader will find a large number of examples of negotiations ranging from the simple ones such as buying a car or a house, to the more complex ones such as negotiations between countries, or among large international organizations.

Kim Green
ISBN: 978044697934
5 Spot, 2008
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com
4 Stars
Suddenly life looks different...
Raquel Rose was diagnosis with terminal breast cancer. Suddenly life was different, better. Her children suddenly acted almost human. She began to live her artistic dreams. She became a talk show favorite. Then the doctor informed her of the mistake. She is cancer free. Some other woman is dying, but not Raquel. Does she tell her family and fans?
Kim Green has a talent for writing with just the right amount of wit. I never thought I would be laughing at a book where the lead character has breast cancer. Green reminds us that we should be grateful for life and live each day as though it were our last.
Live A Little brought a smile to my face, and yet for some there will be a sense of a bit too much mirth. Green's novel was not written to address the serious emotions of a fatal disease. I would like to think that someone with breast cancer has been given the opportunity to see things in a different light, and perhaps laugh a little in the midst of their struggle.

I loved this book! She created such intriguing and endearing characters. Her writing style is so entertaining and really makes me giggle. I look forward to her next one!!

Who'd a thunk one woman's epic battle to keep up the appearance of having cancer could be so hilarious, so bizarre, yet still pull at the heartstrings. There is plenty of fodder here for Green's satiric verve: the pieties of therapeutic talk shows, handsome but ineffectual doctors, creepy alternative medicine practicioners, know-it-all teenagers, our society's obsession with achievement, our received ideas on family life, and more, all get skewered mercilessly. At the same time, like in her two previous novels, Kim Green exudes warmth for her protagonist and many of her flawed characters. Raquel Rose lets it all hang out and does many terrible things, but you can see how easy it can be, under the right circumstances, one small weakness following another, to find yourself in her predicament.

[A review of the 8th Edition, published in 2006.]

In this somewhat short text, the authors explain the turbulent history of the Middle East. Key ideas like a secular pan-Arabism, militant Islam and globalisation are invoked, as necessary to understanding the current region. We see how pan-Arabism gave rise to the Baathist regimes in Syria and Iraq. Though for the latter, at least till the American invasion of 2003. Globalisation is a major cause of outside forces, like secular consumerist societies of Europe and the US, overlapping with deeply traditional Muslim mores. Often to the puzzlement of both sides.

Of course, the role of Israel and Palestine has impacted so much in the region, and the book also addresses these factors.

While the text was written in 2006, it necessarily cannot deal significantly with the events in Iraq for 2006. Rather, you can read it as a historical perspective.

I read this book as a required text for my Middle East Politics class which was taught by one of the authors, Prof. Seibert. I think it gives an accurate walkthrough to the history of Middle East Politics. It stays clear of any bias while trying to examine and integrate economic, social and political factors together. I enjoyed reading and discussing this work immensely. I would strongly recommend it.

This book, along with it's companion, THE MIDDLE EAST by the Congressional Quarterly, was used in my undergraduate course on the History and Governments of the Middle East.

Politics and Change views the Middle East from a variety of perspectives: sociological, anthropological, political, historical and religious. It looks at the bases for diversity & unity in the region and the rise of Islam. It then discusses the formation of the early Islamic state and the development of the Sharia (religious law)from the Koran and the hadith (or statements and actions ascribed to Mohammad), the development of the Shia in opposition to the corrupt secular governments and the rise of the different sects. It then moves on to a discussion of Western Imperialism and the resulting development of nationalism and individual states (as opposed to the Umma or body of the believers as a whole), including the growth of Zionism and the establishment of the Israeli state.

Then changes in the political landscape, especially the (failed) Oslo Accord, are discussed as are religious and politics - and the 3 types of political elites and of the various forms leadership has taken. Moving on, it touches on the relations of the individual nations with the great powers (including the remnant of the now-defunct Soviet Union during its cold war competition with the United States) as well as looking at the foreign policies of the regional powers and at changes that have taken place globally (e.g., the fall of the old Soviet Union), the American-Iraq Persian Gulf War and the tensions with Kuwait and with regard to the Israeli-Palestine issue and Israel's relation to the larger Arab world.

Although this is only an introductory text, it makes a serious attempt at providing a holistic view of the Middle East and its often insoluble-appearing problems.