Joanna

While it was refreshing to hear someone saying "follow your passion is too general", the 20 something author lacks life experience to back his claims. This book may be good for someone in high school or college, but if you plan to take charge of your life and choose rebirth in a new chosen field, do not get this book. It's a total let down. He tells you stories of successful people who worked at perfecting themselves since they were teenagers in their chosen line of work. He fails to do the same with the "failures". He mentions a woman who lost everything because she opened up a yoga studio. The woman ventured into a brand new path. Everyone is terrible when they first try something. After years of practice, of course, you become better. He failed to follow her for years and then document her subsequent success or failure. There are many people who reinvented themselves and became great in their chosen path. For example: Julia Child, Martha Stuart, Harrison Ford, Andrea Bocelli, etc.. This author still needs many years of practice and I must say that this book was a big disappointment. This is my summary of this book: read Malcolm Gladwell & Derek Sivers (since a lot of his research comes from them) & start something (anything) when you are a teenager, stick to it, and you will grow to love it. Everything else = failure. Also, take a shot for every time he says" in order words" and whatever you do, don't lose your career collateral!!!!!

This should really be on everybody's to do list. I think a lot of us are naive on this subject. I, myself, did not know much about the struggle. All I knew was that there was a struggle. Now I know why! This book was recommended to me by a friend and I'm glad I read it. I especially liked how the author made this book based on a real life encounter between an Arab & a Jew. It now puts many world events into perspective and is making me think differently about them. By no means are the actions justified, just better understood.

Peekay is a remarkable boy who is so remarkable in fact that it is practically unbelievable. Mr Courtenay focuses on how remarkable this boy is the whole time and then ends it with a very unremarkable moment. It was such a let down and it just does't make sense... What about being the tadpole angel or being the welterweight champion of the world? Why did he put so much emphasis on these two aspects and then end it with a silly confrontation? It's as if there was a build up for nothing. The end came straight out of left field and seems inconsistent with the direction the story was headed.

As much as I think the story was a let down, there are 3 things that I really liked about The Power of One:
1. The character development was "wunderbar, absolutal"
2. It had important messages about life scattered throughout
3. Humphrey Bower was an excellent narrator

The story is just fantastic. It's about a smart and confidant woman who thinks she knows everything and a man who thinks he is above everyone else. Then their worlds get turned upside down! The performance is OK and didn't bother me as much as it did other people.

This books covers just about all aspects of maps. While I'm not a map collector, maps have always been intoxicating for me and this book is the back story. It's amazing what people have accomplished! "On The Map" is full of history on exploration, cartography, collecting, dealing, and fraud to present day mapping with satellites, gaming, and contemporary art. So if you like maps and you like history, this book is for you!

This is one of Christopher Moore's best books (as far as plot goes - similar to Dirty Job). There are plenty of twists and turns. It really kept me guessing! The characters are awesome, as always. Kona's pigeon speak is hilarious! I do agree that Bill Irwin was a little monotone in the beginning, but it gets better as the story progresses.

This might help your experience:
1. Do not listen to this right after listening to chronicles of Abby Normal. Susan Bennett did such a wonderful job and she is a tough act to follow.
2. Try listening to a non-fiction book with a lot of facts first. Then this might suck you in right from the beginning.

Fascinating story about Jay-Z's business approach. He truly has a 360 degree mentality, meaning that he incorporates his friends with his business with his interests with his home life and then capitalizes on it all. It tells you how Jay-Z intertwined all the important things in his life and still made crazy amounts of money.

Whoa, this book blew me away. I wasn't sure that I was going to be interested in a teenage girl's story, but Abby proved me wrong. I cannot comprehend how Christopher Moore can metamorphous into a teenage girl. She was hilarious and Susan Bennett's work was phenomenal! The use of words and performance outshines the story. If you want to laugh and want something entertaining, this is it!

I can honestly say that this book really makes me think about my actions and forces me to plan ahead. Months after reading it, I am still trying to apply the principles of this book into my life. I see some reviews that state, "it is the same old material", but I do not know anything about negotiating and I found this book to be excellent in the presentation of the material and on the logic behind what the brain thinks of it. For example, the brain thinks that it is a form of manipulation, but in actuality it is more of a win-win situation. I never saw it that way and it makes sense logically. I probably won't go as far as some of the people in the book (ie: the guy in the eyeglass store went too far, in my opinion). After "reading" it once, the following important points stuck with me months later: find the decision maker, make a human connection, talk calmly, and that a little research goes a long way. You may not get everything when using these principles, but you will get more (the name fits the book perfectly) when you do!

Santiago is a young man who proceeds in literally making his dreams come true. He is an ordinary man, full of doubts and fears, like you and me, but he has this drive inside of him and a courage to continue on his path. This is a fantastic fable filled with unsurmountable challenges and life changing choices. I do agree with a previous reviewer in that Paulo over uses "omen", but it's kind of funny when you expect it. Jeremy Irons does an amazing job with changing voices to match each character (his voice does get low at points though). This is, hands down, my favorite book.