Full-price Books

This book is simialarimation of other book I read in first place, also very good. Recommend for everyone to read this help directly life basic itself more physic for yourself and you could see for yourself for what you are and possible feeling find yourself be blessful achievements from this life,more spiritual directional.Excerise your thinking very careful to choose what's best for you.

What makes for a good book?

To me it is how the book leaves you feeling.

I have been reading roughly a chapter a day of this book.

I am not a Christian but still the results have been very striking. I feel a sense of calm and peace inside me. A sensation that has been alien to me of late.

Part 4 of the book in which he talks about letting go of the past as a way to heal emotional wounds could have been written just for me.

In fact I started reading this section immediately after experiencing a setback. Thanks to his advice I avoided the typical emotional meltdown and instead took the incident completely in stride.

Joel Osteen is an inspiring and loving source of wisdom and I am truly grateful that he chose to share his teachings in a book.

Joel Osteen has written a great book on fulfilling one's life and achieving success through his seven principles. As Joel states it is a "choice" to be happy. Many people will discover this choice after they read this book. Joel teaches people to forget the past and start to develop a healthy self-image. This book will help people in their personal growth.
I see from reading the reviews on this site some people have recommend my book, "The Enlightenment, What God Told Me After One Million Prayers: A Message for Everyone," and again I just want them to know how much I appreciate their recommendation, especially at such a excellent site. I wrote this book out of love and for the glory of God and Jesus, not for my own fame or fortune. I welcome people to read my book, I'm sure you'll find this non-fiction account of a loving God just as positive and inspiring.

This is an excellent book. No matter who you are or what you do, this book has you take a look at you and your life.

In troubling economic times, many may be downsizing their business, finances, dreams, or experiencing relationship problems. Joel Osteen's book offers what may be needed to bring people through the bad times and help them anticipate better ones. In his book "Your Best Life Now", he discusses seven steps he believes will help everyone live to their full potential. In it, he uses biblical references and personal stories to support his words. Through thought provoking and emotionally uplifting text, the reader is helped to determine their personal vision and set goals for accomplishing it. This book may help those with low motivation, poor self-esteem, or a history of problems to move forward for a better and stronger life of enthusiasm and commitment, where they may accomplish their desires as well as meeting their needs. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants some guidance both personally and professionally.

Well constructed tick tock of a husband murder that built up over several years and culminated in a planned shooting that left a few too many questions. The wife was bipolar and that explains a lot. She still has her defenders, remarkably. The husband comes off as the true victim. If you like true crime, this one is well worth the time. Ann Rule is top notch in the genre.

A clue to Liysa Northorn's personality lies in the silly spelling of her name - the sort of "I'm so interesting" nonsense that most of us grow out of after the early teen years. Liysa, however, didn't, & according to Ann Rule she lied & manipulated her way through life until she killed her third husband basically because he wouldn't let her have her own way about everything. Liysa says she killed in self defense.
I found Rule's book mesmerizing, with a few caveats. Chris Northorn, the victim, comes across as rather a hollow man - bland with few personality traits other than being "nice." Certainly he seems commitment-shy & someone who drifted through life. It's no great step to conjecture that the abuse claims by Liysa began as an attempt to get his attention. If anyone in the relationship was abused, I'm guessing it was Chris.
Another caveat is the claim by Rule that Liysa was a devoted & good parent. Naturally the author needs to look at both sides of the story, but it's hard to believe that this self-obsessed, manipulative woman could parent effectively. Her children would merely be an extension of herself, accessories for looking good in the eyes of the world. We also hear how Liysa is a talented writer, but no evidence of this is given. Surely a talented writer would have done more with her talents than journals & an aborted film script.
I would have liked this book to be longer - I suspect Liysa's guilty plea cut short what would have been a lengthy description of the trial. Overall well worth reading, a fascinating story very well told.

Ann Rule is the most incredibly talented author. She can take thousands of facts and make the most compelling, riveting story. At the end, I always feel like I know all the people involved personally. When I sit down with one of her books, I know I am not going to get anything else done for awhile!

I do not agree with the other reviews at all. I thought this book was excellent. At times it made me sick to my stomach, as I could not believe someone could be as manipulative and selfish as Liysa. I feel horrible for the victim, Chris, his family, and his sons. I would highly recommend this book.

This was an interesting story about a psychopath (Liysa). I thought Ann Rule gave a good account of both Liysa and Chris, and I think the only real bias was because Liysa WAS guilty. I was left wanting to know if any of Liysa's stories were invested and found to be true. Some things were alluded to such as her first husband and a boyfriend being killed in car accidents, but was it true? Did she really graduate from college? Did she ever apply and train for the Navy Seals? So many other things. She was a lier, and lied when it suited her. I had a boyfriend much like her. He lied so much that he actually believed his lies. He would go to great lengths to make people believe his lies. I am so disappointed that she only got 10-12 years. I don't understand why the prosecution let her plea down when they had such good evidence. That seems negligent to me.
I didn't think the book was very well written for Rule, in that she repeated herself and certain phrases too much. Maybe she needs a proof reader who actually READS the book.

I found this book to be short, sweet and to the point. It takes what we all should know and forces the reader to self-assess and identify where they can make small changes that can have big, positive implications on relationships both personally and professionally. I recommend it. Again, very worthwhile. - Trinice Speight Moses - Mt. Holly, NJ 08060

No time waster and right to the point. Follow the instructions in this excellent book and you'll become everyone's favorite and a successful person. Simple to understand and a great book, I highly recommend it to everyone.

"How Full is Your Bucket" is a great tool I use with my anger control coaching clients.

It helps us to realize the importance of our responsibility to focus on the needs of others more than those of our own.

Many people facing anger problems have trouble accepting responsibility. It's all about blame and excuses. This CD program helps them understand that by accepting our responsibility to fill the buckets of others with positives, it returns to us and makes our lives better.

William C. Smith, Alpha Process Coach
www.angercontrolrc.com www.successrc.com

Wonderful thoughts in this book. How did they ever think of this?! Everyone should read this book. Not only is it is uplifting but it makes one think about the others in the world and your effect on them. During and after you read this book you will feel good. Let a week go by, then pick the book up again and read it again.

This is a terrifc introduction to teaching students (and co-workers) to become self-aware individuals. The theory provides us with a concrete method for evaluating our behavior and relating to others. These concepts have been well recieved in my 5th-8th grade classrooms. I read them the picture book version of the "story" as we began discussing working successfully in groups. The benefits are already apparent after only 4 weeks of school. The students have carried this over into all other aspects of the curriculum and hopefully at home and in their communities as well. A must read for all educators and administrators!

I am so glad I got this book. The recipes are excellent. What a great, healthy way to eat. I would recommend this book to everyone.

I first became acquainted with the concept of Energy Density several years prior to reading this book. I read Rick Gallops book "The GI Diet" which introduced me to another book "Mayo Clinic on Healthy Weight" several years ago. The marvelous Mayo food pyramid is based on energy or calorie density. This idea was the main ingredient on my path to losing 80 pounds and restoring my blood sugar level to normal following my diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. An additional good idea found in Rick Gallop's book is to apply the energy density principle to your plate by filling it with 50% non-starchy vegetables, 25% dense carbs and 25% protein. Another thing that I do is to use 50% Kellogg's All Bran or General Mill's Fiber One for my breakfast cereal. Energy density is particularly important to your selection of dessert. A half cup of pudding made with nonfat milk and sugar free mix is less than 100 calories. It is equally filling to a large chocolate chip muffin which comes in at 600 calories. Other useful books on energy density are the "Fit or Fat Target Diet" books by Covert Bailey and Ronda Gates. What the Volumetics book does is introduce us to the formal definition of energy density which is a measurement of the calories in a gram of food so that the energy density of any food can be easily calculated.

This is an excellent book. Everyone should have this book!
Since I was never taught how to eat healthy and properly as a child, this has given me the tools so I can now eat healthy, feel full and not deprive myself of foods that I like that aren't the greatest for me.

I made my kids read the book too, since I never taught them how to eat properly either.

I like the pictures that compare the volume of foods and ask you.............which one would you rather eat..........the full plate with the proper seasonings or the small plate prepared the way that we are all used to!

I ordered this book from Amazon, and since I start read it I just loved it. I have tried some other diet plan, mainly are South Beach and Artkins. They worked on me, I lost 15 pounds, but I do not think I can continue to do that. I can not eat fruit and my body felt very very tired, and I was in bad mood. I use this volumetrics Eating Plan, I lost weight, the most important is I feel very good and very comfortable. I can eat a lot fruit and every day I feel very satisfied, and I still lose weight. I am doing very good and I feel I can follow this plan for life. The book says this is not a quick fix but a life style change. I really agree. I feel so good so I invite you to try.

I am finding this book difficult to read. I am sure the information is useful, but I find myself struggling to get through it. Having read several healh-fitness-diet related books, this one was disappointing.

This was a very entertaining book. The stories in here will keep you interested from the beginning all the way to the end. It is written in colorful language and allows you to kind of get inside Slim's head. It is a short 264 pages filled with wild stories of how Slim would gamble on almost anything and win. You may not agree with everything written in these pages but you will definitely get a few laughs along the way.

Slim talks about human psychology and what role that plays in gambling. One of his sayings is "never make a bet unless the bet is already one." And through these pages he reveals his secrets to doing just that. I think there are a number of useful things that anyone could pick up and find useful in their own lives from some psychology to a number of bets that anyone could make others that could almost be guaranteed winners. One of the last things Slim says is, "making peace with yourself is the first thing a winner must do."

If you have any interest in the mind of a gambler and like outrageous stories involving risk then I think you will enjoy this book.

Fast read on a fast pace of a fast life. Amusing and entertaining, and probably educational if you pay attention. The lessons aren't presented as such, but if you follow the pattern of his betting, you learn not to get sucked into a bad deal. Not going to win a Pulitzer, but a great light read if you like biographies, poker, Texas or characters. He makes Huck Finn look like an altar boy.

This book is really funny but it isn't going to teach you anything really about gambling and poker. He does give a few pointers, but it is basically the story of his life and what a story it was. It is a very easy book to read and enjoyable for anyone who likes gambling.

In a way it's fitting that the most entertaining poker book ever written contains total detail about the most dramatic game of poker ever played, by the greatest card man of the twentieth century. I'm talking about the truly legendary, Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston. His amazing book, Amarillo Slim In A World Full of Fat People, is for poker what the BBC's Top Gear is to motoring: funny, wicked, informative and entertaining. If Jeremy Clarkeson is reading this, that wipes out any future poker debts I might accrue!

In the early nineties, Slim was invited help launch the Casino de Caribe in Cartagena, Columbia by casino boss Lynn Simon. Amarillo was flattered to be asked at this late stage in his career only to discover that he would be playing some of the deepest untaxed pockets in the world:namely, the major drug lords of the Columbian cartels. Playing poker for the very highest stakes is nerve racking at the best of times: now just imagine that you're about to have a showdown with Pablo Escobar, probably the most feared cold-blooded killer on Earth. Turns out Pablo just wanted to be friends and show Slim his mansion, his zoo and that he was in charge of Columbia. Once this had been established, Escobar's helicopter dropped Amarillo back at the Caribe. The tall Texan then proceeded to financially disable some of the deadliest Cartel bosses, under protection from a Swiss style physical safety agreement, which they honoured under pain of death from Escobar. Apparently Pablo himself didn't fair well at poker against the card playing cowboy, leaving the Columbian poker challenge to come from his under bosses, who lost the equivalent of 'a week's supply' to the six foot four American.

By the third day the physical safety agreement broke down when one of the Cali Cartel bosses decided to shoot a disloyal girlfriend with a pump action shotgun about a yard from where Amarillo was standing. This should have been Slim's signal to catch the next jet home to Texas but he readily confesses to a liking for danger and besides, a quote from the man himself betrays another reason to stay: "I'd never seen men with more money and less brains than these drug lords." The cowboy stayed and rounded up a mountain of cash before high-tailing it back to cattle country.

In the lives of most card players, the above true story would stand out as the most remarkable of adventures, but trust me, to a man who had won a million dollars by the age of 19, played poker with two Presidents and driven a golf ball over a mile, it was just one of many.

Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People is a autobiography of Slim focusing (unsurprisingly) on his gambling exploits.

The upside of this book is that it's very entertaining & well written. For a lot of people, that may be more than enought it make it worth their time. The gambling yarns contained within are some of the most incredible I've seen in print, and I'm a fan of the genre.

Unfortunately, there are serious issues of Slim's honesty and integrity surrounding this book.

The first, and more minor, issue is that the book is largely assembled from Slim's previous "Play Poker To Win" and Holden's "Big Deal," often taken nearly word for word from those sources. Not only is this a bit of a raw deal for readers who already have those books, but I'm a little curious why Holden is credited and quoted for some of the sections he wrote, but others masquerade as Slim's voice. I hope nothing dirty is going on here plagiarism-wise, but I'm suspicious.

The second, more serious, issue, is that this is a self-flattering autobiography by a man of very questionable morals. There's no doubt, reading this book, that Slim thinks quite highly of himself. But his actions don't exactly support his opinion. He's a self admitted gambling cheat and liar. In fact, the allegations of cheating go far beyond what he admits to in the book - the depth of his association with Johnny Moss' dirty card rooms and and various mechanics on the Texas circuit was not discussed. Worse yet, there's good reason to believe that Slim is a pedophile. He was arrested on three charges of indecency with his 12-year old granddaughter in 2003, apparently confessed to police, and then plead guilty to reduced charges. His wife divorced him over the incident. Sources in the poker community say that Slim maintains his innocence and claims it was a scheme by a faction of his family to get a hold of his money, but that doesn't explain the confession.

Final Verdict: I WANT to like this book, but a good book glorifying a bad man looses a lot of its luster. In light of that I can't bring myself to like Slim, or his book, nearly as much as he likes himself.

Over time, organizations rise or fall based on the quality of their long-range leadership. This is why companies must develop new generations of leaders, a strategy that requires a great deal of careful thought, planning, preparation, nurturing and follow-through. Among the authors of books on business topics, John C. Maxwell has carved out a special niche as an authority on leadership issues. In this book (which uses quotes and references from many sources, including religious ones), he explains why any company that expects to operate successfully into the future needs a comprehensive internal leadership development program. getAbstract credits this book with making a worthwhile contribution to recent writings on leadership and succession. Read it to learn why and how any vital organization must continuously develop new leaders.

John C. Maxwell has done it again! Every aspiring leader should own this book. It is relevant for non-profit leaders, for profit leaders, and community/family leaders.

I've referenced this book quite a few times since I've completed it a few months ago. From beginning to end, his stories & philosophy will have you doing what he says, to get what he got! If you've ever seen him speak, his books are just like hearing him all over again. His examples, the realistic approach and his ways of developing you as a leader tapping into the great potential leaders have... is an awesome way of establishing a strong foundation with the importance of training & duplication to achieve the goals those who read this are trying to obtain.
A must read.
-NJ

I like the premise of this book: take care of your network and they will return the favor.
"The determination of a positive or negative outcome in my leadership depends upon my ability as a leader to develop those closest to me. It also depends upon my ability to recognize the value that others can give my organization and me. My goal is not to draw a following that results in a crowd. My goal is to develop leaders who become a movement....Leaders create and inspire new leaders."
He even quotes Druker--"There is no success without a successor" -- Peter Drucker

I have to admit that I didn't care for this as much as most of John Maxwell's other books. The information is great and there are a lot of points that can be pulled from this, but it just felt like the book was a bunch of lists within lists. It was actually difficult to digest.

This is one of those books that you can really only read a few pages at a time instead of trying to take in a bunch in one sitting. But even doing this, you'll find that each list is often accompanied by sub-lists and even sub-lists of sub-lists. Again, all the information is great, but you get lost a bit on what list you're reading.

With that said, Developing is still a must-read for any business leader, manager or supervisor. Maxwell provides the framework for not only finding but creating great leaders within your organization. He takes you through the process step by step (and step within step) of why and how to turn your employees into a strong leadership team.

It's a fun read, and brings an element of wry humor and chatty "chick-lit" voice to Asian American literature. The main character, Ginger, is a 20-something, Manhattan, fashion-mag employee, this book adds more complexity to the Sex/Shopaholic/Bridget genre in touching on greater issues of race and sexual orientation. Yes, the materially driven real estate agent Korean mom treads a bit close to a trite Dragon Lady stereotype, and Ginger herself tends to follow the opposite Asian stereotype of indecisive, naive, self-loathing Asian American ... Lee does create sympathy for many of the characters in the novel. The ticking-clock situation is kind of Edith Wharton-esque (Marry NOW, to the best prospect you can find) ... not the most politically correct, but fiction, even hyphenated ethnic fiction, should not be just about advancing political causes.

Ms. Hwang does a wonderful job of capturing the vibrancy of life, family, and career in glamorous New York City, from the perspective of an Asian American twenty-something woman. I finished this in two days - what a fun read!

For a first novel, this was a great book. To me it reads like a Bridget Jones type of book, except that the main character is not as fluffy and has a lot more going on between the ears. It was much easier for me to relate to this character as a real woman. I loved the ending, which to me was much more realistic than the "got the man and then lived happily ever after" ending that is us used in most women's fiction these days. The mother/daughter relationship rang very true to me, and it was interesting to learn how the character started to understand that it would never be a black and white relationship.

This is one of those books that took me forever to get through. This novel has some redeeming qualities, it is funny at times, but ultimately it is a let down. Ginger Lee, Caroline Hwang's protaganist in her novel "In Full Bloom" is a late 20-something fashion assistant at A la Mode magazine, a job handed to her by her best friend in college, Sam. While Sam is a cut-throat professional, Ginger herself shows a serious lack of drive and ambition. With those qualities alone, I would expect myself to relate to Ginger (haha). Overall, however, I did not find Ginger to be a very likeable character.

While throughout the length of the novel she gripes about how racist (perhaps, ignorant moreso) white people are towards Asians in America, she herself stereotypes and bashes people of her own culture. She won't date Korean men because they are all chauvanists, and for some reason she's always pictured her husband as a white guy. Granted, Ginger is an American-born Korean woman, not feeling entirely at home with Koreans or "white" America. But instead of embracing her mixed upbringing, she just complains. The reader is hoping that at some point Ginger will embrace (or at least come to terms with) her own culture (Korean American) and become proud of her heritage. However, we never witness Ginger grow as a character, she is pretty much in the same boat at the book's finish as she was in the beginning. Nothing is resolved in the end and the book feels incomplete. This, for me, was "In Full Bloom"'s downfall.

Hwang's writing is not terrible, but the transitions from present tense to flashback sequence are not very solid and I found myself sometimes confused by a scene that had actually taken place in the past and I was reading it as if it was the present. This happened on more than one occasion where I had to re-read a page in order to follow what was happening or get a grasp on whether the event was taking place in the present or the past. This really wasn't such a big deal, just a minor gripe on my part.

In conclusion, if you are reading this book for a quick chick-lit fix, then you might want to give it a shot, however, if you are looking for something with a bit more substance I suggest looking elsewhere.

There was so much potential in this story, but unfortunately, the author did not have the ability to realize that potential. That in and of itself was so very sad. It's hard, at least for this Asian American reader, to sympathize with a self loathing Twinkie who, while supposedly so "American", cosmopolitan, and hip is so wretchedly naïve, even dumb. It's actually insulting for the author to try to have us believe a woman in her late twenties living in NYC is this clueless when it comes to people using her like her former roommate does in this story. Also, choice moments to actually make some biting commentary about non Asian people's thoughts about Asian Americans never come to pass or erroneous ideas about Asian Americans, especially Asian American women are never fully challenged such as when a white photographer talks about how he likes Asian women because they are so "mysterious". You cannot help but roll your eyes at the predictable "torn between two cultures" and "not interested in Korean men" themes that run through this story. To be fair, some of the stories of racism do ring painfully true and some of the aspects of Korean American culture are familiar. However, the character's career in the fashion magazine industry is supposed to give the story a certain amount of glamour and excitement, yet the inherently shallow nature of the environment does nothing to give the character much depth nor does the author ever successfully develops any true depth in the main character or any of the characters in the entire story. Even the breakthroughs or nuggets of wisdom the character realizes toward the end of the story never seem genuine or profound. Rather, the realizations seem hurried and forced as the author realizes that the story is supposed to end soon. This story does nothing to break new ground, challenge readers, or offer much in the way of commentary-which is the biggest shame of all because it could have done all of that. Asian Americans should support work by other Asian Americans. But we should support good work. Not derivative pap.

the author has his own problems, but if you want to understand the period covered by Nixon, it helps to have a full narrative without all the analysis. the new yorker has opined that this effort is essentially an apology, but in the years since Nixon's flawed presidency, we are able to see that so much of what Nixon wanted was just right, even as he also made some terrible decisions and surrounded himself with a few crooks.

it is an easy though exhausting read (lots of pages) but for those of us under 70, it captures so much that after the reader is done, then he can reassess the more venomous acccounts. for example, nixon's childhood here seems less about the creation of neurosis, than simply a hard one, but his parents really did love him.

but then we have watergate. oh well!

I have been reading Presidential biographies over the last few years beginning with Washington and just completed this one on Nixon. This one by Conrad Black is an excellent read (his one FDR is also excellent)!

The author takes the approach of giving you detailed information and facts and allows you to decide whether decisions and actions were good, bad, indifferent, etc.

Certainly Nixon abused his presidency, but so did the other Presidents in the 1960's (JFK and LBJ), and Black doesn't let that fact go unnoticed.

If you are looking for a quick summary of Nixon's life and presidency this is not the book for you. If you are looking, however, for an exhaustive biography of Nixon this is the book for you.

I was once told by an expert on Richard Nixon that to get a fair biography of President Nixon you needed to find ones that did not try to be psychological and ones written by Brits. Previously Jon Aitken Richard Nixon: A Life fit that bill but it is outdated already. Conrad Black's new book does fit this bill today. He is a Brit and he presents the facts and historical context of Nixon fairly.

Recently Dallek wrote an excellent book on Kissinger and Nixon, but as good as the book was it was held back by the authors obvious dislike of both men. Still a great book but biased a bit for me.

Black has filled the void with an up to date, well written, well researched, and fair and balanced.

Yes the book is a bit long, but quite worth the read.

Black is not afraid to be critical of Nixon, but lots of authors do that, what I liked about this book is that it was not afraid to show the good things Nixon did, which many authors do not like to do.

I really liked this book despite its length and with a British author it provided a bit of neutrality that many American books on Nixon lack.

Richard Nixon was one of the most influential man in the world, and also someone who was misunderstood

This was a great read. I was thrilled to discover that Conrad wrote a fair and even-handed biography of the late President. (I enjoyed Nixon's memoirs, too, so lengthy tomes aren't a problem for me, as they might be for a few of the reviewers.) I liked the book's emphasis on Nixon's persistence and ability to remain on the political scene for so many years, despite media prejudice and pumped-up mobbings. Nixon had to perform on one of the most volatile stages of American history, and this book made it clear that he managed to stay on it, decade after decade.

I enjoyed reading this book for two reasons
1) Its flows well, and easy read
2) The knowledge is straightforward and practical

The book is not very profound or earth shattering in its insights, but friendly,simply and happy in its expression of how to get and maintain and optimistic outlook on life, which you would think it should be. (but we do like to complicate things)
I recommend it. It's a fast easy read that will provide some tools for keeping a smile first in your mind than on your face

I picked up this book with great expectations. I have usually found the other readers' rating system on Amazon to be quite accurate, but this book was a complete disappointment. It felt disjointed, naive and lacking in proper content to warrant a full book on the matter.

Basically, the book can be boiled down to two pieces of advice on which optimism depends. These are downward comparison and controlling our inner environment. I find it hard to believe this book will be of real practical benefit to most readers. You have been warned.

In Half Empty Half Full, the author is able to show how optimists brains operate when confronted with both positive and negative life situations. Also, citing journalistic examples such as the "mouse island" the author explains that optimism is created by one's perceived value of the future, not necessarily based on one's past experiences, but on one's perceived perception of past experiences. In other words, viewing an experiences as a growing lesson instead of as a tragedy, optimists are able to fine-tune their thinking to have greater confidence in future results based on having experienced and surpassed past limitations. In addition, optimists are able to rationalize more postive perceptions and hold less grudges on past experiences based on the exciting possibilities the future beholds. The author ends with ways that people who aren't naturally optimistic can achieve a newfound optimism (re-focusing mind on future goals, counseling, medication, surrounding yourself around the right environment). Simple and well written text.

The key to Dr. Vaughan's or anyone else's understanding of optimism and pessimism is not: 'Which is better for human beings?' -- It is "Do optimistic strategies work well for some people, but pessimistic strategies work better for other people?" And indeed, psychological research indicates that for 40-50% of Americans, optimism is adaptive, but also that optimism is an unsuccessful, maladaptive, and counterproductive strategy for at least 33%. For that group of 33% + the strategy that works far better than "don't worry, be happy" optimism is 'constructive-defensive' pessimism. It is precisely because individuals differ so profoundly that 'positive psychology' is too one-sided and too 'one-size-fits-all' to be fully valid, and that is why we need the corrective found in the books on optimism and pessimism edited by Ed Chang.

So think individually about the previous reviewer suggestion: "contra some other reviers, you cannot come to a correct view simply by reading Dr. Vaughan, then by reading persons of an opposite opinion, because x + (-x) = 0. If the people saying (-x) have correctly analyzed the entire body of literature, while x is based on a very selective reading of a subset of research, "balancing" (-x) with x produces error, not balance." It is the compelling reality of individual differences in personality that matters = X works for you, (-X) works for me, Y works for my friend, Z works for your friend. So constructive pessimism fits some of us, but no single strategy fits all of us !!

Vaughan is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and researcher who can write for the public. In my coaching practice, I sometimes have to grapple with another person's innate and deeply-grounded pessimism and this book gave me ammunition. I do believe that optimism can be learned and in my efforts to extend my own and other people's optimism in the face of some bad-to-worse onslaughts from life, this book has been of immeasurable help. From the amygdala to dream analysis, Vaughan makes it all almost deceptively simple. I doubt that many can "do it" as well as she can, but learning about changing one's level of optimism -- in fact just knowing that we can -- is a great first step! This book gave me real information I can put into practice.

After howling in Bump and Run, I couldn't wait to listen to Full Court Press.

The first half of the book continues at a great pace with a slew of colorful characters. The last half was a let down. I enjoyed it, however, it wasn't as crisp as Bump and Run.

With that being said, I would still recommend either buying or listening to this story.

If you want to read a book from an extremely bright, informative, and seasoned sports journalist, read Full Court Press. Lupica is at his best in this epic basketball drama. Not only does he accuratley portray NBA life and off the court hardships, but he also portrays this from a woman's point of view. Amazingly descriptive, dramatic, and full of excitement, this book has Best Seller written all over it.

Mike Lupica's "Full Court Press" is a sports fantasy in which the flamboyant owner of the worst team in the league signs the first woman to play in the NBA. Dee Gerard is the illegitimate daughter of a New York playground legend and a star in Europe who impresses a scout for the New York Knights. If you hear echoes of the real world twisted this way and that (Dr. J's daughter, Nancy Lieberman, etc.), then you realize that is part of the game here (is Dee's teammate a "nice" Dennis Rodman?). Try not to get caught up in figuring out if you are dealing with stereotypes or Frankenstein like creations composed of the parts of various real people.

Understandably Lupica has to tweak things to put Dee in a position to play in the NBA once he sets up the desperate franchise idea: she is basically a female John Stockton (sees the court, knows the game, can make the pass) with a healthy injection of Globetrotter style and flair. She is also the fastest woman ever to play basketball, which works for me as the secret ingredient. However, in terms of the story "Full Court Press" reminds me of the old Sammy Davis, Jr. joke: Sammy is on the golf course and somebody asks him "What's your handicap?" Sammy does a double-take and points out that being a one-eyed, Jewish, black man is handicap enough. Lupica saddles Dee with similar baggage: she is having an affair with her coach and sometimes she gets what is basically acute stage fright. So being a woman is, ironically, the least of her problems in this book. Fortunately she is pretty much the most level headed person in the book and so most readers will be inclined to wish her well and remember this is a sports fantasy, not a social argument (Earl Monroe says it will happen one day; anybody out there got the chops to argue with the Pearl?).

I watch ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" on a regular basis, so I have to admit that the Mike Lupica who wrote this novel does not "sound" like the same one who goes from articulate rationality to passionate diatribes at the drop of a hat (or one liner from a cohort). There are insights into the world of sports in general and professional basketball in particular (they might not know the game, but these kids today are FAST) scattered throughout the book, and I found a really good insult for somebody from a farm I would dearly love to use someday. Certainly Lupica has a feel for the game (so does the dust cover, where the basketball feels like a basketball). The resolution leaves a lot to be desired, but the journey is fun and it is a good read. "Full Court Press" can keep you occupied during the first three quarters of a NBA playoff game when nothing is happening.

Lupica's got a great ear for the banter of the game and the City. He needed every bit of it to penetrate the blanket of intense namedropping, a syncophantic suck-up to Imus (Mo Jiggy in an Imus ranch hat) and overreaching for similes and metaphors (how does Earthwind snort the GNP of a city, Mike, and what is a "Gulfstream ex"?). I had it at 4 stars most of the way, but the last third really bogged down.

Eddie Holtz, jock with a blown out knee now scouting for the NY Knights (how many times has that set up been used?) discovers Dee Girard at a charity game in Monaco. She's the ultra cool 32-year-old daughter NY playground legend Cecil "Cool Daddy" Cody and the beautiful Swedish dancer Cool Daddy hooked up with in the late 60s. Eddie thinks she's as good as any point guard in the NBA, and Knights owner Michael De la Cruz sees headlines and ticket sales.

Some great characters: Knights Coach Bobby Carlino is a blatant composite of Rick Pitino and PJ Carlessimo complete with a bad boy player shoving his whistle down his throat when the coach lets his team rough Dee up. Eddie brings in Mo Jiggy, rap star turned sports agent from "Bump and Run", and the partnership of two super bright street-smart kids from the hood is born.

The last 40% or so isn't really a plot but a bunch of games, name dropping and trivia (like the female AAU phenom from the 50s who drops in on Dee in Minneapolis). The real story of Cool Daddy comes out. So what if he's more of a hustler than a hoopster, but bringing him back from the dead was a little much.

It had some great dialogue, fun characters but a little too much junk in between to make it a top tier story.

As a working sportswriter, like myself, the author should know that there is not a single player in today's NBA who would knock an opponent to the court, then utter the words: "You went down harder than the Hindenberg!" I doubt whether there is a single active pro basketball player that could even identify the Hindenberg, let alone use it as a taunt. (Who edited this novel?)

That sort of preposterous dialog -- and the hackneyed romance between Dee and her coach -- made it difficult to fully to enjoy Lupica's well-intentioned little fantasy.