Future Books

A terrific book, full of spectacular photos and diagrams,
and including an entertaining and informative text. First class!

Very few movies of the late twentieth century stand up to the test of time in the way of 2001: A Space Odyssey. This book tells the inside story of how this ground breaking film was made, and how it changed the outlook of a generation.

Its large format, crisp color reproduction, and amazing depth of detail make this one of the best 2001 books available. In fact, I had to own just one, this would be it.

In this age of computer generated imagery, it's fascinating to read in detail how 2001 pulled off its brilliant and never-dated space visuals with entirely manual processes. Seeing the incredibly huge and complex film sets, the detailed models and animations, and innovative camera techniques used give me a new appreciation for the magnitude of the film's greatness.

What is largely missing from this book is insight into Kubrick's source ideas and meaning for 2001. It's probably too much to ask for that in addition to the books fantastic production story.

I found Piers Bizony's book fascinating and I'm continually amazed at the work this film achieved for its day (and today in many respects). It defined the genre. It's filled with great stills, diagrams, and behind-the-scenes photography of the filmmaking process.

However, if you're looking for a book that gives you an inside peek on the filmmaker and his decision making process for the story (or authentic insight on the story itself), you'll be disappointed. 2001 is a complex storyline with metaphore upon metaphore and the Bizony never seems to achieve a 'true' account by Kubrick on the film's meaning. It's more guessing, speculation, and hypothesis that add to the voices weighing in regarding this important film. I suppose in some respects, it adds the mystery and weight of story... and will remain that way with the passing of Kubrick in 2000.

This brilliant book's visuals alone make it worth adding to your collection of film books. Of course, Kubrick fans need it the most.

But what the book also speaks to, beyond Kubrick's compulsive fascination with technical accuracy in film, is how the effort in making this movie addressed our ambitions and fascinations in the 1960s. In a time where old social conventions were breaking down, right and left, 2001 spoke to a new optimism created by space exploration and its seemingly limitless potential.

"Capturing the imagination." Good movies achieve that goal, don't they? In this case, a fanatical dedication to research, and to placing on film the most accurate and, in a weird way, understated views of a human future in space, creating something really new in moviegoing experience.

In its time, that effort became quickly subsumed by two divergent audiences: people who wanted to enhance their drug experiences with visuals, and people who wanted to be in space. Of course, these audiences made the movie very, very successful.

Today, we have left this movie's technical accomplishments in the dust. We can depict space travel and its related phenomena (like weightlessness) in a relatively effortless way. Film special effects pour out, today, in ways not imagined in 1967. You could read this book as a quaint history tract in movemaking technics.

I read it beyond that, though. It spoke to the excitement and optimism with which many of us viewed our future. We ate this stuff up; we could sit through two reels of a spacecraft docking and think the time just flew by...

How do we feel about the future today? It is now highly unfashiomable to label yourself a "futurist" any more. It seems our future is all behind us now.

Thank God these things run in predictable cycles. Collective optimism about our future in space is just around the corner. I hope I live long enough to see and enjoy it...

Anthony A. Hoekema's "The Bible and the Future" is a fairly thorough exploration of all the major issues surrounding the study of last things (eschatology). Admittedly, a three hundred page book cannot do complete justice to such a complex and varied field, yet he has given us a good place to begin exploring.

In my experience, eschatology is dominated by a sort of generalized randomness ("I don't know much about the end times, but I know I don't believe THAT...") or even a passive indifference ("I'm a PANmillennialist - it'll all pan out in the end") or even a sort of sensationalized excitement ("we may not be able to predict the day or the hour, but we can predict the week and the month"). Helpfully, though, Hoekema clears away some of the confusion, cobwebs, and craziness that is often associated with the doctrine of last things.

In his favor, there are not graphs or charts (except for a few in the appendix) to try to puzzle through. He attempts to be thoroughly biblical in his approach. He does use footnotes, but they are often short and to the point, which contributes to an uncluttered text.

Even if you disagree with an Amillennial view of the end times, Hoekema is a valuable resource - as one of my professors used to say, "The best place to start looking is a good book with solid footnotes - that will cut down hours of time doing research."

While he does engage both Postmillennialism and Historic Premillennialism, he spends the bulk of his time defending Amillennialism and refuting Dispensational Premillennialism. My guess is that when he wrote in 1979, Dispensationalism was (and continues to be) the dominant view among Evangelicals when it comes to studying end times.

One negative - because it was written in 1979, it does not engage the newest wave of Postmillennialism or Dispensational Premillennialism (Left Behind series and all that). However, the critiques of both explore the biblical roots that underlie the various expressions of the theology, so even being a bit dated, it still is worth your time.

Great book. The author treats even those with different views on the subject with respect. However his writing is to convince or persuade his readers. Good read even if you don't agree with his theology.

The Bible and the Future is the single best volume written on the wide topic of "end things" (eschatology) If you really want to understand what the Bible says about "The Day of the Lord" or Christ's Second Comng, His coming at death, the after life and so on, then this is the volume for you. It is for serious students of the Bible who want a biblical, evangelical perspective and not pop-theology. What concerns me more than anything, when it comes to the topic of the end times is the fact that what may blind the church from seeing the signs is the dispensational interpretation of scripture which has been embraced by conservative churches as the literal, authoritative understanding of the end. This view, arising out the the Plymouth Brethren church, condified by J.N. Darby and polularized by the Scofield Bible, "Thief in the Night Trilogy" and the new update of this original series, "Left Behind" does not handle the scripture properly and is itself not a conservative approach to scripture but is more in line with modern liberalism. If you find this commment strange then you need to read this book and go back to a thorough reading of the whole counsel of scripture on this topic.

Good Reformed look at eschatology, giving a fair shake to all expressions of the Christian Church in regards to eschatology. It causes us to think deeply of the nature of eschatology and why it matters for life, ministry, and life in God.

many books about the bible and end times stuff (eschatology), are goofy, fanatical and just not worth the time to read. However, this one is a gem. It is sane, well researched, well thought out and really does a great job of interpreting this biblical subject with sobriety and intelligence. This book has a commanding reputation amongst more level headed bible scholars and theologians. Even if you end up disagreeing with some of the book's material, you will learn an immense amount on the subject either way. This book will educate you on this subject. It's just packed with material. Forget the popular "prohecy" books about doomsday soothsayers and world war III, and instead read this one by a scripture honoring, intelligent theologian. I would rate it six stars if there were a six star option.

This writer is very clever in the evaluation of Harry Potter. The author comes up with many different scenarios based on facts in the first six books and gives deep thought to all possibilities. This book is a great read for the Potter fan that is anxiously awaiting Book 7!

I've read three HP 'prediction' books, and this was definitely the most enjoyable read. The author clearly has given this a great deal of thought; he not only discusses his ideas on 'the big questions' that we all have (and came up with some fascinating twists to think about!) but also presents a number of small details that I guarantee never occurred to you, but once you read them you can't stop thinking about them and where they may lead. I especially loved that he referenced books with page numbers for every assertion he made, so that I could go back and reread in more detail. It was fun to reread parts, after having been given additional insight to their meanings.

I also greatly liked the friendly, very personal style of writing. I see why other reviewers said it felt like having a conversation with a (similarly obsessed) friend. Reading this made me that much more impatient for Deathly Hallows!!!

I thought I had studied the Harry Potter books, but the author of this book has really done his homework. The book addresses predictions for Book 7, important questions that must be answered in this last book, set-ups from previous books in the series that must pay off in Book 7, and the all-important issue of whether Snape is good or evil. CasaBianca supports all of his predictions and theories with evidence culled from the Harry Potter books themselves, and published interviews with JKR. He freely admits that some of his theories are going to be wrong, but you have to concede that they all make sense.

The book is written in a very conversational tone; it's kind of like having an animated discussion about Book 7 with an old friend over a butterbeer. A very enjoyable read.

If you are like me, having read books again to glean hints from previous HP books to see how it all ends, this is an exciting book. Louis CasaBianca has systematically gone through and has formed speculative answers how our favorites end up.
I simply do not want the series to end, and I am no kid. Hallows looks to be a violent scary book. In a perfect world, good conquers evil, but I guess in the real world the balance doesn't fall that way. This book gives predictions of what the clues from Book 1 on have to say.
While this book doesn't calm fears about what Rowling will do to our favorite Hogwart friends, it does give an educated theory on what will happen in Hallows.
Worth cost of the book.

As Harry Potter fans everywhere gear up for the release of the seventh and final novel in the septology, devoted fans and authors are throwing in their final two cents on what they think is going to happen in the coming book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". What secrets and mysteries are going to be explored and explained? Which characters are going to survive the final battle?...and which aren't? What set-ups that have spanned several books are finally going to pay off? How does it all end?

Most H.P. fans know that half the fun is in exploring these possibilities and theories while eagerly awaiting the arrival of the one book that is going to give us all the answers. Louis CasaBianca, author of "Defogging the Future: Unauthorized Speculation about the Seventh and Final Book of the Harry Potter Series" is the most comprehensive, insightful, and down-right entertaining foray into answering the unknown, and theorizing just what the heck J.K. Rowling is up to!

Within this book, the author fearlessly explores the remaining mysteries, and attempts to weigh in with their well-educated and well-researched guesses at whats going to happen. Half of the book is dedicated to the enigmatic and confounding issues surrounding Severus Snape (Is Snape good or evil? What are his true motivations for his actions? Why does Snape think, act, speak, and behave the way he does?), while the remaining half of the book is dedicated to the myriad of other remaining mysteries.

At the beginning of the book the author clearly makes 33 fearless predictions for Book 7, and then proceeds to support these predictions (some of which will have you going "What!? Why on earth would he think that!?), while others are obvious and easy predictions to make. Just to wet your appetite, here a few predictions included in the author's original thirty:
**Voldemort gave Lily Potter several chances to live as a reward to Peter Pettigrew for betraying the Potters. Pettigrew betrayed the Potters because he wanted Lily for himself, under the Imperius curse or dosed with a love potion. (Those of us who have already read Book 7 know that this prediction is wrong, but it is still fun to read the author's support for this idea).
**Sometime during Book Seven we will return to the Ministry of Magic, to the Death Room and/or the "Locked Room". The Locked Room is almost surely the "Love Room," and is the most probable site for the final battle between Harry and Voldemort.
**Fleur Delacour will kill Fenrir Greyback, while transformed into one of the Veela-birds described in "Goblet of Fire". (This is one of the predictions that was admittedly a little off the wall, but it's fun none-the-less).
**We will spend much more time reviewing the memories of Severus Snape -- and the author was very correct with this one!

After exploring his 33 predictions, and the evidence he has discovered to back up these predictions, the author also discusses 20 burning questions that remain, along with examining 12 different set-ups that have yet to pay off. Bottom line, this is a must-have for H.P. fans, and no one will be disappointed with this intriguing and delightfully humorous book!

This book is everything everyone says it is when it comes to a warm, feel-good read. More than half the book is dedicated to the situation of the school in rural North Carolina and the experiences of a teacher who went there from California to get a different experience. The main characters in the book are a couple of teachers and community leaders, and not necessarily the kids who built the car. The real story of the electric car doesn't get started until about halfway through the book. While I would have been interested in a few more details about the project, the book is still a good read. It skips large sections of the actual project. You seem to go from the initial planning stages to the competition without knowing if the kids painted the car, but that's a minor drawback. By the time the competition starts, it seems like there are only a few pages left, but that's probably the most powerful part of the book. The "disadvantaged" kids manage to win the competition in an emotional and unexpected surprise performance by their car. It appears as though the victory was partially due to painstaking planning and the good luck of having chosen better drivers who knew how to get the most out of the car. Finally, I would have liked a little more closure. There is a section at the end that quickly wraps up what happened later, and while it gives the basic details, it leaves you wanting to know just a little more. Still, in spite of all the drawbacks, this is a very good book, and if you are interested in electric vehicles, it's a different take on the topic.

This was a wonderful book. She portrayed Miller & Ryan perfectly. I had the wonderful opportunity of being a member of the NEAT the year after the events in her book took place. She captured every detail perfectly and I was able to relive a wonderful part of my life. Once you pick up this book you will not be able to put it down until you have read the last page!!

As a member of the EV team at Northamton-East, Caroline Kettlewell made me feel the whole adventure all over again. It was like she took what I saw and felt and put words to it. I am so glad someone told this story, that other people get to read our stugale to the top. If you like to cheer for the underdog you need to read this book. Bryan T Ferguson "the man who drove to the record"

I was sent the book by family - maybe because of the NASCAR connection. I started it on a plane trip to the east coast and finished it, with tears in my eyes, on the way home 2 days later. You start pulling for the kids in the story from the start and share all the ups and downs as they meet each challenge that faces them. What we need is more teachers like Eric Ryan! I highly recommend the book for anyone who likes pulling for the underdog.

How can a story about electric cars bring tears to your eyes, even when you're reading it for the sixth time? Not only is the story riveting, but the writing is a pleasure. As in the works of Tracy Kidder and John McPhee, some authors and stories are made for each other. But neither of those Pulitzer Prize winners ever made me cry. This is a book to be read multiple times - for the inspiration, for the use of words, for the drama, for the joy.

I cannot say enough great things about this book. It is great for motivation in personal as well as professional life. I plan to read it again and again!!! I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE.

Although this book was written in the middle 1990s, the information is just as accurate today as it was then. Network marketing is on the move. In fact, since the stock market bubble burst, more people are coming back into network marketing than ever before.

This book make a great tool to build your belief in this industry. Great prospecting tool as well. If your prospects read this book and still have no interest, then they are not prospects.

I also recommend Who Stole The American Dream and Wave 4.

This is a great book to help build your belief in the network marketing industry. If that is the reason that you are buying it, this book does a great job. However, if you are buying this as a training manual, try somewhere else...

I received this book in the mail today and within 2 hours I learned more about network marketing than I have in the last three years. This book was wonderfully informative. I got some great ideas that I can't wait to put to work for my business.

Anyone considering a career in network marketing, should read this book first, it really put the industry in a clear perspective.

Michael has done what many people have spent enormous amounts of time and money trying to deliver a statement about what Network Marketing can do for you in your life. This easy and fun to read book portrays what life can be like if one is willing to take advantage of that little positive slight edge philosophy that is available to all of us.

It is a must have for anyone who is wondering about a career in Network Marketing or some one who is already experiencing the benefits and joys of the industry.

Once you start reading it you will not want to put it down and you will be wanting to go back and read it more than once.

Thanks Michael, you have made a difference in my career and life.

All though more "wordy" than I thought necesary, I found this book execellent! There was more information than I'd expected and found that I became grateful to the author for writing it. I have and will continue to recommend it. Also, because of this book I have and will look into material that the author recommended.

This was one of the best books I have read in a long time. John Lash is a treasure trove of information. He is an absolute expert in his field of religion, myth, and philosophy. After reading this book, I will never think of monotheistic religions as being benign and spiritual. This book is a real eye opener about life as it should be lived and how it once was before the good was wiped out of it by militant dogmatic beliefs. The concept of the Archons as an alien intrusion into our minds is also facinating. If true, it certainly explains how everything goes to extremes of evil before it is corrected. The missing link in warding off the Archons are the secret incantations that were lost because of the destructive behavior of the monontheists. I recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject.

Lash opens up this ambitious & fascinating work with the story of Hypatia, or rather the murder of Hypatia by a crazed Christian mob in the early 5th century C.E. It is a shocking story and a powerful opening salvo in this all out attack on the Judeo Christian salvationist program. More than this, it makes a strong case that gnosticism, usually associated with early Christianity, is an ancient mystic and esoteric, Goddess based traditional worldview. The gnostic material is even referred to as "gospels" by Elaine Pagels, the best known writer on the gnostic writings linked to the discoveries of ancient texts near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1947. Lash makes a case that the Nag Hammadi writings represent a mixed bag of narrative myths, poetry, philosophy and that they were hidden to protect them from marauding Christians. This is certainly a novel view of early Christians, persecuting the pagan mystery sites and the academic institutions that had grown up with them.

Lash essentially links the gnostic and Earth based religions to newer ideas about deep or sacred ecology. He sees a powerful link between these ancient, long hidden writings, and our current attempts to better understand our planet and its (her?) relationship to all life forms, including humans.

Lash also delves into the Dead Sea Scrolls, and links the Essene Community to Paul, Jesus, James and the early Christian community. This is a new and no doubt controversial portrayal of the Essene community, but it builds logically on the DSS. This is fascinating stuff, but difficult for a non expert to evaluate.

These are beautiful and powerful ideas, and Lash has written a book to provoke, inform and inspire.

This book, along with all the research the author has done, I feel, proves what I have know for years- that the Abrahamic religions had many lies, falsehoods that became imposed on the societies of the world. The truth exposed here could turn the christian religion on its ear.
It's up to each one of us to deprogram the deeply ingrained programming imposed upon us by patriarchy. It's an inside individual job that has to happen in order to change "out there".
I highly recommend this book.
K.W.

Not In His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief, by John Lamb Lash, 2006


There comes a time when change needs to occur. Things need to evolve and grow; people need to learn, rather than to live in a perpetual state of morbid religious beliefs and ideas.

Part of that learning needs to come from history and from the facts of religion - and questioning indoctrinated religious beliefs. We need to investigate not just the bites of history and religion spoon fed to us by political and religious authorities, but from our own careful investigation into these matters.

The 4th century murder of Hypatia, one of the teachers at the great schools of Alexandria, marked the beginning of the dark age of Christianity, a dark age that continues to the present day, though most do not see or recognize this fact.

Jews and Christians murdering in the name of their god is a common theme in Judeo-Christianity's sordid past.

But what and who were they murdering? The so-called pagans and Gnostics were some of the most educated and advanced cultures/peoples on earth that were annihilated by these religious fanatics in the name of their god.

And what kind of psychotic god requires his people to kill his other creations in his name?

Most religious historians tell us that the Gnostic religion developed out of Christianity, not the other way around. But this actually requires us to believe that Christianity, unlike other religions, sprang suddenly from nowhere (as we're told to believe). That the event/advent of Jesus, God's so-called divine son, is what sparked the new, "true" religion. But is that really the truth?

The historical record outside the Bible certainly does not support what we're told to believe by the Church. If, instead, we look at Gnosticism as being far older than most believe, which many scholars have proposed, we suddenly gain a new and clear view of the origins of Christianity.

And what of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Is it true that they had an impact on the evolution of Christianity as John Marco Allegro suggested in The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth, and argued as one of the original DSS translators?

At the council of Nicaea Emperor Constantine pulled from these and many other religious doctrines to create the Universal creed, the Catholic Church, Christianity.

When we stop putting the cart before the horse, stop putting Christianity in the naïve realm of "sudden godly manifestation," and start realizing the themes and correlations between these ancient, suppressed texts and cultures, and the formation of Christianity, the picture becomes clear.

And it's not a pretty picture. What is revealed is a horrific history of Christians and Church fathers in a systematic effort to destroy all record of Gnosticism and the true facts regarding so-called "pagan" peoples surrounding the Mediterranean region for more than a thousand years. These mass genocides, as they should be called, wiped out untold ancient knowledge and cultures and hid these great truths. The library at Alexandria being only one of many that fanatic Christians destroyed, causing the loss of a thousand years of continued and recorded intellectual tradition in the development of science, religion and mankind, marking these acts as some of the greatest intellectual crimes in all history. The annihilation of the Celtics, Gnostics, and other "pagan" or village folk in the systematic wars of Rome, not to mention the Crusades and inquisitions, the witch hunts, and the sheer ferocity of the "kill them all and let god sort them out" mentality, destroyed the ancient history of these peoples and their records. But did it destroy it completely?

Fortunately the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Library managed to escape the path of Judeo-Christian religious fervor, and we have on record much of what these people truly believed. And it wasn't in a jealous, patristic god as we're told; and the Gnostics and pagans weren't baby killers and eaters - as we now know that this was intentional disinformation spread by the Church to hide the history of their own pagan origins.

So what did these ancient people believe? They believed in a mother goddess, Sophia, and their ties to the Earth. They believed in the use of entheogens or psychedelic drugs, such as the shamans of today. They believed in Archons, an alien like creation that guides those who will be unquestioning and blind in their following of belief. They believed that the Judeo-Christian god, Yahweh, was in fact the angry, jealous god, an Archon, who fooled the masses into believing that he was the creator god, when he (or they), were more demon than God, more devil than Lord, a deception of historic proportions.

Does this sound like a development from Judeo-Christianity? With a careful reading of the ancient texts we find that in fact Christianity heavily plagiarized many of these ancient Gnostic and pagan texts into Christian canon, not the other way around. We know because when we understand all of these documents as a whole, that one is the original, and the other plagiarized. When you have a piece of manuscript from a missing book, it's quite easy to recognize where the passage fits once you find the rest of that book, and it is clear that the Bible came from that source, not the other way around.

Freeing the mind from 2000 years of global patristic, nihilistic, suicidal tendencies will require us as a species to come to terms with this fact, that the father god figure can never be truth, because he's always insecure, jealous, narcissistic, vein, angry and violent - schizophrenic. But there is another way -- the planet-friendly vision of Sophia, the wisdom goddess embodied in Gaia, the living earth.

This book is intellectual and deep. It is well written and well researched. I could go on all day quoting golden nuggets from its pages that Lash has pulled from the archives of history, but instead I'll suggest that you read the whole book.

Excellent! 5 stars.

This book tells of God's plan for man and how it works out in the past, present and future. Here is His offer and how He is working it out. Take it and become part of His family or leave it and suffer the consequences of a life that is not up to God's standards. He is the creator and made the offer. It is not a mutually negotiated deal. What is in here is from the Bible and we need to know it and respond appropriately. The Bible says over and over the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, anything less is just plain ignorance by choice. Now it is happening. God's plan works it way through life like a log splitter, no, nothing can stop its ultimate fullfillment.

My wife bought this book for me. I'll admit I had never heard of this author before she bought this book. It is definitely well worth reading; Chuck Missler is thoroughly knowledgeable in Bible prophecy and current events. He also encourages the reader to look at his website as well. Some of the material presented in the book might be over some peoples' heads but all in all, this is one book I highly recommend.

This is an excellent read for both, a novice regarding Bible prophecy, or someone more knowledgeable. It is not as detailed as Chuck's Bible studies from [...], but there are many scripture references to keep you very busy. Overall, I thought it was one of the best books to learn about Bible prophecy outside of the Bible itself. Also, I think this would make an excellent book for any non-believer with strong curiosity.

Chuck demonstrates the uniqueness of the Jewish and Christian scriptures as God's fingerprint to the authenticity of His Word through the Bible, as well as who the God of the Bible claims to be. He references many fulfilled prophecies given to humanity as verifiable evidence today of 100% accurate predictions of future events told by Jewish prophets hundreds and even, thousands of years in advance, gives us absolute hope and confidence that other unfulfilled prophecies will be coming true in the near future.

Be watchful so His coming does not surprise you as a thief in the night (1 Thes 5:1-11, Luke 12:38-40, Luke 21:36, Rev 16:15); these are truly the last of days (Matt 24, Luke 21, Mark 13, 2 Thes 1:8-10, Zechariah 12 & 14, Ezek 36 - 39, Dan 9 & 12, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Psalm, and Rev).

I am by no means a prophecy expert. I have read a few books on the subject though, and this is by far my favorite. I really like the way Dr Missler insists you don't take his word for it and do your own research; which I did many times. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject matter. I do wish the footnotes were at the bottom of the pages instead of the back to make referencing much easier. Because the footnotes are in the back, I wish the chapter numbers were at the top of each page. Other than that, if you are even remotely interested in biblical prophecy, you really need to check out this book.

Dr. Missler's years of experience in our country's military and business worlds, have given this book the background to tie together what is happening in the world today with the prophesies foretold in Daniel, Isaiah, Amos, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and all over the New Testament by Christ. He details the differences between the first fall of Jerusalem, the coming war of Armageddon, and the final battle. Phenomenally appended by a wealth of information from the sciences, as well as historical manuscripts and present day governmental studies. It helps one to see the entire picture of us and the world's future, instead of just the little corner we are presently residing in.

It is a real-hand-on book! Although the book looks very "huge", the analysis helps me to prepare MBA class.

Mun's book is an excellent guide for those who have basic knowledge about asset valuation and want to study real options.

Mun's book shows how real options problems, like those faced in the real world, can be solved. Other books may provide a better introduction to real options concepts, but the methods employed are suitable only for very simple problems. Where other approaches require that you develop your own lattices (or other solutions), Mun shows you how to use his Supper Lattice Solver and Monte Carlo simulation software to solve these problems. I am convinced that his approach will not only facilitate the solution of these problems, but will also be more readily accepted by management. I look forward to acquiring Mun's software and applying it in practice.

This was my first book on Real Options. After this, I complemented my knowledge with more accurate researches on the theoritic foundations on the subject (eg. Trigeorgis and Copeland).
What I liked of this text is that it was a soft landing into the Real Option world, with a simple and easily understandable description. Its major pro is to present transparently the basics of a concept that is often approached at a too high and formal level.
What I did not like is the fact that few chapters at the end were not really useful but full of stuff and formulas with no explanations that cannot practically be used. I had the sensation they were out of place, since I could grasp their meaning only after passing to more comprehensive books.
One more criticism is that you don't understand the effect of the difference between private and public risk in real options evaluation as you do with other texts. However, I still consider this the book where I formed my basics before being able to master some other more detailed book (but also more difficult to master). The Crystall-Ball package was also a nice surprise. At the end, if you consider the price and the content it was surely good value for money even though it's not a masterpiece.

As practitioners and academics continue to grapple with quantifiable uncertainties in real asset decision making, the debate about real option models will no doubt continue.

Johnathan Mun's second book and more specifically his case study approach allows practitioners from diverse industries to enter the debate with simple excel asset pricing skills. To my mind there is no better pragmatic work on the topic than the second edition of Real Options Analysis. With the book in one hand and the robust SLS software up on the screen - framing, pricing and understanding real options is pretty straightforward.

Two points to note: After 30 days, just as you begin to get hooked on the superb software it is likely to gently expire. That's when you are saved by the second point; the author is hugely supportive - His `one line insights' in response to specific queries made this a great purchase.

Edinburgh. Scotland.

I enjoyed reading Margaret Wheatley's book, "Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future". This book is easy to read, applicable and possibly life-changing.

Read this book with a group of your friends, or neighbors, or with a group of the willing. The opening premise simply states: "I believe we can change the world, if we start listening to one another again. Simple, truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard and we each listen well." The book encourages us to actually listen to each other, to different perspectives, to our own perspective, with the aim that we are better off when we have genuine connections with others. One of the best parts of the book is "A Prayer for Children" by Ina. J. Hughes; the poem is poignant, humorous and intriguing.

So simple, and yet such a fresh way of looking at life, leadership, community and conversation. I learned a ton from this book, very helpful in specific situations I am involved in. It teaches me how to become an ever better listener.

Margaret has created such a powerful book on conversation, learning, and change. I can not imagine a more powerful book telling stories that can transform how we work, play, and learn together. This is a life changing read and one that I highly recommend. And even more importantly, in such a turbulent time, keeping in conversation with others may be the only thing that helps us hold this world together. Therefore, do not only read the book, but put into action conversations that can change the world.

Margaret Wheatley's Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future is one of the most important books I've read.

It is based on the incredibly simple premise that growth, real growth begins with two people having a conversation.

Part 1 discusses a range of subjects: Wheatley's views on conversation and listening, including the importance of staying with conversations that sometimes get "messy" to reveal deeper truths and commonalities; her belief in the importance of being surprised and even shocked by the person(s) with whom she converses, versus seeking people who agree with her, affirm her thoughts, or where the conversation follows either a predictable course, or safe outcomes; the belief that differences between people can lead to deeper commonalities and greater closeness.

Quite frankly, there are simply too many gems of wisdom and insight in this book to do more than recall a handful that particularly struck me.

Part 2 is very short, restating some fundamental principles or concepts explained in greater detail in Part 1.

Part 3 is a list and explanation of 10 possible conversation openers.

This is not per se a "how to" book, as if there is "one way" either to converse, listen or relate to another person. Quite the opposite. She talks, for example, of the reality that various people can have a seemingly unlimited number of interpretations and reactions to a given event to stress (implied) that what matters is the process, the act of conversing and relating.

Wheatley's book is about possibilities, the possibilities that everyone possesses in terms of relating to one another, personal growth, healing oneself and restoring hope in the future, compared to the fragmentation, isolation, pressures of day-to-day life, the impersonality of technology, etc.

It is an exciting book to read, a book that virtually anyone can benefit from no matter where they are in their lives. It is, fundamentally, a gift that those of us fortunate to read this book should be grateful Margaret Wheatley wanted to share.

I was attracted to this book by the promise implicit in its title and marketing pitch - 365 Days to a Brighter Financial Future. I did not come away disappointed. Despite its quirky format (unrealistically in this age of instant results, the author recommends that you read a short entry each day for 365 days), the book contains many valuable insights and a wealth of practical information. Each day's entry begins with a pithy aphorism, some of which contain important truths. I liked in particular her: "Attitude is the most important ingredient in changing your financial life. No amount of information, professional advice, or group support can overcome a cynical attitude about prosperity. The possibility of wealth begins in your head". At times her emphasis on religion and on saving to the point of self-denial (her exemplars die modestly and pass on their accumulated wealth to charities) is distracting, but she redeems herself with an unforgettable quotation from the Book of Ecclesiastes: "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry, but money answereth all things" (Ecclesiastes 10:19). All in all, a very useful read. After my customary online checking of the author's bio, a pleasant bonus for me was the discovery that she is an African-American Harvard graduate with 20 years of Wall Street behind her.

Wonderful book for those who want to learn how to learn how to gain control of your money and invest.

This book truly changed my life. Ms. Stephen's down to earth, friend-to-friend approach spoke to me like no other financial advice book ever had. As everyone here has said, the daily devotional style makes it easy to digest and the quotes are truly inspirational. My thanks to Ms. Stephen's for this fabulous book.

I recommend this book to anyone who needs to gain control of their finances and set up their future.
Easy to follow....straightforward....tons of great advice!

I feel that my review should be first! This book is great. Not only is it a daily financial devotional, but it is also a down-to-earth NIV financial bible. I bought this book on a clearance rack in Crown and never read it until last week(note, I bought the book a year ago!). However, buy it, read it, use it, and read it again......