Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle) [Hardcover] by Christopher Paolini

Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle) [Hardcover] by Christopher Paolini – I’m about 400 pages into Inheritance (half way through) and the main thing I’ve noticed about the book is that it has the same problem as Brisingr: it lacks momentum, purpose, and a sense of importance. Eragon and Eldest both had a good sense of progress being made and movement; Inheritance spends too much time on insignificant side plots involving minor characters. It has gotten better after the first 150 pages however (these could have fit into 20 minutes of film). Still, there is no need for this book to be over 800 pages long. It’s obvious that Paolini refused to cut out anything he’d written, even when it didn’t really need to be there. All that said, I’m thoroughly enjoying the book and finding it very hard to put down (I read 150 pages in one sitting). And if you’ve read the other books, you obviously need to pick it up. — By H. Coombs (Peru)

Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle) [Hardcover] by Christopher Paolini - The much-anticipated, thrilling conclusion of the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle. About the Author – Christopher Paolini is the author of three other bestselling novels about Alagaësia: Inheritance is the fourth and final volume in the cycle. Christopher lives in Montana, where the natural landscape has been a major inspiration in the creation of his stories. You can find out more about Christopher and the Inheritance cycle at alagaesia.com.

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Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson – Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering. Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted. Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson – About the Author: Walter Isaacson, the CEO of the Aspen Institute, has been chairman of CNN and the managing editor of Time magazine. He is the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and of Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and daughter.

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The Old Rules of Marketing are Dead: 6 New Rules to Reinvent Your Brand and Reignite Your Business (PAPERBACK) [Paperback]

The Old Rules of Marketing are Dead: 6 New Rules to Reinvent Your Brand and Reignite Your Business (PAPERBACK) [Paperback] – Reinvent your marketing to keep up with an ever-changing marketplace

“A must-read for any business leader or marketer. It explains how brands must be true to their essence and be reinvented to remain relevant in this radically changed, information-rich, and Internet-oriented world.”
—Robert Hanson, President, Global Levi’s® Brand, Levis Strauss & Co.

“Pearson makes the clearest statement yet about the new world of marketing, as he makes the difficult and complex concepts of brands and reinvention understandable to everyone.”
—Bob Jeffrey, CEO, JWT

“When it comes to global brands, Pearson has no peers. His understanding of how companies and enterprises that breakaway from their competitors and reinvent their businesses will inherit the next era of global commerce is revolutionary.”
—Michel Recalt, Director of Marketing and Brand Strategy, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton

The Old Rules of Marketing are Dead: 6 New Rules to Reinvent Your Brand and Reignite Your Business (PAPERBACK) [Paperback] – About the Book: Revolutionary new technologies developed over the past decade have completely changed the way humans communicate and transact business. Not exactly late-breaking news for most people of the world . . . except for those who are supposed to be marketing to them. While consumers, customers, and marketplaces have adapted to these new realities, most marketers have not. Renowned marketing expert Tim Pearson explains why you need to sever your ties to the comfortable old ways of marketing—and bring your company’s marketing into the twenty-first century. Too many marketers still operate as if strategy necessarily depends upon predetermined budgets; advertising is the catch-all to every problem; and marketing results can’t be measured. It all adds up to the age-old belief that marketing is an art, not a science—which couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Old Rules of Marketing Are Dead is a road map for breaking out of old, established—and increasingly ineffective—routines and reinventing your organization’s marketing by:

• Positioning marketing as a business partner—not as a tool for meeting a strategic objective
• Holding marketing accountable for results with the application of hard data— not vague qualitative measurements
• Providing leadership within your organization—not following the direction of everyone else

From research frameworks and concept development to planning, budgeting, media placement, and program implementation, marketers have not kept up—to the detriment of themselves and their companies. Completely revamping old-school marketing is the only way to drive profitable sales, create growing brands, and increase market share in today’s post–Great Recession business landscape. Pearson calls for nothing short of a marketing revolution. You must throw out almost everything you hold dear and embrace technology, a new role in business, and real accountability. The Old Rules of Marketing Are Dead has what you need to reinvent your products, your services—and your future.

About the Author: Timothy R. Pearson was president and CEO of Zyman Group, a leading international management consulting firm serving the Global 1,000. He has also served as Vice Chair, Global Managing Partner, Marketing and Communications (and first Chief Marketing Officer) for KPMG, the global Big 4 accounting, tax, and consulting firm; and has been president of several advertising agencies. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway, and on the Harvard Business School’s Dean’s Research Society. Pearson has received numerous honors in the marketing arena, including but not limited to Advertising Age’s Best, The Wall Street Journal’s Best, and multiple Belding, Cable, Clio, Echo, Golden Phone, Lulu, Proto, PRSA, and Sunny awards.

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Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach

Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach – “* ‘Total genius.’ – Jonathan Lethem, father of two, author of MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN * ‘A children’s book for grown-ups! I really did laugh out loud-hilarious!’ – David Byrne, father of one, musician, artist * ‘This is the most honest children’s book ever written. And it’s f*cking hilarious.’ – A.J. Jacobs, father of three, author of THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY * ‘I wish this book had been around during my daughter’s overly protracted sleep rituals! Finally, someone tells it like it really is. This is no-guilt funny and a godsend!’ – Cristina Garcia, mother of one, author of THE LADY MATADOR’S HOTEL * ‘Go the Fuck to Sleep is the secret anthem of tired parents everywhere. Adam Mansbach’s homage to the tropes of bedtime stories is pitch perfect, and Ricardo Cortes’s stunning illustrations will keep grown-ups and kids alike returning to these pages again and again!’ – Bliss Boyard, author of ONE DROP: MY FATHER’S HIDDEN LIFE” — This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach

“Total genius.”
–Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn, father of two

“A children’s book for grown-ups! I really did laugh out loud–hilarious!”
–David Byrne, musician, father of one

“I wish this book had been around during my daughter’s overly protracted sleep rituals! Finally, someone tells it like it really is. This is no-guilt funny and a godsend!”
–Cristina Garcia, author of The Lady Matador’s Hotel, mother of one

“This is the most honest children’s book ever written. And it’s f*cking hilarious.”
–A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically, father of three

“Go the Fuck to Sleep is the secret anthem of tired parents everywhere. Adam Mansbach’s homage to the tropes of bedtime stories is pitch perfect, and Ricardo Cortes’s stunning illustrations will keep grown-ups and kids alike returning to these pages again and again!”
–Bliss Broyard, author of One Drop: My Father’s Hidden Life

Go the Fuck to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don’t always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach’s verses perfectly capture the familiar–and unspoken–tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.

With illustrations by Ricardo Cortes, Go the Fuck to Sleep is beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny–a book for parents new, old, and expectant. You probably should not read it to your children.

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The Entrepreneur Equation: Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business

The Entrepreneur Equation: Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business (Hardcover) - “One thing readers can be certain of is that Carol Roth will tell it like it is. Her no-nonsense, direct, humorous, and engaging style is part of what makes The Entrepreneur Equation one of the more enjoyable business books to read. But the author also has a serious purpose: to ensure that anyone thinking about starting a business is prepared for it. The author’s aim is to lay out the realities of starting, buying, or owning a business and help the reader make a comprehensive assessment of the risks and rewards associated with that effort. She does a thorough job of exploring every aspect of the process and ultimately guides the reader through building a personal ‘Entrepreneur Equation.’ The Entrepreneur Equation is a definitive guide that will help any would-be entrepreneur objectively assess whether or not to venture into business ownership. Carol Roth’s advice and wisdom will likely make that decision a lot easier.— By Barry Silverstein, ForeWord Reviews

The Entrepreneur Equation: Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business (Hardcover) - There’s never been a better time to start a business—or so the conventional wisdom would have you believe. But with up to 90 percent of businesses failing within the first five years, it’s time to take off the rose-colored glasses and think twice before you invest your precious time, money and energy. The Entrepreneur Equation helps you do the math before you set down the entrepreneurial path so that you can answer more than just “Could I be an entrepreneur?” but rather “Should I be an entrepreneur?” By understanding. what it takes to build a valuable business as well as how to assess the risks and rewards of business ownership based on your personal circumstances, you can learn how to stack the odds of success in your favor and ultimately decide if business ownership is the best possible path for you, now or ever. Through illustrative examples and personalized exercises, tell-it-like-it-is Carol Roth helps you create and evaluate your own personal Entrepreneur Equation as you:

• Learn what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur in today’s
  competitive environment
• Save money, time and effort by avoiding business ownership when the
  time isn’t right for you
• Identify and evaluate the risks and rewards of a new business based
  on your goals and circumstances
• Evaluate whether your dreams are best served by a hobby, job or
  business
• Gain the tools that you need to maximize your business success

The Entrepreneur Equation is essential reading for the aspiring entrepreneur. Before you invest your life savings, invest in this book!

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Moonwalking with Einstein

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (Hardcover) – Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2011: Moonwalking with Einstein follows Joshua Foer’s compelling journey as a participant in the U.S. Memory Championship. As a science journalist covering the competition, Foer became captivated by the secrets of the competitors, like how the current world memory champion, Ben Pridmore, could memorize the exact order of 1,528 digits in an hour. He met with individuals whose memories are truly unique—from one man whose memory only extends back to his most recent thought, to another who can memorize complex mathematical formulas without knowing any math. Brains remember visual imagery but have a harder time with other information, like lists, and so with the help of experts, Foer learned how to transform the kinds of memories he forgot into the kind his brain remembered naturally. The techniques he mastered made it easier to remember information, and Foer’s story demonstrates that the tricks of the masters are accessible to anyone. — By Miriam Landis

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (Hardcover) – From Booklist: If you sometimes can’t remember where you put your car keys or, like Foer, the car itself, don’t panic. You’re not alone, and you can do something about it. In this intriguing look at the nature of memory, Foer reassures us that we don’t need to acquire a better memory; we just need to use the one we have more effectively. Foer introduces us to people whose memories are both astonishing, like the man who could memorize 1,528 random digits in order, and frightening, such as a man with such an extreme case of amnesia that he doesn’t know his own age and can’t remember that he has a memory problem. He explores various ways in which we test our memories, such as the extensive training British cabbies must undergo. He also discusses ways we can train ourselves to have better memories, like the PAO system, in which, for example, every card in a deck is associated with an image of a specific person, action, or object. An engaging, informative, and for the forgetful, encouraging book. — By David Pitt

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Slow Cooker Revolution

Slow Cooker Revolution (Paperback) – The “new” name is “slow cooker” but most of us know the device as a “crockpot” because that’s the name it was first marketed under a couple of decades ago. If you’re like me, you got one because you thought, “Hey, I can put in the ingredients in the morning and have a tasty meal when I get home from work – cool”. Then you found out that only certain recipes seemed to work well in the crockpot, er, slow cooker. You bought crockpot cookbooks, and found while many of them were beautifully designed with multiple and elaborate fonts, blank spaces for notes, line drawings of cute little collections of vegetables, the recipes either contained about 20 different ingredients or else the recipe required so much pre-browning, pre-sautéing, post-blending, post-broiling of the ingredients that it would just be quicker to cook the darn recipe once you got home from work. I am really happy to say that “Slow Cooker Revolution” is the first sensible slow cooker cookbook in my collection of them. The book is very well designed. There is a page devoted to each recipe, and most recipes have a picture of the finished product. There is a list of ingredients, and from what I saw, everything there is available in my local supermarket. Each recipe starts off with a paragraph entitled, “Why It Works”, in which the authors explain the choices behind certain ingredients or methods and why they work better than others. The recipes are clear-cut and easy to follow. Each recipe also an additional segment – either a “quick prep tip” or a “smart shopping” hint or an “on the side” short recipe. They also recommend products in these segments that have been determined to be the best in their other test processes (if you’ve ever watched “America’s Test Kitchen” on PBS you’ll know the tests I’m talking about); I like that they name names of the products. As I read through the recipes, I found myself thinking, “that sounds really tasty” and more importantly, “I can do that”. The recipes include both standards and favorites, you know, the kind of food that you would actually cook at home (or order in a favorite restaurant) and that your family would actually eat. The recipes are not just reprints of older crockpot recipes; they have reworked some basics and created totally new versions of others. There is not a lot of elaborate pre-preparation in these recipes. Sensibly, they recommend using the microwave to pre-cook some of the vegetables to both make sure they’ll cook thoroughly in the recipe and to release more of the aromatics into the recipe. We’re talking like five minutes in the microwave, so that’s no big hardship. Some of the recipes do call for browning or sautéing certain meats or vegetables; I suppose there is no real way to avoid that since the name of the game is adding flavor to a process whose innate nature would tend to lose the flavor of some ingredients due to the long cooking time. There are a number of recipes highlighted as “Easy Prep” – they are the ones that are basically “throw everything into the slow cooker and turn it on”. What I also like about this cookbook are the extras, the pages that highlight things you should know about the ingredients you’re using, e.g. “All About Broths”, “Pasta 101″, “All About Beef”, “All About Using The Microwave And The Slow Cooker”, etc. Very useful. This cookbook is definitely going to be a keeper for me, and I might be buying some other copies for the other cooks in my family. This is a good and useful gifting item. — By mayfayre “mayfayre” (New Jersey USA)

Slow Cooker Revolution (Paperback) – Who doesn’t like the idea of throwing ingredients into a slow cooker and coming back hours later to a finished meal? Too bad most slow cooker recipes deliver mediocre results you’d rather forget than fix again. A team of ten test cooks at America’s Test Kitchen spent a year developing recipes, and what they discovered will change the way you use your slow cooker.  Did you know that onions garlic, and spices should be bloomed in the microwave for five minutes before they go into the slow cooker? This simple step intensifies their flavor and requires no extra work. Did you know that a little soy sauce mixed with tomato paste adds meaty flavors to almost any stew and can often replace the tedious step of browning the meat? And do you know the secret to a moist slow-cooker chicken? Start the bird upside down to protect the delicate white meat from drying out.  The 200 recipes in this family-friendly collection deliver a revolution in slow cooking like only America’s Test Kitchen can!

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As One by Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley

As One by Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley (Hardcover) - Our world is as much about cooperation as it is about conflict; as much about collaboration as competition. Yet our knowledge of collective behavior is still relatively slim. Leaders who have been trained in the command-and-control mode of management are realizing that it often fails to truly engage people; in response, management thinkers have proclaimed the advent of a new, participatory model. But why should there be only two modes of collective behavior? For the past two years Deloitte has invested in a major global initiative, the As One project, to study effective collaborations. The project has discovered that there are many modes of ‘As One behavior’ and that all are effective in certain contexts. “As One” defines eight archetypes of leaders and followers. Taking more than 60 cases of successful collective behavior, the authors define the characteristics for each model and show how you can apply them to your organization. “As One” will show you a new way to lead, and to get your team working to reach all your goals. Imagine what we could accomplish if we could unlock the power of “As One” on a global scale. –This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

As One by Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley (Hardcover) – About the Author: Mehrdad Baghai is Managing Director of Alchemy Growth Partners. He has been a strategic adviser to leaders of large organizations for more than 20 years. He is also Chairman of Emue Technologies, the worldwide leader in authentication and personal identity protection. He is the author of the international business bestseller The Alchemy of Growth, and its sequel The Granularity of Growth. James H. Quigley is CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, the world’s leading consulting and professional services organization. DTTL and its network of member firms comprise more than 170,000 employees in 147 countries. He has been with the organization for over 30 years. He is the US co-chair of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue; a board member of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Economic Club of New York and the Japan Society; and a member of the US Council on Competitiveness, the Shanghai Municipal Government Council, the Yale CELI Board of Advisors and the Business Roundtable. –This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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The Investment Answer

The Investment Answer (Hardcover) – Review

• “Demystifies the investment process . . . a book every American should read.” — By The Honorable Bill Bradley, former United States senator
• “Wow! If I could give only one book on investing to my friends, this would be it.” — By Bob Waterman, bestselling coauthor of In Search of Excellence

The Investment Answer (Hardcover)

What if there were a way to cut through all the financial mumbo-jumbo? Wouldn’t it be great if someone could really explain to us—in plain and simple English—the basics we must know about investing in order to insure our financial freedom? At last, here’s good news. Jargon-free and written for all investors—experienced, beginner, and everyone in between—THE INVESTMENT ANSWER distills the process into just five decisions—five straightforward choices that can lead to safe and sound ways to manage your money. When Wall Street veteran Gordon Murray told his good friend and financial advisor, Dan Goldie, that he had only six months to live, Dan responded, “Do you want to write that book you’ve always wanted to do?” The result is this eminently valuable primer which can be read and understood in one sitting, and has advice that benefits you, not Wall Street and the rest of the traditional financial services industry.

THE INVESTMENT ANSWER asks readers to make five basic but key decisions to stack the investment odds in their favor. The advice is simple, easy-to-follow, and effective, and can lead to a more profitable portfolio for every investor. Specifically:

• Should I invest on my own or seek help from an investment professional?
• How should I allocate my investments among stocks, bonds, and cash?
• Which specific asset classes within these broad categories should I include in my portfolio?
• Should I take an actively managed approach to investing, or follow a passive alternative?
• When should I sell assets and when should I buy more?

In a world of fast-talking traders who believe that they can game the system and a market characterized by instability, this extraordinary and timely book offers guidance every investor should have.

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