This is more of a review book than anything else. My chemistry class had covered all the information in the book except for ionic equations, and the book did not do a good job of explaining them. The book; however, does make an excellent review source, and therefore should be bought by those who are taking it. Annoying part of the practice tests are that there is no scale, so you cannot get a SAT like score, just number correct, therefore there is no way to tell how well you'll do. My recommendation is that you get the College Board's SAT II book, which has practice SAT II's for all the subject tests to see how the real test is like.

This book certainly prepares any student for the Chem SAT. It is an even greater help for Chemistry final exams. Although much of the content in the book is not necessary for the SAT II, it gives the student a better overall understanding of Chemistry principles. Also, I found many of the facts in the reviews to be repeated in the actual test, word for word, in question format.

Do not buy this book if you wish to "learn Chemistry" from it. Barron's implies many things and expects the student/reader to understand common Chemistry basics. If you are taking a fairly challenging Chemistry course, have strong mathematical abilities, and are using it as a "strong review," then this book is for you. Otherwise, I suggest Kaplan or Princeton Review.

P.S. Keep in mind that the scores you get on the Barron's practice/diagnostics tests will probably be 100-200 points lower than your score on the actual exam. Don't fret if you got a 500. You might just end up with a 750 or even an 800 on test day!

An excellent Chem SATII prep guide--includes 5 practice tests with correct answers and their explanations, test breakdowns by subject matter, and chemistry content summaries by topic.

Cautions:
Be aware that there are some typos/incorrect answers to test questions. The book also emphasizes laboratory set-ups and some chemical reactions that aren't likely to be part of ANY high school chemistry curriculum for safety reasons (i.e., collection of H2S and HCl gases); nor are they part of most current Chem SAT II tests.

In hindsight, I am a bit shy to admit that I first learned of Joseph Mitchell through the made-for-TV version of this story. Trusting that the story would be better in print than on screen, like so many books, I was pleased to find that Mitchell's account of Joe Gould made for an excellent read. Mitchell is a superb writer in my view. I have read few authors who are able to write nonfiction in such an eloquent and moving fashion. Beyond his technical skills, Mitchell also tells the story of Joe Gould. Gould is an eccentric Bohemian living in the Village during the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Mitchell one day decides to explore Gould's life and profile him in The New Yorker. Gould's profile appears in two forms. The first is "Professor Sea Gull" which appeared in 1942, and the second is "Joe Gould's Secret" which was published in 1964. As we read through the two accounts, we see and feel Mitchell's attraction to the eccentric Gould, his frustrations, his discovery of--and about--Gould's "Oral History," and his patience and compassion as Gould's fellow man. In the end, I think we are left with a book that is much a profile of Gould as it is of Mitchell. I certainly would have enjoyed having a martini and watching these two interact one evening. Since that is not possible, I am pleased that we have Mitchell's account which is good enough to make me think about and want such opportunties. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have.

It is rare to find a book such as Joe Gould's Secret and even rarer still that through reading it, one would fall in love with such a irritating, grubby, vile little man as Gould. But love it was - certainly not at first sight but as I began to learn his history and then finally his secret, my heart just gave way.

Joe Gould was a well known "vagrant" in New York's Greenwhich Village during the early and mid 1900's. During his years as a bohemian in New York he met many people, some famous (such as ee cummings and Ezra Pound) and many more equally interesting yet unknown people. Through his many friends and detractors he drew the attention of a young reporter, Joseph Mitchell, who interviewed him for a piece in the New Yorker.

The book contains the two pieces that Joseph Mitchell wrote for the New Yorker about Joe Gould and his unpublished work, rumored to be ten times larger than the bible (over 10 million words), The Oral History. The more I read the more I craved to know more about Joe Gould and his life.

I highly recommend this book as it is a true snapshot into the life of someone who deserves to be known. Joseph Mitchell truly captured the feel of New York and inner workings of Joe Gould and his crazy life.

Apparently, 11 dime-store composition books that make up a nearly 150,000-word diary (part of his Oral History)are quietly tucked away within NYU's archives in NYC - I can't wait to get a look at them as well!

Live on Joe Gould!

Joseph Mitchell was a legendary, and legendarily eccentric, writer for The New Yorker. Disparate things fascinated him: the Fulton Fish Market, gypsies, bums in the Bowery, New York's architecture, the men who worked the Hudson River. Mitchell would immerse himself in the lives of the people who held his attention, and during the 1940s and 1950s he turned out a series of New Yorker stories that are unique in American literary nonfiction.

"Joe Gould's Secret," the book, is an anthology of two New Yorker pieces. The first, "Professor Seagull," ran in the magazine in 1942. The second, "Joe Gould's Secret" (the article) ran in two parts in 1964. The first was an affectionate profile of a Harvard-educated down-and-outer named, of course, Joe Gould, who was a well-known and much-tolerated bum in Greenwich Village. The second piece expanded on the first, again portraying Mr. Gould, but also detailing the strange story of Mr. Gould's "Oral History of Our Times."

Joe Mitchell turns his acute eye for detail (and his remarkable patience) on Joe Gould, and writes with grace and humor. Mr. Mitchell had an acute ear, as well, and let's Mr. Gould speak for himself for page after page. The pieces in this book are exquisitely crafted, and all the more poignant for Joe Mitchell's secret: Not long after publishing the last word on Joe Gould, Mr. Mitchell ceased publishing. He came to The New Yorker every day, and claimed to be working on a long piece year after year, but never ushered a word of it into print. To my knowledge, no one knows (or at least no one has said) what the piece was to be, and why Mr. Mitchell could not seem to finish it.

An extraordinary book by an extraordinary writer.

Although I agree with the criticisma made by other readers, I still loves "Shadows On The Hudson" and consider it a worthwhile and engrossing book.

Singer writes about a small group of exciles who survived the Holocaust be fleeing to New York City and creating a community in the shadows of the Hudson river. It was here that they contemplated their devastaing past and doubious future.

The characters are intelleigent and intense, anguished by their expulsion from their homeland and the collapse of their cultural and religious values.

This novel is long and repetitive. It originially appeared serialized in the Forward. In its unedited state, it seems that Singer felt the need to continuously remind the readers of the action from previous weeks. Character development is shallow, although Singer's ability to sketch character is masterful. Despite these problems, one must remember that this is SINGER writing, and even a lesser work by this genius is worth reading. Shadows is an important novel that details the hurtling inner lives of American Jews in the years just after the Holocaust. Singers prescient understanding of the wonders of Jewish resilience on one the hand, and the degradation of their souls on the other, is astonishing. It is as if Singer had a crystal ball to presage Jewish life today. For those students of this subject, this book is required reading. However, the general audience is likely to find the novel tiresome.

Shadows on the Hudson is one of the best novels I've ever read. The people are real--and thank god, they're deeply sexual and deeply intelligent. Some readers are irked by the one, some by the other characteristic; by me a novel flops if the people are too dumb, or too free from the driving burdens and blessings of relentless sexuality. This more or less simultaneous wrestling with sex, faith and its lack, and the problem of theodicy (why God permits evil) is Singer's forte. Only Tolstoy does it better, but there is more real flesh in Singer, while the religious issues are at least as alive as those of Tolstoy's stellar episode toward the end of Anna Karenina, in which Levin successfully struggles toward theism. Singer's characters know what Tolstoy's don't: that 6 million Jews and 20 million Russians are gone who should not be gone. This novel is art, and monumental art; not another pleasure cruise for the beach umbrella.

Quite a good book. I found that it covered the topics for the exam but I needed a second text to expand on some of the points such as the creation of the project plan.

I would recommend this book to be used in conjunction with another project management text.

I recommend this book to understand how to manage an IT project. Thorough & informative, I learned lots; however, it's not real good for passing the CompTIA IT Project+ exam. I will warn you that this exam is hard. You could memorize this book and not pass it, but unfortunately I don't know of any better book. My advice is to supplement using practice exams.

This book is extremely well written. I read it four times and I liked it all four times. The questions and exercise at the end of each chapter are very well designed. Personally, I have no time or money to take any 5 days training course. This book is exactly what I need. I have no problem recommending this book to anyone who wants to learn Project Management. And, the book helped me pass the exam.

Given how many Excel books there are out there, it can't be easy to
write a good one that fills a genuine gap in the market. Nevertheless,
Jelen & Rubin have managed to do just that. Aimed primarily at the
intermediate user, "MrExcel on Excel" is packed full of tips that will
get you using Excel much
more effectively. The book will not teach you everything there is to
know
about Excel; nor will it show you how, with some fancy API programming,
you can make Excel do the washing-up and walk the dog. What it will do
is show you techniques and tricks that will speed up tasks you already
think you know how to do, and introduce you to a few that will show you
how to do things you thought couldn't be done. If you've already used
Excel and want to use it better, then buy this book - in time saved
alone it should pay for itself in under a month

Overall assessment:

"This book is absolutley jam-packed with useful tips and tricks. You will easily recoup your outlay on the book in the time savings that you will make in your first few Excel sessions after reading it."

"I've used Excel for many years and used to think that I knew pretty much all that I needed to know. I was wrong! There are so many time-saving tips in here that you will find yourself referring to it time and again - keep it near your computer."

"And its not just about working faster, its about working smarter too. We've all been in this situation I suspect - you reach a certain point in your spreadsheet design and sit there thinking 'There must be a way to do this!'. Well there probably is and its probably in this book. Typical examples include, adding a watermark to your spreadsheets, moving a minus sign from the right of a figure to the left, using the a Euro symbol."

"Bluntly, if you use Excel you NEED this book."

I am a CPA controller of a company, and use excel every day all day long. I finally found a book that is easy to follow, but is also for advance users.

Joseph Olshan continues to offer credence to the fact that his is a fine craftsman of the English language. His ability to delineate characters is keen and refreshing. "Vanitas" as a story wanders through England and the United States weaving a tale of intrigue, mystery, and passion among 4 disparate central characters. Rarely has the case for the agony of intimacy been so carefully explored. The current plague of AIDS has slipped away from literature in the past few years as new treatments and media discussion have made it seem somehow less terrible. It is books such as this that place this tragic quirk of nature in the foreground, making us remember how it has changed all our lives and how it continues to raise its specter in seemingly coincidental ways. This is a well written novel that carries a new warning that Vanitas of Solomon's writings and especially the descriptive use of the Still Life as a reminder of mortality is a potent as ever.

Vanitas is a beautifully written yet disturbing book about the search for love and family and contentment. (Leave to the amateurs at Amazon.com to pull the one negative comment from the Times review--what's with you guys?) Vanitas is the kind of book that stays with you a long time, the images haunt, the journey of the main character becomes part of your journey. (Still, Clara's Heart and Nightswimmer are this author's best works.) If you're a fan of good writing and well drawn characters, go for it!

Simply haunting and darkly erotic. I finished reading Vanitas over a month ago, and the characters still linger in my mind: Sam the writer, a lonely outsider searching for a sense of family, longing for a child of his own and conflicted by his new love interest, Bobby; Jessie the strong single mother and former lover of Sam who carries on a not-so-secret affair with a British bloke; Bobby the haunted artist who had to flee America due to a scandal; Garland the dying art auctioneer who has commissioned Sam to ghostwrite his memoirs for publication, yet tries at all costs to keep from uncovering the secrets of his past.

Joseph Olshan has always been blessed with a keen ear for dialogue--particularly the awkward language of lovers quarreling. He captures perfectly the plaintive nature one lover feels when the other cannot see their side--or worse, is indifferent to it.

Vanitas gives us an insider's view of the book publishing world, we learn about art restoration and acquisition, and the career and very dark nature of the artist Géricault. Olshan deftly weaves each element like a finely woven tapestry against a backdrop of London and New York City for settings.

And if you'll notice in the acknowledgments for Vanitas, Olshan acknowledges the late Robert Woolley who urged him to find in a novel a place for his memory. A quick search in Amazon.com's databases uncovered a book called "Going Once" by Robert Woolley, a Sotheby's auctioneer, wherein Woolley acknowledges Joseph Olshan for helping him enormously with his memoir. Is the Garland character in Vanitas based on Woolley? Did Olshan actually ghostwrite Woolley's memoir like the Sam character in Vanitas? I think so.

Vanitas is such a lyrical novel. I rationed out the last fifty pages because I did not want the book to end. Several sequences were as cozy as a warm blanket. Olshan's language is pristine and his pacing is perfect. He always knows the correct emotional chord to strike in each scene, giving us just the right detail from his unique perspective. You'll enjoy his special brand of story-telling. I know I'm reading Vanitas at least once more.

--Jeff Funk

"Eyes" introduces us to Susan Shader, a psychic psychiatrist who sometimes works with the police to solve crimes. While this is a tale often told (the psychic and the police is a very common theme in psychic fiction), Susan is a wonderful character, and the mystery itself was a truly engrossing tale.

Susan's psychic abilities, while important to the plot, are secondary to both her psychiatric training, her deep characterization, and her relationship with her son. I cannot stress enough how much this book is character-driven, and how much the mystery it self - the chasing of an apparent serial killer with an agenda that baffles - brings this novel to a boil. There is a sequel, "Blood," that definately has me hooked.

I hope for more Susan Shader novels, and would really like to know who Joseph Glass is.

I really got into this book!! It was in my recommendations and I was a bit hesitant about buying it but I thought what the heck, I'll give it a shot. I am sooo glad I did, as it was one of those books I could not put down. It is engrossing and suspensful. I fell in love with Dr. Susan Shader and there is such depth in her relationship with her son that the authoor is very perceptive in portraying. As a parent I felt her pain and really could not believe how adept Mr. Glass was in making me feel a lot of things throughout the whole book. It is so much more than just a thriller although it does that well too. Very deep and moving and anyone who did not enjoy this book must be made of stone. It shows a real sensitivity that a lot of books lack and I can't wait to read his next novel, "Blood".

This was realllllllly good....who is Joseph Glass???? hmmmmmmmmmmm.. i see that it is copyrighted by "jsl, inc"......who could that be??? verrrrry easy reading, quite engrossing, quite different....susan is real, emotional, intelligent and a breath of fresh air for all of the readers who are rather sick of patricia cornwell and the like....i really enjoyed this book thoroughly...all of the characters were "fleshed" out quite well and i would most definitely suggest this as the perfect airplane book....the hours will fly by...i want to read more susan shader books...what a marvelous heroine....thanx "joe glass" whoever you are...just keep on writing...but fast....!!!

This book outlines some yard ideas, but they apppear uncreative and need special equipment. If you're looking for halloween party ideas tho this may give you some ideas. Some pranks for trick-or-treaters are one time pranks. If you're looking for simple, practical ideas on creating dummies, haunts, and spooks this is probably not the one you want.

I was looking for ideas for scary decorations, which is not really what this book is about, although it is well written and the cartoon drawings are great.
If you're looking for scary tricks to perform, this book has Halloween gags which would be good for a family or group to do together, to scare Trick Or Treaters or haunted house guests.
But if you're planning a Halloween party, and you want to socialize and actually be part of the party, this is probably not the book for you. Most of the ideas in this book must be repeated every time someone new arrives. They require you to play an active role in the scare, either in costume or behind the scenes, and many require two people.

I loved this book! It had a lot of great ideas for haunted houses, scenes, decorations and costumes. I especially liked the step-by-step directions to building your own corpse! If you want to inject some real fun into your Halloween and jump-start your activities, then this is the book for you!

First there was A+, then NET+ and now INET+. CompTIA Keeps putting out new exams to keep you current with the expansion of the computer industry and e-commerce. This book will be a definite asset in the passing of the certification exam.

Bryne has a reputation for covering the exam objectives with great accuracy and detail. This book is the perfect example of that work. From Internet basics and Clients, to web site design, networking, infrastructure and security.

Finally the author covers internet business including e-commerce and business strategy. Also included is a blueprint of the INET+ exam making sure that each objective has been covered. There is an instant assessment test included to see the areas you need to study.

As if that was not enough, the book comes with the BeachFront Quiz software for practice testing. Other things include are IE 5.0, Communicator 4.7, HTML Notes for web page design in text and WEB Express for WYSIWYG HTML design and several server applications. For Under $40.00 this is a great buy.

The iNet+ Certification Study System is a great resource for learning all about how Internet works! The topics match the exam objectives perfectly and completely. This is not just a good study guide however. Anyone interested in knowing how Internet technologies work should read this book. Its the only one I've found that is easy to read but at the same time gives an in-depth look into how the Internet operates. I passed the test using just this book and I had very little previous Internet experiance. I now feel capable of actually "doing" Internet related services for my company. The CD also contains a number of great software programs including a Web server, Web Page editor, and e-mail server that I have up and running in my home in less than 2 hours, thanks completely to Mr. Byrne's clear step-by-step explainations. A++

I can't say enough good things about this book. Everything you need for the exam is here, and clearly explained in an easy to read format. The examples are great. I really like the software (lots of FREE software) included so I could set up my own servers and see first hand how e-mail and the web works. I passed the exam on my first attempt using this book as my study guide. I've read both books by this author and trust him to give honest, easy to follow, and relevant information. Well worth the money...and then some!

In a period where the ghost of Enron and other business malpractices wanders over the stock markets, a book like this certainly has it's value. However, after reading the book I wonder whether people applying what's written down in this work would have helped to prevent these malpractices, and I must say that I have my doubts. More specifically, instead of doing some whistle blowing, you might decide to back off, in order to save your career. That might be "emotional intelligent" in the sense of understanding the emotional reactions of others against whistle-blowers, but its not really "integer" according to my definition of that word and thus certainly doesn't fit my European interpretation of being an ethical person. That explains why from a business ethics point of view, I prefer Linda Tobey's "The Integrity Moment" or even Badaracco's previous book "Defining Moments".

Actually, when I bought the book, I hadn't fully grasped I was buying a business ethics book. I though I had a leadership book in my hands, which explains my average rating. While its' true that personal restraint, modesty and tenacity are virtues for leaders, if you want a book on leading quietly, I prefer Jim Collins' "Good to Great" by far. His level 5 leadership is also a form of leading quietly, but it's much more a book for people willing to lead in the business meaning of that word.

Patrick E.C. Merlevede - author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"

Leading Quietly is not a book that promotes the pompous prominence of those our culture labels as its leaders. It is not about celebrity, fame or vainglory. It is about the "small and obscure" actions done by ordinary people who make the world work. Badaracco has written this book after four years of research and discovery that the quiet leaders are those whose patience, restraint and modesty are in a great part responsible for impressive achievements. He defines "leading quietly" as those individuals who maintain a low profile, and inconspicuously do what is right for themselves and their organizations without fatalities.

Badaracco uses case studies throughout the book to highlight his major points. He also includes special insights from a moral leadership class he teaches at the Harvard Business School. The literature he refers to from this class is particularly perceptive in contrast to the moral bankruptcy we have been reading about in the business pages of our daily newspapers!

Here are some of the qualities and guidelines possessed by those who are Leading Quietly:

Good leaders are those who are honest with themselves about how well they truly understand a situation and how much control they really possess. They don't kid themselves or deny reality. Effective leaders learn to trust their mixed motives. They accept their motives to be confused and mixed, and they use this ambiguity to solve problems or create compromises. Successful leaders often play games or create stall tactics to gain enough time to ponder difficult situations and think things through. They understand the value of buying a little time when necessary. Wise leaders build "political capital" and use it wisely. They cautiously borrow on this capital when proceeding in an uncertain environment or situation. Quiet leaders gather the details of complex problems. They take the time to "drill down" through the quagmire of bureaucratic, legal or technical details to discover a good solution. The quiet leader also seeks creative compromises as a responsible and practical goal of the responsible leader.

This is a book that celebrates the old-fashioned values of hard work and wisdom. Badaracco writes, "Preparation, caution, care and attention to detail are usually the best approach to everyday challenges." The only major weakness of the book is its lack of emphasis on proper ethics. Leading Quietly offers a careful analysis of those unsung leaders who truly make the world work for all of us.

The result of a four-year study, Leading Quietly is based on anecdotal case scenarios compiled by the author. Badaracco (Harvard Business School) dispels the myth that today's most effective leaders are charismatic, larger-than-life individuals whose high-profile risk taking results in significant organizational achievement and personal rewards. Instead, the author maintains that effective organizational leadership and subsequent achievement are attributable to the day-to-day decisions and contributions made by numerous managers and associates. Badaracco introduces the concept of quiet leadership by discussing and providing examples of four fundamental guiding principles and how these principles demonstrate the complexity, uncertainty, and challenges of today's business environment. Chapters that follow provide principles, examples, and resources--a tool kit or user's manual in the words of the author--to demonstrate how quiet leaders positively impact their organizations and the people around them through strength of character and personal humility. The concluding chapter advises would-be quiet leaders that the presented principles, if misused, can serve as an excuse not to act in a responsible and responsive manner, or if employed appropriately, can result in significant organizational outcomes. Faculty and graduate students will find this book an excellent adjunct to business ethics, leadership, and human resource management courses, and practitioners will benefit from its insightful advice.