You are new to the game of management and you want an overview of its elements, read this book. You are an experienced business practitioner and you want to play the game with greater skill and dexterity, read this book. You are an employee, or work in a non-profit organisation and you want to grasp what management entails, please read this book. You are a MONK, and you want to understand this great body of knowledge than man engage in day in and day out, seek out and delve into this book. Once in a while a book comes along that is not a fad and is here to stay and remain a classic, this one fits the bill. Well done to the authors. They have really thought hard to make the ideas simple. Its simply effective! Get it before your competition does.

As an engineer that has gotten into business through entrepreneurship I have been surrounded with MBAs who rattle off buzz words. When they start using technical buzz words I can tell real quick that they are using words with no real subtance behind them, but I have avoided talking about "value chains" and "best practices" because though I understood them from context I did was not sure of myself. This book explains many of the key buzz words used in management in clear terms.

It also provides references and resources for further study. For instance it recommends "Competitive Strategy" by Michael Porter. I asked a friend that is a Wharton graduate if she was famliar with the book "Competitive Strategy" and she answered "by Michael Porter?" There are so many business books it is nice to have a guide to cut the wheat from the chaff.

I am glad I read this book and it even inspired me to make some changes in my business that have been useful.

The big-picture, management concepts discussed in this book impact all employees in every type of organization. After reading and understanding this book, an employee should be able to work smarter, gain insights for how their organization could function more effectively, and enhance their knowledge of the reasoning behind management decisions made in the past.

This book is essentially a summary of the management concepts taught in an MBA program. It is an easy read, and the ideas are so well explained that it is accessible to a wide audience. It is targeted for the general population since many people do not understand or appreciate the function of management and the impact it has. In particular, the application of management concepts in non-profit organizations will be an ever-growing trend over the next several decades.

While the seasoned manager will be knowledgeable of the concepts discussed in this book, it will serve as a handy reference summary, and has a useful list of additional books and articles for each chapter. They may also pick up a few new insights, such as the historical development of different concepts (many management concepts are very recent).

I have always come to the Maggody stories for light entertainment rather than edification. The jokes were often corny and the characterization crude but the mixture worked. In this one there are a number of highbrow references and Brother Verber reveals a childhood trauma that may account for his character flaws. Even the relatioship between Raz and Marjory is getting more psychologically complex. Where is all this leading? I'll keep reading to find out.

Maggody, Arkansas Chief of Police Arly Hanks feels that her current task is probably the worst assignment of her career. She, accompanied by the mayor's self-important wife Mrs. Jim Bob, despicable Preacher Brother Verber, and shop teacher Larry Joe Lambertino are chaperoning teens at the Camp Pearly Gates. The teens are a tough enough crowd, but her companions make for a long weekend.

All that becomes moot when one of the kids finds a corpse of a woman. The victim turns out to be a member of the Moonbeam sect, a bunch of space cadets who refuse to cooperate with Arly on the investigation. To make matters even more pressing, a local person is missing and though probably safe could be a second victim. Then there is the usual demands of her position involving pigs, family members, and a suspect who seems to spend more time out of jail than in a cell. T

he latest tale in the long running Maggody series, MAGGODY AND THE MOONBEAMS, retains its freshness, something not usually seen by book fourteen. The story line is light, but quite amusing as readers watch beleaguered but competent Arly deal with a crowd of misfits. In some ways this tale satirizes its own series and other regional who-done-its, but does so in a kind reverent manner as Joan Hess provide her audience with a fun to read tale in which the laughs keep on coming.

Harriet Klausner

Maggody, Arkansas Chief of Police Arly Hanks feels that her current task is probably the worst assignment of her career. She, accompanied by the mayor's self-important wife Mrs. Jim Bob, despicable Preacher Brother Verber, and shop teacher Larry Joe Lambertino are chaperoning teens at the Camp Pearly Gates. The teens are a tough enough crowd, but her companions make for a long weekend.

All that becomes moot when one of the kids finds a corpse of a woman. The victim turns out to be a member of the Moonbeam sect, a bunch of space cadets who refuse to cooperate with Arly on the investigation. To make matters even more pressing, a local person is missing and though probably safe could be a second victim. Then there is the usual demands of her position involving pigs, family members, and a suspect who seems to spend more time out of jail than in a cell.

The latest tale in the long running Maggody series, MAGGODY AND THE MOONBEAMS, retains its freshness, something not usually seen by book fourteen. The story line is light, but quite amusing as readers watch beleaguered but competent Arly deal with a crowd of misfits. In some ways this tale satirizes its own series and other regional who-done-its, but does so in a kind reverent manner as Joan Hess provide her audience with a fun to read tale in which the laughs keep on coming.

Harriet Klausner

Heaven in High Gear is a sequel to the first God on a Harley. The story revolves around a stripper named Heather Hurley who lives high in LA in her condo and drives a BMW. She works out with a personal trainer to keep her body in top form and she judges all men she sees according to their physical form. Joe, God, arrives in her life when she visits her childhood home for a vacation with old friends. Heather is guided and instructed by Joe how she can have a better life, be happy and do what she really loves to do most, which is to write poetry and sing torch songs. In the end Heather learns to love herself and have the confidence and self-esteem to have what she wants, with Joe's help of course.

These books (God on a Harley and Heaven in High Gear) are not heavy duty reading but there's a message given that applies to all human's who need to have faith in themselves. The message that He does hear and He does help. I think the book is a worthwhile read. It's inspiring and hopeful.

This book picks up where "God on a Harley" ends but yet it can be read and bring much joy and self-enlightenment even if the reader hasn't read the first book by Brady. In the book, God, as a biker, reveals himself to the main character and gives her the direction to find and love herself. God, aka "Joe" gives to her her own personal commandments. Very inspiring and uplifting. In the end, God must continue on to his next person for their own one-on-one meeting except this time, it's a....... Can't ruin it for you. If I could personally ever meet Ms. Brady, I would first thank her for helping me so much through her books and then BEG for the next sequel to "Heaven in High Gear".

This book was incredible. I enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed her other book "God on a Harley". I could relate to it in so many ways even though it wasn't based on anyones life. I really hope that she keeps the books coming. This is a definate must read book!!

Written during the long wartime nights in London, only stopped by the frequent bombing raids, The Moving Finger (1943) is Agatha Christie's 42nd novel. ..."Rather to my surprise... I find that another one [of my books] I am rather pleased with is The Moving Finger," Christie wrote in her autobiography. True, you cannot miss the typical Miss Marple setting: take a small village engaged in gossip and add a nice juicy murder that could have been committed by every person living in that village. But that is where the parallel with books like The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) stops.

The characters depicted in The Moving Finger are crudely sketched, becoming almost unbelievable. For example, the main character, narrator and lacking all credibility, starts to annoy you after the first ten pages with his single-minded comments and simply ruins the pace of the story. When Miss Marple appears on the last pages, she cannot rescue the story, because the solution she proposes seems to have but few connections the actual story.

In a forward Agatha Christie provided for a reprint of this book, she wrote of the pleasure it was to tackle one of the classic themes, and of the great pleasure she found in writing this book with its "cosy village atmosphere and characters".

The classic theme here is the phenomenon of the Poison Pen. The book is one of her shorter mysteries but one of the most cunningly devised. Adept at constructing puzzles, she opts for presenting this one as a first person narrative. The narrator is a young man recuperating from a flying accident, told by his doctor that he must "go and live in the country and lead the life of a vegetable for at least six months". With his sister he rents a cottage in a small English village "of no importance whatsoever".

Accordingly, when the poison pen letters begin circulating, it is this narrator, a stranger to the village, who decribes things as he sees them, retails all the local gossip, and reports everyone's suspicions about the writer of the letters. A murder and an apparent suicide follow, and we read of the efforts of the local police to investigate.

Miss Marple thus is introduced late in the book and, of course, she proves better at solving the mystery than everybody else. You will be an astute and alert reader if you discover whodunit before Miss Marple reveals all.

This story is told by Jerry Burton, an RAF flyer recovering from a crash. He has been sent to the village of Lymstock to get rest and quiet. Accompanied by his sister Joanna, Jerry soon finds that all is not as peaceful as he might have hoped. A series of poison pen letters detailing the explicit and often illicit facts of the residents' lives is causing quite a stir. The fear escalates when an apparent suicide is followed by a murder. With so much wickedness abounding, the vicar's wife calls in her old friend Jane Marple, whom she considers an expert on wickedness in village life.

This book is notable for its excellent characterizations. From the community-minded doctor's sister, to the charming spinster who rents the Burtons her home, to the dazzling governess of the lawyer's young boys, Mrs. Christie gives us a village filled with quirky and interesting people. Most notable is Megan Hunter, perhaps her finest young girl protagonist, who is transformed from the dowdy stepdaughter to an exquisite Cinderella.

The narrative style is light and entertaining, the romance sweet, and the murder quite deadly in this fun and always ingenuous offering from the mistress of mystery.

Mrs. Christie herself recalls this story in her autobiography as a personal favorite that has stood the test of time. As charming as it no doubt was when first published in 1943, The Moving Finger is a most satisfying read.

Creighton "Cricket" Stewart is the youngest of Rip Stewart's unusual daughters. He dreamed of having sons, sons whose futures he had planned. Each of his daughters is different and Cricket is his favorite, the child of his heart. She is rough-and tumble, can ride and shoot, fight and curse with the toughest man. Until she meets Jarrett Creed, a Texas Ranger with ties to the Comanche. I like the way the author made the heroine strong (at a time when women were treated as the gentler, weaker sex) yet believable. Creed is the perfect match for Cricket and gets her to see that, despite her rugged upbringing, she is forever and always, a woman. This story made me anxious to read the next in the series.

This is the first book I have read by Joan Johnston, and I will read more! I love Westerns, be it books or movies and not since Calamity Jane have I seen such heroism in a woman depicted in this genre.
Creighton "Cricket" Stewart,a free spirit, at 17 is the youngest of Rip Stewart's three daughters. Rip is a wealthy cotton plantation owner in Texas at the time it was still a young Republic. Rip taught his daughter's all special skills of survival. In Cricket's case thanks to her father, she was so self reliant that she thought she didn't need any man, ever!She could handle whatever came along, Hostile Indians, Mexican Bandidos, she even had wolves for pets.
Enter Jarrett Creed, a handsome Texas Ranger on a secret goverment mission, to expose traitors to Texas, during this time that the republic was under siege from both Mexiacan armies, and Indians alike. Jarrett, who has lived with an Indian tribe is able to save Cricket from a fix she manages to get herself into with the Comanches ... They both infuriate each other as they travel together to uncover a conspiracy, that also unwittingly has Cricket's sister involved. Together they face danger, adventures, and unexpected romantic situations, which get pretty steamy at times.
And just when you think the story is over, Ms. Johnston gives us a sneak preview of "Texas Woman" and "Commanche Woman" (The stories of her sisters) leaving us wanting more.
I read this book while sitting in hospital waiting rooms, thank you Joan Johnston for taking my mind to another time and place. Laurie

Creighton "Cricket" Stewart is a woman of many means, a woman of strength, a woman who would rather live as a man, until Jarrett Creed. Jarrett Creed, a Texas Ranger, who also, like Cricket, is a loner, until he meets Cricket Stewart. The two meet during a time of Comanche raids and the Wild West, before it was won.

Their story takes them across Texas and into New Orleans and back again, all to save Cricket's sister, Sloan and the Texas frontier. The last thing the two expect is to fall in love...

*****Another five stars from me. This book I approached apprehensively, (I'm not really into these types of novels) but I found that I could not put it down! This novel was wonderful, full of character and humor. I was reading it on my breaks and people were staring at me because I was laughing so hard. This is definitely a good read, and now I'm looking forward the rest of this series called Bitter Creek. *****

Reviewed by Kim Blair

Exploring the inner lives and conflicts of three main characters, each of whom is a member of the band during the Titanic's maiden voyage, Fosnes Hansen recreates the unstable and dismal world each man inhabits at the dawn of World War I. Jason Coward is bandmaster, Leo Lewenhaupt, known as Spot Hauptmann, is the pianist, and young David Bleierstein is a violinist. Together with two lesser developed characters, Alex from St. Petersburg, and Petronius from Rome, they raise the big questions of how we become who we are, how much freedom we have to make choices in our lives, and to what extent we can control our destinies.

Each of these characters is in some way a captain without a ship. As Fosnes Hansen brings them alive through the poignant and often harrowing tales of their youth, including the death of their dreams and the sorrows which have led them to the Titanic, we see them as ordinary people whose lives might have been completely different if just one or two circumstances had changed. Lonely and self-destructive, all have found love to be illusory and a stable and loving family life to be impossible. In the consummate irony, the Titanic may offer hope, for "A ship is a star...a star of dreams."

A writer of great intensity, Fosnes Hansen's portrayals of his characters are simultaneously gripping and sympathetic, his stories and anecdotes realistic and moving. Not given to flights of lyricism, the author creates his images through his selection of perfect details and by providing access to the vibrant inner lives of the characters. Revealing the Titanic as a microcosm of life in 1914, the author also offers many symbolic scenes--rat fights, the execution of beloved pets, puppet shows, for example--which broaden the reader's perspective on the characters and their times. Though the ending fizzles with the sinking of the ship, the novel is startling, not only in its own right, but because it so clearly foreshadows the author's later novel, Tales of Protection, a novel which is more fully developed thematically and which soars!

Curiously, I have started to read this book long before all the hype about Titanic, the movie, and I had stopped reading it in the middle. The movie made me start reading it again. As the reviews indicate, the start of the book is not that compelling, especially because the tales of the regent's life seem to contain nothing but misery, drama and sorrow. But the book really gains momentum when the lives of the other musicians start to be explored. Helped by brilliant and vivid descriptions of the characters aboard and the ship itself, the author gives us a vision of the tragedy from the viewpoint of other little tragedies, that had started long before the musicians drowned while playing at the ship's deck.

I admit that the movie did spark my interest in the book; nonetheless, this book engaged me right from the beginning. We've all heard about the musicians on the Titanic (playing until the very end, etc.) and I liked how this author imagined what these notorious musician's lives were before they sailed, and worked this idea into the basis for a novel. And unpredictably, the author did not paint pictures of the musician's lives as being glorious and richly cultural; lives whose glory and culture were only further richened by the opportunity of playing music for the wealthy on the Titanic. Instead, he painted an unexpectedly dark portrait of their lives; chronicling individual tales of despair, lost hope and opportunities. He also describes the time period in such vivid detail, that the European "sets" which serve as the background for the story come across to the reader as dismal as the musician's lives itself. Sound depressing? You bet! But despite all this, a reader can easily relate to their disappointments and actually mourn for these characters at the end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

I thought that "The Stalker" was another good thriller from Joan Lowery Nixon's endless list of great mysteries! If this is going to be your first Nixon story, it'll seem totally great! But, if you've read lots of Nixon books (like me), it can't compare to most others!

The story is about a girl named Jennifer. One day, she comes home and finds out that her best friend -- Bobbie -- has supposedly killed her own mom! Jennifer knows that that can't be! So, after no one will believe her, she enlists the help of a retired cop, Lucas Maldonaldo, to help her with her detecting! As the couple come closer and closer to finding the murderer, Jennifer's life begins to end up in danger. Someone obviously doesn't want her to find them out! Can Jennifer and Lucas add up the clues and wrap up the case!? Or will the killer stop them dead in their tracks? Find out in "The Stalker!"

Also recommended: "Name of the Game Was Murder," "Who Are You," and "Nobody's There." All A+ Joan Lowery Nixon books! :)

The book "the Stalker" was a pretty good book. It didn't take me long to read, maybe a day or two. Joan Lowery Nixon has a style that is all her own, and from reading many of her novels, i can see it in all of them. The story always takes place in Texas, it's always about a girl, there's always a murder etc. but that doesn't mean she's a bad writer, she's probably the best mystery writer i have ever read from. i hav a collection of her books at home, and i could read her books all day long. If i had to tell someone whether or not to buy this book, i would defenitly say buy the book! you'll love the read!

Since the setting of this book is set in Corpus Christi, and since I live in Corpus Christi, this was a very neat book to read. I've read almost all of Nixon's books, and this one was probably one of her BEST!!! Corpus is a very small town in South Texas. It was very interestin, and I finished it quickly, for it was a real page-turner. The "villian" is NOT who you'd expect it to be!! It was beautifully written also!!

I was going to write a lengthy review explaining all the ways in which this book, in its plot and execution, fell short of my expectations and desires, but I see that the reader from Bethesda who wrote the review of 16 March has done all that, very well indeed. Great review, and very accurate in its detailing of this book's shortcomings!

There are other grating inaccuracies and impossibilities which also irritated me: for instance, Marcus travelling with his twin nieces without a maid or governess in sight?! No way. Absolutely would that not have happened. These are daughters of a duke. They would be protected and chaperoned at every turn. Marcus may have been a relative, but he was still a man; he would not have been alone with them.

And then later in the book, Marcus sends someone to ride from Kent to London, to see his solicitor and a vicar and arrange for a special licence and dispensation to be married after dark, then visit Eliza's friends and get them to Kent for the wedding. All in the same 24-hour period! No chance; that's a complete impossibility. Sure, a rider on a speedy horse could get to London within a day, but do all this and get back again??? And, if I'm not mistaken, a special licence could only be obtained *in person* from the man about to be married, and only from a bishop.

I do find it irritating when writers clearly haven't bothered to do the most basic research.

Johnston doesn't take care with her language, either: her characters are supposed to be English, and English aristocracy at that, and yet a lot of the time they talk like Americans. Simply omitting contractions doesn't cut it, Ms Johnston. For instance, no young lady of the aristocracy - or even any English person - would talk about 'fixing' hair. One 'arranges', or - for that period and class - 'dresses' hair. That's just one example of several irritating Americanisms which leapt out at me. And Ms Johnston or her editor really needed to pay a little more attention to grammar, especially punctuation.

Some of this wouldn't have mattered so much - as with the inaccuracies in Edith Layton's early books - if at any time the characters had engaged my emotions. They did not, in any way. I found them flat and one-dimensional. And when I think of what someone like Mary Balogh or Mary Jo Putney could have done with a premise like this, I feel bitterly disappointed. This premise, in the hands of a Balogh or a Kelly, would have been a tear-jerker. Johnston's book has simply left me bored.

The story, once you get over the errors and the inaccuracies, is not all that bad. I found the relationship between Julian and Eliza touching and their friendship very real and down to earth. The first part of the book is quite enchanting.

The relationship between Eliza and Marcus is odd to say the least. Why would a person who is so badly scarred emotionally and physically force a woman to marry him? Why resist her so much if he wants her that badly? Why does she agree to it all? What is the secret she is hiding?

There are many things wrong with this book, but it does compel you to finish it! Despite the inaccuracies that will frustrate and irritate you... You still find yourself turning page after page, so... there must be something in it to merit a good rating!!

I didn't want to put this book down! The whole story was fun--before the kiss and after. Marcus and Eliza were likeable characters. I found the secondary characters interesting too and want to read more about them.

This is ground zero, the first in the Maggody series and now rather difficult to obtain (the first hardcover edition sells at a premium as a collector's item). Actually you don't get a lot of extra detail about Arly Hanks that you wouldn't have figured out from the later books. This is not a roman fleuve (pardon my French) like, for instance, Sue Grafton's alphabet series that we read almost as much to follow what will happen next in Kinsey Milhone's life as for the plot of the individual book.
The series is set in a a small town in the Ozarks, populated by simple country rubes, where Arly Hanks, a displaced and divorced New Yorker is chief of police. The stories are told partly in the first person by Arly but switch to other characters' points of view. There are the usual faults that we criticize Joan Hess for. Delia is funny because she is fat and eats a lot. Brother Verber is funny because he is a blatant hypocrite. I suspect that Hess is faux naif (French again) and the cartoonish drawing of supporting characters is a deliberate ploy to fix the town of Maggody in our minds. She never makes any bones about saying what a depressing place Maggody is, and often describes stark tragedy, yet the effect is somehow cheerful and reading a Magoddy book is a delightful relaxation.

Generally I read pretty heavy murder mysteries (James Patterson, John Sandford, etc.). But now and then I like to take a
break from novels that are of course fiction, but are close enough to reality to make you uneasy. The Maggody books are
murder mysteries but they are also little gems of cartoon like comedy set in a one stop light town on a not so busy highway. If you're looking for an easy read and a pleasant diversion you should spend a little time in Maggody.

Meet Chief of Police, Arly Hanks. She's back home in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, recovering from a nasty divorce. She wanted some quiet time to decompress and gather her wits about her, and that's just what she got. Life in Maggody is slow, really slow. There's no crime to speak of, and about the only action she ever sees is a car wreck out on the highway, once every month or so. Her biggest chief of police decisions usually involve where to set up the speed trap, in the school zone, or at the signal light. So it comes as a big surprise when two real crime cases fall her way on the same day. First a former Maggody resident, now housed at the state correctional institution escapes and looks to be heading home. Then an EPA contract specialist sent to sign the paperwork for an unwanted sewage treatment plant that the residents of Maggody are sure is going to pollute their swimming and fishing holes, goes missing. Add to that the murder of a local, and it looks like Arly is going to have to buckle down and get busy, fast. With the whole town tight lipped and stonewalling her investigation, it's going to take all her cunning and training to sort out all this mayhem and madness, and get to the truth..... Sit down and get comfortable, Joan Hess is about to take you on a roller coaster of a ride through the Ozarks. This is a light, comical mystery, easily read in one sitting, that will have you smiling, chortling, and laughing out loud. Her entertaining story line is well paced and clever, and her writing is crisp, witty and full of irreverent dialogue and back-woods southern humor. But it's Ms Hess' well drawn, engaging and original characters that really make this novel stand out, and once you've gotten to know Maggody's finest and not so finest, you'll be hooked for sure. Malice In Maggody is the first of a marvelous and delightful series. Do yourself a big favor, start here at the beginning, and read them all.

When I finished reading "Truly Wilde" I realized that the feelings I had were similar to those I had when I finished "The Well of Loneliness." From the very beginning of the book, I knew that Dolly was doomed - and yet, I had to read about her life, her decline, her frustrations, her brilliance - and though the truth was depressing, I had to finish.

Joan Schenkar's book details an important part of lesbian herstory - a society that was part and parcel of the times.

There is nothing like pleasure to motivate a book review and I took an enormous pleasure in reading -- and then in instantly re-reading - TRULY WILDE. This book gives such a precise and poetic view of the seductive and fascinating Dolly Wilde and such a generously ducumented look at the period in which she flourished -- a period in which conversation was still an art and identity was something that could still be invented - that you really feel yourself feeling with and for Dolly. It's an exemplary, inventive biography. And the photographs are wonderful.

Truly Wilde assumes that its readers delight in language and ideas and bring to it a certain intelligence. I presume that this refreshing approach accounts for the stellar reviews on the book jacket by such brilliant writers as Jeannette Winterson and Edmund White; I presume that it also accounts for the few, suspiciously vitriolic comments found on this site - which seem to be motivated by something other than a desire to share an opinion.

I HIGHLY recommend TRULY WILDE to all lovers of pleasure who like to think: this book, this life will reward you a thousand times over.

With "Truly Wilde," author Joan Schenkar has reinterpreted and redefined the possibilities of the biographical form. Her strategy in recreating the world of Parisian intellectual and artistic salons in which Oscar Wilde's niece Dolly flourished in the 1920s - most notably Natalie Barney's Academie des Femmes - is stunningly iconoclastic, deeply compelling, and brilliantly written. From a base of scrupulous and capacious research, from interviews with primary sources and access to original documents, illustrated with a fascinating array of photographs, Schenkar uses a thematic rather than chronological approach to bring Dolly Wilde and her world to life, and to follow with fierce attention the course of her descent to a lonely death in London at the age of 45. Ms. Schenkar does not feel bound by academic niceties. Her book is rich in the odd detail - a palm reading, for instance, or a favorite recipe - that make that era and those brilliant characters as luminous as real life. In her hands, Dolly Wilde becomes a memorable and ultimately mysterious force of nature.