What a terrific simple back to basic life concept. Ron covers many areas that are often overlooked by parents, teachers and everyone everyday. Whether it's a mom, dad, salesclerk, CEO or VP, his rules can be used for everyone. My husband enjoyed the book and has suggested his employees to read it. If they have kids, great, but if they don't, he wants them to read it anyway. Having the experience of a teacher in today's classroom, sets the stage for what really goes on in class providing powerful content for doable solutions. His warm heart but yet smart outlook is no less greater than another book my husband and I both enjoyed which has the very same mood, tone and message as Mr. Clark's book. Mommy-CEO, by Jodie Lynn, (don't let the title fool you) is but yet another classic guide to every day life. As a former teacher, and now syndicated family columnist and author, she also has rules for the home, family, parenting, school success and like Mr. Clark, life in general. Both authors have put their expertise into long hours and hard work resulting in confronting real issues. People are always looking for an author who speaks from the heart to make changes happen in their lives. It's authors like these who help build success inside the home, inside the school and inside the soul, that has a lasting effect. There are lots of good books out today; only a few can really be shared and impact other difficult areas. These books have that staying power and both should be a must read for not only all teachers and parents, but should include everyone who wants to be successful with personal goals in life. Speaking out and pushing forward for more respect and responsibility in kids, is what really makes a difference in society. The words and sincere work of both authors are here to stay and hopefully will not only inspire success in students, but in our personal interactions with others as well. WAY TO GO!

Manners, Respect and Discipline are the cornerstones of success in Ron Clark's classroom. In his first book, The Essential 55, he shares the secrets of that success. Disney Teacher of the Year, Ron Clark has the uncanny ability to instill fun and adventure into every learning opportunity. Daily he shares with his students an unbridled curiosity about the world! However at the start of their journey together, Ron conveys to the class the 55 essential expectations that he has for them. For example, he instructs them in how to give a firm handshake, look people in the eye, and eat properly using the rules of etiquette. His classes learn to respect themselves and others. Chart busting academic scores have been the result for his classes of low performing students from North Carolina to New York City. In The Essential 55 Mr. Clark provides guidelines for living both inside and outside the classroom. He exhorts young and old alike to embrace each day with heart and vigor, appreciate and encourage others and challenge themselves to achieve their potential. Read how Ron Clark convinces his students to seek lives of abundant adventure and fulfillment. I highly recommend this extraordinary book! Another book that I finished reading was "HE NEVER CALLED AGAIN", a fictional book that I really enjoyed. These two books are excellent.

"The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child" is a collection of Ron Clark's 55 rules that he uses every day in his teaching career. Why should his rules matter? Well for one thing he has won the Disney Teacher of the Year Award as a top educator in the United States. Ron Clark attributes much of his success to making sure that the students follow the 55 rules. Many of these rules are common courtesies; others are good manners, ethics, or even good hygiene. These may seem simple but people react to you differently when you display good manners and this positive feedback creates a better self-image and other positive side effects.

These are not just rules for children and students but should be followed by everyone including adults. The rules are also applicable to a wide variety of adult situations. Use the rules at home with your child and help him or her to mature with good manners and develop a positive view of life that will follow them everywhere. "The Essential 55" is a highly recommended read for everyone.

MAKE IT HAPPEN provides a fresh, new vision for those of us who are looking for answers and seeking ways to live fuller, more enriching lives both in business and at the personal level. The SNAPP process is easy to apply and I love the idea of turning routine tasks into fun projects with goals. Ron Biagi and Tresa Eyres have given us a very simple business plan for life. This book will become a wonderful gift for my real estate clients.

Original, to-the-point and filled with great ideas, this book is a "READ and KEEP" for just about anyone who works with other people. I loved the authors' sense of humor and conversational tone. This is a practical, how-to book that makes sense in a fresh, fun and factual way. I highly recommend it!

Make It Happen! is an easy,quick read that offers very useful guidance on how to manage an enterprise successfully. Its central premise is that many business operations lack goals or lack clear communication of those goals to affected participants. The SNAPP guidelines provide an aid to convert those aimless processes to well-targeted projects where all the players understand the drill and join in its success. I was especially well-impressed by the book's sound advice in the human and motivational aspects of job success.

This is the first definitive guide to Mexican ecotourism, with engrossing coverage of travel in Mexico in general. Both Mexico and ecotourism get alot of press these days, but few can speak from the breadth of experience that is obviously behind this guide.

I've travelled in Mexico extensively, and own several of the current guidebooks. For the adventure traveler, this guide outdoes all others. "Mexico: Adventures in Nature" cohesively provides a key to less traveled, and exotic areas of Mexico.

Passages that cover Mexico's more common tourist destinations provide great historical perspecitve, and frequently reference local superstition and legend. Mr. Mader has really outdone himself with this coverage of both Mexico's more and less-touched areas.

Especially good are the chapters on the Northern Deserts, and Central Mexico, including environmental recources in and around Mexico City. This one is coming on my next trip!

MEXICO: Adventures in Nature is a sorely needed contribution to Mexican travel literature. As an ecotourism consultant and traveler in Mexico I often find information on Mexican natural areas to be lacking. Ron Mader has put together probably the most comprehensive body of work dedicated to visiting natural sites in Mexico. What's more, Mader goes beyond the standard travel guide. Craftily incorporated in this book is a critical look at ecotourism itself. Mader matter-of-factly discusses the notion of "ecotourism" of the playas and resorts in Mexico where jet skiing is considered "ecotourism." He presents responsible tourism, cultural tourism, and a discussion on the definitions of Mexico's protected areas after a brief historical introduction to the country.

Mader covers flora and fauna in a geographical chapter of Mexico, then he presents information on travel companies specializing in differing aspects of nature/adventure/cultural tourism. Finally, Mader goes into detail on how to get there, where to stay, where to eat, and what to do, broken down by location. Readers will find 14 pages dedicated exclusively to ecotourism in and around Mexico City. Mader then covers the country in detail in nearly 200 pages broken down by: Central, Northeast, Northwest, Central Pacific, Baja and Sonora, Southeast, and Southern Mexico.

MEXICO: Adventures in Nature ends with three appendices bursting with details, such as customs, what to pack, holidays, and the like; just like any other guide. However, readers will find some unique information, such as the locations of cybercafes where a traveler can check in back home via e-mail. There is also a list of over 50 online resources, including Mader's own content-rich ecotourism site. MEXICO: Adventure in Nature is a priceless resource for finding Mexico's out of the way natural treasures. For example, El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, a 357,000-acre cloud forest just south of Texas has not one sign from the highway to the ecolodge, located an hour and a half up unmarked mountain roads. Mader's guide gives detailed directions and interesting facts about finding such places. If a traveler were to contact the state tourism office in Tamaulipas, home of El Cielo, s/he would receive only old brochures of beach resorts and hunting lodges. This book is a "must have" for the true ecotourist. As someone once said, "Don't leave home without it."

I am the author of the "Adventure Guide to the Yucatan," a guidebook to Mexico's fascinating peninsula . I used Ron Mader's book for reference as we discovered the best of sustainable tourism and nature preservation efforts in Mexico. Mader is right on in his evaluation and helpful comments. Very well organized. More and more people are trying to travel in an environmentally sound manner and we support that in our book as well. Kudos to Mader!

Whether you are currently employed and dissatisfied, or recently laid off and considering a new career direction, this upbeat and to the point book will leave you feeling motivated and empowered to take the steps you have been wanting to take but did not know how. The authors are clear and concise and teach the reader how to maneuver successfully in the new job market of today. The first part of the book serves to remove any false ideas that may exist with the job seeker. The remaining part of the book gives the reader the necessary tools to be productive in their job search. Their 5-step approach is very simple and if followed the job seeker can't lose! I read the book two times and got even more from it the second time around. It has been an invaluable resource for me and I have referred to individual sections several times throughout my career search. It is a quick read and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to those of you who still believe that having an enjoyable career is an ideal worth pursuing.

Using five easy steps you can learn how to find a rewarding job which fits in your ideal career blueprint.
Even if you are not currently looking for a new job, this book can help you invigorate your current job/career, and thus help you become a more valuable player in today's workplace.
I highly recommend this book to anyone out there looking for ways to increase their career satifaction.

This book is a page turner. The authors 5-step approach is very simple to follow and they make it sound easy and it is! Their success tips throughout the book are well position and, not just applicable to the working arena but in life itself! The 'Snapp Shots" are right on and flow with their objectives.

Excellent, best-of-breed books on the West Coast offense, especially for those who haven't lived in the system from ground zero as a player or a coach.

HS coaches should beware...the WCO works well, BUT only if you have a stellar athlete/passer as a QB and at least one receiver w/great speed who is capable of consuming the cushion, tracking the ball, and acting as a complete deep threat. The strength of the WCO (the desired traits in the QB and WR) is also its achilles heel, in the same way as the WCO's mirror-opposite, the wishbone (you must have a dominating FB who can draw defenders at the point of attack). Given the paucity of talented QBs who are able to throw 40 - 70 yards with great accuracy consistently and WRs who demand and get consistent double coverage, it would behoove you to think twice about installing the WCO at the HS level.

If you make the mistake of pushing the WCO as a template on a HS team w/out the QB and WR, you are going to be in for a long and painful season. Defensive backs will congregate in the short zones, defensive coaches will send 6 - 7 defenders in full blitz, and if your QB isn't mobile you can count on numerous sacks, missed throwes, interceptions, or an injured QB (the shotgun, a favorite in the WCO, only delays the agony).

Good luck, and this book is as good as it gets for the HS coach seeking to implement the WCO.

I have read "Finding The Winning Edge", "The West Coast Offense", and "Developing An Offensive Game Plan" along with other books on football and I can say with all honesty that this book is by far the best of the group. It's a technique book, it's an offensive system book, and it even has a call sheet which will help our team. This book is well worth the money and much better than the website. The best book on the market today and I am buying his videos now as well.

I just bought my copy at a football clinic in Vegas and it was selling fast. Three other coaches on our staff bought copies for themselves rather than borrow my copy. That's how good it is! It is easy reading and I can actually use this stuff. The call sheet is set up very well. This guy is not hiding anything....it's written so clearly, I don't have to buy the videos.

This book provides real workable answers to business management problems, in a day and age when other books give only gimicks or " systems" that just don't work. Hubbard's methods on management are now used by over 76,000 businesses worldwide and reading this book, you can see why. Great for finding answers to common problems, and for training staff.

I found the principles presented in this book fundamental and the way they work together refreshingly real and applicable. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to grow a small or medium size business.

The book contains easy-to-understand principles applicable to businesses of any size; as well as being applicable to the worker, supervisor and manager.

The most wonderful book production I've ever seen so far ! Well researched on historical facts.Well summarised topics, considering the complexed scope of architecture that sometimes perplexes people who are involved in its creation and people for whom it is created.Excellently composed illustration. An ingenious way of illustrating the topics. It makes architecture much more fun, interesting and inspiring than the actual practice of it in reality (from an x-architect's point of view). I'm sure it is a good collection for architects who still have keen interest in architecture. The book represents the effort level needed to excel in any creative areas.

If this book had met only 1/2 of my expectations, I would have been pleased. It exceeded them. Every page is a series of surprises and delights. Whether you're interested in Architecture, or just love classy gadgets, this is your book. I cannot imagine anyone who, getting this book as a gift, would not be delighted. Read the product description, and add 50%. The only down sides are the long delivery time, and the book's delicacy. One is torn between wanting to look at its contents repeatedly, and the fear that the book might be damaged by too much handling. Order two!!

I have seen 100's of thousands of books, and this one is near the top of the list. Not only is it one of the best pop up books I have seen, it is very informative and educational. It is a great learning tool for most ages and it's alot of fun too. The price is worth the effort the publishers have put in. It also sub.'s as a great coffee table book as well.

Ron Strauss has created a masterpiece of suspense and intrigue. His character development rivals that of Grisham and his plot is equally as compelling as Clancy,s. This is a very difficult book to put down. His research into Mid-Eastern history, politics and life makes it a truly fascinating novel. I look forward to his next book.

Ron Strauss' first book should elevate him to the status of Tom Clancy and John Grisham. I finished Rise, Desert Man in one afternoon, I was too intrigued to put it down. This realistic, action packed novel provides an exciting insight into the world of terrorism, underworld cooportation with government intelligence agencies, based partially on historical fact and fiction. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who reads Clancy or Grisham novels!

In Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, Italy, Arab terrorists attack the El-Al counter, but undercover Israeli agents strike back. When the air settles, many innocent bystanders have died along with most of the attackers. The daughter and grandson of Israel's most deadly undercover agent, Colonel Pasha Ed-Al, are among the dead. The Italian police manage to arrest a few of the surviving terrorists, but the leader, the renowned assassin Nayeff escapes.

Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Ben Kadar lost his son at the Munich Games due to Nayeff's actions there. When Pasha demands a shot at Nayeff, Moshe willingly agrees. However, Nayeff raises the stakes with an abduction of a key military official. As war instead of peace seems imminent, Moshe's widowed daughter-in-law, Shoshona, who loves Pasha, makes a last ditch effort to obtain peace between these long time enemies.

RISE DESERT MAN is a powerful thriller that focuses on the daily life of living in the shadows of terrorism. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action that starts form the opening page. The characters seem genuine as Nayeff and Pasha share passion for their causes even if they are on opposite sides of the Israeli-Arab question. Ron Strauss writes an exciting tale that seems so appropriate with what is happening to the peace process in the Middle East today.

Harriet Klausner

I have been studying digital compositing for about five years, but due to the youth of this profession, gaining knowledge had to come from experience. This is the first book I have come across that defines digital compositing and explains it's vast tool set in one collective volume. Mr. Brinkman's book will soon be the desk reference for every seasoned artist and required reading for every student of visual effects.

Mr. Brinkmann has produced the most up-to-date resource on professional digital compositing. Any aspiring digital artist, or any digital artist wanting to improve their compositing knowledge, will find this book invaluable. Instead of focusing on specific software of hardware, Brinkmann details techniques and technology which can be applied to any mix of soft/hardware. As a professional digital artist I will gladly use this valuable reference.

The examples and techniques described herein more than adequately demonstrate the power of effective compositing. Ron Brinkmann takes his years of experience and transforms them into this very thorough and enlightening book.

Its up-to-date text and nonsoftware-specific nature makes this book a welcome addition to any digital artists' library.

The life of Robert Morgan, the pilot of the Memphis Belle, reads like a cross between Flags of Our Fathers and a romance novel. He grew up in the mountains of Asheville, NC and his family were friends of the Vanderbilts. His mother's suicide starts him on a life long search for someone to replace her love. He tells about this search in very candid and blunt fashion that I found both wonderful and sad. The one lady he does fall in love with was the Memphis Belle(the plane and the lady) and the book follows both his missions over Europe with her(the plane) and her crew as well as what happens to her when the war was over. After his 25th mission he and his crew were sent back to the United States to sell war bonds and keep the home front morale up. This bond tour has one unintended side effect, it destroyes his love affair with the planes name sake (the real Memphis Belle). Needless to say, with women fawning over him, Mr Morgan's womanizing hits an all time high. After the bond tour he signs up for a tour of duty flying missions over Japan. He is invloved in several famous fire bomb missions over Japan.

No doubt some people will be turned off by his womanizing and cheating ways. However, if you can get past that you will find one of the most amazing war books I have read in some time. Mr Morgan saw as much action as any bomber in WWII and his casual writing style is really wonderful.

The books last chapter shows that you can go home again and you can find what you have been searching for. It is a touching ending. Mr Morgan is still alive and kicking and all I can say is I would love to sit down with him and just talk about his life. He is a true hero!

Reading the bio of Col Bob Morgan has made history come alive for me. I have never been much of a military history buff, but this book was worth reading. Anyone who had family serve in the Air Corps in WWII should read this book. It is well written by a man who states that the Memphis Belle may be the most famous B 17 ever but she was not the only one and her story is the story of all the Air Corps not just one crew. Bless them all!

This book was not a typical day by day look at the missions this plane flew. It was a review of Bob Morgan's life before, during, and after the war. He analyzes, with humor, his life before he entered the Army Air Forces; the search for love after his mother died; his baptism to war; the endless tour of the plane and crew after their 25th mission; his role in the Pacific theater; and how he handled life after the war. The book is excellently written and has enough humor to keep the reader smiling. But, there is enough to make one know that war was serious and Bob Morgan certainly lets you know that war is deadly serious.

He tells how war changed his life and talks about the treatment the soldiers faced after the war. Finally, he describes the ghosts he chased and drowned in drink trying to forget. And, he sadly chronicles the near fate of the Memphis Belle and how the US nearly relegated the plane to the scrap heap.

Just an incredible book. I highly recommend it.