Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. Unless you're a citizen of Virginia or a follower of political trivia, that's not a name that sounds terribly distinguished or familiar. However, in 1970, Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. was -- much like James Jeffords thirty-one years later -- briefly at the center of the national awareness when he made history by leaving his longtime patrons (Virginia's then all-powerful Democratic Party, which had been practically created by Byrd's namesake and father) and winning reelection to the U.S. Senate as an Independent and serving two more terms before retiring in 1982. Defying the Odds is Byrd's own account of both the conflicts that caused him to leave the Democratic Party and the subsequent campaign where he truly did the defy the odds by winning a clear majority of the votes over both a Republican and a Democratic candidate. Seen as something of an interesting oddity in its day, Byrd's victory is all the more relavent today as more and more American voters express a dissatisfaction with the current two party system and third parties continue to struggle to find a meaningful voice in modern politics.

Byrd's brief book is a likeable account and its hard not to respect the former Senator while reading it. At no point does he descend into petty backbiting or the type of self-righteous rhetoric that all-too often seems to distinguish modern day political memoirs. Instead, Byrd truly does come across as a member of that rare and disappearing breed -- the true Southern gentleman who treats everyone -- even those he might disagree with politically -- with proper respect (such a contrast to the politics we've all grown to know!). As well, Byrd explains his reasoning and beliefs in a clear, concise tone that leaves no doubt to his true reasons for leaving his party. Nor does his minimize the political risks in his decision. While Byrd may superficially resemble Jeffords, the differences become rather clear and illuminating while reading Byrd's book. Unlike Jeffords, Byrd was basically leaving the majority party of the U.S. Senate and turning against the political establishment of his state. (As opposed to Jeffords who pretty much was the only Republican in Vermont -- a state that, unlike Byrd's Virginia, also had a clear history of electing and reelecting independents).

Reading this book, its hard not to respect Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. Which doesn't make this a perfect book. There is something truly admirable about the fact that Byrd has clearly decided not to use a ghost writer to express his beliefs and his story. At the same time, Byrd is somewhat of a dry writer and there are many times when one wishes he'd go into a bit more detail. However, for political completists, this is a valuable personal record of an apparently rather modest man who managed to make political history.

A crisp, clear account of the former Senator's historic 1970 Senate race when he put principle ahead of expediency, and left the party of his fathers, because the party had left its principles, to run as an independent for the U.S. Senate from his native Virginia. Byrd enunciates his reasons and recounts the features of his campaign; a campaign in which he solidly out-polled the combined votes of the Democratic and Republican candidates. In a current Chapter, Byrd reviewing the current loss of political direction in Washington--including the manifest difference between Newt Gingrich's brand of Republicanism in 1994 and his lost way in 1998-- goes on to describe the circumstances, which might make it possible for an independent to be elected President in the near future. Those who are disastified with what is going on in Washington should consider this a must read!

"Fish" is a parable that deals with Mary Jane who was assigned to the third floor of her company who had the reputation of being ineffective, unfriendly and labelled a "toxic energy dump." Mary Jane had to find ways to improve morale and basically changed the attitudes of some thirty employees under her supervision. She employed the tactics of fishmongers at Pike Place Fish, a world famous market in Seattle in order to learn from them how to make the workspace more fun and effective.

The four principles that Mary Jane learned from the fishmongers are "choose your attitude," "play," "make their day," and "be present." The book basically explains how these principles would improve morale in the workplace, making it fun to work even if the work itself is boring and at the same time, valuing both their internal and external customers. "Fish" is quite encouraging and it reminds me a lot of "Who Moved My Cheese?" as both books are short, concise and easy to understand.

Fish! is a deceptively thin but surprisingly inspiring book. I found it easy to relate to and engaging because the main characters, Lonnie and Mary Jane, were down-to-earth people in realistic circumstances. There weren't any business buzzwords or corporate strategies to make it feel contrived. While claiming that there are 4 things necessary to change the way we look at our work, I found one major theme prevailed for me: bring 100% involvement to our jobs - no matter what we do. The book talks about "choosing your attitude" and "playing" at work, but it was clear to me that these seem to happen naturally when you don't resist your work and become totally involved in it "being present" as Lonnie describes it. I believe these philosophies go far beyond work and apply to every area of one's life. If we are totally engaged in any activity, especially the one we spend most of our lives doing, learning to be present is easy when you simply do what you have to do.

The best book I have ever read on the subject of being present is Working on Yourself Doesn't Work by Ariel and Shya Kane. While Fish! is a fun way to learn how to enjoy even mundane tasks, it only scratches the surface compared to what Working On Yourself Doesn't Work will teach you about truly being present and satisfied in all aspects of your life. Both books are simple, fun reads and can help you discover magic in your life.

A wonderful book that simplifies the steps to have the right atmosphere in any environment.

Mary Jane has been given the difficult task of turning around the 3rd floor inefficiency to be a productive and pleasant place to work. In helping her in the task she meets Lonnie, who works in the fish market, and who makes her see how he managed to bring the best out of his employees even though they work in a stinky place.

The four lessons learned to achieve such results are: Attitude, Play, Make their day, and Be present. Those simple words and how to carry them between the employees and be able to transmit them to the customers should be enough to turn the life around.

A great book, that also helps with our daily lives and how to approach life on daily basis, make the best of things, give it your best shot and the rest is history.

This book is a pretty package of a few facts about the author, some of which are incorrect. The final injustice for me was when they mis-spelled one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Goudge (spelled in their book Groudge). [...].

There are better books out there.

Yes, it is hard to believe that fans of Harry Potter do not know pretty much everything that is in this About the Author biography of J. K. Rowling. The most interesting thing in this book is that it provides a map so you can find Nicholsons Cafe in Edinburgh where Rowling wrote parts of the first Harry Potter book. All of the color photographs are contemporary and most of them are about her books and the places she has lived rather than of Rowling herself. The production values on this book are geared towards sensory overload: there is not just a photograph on a page, but rather it is a photograph with wavy boarders on top of very bush "wallpaper" with Rowling's signature in gold ink.

The bottom line is pretty simple. If your children have read some of the Harry Potter books and know nothing about their author, then this book will give them the basic story on her astounding literary career. But if they have devouring every tidbit about Rowling in the press while waiting for Book Five to come out, then they will probably find nothing new here. How will you know? Simple: Ask them what the J. K. stands for and if they do not know, then let them read this book.

"Meet J.K. Rowling," by S. Ward, is a brief biography of the author behind the phenomenal Harry Potter series of children's books. With simple text and plenty of illustrations, this book is geared towards younger readers.

The book includes the basic information about Rowling's life and literary career: her childhood, education, literary influences, etc. Ward also briefly discusses Rowling's marriage and divorce, as well as the "birth" of Harry. The book is illustrated with photos of Rowling and of the places in her life. There are also photos of cover art from the Potter books. A number of quotes from the Potter books appear as sidebars. Along the way is some interesting information, such as the fact that, at the time this biography was written, the Harry Potter books had been translated into 28 languages.

The book presents the basic information about Rowling, but I didn't see anything particularly new or insightful. And I imagine that many of Rowling's fans already know most or all of the facts in the book (I did). Also, the internal layout of the book is a bit too cluttered for my taste. Overall, a competent but unexceptional biography for younger readers.

The inherent problem with this book is that it's stretched too thin and tries to cover to many personalities. Charles Dana and Greeley are ancillary players in the civil war drama; there's enough material on Grant and journalists to warrant a study of him alone. In addition, Charles Dana deliberately muddied the historical waters by having others ghostwrite his memoirs and constantly changing this stories or giving conflicting testimony about various events.

Maihofer writes well and certainly displays a prejudice in General Grant's favor. There are few factual errors and the pace is lively. However, the book would have been improved had he restricted the narrative to U.S. Grant and eliminated Dana and Greeley. Ultimately this makes for a somewhat disjointed book and one is sorely temped to skip over the chapters with the two minor supporting players.