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Sam not only makes you dream big but inspires you to follow your dreams.
For someone not having 'lived' the 60s and 70s in small town America, it was an insight into the All American values of old.
My business and personal links with Wal-Mart testify to how Sam's basic values are still a driving force at Wal-Mart
It is a book that makes you dream and gives you 10 rules to achieve your dream.
I read only one - it was all I needed.
The rule was 'Swim Upstream - Break all the Rules'.
- Murtuza Vasowalla
It's the second novel by Fleming to feature arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld of the Special Executive for Counter Intelligence, Espionage, Revenge, Terror, and Extortion (SPECTRE). Just like "THUNDERBALL", Blofeld's got a clandestine scheme in the works that could ruin Great Britain and make him a rich, rich man. The British secret service has their best man on the case and 007 is going to have to rely on his sharp wits and resourcefulness if he's going to foil SPECTRE's plans.
Of all the James Bond novels I've read, this one ranks as the best of the best! Nobody does it better than Ian Fleming. 5 STARS!
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The book begins by telling of the commanding rule of SMERSH. The leader of this organization is General Grubozaboyschikov. Also working is Colonel Rosa Klebb and director of planning Kronsteen, who treats real people as if they were chess pieces. The muscle of the group is a homicidal madman, who follows orders, and is in practically perfect physical shape, Donovan "Red" Grant. These evil minds have planned the perfect way to destroy the life and reputation of James Bond. Their plan is to lure 007 with the beatiful Tatiana Romanova and a Spektor cipher decoding machine as bait. Then Grant will meet up with them eventually and kill them both. However, SMERSH will take it a step further to lie to the public that Bond and Tatiana were in an affair, and that Bond commits suicide. It's a perfect plan.
Bond indeed does travel to Istanbul, believing that this girl wants to defect, and will give him the Spektor machine only if he personally helps her. 007 meets Darko Kerim, and a wonderful gypsy fight adds to the fun of the story. Bond and Tatiana travel on a train back to Europe, where he meets Red Grant and is told of the plan to kill him. An extremely bvrutal gun and fist fight breakes out between the men with 007 shooting Grant. 007 goes to Paris with Tatiana to catch Rosa Klebb in a meeting. However, Klebb releases a poison knife from her shoe and kicks 007 in the leg, before being taken away by the police. The story ends with 007 lying on the floor of the hotel room...
Perhaps the finest story of Ian Fleming, filled with the excitement and adventure to give this book it's reputation as on of the best 007 novels ever!
This is the book I've used for years when reading this story to my own children, passing on Tasha Tudor and other illustrators. Why?
Although we can find the same poem and pay a lot more, with award winning illustrators, the illustrations provided by Douglas Gorsline are surely the best. They are quite colorful, and offer details little children love looking into...cats lie sleepily on the window sill, we see an overview of the town, the presents spilling from the open sack are intriguing and plentiful, and Jolly St. Nick is -- well, quite Jolly (as you can see by looking at the cover!)
The story is an "abridged version" - I'm not sure about other parents, but we read this on Christmas Eve, and we only have so much time and energy. Everything we remember from the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore is in this version.
(From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" to "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" In between we have everything, from the names of the eight tiny reindeer, to a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, including dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky".
In other words, don't be scared off by 'abridged'!)
Perhaps a hardcover edition might be more appropriate if you're giving a gift (unless you're giving to more than one child), but this book is one of the best offers we've found!
A classic done simply and inexpensively!
The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.
The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!
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I read most of this book on a flight back home to Ireland. I just couldn't put it down. As cynical and routine that life sometimes appears each of us has a yearning to break the mold, break the routine and deep down find our way, our reason for being on this earth. O'Donohue reminds us regardless of who we are and what the material world values us at - our soul has a yearning to belong and live life spontaneously and to avoid the clutter of routine and the depression of complacency.
There are important lessons in this book on the areas of love, death, belonging, depression etc. Finding your significant other for example is something that happens through fate. Death should be celebrated for the life that it gave an individual and the journey it now presents to the soul. Depression should be addressed not through constant interactions with pyschologists, who yes help, but confronting that which caused the depression in the first place and absorbing it as a strength rather than a weakness.
I was in Ireland for a funeral, which though a sad event, i left feeling happy - This book reminded me of what a great gift life really is.
This book gave me strength and deep insight at a time when I was searching for both of these. I greatly appreciate this book's contribution to my own understanding of self and highly recommend it to you if, like me, you recognize that you are on a spiritual journey.
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This book, along with Gravity's Rainbow, The Recognitions, Auto da Fe, The Burn, and a small handful of others, is a masterpiece of the 20th century - a book people will be reading while they pilot their spaceships toward a hard day's work on Venus or some such thing a kajillion years into the future. It is also one of the few satire's that doesn't succeed by denigrating us and one of the few post-modern works that does succeed by making us howl with laughter.
I dare anyone to read the first line and then put this book down. Undoubtedly the best first line in English literature (though Garcia Marquez's first line in 100 Years of Solitude is probably the best first line in all of literature).
I won't go on about plot twists - only urge fans of literature that expands understanding while entertaining to pick up this book by the greatest of Irish writers (you read right, THE greatest).
BTW, there're even more De Selby in "The Dalkey Archive"!!! And don't read "The Poor Mouth" unless you're ready to read 100-odd pages about the boiled potato diet of an Irish family.
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This book covers BASIC marksmanship very well. Even the stuff that is labelled "advanced" is still very basic. There are many helpful bits in this book. I thought that the camouflage section was covered in not enough depth. The counter-sniper section was a pretty good introduction.
Major Plaster has done a very good job at presenting the world of the sniper through this book. Though this book won't make the "Ultimate Sniper" it will educate people pretty well. Let's face it, if you aren't an active military/police sniper this book won't be very practical for you.
Keep in mind that snipercraft is a very deadly art where people can get killed. This book give many bits of information about how police and military snipers are trained. This book will not give you enough training to be a sniper, as no book on the market will. Make sure you know the laws and regulations about wearing ghillie suits and weapons because you can break the law by using some of the techniques that this book teaches. Remember that this book is for information purposes or at the most a helful guide at the shooting range (though that is not authorized by the author).
The book is promoted or defined as an Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers, but the detail in description and selection of any long range shooting equipment is the most comprehensive I've seen in public print. The book offers quite an education to almost any shooter.
The rifle selection coverage is expansive. You'll find everything from types of actions to special preparation and specific model rifle features to look for. The section on scopes is a definitive work on shooting optics, including full description and application of every reticle I can think of, fitting and setting up a scope including mount and ring shimming and offsetting techniques. I know I have a better understanding of how MIL dot set up is suppose to work. This section concludes with a chapter on utilizing scopes, as well as related problems and solutions.
There is great detail on shooting positions, using a sling, breathing techniques, etc. There is an excellent chapter on ballistics, including the basics of bullet and case construction, and on to premium cartridge selection and cartridge options, pros and cons. This section then rolls into a chapter that ties the preceding together into long-range marksmanship coverage.
All of the preceding is all capped off with a good deal of information on field equipment ranging from range finders and binoculars to field posting and camouflage. Some of the material needs conversion to a hunting situation, while the concept remains the same; as an example, there is a lot of information on tracking and covering a given terrain or situation. To tell you the truth, I thought this content was closer to what "Art of the Rifle" would provide.
If you are interested in long distance shooting with centerfire cartridges, this is an excellent addition to a home library.
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If you haven't read it - give yourself time to adjust to the language and style but stick with it - do not miss this book.
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Before reading this book, I read Ortberg's latest book "If you Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of the Boat" - I really enjoy the author's conversational style. He tells stories about other people and about his own life, which really serve to drive home the point he's trying to convey.
John makes himself vulnerable and transparent in discussing his own sin and failings, which makes him more credible!
The three chapters that impaced me the most are #3 about the truth of spiritual disciplines, #4 about "the practice of celebration". The last chapter is entitled "The Experience of Suffering". I will definitely be re-reading these chapters.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in growing in their faith.
You might be interested in checking out my reviews of other Christian books.
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*Contents
*Acknowledgements
*Forward
1 Learning to Value a Dollar
2 Starting on a Dime
3 Bouncing Back
4 Swimming Upstream
5 Raising a Family
6 Recuiting the Team
7 Taking the Company Public
8 Rolling Out the Formula
9 Building the Partnership
10 Stepping Back
11 Creating a Culture
12 Making the Costumer Number One
13 Meeting the Competition
14 Expanding the Circles
15 Thinking Small
16 Giving Something Back
17 Running a Successful Company:Ten Rules That Worked for Me
18 Wanting to Leave a Legacy
* A Prostscript
* Co-Author's Note
* Index
Well those are the 18 chapters that Sam Walton himself and John Huey wrote. Its pretty much all about Sam Waltons life and his success behind it. Its a great book even if you don't like the guy or his stores. It also gives you good advice on making a business. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Wal-Mart and/or wants to know more about business.