Cheap Textbooks

Insightful
Everyone has to deal with difficult situations while interacting with people whether it be a difficult customer, a overzealous boss, or a conflict with a coworker. It is necessary to be able to deal with these types of situations with out losing your temper or making your work-life much more difficult and much less productive. Crucial Conversations is the perfect tool for anyone who has to deal with customers or coworkers for any amount of time. It gives you the basic tools to be able to manage maintaining your composure in difficult situations.

The advice in Crucial Conversations was given in an extremely engaging manner. The language was very conversational. I did not feel as if I was being preached or talked down to while reading this book as I think some self-help and instructional books have the tendency to do. The examples and stories illustrated their points sufficiently and in an engaging way. The stories also did not overwhelm. I sometimes find that there are too many and they overpower the message of the book. That was not the case with this one. The exercises were also very helpful and illustrated the points very well.

Crucial Conversations did have one minor flaw. I did find that sometimes the language became a bit cliché. It was not overly obvious and I feel that most self-help books fall victim to it.

I would recommend Crucial Conversations to anyone who works with people...simple as that because it's inevitable that a situation will arise where the tactics in this book will be extremely useful.

Mutual Purpose, Respect & Paths to Action
The territory "Crucial Conversations" covers is core to leadership development work with simple models, concepts, and examples to which most people can relate quite easily.

Helping people create a shared "pool of meaning," discover "mutual purpose," and be sensitive to ways that violate "mutual respect" all help deepen relationships.

However, I've seen more people deepen their capacity to empathize with others and see events and circumstances more objectively by working with the "Path to Action" model from Crucial Conversations. The authors talk about "retracing" a path to action (i.e., starting with an action and tracing it back to a feeling which can then be traced back to a story which can be traced back to the facts, or things anyone could see or hear).

The model looks like this:

See/Hear Facts --> Tell Story --> Feel --> Act

During breakdown, we're usually far more in touch with what happened (the actions and what bothers us about them) than with the process that preceded the breakdown.

By tracing our own path to action, we get in touch with the stories (perceptions) that repeatedly drive our feelings and recurring behavior. We can then choose to interpret the facts in new ways that lead to new actions. When we trace another's path to action, we can get in touch with how they are interpreting and feeling about a situation. I've found this to be a very powerful process to understand conflicting perspectives and help us get back into mutual purpose and mutual respect more easily.

As an aside, I've often asked clients to trace others' paths to action. One client dubbed this process the "Empathy Game" and confessed how easily she empathized with some people while others required quite a lot of conscious effort to understand and then empathize with.

I have recommended this practical book to many, many leaders. For those who don't like to read or lead busy lives of commuting, the audio version has been a helpful resource.

Wow what a good book
This is a great book and it was even entertaining my 16 year old used the skill set in it to talk me into buying him a muscle car. So good communication skills in Teenagers can become expensive for Dad.

Great together
I bought Crucial Conversations along with Amazon's recommended pairing, Emotional Intelligence 2.0. I enjoyed both books immensely and recommend reading them together.

A crucial conversation, as opposed to a casual exchange, is a discussion between two or more people about tough issues where opinions vary, stakes are high, and emotions run strong. When a topic needs to be breached that could easily lead to disaster, such as approaching a boss who is breaking his or her own safety or quality policies, or critiquing a colleague's work, or talking to a team member who isn't keeping commitments, talking openly is a must, but can be very difficult.

The first technique that must be learned to master crucial conversations is a talent for dialogue. This is the free flow of meaning between two or more people. People who find a way to get all relevant information from themselves and others out in the open, write the authors, make it safe for everyone to add their meaning to the shared pool, even ideas that at first glance raise eyebrows or appear at odds with their own beliefs. These people try hard to ensure that all ideas find their way into the forum; and as this "pool of shared meaning" grows, it helps people by exposing them to more accurate and relevant information so they can make better decisions - and when people share their ideas more freely, the increased time investment creates betterquality decisions.

The authors write that the skills that are needed to master high-stakes interactions are easy to spot and easy to learn. By organizing the lessons they have discovered from extensive research, they have created a set of tools that combines the philosophies, theories, models and skills that can help make crucial conversations more successful.

These tools begin with tips for understanding how we think about and prepare for problem situations. Creating conditions in yourself and others must be done to develop the path of least resistance. Next, people must learn the skills of talking, listening and acting together. The last part of the equation involves mastering the tools for talking when stakes are high.

As for Emotional Intelligence 2.0, it teaches you how to keep your cool during tough conversations (and anytime, really). The book includes an online test which you take to test your EQ before and after you've applied the strategies from the book. It's a great value with the test, as the authors' company sells it for separately from the book.

disappointing!
I paid for the book but then received a message saying they didn't have it in stock & couldn't get it. This was very annoying, they shouldn't have it listed if this is the case. The money was refunded after awhile but it makes me hesitate to buy online through this site again.

Interesting and funny/wierd
If you have read "Everything you think you know is wrong" and liked it, you will def like this one as well. Most of the topics are intriguing and funny. There are a ton of interesting facts and things that i never knew about animals. A must read for people who like useless knowledge.

Funny
My 14 year old daughter just loves to share information from this book. There are a lot of very funny & interesting facts about animals. She's truly enjoying the book!

Very interesting
Do you need to know about all the animals in this book? Probably not. Will you remember even half of the information provided to you? No. Are some of the "nicknames" given to the animals a bit unsettling? Yes. However, it is a fun quick read, and even if you only remember one or two of the hundreds of facts in this book, you will at some time be able to impress your friends or family. Isn't that enough? Yes!

Animal Ignorance
Well written and very concise. This is a really good consensus of information
that I have never seen or even heard of in the past.
It is very informative and very entertaining.

Very Enjoyable!
I learned a lot that I never knew about the animal world in a fun and easy to read format. Very enjoyable and informative, I highly recommend it.

Honest Review of GMAT Books!
After going through all the GMAT books, here is my honest opinion about some of the most popular GMAT books:

Official Guide:
Pros - Excellent source of GMAT questions. Very well organized with real test like questions.
Cons - No review of any math content or test-taking strategies. Not enough explanations of practice questions.
Overall, the Official Guide is a must have for all test-takers. It will give you a good idea about the type of questions to expect on the GMAT; however, if you need more than just a bank of questions, you need to look at some other source.

Kaplan:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Unrealistic questions.

Princeton:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Weird sense of humor.

Barrons:
Pros - Good math review. Big list of questions. Good test taking strategies. Very well organized. This is by far the best of the all-in-one kinds of books.
Cons - Although the book has a good math review, it doesn't go deep enough into each concept. Not enough explanations to practice questions. Does not have a good section for logical reasoning (permutation, combination, probability, etc) questions, which is one of the most important question-type. Does not break down the concepts/questions step by step.

EZ Solutions Series of Books:
Pros - Thorough math review from A to Z. Effective test taking strategies. Abundant solved examples. Numerous practice exercises. Great practice question bank in basic and advanced workbooks.
As with most books, you are expected to already have a good knowledge about the various match concepts, but with these books, you can literally start from scratch and reach the most advanced level of the GMAT.
Cons - To get the best result from these books, you have to invest in buying several books (set of 9 books), but if you compare the cost and benefits, the benefits outweigh the cost, or you can buy a few not all. Missing the verbal section. This is not a good option if you are looking for a mediocre score or just looking for a very basic brush-up. Recommended for serious test takers only.

Some of the other books has no real content; whereas, there are some other books that I haven't yet had an opportunity to review, but may be some of them are good supplementary aids.

I hope my review will help some of you in making the right decision.

I have not received the books yet
I have not received the books, I was waiting until tomorrow to let you know about this problem, thank you very much in advance for your attention. Alicia Ortega Pacheco

Required reading
If you are serious about taking the Gmat and getting a good score, you absolutely must buy this book along with the other two official supplements. Between the three books, you will have access to over 1,000 problems that have been retired from the Gmat and are 100% representative of what you are going to see come test day.

My scores:

Powerprep 1 (Official software) - 700 - no studying
Princeton 1 - 630
Kaplan 1 - 560
Kaplan 2 - 600
Kaplan 3 - 580
Powerprep 2 - 730
Actual Gmat - 750

I am 100% certain that using all three books is what raised my score those last 50 points. On test day I was the only one at the center and I got to know the receptionist pretty well. She told me that she sees hundreds of these scores a year and the ones who get 700+ all have one thing in common - they have all done every problem in all three books.

My advice: spend the money on all three. Work every problem, noting which ones are hard and which you get wrong. When you are done, go back and work the hard/incorrect problems again. Then, when you are done, start over from page one. You effort will be rewarded on test day.

Good practice problems and solution explanations!
What's good about it:
1. The difficulty level and the types of problems are very close to the actual test questions.
2. Good for practice - difficulty level increases towards the end of every chapter.
3. Good supplement for the Official guide 11
4. The solution explanations are very detailed and well-written - please make it a point to read the solutions carefully if you are following this book, read explanations even for the answers you got right - this would ensure that your line of reasoning was correct.

What's not so great about it:
1. CERTAINLY NOT A SUBSTITUTE OR ALTERNATIVE TO OG11 and KAPLAN 800 (if you are targetting above 700 scores)
2. Difficulty level is not very high - so do not rely on this book entirely and do not become complacent if you manage to master all problems in this book.

Mostly 400-650 level test questions
The GMAT verbal, especially the Sentence Correction, has been made substantially more difficult than it has been in the past. For example, GMAT SC tests such things as "gerunds which pose as nouns" and how they can only be parallel to action (but not regular) nouns. Unfortunately, this book leaves a lot wanting in the more difficult questions of the GMAT verbal.

Simply put, this book does not provide the type of questions the present real GMAT will give you.

You are far better off studying the Manhattan GMAT (especially SC) 3rd edition books. And no I do not work for Manhattan GMAT.

Do yourself a big favor and practice GMAT Prep (downloaded free from MBA.com) prior to taking the real GMAT. Otherwise, you will be in a shock at the difficulty of the questions when you take the real GMAT.

Unless you are shooting for sub 650 score, do not rely solely on this book for your GMAT verbal preparation. I suggest you spend your valuable study time on Manhattan GMAT books and GMAT prep.

Honest Review of GMAT Books!
After going through all the GMAT books, here is my honest opinion about some of the most popular GMAT books:

Official Guide:
Pros - Excellent source of GMAT questions. Very well organized with real test like questions.
Cons - No review of any math content or test-taking strategies. Not enough explanations of practice questions.
Overall, the Official Guide is a must have for all test-takers. It will give you a good idea about the type of questions to expect on the GMAT; however, if you need more than just a bank of questions, you need to look at some other source.

Kaplan:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Unrealistic questions.

Princeton:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Weird sense of humor.

Barrons:
Pros - Good math review. Big list of questions. Good test taking strategies. Very well organized. This is by far the best of the all-in-one kinds of books.
Cons - Although the book has a good math review, it doesn't go deep enough into each concept. Not enough explanations to practice questions. Does not have a good section for logical reasoning (permutation, combination, probability, etc) questions, which is one of the most important question-type. Does not break down the concepts/questions step by step.

EZ Solutions Series of Books:
Pros - Thorough math review from A to Z. Effective test taking strategies. Abundant solved examples. Numerous practice exercises. Great practice question bank in basic and advanced workbooks.
As with most books, you are expected to already have a good knowledge about the various match concepts, but with these books, you can literally start from scratch and reach the most advanced level of the GMAT.
Cons - To get the best result from these books, you have to invest in buying several books (set of 9 books), but if you compare the cost and benefits, the benefits outweigh the cost, or you can buy a few not all. Missing the verbal section. This is not a good option if you are looking for a mediocre score or just looking for a very basic brush-up. Recommended for serious test takers only.

Some of the other books has no real content; whereas, there are some other books that I haven't yet had an opportunity to review, but may be some of them are good supplementary aids.

I hope my review will help some of you in making the right decision.

I have not received the books yet
I have not received the books, I was waiting until tomorrow to let you know about this problem, thank you very much in advance for your attention. Alicia Ortega Pacheco

Required reading
If you are serious about taking the Gmat and getting a good score, you absolutely must buy this book along with the other two official supplements. Between the three books, you will have access to over 1,000 problems that have been retired from the Gmat and are 100% representative of what you are going to see come test day.

My scores:

Powerprep 1 (Official software) - 700 - no studying
Princeton 1 - 630
Kaplan 1 - 560
Kaplan 2 - 600
Kaplan 3 - 580
Powerprep 2 - 730
Actual Gmat - 750

I am 100% certain that using all three books is what raised my score those last 50 points. On test day I was the only one at the center and I got to know the receptionist pretty well. She told me that she sees hundreds of these scores a year and the ones who get 700+ all have one thing in common - they have all done every problem in all three books.

My advice: spend the money on all three. Work every problem, noting which ones are hard and which you get wrong. When you are done, go back and work the hard/incorrect problems again. Then, when you are done, start over from page one. You effort will be rewarded on test day.

Good practice problems and solution explanations!
What's good about it:
1. The difficulty level and the types of problems are very close to the actual test questions.
2. Good for practice - difficulty level increases towards the end of every chapter.
3. Good supplement for the Official guide 11
4. The solution explanations are very detailed and well-written - please make it a point to read the solutions carefully if you are following this book, read explanations even for the answers you got right - this would ensure that your line of reasoning was correct.

What's not so great about it:
1. CERTAINLY NOT A SUBSTITUTE OR ALTERNATIVE TO OG11 and KAPLAN 800 (if you are targetting above 700 scores)
2. Difficulty level is not very high - so do not rely on this book entirely and do not become complacent if you manage to master all problems in this book.

Mostly 400-650 level test questions
The GMAT verbal, especially the Sentence Correction, has been made substantially more difficult than it has been in the past. For example, GMAT SC tests such things as "gerunds which pose as nouns" and how they can only be parallel to action (but not regular) nouns. Unfortunately, this book leaves a lot wanting in the more difficult questions of the GMAT verbal.

Simply put, this book does not provide the type of questions the present real GMAT will give you.

You are far better off studying the Manhattan GMAT (especially SC) 3rd edition books. And no I do not work for Manhattan GMAT.

Do yourself a big favor and practice GMAT Prep (downloaded free from MBA.com) prior to taking the real GMAT. Otherwise, you will be in a shock at the difficulty of the questions when you take the real GMAT.

Unless you are shooting for sub 650 score, do not rely solely on this book for your GMAT verbal preparation. I suggest you spend your valuable study time on Manhattan GMAT books and GMAT prep.

Easy to understand instructions for Kindle users!
I absolutely loved learning about my Kindle that I have been only reading on since I got it a year ago. Now, I learned how to download a book my son has been writing, and if he chooses to publish it down the road, I have the step by step instructions for that also! I don't learn easily, but Stephen has made this very easy! I know things even my tech savvy kids don't know yet and they have a Kindle also! Thank you!

Amazing Amazon Kindle
A great guide book with more information and things you can do with your Kindle. It is only for the original Kindle 1.

Kindle Resource
I am sure that this Kindle Resource is adequate for those who own a Kindle 1, but for a Kindle 2 owner the book is dated. I read through it but did not find it answered all of my questions as a Kindle 2 owner.

Kindle Manual
This product only addresses the Kindle 1. I got in trouble trying to apply the instructions to the Kindle 2. You should take it off the market.

My Reaction to This Book
The Book is probably written for use on the Kindle and is likely to be more useful there, but as a stand alone book it is not easy to use, seems disjointed and is poorly written.