Anyone who aspires to be a successful entrepreneur will find this book is definitely a "must read." From cover to cover, it is full of useful frameworks and wonderful quotes from some of the most successful women entrepreneurs in America. Through careful distillation of focused interviews, Dorothy Perrin Moore has captured the essence of the best advice these savvy business women have to offer.

A favorite chapter is the one on networking. It provides great examples of how these women entrepreneurs have gone about building the networks of contacts that have been a key to their success. The chapter on leadership offers terrific insight into developing an effective leadership style and making the transition to leader. The chapter on negotiation provides crucial advice about critical bargaining skills. There is much more to love in this insightful book.

The anecdotes and quotes are integrated throughout, making this book a particularly fascinating read for anyone involved in the business world.

Dorothy Moore"s Carerrpreneurs is a must read for women who want to succeed in today's business world. Its clear format and well organized style makes it a pleasure to read. I especially liked the self-assessment tool. I'm a Human Resource Consultant for a major corporation and would recommend this book to women at all stages of their careers. I found the practical wisdom expressed in these successful women's own words to be enlightening and inspirational. A great read!

I read Dr. Moore's book a year ago as I started my business as a female entrepreneur, and now a year later I re-read it- and find all the lessons even more relevant and helpful. Any woman considering starting her own business should read this book several times. I have learned quite a bit over the last year, and Dr. Moore's book tremendously helped reduce my learning curve (not that it's been easy).

As a self- employed consultant focusing on women's leadership, I have found especially useful the author's pointers on negotiation, how to invest my time, and how to make the most of my networking resources. Her real-life examples and advice from successful female entrepreneurs and their stories is most inspiring and a continuing source of strength for me. My business has continued to grow, and I truly appreciate the opportunity to have learned from the other entrepreneurial women in this book.

I'm a fund raising coordinator for a national charity. I used "The Celebrity Address Directory" to contact celebrities for an autograph donation for our annual celebrity auction. We had a wonderful time and the event was a great success. Many signed items sold for more than the anticipated price. Mr. Ellis was a help to us by provided updated addresses and he was professional, fast and courtesy with all his replies. I would highly recommend this book to all fundraisers because the book is well organized by celebrity category and makes sending out requests very easy.

I'm a fund-raiser coordinator for a national charity. I used "The Celebrity Address Directory" to contact celebrities for an autograph donation for our annual celebrity auction. We had a wonderful time and the event was a great success. Many signed items sold for more than the anticipated price. Mr. Ellis was a help to us by providing updated addresses. He was professional, fast and courtesy with all his replies. I would highly recommend this book to all fund-raisers because the book is well organized by celebrity category and makes sending out requests very easy.

When I received my copy of this book I was surprised. It has many top name celebrities and a lot more! I like the lists he has in this book - celebrity birthdays, celebrity charities, celebrity hobbies, top paid entertainers, Rock' Roll Hall of Famers, Nobel Prize winners, places to get in person autographs and via venues -places to send a request where a celebrity is performing. I haven't seen these features in any other celebrity book. Got to go, I have letters to write.

While not intended for the purpose, this book might work better than a condom in reducing population growth. Reading Child of Mine is sure to give any woman pause before becoming pregnant, because the contributors hold nothing back in their accounts of their early experiences as mothers. Sleep deprivation, cracked nipples, near insanity -- it's all there. The more pleasant aspects of motherhood are depicted as well, but as any "experienced" parent will tell you, the first year in particular is the most grueling, the boot camp of parenting, if you will. Too often I felt that these writer-mothers' stories lacked perspective, some sort of retrospective comments to indicate that after the kid hits 18 months or so, things get much easier. But perhaps that's the point. In that first year or so we don't have perspective. We are trapped in a baby-care and -concern time warp from which there seems no immediate escape. The authors have followed editor Kline's directive to capture their first-year experiences, and the resulting collection of essays takes us from conception forward through the new-mother adventure. While mothers may find that no one of the scenarios exactly describes their own experience, collectively, they describe a sort of Everymom to whom we all can relate. Piece together this woman's breastfeeding experience, that woman's socioeconomic circumstances, another woman's level of attachment, and most moms will be able to find a mothering experience with which to identify. Child of Mine is a nice complement to the other baby-and-child nonfiction on the shelves. Those of us who are already mothers are in a little safer position to enjoy the book: The fact that we even have time to read the authors' essays is testament to the fact that parenting's maniacal pace has slowed down to a civil level. The sad fact is that the audience who might most benefit from the shared experiences in this book are new mothers, who are least likely to have time to read it. That leaves us with parents who are still expecting their children, by birth or adoption. Proceed with caution. You might think you know what to expect the first year, but those handbook-type books don't tell the whole story. Short of the actual parenting experience, Child of Mine provides the most helpful and valid overview of what you're in for your first year on the job.

I was searching for a book to give a friend who was curious about motherhood and I read this all the way through before giving it to her. Her comment was,"I don't know if this makes it easier or harder to make the decision to have a child!" I agree wholeheartedly - as the mother of a 2 year old the stories in this book are a synchonicity of awe, wonder, exhaustion, frustration and many of the other emotions that occur during the first year of parenthood. I am ordering another copy for a friend who has a five year old and is due to have a baby in August. I think this will be a great refresher...

As every pregnant woman must, I started to have my doubts about myself as a mother. As much as I've always wanted children, and have seen myself as a good mother, the overwhelming sense of fear engulfed me in the start of my second trimester. The very thought of someone feeling about me and depending upon me the way I STILL feel and depend on my own mother was terrifying.

Enter Child of Mine. I devoured this book in about a day and a half, learning about motherhood, NEW motherhood, from women who had been there; women from backgrounds similar and opposite of mine. Yet, in all their stories, I found a sense of calm. Here was a set of stories that didn't candy-coat pregnancy and motherhood the way everyone around me was doing. (I think it's the rosy remembrances of pregnancy and motherhood!)

All in all, this was the right book at the right time, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Beginning with "Betsy and Tacy," I read this series years ago. Now, I have read and re-read every book in it many more times then I could possibly count. Each book is more unique and different then the one before and yet, each has the one thing in common that matters the most: the ever-lasting friendship of Betsy, Tacy, and Tib. After I first finished reading the series, I wished that the wonderful and talented author, Maud Hart Lovelace, had wrote more, (as if 11 books weren't enough). But, as the story of life, and of the wholesomely-spirited Betsy and her friends goes, every sweet simple thing must come to an end.

Betsy, Tacy, and Tib is a wonderful book in a great series. Maud Hart Lovelace did a spectacular job writing these stories. My mother read the books and loved them, my sister and I read the books and loved them, and now my little girls are reading them and loving them. These books never seem to grow old even though they are set during the turn of the 20th century. As a child, I not only read them, I wore the books out! I read and re-read the books, I couldn't put them down. I talked about them so much to my friends, they started checking them out from the Library and we would play Betsy-Tacy during recess. Now set in a period of a hundred years ago, they are still captivating kids today. My husband read the first four books in the series to our kids (Ages 7, 5, 3, and 1 at the time) and they love them all. My oldest begged me to let her keep my copies in her room so she could read them herself.

There are many great books in the series, this one in fact is not the first in the series. Check out the other books in the series, Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy-Tacy Go Downtown, Heaven to Betsy, Betsy in Spite of Herself, Betsy was a Junior, Betsy and Joe, Betsy and the Great World, and Betsy's Wedding. The books take Betsy through grade school and high school, to Europe right before the 1st world war, then back to America for her wedding and the joys and troubles of married life. Some other books not in the Betsy-Tacy series but also by Maud Hart Lovelace and worth checking out are The Trees Kneel at Christmas, Winona's Pony Cart, Carney's House Party, and (my personal Maud Hart Lovelace favorite) Emily of Deep Valley.

Do you know how a certain book or movie will completely transport you to another time and place? That is the effect the Betsy-Tacy and Tib series of books had on me. I read the entire series about 14 years ago and even now, from time to time, I'll remember them and smile because of all the joy they brought into my life. They lived at the turn of the 20th century and grew up with the invention of the automobile and the first World War. Maud-Hart Lovelace writes of a time of innocence and wonder and I personally feel like Betsy and Tacy and Tib are life long friends that will always exist in my heart and I'll always hold dear the memories of their young lives. There are not many books that grab hold of you like this cherished series does but when they do, you will forever be caught up in the spell of three little girls growing up in a kinder and gentler era and their many adventures and loves and losses. I highly recommend these books to ANYONE if you want to understand a bygone era, when our grandparents were growing up, and see the world through their eyes. I loved the books when they were small and when Betsy went to Europe for a year and of all her escapades in Italy and Germany. I'll never forget the many Friday nights the gang would get together and eat onion sandwiches Betsy's father would make, and how everyone would sing around the piano. The genuine love and warmth the friends and family felt for one another was uplifting and heartwarming and beautiful to read about. And Betsy's boyfriend Joe was also a loyal friend and played a prominent role in the series. If I could step into any world from the past, I would choose their world. You can't ask more from a book. Please do yourself a huge favor, and order these books. I plan on buying the series as well and begin reading them to my three year old daughter in a few years.

I READ THIS BOOK WHILE ON HOLIDAY IN MADERIA AND COULD'NT PUT IT DOWN. IT TELLS THE TRUE STORY OF HOLLYWOOD.YOU WILL LAUGH & CRY .YOU WILL FEEL SADNESS FOR PEOPLE YOU THOUGHT HAD IT ALL. THE WRITER TELLS IT AS IT IS. IF YOU LIKED THE MOONS A BALLOON YOU WILL LOVE THIS.DAVID NIVEN WILL BE REMBERED FOR HIS ACTING,WRITING & MOST OF ALL HIS COMPASSION .AN OLD BOOK BUT A MUST READ.

This book and the one preceding it("The Moon's a Balloon") just might be my two favorite books, EVER. I practically insist every friend I make read them. Niven had a very unique life, and had a rare gift for story-telling that makes these books real treasures. They are laugh-out-loud, effortlessly funny stories that tell us of his entry into Hollywood (an unusual career path, it involved prohibition, fish and polo) as well as his checkered career in the military in England. I guarantee you'll read these two books over and over again. I just wish he'd written more of them!

This book is one of the best books about Hollywood I have ever read. Many books of this kind are written in a bitter, sometimes nasty voice as an attack on the people involved, but Niven does not stoop to that level. Not only do you get an excellent first-hand history of the golden studio days of filmmaking, but you get to see a more personal depiction of many of the stars of the era. His style is so charming, and dare I say "witty", that I couldn't help but laugh aloud at many of his observations. Finally, a book about Hollywood that doesn't leave a bad aftertaste!

Forget Tara, forget Falconhurst... this was the real deal. Based on the results of a U.S. Government project in the 1930's to capture the memories of living former slaves on tape, this awesome book is the history of slavery in the United States by those most qualified to tell it -- the blacks who actually lived it. And by telling their stories, we live through it with them; we feel what it must have been like to have your family members sold away from you, to be forced into cohabitation with a fellow slave you despised for the sole purpose of breeding new slaves, to be treated like a beast of burden, and the crushing indignity of being a piece of property to be treated however your master's whim takes him. The former slaves remembered it all, and their reminiscences aren't pretty: "For miles around you could hear those dreadful whuppins. They were a turrible part of livin'." We hear their voices through the dark years of Reconstruction, which for many former slaves was escaping out of one hell and landing into the next, and we hear the stark statement of one old man who sums up the results of all his labor, paid and unpaid, over the decades: "Ain't got nothin, ain't got nothin, ain't got nothin." And finally, we can only wonder at the strength and resilience of so many who claimed their humanity after so many years of being treated as something less than human, and who managed to not only survive, but to keep on keepin' on.

You wouldn't believe my excitement upon discovering this book at the local library. These are the voices of real slaves, their histories recorded in the 1930's through a government project to collect this data. What a true American gem. All the voices are transcribed in the "native" language - Black English as spoken by ex-slaves, many of them at the time of their stories being recorded nearly a hundred years old. The accounts are fascinating, and non-biased. Some slaves speak frankly of wishing once again for slavery, and they recount the generosity and attention of the "Old Marse". Others tell horrific and moving stories of truly brutal and savage masters and wouldn't want to return to "slave times" under any circumstance. Most of the stories include first-hand accounts of their experiences through the Civil War and Reconstruction, although the primary goal was to record their experiences while slaves. Reconstruction of this country had enormous impact, and what the slaves did to build the nation during it's early years has been such a neglected historical topic. This is by far one of the most important books in my collection. As a white 31-year old middle-class woman, this is a must-read for anyone who might call themselves an American, regardless of race.

FOR SO LONG, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SLAVERY WAS LIKE. I'VE READ ABOUT IT IN BOOKS BUT THERE REALLY WAS NO DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE ACTUAL SLAVES. THIS BOOK REALLY HELPED ME TO FEEL THE DEVASTATION AND HUMILIATION OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE. IT HAS ALSO GIVEN ME A DIFFERENT OUTLOOK ON WHO I AM AND WHERE MY PEOPLE HAVE COME FROM. LONG BEFORE THIS BOOK I HAD DOUBTS ABOUT BEING AFRICAN. I DON'T MEAN AFRICAN AMERICAN. AFRICAN! FROM THE TRAUMATIC STRUGGLE MY PEOPLE HAVE ENDURED HAS MADE ME REALIZE THAT I WOULD BE SO IGNORANT TO CHANGE WHAT THEY HAVE GIVEN ME. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK FOR NOT CHANGING EVEN THE DIALECT OF THE EX-SLAVES. IT REMINDS ME HOW FAR WE HAVE COME AND HOW FAR WE HAVEN'T. THERE IS SO MUCH HEALING THAT HAS TO COME TO THE SO CALLED AFRICAN AMERICANS. READING THIS BOOK, I REALIZE THAT I HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE STILL IN THE SAME STATE OF MIND. -MENTALLY ENSLAVED-

This book is so well written becuase of the beautiful, intelligent, outstanding women behind all of it, Summer Sanders! You have written such a good book that teaches parents about raising a child not competitevely but well! Thank you so much!

I wanted to preview a few chapters of the book before I gave it to my 10 year old daughter for Christmas. Needless to say, I read it from cover to cover. Summer Sanders writes, in plain English, about her parents' roll in her successful swimming career. This book should be required reading for any parent who has a child who participates in sports!

I really enjoyed this book and Summer has helped me keep my daughter's goals in perspective. I have a 9 year old over achiever who doesn't need pushed but needs encourgement and wants us as parents to comment on her achievements. I have learned that not only verbalizing our comments but showing her through our actions that we approve of her achievements. I learned that through this book. I picked this book up because of the attachment to swimming, but it definately carries over into all corners of our lives.

I have read this book three times. I know what an extraordinary story this is and have tried to turn others on to it.
Bob Mason's transformation from eager pilot trainee to jaded combat veteran/burnout, while probably not anymore remarkable a story than any other pilot's is well written and that is what makes it great! After reading the book I felt as though I know Bob Mason. Not a bad thing.
When Mason describes the deck inside the chopper,covered in blood you can almost smell it.
Serious life and death stuff with some of the funniest stories of human screw ups wrapped up in a truly memorable account of one
helluva chopper pilots' experience in Vietnam.
It's like I say:" 'Chickenhawk' is the best damn war movie they never made!"

I first bought and read Mason's book Chickenhawk in the mid-eighties. I recently got the urge to reread a number of 'Nam books, so I bought a new copy. Keeping in mind that the war in Vietnam was ever-changing, and that each time period made for a different environment, Mason gives a good account of the early period of the war. This is one of maybe the three or four best books written on the vietnam experience or, for that matter, combat flying. I recommend it highly.

While not as action-packed as Mason's first book, Chickenhawk, this sequel is still a fine read. The Kirkus Review calls the book "flat-footed." Before I read this book, I probably would not have been surprised to hear that the sequel to what is probably my favorite book of all time does not live up to the first installment. Chickenhawk is mostly a war story, rich in detail and technical information about the helicopters Mason flew. I am fascinated with helicopters and that is probably why I like Chickenhawk so much. I approached Back In The World with skepticism. I doubted that it had any chance to be as interesting as Mason's first book. But as a fan of Chickenhawk, I was happy to discover that Back To The World does not really try to stand by itself. In many ways, it is just the story of how Chickenhawk was written. It is the story behind the story.

The Kirkus Review makes it sound as though this book is dull, and belittles the significance of Mason's incarceration and his description of the way Chickenhawk was recieved by the public. Personally, I thought Mason's imprisonment was conveyed in a style reminiscent of Henri Charrier's Papillon, another of my favorites.

The point is, it is impossible to fully understand or appreciate Chickenhawk as a description of the Vietnam Experience without reading this book. If you liked Chickenhawk, this is a must-read.

If you're a dog parent, you tend to know the green spaces around where you live, but when you go afield, you need a guide. This book is invaluable for telling you where to take your dog in Boston and the surrounding towns. If you have a dog and you are looking for an apartment or for real estate in the Boston area, you absolutely need this book.

The only criticism I have is that the book is retriever-centric, meaning it favors parks with bodies of water and ball-throwing possibilities. Different types of dogs need different types of parks; some need good squirrel-chasing capabilities, some need a large fenced area so they can run, some need to be able to swim, some need puppy play-groups, and some need to go where other dogs don't go. The book's ratings favor swimming possibilities, but if you read the descriptions, you can get a sense of whether or not your dog will like a given park.

I will use this book many times. It will be a resource for me when I want to take Pluto to new places. I do think that Great Brook State Park should make it to the top dog list. And also would recommend that the MSPCA Mutts and Fluff and Stuff Annual walk and pet show be added to the list of doggy diversions. All in all a great book and fun resource. I envy George and Inu and owners for the research process:)

When we arrived in the Boston Metro area with our golden retriever, this was the first book we bought. It is a god-send! Immensely detailed and highly accurate, it lists hundreds of places to take your dog in Boston, the surrounding communities, the Cape, and even as far afield as New Hamsphire. The book is divided into 12 geographic areas. In turn, each broad region is sub-divided by town. Within each town, Downey and Lau first list Parks, Beaches, and Recreation Areas. These are subjectively rated from 1 to 4 paws. In our experience, one paw sites are only good for a quick pitstop. Four paw sites, however, are routinely wonderful. Usefully, a running dog symbol indicates off-leash parks. Directions, a map, and a reasonably detailed description of the facilities follow. Downey and Lau also list for each towndog-friendly restaurants, accomodations, festivals, pet sitters, and the like. So far their advice has been dead accurate--up-to-date and on the money. If you love dogs and live in the Boston area, you need this book. Highly recommended.

Carolyn Brewer does an excellent job of putting the reader in the path of the deadly Ruskin Heights, Missouri, tornado. The tales from the survivors are timeless and should be remembered each Spring. It is a sometimes sad, yet beautiful story of a community coming together under catastrophic circumstances. Brave men, women and children who, after losing everything to the most violent temper of nature, form as one to rebuild. This is a MUST read for anyone living in "tornado alley" which, given the year of El Nino, has expanded its right-of-way. DON'T MISS THIS BOOK!!!

I lived next door to Carolyn Brewer when our lives were changed forever. I'm Shannon McNamara, one of the babies mentioned in the book. I don't remember anything about the incident, but grew up hearing some of the less frightening tales, and nobody talked about the emotional toll. Back in the 50's and 60's people did not openly discuss their feelings. Carolyn not only depicted the events that took place, but also captured the feelings that were held in for over 40 years. I cried through many of the stories, but there were humorous times too. Carolyn not only told of the destruction, but how a city pulled together and rebuilt their lives. On a personal level, the book helped explain to me some of the emotional turmoil our family and friends dealt with years later. I have lent this book to many of my friends here in Chicago. Even though they grew up outside of "Tornado Alley" they were captivated the entire book. We all liked the way Carolyn wrote the book in chronological order, and put in a name index at the end. We could then re-read some of the stories over and again from an individual's point of view. It is not a book you can read straight through and put down. Thanks, Carolyn, for a beautifully written and illustrated book about this incredible episode.

Carolyn Brewer's book took me on a journey to my past, Her recounting of the Ruskin Heights tornado through interviews with survivors made those intense Summer evenings come rushing back like the storm winds themselves. No one who grew up in "Tornado Alley" could read this book and not be moved. I applaud her courage and that of the people who shared that night of terror with all of us.