Books for/about - James

Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Authors: James J. Cramer

ISBN: 0743224892
List Price: $26.00
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: The man is a great teacher.
I liked this book for several reasons:

1) I appreciated how he presented the material in as 'plain English' as possible.
2) The Cyclical Investing and Trading Chart was a prize.
3) I enjoyed how he included situations and stories from his personal life in the book serving to break up the drier material (rather than the book being solely a "Text-Book" of sorts).
4) I liked the last chapter the most, probably because he transformed complex subjects and market tools into easily understandable subjects and market tools.

I hope, Cramer, that you have started your next book. I can't wait to read it. (Also, I would love to read about some of the more complex and technical methods you used while utilizing options).

Thanks for the enlightenment

Summary: The cyclical nature of stocks, explained
The most important take-away from this book is how Jim breaks down the Business Cycle into the various phases. It culminates in one simple yet masterful stroke of genius: an entire sector-by-sector cyclical wave is graphed for the readers across 2 full pages. This is known as 'the gameplan' and on a very basic level, lets you know what forces will be acting against your stocks at any given time. Invaluable.

Summary: Great book - funny and insightful
Jim Cramer's new book was a pleasure to read and I would recommend it anyone. Many of the reviewers on this board have stated the book is for beginners or it contains no unique or complex trading strategies. I disagree. Jim shows that there is no excuse for not doing homework on a stock and you HAVE to understand the basic financials of a company and understand some of the basic sectors and how they move with seasonal economic cycles. This sounds so basic in the eyes of many people but few follow his sound rules.

The bottom line here is that you must do research on companies you want to invest in and you need to stick to some simple, commen sense trading strategies. One of the hardest things to do with individual stock investments is knowing when to sell, and Cramer drills this into your head and makes you aware that there are circumstances when you must take your profits or cut your losses and move on. His explanations and real-world examples are hilarious and informative, just like his TV show. Don't be afraid to buy this book, its great and you just might rediscover some of the most important and basic fundamentals that you have forgotten over the years.

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Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

Publisher: Collins
Authors: Jim Collins

ISBN: 0066620996
List Price: $27.50
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: AWSOME BOOK!
This is an awsome book! I thought Patrick M. Lencioni was a good writer, but Jim Collins is a Great writer! The research and the detail in this book is unheard of. Mr. Collins and his team did a great job in explaining every part of this book in great detail. If you want to become a better leader, in any field, read this book.

Summary: Fantastic
This book delivers great insight into the inner workings of what makes a good company become great and the characteristics of the leaders of those comapnies and workers. Great book to get to understand and to apply to your own situation.

Summary: Finish it or do not read it at all
All too often a message has promise, but the messenger misinterprets it. That is often the case with this book, partly due to the author's thoroughness in introducing his first concept of `getting the right things/people in the right places'. This concept is so extensively covered in the first half of the book that, I believe, most people assume this continues into the second part of the book and quit reading. (Or, this is enough to make conversation around an executive lunch table and so they drop it for another hot conversation topic.)

In fact, the second part is significantly different and discusses what happens once everything is in place... momentum. Since most read the first half of the book and quit, I will cover the second half first.

Momentum and incremental improvements are the key to `radical breakthroughs', which, if done right, can not be recognized until well after they happen. This hurts the quick-fix consultants out there, but there is no effective way to have long lasting impact with a significant shift of direction. A quick shift requires readjustment by everybody and does not put an organization on stable ground to continue their momentum. Rather, small changes will amass into a significant step at some point but none of these alone will change the playing field or greatly move organizations position in it.

Most important about this is FOCUS, each of these changes comes with understanding the world around you but focusing on how you can make a difference. The problem comes when the scope of vision becomes to wide and, marketing is concerned with the testing results the QA department got on beta build 3, support is talking about who in sales is making their quota and sales is talking about where the executive team held their last off-site. Keeping each team focused on contributing toward the goal and feeling the energy build as they make progress is the key.

Now for the first part, get resources where they belong, even if this includes placing them in the trash. Collins describes an organization as a bus. First, get the right people you need for the journey on the bus, get the wrong people off. Yes, there are some people who are not right for the organization, it would be a disservice to the others on the team and hurt that person's future if you did not help them get off the bus. Second, put the right people in the right seats. Great! Now that everybody is where their skills are best applied look at the tools you have and do the same. If the ticket system is garbage, replace it with something that meets your needs, money spent now will save you operating costs in the future. Monitoring application working adequately, find somebody who can make it work right.

If you are going to read this book, commit to reading the entire book, it can be worth it. The misinterpretation of G2G is partly the fault of the media, which enjoys sensationalizing that Jim Collins is advocating firing people that are not immediate contributors to the team and a fit for the culture. So learn about momentum and be comfortable with your organization not holding huge release parties for new products and be able to look back and say, `I was part of something great.'

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	Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) Publisher: Simon & Schuster Authors: James Lee Burke
ISBN: 0743277724 List Price: $26.00 Amazon Price: $15.60 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: The Bobbsey Twins of Homicide Ride Again I have to admit that I haven't enjoyed the past couple of Dave R books as much as the older ones- but I found this one almost impossible to put down. Maybe it's because there's a good amount of Clete here- Clete Purcell, Dave's sidekick and best friend. When Clete's around, things get lively- and this story is no exception. The plot is terrific, the pacing never lets up, the writing as beautiful as ever, and I loved this book. My one quibble with the books is that Dave's three wives seem interchangeable- when I'm reading about Molly, she reminds me of Bootsie, who reminded me of Annie. But that's a minor annoyance when a book is as irresistible as this one. Bravo! Summary: excptional I had not read any of James Lee Burke's work before I went into the bookstore today. This book was on the front table by the door, looked interesting, so I sat down to browse it. Several hours later I had finished the book. Then I bought it and took it home. Yes, this book is THAT good. Burke's main character Dave Robicheaux, is a detective who has exited to the slow lane in New Iberia, La. After stints in big city police departments where he lost himself, he finds himself married to a former nun, and reliving one of the memories that has tortured him since the early 1970's. In a plot involving organized crime, casinos, the daughter of a friend he feels he should have saved, his best friend and three or four local murders, Robicheaux struggles to solve a couple of murder cases and deal with the existensial dilemas of his life. This novel has so many twists the reader finds himself meeting himself in the curve. Every time I thought I knew where this book was going I was wrong. When it unwinds at the end, it is much like life-some things bring you satisfaction and some leave you scratching your head going why. Burke's writing style is very character driven. Looking back it seems that much of the action is revealed as character development more than narrative. Of all the myster/thriller/detective books I've read lately this is the first one that was completely satisfying as a reader. My suggestion-add this one to the shopping cart now and block out an afternoon or weekend to read it. An absolute must read Summary: Yes...yes....yes My final reason for writing these reviews is to answer the questions Should I read this? Should I read it now? should I spend my hard earned money on this book? Well, above are my answers. Burke is simply great as an author in this "who done it." Robicheaux, operating again in New Iberia, confronts a mix of problems. An entanglement of murders going back in his life and up to his present thwarts him with a question about the guilty party(parties) and you will be thrilled with the chase and solution. While doing this the sense of place is beautifully rendered in lyrical descriptions evoking a long distant, intermediate, and recent past. Like many contemporary authors, Burke mourns a bygone era of small town America and poses answers to questions of when and how did America change from a place of innocence. His answer is complex - the drug trade, modern life, the Vietnam era all were part of it- but there was also an underlying violence of society that must be taken into account. In addition as his frame for storytelling, Burke returns to parents and children themes that are so often part of his writing. Have we spoiled our children with wealth? Has our pursuit of wealth spoiled us as parents? What flaws are exscused in ourselves by blaming others? In that sense this may me the most moral of Burke's novels. But don't get the idea that it is a sermon. It is a slice of life, a fiction l,oaded with truth. I have already shared it with a friend. You will want to do the same. Summary:

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Beach Road

Publisher: Little, Brown
Authors: James Patterson Peter de Jonge

ISBN: 0316159786
List Price: $27.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 1
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Summary: HATED IT!!!!!!
I was very very disappointed in this book and it was the ending that killed it. Without giving away the ending it's really hard to express my disapointment in this book.

Summary: terrible
Having read a few of Mr. Pattersons novels I picked this one up expecting a shallow yet entertaining read. Well it was certainly shallow, Patterson uses possibly the lamest of all gimmicks I have ever seen in a novel. He writes an EXCUSE at the beginning of the book. An excuse for why he can lie to the readers, manipulate us and then throw in a completely preposterous twist that makes no sense. Not only is the plot terribly contrived, a rippoff of Grisham's "A Time To Kill" among others, but his little disclaimer at the beggining is such a blatant only serves to coat his insane twist. He claims on the first page that this novel is told from multiple points of view and so characters may lie for no reason, actually, NO ONE lies except the Villain and he only lies so that Patterson can lay a twist so lame it ranks up there with the twist in "The Village." He tricks and decieves the reader with information that we couldn't possibly know. This is the most poorly conceived plot in ANY novel I have ever read, there is a reason some Authors are classics and a reason patterson ISN'T

Summary: **TWISTED**
I have enjoyed reading James Pattersons books over the years but this one was really twisted (i say that in a good way). I found myself looking back to the begining of the book where the players were listed in order of appearance. This was very helpful since my mind did wander occasionally. I would never have considered the way this book came to conclusion and i did enjoy it very much. I have been teased for years by a friend of mine about how slow i read. Although I stayed awake until all hours of the night, I read this book in 3 nights. I am looking forward to reading more from James Patterson!!

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Judge & Jury

Publisher: Little, Brown
Authors: James Patterson Andrew Gross

ISBN: 0316013935
List Price: $27.99
Amazon Price: $16.79
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: A BIG HIT
James Patterson has taken another division from his Alex Cross novels and come up a MADE MAN with Judge & Jury (seven cd, eight hours, unabridged, Hachette audio a division of Time Warner).

Judge and Jury plays on fears we all have. What if you were on a jury of a mobster. Would he come after your family? Your relatives, etc.? It surpasses as a legal thriller, it becomes more of a Vigilante view of how to handle a mobster.

It seems almost as it could be ripped from the headlines in the way the story is told. It seems it could happen.

Tony Winner Joe Mantegna, who has played Judges (the Supreme Court), cops (Joan of Arcada) and mobsters (The Last Don, Godfather part III), seems at home in this narration. His narrative skills are hone to perfection. With his talent, he is keeping the audiences riveted by his vocal abilities..and with the fast paced text, his work is cut out for him

I predict this audio will be a hit for all who listen. And if you don't like it, youse may be HIT by the MOB who loved this audio. So unless you want to sleep with the fishes, buy this CD now!

Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

Summary: OUTSTANDING NARRATION OF A PRIME LEGAL THRILLER

The voice is familiar, of course it is. Tony Award winner Joe Mantegna is an actor of note with film credits including Bugsy and The Godfather III. He voices fear with a nuance, builds suspense with well thought pauses. His reading of Judge & Jury is beyond reproach as he brings mobster and detective to vivid life.

FBI agent Nick Pellisante is feeling proud and satisfied - he's brought Mafia don Dominic Cavello to trail. His evidence is incontrovertible, former mobsters are willing to testify so it looks as if Cavello will get what he deserves at last.

Speaking of Cavello, who is also known as the Electrician, forget every other Mafioso you've ever read about or seen, this guy is absolutely merciless, brutality is his middle name.

Patterson is such a deft author that for a while we think all is going smoothly at the trial - not so. Just when we think we've figured out what's doing to happen next - it doesn't. Cavello calls in Richard Nordeshenko, a killer who would just as soon do you in as look at you. He creates a plan sure to put the trial on hold and underscore the power of Cavello.

Juror No. 11 is Andie DeGrasse, a sometimes actress and always single mom, who never wanted to be empaneled in the first place. But now she joins forces with Pellisante to exact their own kind of justice or is it revenge?

An outstanding legal thriller narrated by an accomplished voice performer.

- Gail Cooke

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	Black Order: A Novel (Sigma Force Novels) Publisher: William Morrow Authors: James Rollins
ISBN: 0060763884 List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $16.47 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: Evil lurks! James Rollins` new novel Black Order is a darn good thriller. I wasn`t sure, at first, I would get through it. Not because of the writing - that is excellent. No, it starts in 1945, in the last months of World War II, with the plundering of Nazi Germany`s scientific secrets and projects. . I am not a fan of war stories, so I was cautious. For about one page. Rollins has crafted a really nifty, suspenseful thriller replete with long-kept secrets, an intriguing discussion of evolution and intelligent design . . . and quantum physics. Really. You know, quantum physics - the wave-particle paradox, Schroedinger`s cat - that stuff. Don`t let that scare you. It is riveting reading. As we know, Hitler`s obsession was an Aryan master race, and that is at the core of Black Order. Rollins has done a masterful job of research and writing to combine history, physics, and a clever and scary plot. From the Base Camp of Mt. Everest to a monestary in Nepal - from a hidden fortress in the Himalayas to the wilds of South Africa, the story builds to an exciting and satisfying climax. There is tension and suspense aplenty. All in all, Black Order is really good. It stretched me back to college physics and forward into yet another vision of what evil lurks in the hearts of men. Fortunately, the good guys come out on top. Oh, and a word of warning: do not get on the bad side of a Zulu warrior. Summary: Awesome The newest of James Rollins lovels leaves no disappointment. His tradition of exciting plots, believable and likeable characters, and twists that keep you guessing all the way through continue in Black Order. The way he combines real science with fiction is amazing! I can't get enough. Summary: Rollins builds another interesting page-turner Let me start with the bad - only one thing, but it was the KEY to the whole story The Bad: Ugh.. the crux of this book is everyones LEAST FAVORITE college/grad class of all time - Quantom Theory. The book goes in to a LOT of depth about quantom theory, quantom mechanics, zero energy... etc. The enviable task of trying to explain something THAT complex and muddy just to make a plotline... just leads to a lot of dry, scientific reading. I felt like, at times, I was reading a text book instead of a novel.. so it drags... a screeching halt in an otherwise well paced story. I felt like I really needed to go and do more background QUANTOM THEORY research just so I really understood this key point in the whole plot.. and its just not worth it. The Good: Rollins builds on and further develops a very interesting set of characters and concepts - Sigma Force. Adding new depth to their back-stories, without requiring any prior knowledge from previous books - masterpiece. The pace is quick, the action is exciting, the characters make you care about the story. There is a lot of history (Nazi - Heinrich Himmler - Aryan - WWII) rolled into the plot, and a nice sprinkling of science and James Bond-ish gadgets. I really like Rollins' back-and-forth storytelling keeping 2-3 different storylines going at the same time in the book - to finally bring them all together at the end of the story. To summary: Good book... all of the hallmarks of James Rollins - great history, great research, good action, strong character development. A definate notch below 'Map of Bones' - but still a great read. Summary:

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Calculus: Early Transcendentals, Vol.s 1 & 2 (with Tools for Enriching Calculus Video CD-ROM, iLrn Homework, and vMentor)

Publisher: Brooks Cole
Authors: James Stewart

ISBN: 0534393217
List Price: $163.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: The Calculus Bible
If you need to buy one calculus book... buy this one. It's got everything you will need for learning basic calculus. I was referring to this book constantly, both while taking basic math, and in more advanced courses in physics and engineering, when I would need to go back and re-learn how to integrate a particular type of problem. I was actually quite shocked to see that the last several reviews rated this book quite poorly... everyone who took math with me using this book loved it. Then again, we were all engineers, so we wanted to be doing this kind of stuff.

Summary: Can we get a book that actually helps the students??
I've been a student at the University of Delaware. I have taken the engineering calc course 3 times - third time i finally passed - every class used the same book!

I am now taking calc 242 which is the next calc course - it is VERY difficult. Most of my friends i have asked did not pass this course on their first try.

This book STINKS - it does NOT have enough examples to make it understandable to eningeering students

Summary: one of the worst
This was the textbook required for my calculus 1 class. My instructor at the College of Lake County was great. This book on the other hand sucked. I can often learn from the book if I have to. With this book that is impossible. It was so difficult to understand. I often had to go to tutors to decipher what I needed to know from the book.
The only good thing about this book is all the problems they give you for practice and if you have the solutions manual you can see each step in solving the problem. There is a pdf on the internet that has every problem in the book worked out. This was a great advantage because I was able to do the even problems as well. We didn't have assigned homework so there was no wrongdoing.
There definitely were issues with the answers and solution manual. There were incorrect answers in several places.
Well I got a D in the class the first time so I had to take it again. I got a B the second time. I am trying to find a copy of this book for cheap so I can refer to it if I need to. I am not buying it again because I like the book, I am merely buying it because I am used to it and have a decent understanding of it. Perhaps I will get an older edition for cheap. they don't change really at all from edition to edition.

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Calculus (with Tools for Enriching Calculus Video CD-ROM, iLrn Homework, and vMentor)

Publisher: Brooks Cole
Authors: James Stewart

ISBN: 053439339X
List Price: $163.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 1
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Summary: Very bad book
If you think you know calculus because you understand this book, you are sadly mistaken.

There is no rigor, no real problem solving, just paint by numbers. Calculus is pretty much the end of basic mathematics, this book will not get you ready for real mathematical rigor in advanced classes.

I guess this book is fine if you aren't a scientist, engineer, computer scientist, economist, or mathematician. Then again, if you aren't any of the above you likely aren't in a calc class. In short, this book is for nobody.

The real crime here is that James Stewart is getting rich off this [...], and damaging the future of many students. Overpriced, overhyped, just pure garbage. If this book is required, complain to the math department and then get a real calculus book, and just borrow someone elses copy to get homework assignments. Don't be a sucker.

Summary: Mathematicians LOVE this book but.......
I'm not a mathematcian! The book teaches Calc in a way that makes mathematicians (like my professor) very aware that they know WAY more Calculus than their students (who have never taken it before). The examples in the reading section are quick and simple, and the problems are longer and more complicated. If you are a math major aspiring to write complicated algorithms, you should love this book. If you're like most of the people in Calc who are taking it because its a required part of your major, it's really not very helpful. P.S. I did get an A in Calc, but still dont like the book

Summary: Insufficient examples....
I bought this book in order to self-teach, and many of the examples were confusing and seem to assume the reader already has a strong background in calculus. I then went ahead and took a calc I class that used Larson's Early Transcendentals, which was much clearer and easier to follow. My calc II class used Stewart's text, but since the homework was uncollected I just skimmed Stewart's text while doing the homework out of Larson's text since it was a better educational tool for me, and I got A's in both calc classes I took.

I did, however, go back to Stewart's text and solutions manual to get some additional practice doing proofs. It provided plenty of practice problems, but its explanations were not helpful to me because they tended to skip steps.

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