My competitors will (hopefully) HATE this book
927776
My competitors should NOT buy this book, They should NOT follow any of its advice, They SHOULD keep doing whatever else they are doing :)
If you are NOT a competitor of mine, then this is an excellent book. You should buy it, read it, take notes, read it again and then (arguably most importantly) "Engage!" (respects to Jean-Luc) "Just Do It" (Thank you Nike) and or "Get off your dead butt on to your dying feet and Make it happen" (A motivational note from my retired Marine Dad) - Seriously though, Take this book for action and watch your business and personal life change.
2201910
I absutely despise this book and program. It is the most frustrating online learning program I have ever used. I know that if you are buying this book then you likely don't have a choice as to whether or not you use the wileyplus program, but just know, your life is about to change for the worse.
I say this mostly because I just got finished working on a problem that took me an hour to complete; I then proceded to hit "save my response" only to have the program wipe clean all my answers LITERALLY THE ONE THING THAT BUTTON WAS SUPPOSED TO KEEP FROM HAPPENING. Thanks Wiley. Also I hope you don't plan on walking away from the computer for any miniscule amount of time because the program will time you out and you have to log in again. Oh and make sure to clean you Cache every 30 seconds or you will not be able to proceed with anything you are doing.

Anyway, Hope this helps.. Unless I am speaking with the people who designed this abomination; then I hope you feel bad about what you have done.
3899402
After buying this book on Amazon, I was pretty excited about the prospect of self publishing, and the money that it will bring in. It is a do this, this and this book, and you will make a lot of money. Sound good? Yeah, let's do it!

However, I have been in the printing business for twenty years and have dealt with thousands of printing jobs of various sizes. Needless to say, I felt that I didn't need to read the section about printing, so I skipped it. Too bad, because now that I read it, I can see that the author shouldn't be giving her limited advice on the subject. She makes the printing process appear to be so hard that her printer is the only printer in America that can handle it. She tells the reader to send their work out of town to her printer, when in reality the job is considered a small job, and most printers in your city should be able to do the job in about ten days. You will be working with someone that is just across town and instead of paying shipping, you can drive your car up to the printing shop and load the about ten boxes into your car. Sound easy? It is. But somehow the author doesn't know this.

Also, printers are not in the business of pretend printing. Before they will put you on their schedule, they need your job in hand to order paper and plan the steps needed to finish. So, DO NOT contact a printer until you are finished with your manuscript and it is ready to print. They will not have you under some pretend deadline, as Ms Christensen seems to think. I invite anyone that has the book to call up any printer and read some of the steps Ms. Christensen has written. The printer will laugh. BUT it is her book, and she can say anything she wants.

Her incorrect guidance in the publishing area also made me doubt what she wrote in other parts of her book. So, I took a hard, realistic look at the book. The book gives guidelines on how to start and finish writing a book in six weeks. Just six weeks. Sounds good, doesn't it? Even Stephen King takes three months to write a rough draft, so good luck with writing your first book in that unrealistic six week time frame.

Her writing, at best, is stilted, workman like sentences, which makes me doubt her ability to tell other people how to write. The amount of typos in the book, spelling mistakes and the grammatical errors make me doubt her advice on getting a student to proofread your book. Someone should tell Ms Christenson and her student proofreader that there are words that sound alike but are actually different words and have different meanings. Ooops, did I spell her name wrong? Oh well, what the hey!

If you were writing a book about how to write, wouldn't you realize that writers are your target audience? Wouldn't you, as an expert in your field, know that writers notice writing mistakes? Wouldn't you at least spring for two students, maybe three, to proofread your book? Or maybe pay a seasoned, professional editor so you could at least pretend to know how to write? But the author is so far away from being a writer, these questions haven't crossed her mind. She advises you to put out a book that is as sloppy as the student that proofs it, and as sloppy as her book is.

I did learn new things from the book. There is doubt in my mind that these new things are correct, but my doubt is understandable. Without a publisher, an editor or anyone looking over her shoulder, the author has thrown together what she knows and passes herself off as an expert. I feel a bit like I've been had, drawn in with promises of riches. I want to believe, but after reading the book I have found that I bought expert advice from a person who doesn't research, who has very low standards and who isn't an expert or a even a writer. Oh, and her publishing house sings her praises, but she is her publishing house. So take what you will from that.
1582765
I really like iBatis, and am grateful to Begin for writing it. I've used it for several years, and recommend it. But I hate this book.

The author quotes himself as having said that iBatis would be a failure if there had to be a book written about it. The problem is, although he changed his mind about writing the book, he never changed his mind about there being no need for a book.

The implicit narrative thread running throughout this book is, "iBatis is so simple, so self-evident, you don't need a book", and so, instead of writing a tutorial/reference book, he has written a pastiche of anecdotes about how to implement his sample project.

Here's the problem: instead of breaking out a section, for example, on how to handle stored procedures that would start with an overview, then go through get object, get list, update, insert, execute, how to deal with custom data types, how to get your result as a return from the procedure call as opposed to putting it into an OUT or INOUT parameter; instead of doing that, along the way to other things, he shows an embedded example of how to use a stored proc in a particular case.

I can see that the major problem he had to solve in writing this book was how he was going to manage to fill enough pages for it to be a book rather than an article. He rambles on, talking *about* topics rather than *in* topics, skimming along, rather than digging in.

I recommend the book simply because it's the only one out there, but I think you'll find that it's fine if all you want to do is learn *about* iBatis, but that if you have specific questions on how to implement certain things, or solve very real problems, you'll wind up frustrated and disappointed.
1188667
I'm torn.  I hate this book about as much as it is possible to hate something that is not showing up at your door to date your daughter.  My son thinks its hilarious.

I find the story to be forced and awkward.  The grammar to be non-existent.  The editing was probably done by a family pet.  I'm not certain, but I'm  pretty sure the actual book was printed in someone's Grandma's basement on her old 1997, greyscale printer and then stapled together by a toddler.
I'm actually feeling kind of bad about myself for such a harsh review, because I suspect this book is actually a first effort at publishing by a 4 year old who was raised by illiterate wolves.  Normally I'd admire that sort of grit, but UGGHHH this book is awful.

My son thinks the book is great though.  Mostly, I suspect, because the word 'fart' is clearly printed on the cover.  Its a guaranteed crowd pleaser when dealing with 9 year old boys.

Although I fear being called to trial in the Hague for encouraging any more books like this, as long as you don't have to actually read it along with your kid and said kid is still young enough to be pleased with no more than owning something with the word 'fart' on the cover, go ahead and get this book.

This terrible, terrible, godawful, low quality, miserable excuse of a book.
3825486
I almost never give books a bad review, but I really felt this deserved a word or two.

I'm not sure who or what the author was angry at when she was writing this book.
I don't care who you are, or what your high and mighty opinion of someone is, it's never okay to publicly shame someone and call names. I had really high hopes for this book, looking for some good tips on poise an etiquette, this is just a book about bashing celebrities/TV stars/women that snub you in the supermarket.  While I don't condone the things Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan do, I would never shamelessly pass judgement on them in a written work under the pretense of "how to practice etiquette".
I really felt like I was deceived by the description of the book.
It's not really a "How-To" as it is a "How to Not." I think if I were to buy a "How-To" assemble something book, but it instead told me "How to Not" assemble it, I would be completely lost.
Just a thought.
3150525
I have enjoyed reading all of Frank Scoblete's craps books, "Forever Craps," "Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos," and "The Craps Underground," and I respect his judgment as a gambling authority. But I have to disagree with his five-star review of this particular book.

The book is written by someone who has just learned to practice a controlled throw having taken a class from golden touch and the book is therefore the early judgments of someone who really doesn't have a full grasp of the technique of dice control as would someone who has been involved with the skill as would Sharpshooter and Scoblete. These are the thoughts of a novice and as such you have to take them with a big grain of salt. In another year his thoughts might be different.

Maybe writers stick together and that's why Scoblete gave the book such a good rating. There is a tremendous amount of fluff in the book about dice challenges between Wong and unbelievers that are truly boring and comments throughout by people who are not themselves controlled shooters. Who cares what these people think? They don't know anything! Their ideas and opinions are worthless but they do take up space in an otherwise somewhat skimpy book.

If you want to read a book on precision dice shooting, then get Sharpshooter's book before you get this one.

Here are my ratings of the dice books available for sale on Amazon. I've read them all.

1. Forever Craps (five stars)

2. The Craps Underground (five stars)

3. Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos (Expanded Version - Five Stars)

4. Get the Edge at Craps (three stars)

5. Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos - original version (three stars)

6. Wong on Dice (two stars)

7. Dice Control for Casino Craps (one star)

8. John Patrick's Advanced Craps (one star)

9. Tina Trapp's Guide to Craps (one star)

10. Gamble to Win: Advanced Craps (one star)
3108750
On pages 105 and 106 of the paperback edition of "Cross World," some veteran puzzlers sit around with the author of the book and attempt to develop an anagram from the letters of his name.  For instance, one of the puzzlers, Peter Gordon, uses the nom de plume "Ogden Porter" when it suits his fancy.  The author suggests that finding a suitable anagram for "Marc Romano" was a tall order, but I think the group was just being kind.  "Marc A. Moron" is the obvious solution.  Or, if you allow "carma" as a variant of "karma," as Will Shortz would no doubt allow, then "Moron Carma" works out very well, too.

"Cross World" is at best an essay or a magazine article in THE ATLANTIC or THE NEW YORKER, where people poke sticks at the real world and grimace horribly.  The book's subject matter hardly justifies its length, and a kind editor might have trimmed a great deal of the empty philosophy and the over-the-top repetition.  Of course, such an editor would have been obliged to deal with the author's ego.  And wrestling that overweight gorilla to the ground may have been a feat no editor cared to attempt.

The ego is huge indeed.  Prepare to be regaled with how fast the author can solve puzzles, how easier crosswords are beneath his contempt, how too clever by half he is, etc., etc., etc.  If a person is coming to crossword puzzles for the first time, this book might serve as an inspiration to choose another hobby.  Can all puzzle solvers be such boors/bores?

The meat of the essay, er, book, is the annual crossword puzzle contest in Stamford, Connecticut.  Understanding what goes on there may actually hold some interest for the outsider.  Unfortunately, this learning experience is tainted with the interjection of the author's personal experiences.  He is so obnoxiously competitive that it's difficult to recall that crossword puzzles were devised as a means of intellectual entertainment.  Who cares who's best?  Did you have fun?

At the end of "Cross World" are the puzzles from the 2004 Stamford competition.  The reader can try to solve them in the prescribed time limit, then spend another five to ten minutes leafing back through the book to find the page on which the author describes how the scoring works.  Of course, in his endless quest to display his brilliance and to extend his magazine article to more than 200 pages, he gives away many of the answers, which somehow detracts from the challenge of solving the puzzles.  To handicap myself, I did the puzzles in bed in three separate sittings (or lyings), making sure that I had consumed a bottle of wine prior to each session.  My score exceeded the author's by a healthy margin; I even added some time to account for the answers I already knew from the text and could fill in without much thought.  As a result, I have concluded the following: Every year, alocal business magazine prints a survey profiling the 100 best companies to work for in the state.  When the company I work for first took notice of the survey, I was designated to find out why we were not included.  The magazine's editor informed me that our company had not applied.  "So," I said, "the survey really showcases only the 100 best companies to work for in the state among those who applied."  That's pretty much the case with the crossword contest, I imagine.  There are, no doubt, many people who, choosing not to travel to Stamford and mingling with folks wearing crossword-puzzle-themed clothing, could nevertheless tear the cover off the ball if presented with the same crossword puzzles.  However, buying a ticket to Stamford (i.e., "applying") automatically assures you that you will be among the "best."
4235371
I bought this book at my local tack store after getting bucked off a difficult horse I was leasing at the time. If I didn't consider the store owner a friend I would have returned it after I got it home and attempted, unsuccessfully, to find anything helpful for my situation inside the cover. The book is almost all about competitive riding and attaining goals through competition, and offers nothing for the casual backyard or local barn rider, which so many of us are at this point in our lives. If Bruce Davidson ever was afraid on a horse, this book does not say, nor what he might have done to move past his fear. The riders profiled in this book have all had the advantages of lifelong riding with quality horses and exceptional teachers and coaching. There is nothing in here for average riders who love horses and want to enjoy riding despite having fear. Save your money. There are many resources, especially from "natural horsemanship" trainers that, while maybe not exactly what you might be looking for, at least have some helpful exercises and suggestions to rebuild trust between you and your horse. John Lyons, Pat Parelli, Clinton Anderson, Julie Goodnight, Bill Dorrance, are all names worth getting to know. I dislike even seeing the title on my bookshelf--it irritates me that I spent so much money on this book and I can't even sell it on eBay!
3764733
I knew this book would be good inside of the first few pages.  Want to know how I knew?

I've been involved in the marketing space in one fashion or another for a number of years now.  One of the ideas I've seen spread around (and absolutely can't stand) is that virtually anyone can enter any niche or category, regardless of their knowledge of that subject/niche.  It's a commonly said/spread idea that if you read two books on a topic, you'll know more than 80% of the people interested in that topic.  Thus, BOOM - you're an instant expert.

This is such unadulterated crap.  This idea is why there are so many lousy and useless products (of all kinds - reports, books, courses, videos, programs, etc) in so many areas.

Nancy tackled this almost immediately, stating how the "quick and dirty" route will lead to nothing but "dead ends".  I like that.

When I learn something new, I like to learn from someone that is obviously smarter than I am.  Preferably, I want to learn from someone who has genuine experience in and has been successful at what they're teaching me.  Nancy has and is both.

Her method is simple, straight-forward, and actionable.  It's not magic, and will take work.  However, anything worth doing will result in some work, so you should have expected that.

I don't like to try and argue about opinions online (because noone ever wins when that happens), but there's a 2-star review on this book that states that it "Needed more Amazon-specific information" and "Shows would-be authors how to do the bare minimum to get a book on Kindle", implying that the book was deficient.  I would have to respectfully disagree.

This book shows you everything you need to publish your book on Amazon's Kindle platform, which is exactly what it promised.  If you're looking for a book that will teach you how to market your book and create an income on the Kindle platform, then this isn't the book for you - as that's not the intention.

If you're looking for a book that will indoctrinate you to the Kindle platform, as well as teach you how to write a quality book that will inform, entertain, and please its reader, then publish it on Kindle (which was the goal of this book in the first place), then you can't go wrong.
3848935
I have never written a bad review for a book, but I'm starting now because I wish someone had warned me that this book is a waste of money and time for anyone who is sincerely interested in making authentic, fermented, living foods.

First, there is nothing inventive or particularly original in terms of recipe flair, but that wouldn't be a problem for me if the author offered good, basic recipes and instruction. Most of us like the opportunity to be creative ourselves, but want to know the ground rules and go from there. The problem is that the basic "master" recipes include artificial ingredients, synthetic sweeteners and processed flavors, etc. The root beer- which is authentically made with roots and herbs and naturally fermented- uses root beer flavor extract! She uses yeast as starters for the sodas, rather than wild fermentation, which is a shame. She also uses soda flavor syrups, as opposed to juices. These are recipes for people who are interested in fermentation and living foods, but come from a processed-food world and haven't been introduced to the real thing yet, so simply don't know better.

Also, tackling beer and mead and hard cider in a little book filled with more pretty pictures than information is a terrible idea. Anyone who tries making these trickier beverages is going to waste time and money and be very frustrated. Making beer, hard cider and mead takes more study and effort than can be acquired in a few pages. The lack of crucial information and instruction is a fast path to failure and frustration.

The information provided about kefir and kombucha are, again, incomplete, and missing the detail that facilitates success for first-time brewers. Companies that provide the cultures are far more thorough in their instruction. I suggest GEM Cultures and Cultures for Health for starter cultures and fermenting instruction. Anyone really excited about fermenting and new to the processes will be most served to buy Sandor Katz's books and visit his website.
4360481
The publishers should be sued. Maybe we should get a class-action together.

Imagine taking an instruction manual for the very first Apple computer and putting a new title on it "How to use your new home computer" and selling it in bookstores today. This book is doing EXACTLY that!

Also, it is highly doubtful that the tactic ever worked in the first place. The author's website vanished years ago. In a thinly traded NYSE stock if you try to repeatedly front the specialist with 2000 share orders he will simply move the price 50 cents against you immediately following your next purchase. Game over.

[...]
151442
This book is a classic example of how people seem to think that just putting cartoons in a book somehow automagically makes the book easier to understand and more user-friendly

About three or four pages into this book I started seeing things that look like errors and also the author does nothing to really sit down and explain most things for you.  As an example, from right out of the blue he uses the term "kingside" without ever explaining what the hell it means and then blithely proceeds onward as if YOU'RE the idiot if you don't just automagically understand that term without ever having it explained to you.

This is a actually book for people who already know chess like back of their hand and then maybe give this book to sabotage new learners away from being their future competition, or else... who knows.  Who knows what goes on in the heads of some people in this world.  All I know is that if you're buying this book to learn chess as a true beginner, you've sabotaged yourself.  And if you've bought it as a present for someone else who doesn't know chess, you've sabotaged them.

If sabotaging new learners of chess IS your goal then, by all means, this is your book.  Also, you should hopefully die in a fire someday soon.
3149233
I had such high hopes for this book, from the number or positive reviews. I'm in two minds about it, and more than a little frustrated. In not too many words, here's what I think:

The good. The sheer number of recipes alone does make this book worth its price. The recipes are pretty diverse, including unusual ethnic breads like a French (pork) crackling bread, Gannat clabber bread, a chapter on crackers, flatbreads, quickbreads, baking for dogs, a recipe for baker's clay (strictly for decorative breads, not to be eaten). There's even a plan for building your own adobe oven, complete with how much materials you will need, and a scant and not too informative section on freezing bread dough. There is a section on Weight and Volume conversions towards the back of the book, but I couldn't find anything on temperature conversion or how much yeast is in an American "package of yeast". Perhaps the best thing this book has going for it, is the low price for the sheer volume of recipes.

The bad. The measurements are in cups. Temperatures are given only as degrees. I am assuming the author means Fahrenheit as I'm pretty sure you will kill every yeast cell in your flour mix if you pour in water heated to 120 degrees Celsius, and also because this book is clearly targeted at an American audience. Yeast measurements are given in packages. 1 package yeast. 2 packages yeast. An American can never understand the frustration of a non-American reader trying to figure out how much yeast is in "1 package yeast". 10 grams? 20 grams? Half an ounce? One ounce? For goodness sake, how difficult would it have been to say how many teaspoons of yeast is in "a package of yeast"??? I can work around the cup measurements, but baking, especially bread baking is chemistry at work, not like cooking where you pretty much throw as much or as little of what you want into the pan and it usually turns out fine. Too much or too little yeast, water, flour, salt, too high or too low a temperature and disaster is just around the corner. I can forgive the author but I cannot forgive such a reputable publisher failing to do due diligence and at least finding out how much a blasted "package of yeast" is in blessed teaspoons. I had to do a whole bunch of googling to figure out temperature conversions, amounts of yeast in an average American "package" of yeast", versus an average European "package of yeast" before I realised that with the "yeast package" available in my country, I have to use half of the amount stated in the author's recipes. Imagine the result if I had out of laziness or frustration, just dumped my "2 packages of yeast" into my bowl, as directed by the author. Ever see the kinds of cartoons where some clueless nitwit is in the kitchen making bread and the dough just rises and rises until it's flowing out the door? If this book was intended strictly for the American market, why do I have a copy of it now? So now I know how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius and I know how much yeast is in an American "package of yeast". But I'm too worn out to even try the recipes, interesting as they sound. One last thing, the book has absolutely no photographs of the finished breads, except on the cover. It's not a deal breaker for me, though I know a lot of readers won't buy cook books without photographs. What I can't forgive is the way this book snubs the non-American reader.

This is going to be a dust collector on my shelf as I can't be bothered to return it, and the idea of whipping out my calculator and flipping all the way to the back of the book, for every recipe is too much of a turn off.
4805772
So the author releases a book and then goes on a tirade against a local (eh,hem.. worldwide) monthly bike ride?
<...>

I do not own this book nor do I intend to. I did however go down to the bookstore to give it a shot, It's a bike book for pete's sake.

Review: Dumb, stupid, insulting. Sterotypes a plenty, all the useful info that can be found in here can be obtained for free from the city. "Hey,let's hop on the bike bandwagon and make some money". I could take hit's at this guys claims but it's just not worth it.

I read the preview in the store, which I could have not wasted my time and read the "sneak preview" here on amazon. To refresh I re-read it.

Page xxvi tells of pulling up next to some dude with flip flops, ear buds and no helmet. The author says, "I instantly hope natural selection weeds him out today".

If you find the humour of ESPN's Michael Smith funny you'll probably like this. It also helps if you want to ride a bike but don't like cyclists.
4475309
I will also chime in having only read the excerpt.

As a professional stage combatant, actor and fight choreographer, I cannot recommend this book.  Based on the author's words, he seems to have learned the bulk of his skills by watching movies and then practicing what he saw with his friends.  While there is nothing wrong with that, it's a great starting point (it's how I started).  But by itself, it in no way qualifies you to teach!

I also disagree with one of the author's premises.  A professionally performed fight is choreographed from start to finish.  A professional NEVER improvises a fight during a performance.  This is how people get injured (I've seen it happen, it's not pretty).

Now, I'm not saying there's nothing to learn from this book.  Just don't expect to learn all you need to from it.  No book, no matter how complete or easy-to-learn the subject matter, can ever replace a qualified instructor.  Especially not in 56 pages.
3479600
The author and trademark owner of "Theofatalism" did a review of another book entitled "Contagious: Why Things Catch On". He starts his review saying "I am not buying this book but after reading most of the reviews I think I am qualified to make a comment." He accuses the author of a book he hasn't read of a "Classic blunder in logical reasoning..."
This is a guy who criticizes the pie he hasn't smelled or tasted in order to hype his own. Well, Lewis, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. You have made an age old error in reasoning yourself. Putting someone else down doesn't raise you any higher. When it "succeeds" it just brings everyone down into the mud. And when it fails, you are shunned because nobody wants to be around someone or listen to someone who acts that way. Lewis has wandered pretty far off track in his search for "serenity and contentment".
Since he has declared that it isn't necessary to read a book in order to critique it, I can critique his without reading it, too. This book is a self-absorbed, desperate attempt to tell everyone else how to live while making a buck. Like the preacher who talks about family values while secretly doing drugs with prostitutes or having sex in airport bathrooms.
And trying to claim a trademark on "Theofatalism" is the "tell". This is all marketing to make money off some philosophy he "owns" that he dreamed up. And to top it off, I went and did a search at uspto.gov and there is no such trademark registered. This whole exercise is just a marketing ploy. Maybe next he'll write a diet book declaring what God wants you to eat. Good thing "Theofatalism" is such a long word because no one will want to utter it. In this guy's case, "Theofalatioism" might have been a better term because his way of living leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
Lewis, you gave the other author two stars so I return the back-handed favor.
Wow, I just saved me, and hopefully, you, dear reader, $23.