Good for the Lay Reader
920786
The material was simple enough to digest, and certainly believable.  It also provided good insights on the real behavior of investors, i.e. most investors are not long-term investors and the perils of retiring during a down period.  The book also provides a good benchmark for when to invest, although the fact that I rode the market up on its fallacious valuation has not harmed me, since I transferred my portfolio to bonds before the market started heading down.
3586942
Came in good condition. The author is brillliant, perhaps too much so.
I had to reread many of the pages to understand what was being written.
His first book was more easily read and understood and I went through
it quickly. This book is more for a college politicxal sci course, than
your average Joe. My reading comprehension is in the top 5% of the nation,
but admit to being confused at times
1063708
This is a major work, though probably of interest to a limited audience. Still, if you want to see some viable theories that actually answers some real questions, you may want to wade through this one. A little heavy with the science and math in areas, but still a good read.
3516553
If you have shifted through a couple of reviews and are still deciding whether to buy this product you can be assured that this title is worth your interest. I have read a variety of "laymen's" economics books and this one earns enough merit to be considered a good book. As a disclaimer, my expectations as a reader are not to gain an expansive knowledge base on economics or to weigh the theories set forth in this book against other equally reputable theories that are existent currently.

As with any book, this work will be appealing to you depending on what you are looking for in a read. With Naked Economics you can be guaranteed a broad overview of many foundational topics in economics that are made relevant to the times and are also captivating. If you are looking for a certain writing style, I would comment that while Wheelan is not as funny as a Vonnegut type fellow, but he provides his fare share of humor to keep the reader turning pages. In terms of raw information the book does a good job of avoiding the stretching that you may see at the end of many titles like this. Basically, if something has piqued your interest in economics in any manner and you want to feel more informed, be quite entertained, and possibly rethink some of the basic transactions that you encounter in your week, this is the book for you.

I give the book 5 stars because it accomplishes what I believe the author sent out to do. Even if there are competing theories out there as opposed to the ones that this author offers, the book presents its side clearly and forgivingly; for those of us who did not go to school for 6 years to get a Masters in economics it is ideal.
4684578
So so information for me.  As a Registered Nurse was not too much new material for me.  A good overview book for the lay person.
3133922
This is an excellent primer for someone like me, who has only a cursory knowledge of the linguistics and phonetic terminology, gained from popular literature and newspapers. I'm now able to much better understand terms like "phoneme" and "morpheme". It also gives a unique take on language families and language trees, illustrated graphically, although I believe that some of the dates given in these presentations may be the author's conjecture rather than those established in the literature. It also has a (refreshingly) non-Western viewpoint, which is otherwise sorely lacking in the literature, on such subjects as the origins of human language. For example, the theory presented ascribing the origins of the major world language families to infant phonemes common to all cultures, ethnicities and races is extremely interesting, though I would have liked some substantiation of it from field or clinical studies (not presented).

Overall, this is a very good read for the lay person with just a passing interest in language, linguistics or phonetics.
4159047
After seeing Dr. Soram on the Dr. Oz show, learning more about Vitamin D and the proper dosing was important.  His book is very easy to read for a lay person.  It is a good book to have on my ipad for reference.
2030531
The author seems to use a separate but mostly single source for each of his various chapters, which I think makes the research a little thin, and even bordering on pedantic at times.
But this book is easy to read and otherwise presents a good overview of the whole milieu in which these magnificent buildings were created, which is no surprise, since it came out of his experiences leading university-educated tour groups through Salisbury cathedral and Stonehenge.  So it works well as a read-ahead for someone wanting more background of the how and why of Gothic cathedrals.  For the serious student, his bibliography is good place to begin further reading.
1181919
I would prefer to read a larger type font. And the index could use some improvement. But, overall, it's interesting reading for a Protestant who had no knowledge of the Aprocrypha. Not to be read for doctrine but helpful to learn about history.
2527703
This book was a good intro for a minimally conversant science reader.
It's well written, but not too critical, even of studies
that are just plain wrong/biased/flawed (after all, the writer is
a journalist rather than scientist or technical writer).
It concentrates on telling a coherent narrative of the history
of fatty acid research over the last 50-70 years.

Overall, the writing is of the level you'd find in a popular
science periodical such as Discover Magazine or the science page
of the New York Times rather than Scientific American
(which is more for the physics person that wants to read about biology
or vice versa).

Mary Enig's "Know Your Fats" is much more in depth and written
by a leading lipid biochemist.
1637780
It works great for the layperson who just wants to have the concise version, without all the detailing and discussion. It offers (usually, I think) multiple opinions when they exist, maps, some historical and geographical information, cross references, compares/contrasts well, introduction to people, etc.

That being said, it is, as it says on the covers, an abridged Expositor's Commentary and is, therefore, quite concise.  There is a lot of material for someone used to just having NIV Study Notes (like me!), but I doubt that someone who's getting a masters at seminary is going to be especially interested in it.

The preface says that it is for the layperson. It claims to have retained the "important interpretive material of the larger set without the text of the NIV and the detailed scholarly notes and discussions." In my opinion, it serves that purpose and makes an excellent reference for laypeople preparing Bible studies/lessons (especially who already have material) or just wanting something more than NIV Study Notes!  It's interesting reading.

Obviously I want readers to know what they're getting before they buy it. If a two volume commentary is what you need to take the next step, then this is a great choice.  If you're unsure of what you need, consult your local seminary student, professor, Bible teacher or pastor for advice.
711166
This indeed is a good book for students and for those wanting a further knowledge of the subject.  It's not leisure reading.  However, it works in stimulating awareness of trends in world population.  It's a bit dry, but it is indeed informative and useful for those really into the subject.
3523315
The general public would benefit from reading this, but the main audience is college students.  It's good as both synthetic study and primary source reader.  Focusing on salt, silk, spices and sugar highlights diverse international connections in premodern times.  "TT" is rather short: ideally it would be c. 180-200 pages, with the extra length devoted to further original source materials.  The authors/editors contextualize the evidence well by giving enough background data, though the maps could be more precise.  Their text is very readable, even sprightly and witty at times, though some errors creep in.  A potential drawback is that the price has gone up and may rise again, reducing its value for readers on a budget (who isn't nowadays?).  Still, it remains a good investment from a worthwhile series.
1764380
I really enjoyed it and could related to a lot of things in this book. There are some things that could easily be argued from another perspective, but overall I would say it was good. It's written more in layman's terms than some other books on the topic, so it was easier to understand.
2907461
After I saw that Bill Gates had recommended Enlightenment Now, I was curious. Ive read other books by Steven Pinker (The Stuff of Thought, The Language Instinct) and found them interesting.

Pinker suggests that the positive progressin terms of health, wealth, education, security, etc.the human race has made in the past few centuries can be attributed to The Enlightenment of the early 18th century, thus the books title. Given my experience with his previous books, I figured that his arguments would be backed up with authoritative and academic resources. Indeed they were, with almost 30 percent of my Kindle edition being notes, references, and index for the book.

Pinkers push for positivity is solidly based on objective and quantitative data, not just authoritative opinions. In spite of that, the book is certain to have its detractors, or maybe I should say detractors with personal agendas and opposing world views.

For the most part, the book should be very accessible for most adult readers. However, I found myself looking up obscure words here and there. So it is clearly geared for a more advanced and educated reading audience.

It should be difficult to watch the news, with its if it bleeds, it leads negativity and availability biases, after reading this.
2406367
Author has good insights into his subject, but they get buried in the density of the prose which is more at hone in scholarly works. A good read for the patient.
3929563
This book is well-researched and informative but easy for the layman to understand.