Needs a specific audience
343272
I am a philosophy graduate student reading this book as part of a reading group.  The reading group is comprised of students from neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and English.  In total, we have only two or three students who are able to understand all of what the text is explicating.  The book presupposes a background knowledge of philosophy and psychology with a dash of neuroscience.  The small explanations to "fill in the gaps" for those lacking that background knowledge is insufficient, and you might find yourself confused.
2585209
Apparently I am already musical enough to have found the book disappointing and without benefit. That's not to say it would not be perfect for its target audience, which I did not understand before buying it. I have passed it along in our neighborhood book swap in the hope that it will wind up in the hands of someone who will be convinced by lots of scientific evidence that they can learn music.
1768573
Seek out the author's blog and see if that appeals to you before purchasing the book. For 238 pages it is not easily digested content. It makes for heavier reading than I expected from reading the blog. Good info to be had lurks in the pages, but I wouldn't expect a eureka moment just from reading the book. A lot of it makes sense, but it makes sense that the author's style of doing things will not appeal to the masses.
2642103
A niche audience will enjoy ... I could not identify with the author or her experience.  Her writing is good but overall not my kind of book.
4682550
Steve and Vera Bodansky offer a crash course in preparing for pleasure. They encourage readers to find out what feels good to them, and then communicate that to their partner. They also instruct readers to make "connections" between their pleasure areas and a secondary body part, which can increase sensitivity during sexual encounters. They give specific, explicit instructions, complete with illustrations, on techniques to create and intensify the orgasmic response.

I had a mixed reaction to this book. I think the authors offered some interesting and useful information, presented in a clear, easy to understand manner. However, I found myself put off by the style of writing the authors chose. Their switches from technical, medical terminology to slang for female genitals felt awkward, and their attempts at humor often fell flat. I think the authors tried to write in an informal, conversational style.  This did not work for me, but I understand it might appeal to a larger audience. I did not find this a book I would choose to keep in my collection, but because it has so much good information, can see that it could be helpful to other readers.
593627
Not enough variety to make it a general opening book (Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan), nor a book specifically focused on one repertoire (The King's Indian Attack by Eric Schilling).  The Openings discussed are somewhat in random order and therefore there is no real focus.  Though a good book, very instructive and well written, I would not consider it a necessity for players.  If you want to cram on a few popular themes then this book will fit your needs.  All levels can read this book, but intermediate players (1200-1600)  may utilize this book best.
509781
I used this book for a school report.  It was targeted at an audience of 5-10 y/o children and was a little advanced for a toddler to understand.
3167566
This book is written at a 3rd grade level, and the narrator is 9-years-old, so I'm assuming that is the audience.  However, the themes in the book are much too mature for 8 and 9-year-old children.

This story about an extremely poor "backwoods" family struggling to survive is touching, and in some ways inspiring for it's family loyalty and warmth.  I enjoyed it for the most part, but was rather shocked when near the end of the book the 9-year-old narrator describes being required to unexpectedly deliver her mother's baby in an emergency situation.  I admire the girl's courage, but not her description of seeing her mother's "private parts."  I wouldn't want my 9-year-old daughter reading that.  I think she would be traumatized.  (She knows some basics, but we haven't had the full-fledged "talk" yet... that's coming this summer.)  Call me old-fashioned.  I am.

Poor grammar pervades this novel since the narrator and other characters are poorly educated.  This can be confusing to a 3rd grader who would not understand that this is not "acceptable" or "normal."  Overall, the book is simply too mature for it's intended audience.  The subject matter would be more appropriate for junior high school, but the reading level is too low, and the main character would not be interesting to young teens.  Unfortunately, that leaves this book in no-man's-land, which is unfortunate because it is a nice story.

Age recommendation:  9 and up ONLY if read aloud to the child by a parent and discussed thoroughly.
1961375
Once again, this book is not that bad, but I really don't know who the intended target audience is. We still had mentions of Macy, which says YA, but then it is all about her as Harmonia and about her and her family, so it seems more like adult. I am so confused about the target audience and think this book would be a lot better with a little clear direction.
168940
I struggled to identify the target reader for this book. Perhaps a director or actor looking for some ideas for character interpretation and motivation? The author has a lot of theatrical experience, but this does not translate well into book writing. The book is part personal biography, part historical biography, part narrative discussion, and part analysis. Weaving these elements together into a coherent thesis seems to have got beyond the reach of the author and transitions between these elements are sometimes rather abrupt, for example in a examination of Henry VI part 3 she moves back a forth between discussing the character motivation in the molehill scene to personal biography.  Perhaps she wasn't able to devote the required time to revise and polish the manuscript. Not for me.
1812623
Overall the contents of this book are helpful, however, it's important to realize that this book may not resonate with the majority of young people because it is written by an older man who is not in touch with the younger generation. If I knew an 80 year-old getting married, I'd definitely buy the book for that person. I'm in my 60's looking for a gift for kids in their 20's. The first page contains a sentence that is socially taboo. "Marriage, between a man and woman, is the foundation of human societies." He could have said, "Marriage is the foundation of human society." or "Relationships are the foundation of human society" and not offended every couple who has a gay relative or a relative who is a single mother. During the time he was dating his wife, he refers to her as a "girl," something young women today find highly offensive as his wife was an adult, not a child. Parts of the book read like they were written by someone who lives below the Mason-Dixon line and in fact the author does. .

Furthermore, the book contains ideas that are not necessarily the best. For example, the author recommends saving 10% of one's salary, spending 80% of one's salary and donating 10% of one's salary. Well, some young adults I'm familiar with make $100,000 to $1 million. It wouldn't be good advice to spend 80% of that. How much one makes is a factor in the percentage saved, spent, donated. A spouse who's a spender could point to those percentages and say that the saver is being a cheapskate and this experienced marriage counselor has the right idea. It's probably best for the marriage counselor to suggest that the couple come up with spending and saving percentages and maybe recommend these percentages for people with average starting salaries.

What would be helpful is a more generic book that would address all couples, straight and gay, religious and not. It would be wonderful if authors on this topic were inclusive and were able to recognize that all couples have a need for marital information.
2114458
This was required summer reading for my 9YO soon-to-be 4th grader but, after one chapter, he didn't like it.  I noticed that it was rated for 8-12 YO readers but, as I read it, it was full of very esoteric and "adult" references - not just about soccer (we are not a soccer family) but also about adult relationships in general.  Don't get me wrong.  I thought it was enjoyable but unfortunately far more geared for middle/high school students than an elementary audience.  I don't know who comes up with the "age ratings" but they missed the ball on this one.  For elementary kids who aren't readers by choice (as, sadly, most kids are these days) and who are required to read this higher-level non-fiction, there is a definite risk of alienating future readers by (1) reinforcing reading as difficult, unexciting drudgery or (2) reinforcing "skimming'  through books that have little/no relevance in that child's life experiences "just to get through it".  Either option is a huge disservice  to our children.  Reclassify this book for ages 13+ audiences.
1314546
When I picked this book up I did not expect it to be a college textbook, especially because the back cover claims that it is suitable for the widest audience. This definitely is a text for college students, and beginning ones at that. The book must be reviewed in terms of its intended audience and the goals it tries to achieve, and it is at least partially successful as both a concise compendium of as much Middle Eastern history as possible, and as a good introduction to the subject for beginners. Don't expect extensive details and examinations of specific political or social events and trends. If you are looking for an introduction then this book certainly lives up to its title as a "concise" history, and you can find more specific and explanatory books elsewhere if desired.
However, there are still some problems with this book, mostly related to Goldschmidt's writing style. There's a desperate tendency for trying to make topics "interesting" to students, and numerous annoying attempts at foreshadowing and suspense that merely result in the we'll-get-back-to-that-later refrain. Goldschmidt is concerned with analyzing deep trends and how they relate to the modern world, which is a good attempt to arouse interest in bored students, but these attempts merely devolve into personal opinions and weak rhetorical "what if" questions. There is also Goldschmidt's frequent use of the word "I" in the first person, which damages his credibility as a detached historian. This book runs the risk of turning off its intended audience - college students who don't have a prior interest in the subject. On the other hand, it accomplishes its goals of providing a concise introduction and summary to those who are interested, but it remains at a basic level.
4573169
Man, what crap passes off as publishable in this age.  Now there will be 6 year olds playing the knock out game.  At least it is in written form so it won't be have too much of an effect.
209118
I bought it for myself but gave it to a professional editor who works for me.  I didn't have the patience to read through the text.  He found it entertaining but I found the narration too detailed and analytical and the examples too few.  Ok for the right audience.
1819827
I'm trying to help future purchasers make certain this book is for them.
On the good side: I liked the Navashay character.
If I thought it might make a good book for a younger audience, I would have given it a 3-star rating, but read below for why I don't think that's correct (at least without a reasonably sized revision).

The plot and expositions are highly geared towards a young audience with an added bit of naivety.  This isn't a question of subject matter but rather how the book is presented.
The ostensible main character is nervous and unsure of himself.  This is repeated (in my view excessively) throughout the book.
The perception I get from the dialog and interactions is that the author is 'talking down' to an expected young audience.
This is seconded by what seems to be gratuitous oversimplification of plot points. (i.e., the plot is extremely linear in that nothing happens outside a sequence of events that impact the main character).
Though there are certainly some cliche's, those don't bother me and I don't think they all should be removed (laborious traps and illusions in particular).
It is not a first person book, yet there is only a single point of view explored.
I wasn't inclined to like any of the characters except Navashay, and the main character's prominently featured insecurities made him seem quite whiney.

This all leads to an extremely simple reading experience, which is not what I want from a book and also something I don't think young audiences want from a book.

***spoilers included in my reasoning below***

What would be my recommendations if I were editing this book?  (I don't claim to be an expert, but I don't want to give a 2-star rating without being *very* clear about my reasons and where I personally think things could be improved.)
1) I don't think the plot line would require too much rework (plot itself isn't bad, it's the presentation and the stagnation of everything else in the world as the plot goes forward.)
2) Applying a 'growth' to the main character such that he starts out with fewer insecurities and mostly abandons those insecurities early on, instead of keeping them around as a distraction
3) Provide some strengths to the character beyond 'good with a quarter staff'.  The final "oh my, you healed your friend when nobody else could" was completely inexplicable and out of the blue.  Nothing really showed that the main character had much in him other than sniveling until that point.  Maybe some severe hardship the main character overcomes in the story that isn't self-imposed like a fear of heights (I'd remove the fear of heights altogether as it's a big distraction).
4) Removing some of the 'traps and illusions' which serve mainly as page-fodder here would increase the pace quite a bit and not harm the story at all (trolls, illusory walls, compactor traps, grabbing vines..)
5) The 'bully' character served very little purpose, or could be rehabilitated somewhere in the middle of the story.  That would be helpful to the readability and make the plot line less linear.

I wouldn't be against re-reading this book if it were significantly changed.  I feel kids have a strong sense for when they're being talked down to, and I'm concerned that this book is over that line as it currently stands.
3636022
While this book gives a lot of good examples and complete settings used, it's really specific just to the author's camera, and doesn't do a whole lot to account for other types of cameras, lenses, etc.  I thought this would delve much more into the theory and why the author chose the settings, alternatives considered, etc.  So, while it's not a bad book, I just think that it hits a narrow audience.  It assumes you know what the settings are used for and that you'll understand why they were chosen.  It doesn't give a whole lot of instruction, so it's kind of just like browsing a photo gallery of pictures with the full exif data exposed.