Informative, Engaging, and Timely.
349001
Wow.  What can I say other than this book should be a text book for just about any Law Enforcement Professional.  The information presented here comes from a lifetime of first hand experience and research on the subject by an author who presents the material in a light and easy to read format.  It probably helps that the author is now a college professor and teaches classes in criminal justice and is use to breaking down topics in an informative manner for an audience, but the manner in which Carter Smith does this is engaging and keep the reader interested.  I came in as a true neophyte on the subject and find myself much more informed on the subject as well as the growing concerns that are only getting worse within our military branches as well as on the civilian streets as gang members transition from the military branches where they are taught war fighter tactics to their civilian gangs and in turn teach these tactics to other gang members.  Getting a better understanding on both what our military leaders and our civilian officers face on the streets, and the dangers of encountering this threat really makes you appreciate what our men and women in uniform go through daily.

If you are the family of a law enforcement officer, or a law enforcement officer yourself... or just a citizen who supports our law enforcement officers, this is a MUST buy book that will inform as well as entertain.
3443338
very current,thoughtful,varied  industry information,projections into the future
1717356
"Paint by Numbers" is a great book and well worth an investment in your reading time.  It is a quick, easy and enjoyable read, but the nuggets of detail behind information polling data and results reporting will stay with you for a long time.  In our complex society today, we do not have enough time to research supposed factual statements thrown at us daily.  Makansi provides the reader with many real world examples which will have you questioning the "that's not what I heard" facts we confront daily.  I liked the book so much that I am giving it to both family members (which I never can seem to win an argument with) and business relations in the coming months.  They need to read it!  We often hear the call to be "informed consumers" adding things like nutrition labels on foods.  With "Paint by Numbers", we can be informed consumers of how our modern, complex society manipulates our opinions and resultant choices.
373068
A well written book, very worthy of our attention.  A timely read that offers some explanation of our current culture.
1692099
This book is funny, irreverent, well-researched, and thoroughly engaging. Florence Williams does her research. She takes us on a tour de boob from its evolutionary history to the EPA, from a plastic surgeon's office to breasts' susceptibility to environmental exposures, using her own body as guinea pig.  She dives into 18th century anatomical texts, and follows the latest research on early puberty and its link to breast cancer.  Williams' prose is clear and eloquent, and at times hilarious. She strikes the perfect balance between informing, educating and entertaining the reader.  This book is a page-turner, and the information in it could not be more timely.  Put this book on your Must Read list and share it with everyone you know.
2063678
Great reporting and assessment on an important current issue. Makes you aware of a fairly uncovered piece of modern history.
2089620
Have new appreciation for Dan Harris. Well-written, informative, funny, important, timely and useful.  I am impressed and moved to investigate further. Actually, I would go so far as to thank Dan  for writing this book.  It has helped and motivated me at a time when I needed both.
278138
The author presents an entertaining and readable perspective on higher education and the impending changes the information age may bring.  The beginning chapters address the crises the author sees in college education:  affordability, governance, and lack of good data.  There is not much dispute in the escalating costs associated with the increasingly bureaucratic higher education system.  However, the chapter on data points out that the way in which we assess quality is not based in outcome data.  So, choosing which college and what to take at what price is the most important life decision we make, yet the information to make an informed decision is lacking.  He then reviews the massive open online courses, which have not provided the kind of promise initially dreamed by their proponents.  Education means more than logging onto a web video, which should come as no surprise.  Next, the traditional bundled college degree is compared to the cable industry:  how much unnecessary effort and cost is put into a system in which sitting for a number of hours in class and doing twice that much busywork outside class!  Instead, the author would like to move toward a system in which modern computer age technology can individualize education to achieve competence and the time spent would be a function of the individual's need not the traditional framework.  Achieving this could bring America's already premier higher education system into an engine of innovation domestically and economically lucrative export industry.  The author then presents chapters on the features of the system most ripe for change, and those in which change in likely to be delayed by various stakeholders.  Here, the author reveals the shortcomings of employers, government, and academic leadership in responding to these changes.  In the end, a two tiered system is predicted with more certificate-like training for the masses and fewer more traditional broad-based college graduates.  Since the author works in the industry that seeks to profit from managing this change, he has well reasoned and presented thoughts on the subject.  My concern is that he is not unbiased.
737371
With a great deal of insight and nearly zero partisan rhetoric, Judis and Teixeira (how DO you pronounce that?) offer an easy to read political primer about how social and economic cycles fit in with political cycles.  Many political events that were mysterious to me were clearly explained, drawing on historical precedent right up through Election 2000.  I found myself convinced that the authors know what is going to happen next in American politics.
The conclusion: the Democratic party will emerge as a new majority by the end of the decade.  The Republicans may or may not retain the House this year, and GWB may or may not win re-election in 2004.  The authors don't pretend to be fortune tellers; instead they chart trends based on comprehensive analysis.
The text backs up its logic with lots of figures, sometimes charted.  Part of the book goes state by state for key states and regions, sometimes down to the county level to show what has been (and will be) happening.  Each and every explanation made sense to me, without being too tedious to follow.
The only negative thing I can say is to echo something Joe Conason mentioned in Salon.  The authors completely ignore the mainstream media bias against Gore in Election 2000.  However, since that really isn't the topic of this book it doesn't take away from the five stars I give it.
4178240
I like a lot of current issues discussed as well as some historical information. He presents both. His timeline is perfect. The message is on topic, except for a little corner-turning.  I would like more detail. Today's issues are especially more critical because they, for the most part, are ignored. I wish to see more books written about the commoners and the kick-in the-ass treatment they got from Congress and the Wall Street wealthy.
3013848
The Sixth Extinction is an engaging work of nonfiction focusing on the topic of extinction. Rather than speaking in generalities, Kolbert brings the concerns about extinction to the forefront through her hands-on experiences and examples.

I found the history of the study of extinction to be fascinating. Kolberts conversational writing style brings this interesting area of science alive for readers. Id never really thought about the fact that there was a time when scholars didn't really think about the concept of extinct creatures.

I highly recommend this timely work. Its easy-to-read and will appeal to anyone who wants to know more about the past, present, and future of extinction.
1160646
This is an excellent and informative book on a timely topic: sustainability. Inclusion of a glossary and resource guide is a plus.
1078015
I found this book to be engaging and informative. The writing lends itself to young readers as it presents chunks of interesting ideas and information. Each section provides food for thought and might inspire further research.
3141107
Timely.  It addresses an issue not usually brought up.  Well written, it reads easily.  I am glad of the suggestions of what to do in the final chapter.
2907060
Insightful,informative, and more important, practical.
3812180
This book is engaging to read, and I was especially pleased by the new ideas it caused me to contemplate.  I also found the resources provide in its notes section to be useful.  Finally, I liked the tone--it neither brainlessly rejected technology, nor did it brainlessly celebrate it.
521823
This is a highly literate and erudite book, speaking to questions both urgent and ancient.  It lights up the problem of political ambition--that those who are most capable and eager to lead their fellow citizens, the most superlatively qualified, are very often also most possessed of a neediness for recognition and reward that might tempt them to tyranny--by showing its permanence and intractability.

As in the work of such public intellectuals as Camille Paglia and Allan Bloom, Newell dispenses with equal felicity insights that are timely and timeless, each presented with considerable verve and energy.  Newell draws on the vast riches of our common Western birthright to consider such matters as presidential character, the war in Iraq, global trans-political celebrity, and the overweening hubris of democracies.  Newell begins with a survey of recent presidents, providing a series of quick, apt character sketches; proceeds to a meditation on the meaning of the leadership displayed by Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Napoleon; and then completes his excavation of the rich soil of our Western heritage with a brief but profound study of the war between the Athenians and the Spartans. The theme repeated through these movements is the recurring lesson that leaders--in particular legitimate, consensual leaders--face the same recurring matrix of quandaries, opportunities, temptations, and aspirations.  All of this is presented in a winning, stylish fashion that is as comfortable with "Must See TV" as it is with Plutarch.

This reader particularly enjoyed the treatment of the presidencies of Carter and Reagan (a refreshing admiration of the latter that is far from the hagiography typical of conservative intellectuals), the assessment of Robert E. Lee, and the cautionary discussion of the hubris of ancient Athenians (with echoes FDR in the discussion of Pericles).

The book appears to be marketed as a "self-help" volume--10 lessons!--but it really should be read by an intelligent, generally educated audience.  It, along with the author's volumes on manliness (<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Code-of-Man-Love-Courage-Pride-Family-Country/dp/0060087528/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Code of Man: Love Courage Pride Family Country</a><a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/What-Is-a-Man-3-000-Years-of-Wisdom-on-the-Art-of-Manly-Virtue/dp/0060987588/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">What Is a Man?: 3,000 Years of Wisdom on the Art of Manly Virtue</a>), could be read with great profit in conversation with such recent works as Harvey Mansfield's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Manliness/dp/0300122543/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Manliness</a>&nbsp;and Robert Faulkner's book on ambition,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Case-for-Greatness-Honorable-Ambition-and-Its-Critics/dp/0300123930/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Case for Greatness: Honorable Ambition and Its Critics</a>.