More negs than positives
594059
As others mentioned, this is an expensive way to buy crayons, but the tower would have been worth it if it operated well.  Unfortunately it is poorly designed: during the first couple uses, the tower several times collapsed unexpectedly, but for a while now it has been stuck in the 'up' position which means the cover can't be used and the crayons can't be stored easily.  My "child" is 17, an artist, and has struggled to operate this tower (as I have), so I can't imagine young children would be able to use it without a clever adult's help.  Also, the cover is of very flimsy plastic rather than the rigid plastic I expected, and it just sits over the collapsed tower rather than attaching to the base.  I would not buy this product again unless Crayola took it back to the drawing board and fixed its design flaws.
1698872
I was taught that affirmations are to be positive, in the present tense, and only what you want to come to pass.  I've read this from many sources of inspiration (including from Shakti Gawain's Creative Visualization).  I was disappointed to see an affirmation that was somewhat negative, ""My fear of lack and limitation, has created the lack and limitation I am experiencing - right now."  I would never want to repeat such a depressing statement.  If I ponder lack, then invariably I will create more of it.  I do respect what the author is trying to do, however, so I did give two stars for effort.
2400115
The fact that this book gets so many positive reviews is shocking.

I know that everything in this book sounds very logical, but when you actually put these ideas to the test they do not produce good returns.

There have been quite a few funds set up to follow the IBD 50, and every one of them has closed or underperformed the S&P 500.  The current fund is FFTY, started in April 2015 (again, new fund because the old ones stunk).  Since inception, as of today, the FFTY was down 0.24%, the VFIAX (S&P index fund) is up 13.95%.  (data from perf chart at stockcharts dot com)

There is one characteristic of every good investment book, and that is a discussion of BACKTESTING.  Any investment method that you consider must be first tested (vetted) using old data.  Why can't you find historical lists of the IBD50 stocks? (google it, you'll see, they don't exist).  The reason is, that you could then backtest the effectiveness of this scheme, and you'd soon find that it does not work.

I know someone who subscribed to the IBD newspaper, and kept about a year's worth of them.  He tested the IBD50 picks, and over a full year they returned less than 2%.

Read the 5 star reviews here, and then analyze them to see who said that they actually made money using these ideas.  Most of the 5 star reviews are from people who never tried to implement the ideas.
4172821
When I ordered this I wanted to give it as a gift, once I received it I read through the topics.  Most were very negative types of questions about not trusting, jealousy, missed opportunities.  From the reviews I had expected questions that would drive me down a positive path.  I tried to think of someone to give to as a gift, but threw it away instead.  If you are looking for a feel good type of journal this may not be for you.  But on the other hand if you are looking for a journal to help you analyze the negatives in your life this may help.
713713
I'm big on little daily doses of inspiration and motivation, so I was surprised at my lukewarm-to-negative reaction to this calendar. Elements of the art and sayings are quite repetitive, really; which dilutes their impact. And, as fun as the idea may be in theory, I just haven't had time to break out the colored pencils to color my own (the weekend entries aren't pre-colored). Disappointing.
3138618
As others have said, the book was somewhat interesting, but the main "argument" was poorly supported.  Gladwell selects a handful of anecdotes that seem to correlate with his theme that small/nimble/clever is superior to large/lumbering/stupid (hardly a revolutionary concept to anyone who has studied free markets or libertarianism), but these examples don't rise to the level of proof, and he doesn't really bring any new thinking, scientific method, or philosophical illumination about this concept to the reader's attention.  The book ends up being a collection of unrelated stories of modest interest.  I found it a much less rewarding read compared to his previous books.
1230350
Coldwell's bragging about  his own success, without any evidence to back it up raised a red flag for me. But Coldwell's book fails on basic facts that are easily checked on the internet. This led me to research the author himself, only to discover that he appears to be a charlatan and opportunist - which is pretty much the accusation he levels at doctors and pharmacists.

I believe that our bodies have been created with great healing powers and will heal many diseases if we give them a good chance. Thus I see his admonition to take charge of our own health is the very best part of Coldwell's book, but that's it. It's a form of promoting positive thinking which is, indeed, helpful in battling cancer, as well as other diseases. But his claims are overblown, and, given his history, no one should take his word on anything. (IOW, check sources, but he doesn't really give any sources, claiming that he's too far advanced in his "curing." )

I believe that much traditional cancer treatment does more harm than good - just as Coldwell claims. However, Coldwell is NOT a reliable source on anything.

I found a couple books which I suspect will be much more helpful:<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Radical-Remission-Surviving-Cancer-Against-All-Odds/dp/B00DB3A1UC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds</a>&nbsp;The difference is that this is written by a qualified medical researcher, while Coldwell's qualifications/degrees all appear to be false.
And here's another promising book:&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Spontaneous-Healing-How-to-Discover-and-Enhance-Your-Body-s-Natural-Ability-to-Maintain-and-Heal-Itself/dp/B004QZA80C/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Spontaneous Healing: How to Discover and Enhance Your Body's Natural Ability to Maintain and Heal Itself</a>. You can research the qualifications of both these authors to find that they are genuine, not self-created or issues by diploma mills.

If I tell you that I am the world's foremost authority on curing cancer, you shouldn't take my word for it. Neither should you take the word of Bernd Klein, a.k.a. Bernd Witchner, aka Dr Leonard Coldwell for his claims of authority. Of course, if you want a demonstration bona fide quackery that makes money, read this book. ;) I got a few chapters into it, despite his braggadocio, before I returned it to Amazon for a refund. (Kudos to Amazon for allowing refunds for buyer's remorse!! Just don't do it to often.)
3802887
I find some of these neg. reviews hard to believe. I work in electronics and also note it was rated #2 behind a sony recorder at a much greater price Chuck
1692374
These supposedly objective analyzers of pro sports statistics make some wild assertions that only make sense because of their flawed data analysis. While it makes for an entertaining book (if you are a sports stats nut), almost none of the conclusions can be supported by the numbers provided unless you ignore aspects of playing that they don't mention and the writers' bias is so large that early on you'll want to argue with them about minor things, like calling Bill Belichick "the most highly regarded coach in the NFL" or the David Tyree one-handed helmet catch for a first down in Super Bowl XLII "the greatest play in Super Bowl history."

They make some bold assertions--like Dwight Howard not deserving his defensive MVP award or that pro football is biased in failing to hire black coaches. They show that stars do get favored treatment--but their definition of "star" is one that is subjective. And they love to talk about "loss aversion" as being a major factor in an athlete making choices. They support their biases with statistics but never give a full picture of what goes into the scenarios. It's like they are on a sports radio talk show, tossing out opinions supported by some carefully-selected numbers that will support their biases--but they never really getting to the heart of the stories.

This book would have been better as a long magazine piece in Sports Illustrated, where the writers could just state their stats and let others argue with them. Instead they try to explain their odd logic, often ignoring external variables. They also seem to work from the idea that past statistics can predict future behavior--which isn't true when combining 45 years of NFL history or 60 years of baseball numbers. Their conclusions can only give you a partial look at averages and never the whole picture.

Note that when the book first came out the early readers gave it 4- and 5-star reviews, but as time goes on the reviews are more negative. That's because the book has been overhyped and oversold. It's not anywhere near as good as early readers said it was, at times a bit boring and lacking the depth that is expected. In the end it will make some who love to argue numbers excited to get support for their own biases, but it still doesn't resolve any of the issues it raises.
672322
The book starts off well. There is lots of useful information and informative historical data and charts.

But the further you read the more you realize that the "assumptions" in the endless examples are far too optimistic.  The author promises you can achieve yields of "at least" 11%, and total returns of 12% per year.  The book tells you you should seek stocks with 4.7% dividend yield.  That part is doable.  But then it adds that you should look for stocks with dividends that grow 10% per year.  That combination is much too optimistic in the real world.  You can find stocks whose dividends grow at 10%, but they generally have yields between 1 and 3 percent.  You can also find stocks that provide 4.7% yield.  But they rarely grow at 10% per year, and even if they do it is only for short spurts of time.  The combination of 4.7% and 10% dividend growth is nearly impossible to find in companies you've heard of.

The author publishes a newsletter which recommends certain stocks for his portfolio.  But does he share any of those stocks in this book?  No!  His reason is that by the time you read his book the recommendations might be out of date.

I gave this book 3 stars because it should have been better.  The author writes in an easy to read style, and like I said, much of the information is very useful and interesting.  But any book on this topic ("dividend investing") should provide a more realistic selection criteria with more predictably achievable goals. Perhaps if instead of his 10-11-12 slogan, he had set 10-7-8 as a more realistic goal I would have preferred it.  I preferred the Bruce Miller book on Retirement Investing for Income Only.
3509918
Too many flaws and flukes
Buy if you aren't expecting much
3501042
Glad I didn't pay for this book; reading the NYT article would have been sufficient. That said, it does contain some amusing anecdotes, a great description of "mean girl" behavior at preschool dropoff (which can happen, sadly, to people of color in any predominantly white neighborhood, regardless of income), some interesting factoids about animal behavior, and high status brand names that I didn't know.
512042
The level of unsupportable apologetics is high here. The author calls for nuance while making assertions that are anything but nuanced. I was hoping for a better discussion of some of the concerns presented in the CES letter, but that was absent here. Never does the author consider that leaders may have lied in the text. That's an alarming lack of nuance to me. This book will will have "TBMs" shaking their head in agreement and "detractors" just shaking their heads. People looking for real nuance will walk away frustrated wishing that they had spent their $0.99 on a Snickers.
4791220
I wrote a review about this book but apparently you only display positive ones. How sad. I have purchased a number of products from Amazon,often using the reviews as a guide. I will know better next time(if there is a next time).
4212243
It is amazing how many of the 5 Star reviews talk more about 1 Star reviews than the merits of this book. I am not convinced by the 4 and 5 Star reviews to buy the book. I have read articles and heard interviews of the author, which provided me more information on why I do not want to read the book.  I may buy the book if I see it at a yard sale for less than a dollar. It is a little funny that the conservatives are beating the liberals at their own game of trashing books to limit free speech.
2542823
This book was among 7 others that I bought about becoming a new stepmom and blending families, and it was the most frightening and negative of all. It is written from a Christian perspective, which generally shouldn't matter all that much but in this instance I felt it was used as a vehicle to deliver negativity. There are a couple of good suggestions, but overall the message was very discouraging and negative in tone. I don't feel that it did enough to highlight potential positives, or how to work to get to those outcomes in a forward-looking, workman-like and healthy manner. I also felt that it turned back the clock on equality about 30 years, and sometimes portrayed women as needy, high-strung, overly sensitive creatures who should submit to her husband's will and be okay losing herself to the needs/wants of the family/step-children. It was confusing to read because it would make points about how that kind of thing was not okay, but then sprinkle 'tips' and biblical passages which read the opposite way.

I am sure the writers are well-meaning, and maybe there are some out there who can benefit from this style of book, but after feeling like I was sinking into a funk, I had to put it down and move on to another, more positive book.
784262
Most of the ideas are iffy.  Some good ones though and most importantly some good websites.