A book which now and then sparkles wisdom. The bottom line is simple: stories have accompanied mankind since the very beginnings (at some point they dare to state that there have been societies which did not make use of the wheel, but none has not had stories as part of their culture), and somehow, both authors explore the ways in which this (story telling) phenomenon can bring either prosperity or ruin into your business... I think it's a plain good book, however, if it wasn't for that deep prologue (interesting theory there), I was going to rate it with three stars. There is social sciences at the bottom of their theories, unfortunately, I expected more of it...

If you are interested in going deeper into this creative way of interpreting success and / or failure (that's why I bought this book; I think the authors were brilliant in the sense that it's not easy to "unvail" new approaches to simple matters such as telling stories...) read it.

From the very basics of how to stand in front of your audience, your posture and how to look at them, to what Timothy Koegel calls the "5 components of any presentation" (Purpose, Objective, Position, Result and Action Plan), a book full of very useful insights into the business of successful presentations, a business we all are one way or the other...

"Prepare" is mr. Koegel's bottom line here, that is if you are concious of the importance of your everyday "engagements", actually, he is convinced we make presentations in a hundred ways every single day (interviews, meetings, even romance!). His "Rules of engagement" are very business wise by the same token... actually a book I very much enjoyed and from which I remembered some basics and took several "new" tips... "people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care..." he says and so, take every opportunity to practice and believe what you do when you face an audience, being 1 single person or thousands..

Monsieur Houllebecq clearly understands things that most people refuses to even see; the incredible way in which he describes today's life in Europe (and most parts of Western developed societies) trapped my intellect and transported me into France, the US and the UK with mixed feelings of "no way out", "fascination", "pleasure", "pain", etc... The way he "conects" characters with exact and social sciences is superb. Treatment of death as the ultimate result no matter what, perfect. His idea of loneliness as a consequence of superficiality, shocking. Definitely, a mirror in which not always you want to take a look; a great book from a very intelligent author.

Wow! Finally I get to read a book that shows the other side of this coin. M. Gladwell makes a superb work at giving a different idea of how we make judgements and therefore, how we can manage under certain circumstances those belly messages (according to his book, perhaps, only perhaps, we should give more credit to them than we do...). Each reader can make his / her own interpretation of the cases presented and then, understand and apply to every particular experience. Every case presented in this book is (to say the least) fascinating... one of those books you can't stop reading once you opened it!

Are you sure it can't be done??? well, think twice and then read this man's biography. Eric Liddell immortilized worldwide in the 1981 Hugh Hudson's motion picture Chariots of Fire in its purest form is presented in this book. A story on courage, capacity and determination. You should not miss it. You shall want to go out jogging and be a better person to say the least!

From his birth on January 16, 1902 in Tientsin, China, to his unexpected death due to a brain tumor on February 21, 1945 in a japanese concentration camp in that same country, passing through his experiences at boarding school in the UK, his olympic victory, his religious commitments, his unbelievable determination, his beloved Florence ("Flo") and the beautiful love story that surrounded their relationship, the people who marked his life (his mother Mary, father James, brothers Rob and Ernest, sister Jenny, etc.). A book that brought out emotions from the beginning when I read about Florence (Eric's widow) watching Chariots of Fire and imagining her reactions, her feelings of pride... This book is a thoroughly rewarding experience!

With phrases such as "failure cannot live with persistance" and / or ideas like "invent the rules", Rachel Bridge presents a brilliant short stories' collection of people who one day woke up and decided that was it, that was the day they were paying a fair (or unfair) price for taking control of their own destinies. That's just the way you will learn how 40 successful brit companies, among those Bighams, Daily Bread, The Ice Box, Dating Direct, Green Baby, PJ Smothies, Reef One, The People Book, etc.were born and came to be... inspiring book, brilliantly written (summed up) and easily asimilated... get it and read it, satisfaction guaranteed! Actually, I cannot wait to receive her second book "My Big Idea"...

Just a little simplistic, however, nothing wrong with making simple concepts useful, on the contrary, that requires great intellect and creativity. Success is a 3 ways avenue according to Tim sanders... your knowledge and how you use it, your network and your compassion are their names. To use them wisely is what makes a difference in life and in order to do just that, you must bring the to conciouss levels all the time... read, read, read says Tim, that is if you want to be a good player. I enjoyed every aspect of his writing. If you're intending to bring yourself to the next level, don't let this book pass you on... and "Always give" might be the bottom line here.

"Creative destruction" for other economic writers... in general terms a friendly book that goes from Greenspan's early years to a bold forecast of how the economic world will look towards 2030, of course, passing through other 23 chapters (25 in total) of all of his (personal and professional) experiences as a musician, an economics entrepreneur, a political advisor, even a philosopher! His review of international economics is breathtaking... his remarks on what he considers the 3 essential aspects of global growth in any given country enlightening (1. Extent of competition and openess to trade. 2. Quality of institutions and 3. Success of economic policies). 505 pages of "creative destruction" you cannot afford not to read...

A very interesting explanation on what makes music sooo attractive to the vast majority of us... the first two chapters are in my opinion, heavy to read (I had to go back several times to try and get the idea); actually, in this regard I found the first statements of the author a little bit contradictory, since as he somehow explains, science (technical facts) should be explained "easily"... well, it wasn't in my opinion for the most of the beginning. After that, the book gets much lighter, much friendlier and "simple" to understand.

The way -Daniel Levitin explains- how our brain rather than "concentrate" certain functions or types of information in particular parts of our brains (as it was thought), rather "distributes" them in several to be first accumulated and then processed between all of those (and others) I found new and fascinating. Also, the property that our brains have to adapt and learn new things (tricks!) is overwhelming too... (There's hope then!), contrary to the ancient believe that as we grow old, new knowledges are difficult to learn (assimilate). Then he explains how these and other characteristics add to make music sooo enjoyable... (it is possible to live without TV, but not without a radio!).

Good book. I'm glad I ordered it!

I read this book keeping in mind not only the described facts by the (anonymous) author, but the terrible circumstances it was written under... in my opinion it is a very valuable document that tells us about the terrible (and wonderful) things we all are capable of under war conditions, perhaps useful to wake up and keep in mind the effects our actions have on other human beigns... in my opinion, a series of facts that must not be forgotten, ever. An excellent reading, no doubt, light and deep at the time...