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Reviews Written By: AOJWHL5BH9LOX

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	Ugly Americans : The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions
	"Not even that interesting"	2007-07-31
I really enjoyed the author's other two works, which I read quite quickly. Whether they were totally factual or not was immaterial...they were fun and interesting reads. This book disappoints. I didn't find the story interesting or fast moving. The "danger" element seemed forced, almost as if it was added in to "spice things up". If you're looking for a fast reading "true" story of big money makers, try Mezrich's other books. Avoid this one, whether you're a Mezrich fan or not.
	The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers, and Their Final Pennant Race Together
	"Amazingly Good"	2007-07-30
Wow. First let me say that I'm not a Brooklyn resident or a Dodger fan and picked this book up without knowing anything about it. The book turned out to be one of the best baseball books I've read in quite some time. I was drawn into the book immediately. It is clear in the Prologue that Shapiro is a very good writer and that the book is as much about the fifties and Brooklyn as it is about a pennant race. The book is enjoyable on both fronts. Shapiro does a great job of weaving a portrait of the changes going on in Brooklyn in the mid-fifties and giving younger readers a good idea of what it was like to grow up in that era. It is clear that Shapiro has done quite a bit of research and I think the reader really gets a good look into the personalities of the players and other characters in the story. Any fan of baseball history will do himself a favor in buying this book. It truly deserves more acclaim than it has received.
	The Odds: One Season, Three Gamblers, and the Death of Their Las Vegas
	"Not much meat"	2007-07-10
I love to read books about gambling and gamblers. A well written book allows me to really get into the heads of the "characters" and somewhat vicariously experience their highs and lows. This book was a disappointment in that regard. Millman spent far too much time on the "basics" of gambling and gambling history. This may have been informative to the uninitiated, and perhaps he was hoping for broad-based readership and a best seller, but if you're looking to read the book in 2007 chances are you're already familiar with the basics of sports betting. Millman focuses on two gamblers and the bookmaker for the Stardust casino. We never really get to "know" these three. We get a glimpse into the mind of Allen Boston, a "professional" gambler, but know virtually nothing about the other two. There is not enough detail of the decision-making process that the gamblers go through in deciding on their bets. After reading Michael Konik's latest book which really DID give me a good view of gamblers and the gambling world, I was disappointed in this one.
	The Magic of Thinking Big
	"Inspirational"	2007-03-13
I'm not really big on the self help/inspirational genre of books, but I really enjoyed this book and think that it is one I will go back to again and again for a motivational pick-me-up. Yes, much of the advice is common sense, and certainly many of the ideas have been co-opted by more "modern" positive thinking gurus, but I really do think that reading the book has, at least for the time being, changed my outlook on things and made me see that some of my thinking was self-defeating. I enjoyed many of the anecdotes that Schwartz peppered throughout his text to reaffirm some of his positive ideas. Five stars.
	Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
	"Novel-like"	2006-09-08
Bringing Down the House tells the story of Kevin Lewis and his teammates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who formed a team to win millions from Las Vegas by counting cards at blackjack. The story focuses on "Lewis" and chronicles how he is brought into the group and becomes entranced by the excitement and the money. The book reads like a novel. The author's background in fiction may have influenced his nonfiction style. While it's possible that the author takes minor liberties with some of the facts, the book DOES make for an enjoyable read. The team has great success due to the fact that their approach is much more efficient than the standard card counting strategy used by individual players. With multiple players sitting at the tables keeping track of the "count" and a "big player" roaming around, the big player can move from table to table when the conditions are favorable for winning. A rudimentary explanation of the card counting methods used is given, but the book is definitely NOT an instructional manual on how to make money in Vegas. What it IS is a fast reading story of how a bunch of college kids outsmarted the system and how the money and success affected them...
	The Automatic Millionaire : A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
	"Most Americans would benefit"	2006-09-01
Yes, much of the information and advice in this book comes from other sources (The Richest Man in Babylon, etc.). And yes, most of the stuff in here is "common sense" to many people. However, reading this simple book would benefit so many people I know...and isn't that the aim of a "self-help" book after all? To be a successful book in this genre, the book not only has to inform but also inspire. This book does so, not with a bunch of rah-rah type stuff, but by simply printing out charts of how much of a difference some of these small steps can make. Einstein (allegedy) said that the greatest power in the universe is that of compound interest. While that may be an exaggeration, I think it's clear that Americans really have no idea just how much of an impact compound interest has on their finances by doing things like carrying credit card debt or by making that extra mortgage payment. Bach emphasizes this fact with his illustrations of the "Latte factor" and other things. Having recently read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I found it interesting that the two books took a totally different view of home ownership, with "Rich Dad" claiming that home ownership is a liabiity, while Bach emphasizes the forced savings, leverage, OPM, tax breaks, pride of ownership and investment advantages of owning a house. While I understood the point being made in "Rich Dad.." the explanation here makes much more sense. I skipped the chapter on tithing...it has seemingly become obligatory to encourage the reader to be charitable in these "amass wealth" books. Even if you're good with your money, buy this book. Give it to a friend if you must...most would surely benefit.
	Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players
	"Fascinating "inside look""	2006-08-29
Let me preface my comments by saying that I love these types of books: the "inside looks" into a world with which I'm unfamiliar. I've played scrabble less than five times in my life, and yet Fatsis has kept me interested, enthralled even, for the duration of the book. Most of the "inside look" books feature the author as an observer. In this case, Fatsis begins as a "good living room" Scrabble player and undertakes a quest to become an expert, so in addition to being an observer, he is also an actor in his own drama. This serves to heighten our interest as we are able to take the journey vicariously through Fatsis. In addition to telling his own story, the author gives a detailed history of Scrabble: it's invention/inventor, the corporate gymnastics it has gone through and even some history of competitive Scrabble. These "inside looks" tend to focus on the stranger characters in the subculture, and this book is no different. Somehow, however, I get the sense that strange characters are much more common in the Scrabble world than they are in other subcultures. Not all that surprising, really. Pick up the book. It will be an enjoyable read, and even a non-Scrabble player (like myself) will be intrigued enough to consider giving the game a go...
	The Monkey's Raincoat
	"Good Start"	2006-08-26
According to many of the other reviewers, this is one of Crais' weaker efforts and the series only gets better from here. If that's true, I'm in for a treat. I'm a little [...] when it comes to my detective series...I try to always start out by reading the first in the series and continue on sequentially. In the days of Agatha Christie, the mystery was the thing, it was the reason to read the book. "Figuring it out" was the primary goal when reading. Nowadays, at least for me, the characters are what keep me coming back for more. And I think that after reading the first Elvis Cole novel, I'll be back for more with the second one. Crais has done a good job of introducing us to Cole, but still has a lot of room to develop the "secondary" characters Lou Poitras and Joe Pike, who I'm assuming will be present throughout the series. The first in the series was well written. You'll get a chuckle out of some of Cole's one liners (a la Spenser), and though the plot was somewhat formulaic, it certainly held my interest. The book was a good read and well worth your time and money. On to the next one!!!
	The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
	"A Non business owner perspective."	2006-08-26
First let me start off by saying that I'm not a business owner. I picked the book up because I'm in a transitional period in my life and trying to decide which way I should go professionally. Gerber makes a couple of main points in the book. The first is that most small businesses fail because the "technician" in all of us exert too much influence over the business without allowing the "entrepreneur" portion of our personality to exert enough influence on the business. I think the point he makes here is valid. Too often the pie maker, mechanic, plumber, etc. in all of us is the driving influence of our businesses and not enough attention is paid to the overall business side of things. That, in a nutshell, is the point I took from Gerber's book. Gerber makes another point of instructing the small business owner to run his business as if it were a franchise. Noting the success of McDonald's and other franchises, he recommends that business owners plan that their operations could be easily replicated and simply repeated, with processes written on paper, etc. He goes on to mention several times the statistics of failures of small businesses. They fail at alarming rates in the first year, again in the first five years and even in the five years after that. Meanwhile, franchise failure rates are microscopic in comparison. Ergo...run your small business in the same manner that the franchises run theirs. Now again, this is all well and good, but from the standpoint of someone who is NOT a small business owner, the main point that I derived from the book is this: If I want to start my own small business, look into FRANCHISING. That may not be the intended point that the author was trying to make to me, but I'll give the book four stars as it may have led me in a direction I was not previously strongly considering.
	Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
	"Slightly Overrated, but still worth a read."	2006-08-23
Rich Dad, Poor Dad has been a blockbuster, so I was expecting a bit more "meat" to it than I got. The book starts with a story of the author's father's monetary thinking and contrasts it with his friend's rich father (who becomes his financial mentor) and makes a point about how certain types of thinking can lead to financial success or failure. I enjoyed this section of the book. It read quickly while still getting the points across. After this, Kiyosaki expounds upon his six lessons. Most of these were fairly common sensical. The main points I took from this section were: First and foremost, the power of your money comes from its ability to make you more money. He explains that most people spend on "liabilities" instead of "assets". It makes sense. I particularly found interesting his contention that a house is more of a liability than an asset. The author stresses the fact that people must be financially well-informed and feels that this is a shortcoming that most of us would do well to address. He also makes a great point of the fact that corporations are a godsend to people who choose to utilize them. In fact, the author is very cognizant of the effects of taxes on our wealth, and stresses the ability to avoid paying excessive taxes in our quest for wealth. Most of the concepts the author discusses are solid, but there is little in the way of direction. After reading the book, you will not feel compelled to move in any certain direction to amass your fortune. It's not that kind of a "jump-start" book... The most annoying thing about the book was the author's constant mention of the game he created called "CASHFLOW". Enough already...
	Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens : Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time
	"Solid Explanation"	2006-08-20
I'm a rookie when it comes to tax lien investing. However, Loftis does a great job of explaining the intricacies of bidding as well as the different systems used in different states and counties. The book was not written in a rah-rah style, but the matter of fact way in which the author's successes were chronicled has left me enthusiastic about trying to invest in tax liens and I do feel that I have almost all of the knowledge necessary to embark on my quest. The appendix includes rundowns on all 50 states and the various methods that each state uses to conduct their auctions. I do wish more guidance was given as to how to find a list of properties available (he mentions the local newspaper), but with the large number of counties/states I guess this kind of information is disseminated differently everywhere. Give the book a read and I think you'll be excited about the prospects of tax lien investing.
	Middle Limit Holdem Poker
	"move to the next level"	2006-08-17
you probably won't find this book on the shelves of your local bookstore, and that's a good thing for the rest of us. if you've been playing for a while and understand starting hand requirements and some of the other basics but just don't seem to be doing too well, buy this book pronto! limit hold 'em may not be the "in" thing right now, but a solid foundation will propel you on to success in no limit, should you choose to move on to that game later on. this game will give you a great idea of just what you should be doing after the flop in fixed limit hold 'em. many of those "grey areas" that have left you confused will be cleared up upon finishing this book. give it a shot...