Percy Jackson and the Olympians Paperback Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

Product Description
Humans and half-bloods alike agree--Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a series fit for heroes! Re-live the adventure from the beginning with this boxed set of the first three books.

The Lightning Thief Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. When his mom tells him the truth about where he came from, she takes him to the one place he'll be safe--Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island). There, Percy learns that the father he never knew is actually Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon Percy finds himself caught up in a mystery that could lead to disastrous consequences. Together with his friends--a satyr and other the demigod daughter of Athena--Percy sets out on a quest to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

The Sea of Monsters After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson finds his seventh-grade school year unnervingly calm. But things don't stay quiet for long. Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: the magical borders which protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner by the Cyclops Polyphemus on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters--the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millennia--only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new nameL: the Bermuda Triangle. Now Percy and his friends must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes by the end of the summer or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family--one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke...

The Titan's Curse When Percy Jackson receives a distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he'll need his powerful demigod allies, Annabeth and Thalia, at his side; his trusty broze sword Riptide; and... a ride from his mom. The demigods race to the rescue, to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two new powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that's not all that awaits them. The Titan lord, Kronos, has set up his most devious trap yet, and the young heroes have unwittingly fallen prey. Hilarious and action-packed, this third adventure in the series finds Percy faced with his most dangerous challenge so far: the chilling prophecy of the Titan's curse.

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Click here to buy

Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
Perci Jackson Titan's'Curse

from abebooks.com

Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media) by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

Product Description
Stop pushing your message out and start pulling your customers in

Traditional "outbound" marketing methods like cold-calling, email blasts, advertising, and direct mail are increasingly less effective. People are getting better at blocking these interruptions out using Caller ID, spam protection, TiVo, etc. People are now increasingly turning to Google, social media, and blogs to find products and services. Inbound Marketing helps you take advantage of this change by showing you how to get found by customers online.

Inbound Marketing is a how-to guide to getting found via Google, the blogosphere, and social media sites.

• Improve your rankings in Google to get more traffic
• Build and promote a blog for your business
• Grow and nurture a community in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
• Measure what matters and do more of what works online

The rules of marketing have changed, and your business can benefit from this change. Inbound Marketing shows you how to get found by more prospects already looking for what you have to sell.

From the Back Cover
To connect with today's buyer, you need to stop pushing your message out and start pulling your customers in. The rules of marketing have changed and the key to winning is to use this change to your advantage.
If you've wondered how to get found in Google or why blogs and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are important, Inbound Marketing is the book for you. HubSpot founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah give you the tools and strategies you need to improve your Google search rankings; build a blog to promote your business; grow and nurture a community on social media sites; and analyze which of your online marketing efforts are working.

Stop wasting money blasting the world with marketing messages that nobody cares about. Instead, learn to get found with Inbound Marketing.

"If you've been looking for a trustworthy primer on getting found online, here's a great place to start. Buy one for your clueless colleague too." --Seth Godin, author of Meatball Sundae

"If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing by reading this book." --Guy Kawasaki, cofounder of Alltop, and author of Reality Check


About the Author
Brian Halligan is cofounder and CEO of HubSpot, a marketing software company that helps businesses "get found." He is a former venture capitalist and seasoned sales and marketing executive. He is a frequent lecturer at MIT and Harvard Business School.

Dharmesh Shar is cofounder and CTO of HubSpot. He is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and authors the top-ranking blog OnStartups.com. He speaks frequently on the topics of marketing and entrepreneurship.

Click here to buy Inbound Marketing from Amazon.com



Click here to buy Inbound Marketing from Abebooks.com
Inbound Marketing Abebooks.com

Classic Drucker: From the Pages of Harvard Business Review by Peter Ferdinand Drucker

Review
"You will not get a better chance to read the musings of Peter Drucker."

- Jack Covert -- USA Today

Product Description
For nearly half a century, Peter Drucker inspired and educated managers--and powerfully shaped the nature of business--with his landmark articles in Harvard Business Review. Here, framed by a thoughtful introduction from HBR editor Thomas A. Stewart, is a priceless collection of Drucker's most significant work.

Through his unique lens, Drucker traces the evolution of the great shifts in organizations and the role of managers in the ongoing effort to balance change with continuity. He paints a clear, comprehensive picture of management thinking and practice--as it was and as it will be.

Revealing a celebrated thinker at his best, Classic Drucker offers a wealth of insights and practical guidelines for managers seeking to address today's thorniest organizational challenges. For example, you'll find selections on how to enhance your company's innovative prowess, make effective decisions, raise knowledge workers' productivity, remain engaged and productive during a long work life, know when the assumptions on which your business was founded must change, and get the data you need to execute your company's competitive strategy.

Doing what's right for your company will always be challenging. But thanks to the clear focus, broad vision, and practical wisdom of Peter Drucker, the task is now a little less daunting.

About the Author
Peter Ferdinand Drucker was a writer, teacher, and consultant. His thirty-four books have been published in more than seventy languages. He founded the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, and counseled thirteen governments, public services institutions, and major corporations.

Click here to buy Classic Drucker: From the Pages of Harvard Business Review from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1422125920/earssit-20

Click here to Buy this book from www.abebooks.com

Harvard Business Review on Managing Your Career in Tough Times

Product Description
This title offers the advice and strategies you need to keep your career on track in tough times. Managing your career is always important, but it's especially difficult and front-of-mind when times are tough. This collection of HBR articles addresses the top skills, strategies and perspectives you need to thrive, whatever comes your way.

About the Author
The Harvard Business Review Paperback is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.

Click here to buy Harvard Business Review on Managing Your Career in Tough Times from
Amazon.com

The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work by Ted Leonsis

Posted on http://platinumbooks.blogspot.com/2010/02/business-of-happiness-6-secrets-to.html

Review

“As Ted shows, the happier the company, the more successful it can become.”
—Maria Shriver, author, journalist, First Lady of California

“A happy team can be a winning team. It is all about following Ted’s belief in happiness and success. I buy into it completely, and it really works; I believe Ted’s book can help you become MVP in your life, at work, and at home.”
—Alex Ovechkin, two-time NHL Most Valuable Player—Washington Capitals

“Ted Leonsis has one of the most creative minds in business. His insights on business, career planning, and how to succeed in today’s 24/7 environment reflect the wisdom of a renaissance man. . . and in The Business of Happiness, he is your personal guide.”
—Ken Chenault, CEO and Chairman, American Express Company

“Ted’s successful path to happiness in life, from the mean streets of Brooklyn to AOL executive to philanthropist, moved him to share his story and his way. Do yourself a favor: read it and be inspired.”
—Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the Mozilla Foundation, which created the Firefox browser

“This wonderful book is as bouncy, ebullient, energetic, and likeable as its author.”
—Don Graham, CEO and chairman of the board, The Washington Post Company

“Read this book. You may not end up with his life. But there’s a good chance you’ll get something even more valuable—his outlook on life.”
—Chris Wallace, FOX News

“Ted Leonsis is absolutely correct that money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you Ted’s book, which will bring you happiness—and success.”
—LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers


A Sneak Peek At Ted Leonsis's New Book The Business of Happiness
This weekend, BoomTown got hold of a new book by former AOL exec and longtime entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, which it set to be released on Feb. 8 by Regnery Publishing. Titled The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work, Leonsis penned the book with former AOL PR head John Buckley. And like the ebullient Leonsis, its entertaining fulcrum is a list he often talks about, one he made after a scary plane experience 25 years ago of the 101 things he wanted to achieve before he died. "At the time, I thought that ticking items off my list would make me happy," he writes in the book's introduction. It seems to have worked, he notes. "I've found that actively pursuing happiness seems to be a driver of success." In the second part of the book, Leonsis offers advice to others on how to get to happiness and success the Ted way. But I especially enjoyed the first part, in which Leonsis tells his story--from humbling beginnings to college at Georgetown University to his start in the tech industry at Wang to his first successful forays into entrepreneurship. Eventually, one of his start-ups--Redgate Communications--was bought by Steve Case of AOL. Leonsis writes about this roller-coaster ride at AOL, which had as many downs as ups--with one of its down-est downs being its moment of glory: The merger with Time Warner (TWX). "Let me state for the record: I was passionately opposed to the merger with Time Warner," he writes. And he was. For the most part in the book, Leonsis is probably kinder to the principals on all sides than is warranted. But--for those who know him well--this is due more his glass-full nature than trying to be willfully opaque about what is now widely considered the worst U.S. business alliance in history....Leonsis left AOL 2007 and moved on--becoming even more involved with his sports teams, forays into filmmaking and investing in new start-ups (sometimes with Case)--and carving out what seems to be a pretty happy life. At the end of his book, Leonsis publishes his list and shows what he has checked off and what he has not. He seems to have made a big dent in it, although he still needs to win a world championship and go into outer space. Also get a hole-in-one. Not that I am keeping track, Ted, but you better get cracking. --All Things Digital, January 19, 2010, Kara Swisher


Product Description
Albert Schweitzer said, “Happiness is the key to success.” In The Business of Happiness, Ted Leonsis—business, sports, and media mogul—proves Schweitzer’s point, explaining that success may or may not make you happy, but happiness will almost always make you more successful. Through research studies, personal stories, and anecdotal evidence from celebrities, famous athletes, and influential businessmen, Ted reveals the six secrets to achieving true happiness—and how they make success almost inevitable. Showing people exactly how they can apply the six secrets to their work, at home, and in their personal lives, Leonsis also reveals how some of the most successful and happy people today—Bono, Michael Jordan, Steve Case—have put these secrets into practice for themselves. Dynamic, inspiring, and unique, The Business of Happiness proves that anyone can be more successful and happier, including you.

Click here to buy The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work from Amazon.com

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Ultimate Guide by Mary-Jane Knight

Product Description
It's the handbook no half-blood should be without: a fully illustrated, in-depth guide to gods, monsters, and all things Percy. This novelty companion to the best-selling series comes complete with trading cards, full-color diagrams, and maps, all packaged in a handy, "manual-size" POB with a crisp, magnetic flap enclosure.

Star Wars: Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil: A Novel of the Old Republic by Drew Karpyshyn

One of most popular book from Old replublic saga of Star Wars.

Product Description
Twenty years have passed since Darth Bane, reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, demolished the ancient order devoted to the dark side and reinvented it as a circle of two: one Master to wield the power and pass on the wisdom, and one apprentice to learn, challenge, and ultimately usurp the Dark Lord in a duel to the death. But Bane’s acolyte, Zannah, has yet to engage her Master in mortal combat and prove herself a worthy successor. Determined that the Sith dream of galactic domination will not die with him, Bane vows to learn the secret of a forgotten Dark Lord that will assure the Sith’s immortality–and his own.

A perfect opportunity arises when a Jedi emissary is assassinated on the troubled mining planet Doan, giving Bane an excuse to dispatch his apprentice on a fact-finding mission–while he himself sets out in secret to capture the ancient holocron of Darth Andeddu and its precious knowledge. But Zannah is no fool. She knows that her ruthless Master has begun to doubt her, and she senses that he is hiding something crucial to her future. If she is going to claim the power she craves, she must take action now.

While Bane storms the remote stronghold of a fanatical Sith cult, Zannah prepares for her Master’s downfall by choosing an apprentice of her own: a rogue Jedi cunning and cold-blooded enough to embrace the Sith way and to stand beside her when she at last wrests from Bane the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith.

But Zannah is not the only one with the desire and power to destroy Darth Bane. Princess Serra of the Doan royal family is haunted by memories of the monstrous Sith soldier who murdered her father and tortured her when she was a child. Bent on retribution, she hires a merciless assassin to find her tormentor–and bring him back alive to taste her wrath.

Only a Sith who has taken down her own Master can become Dark Lord of the Sith. So when Bane suddenly vanishes, Zannah must find him–possibly even rescue him–before she can kill him. And so she pursues her quarry from the grim depths of a ravaged world on the brink of catastrophe to the barren reaches of a desert outpost, where the future of the dark side’s most powerful disciples will be decided, once and for all, by the final, fatal stroke of a lightsaber.

About the Author
Drew Karpyshyn is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two, Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, and the Mass Effect novels Revelation and Ascension, as well as several other fantasy and science fiction novels. He is also an award-winning writer/designer for the computer game company BioWare, where he was lead writer on Mass Effect and the blockbuster Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game. He lives in Canada’s hinterlands with his wife, Jen, and their cat.

The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United: The Full Story and Complete Record 1878-2008

Manchester United perhaps is one of

the most successful soccer club in world's history.

with 11 seasons Premier League Champion honors, 3 times Uefa Champion League honors in 132 years of club history.

From School Library Journal
This in-depth history by Murphy (Grass in the Sky) and Endlar (Manchester United) opens with a warm foreword by former player Bobby Charlton, survivor of the titular team's 1958 Munich air disaster and a 1966 World Cup medalist. The 12-chapter chronology, rich with action photographs, follows the team from its humble 1878 origins at Newton Heath to European football supremacy. Significant players, including George Best and David Beckham, receive full-page profiles, as do the team's championship games.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
The definitive history of the world’s most popular football club, featuring a complete statistical record, is now fully updated! Take an amazing journey from the club’s humble beginning in 1878—when it was founded by a group of railway workers—through the golden Edwardian era, right up to the heroics of last season. The 2007-08 campaign turned out to be one of the most dramatic in the club’s history, climaxing with the Champions League final in Moscow. The hundreds of superb action photographs, interviews with leading players, and results and scorers for every game ensure this book is a must-have for every one of the club’s 139 million fans.

About the Author
From its humble beginnings as Newton Heath Cricket and Football Club in the late nineteenth century, Manchester United has grown to become the world's most popular football club, with a global fan base of 75 million.

Sir Bobby Charlton: The Autobiography: My Manchester United Years by Bobby Charlton himself

Review

'For anyone who loves football, this book cannot be ignored'

-- Leo McKinstry, The Times

'Beautifully crafted'

-- Daily Mail

'Enthralling'

-- Scotsman

'It is the greatest story of British sport'

-- Sunday Express

'With many autobiographies you wonder what the point was. Not this one. Not only is Bobby Charlton a figure whose life story should be told, but he has done so in a book of at times agonising honesty'

-- FourFourTwo

'It's a fantastic book. I couldn't put it down. It has everything I would want a player of mine to know and feel about the game. Bobby Charlton is a great man and he has told a great story'

-- Sir Alex Ferguson

Product Description

Bobby Charlton is Manchester United through and through. One of the original Busby Babes; he has devoted his career to the club, playing in 754 games over 17 years, and winning everything the game had to offer. He played alongside some of the greats such as Best and Law, suffered devastating defeats and was involved in one of the greatest soccer tragedies of all time. Here, for the very first time, he tells the story of those United years, how he tasted FA Cup victory in the emotional final of 1963, won three First Division championships and in 1968 reached the pinnacle of club success—winning the European Cup. Inevitably, such highs are balanced with no less dramatic lows, such as the 1957 European Cup semi-final, the highly charged 1958 FA Cup loss which followed only weeks after the Munich Air disaster, and the 1969 European Cup defeat by Milan. The legacy that Bobby Charlton gives to United is beyond compare.

About the Author
Sir Bobby Charlton is an English former professional football player who won the World Cup and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1966. He played almost all of his club football at Manchester United, where he became renowned for his attacking instincts from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot. His elder brother Jack, who was also in the World Cup-winning team, was a former defender for Leeds United and coach.

He began to play for United's first team in 1956, and over the next two seasons gained a regular place in the team, during which time he survived the Munich air disaster of 1958. After helping United to win the Football League in 1965, he won a World Cup medal with England in 1966 and another Football League title with United the following year. In 1968, he captained the Manchester United team that won the European Cup, scoring two goals in the final to help his team be the first English side to win the competition. He has scored more goals for England and United than any other player. He had made more appearances for Manchester United than any other player (758), a record superseded by Ryan Giggs at the Champions League Final in Moscow on 21 May 2008. However, Charlton still owns the club record for most league appearances with 606, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest English players of all time.

At the time of his retirement from the England team in 1970, he was the nation's most capped player, having turned out 106 times at the highest level. This record has since been eclipsed by Bobby Moore, Peter Shilton and then David Beckham.

He left Manchester United in 1973, becoming player-manager of Preston North End but decided management was not for him and left after one season. After assuming the post of the director at Wigan Athletic for some time, he became a member of Manchester United's board of directors in 1984 and remains one as of November 2009. He set goalscoring records for both the England team and Manchester United, with both records remaining intact some 35 years after the end of his playing career. He was knighted in 1994.

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Sir Bobby Charlton: The Autobiography: My Manchester United Years from Amazon.com

I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English heavy metal singer-songwriter, whose career has spanned four decades. Osbourne was awarded Grammy for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from No More Tears for Best Metal Performance of 1994 .Osbourne rose to prominence as lead vocalist of pioneering British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and eventually achieved a multi-platinum solo career between the early 1980s and mid 1990s which revolutionized the heavy metal genre. Osbourne was awarded his only Grammy for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from No More Tears for Best Metal Performance of 1994.

As a result he is known as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal" and because of some of his material, the "Prince of Darkness". In the early 2000s, his career expanded to a new medium when he became a star in his own reality show, The Osbournes, alongside wife/manager Sharon and two of their three children, Kelly and Jack. In August 2008, Osbourne stated in USA Today that he intends to retire from his music career after two more albums

Product Description
"They've said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like, 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn't perform until he'd killed fifteen puppies . . .' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I've got eighteen of the f**king things at home. I've killed a few cows in my time, mind you. And the chickens. I shot the chickens in my house that night.

It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty f**king years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at f**king two miles per hour.

People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f**king way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time.

A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

About the Author
Ozzy Osbourne was born in Aston, Birmingham, in 1948. He has sold over a hundred million records both with Black Sabbath and as an award-winning solo artist. He has five children and lives with his wife, Sharon, in California and Buckinghamshire.

Click here to buy I Am Ozzy from Amazon.com

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo

As the co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer, Steve Jobs has successfully presented many Apple's products into our global community. Jobs has very confident and persuasive characteristic when it is time to do his presentation in front of many audience.

Many people consider this is one of main causes of his sucess in gigantic and dynamic business.

Carmine Gallo has integrated step - by - step of Steve Jobs's presentation skill in this paticular book.

Product Description

“The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs reveals the operating system behind any great presentation and provides you with a quick-start guide to design your own passionate interfaces with your audiences.” —Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points and The Activist Audience
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s wildly popular presentations have set a new global gold standard—and now this step-by-step guide shows you exactly how to use his crowd-pleasing techniques in your own presentations. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs is as close as you’ll ever get to having the master presenter himself speak directly in your ear. Communications expert Carmine Gallo has studied and analyzed the very best of Jobs’s performances, offering point-by-point examples, tried-and-true techniques, and proven presentation secrets that work every time. With this revolutionary approach, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to sell your ideas, share your enthusiasm, and wow your audience the Steve Jobs way.

“No other leader captures an audience like Steve Jobs does and, like no other book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs captures the formula Steve uses to enthrall audiences.”
--Rob Enderle, The Enderle Group

“Now you can learn from the best there is--both Jobs and Gallo. No matter whether you are a novice presenter or a professional speaker like me, you will read and reread this book with the same enthusiasm that people bring to their iPods."
--David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and World Wide Rave


About the Author
Carmine Gallo writes a bi-weekly column for Businessweek.com and has been a featured contributor to several other major websites including MSNBC, Military.com, Always On, AOL and Yahoo Finance. Gallo personally coaches leading executives for keynote speeches, media interviews, product launches, and book tours.

Click here to buy The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs from Amazon.com

Thailand (Country Guide)

Bestselling Thailand travel guidebook.

Review
For sheer global reach and dogged research, attention must be paid to Lonely Planet…' --Los Angeles Times, February 2, 2003 .

Product Description
Nobody knows Thailand like Lonely Planet. Our 13th edition will have you soaking up the sun on the island paradises of the south, trekking among the hill tribes and riding elephants in Chiang Mai, discovering the ancient temples of Sukhothai and snapping up bargains or being pampered in a spa in Bangkok.

Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit. This fully updated edition is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed to give you the information you need to make the most of your trip.

In This Guide:

Detailed advice on everything from food & drink to transport & health
Special 'Thailand & You' chapter with tips on culture and etiquette
Extensive Deep South coverage eases your travels in the conflicted region.

Click here to buy Thailand Country Guide from Amazon.com

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion by Don Rosa

Amazon.com Review
The Life of Scrooge McDuck Companion is it, six new chapters that weave through the original 12 that have the pre-miser Scrooge encountering Magica De Spell, the Beagle Boys, Annie Oakley and other Western icons, and Teddy Roosevelt at the Panama Canal. Even better, "The Prisoner of White Agony Creek" and "Hearts of the Yukon" reveal Scrooge's (gasp) romantic side in his brief but intense relationship with Glittering Goldie. Filling out the volume are an excerpt from another Rosa tale of the early Scrooge, "Last Sled to Dawson," and "The Dream of a Lifetime," which puts an amusing time-travel spin on a number of the Life and Times chapters. If you haven't already read the complete "Last Sled to Dawson," however, you'll have to pick it up elsewhere, like in the Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck: Don Rosa Special
or Uncle Scrooge #350 .--David Horiuchi

Product Description
You asked for them, and here they are... the pre-chapters, the post-chapters and the in-between chapters of Don Rosa's Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck! Included in this companion are the stories "The Cowboy Captain of the Cutty Sark," "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff," "The Prisoner of White Agony Creek," "Hearts of the Yukon" and "Sharpie of the Culebra Cut." Finally rounding out the collection are two slightly unusual takes on Scrooge's life: "Of Ducks and Dimes and Destinies" and "Dream of a Lifetime" in which the Beagle Boys invade Scrooge's subconscious mind (!) and wreak havoc during dream-versions of the various "Life of Scrooge" chapters.

Click Here to buy The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion from Amazon.com

A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter

A book from professor John P. Kotter, change management and leadership guru. Writer of bestseller change management book Leading Change and Our Iceberg is melting.

From Publishers Weekly
Author and international business consultant Kotter (Leading Change, Our Iceberg is Melting) returns with an engaging look at companies that need to overcome a lack of urgency-or a surfeit of complacency-with a proactive agenda. Kotter dissects well his seemingly simple premise, using his professional experiences to examine the inner workings of real companies. Kotter defines his terms with clear language and bullet lists, convincingly asserting that urgency "is not driven by a belief that... everything is a mess but, instead, that the world contains great opportunities and great hazards"; it is, in fact, "a compulsive determination to move, and win, now." Among suggested tactics: bring the outside world into overly insular work teams; make your deeds consistent with your words; view crises as potential opportunities; and disseminate data that "feels interesting, surprising, or dramatic," as opposed to "information so antiseptic that it flows in and out of short-term memory with great speed." Great examples illustrate real-life frustrations and successes, and a special section on dealing with the nay-sayers is full of practical ploys to overcome dissent and kill complacency.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Change can strike fear in the hearts and minds of businesspeople, whether frontline employee or C-suite executive. Harvard Business School professor Kotter is the master of change, hammering home his eight principles straightforwardly (Leading Change, 1996) and via fable (Our Iceberg Is Melting, 2006). Now Kotter identifies the single biggest factor to successful change, which also happens to be his number-one principle: creating a true sense of urgency. In a way that will resonate with those charged with carrying out new corporate strategies or implementing transformation, he details one streamlined strategy—appeal to the head and the heart—with four supporting tactics: bring the outside reality in, behave with true urgency every day, selectively look for upside possibilities in crises, and effectively confront what he calls the no-no’s. Stories accompany all; unfortunately, a number are repeats from The Heart of Change (2002) and stripped of detail for confidentiality. Charts and chapter summaries help connect theory to the practical question: How do we move people to act? An easy, quick read that provides good elucidation of what makes change work. --Barbara Jacobs

Review
But now a distinguished author says that what so many of us really lack is a sense of urgency. Is this guy for real? He is. John Kotter, emeritus professor at Harvard Business School, has a clear and simple message...This succinct book has a gentle, unhurried tone, but its message is insistent, relentless and urgent. --The Financial Times, September 24, 2008

Instilling urgency in employees is critical to getting organizations to switch directions--it's just that arguing the business case using facts alone won't create that urgency, says Kotter. Rather, you have to tug at people's heartstrings. Instead of showing them your case on PowerPoint, for instance, tell a story. That's one of many on-target suggestions on how to make people truly want change in the latest from this author of several books about leadership. --Entrepreneur.com, September 2008

Kotter's new book, A Sense of Urgency, is excellent. It is stimulating, a thoughtful extension of his work, filled with actionable and practical tools for creating the kind of productive urgency that contributes to successful change. --Fast Company, September 11, 2008

Let's hear professor John Kotter interview with Havard Business Publishing about
his perspective how importance of sense of urgency impact with organization.



Product Description
Most organizational change initiatives fail spectacularly (at worst) or deliver lukewarm results (at best). In his international bestseller Leading Change, John Kotter revealed why change is so hard, and provided an actionable, eight-step process for implementing successful transformations. The book became the change bible for managers worldwide.

Now, in Urgency, Kotter shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change.

Why focus on urgency? Without it, any change effort is doomed. Kotter reveals the insidious nature of complacency in all its forms and guises.

In this exciting new book, Kotter explains:

How to go beyond "the business case" for change to overcome the fear and anger that can suppress urgency
Ways to ensure that your actions and behaviors -- not just your words -- communicate the need for change
How to keep fanning the flames of urgency even after your transformation effort has scored some early successes

Written in Kotter's signature no-nonsense style, this concise and authoritative guide helps you set the stage for leading a successful transformation in your company.

About the Author
John P. Kotter is Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School, and is widely regarded as the world's foremost authority on leadership and change. His has been the premier voice on how the best organizations actually do change.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Posted on http://platinumbooks.blogspot.com/2010/02/7-habits-of-highly-effective-people-by.html

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is bestseller book in 1990. It was sold 10 million copies all around the world.

Amazon.com Review
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges. Before you can adopt the seven habits, you'll need to accomplish what Covey calls a "paradigm shift"--a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey takes you through this change, which affects how you perceive and act regarding productivity, time management, positive thinking, developing your "proactive muscles" (acting with initiative rather than reacting), and much more. This isn't a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes intricate, and you'll want to study this book, not skim it. When you finish, you'll probably have Post-it notes or hand-written annotations in every chapter, and you'll feel like you've taken a powerful seminar by Covey. --Joan Price

Review
Ken M. RadziwanowskiAT&T School of BusinessPicture someone going through the best experience they've ever had in terms of training -- that's what they say. People credit the 7 Habits with changing their lives, with getting back on track personally and professionally.

The late Skip LeFauvePresident, Saturn Corporation/General MotorsStephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People played a major role in the development of Saturn's operating systems and philosophy. Our commitment to quality and to our customers has its roots in The 7 Habits.

Product Description
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

From the Publisher
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People is a comprehensive program based on developing an awareness of how perceptions and assumptions hinder success---in business as well as presonal relationships. Here's an approach that will help broaden your way of thinking and lead to greater opportunities and effective problem solving. Be Pro-Active: Take the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen. Begin With an End in Mind: Start with a clear destination to understand where you are now, where you're going and what you value most. Put First Things First: Manage yourself. Organize and execute around priorities. Think Win/Win: See life as a cooperative, not a comprehensive arena where success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others. Seek First to Understand: Understand then be understood to build the skills of empathetic listening that inspires openness and trust. Synergize: Apply the principles of cooperative creativity and value differences. Renewal: Preserving and enhanving your greatest asset, yourself, by renewing the physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional dimensions of your nature. Stephen R. Covey is the most respected motivator in the business world today. Learn to use his 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Por unavaeople--and see how they can change your life. --This text refers to an out of print ilable edition of this title.

About the Author
Stephen R. Covey is a renowned authority on leadership, a family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and vice chairman of FranklinCovey Co. The author of several acclaimed books, he has also received numerous honors and awards, including being named one of Time magazine's twenty-five most influential Americans. Covey lives with his wife, Sandra, and their family in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.

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