Discover Educational Toys for Children

Welcome again to blog of  Books Review Online. Today let's read another good book. After read the book if you would like to buy you can buy it online and read it online. Save money, save time and save our earth.

Have you ever been in a situation when you didn't know what toy to buy for your son?

Here are some great tips about the best educational toys!

If you are a teacher, parent or education student you owe it to yourself to find out as much as possible about educational toys.

Without the right tools and information, it could take you longer than you want to figure out the secrets to quality educational toys. Instead of spending a fortune on so called experts or knocking yourself out with the old trial and error method, there is an easier way to learn everything you need to know about quality educational toys.

Introducing ... Discover Educational Toys for Children!

Everything you need to know about quality educational toys is included:

• Babies and Educational Toys
  
• Bright Educational Toys for Tots
  
• Camping and Educational Toys
  
• Computer Educational Toys
  
• Educational CD Toys
  
• Crafts in Educational Toys 

Happy reading from books review online.

How To Get Pregnant With A Girl (The Gender Selection Manual)

Hi, thanks for visiting Books Review Online.

Today, I would like to introduce a new book. Please continue reading below.

Product Description

*Limited Time Promotion - Price Going Up Soon*

Who Said Getting Pregnant With A Girl Is Hard?

This book is a step by step guide that will reveal the various strategies to follow to conceive your baby girl.

Full of tips and tricks, that are easy to apply, the book focuses on natural, non-invasive methods and techniques you can implement in the privacy of your own home at no cost and without risk.

These methods are simple and cost-effective ways to achieve a beautiful baby girl of your own. You will also discover the high-tech options that are available, but the focus of this book is on methods that are easily accessible to you, for having your dream baby.

You will learn the techniques, how to use them and what to expect. The book shows the best foods and supplements to eat pre-conception for a healthy mom and baby girl.

Alternative therapies along with meditation and visualization techniques are explored and encouraged. Discover and explore the various methods based on timing of intercourse, ovulation and ancient scriptures that have been followed with success for thousands of years.

Not only mothers-to-be, but also fathers-to-be will find: complete and interesting advice for having your desired baby girl. You do not have to leave the gender of your baby entirely to fate. The book shows you the steps to take to up your chances of having the baby girl you are dreaming of.

Mistakes that you may be making are covered, along with the factors that influence the conception of a baby girl. It shows why pH levels are important for the mother-to-be as well as how to determine ovulation and using that information to your advantage.

In a nutshell, the book is a complete manual drawing together, in an easy to read and understandable manner, the various non-risk and natural methods for choosing the gender of your baby, the baby girl of your dreams.

 Books Review Online by Customer

Loved the Personal Touch!

By Ian Daniel

I just finished reading this book with my beautiful wife and was really amazed by the pretty large quantity of things I could try out right away in simple steps. My mother-in-law actually conceived my wife using natural "techniques" and is a very firm believer to this approach to pregnancy. After reading Cynthia's candidly written book, my wife and I are believer's too.


Interested? Buy it here

Gone Girl: A Novel

Product Details

• Published on: 2012-06-05
• Released on: 2012-06-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.25 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Editorial Reviews

Amazon Best Books of the Month, June 2012: On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick's wife Amy disappears. There are signs of struggle in the house and Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. It doesn't help that Nick hasn't been completely honest with the police and, as Amy's case drags out for weeks, more and more vilifying evidence appears against him. Nick, however, maintains his innocence. Told from alternating points of view between Nick and Amy, Gillian Flynn creates an untrustworthy world that changes chapter-to-chapter.

Calling Gone Girl a psychological thriller is an understatement. As revelation after revelation unfolds, it becomes clear that the truth does not exist in the middle of Nick and Amy's points of view; in fact, the truth is far more dark, more twisted, and more creepy than you can imagine. Gone Girl is masterfully plotted from start to finish and the suspense doesn't waver for one page. It's one of those books you will feel the need to discuss immediately after finishing because the ending doesn't just come; it punches you in the gut. --Caley Anderson
 
Review
“Ice-pick-sharp… Spectacularly sneaky… Impressively cagey… Gone Girl is Ms. Flynn’s dazzling breakthrough. It is wily, mercurial, subtly layered and populated by characters so well imagined that they’re hard to part with — even if, as in Amy’s case, they are already departed. And if you have any doubts about whether Ms. Flynn measures up to Patricia Highsmith’s level of discreet malice, go back and look at the small details. Whatever you raced past on a first reading will look completely different the second time around.” —Janet Maslin, New York Times

About the Author
GILLIAN FLYNN is the author of the New York Times bestseller Dark Places, which was a New Yorker Reviewers’ Favorite, Weekend TODAY Top Summer Read, Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009, and Chicago Tribune Favorite Fiction choice; and the Dagger Award winner Sharp Objects, which was an Edgar nominee for Best First novel, a BookSense pick, and a Barnes & Noble Discover selection. Her work has been published in twenty-eight countries. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

Customer Review
a "trust me and read it" book!
By K. Cade

STOP reading reviews...get this, read it....don't ruin it for yourself by reading too much about it. Here's what you do need to know...if you can answer yes to any of these...then read it.

1. love good writing?
2. love characters that are real?
3. love realistic suspense whereby you do not have to suspend disbelief to buy the story/plot line?
4. ever been confused by your spouse or significant other?

SOLD

Read it!! I've read this author's prior two novels and they were good. This is fantastic! Start with this one if you are new to Ms. Flynn.

Read more reviews or buy now!

Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)

Product Description

The greatly anticipated final book in the New York Times bestselling Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest?Katniss Everdeen.The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins will have hearts racing, pages turning, and everyone talking about one of the biggest and most talked-about books and authors in recent publishing history!!!!


Customer Reviews


Unexpected Direction, but Perfection (Potential spoilers, but pretty vague)
By A. R. Bovey

This was a brilliant conclusion to the trilogy. I can only compare it to "Ender's Game" - and that is extremely high praise, indeed.

When I first closed the book last night, I felt shattered, empty, and drained.

And that was the point, I think. I'm glad I waited to review the book because I'm not sure what my review would have been.

For the first two books, I think most of us readers have all been laboring under the assumption that Katniss Everdeen would eventually choose one of the two terrific men in her life: Gale, her childhood companion or Peeta, the one who accompanied her to the Hunger Games twice.

 She'd pick one of them and live happily ever after with him, surrounded by friends and family. Somehow, along the way, Katniss would get rid of the awful President Snow and stop the evil Hunger Games. How one teenage girl would do all that, we weren't too sure, but we all had faith and hope that she would.

"Mockingjay" relentlessly strips aside those feelings of faith and hope - much as District 13 must have done to Katniss. Katniss realizes that she is just as much a pawn for District 13 as she ever was for the Colony and that evil can exist in places outside of the Colony.

And that's when the reader realizes that this will be a very different journey. And that maybe the first two books were a setup for a very different ride. That, at its heart, this wasn't a story about Katniss making her romantic decisions set against a backdrop of war.

This is a story of war. And what it means to be a volunteer and yet still be a pawn. We have an entirely volunteer military now that is spread entirely too thin for the tasks we ask of it. The burden we place upon it is great. And at the end of the day, when the personal war is over for each of them, each is left alone to pick up the pieces as best he/she can.

For some, like Peeta, it means hanging onto the back of a chair until the voices in his head stop and he's safe to be around again. Each copes in the best way he can. We ask - no, demand - incredible things of our men and women in arms, and then relegate them to the sidelines afterwards because we don't want to be reminded of the things they did in battle.

 What do you do with people who are trained to kill when they come back home? And what if there's no real home to come back to - if, heaven forbid, the war is fought in your own home? We need our soldiers when we need them, but they make us uncomfortable when the fighting stops.

All of that is bigger than a love story - than Peeta or Gale. And yet, Katniss' war does come to an end. And she does have to pick up the pieces of her life and figure out where to go at the end. So she does make a choice. But compared to the tragedy of everything that comes before it, it doesn't seem "enough". And I think that's the point.

That once you've been to hell and lost so much, your life will never be the same. Katniss will never be the same. For a large part of this book, we see Katniss acting in a way that we can only see as being combat-stress or PTSD-related - running and hiding in closets. This isn't our Katniss, this isn't our warrior girl.

But this is what makes it so much more realistic, I think. Some may see this as a failing in plot - that Katniss is suddenly acting out of character. But as someone who has been around very strong soldiers returning home from deployments, this story, more than the other two, made Katniss come alive for me in a much more believable way.

I realize many out there will hate the epilogue and find it trite. At first, I did too. But in retrospect, it really was perfect. Katniss gave her life already - back when she volunteered for Prim in "The Hunger Games". It's just that she actually physically kept living.

The HBO miniseries, "Band of Brothers", has a quote that sums this up perfectly. When Captain Spiers says, "The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it."

But how do you go from that, to living again in society? You really don't. So I'm not sure Katniss ever really did - live again. She just ... kept going. And there's not really much to celebrate in that.

Seeing someone keep going, despite being asked - no, demanded - to do unconscionably horrifying things, and then being relegated to the fringes of society, and then to keep going - to pick up the pieces and keep on going, there is something fine and admirable and infinitely sad and pure and noble about that. But the fact is, it should never happen in the first place.

And that was the point, I think.

Read more interesting reviews or buy it now!

Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong By Edward Conard

Product Description

In the aftermath of the Financial Crisis, many com­monly held beliefs have emerged to explain its cause. 

 

Conventional wisdom blames Wall Street and the mortgage industry for using low down pay­ments, teaser rates, and other predatory tactics to seduce unsuspecting home owners into assuming mortgages they couldn’t afford. 

 

 It blames average Americans for borrowing recklessly and spend­ing too much. And it blames the tax policies and deregulatory environment of the Reagan and Bush administrations for encouraging reckless risk taking by wealthy individuals and financial institutions.

 

But according to Unintended Consequences, the conventional wisdom masks the real causes of our economic disruption and puts us at risk of facing a slew of unintended—and potentially dangerous—consequences. This book addresses many essential but overlooked questions, such as:

 

• If the United States had become a nation of reckless consumers rather than investors, why did productivity soar in the years leading up to the meltdown?
• If predatory bankers took advantage of home owners, why did down payments decline, thereby shifting risk from home owners to lenders?
• If the risks were easy to spot, why did top politi­cal and financial advisers encourage lenders to make unsound investments?
• If new regulations encourage banks to hold enough capital to fund withdrawals and not just loan losses, how will the economy underwrite the risks necessary to reach full employment?

In an attempt to set the record straight and fill the void left by other analysts, Conard presents a fas­cinating and contrarian case for how the economy really works, what went wrong over the past decade, and what steps we can take to start growing again.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review
''Ed Conard has written a provocative and important book about the economy that challenges conventional wisdom about the financial crisis, the trade deficit, government policy, and the path to prosperity.'' --William A. Sahlman, senior associate dean, Harvard Business School.

''Ed Conard provides a provocative interpretation of the causes of the global financial crisis and the policies needed to return to rapid growth. Whether you agree or not, this analysis is well worth reading.'' --Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics.

''Ed Conard's book presents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the financial crisis to date.'' --Andrei Shleifer, Bates Clark Medal winner, Harvard University.

''There are an amazing number of good ideas and interesting points made in this book.'' --Steven Levitt, coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Freakonomics.

''Unintended Consequences will be the most talked-about economics book in 2012.'' --Kevin Hassett, senior fellow and director of economic policy, American Enterprise Institute.

Helpful Review

"Valuable even if you disagree with the author"
By Jackal

This is a data driven book written by a management consulting kind of guy. One key argument is that the wealthy class adds a lot of value to society because they invest money (as opposed to spend money). I think the author is half-right in this statement because risky equity capital is neither provided by the Fed, the banks nor small investors. However, it is only half-right, because the US economy is to some 70% driven by end-customer demand.

If Americans lack purchasing power, new products will not be in much demand. Any thinking person would realise that total income inequality (one guy earning everything) or total income equality (everyone earning the same) would be pretty bad societies. The optimal level of inequality is not much discussed in this book. More seems better for the author. (Just as less seems better for Krugman and Stiglitz.) It is a bit sad that we get just another book saying that more/less is better.

The author clearly wants to make an impact as a thought leader. I don't think this will happen for a couple of reasons:

- He is far too dogmatic in accepting market prices as unbiased. He seems to defend market prices in all situations, even when those markets are not very efficient. So while he rightly praises the highly paid IT or biotech entrepreneur, he also seems to praise all bankers. Somebody bought the subprime debt so some value must have been added, the author thinks. He does not take seriously the fact that some markets are seriously inefficient (e.g. the financial-services human-resources market). Had he analysed the lack of efficiency in some markets, the book would have been much stronger.

- Sometimes it is more intelligent, both intellectually and impact-wise, to concede a few points. The US government might have had something to do with the success of Intel and other companies due to huge government investments in R&D. And there are other kinds of motivation than money. Listen to what psychologists say about intrinsic motivation.

- Why not just state that rent-seeking or crappy bankers should just be fired? He probably does not have much sympathy for crappy bankers, so why not nail them hard? The author is super-rich so he can afford to pick a few names, trash their track record, and create some enemies. Instead he sits too close to the television; mechanically he finds some way to support them. He seems to believe that the bankers should not be punished because they took well-intended decisions, which only later turned out sour.

- Rather than just putting a lot of praise on private equity, what about acknowledging that the Fed's low interest rate policy makes it artificially profitable to do private equity deals? These funds can borrow at very low rates, which Joe the Plumber who wants to expand his business. Sure, the risk capitalists are rightly acting on the low cost of capital, but surely they don't deserve full credit when the price of capital is set by a monopolist (i.e. the Fed).

- The author also seems to hard-sell the book a bit too much. A lot of "friends" have given the book five stars on amazon without hardly having reviewed any other book. In fact, these "friends" have reviewed the ebook, but without actually buying the ebook (no "verified purchase" note).

- He considers art history students as spoilt because they use their talent on something that is not adding a lot of value to society. Irrespective of the truth of that statement, it will not endear the author to anyone. Just as tone death as Romney talking about his money and. Art historians are grappling with a very complex subject in trying to understand what is good/beautiful art. In other words, the unit of measure is complex. Economics is a little bit more like art history than the author understands.

So why do I give the book four stars? Well, the book presents a lot of interesting and thoughtful data. The book is at times thoughtfully and intelligently written. The book justly defends creative destruction which is an essential part of capitalism not just private equity. America has strong capitalist traditions, which have served the country well overall.

What Bain Capital has done might not be pleasant, but creative destruction never is. Still, it is part of American capitalism. The book is also fun because the author so needlessly overstretches himself; sometimes you think that he is metaphorically out to hang himself. Had he not trashed art history students, maybe he could have learnt one or two things from them.

If you are still undecided, have a look at Conard and Stiglitz having a five minute debate on a Bloomberg clip. The author has collected all media promotion clips on his webpage (thanks!), even the one in which he behaves like a disobedient, smart schoolboy that eventually gets reined in by his teacher (Jon Stewart).
 

Read more or buy now!

Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

Read books review online below. It's irresistible!

Product Details

• Published on: 2010-05-28
• Released on: 2010-06-01
• Format: Kindle eBook
• Number of items: 1

 Review
Praise for Catching Fire:
 
#1 New York Times Bestseller.
#1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller.
A Time Magazine Top 10 Fiction Book of 2009.
A People Magazine (Top 10) Best Book of 2009.
A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice.
A Los Angeles Times Best Children's Book of 2009.
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009.
A Booklist Editors' Choice 2009.
A Kirkus Best Book of 2009.
#1 USA Today Bestseller.
#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller.

"...enough action to please Hunger Games fans and leaves enough questions tantalizingly unanswered for readers to be desperate for the next installment." — School Library Journal, starred review

"Whereas Katniss kills with finesse, Collins writes with raw power." — Time Magazine

"Collins expertly blends fantasy, romance and political intrigue (so who needs vampires?)." — People Magazine

"Collins has joined J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer as a writer of children's books that adults are eager to read." — Bloomberg.com

"Catching Fire not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them. It's just as exciting as The Hunger Games, but even more gut wrenching, because you already know these characters, you've already suffered with them." — Stephenie Meyer

Customer review

I wish I could give it 10 stars!!!
By Ello

When I read the Hunger Games, I read it straight through the night, from 1AM til 5AM. Couldn't stop reading even though I had to pee badly. After I finished it, I was dying for the sequel. DYING!!!! When I found out the ARC would be available in the spring, I bribed everyone I could think of to get me one. And yes, I got it. The day I got it, I couldn't look at it until 1AM again. This time, I promised myself, I would only look at the first chapter and then put it down. Riiiiight. It was 4:30AM when I finished reading and immediately began plotting to find out when the next book ARC would be available.

I thought the first one was fantastic. In the back of my mind I felt that the sequel just couldn't be as good. How could it? Boy was I wrong! It was even better! My heart was racing the whole time I was reading it and I simply couldn't put it down. I believe Ms. Collins is the MASTER of the pageturner.

Every chapter ends with almost a cliffhanger feeling. It compels you to keep reading. It physically traps you into the book so that you just can't put it down. If you can't read this book in one sitting, then I urge you not to even look at it until you can. Like the first one, you will not be able to put it down. The house could have been on fire and I doubt I would have noticed.

Since we got to know Peeta and Katniss so well from the first one, what the sequel does is invest us even more deeply into their emotional well being. I won't give any other spoilers than what has already been said. So the book starts with Katniss as the face of the rebellion because of her act of defiance in the first book.

As rebellion grows, the President sets up his revenge - and when I found out what it was, I literally sat up in bed and shouted "Oh NO! I can't believe they are doing this to them!!!" Yes I was talking to my book.

That's how deeply this book sucks you into this amazing and disturbing dystopian world. It makes you want to grab up a weapon and join the rebellion.

One thing I have to say, I was deeply satisfied with the ending of this book. The first book ended in such a way that I was bothered by it and itchy for the next book. With the end of Catching Fire, I felt it was absolutely right and thrilled with the conclusion. But I'm still DYING for the third and final book of this amazing book series.

irresistible? Buy it  now or read more reviews here

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Product Details

• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (October 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451648537
• ISBN-13: 978-1451648539
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds 
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,451 customer reviews)
•  
• The Best Books of 2011
• Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2011: It is difficult to read the opening pages of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs without feeling melancholic. Jobs retired at the end of August and died about six weeks later. Now, just weeks after his death, you can open the book that bears his name and read about his youth, his promise, and his relentless press to succeed. But the initial sadness in starting the book is soon replaced by something else, which is the intensity of the read--mirroring the intensity of Jobs’s focus and vision for his products. Few in history have transformed their time like Steve Jobs, and one could argue that he stands with the Fords, Edisons, and Gutenbergs of the world. This is a timely and complete portrait that pulls no punches and gives insight into a man whose contradictions were in many ways his greatest strength. --Chris Schluep
  

 


Gripping but amazingly incomplete (October 27, 2011)

By David Dennis

This is a gripping journey into the life of an amazing individual. Despite its girth of nearly 600 pages, the book zips along at a torrid pace.

The interviews with Jobs are fascinating and revealing. We get a real sense for what it must have been like to be Steve, or to work with him. That earns the book five stars despite its flaws, in that it's definitely a must-read if you have any interest at all in the subject.

But there are places in the book where I have to say, "Huh?"

The book is written essentially as a series of stories about Steve. The book continuously held my interest, but some of the dramas of his life seem muted. For instance, he came close to going bust when both Next and Pixar were flailing. There was only the slightest hint that anything dramatic happened in those years. In one paragraph, Pixar is shown as nearly running him out of money. A few brief paragraphs later, Toy Story gets released and Jobs' finances are saved for good.

We hear a lot about Tony Fadell's role in the development of iPhone. Tony led the iPod group and was clearly a major source for the book. You may know from a recent Businessweek article that Tony was basically driven out of the company shortly after the final introduction of iPhone, due to personality conflicts between him and Scott Forestall, the person now in charge of iOS development. But the book doesn't say a word about it. Tony simply disappears from the rest of the book with no explanation, and Forestall is barely mentioned.

Another strange incident was the Jackling house, the house he spent a large part of his life in. A case could be made that the house is historic simply because Steve spent many of his formative years living in it. Preservationists were battling with him to save the house. 

 

Only a couple of months before his death, when he must have known he was not going to actually build a house to replace it, he had the house torn down. I would have loved to learn this story. Why did he buy it? Why did he destroy it through neglect? Why did he acquire such a blind loathing for it that he worked hard to get it torn down?

And why did Jobs keep almost all the Pixar options to himself? He doesn't seem to have needed the money, or even really wanted it that much. He could have cut his friends John Lasseter et al into their own huge fortunes. Lasseter only got about $25 million from Pixar, which seems like a shockingly low amount in view of his contributions. 

 

Now, it's not like they will starve or anything, and I think John can buy pretty much anything he wants, but it still seems surprising Jobs is so ungenerous.

There were a lot of things like this, incidents casually tossed away in a brief paragraph that should have merited an entire chapter.

I think this will always be the best account of the emotional aspects of Steve's life, which are fully covered. The chapters about his illness moved me to tears. But as an account of what really happened at Apple and how Steve fixed the company, it's insufficient. I guess that will have to await more distance from the subject.

Of course what's truly remarkable about Jobs is that he lived a life so full of incident that perhaps no biography has the space to cover the broad sweep of his life. He accomplished as much as 10 ordinarily famous men. Maybe the upshot is that you just can't fit a man like this in a book, even if that book's nearly 600 pages. 

 

Read more reviews or buy now!

The Amateur

 

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Think you know the real Barack Obama? You don’t—not until you’ve read The Amateur

In this stunning exposé, bestselling author Edward Klein—a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, former foreign editor of Newsweek, and former editor-in-chief of the New York Times Magazine—pulls back the curtain on one of the most secretive White Houses in history. He reveals a callow, thin-skinned, arrogant president with messianic dreams of grandeur supported by a cast of true-believers, all of them united by leftist politics and an amateurish understanding of executive leadership.

In The Amateur you’ll discover:

• Why the so-called “centrist” Obama is actually in revolt against the values of the society he was elected to lead
• Why Bill Clinton loathes Barack Obama and tried to get Hillary to run against him in 2012
• The spiteful rivalry between Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey
• How Obama split the Kennedy family
• How Obama has taken more of a personal role in making foreign policy than any president since Richard Nixon—with disastrous results
• How Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett are the real powers behind the White House throne

The Amateur is a reporter’s book, buttressed by nearly 200 interviews, many of them with the insiders who know Obama best. The result is the most important political book of the year. You will never look at Barack Obama the same way again.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Amateur

“The Amateur is the best book I’ve read on how Barack Obama is wrecking our country. I urge everyone who cares about America to read Edward Klein’s eye-opening book.”
—Donald J. Trump, world-famous businessman, owner and host of the hit NBC TV shows The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice, and bestselling author of many titles, including Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again

“This is a racy, entertaining, informative book that illuminates aspects of Obama and his team that have not been previously reported. A necessary antidote to the Obama worship that is sure to characterize the election debate.”
—Dinesh D’Souza, president of The King’s College and bestselling author of The Roots of Obama’s Rage

“All the horrors I predicted in Welcome to Obamaland have now been definitively proven true by Edward Klein’s rip-roaringly readable new book The Amateur, which uses great stories and great reporting to illustrate just how ideological, arrogant, and hapless Obama and his administration really are. An outstanding demolition job on the most overrated president of our time.”
—James Delingpole, columnist for the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator and author of Welcome to Obamaland

“A devastating indictment of the lethal combination of incompetence and radicalism that has made Obama into one of the worst presidents in American history.”

—Norman Podhoretz, former editor of Commentary magazine and author of many books, including most recently, Why Are Jews Liberals?

 

About the Author

Edward Klein is a New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including, All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy; The Kennedy Curse; and The Truth About Hillary. He is the former foreign editor of Newsweek, former editor-in-chief of the New York Times Magazine, and a contributing editor of Vanity Fair. He lives in New York City.

---

Customer Reviews

A Can't Put Down Book that Will Withstand the Obama Attack Machine - May 21, 2012
 

By Kris Zane

 

I bought Edward Klein's The Amateur the day it came out; the day Klein revealed on Sean Hannity's radio show that he had audio tapes of the pastor that Obama threw under the bus, Jeremiah Wright, stating that in 2008 Obama crony Eric Whitaker had offered him $150K to keep his mouth shut until after the election. Contrary to the naysayers of Klein's previous exposé on Hillary Clinton, critics' ad hominem attacks on Klein regarding The Amateur this time are ringing false, as the Top Ten slot on Amazon's best seller list shows. 

 

Klein names names, interviewing over two hundred people for the book, including Obama's two-decades-long former doctor, who makes the claim that Obama is basically a hollow shell, with no real emotion, and no connection to people. 

 

Klein "has the goods," so to speak: in regard to the Eric Whitaker bribery, it is not merely a hidden microphone that caught Wright stating this. It is within an open, 3 1/2 hour interview, where Wright not only states he was bribed, but has the email to prove it. Wright makes other statements, such as Obama's Muslim background, his fickle belief in Christianity, and his two-decades-long allegiance to Trinity United Church of Christ for purely political reasons.

I downloaded the book to my Kindle within hours of its release, and read it over a day and a half period, only pausing to sleep. Probably the two most enjoyable-to-read revelations are that 1. Bill Clinton urged Hillary to challenge Obama in 2012. 2. The Kennedy clan despise Obama, despite deceased Ted Kennedy's tireless support of the Community Organizer-in-Chief.

An anecdote is described where Bill and Hillary Clinton are having an argument that took place over several days (a screaming match actually, with a dozen people present); that, because Obama had basically destroyed the economy, caused the downgrade of the U.S.'s credit rating for the first time in history, etc., etc.; that Obama was, according to Bill Clinton, an "Amateur" (this is the source of the title of the book); that Hillary needed to challenge Obama in 2012 in order to save the country from sliding off the cliff.

The Kennedy clan anecdote is jaw-dropping. All of the Kennedy clan (save Robert Kennedy, Jr.) had stood behind Obama in 2008. But after Obama's coronation and repeated miffs by the First Family: 

 

1. The Obamas ignored an invitation to the Kennedy Compound while vacation at Martha's Vineyard. 

 

2. Michelle Obama treated Caroline Kennedy (daughter of JFK) like hired help while at the White House, shaking her hand coldly, taking a quick photo, and making a quick exit--after these and other miffs the Kennedy royalty at a pow wow had had enough (at one point Robert Kennedy, Jr. shattered a glass in his hand) and got the message from the Obamas loud and clear: rich people are evil, and wanted no more to do with the former community organizers.

Contrary to Obama's 'Attack Watch' claim of the book being totally discredited (whereby they don't actually reference anything in the book, but simply go on an ad hominem attack), the book is meticulously researched and at the same time highly readable. 

 

It is at the time of this writing #9 on Amazon's bestseller list, and hopefully it will reach #1, whereby at that point the majority of Americans will have read about the current "Amateur" in office being completely unqualified for the job; and realize that when a person is unqualified for a job, are incompetent, that the only remedy is either resignation or being fired.

I vote for being fired. 

 

Buy this book? or read more review

Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

 

Editorial Reviews

Review
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FIFTY SHADES Trilogy

"In a class by itself." 
—Entertainment Weekly
 
Review
THE "NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSELLING FIFTY SHADES Trilogy

"In a class by itself."
--"Entertainment Weekly"

About the Author
E L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and career. She finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her first novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

---

Customer Reviews

272 of 283 people found the following review helpful.
It's awful, but oh so addicting
By cupcake

After surviving 50 Shades of Grey, and after taking a break for a few days from Ana and Christian's tortured romance, I girded my loins and cracked open the second book of the trilogy, 50 Shades Darker.

For those of you intrigued by the words "butt plug" or "fisting," half of you will enjoy your lucky day, because one of those is kinda sorta featured in this book. As it is, the only fisting we ever see - ever come close to seeing - is that of Ana's or Christian's hands in the others' hair. And that happens a lot. Not as often as Ana or Christian gasping, or Christian setting his lips in a hard line, or Ana biting her lip, or Ana coming undone, or Christian frowning. In fact, Christian's frowning is such a "thing" that, when Ana frowns, another character observes that she's turning into Christian.

It's just ... WHERE THE HELL WAS THE EDITOR?

But I digress.

To dig too deeply into the spectacle that is 50 Shades of Grey is to approach Sisyphean frustration. Trust me, because I know of what I speak. I spent an inordinate amount of time wondering how it was that Christian Grey was 27 and a billionaire as I read the first book. I don't think we are meant to really ponder this stuff. I think we're supposed to strap on our dildos and have at it, as it were.

Okay, so. When we last left Christian and Ana, she had walked out on him, horrified at the depravity entailed in his life of BDSM. (Go ahead and Google THAT, people. I had to, so you might as well.) As with its muse, Twilight, we see our heroine descend into despair, but unlike Bella's months on end, Ana really only suffers for five days. Christian gets in touch with her, and it's game on, kids. Christian is prepared to let go of his need for dominance in his playroom, because all he really wants - all he really needs - is Ana. She has admitted that she loves him, but it takes Christian a little longer.

Now, before you start thinking that this is the end of the Red Room of Pain, let me tell you that it is not. Don't worry - Christian keeps the room, and Ana remains inexplicably drawn to it. So those butt plugs come in handy (no pun intended), although - SPOILER - Christian does point out that for the anally virgin, a finger is a better start. So Ana has something to look forward to, so to speak.

Back to the plot, such as it is. It turns out that one of Christian's former subs remains fixated on him, so she enters the story to muck up Christian and Ana's relationship. Also causing trouble is Ana's boss at the publishing house. He wants her, which pisses off Christian, who reacts as only Christian can. Meanwhile, Christian and Ana's romance progresses in fits and starts. She loves him, he really cares about her, can he say the "L" word, can they get past his need for control, why does he love her, why does she love him, can he overcome his tortured childhood, blah blah blah.

What you really want to know about are the sex scenes, right? RIGHT? I'm pretty sure you butt plug searching people aren't concerned about the dialogue.

In this book, they rock the headboard in an elevator, on a boat, in Christian's childhood room, in the shower (again - evidently they enjoy that spot), Ana's apartment bedroom, Christian's apartment bedroom, and - YESS! - the Red Room of Pain. Oh, and on top of a piano and a pool table. There may be more. Did the desk happen in this book, or the previous one? I think they wind up on Christian's desk in this one, too.

During one of the many times Ana challenges Christian, they are in the library, competing in a billiards game.

"You know, Anastasia, I could stand here and watch you leaning and stretching across this billiard table all day," he says appreciatively.

I flush. [SHE FLUSHES A LOT. That's another thing that is repetitive, and so again, I ask, WHERE THE HELL IS THE EDITOR? Oh - those are "shouty caps," according to Ana. Back to the program.] Thank heavens I am wearing my jeans. He smirks. [HE SMIRKS A LOT. So does she. Sometimes they smirk, bite lips and eye roll, all at the same time.] He's trying to put me off my game, the bastard. He pulls his cream sweater over his head, tosses it onto the back of a chair, and grins at me, as he saunters over to take his first shot.

He bends low over the table. My mouth goes dry. Oh, I see what he means. Christian in tight jeans and white T-shirt, bending, like that ... is something to behold. I quite lose my train of thought. He sinks four solids rapidly, then fouls by sinking the white.

Foreplay, Christian styles.

And now, for the butt plug seekers:

"What's this?" I hold up the silver bullet thing.

"Always hungry for information, Miss Steele. That's a butt plug," he says gently.

"Oh ..."

"Bought for you."

What? For me?

He nods slowly, his face now serious and wary.

I frown. [AGAIN - she always frowns. Or he frowns. They frown a LOT.] "You buy new, er ... toys ... for each submissive?"

"Some things. Yes."

"Butt plugs?"

"Yes."

So there you go. They come up again, so buy a copy and knock yourself out.

Is 50 Shades Darker good? Hell to the no, it is not good. But is it entertaining? Yes. Is it hot? Yes. Is it worth reading? Yes. If you can get past all of the awful writing, it's very enjoyable. I admit that I read it cover to cover, and I look forward to 50 Shades Freed. Do not, however, mistake an enjoyable read for something well written, because this is NOT well written. It's like literary crack. You know it's bad for you, and you feel dirty and low for enjoying it, but you can't stop.

I gave this 4 stars. Don't judge me.
[...]

Buy this books? or read more reviews

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

Editorial Reviews

Review
A Good Reads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Romance

"In a class by itself." 
—Entertainment Weekly

Review
A GoodReads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Romance

"In a class by itself." 
—Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
E L James is a former television executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Review

Did a teenager write this???
By meymoon

I really don't like writing bad reviews. I admire people who have the courage to put pen to paper and expose themselves to the whole world, especially those writing erotica. Having just finished this book, however, I feel compelled to write a review.

About half way through the book, I looked up the author to see if she was a teenager. I really did because the characters are out of a 16 year old's fantasy. The main male character is a billionaire (not a millionaire but a billionaire) who speaks fluent French, is basically a concert level pianist, is a fully trained pilot, is athletic, drop dead gorgeous, tall, built perfectly with an enormous penis, and the best lover on the planet. In addition, he's not only self made but is using his money to combat world hunger.

Oh yeah, and all of this at the ripe old age of 26! And on top of that, he's never working. Every second is spent having sex or texting and emailing the female character. His billions seem to have just come about by magic. It seriously feels like 2 teenage girls got together and decided to create their "dream man" and came up with Christian Grey.

Then come the sex scenes. The first one is tolerable but as she goes on, they become so unbelievable that it becomes more laughable than erotic. She orgasms at the drop of a hat. He says her name and she orgasms. He simply touches her and she orgasms. It seems that she's climaxing on every page.

Then there's the writing. If you take out the parts where the female character is blushing or chewing her lips, the book will be down to about 50 pages. Almost on every single page, there is a whole section devoted to her blushing, chewing her lips or wondering "Jeez" about something or another.

Then there's the use of "shades of". He's "fifty shades of @#$%% up," "she turned 7 shades of crimson," "he's ten shades of x,y, and z." Seriously?

The writing is just not up to par, the characters are unbelievable, and the sex verges on the comical. I don't know what happens in the remaining books and I do not intend to read them to find out. But given the maturity level of the first book, I imagine that they get married, have 2 perfect children, cure world hunger, and live happily ever after while riding into the sunset, as the female character climaxes on her horse causing her to chew her bottom lip and blush fifty shades of crimson. Jeez!

Buy? or read more reviews

A Review : Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

 

---

Editorial Reviews

Review
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FIFTY SHADES Trilogy

"In a class by itself." 
—Entertainment Weekly
Review
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FIFTY SHADES Trilogy

"In a class by itself." 
—Entertainment Weekly
 
About the Author
E L James is a former television executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

5 Stars ( ) Best Book of 2012!!! 6 stars.
By P.A. Lupton

An undercurrent, by definition, is the hidden movement of water beneath the surface; its tug and motion are only perceptible upon submersion. Fifty Shades is exactly like an undercurrent. You dive into the story thinking you know what to expect, only to find out once you're in it that it's something else completely. And Fifty Shades Freed is the riptide of currents.

You'll be swept away with a force that is impossible to escape, not that you'd want to escape. You'll savor every moment, every word, and when it's over you'll want to pick it up and start again from the beginning. The only thing I'd like to caution readers about with the Fifty Shades Trilogy--it will literally ruin other books for you.

So many readers glance at the back cover this book and expect an erotic novel about BDSM. Yes there are some BDSM elements to the story, but that's not what this novel is about. Fifty Shades is probably the best romance I've ever read. It's impossible to put into words in a review what this book will make you feel. It's so emotional. It is authentic, open, honest, and at times both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

I've recommended this series to so many people who told me that it was out of their comfort zone because of the BDSM. However, after practically browbeating them into reading it, every one of them came to me raving about how wonderful and unexpected it was. Still, I'm not going to lie, the erotic scenes are hot as hell--but they are tasteful, and nothing to shy away from in my opinion.

Christian Grey is the hero, and he defines the word contradiction. He is THE Alpha male. Strong, unbelievably sexy, and dominating, but just like other parts of this story, there are things unseen below the surface. There's a reason Ana refers to him as her "lost boy".

Yes he is extremely successful, sensual and dominating (he doesn't apologize for his predilections), but he is misunderstood. He uses control as a mechanism to guard his feelings, and despite his behavior, Ana sees past the surface to the man beneath.

It's ironic that Christian spends most of his time trying to protect Ana. Initially, he views her as fragile, but as he quickly learns, appearances can be misleading. He discovers through Ana that strength is not only about brawn and toughness. Strength is displayed in bravery, fortitude, and the ability to cope with everything life throws at you, and Ana epitomizes inner strength.

Not only is Ana the first woman to see Christian for who he really is, she is the first woman to stand up to Christian, and because of that she earns his respect, devotion, and unwavering love.

I've decided to rebel. There is no way I can justify classifying this novel as a 5 star read, so here it is: I've hijacked another star and I'm giving 6 stars to Fifty Shades Freed.

I'm just hoping this blatant infraction of the rules is enough to warrant a run in with Christian's twitchy palm. I RECOMMEND (in shouty caps) this book to everyone who loves an amazing love story, because that's really what this book is.

More reviews at books review online