Steve Kirkpatrick

I enjoyed it. I listened to the audiobook read by Chris O'Dowd and between his enthusiasm and the sound effects, it was an interesting and enjoyable listen. But I was expecting it to be a little more interesting. At least it was a short story. I expect a bit less from them because they take less of my time.

Great book! All fathers should read, often.

This book has so much information for dads of daughters. It covers all ages from newborn to adults children. It reinforces principles that I think dads already know are right, but the culture may disagree on. It helps give dads confidence to stick to those principles. I don't often read books more than once, but this is a book I plan to read every few years, if not more often as a reminder of what is important, particularly at each stage as my girls grow.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book. While the story was good, I quit listening (Audible) because I could tell it was going to be a book full of more tragedy without justice than I can stand. It may be realistic, but it's not enjoyable to me. I was a third of the way though at 15 hrs. into the 45 hr. audiobook (Ch. 29 of 91) so I felt like I gave it a pretty good chance. I was hopeful that I was prepared for what to expect (after reading the first in the series) and could enjoy the great story. But I had enough. I'll possibly come back to it sometime in the future, but for now, I can find more enjoyable reads that are worth my time.
(This assumption was based on comparisons to the first book in the series which I couldn't decide if I loved or hated for the same reasons.)

I could not decide if I loved this book or hated it. I finished it (audiobook). I loved this epic-ness of this story, but I hated all the tragedy. Of course, every good story needs struggle and this may have been realistic, but it was too much for my enjoyment.

On a related note, two years after finishing this, I started the 2nd book in the series and decided to quit for similar reasons to why I did not love this book.

This is an excellent book with a great look into the truly financially wealthy in America. It will correct your perspective on who really has wealth and who just spends as if they do. It covers PAWS (Prodigious Accumulators of Wealth) and UAWS (Under Accumulators of Wealth) and characteristics of both. This can be a very enlightening book.

I admit that I did not finish this book. I'm not sure how much of this I even read, but I read enough to completely give it up and move on to another book. This was not one of the few books that I just didn't have time to read so I let it go and forgot where I was so I gave up. I stopped this book in the middle of a day at the beach and moved to another book because I had so little interest in this. It just didn't grab my attention. It is the only Mario Puzo book that I have read an have not loved.

A bit of the same material as is covered in Financial Peace Revisited and The Total Money Makeover. Since this is the last of the three that I'm reading, I'm finding it less interesting. It still has a lot of valuable information and from many perspectives based on where you are in your life so that is why I'm working my way through it to finish it. It's just not as exciting as the other two financial books by Dave Ramsey.

This was an excellent story! I may or may not have read this as a child. I know I've seen more than one related movie. I feel I had a general idea of who Tom Sawyer was and some of the parts of the story described here. All that said, I really enjoyed this book. I like Twains writing style. It was the perfect book to kick off the summer. To hear how boys think, what they did, their logic (that made complete sense to them, but no adult). It's just a really fun story with more twists and turns than I remember. It stays interesting, while still being a “relaxing” read.

Very good book overall and the note at the end from Gaiman about how the story was written made it even better. I almost would've preferred it at the beginning, but then some parts wouldn't have made as much sense or might have spoiled it slightly. But it really tied things together and gave it an enjoyable ending, knowing the background. The story was very good, a few dry/slow spots that didn't feel like they had as much to do with the rest of the story or not worth the amount of time they took. It has some thrilling parts, but the book isn't a thriller. It keeps you guessing until the end. It ties up fairly well, but not quite as well as I'd hoped. I had a few unanswered questions. Maybe another read/listen would help or maybe they weren't all answered.

Note: I listened to this on Audible.

Listened to the audiobook from Audible. I got it for free (the list price, I didn't use a free credit). An interesting story. A nice twist. Some relationships that might be a bit of a stretch. The detectives voice was a bit to stereotypical (only an issue with the audio book, of course). If I had paid for it or used a credit, it might have fallen a little short, but I enjoyed it for a free book.

Good Book! Surprisingly, not my favorite Andy Andrews book.

I'm a big fan of Andy Andrews. I've read some of this books (The Heart Mender, How do you Kill 11 Million People, and the Noticer). I loved all of them. This book was good, but I didn't enjoy it as much. I felt like the others (maybe excluding 11 Million) had more story to them. They still included valuable lessons and principles, but they were weaved in more smoothly. I felt like the 7 principles could have been laid out in a shorter, simpler format with similar affect and less to read. With that said, I've followed Andy Andrews for a while and most of the “visits” in this book I'd heard in one way or another from him over the years. So none were that eye-opening. But the principle are valuable and helpful. It was a quick read for me and I'm glad I read it. Just not my favorite, but his other books rank very high for me so that's a high bar to reach.

I listened to the audiobook version of this through Overdrive/my local library. It was a good story and will get you in a Christmasy mood. It is set in the present, but the train travel gives it a nostalgic feel (something recognized directly in the writing, that there's just something nostalgic about train travel). There's romance, drama, and some humor. I'd call it a relaxing book that's great to read (or listen to) around the holidays. There was a twist at the very end that I didn't care for (minus 1 star from my rating). It made a portion of the events orchestrated by a particular character when I would've preferred things were just coincidental. I think it is meant to show the orchestrator cared, but it left me feeling a little cheated. Others may find it makes it more realistic. All in all, it was a good listen around the holidays and I'd recommend it.

The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant: Principles for Successful Living was an excellent read. The story is set in historic Italy, one of my favorite settings for a book. But the most important parts about this book are the timeless principles.

The narration is a grandfather who has been a successful businessman reading through his journal to his grandson. The grandfather describes his meetings with his mentor every three years and the principles that his mentor taught him. He also covers the important events in his life that helped teach him those principles.

This book covers everything from faith to finances to relationships. It describes how to handle money responsibly for God, using His principles. It guides readers on how to handle money with family. It points out that wealth is not a bad thing, and how it can be used for the good of God and others. The principles of hard work and dedication are all throughout this story.

My only warning is that I believe Christians should study God's Word separately from the book. Some blanket principles are given for all based on a single verses without context (verses are referenced in the back of the book). Most, if not all, of the principles are very good to adopt and follow, but may not be perfect for all and I'm not certain that God meant for it to be exactly as the book states.
For example, Principle Seven is “Be meek before God, but bold before men.” The author uses Matthew 5:5 “the meek will inherit the Earth” as his foundation that we should be meek before God, but gives no reference as to where God says we should always be bold before men. In studying God's word, even the same chapter in Matthew, one can read “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:39) That verse is not exactly telling people to be bold towards others. It is another example where God calls us to be meek. This principles is given as a business principle and I'm not saying that we should never be bold. But this is an example of one of the principles where I think readers need to understand the full context of the Bible when determining where God would prefer they be bold vs meek. I believe there may be a few other cases in the principles given in this book that I would recommend readers think for themselves about. Just don't take what this book says about the Gospel as the Gospel.

Aside from warning others to make their own interpretations of God's Word based on their own studies and counsel from their Christian leaders, I believe this book provides many excellent principles and I would highly recommend it. The story is also an enjoyable one to follow.

I went into it knowing it had been recommended but without remember anything about it or the premise. I enjoyed this story. It was an interesting style, but I didn't mind it, even liked it. I enjoyed it's brevity (I'm tired of books, particularly those meant to teach, that are longer than necessary). I feel like I need to read it again to gain a better appreciation for it.
I feel like 3/5 starts looks bad. But following the guidelines 3=I liked it, and that's exactly how I feel about this story. Nothing more (yet), nothing less.

The story was interesting, but not riveting.

Knowing there was snow involved, I was expecting the story to have a more seasonal feel, instead, it simply added to the logic surrounding the mystery and threw a wrench in the original plan; however, there wasn't anything really wintry or nostalgic as I expected (i.e. a snowy winter train ride). But that's my incorrect assumption and no fault of the author.