Writing is something that has to be enjoyed. And with management books, we have indeed enjoyed writing all that we know about it. We wish you also enjoyed yourself.

Another Great management books Article
Self Improvement Books: Valuable Guides Or Dusty Doorstops?

Quite often, when someone decides to make positive changes in their lifestyle and personality, the first thing they'll do is head for the nearest bookstore and start looking through the self improvement book section. Although their desire to become a better person is honorable, there are some things they should know before selecting a self improvement book to help them on their course. If you are one of these people, please read on.

First, not every one of these books is filled with advice that will be helpful for you. Sure, the cover may be flashy, the title intriquing and the write-up on the back may hold promises of the many secrets to be revealed within. Please don't fall prey to this type of gift-wrap marketing though. Take the time to actually crack open the book and read through the contents and a few random paragraphs or pages within.

Secondly, ask yourself if the course of self improvement being offered in the book is information that you already know. As you skim the book, you may find yourself agreeing with what the author is saying. That's a good sign that you already know this information. In this case, what you need to do is take action with the information you already have, not procrastinate by purchasing another book on the topic.

On the other hand, if you find yourself having lightbulbs go off in your head as you browse through the book and saying to yourself, "Hey, I never thought of things that way!", you might be onto a good find. Self improvement books that make you think on your own and motivate you to take action on your new ideas are often a worthwhile investment.

Finally, if you do discover the perfect book, don't buy it right away. Being frugal is one of the first steps to self-improvement, so you might want to consider leaving the bookstore and checking your local library to see if the title is available for free. Another option is to comparison shop at online bookstores to get the best price available.

Keeping these book buying tips in mind will not only save you time and money, they may also help you further along your path to personal perfection.

About the Author

James B. Allen is the cosmic publisher behind PowerLivingPress.com. Before you spend your hard-earned cash on any more self improvement books, come explore his site. It's overflowing with free articles for you - right now.

Featured management books Items






Quickbooks Premier Contractor Edition 2008

Quickbooks Premier Contractor Edition 2008
QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition 2008 offers standard accounting features, plus time-saving tools to help you manage job costs, track change orders, gain insight into job profitability and view job status. Recommended for builders, general contractors, remodelers, subcontractors, specialty trades and more.

Movies See how QuickBooks Premier Contactor Edition can help your business succeed QuickBooks Premier Contractor Overview (1:27) New Features (2:44) Understanding Sales Order Workflows (1:35) Quickly Pay Bills and Print Checks (1:35)

Answer a few basic questions, and get a customized setup you can change at any time.

Robust new Help functionality allows you to find the information you need quickly and easily.

Easily Get Started

IMPROVED! Import Data from Excel
Excel templates make it easy for you to import your existing customers, vendors, or product information into QuickBooks. You can also assign each column in your existing Excel spreadsheet to a corresponding QuickBooks column. Save these settings to use again the next time you want to pull in data. You can even preview your data before you transfer it.

Import Data from Quicken, Peachtree, and Microsoft Office Accounting
Access the Quicken conversion tool in QuickBooks to convert your data from Quicken 1998 through 2007. If you are currently running your business using Peachtree 2001-2008, Microsoft Small Business Accounting 2006, and Microsoft Office Accounting/ Office Accounting Express, you can also easily convert your data into QuickBooks 2008.

Get Set Up and Running Quickly
Answer a few basic questions, and get a customized setup you can change at any time.

NEW! Step by step coaching for new users to help you learn QuickBooks faster
Get up to speed on QuickBooks easily. The new QuickBooks Coach guides you step by step, so you can learn how to use QuickBooks features faster and explore QuickBooks as you enter your data.

Learn QuickBooks Quickly with Built-in Tutorials
Learn QuickBooks skills as you need them--in your own time, at your own pace. The built-in Learning Center offers short tutorials on basic and advanced features to help you get the most out of QuickBooks.

Upgrade your QuickBooks effortlessly
Easily transfer your existing data file into QuickBooks 2008. Your company file and preferences will transfer automatically. In just a few steps, you can start working in QuickBooks using your information, including customer lists, vendor lists, balances, and inventory lists.

Get Help When You Need It

NEW! Find Answers Fast
Robust new Help functionality allows you to find the information you need quickly and easily as you work in QuickBooks, so you can get back to business. You'll find answers to most questions in QuickBooks in-product onscreen Help. Type a question, choose from a list of topics, or search by keyword.

Enjoy Free QuickBooks support included for 30 days from registration for questions submitted online
Have a question about QuickBooks? Submit your questions online at www.quickbooks.com/contactme. We'll email or call you back usually in 30 minutes or less. No waiting on hold!

Tap into the knowledge of the QuickBooks User Community
Visit the QuickBooks User Community to connect with other QuickBooks users and experts to ask questions and share advice. Search or browse through a variety of discussion topics or post your own question.

View unbilled employee time and expenses in a single screen; transfer to an invoice in one click.

Build a professional business plan quickly by answering step-by-step questions.

Use your existing e-mail address to send invoices, statements, estimates, sales receipts, purchase orders, reports, and pay stubs from your QuickBooks to your customers, vendors, employees, and accountant.

Customized for Your Contracting Business

Track and print change orders on estimates
QuickBooks lets you create estimates quickly and easily. As the job changes, simply enter change orders into the estimate so that you can keep track of the changes, and the impact on the bottom line. Change orders are included on documents you print for your customer so that there are no surprises at the end of the job.

Job Costing Center quickly shows individual job costs
Check the Job Costing Center for an instant reading of how you're doing on your current jobs. See a summary of key information for your jobs, all in a single window.

Track job profitability as you pay suppliers, subcontractors and employees
Contractor Edition job cost reports give you the insight you need to run your business more effectively and efficiently. Use these customized reports to see a job's profitability on a detailed, task-by-task level. You can even see the projected cost to complete a job.

Track the expiration dates of your subcontractors' insurance
Track the expiration dates of your subcontractors' workmen's compensation and general liability insurance. Alerts in QuickBooks notify you when a subcontractor's insurance has expired.

Set billing rates by employee and service type
QuickBooks provides the flexibility of setting different billing rates by employee and service type. You can set a fixed hourly rate for each employee or create custom hourly rates by service.

Create key reports, like Job Costs to Complete and Billed/Unbilled Hours, in two clicks
QuickBooks comes with more than 120 pre-designed, customizable business reports, including Contractor-specific reports. A Report Navigator that makes it easy to choose the right one. Stay on top of your company's finances by creating key reports, like:

• Job Status
• Job Costs by Vendor and Job Summary
• Job Costs by Job
• Job Cost Detail
• Cost to Complete
• Unpaid Bills by Job
• Unpaid Job Bills Billed/Unbilled Hours
• Open Purchase Orders by Vendor
• Customer Account Information

IMPROVED! View unbilled employee time and expenses in a single screen; transfer to an invoice in one click
Now you can decide who to bill by seeing all clients with unbilled time and expenses on a single screen. Instead of creating an invoice from scratch, simply open the Invoice for Time and Expenses screen and select the client and job combination. Outstanding billable time and expenses are transferred directly to an invoice.

Plan for the future by creating a business plan and sales and expense forecasts
Build a professional business plan quickly by answering step-by-step questions. QuickBooks fills in the numbers based on your QuickBooks data. You can export the projections to Excel for further analysis or save it as a PDF file. Click a button to create a forecast of income and expenses for the coming year, based on your existing QuickBooks data. Increase or decrease line items by any percentage to adjust for future changes.

Access your QuickBooks data from any secure Internet connection
Access your financial data even when you're not in the office by using QuickBooks Remote Access, powered by WebEx. All you need is an Internet-connected PC. All transmissions are protected by encryption technology used by financial institutions.

Save Time on Everyday Tasks

Easily track and pay bills; set due date reminders
Record bills as they arrive directly from the QuickBooks homepage. Never mistakenly miss a bill due date - QuickBooks will alert you with due date reminders. And when you are ready to pay bills, QuickBooks shows you all bills that are outstanding.

Quickly create estimates & invoices
When it's time to bill your customer, turn any estimate into an invoice with one click. Choose from dozens of pre-designed QuickBooks templates, or send the key invoice data to a customizable Microsoft Word document.

NEW! Send estimates, invoices & reports directly from QuickBooks using MS Outlook or Outlook Express
Use your existing e-mail address to send invoices, statements, estimates, sales receipts, purchase orders, reports, and pay stubs from your QuickBooks to your customers, vendors, employees, and accountant.

Download credit card and bank statements
Download cleared checks, deposits, and credit card transactions into QuickBooks to save time on data entry and reconciliation.

See contact information and complete transaction history for any customer with Customer Center.

Select any vendor to see purchase orders, bills, and payments with Vendor Center.

See contact information for any employee and a complete list of checks paid in Employee Center.

Stay Organized and on Top of Your Business

Organize data all in one place with Customer, Vendor, and Employee Centers

• Customer Center
  Follow up on past-due accounts and answer customer requests faster. See contact information and complete transaction history for any customer.
• Vendor Center
  Select any vendor to see purchase orders, bills, and payments. Check your account status to avoid incurring late charges. Initiate new payments or purchase orders with one click.
• Employee Center
  See contact information for any employee and a complete list of checks paid.

Track sales, sales taxes, and customer payments
Easily record sales and create sales receipts for your customers. Set up sales tax codes, and QuickBooks will automatically charge sales tax on all invoices, sales receipts, and other sales forms. When it's time to pay sales tax to your local sales tax board, QuickBooks will also help you figure out how much you owe.

Track employee time and expenses to bill clients
Track time by employee, service, and customer with timesheets in QuickBooks. When you select a client to bill, QuickBooks automatically reminds you of unbilled time and expenses for that client.

Easily export or enter data into TurboTax, or send to your accountant
Be ready for tax time. QuickBooks helps you assign each account in your Chart of Accounts to a specific line on tax forms, so all income and expenses are accurately categorized. Easily export your tax data into TurboTax or provide your accountant accurate data to simplify the tax process.

Efficiently Manage Employees and Contract Workers

Manage payroll and payroll taxes; offer Direct Deposit (paid subscription required)
Build a professional business plan quickly by answering step-by-step questions. QuickBooks fills in the numbers based on your QuickBooks data. You can export the projections to Excel and save it as a PDF file.

Prepare and print 1099s & 1096s for contract workers & federal filing
The QuickBooks 1099 and 1096 wizard will walk you through all the steps to create and print tax forms for you and your independent contractors.

Manage Products, Services, and Inventory

Track inventory, set reorder points, and create purchase orders
Easily track your raw materials and finished goods to avoid overbuying and backorders. Import your inventory from Excel or record directly in QuickBooks. You can even indicate re-order points for each inventory good and turn on reminders to automatically let you know when its time to reorder. Create and customize purchase orders directly from the Home Page, and automatically receive against P.O.s when recording bills.

Use your company data from your QuickBooks reports and export it to new or existing Excel spreadsheets while keeping all Excel formulas and formatting intact.

Use your company data from your QuickBooks reports and export it to new or existing Word documents.

Easily share your accounting records with your accountant.

Flexibility to Work the Way You Want

Export company data to Excel spreadsheets
Use your company data from your QuickBooks reports and export it to new or existing Excel spreadsheets while keeping all Excel formulas and formatting intact. Anytime you export updated data from QuickBooks, Excel maintains your existing formulas and updates the results automatically.

Create letters with Word using customer data
Use your company data from your QuickBooks reports and export it to new or existing Excel spreadsheets while keeping all Excel formulas and formatting intact. Anytime you export updated data from QuickBooks, Excel maintains your existing formulas and updates the results automatically.

Create and customize professional-looking forms
Create professional-looking forms by choosing from more than 100 expertly designed forms, including invoices, estimates, and sales receipts. Or create one for yourself in Microsoft® Word. You can also customize the templates by adding your company logo and tag line to present your business uniquely to your customers.

IMPROVED! Allow your accountant to review data & make changes while you work.
Easily share your accounting records with your accountant. Increase your productivity by allowing your accountant to review historical data and make changes while you work. Seamlessly import your accountant's changes back into your file for improved accuracy.

Easily map and obtain directions to your saved customer, vendor and employee addresses--right from within QuickBooks!
Open up any record in the Customer, Vendor and Employee centers to access links to maps and directions to customer and vendor locations or employee addresses.

Other Tools to Meet Your Business Needs

Print checks and forms directly from QuickBooks to keep better, more accurate records while also saving time

• Accurate records: All your information will be updated and stored in QuickBooks.
• Save time: Three out of four QuickBooks customers save at least one-half the time printing checks vs. handwriting them.
• Check out our deposit slips, envelopes, tax forms, invoices, stamps, and labels - all designed to work with QuickBooks.

We guarantee your checks will work with QuickBooks and your printer, and they will be accepted by any financial institution in the United States-or we will refund or replace your order within 60 days of purchase.

Save time by accepting all major credit cards and debit cards with QuickBooks Merchant Services
Built into your QuickBooks software, QuickBooks Merchant Services is easy to set up and use. No new hardware, software, or phone lines are required. When you make a sale, the data is automatically recorded in QuickBooks. QuickBooks Merchant Services requires no additional data-entry, and you won't waste hours searching for errors. You can process sales on screens you already know and use. Reconcile quickly, without headaches. This credit card processing from QuickBooks has no teaser rates, no hidden fees, no cancellation fees, and no long-term contracts.

Keep track of your inventory and customer information while you ring up sales
QuickBooks Point of Sale software and hardware save you the time and trouble of doing it yourself, making it easier to focus on the products and services that will keep your customers coming back. Pair Point of Sale with QuickBooks financial software and you can transfer sales information to your financial software-in one click.

NEW! Quickly capture billable hours online and from Outlook Calendar
Free 60-day trial! Time Tracker is the simplest way to track and record employee and contractor time in QuickBooks. Your employees can track their hours from anywhere, using a timesheet on the Web and, now by designating meetings, emails, and appointments in their Outlook calendar for billing! You can download an entire set of timesheets into QuickBooks with one click. Administrators can review and edit timesheets before submitting to ensure accuracy, as well as run custom reports on submitted time.

Meet key business needs with third-party software found at QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace
Find industry-specific solutions that work with QuickBooks and help solve your unique business challenges including specialized inventory and order management, scheduling, document management, multiple billing rates, complex estimating, and project management.

QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition Reports

Exclusive reports
Premier Contractor Edition's reports give you insight into both your jobs and your business. Learn which jobs are profitable, and which parts of the job are profitable. See how much it will cost to complete a job. Identify expenses that need to be assigned to jobs, and much more!

• Job Profitability Detail
  See which parts of the job are money-makers, and where you need to keep a tight lid on costs.
• Expenses Not Assigned to a Job
  Contractor Edition immediately identifies costs that need to be assigned to a job. With a click, you can classify them properly so you get paid every dollar you're due.
• Cost to Complete by Job Detail
  See how much it will cost you to complete a job. This report also shows you how you're doing compared to your estimated costs, and the expected cost to complete each task.
• Job Estimates vs. Actuals Detail
  Accurate estimating is one of the keys to success for any contractor. With Contractor Edition, you'll be able to compare your actual job costs to your estimated costs, either at a summary level for all jobs, or at a detailed level for a particular job.
• Job Status
  Keep your job status information in one place. See where you stand on each job you've bid so you know what your pipeline of new projects looks like, and whether or not you can take on new business.
• Job Costs by Job and Vendor Summary
  You can run reports to see your job costs by vendor, and which vendors still need to be paid.
• Billed/Unbilled Hours by Person and Activity
  With Contractor Edition, you will always know where you stand on billable hours. Reports immediately identify which hours have been billed, which haven't, and which hours are unbillable. See data by person, by person and job, or by person and activity.

Customer Review: Mostly good

The only complaint's I have is that I had a bit of a problem converting my quicken data into quickbooks. I was back and forth with quicken and quickbooks customer service because one doesn't know or help with the other.

The other thing would be the possiblity of being able to recieve (record)payments right at the time your typing up the invoice rather then going to a seperate window.

I wish they would combine the best of quicken and quickbooks!

Quickbooks is defintely better for my business.

Customer Review: First Upgrade Since 2001

Pretty much a solid product. I have had no issues, and really like not having to manually reconcile my accounts; but I believe that is not new to this release.



Works well.

The Reminder

The Reminder
Feist is the solo project of Canada's Leslie Feist, a prolific artist who has also played in one capacity or another with Broken Social Scene, Kings of Convenience and half a dozen other bands. The Reminder, her third release, comes from the same well of quiet, appealing songwriting, and delicate vocalizations that made 2004's Let It Die such a sweet treat. This one is a bit more hushed and ballad heavy, closer to Cat Power than Peaches (with whom Feist has also worked with in the past) but maintains an indie-minded blend of confessional pop, jazzy folk, and lo-fi torch songs. The comparatively upbeat single "My Moon My Man" splits her voice off into unexpected harmonies, just dissonant enough to stick in your head. It's hard to predict where her melodies are going to end up; "Brandy Alexander" starts with a simple snap-pulse, and gradually unfolds into a cathartic chorus of sweeping vocal overlays. Throughout, the record profits from a simple, unfussy aesthetic that keeps the production minimal and the emphasis squarely on Feist's cracking, wistful vibrato. Everything sounds deliberate, but not obsessed over, like an e-mailed wedding invitation. It's a low-pressure vibe, welcoming and content to linger. And linger you will. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Review: I love the music of Feist

This is an interesting album by Feist. "1234" is the highlight of this disc. It is a fun song that makes me feel good. "Brandy Alexander" is a song about a love for a cocktail drink. I love the piano playing and her vocals on this track. "My Moon My Man" is a groovy track with a good beat. She takes the Nina Simone tune "Sea Lion" and makes it her own. She rocks on the guitar on this track. "So Sorry" is a beautiful song with a romantic tone. "Past In Present" is another pleasant upbeat track. "I Feel It All" is a track with good musical arrangements. I love all the percussion instruments on this track. "The Park" is a very soothing sounding track. There is something about her guitar playing that puts my mind at ease on this track. This is a very enjoyable disc from Feist.

Customer Review: Love this CD!

I don't know how I've missed "discovering" this wonderful artist until last year, but I'm making up for lost time. This is one amazingly terrific album!

Western Digital WDG1C3200N My Book Premium Edition 320 GB USB 2.0/Firewire400 External Hard Drive

Western Digital WDG1C3200N My Book Premium Edition 320 GB USB 2.0/Firewire400 External Hard Drive
The USB 2.0 and Firewire interface gives up to 480 Mbps transfer rates. 8.9 ms average seek time Automatic power-up, Safe Shutdown and LED activity lights make this drive easy to use Stackable metal case looks like a book and sits horizontally or vertically Compatible with PC and Mac Average Latency - 4.2 ms System Requirements - Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP, Mac OS 9.2.2, X 10.2.8 or later, available FireWire or USB port

Customer Review: Great price for what you get

As the title says, it's a great price (right now, spring 2008) for what you get. 320GB and Firewire, which was my biggest point.

Customer Review: Great drive, poor backup software

I've had two of these drives for a little over a year now and they've been great. No noise, reliable and stable.



However, the backup software (EMC Retrospect Express HD) that came with them is horrible. It crashes Windows Explorer about once a day, and also takes the focus off of any window I happen to be working in constantly throughout the day. If I turn the software off none of that ever happens.



I've tried contacting their support and have been on their forums, but I've never received any help. If you're going to get this drive, make sure and use some other backup software because EMC's software is absolutely terrible.



This would have received a 5-star rating if it weren't for the software bundled with it.

A Treasury of Curious George

A Treasury of Curious George
SUNBURST T05271 LEARN ABOUT LIFE SCIENCES: DINOSAURS SINGLE EDITION

Customer Review: Great collection

My four year old loves curious george. I found this book and love all the stories. It has great stories in it including one about Halloween and one based around Christmas time. Very good value. It is worth buying the collection instead of having ten or more little books all over.

Customer Review: HUGE HIT and most economical

This is a delightful, space-saving collection of CG stories. It has held up very well, and my 2 year old son has learned so many words from it. He adores this book, and it's NOT over his head at all. I think for MOST children it's not appropriate until age 3 unless your child is extremely verbal. Why by 8 or 10 separate books when you can have them all together in one book. It's great for toting to waiting room at the Dr. office, etc. I throw it in my bag and it holds his attention whenever we have to wait for longer periods of time.

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I’ve been tagged by Jim Stroup at Managing Leadership to provide a listing of the books that I’m currently reading and/or are on my bookshelf. Well…since my bookshelf is actually 3 bookshelves full of all types of books (I have very eclectic tastes in books), I’ll give a quick rundown of the books/articles I’m reading plus those that are on my ‘to read’ list. Currently reading: Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith - Interesting book that should be required reading for any person selling s

Quest Software’s Database Management Leadership Recognized with ... - Business Wire (press release)

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Quest Software’s Database Management Leadership Recognized with ... Business Wire (press release), CA - 6 hours ago Steven Feuerstein has more than 26 years of experience and has written ten books on PL/SQL, including “Oracle PL/SQL Programming” and “Oracle PL/SQL Best ...

My Bookshelf

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:30:42 -0700
I’ve been tagged by Jim Stroup at Managing Leadership to provide a listing of the books that I’m currently reading and/or are on my bookshelf. Well…since my bookshelf is actually 3 bookshelves full of all types of books (I have very eclectic tastes in books), I’ll give a quick rundown of the books/articles I’m reading plus those that are on my ‘to read’ list. Currently reading: Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith - Interesting book that should be required reading for any person selling s

book binding