Category Book Reviews

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My Read of the Month:

Title: Don’t Just Stand There, Pray Something: The Incredible Power of Intercessory Prayer
Author:Ronald Dunn
Published: 1992
Genre: Discipleship/Spiritual Development
Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 stars

I must confess that I don’t have a wide collection of books on prayer. Nor do I read a lot of books on prayer.

But this has to be the best book on prayer I have gotten my hands on in spite of it being published more than 20 years ago. This shows the timeless-ness of prayer.

The author does a great job in sharing comprehensively on this subject without boring the reader with an overload of theology.  He shares many relevant anecodotes and personal experiences that helps readers understand about prayer.

The book is systematically broken down in 20 chapters with four parts: (1) God’s great idea, (2) The secret kingdom’s secret weapon, (3) The life that prays and (4) The God who hears.

Definitely a must-read for all Christians. You will be motivated and inspired to pray down a storm in your life and community!

Who should read it: Christ-followers who desire to be an effective prayer or to have an intimate prayer life with God.

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My Read of the Month:

Title: The Present : The Secret to Enjoying Your Work And Life, Now!
Author: Dr. Spencer Johnson, M.D.
Published: 2003
Genre: Motivational/Self-improvement
Ratings:2.0 out of 5 stars

This book is written by the bestseller author that gave us “Who Moved My Cheese?”. Similarly, the author attempts to help readers rethink about their outlook in life and empower them to live their lives fully.

In “The Present”, Dr. Spencer shares about how The Present is made up of three parts. He uses a metaphor of a tripod supporting a valuable camera.

The tripod with its three supporting legs are: Living in the present, learning the past and planning for the future. Remove one leg and the tripod topples. But supported by all three, it works. And so will our work and life.

Being not in the present, we will not be aware of what is going on. Not learning from our past, we are not ready to plan for the future. If we have no plan for the future, we are adrift.

A good read to gain self-awareness, but not deep enough to really provide the necessary insights to live this principles out.

Who should read it: Anyone who desires or needs help in having a quick evaluation of his/her life and priorities.

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My Read of the Month:

Title: The Fourth Dimension, Vol. 2
Author: Dr. David Yonggi Cho
Published: 1983
Genre: Spiritual Development/Leadership
Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 stars

In this book, Dr. Cho who pastors the largest church in the world- Yoido Full Gospel Church shares his personal insights and experiences that he had amassed from his successful faith life.

This second volume presents more bible lessons in comparision to the first volume where it mostly introduced his concept of the Fourth Dimension.

The keys to success according to Dr. Cho is growing in the level of intimacy with the Holy Spirit. From the Holy Spirit, visions and dreams from God give birth in our lives that make up the blueprints to our destinies in God.

He also provides an interesting study on the importance of words and their influence over the kind of life we will have. According to  Dr. Cho, there is power and substance in the choice of words we choose to confess daily. For instance, if we confess we are poor, we will create a poor self-image by our confession. Hence, we will always remain poor.

In spite of it being a 1983 publication, this is still a very helpful read to establish the building blocks towards a power and successful spirit-filled life.

Who should read it: Those who desires to lead a successful faith-driven life

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My Read of the Month:

Title: Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men – One Message
Author: Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki
Published: 2006
Genre: Financial/Self-improvement
Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 stars

This is an arresting read that will serve well in giving you an overview of our global financial situation from these two highly successful businessmen.

In this combined-effort book, they challenge readers to think big and provide reasons why we should veer away from the crutch mentality. Reading this also helped me to understand Singapore and our government’s policies better like the reasons behind increasing the CPF take-out age and healthcare matters.

I like the part where Robert shared his views on the confusion that people had about God and money. Commonly, the desire to be rich is mostly viewed as being anti-God, but yet the bible (parable of the talents) rewarded the rich and not the poor.

In any case, he leaves readers to decide on their own set of beliefs, but shares his strong faith in a higher being (namely God).

Pick this up if you want to stretch your mindset or attitude towards attaining wealth.

Who should read it: Those who desire to gain insights towards their personal financial situation especially helpful during this economic slowdown.

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My Read of the Month:

Title: For One More Day
Author: Mitch Albom
Published: 2006
Genre: Fictional/inspirational
Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars

After reading Mitch’s two earlier best-selling books, The Five people you meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie, I decided to give this book a chance. And I was not left disappointed.

The story of this book started off very slowly with the introduction of its main character Chick Benetto and I nearly wanted to quit reading. But once the story got off, I could not put it down. I finished the book within a week.

The story mainly drives at loving and appreciating your loved ones while they are alive, and the setting was that of a divorced family (something that I could identify). The author managed to tell this story in such a poetic manner that tugged many of my heart strings and left me sobbing. Yes I cried.

A homage to all mothers, Mitch does an awesome job with this book. Do pick this up if you are in some nostalgic mood. And don’t say I didn’t warn you, please have some tissue while reading.

Who should read it: Anyone who loves a good sentimental story.

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My Read of the Month:

Title: Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart: Bringing Strength into Balance
Author: Stu Weber
Published: 1997
Genre: Christian Living; Male Discipleship
Ratings: 3.5 out of 5 stars

After reading this book, I understood what James 1:27 meant. The role of a man designed by God is ordained to be a king, warrior, mentor and friend as explained by the author.

A lot of the instability, violence, and confusion that we see in our today’s world can be pointed to man’s lack of responsibility in fulfilling his role to lead, love and care especially in his own family.

This book helps to encourage a man in being a man; a man that would bear up and stand strong under tremendous weight and pressure in his responsibilities as husband, father, etc… It also provides biblical advice  or counsel on the “how to” in being a man.

It truly highlights how we as men have a massive responsibility in constantly growing in our stature and standing in our families and communities. When the man is fully functioning in his role, we can experience peace and order.

Who should read it: As long you consider yourself a male, you should read this.

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My Read of the Month:

Title:The Horizontal Organization : What the Organization of the Future Actually Looks Like and How it Delivers Value to Customers
Author: Frank Ostroff
Published: 1999
Genre: Business Leadership & Management
Ratings: 3.0 out of 5 stars

In my opinion, the adoption of horizontal organisation is very much lacking in today’s organisations. Most are still operating in the vertical approach which may also be referred to as the hierarchical approach.

According to the author, this (vertical) can be observed by how important information might get loss as knowledge travels up and down multiple levels across departments which focuses more on functional goals rather than an outward-looking proposition on delivering value and winning people. Another shortcoming of this would be the stifling of creativity and initiative at lower levels.

I find this a helpful read to understand what organisations must do to see true transformation: (1) Top-down, (2) down-up and (3) aligning and streamlining of core processes to meet organisational value proposition. And the horizontal approach concept releases and empowers people by giving them the tools, skills, motiviation and authority to make decisions essential to the team’s performance.

Though overall this is a good book with credible case studies, it can be a bit technical and dry. But still are must-read if you enjoy leadership or management matters and understand how to build an organisation that will be able to respond swiftly and effectively to market forces and trends in remaining competitive and relevant.

Who should read it: For management/CEO level or for those keen to learn more about management like me =p

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My Read of the Month:

Title: The Code of the Executive: Forty-Seven Ancient Samurai Principles Essential for Twenty-First Century Leadership Success
Author: Don Schminke
Published: 2000
Genre: Leadership & Management- Personal Development
Ratings: 2.0 out of 5 stars

The author, management advisor Don Schmincke presents principles and a set of moral code developed by samurai warriors in ninth-century Japan, but updating them as The Code of the Executive which he points out parallels between past and present and suggests this connection in our modern corporate world.

He divides fundamentals into categories such as “Personal Principles,” “Roles and Responsibilities, and “Education and Development,” and he shows how ancient wisdom on cooperation, integrity, accountability, sacrifice, power, and so on can apply to contemporary situations. It was a reasonably insightful.

The shortcoming of this book was though a short and useful read, it was actually a struggle to finish as it was written in a not-so-palatable manner; attempting to mimick the tradional japanese way of communicating which fell flat.

Who should read it: Working professionals who are keen to improve their standing in their workplace.

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My Read of the Month:

Title: Men are Clams, Women are Crowbars
Author: David Clarke
Published: 1998
Genre: Christianity- Relationship/Marriage
Ratings: 4.2 out of 5 stars

I’ll give this book the “two thumbs up!” for its wonderful and useful insights!

Guys, you will most definitely find this book a life-saver as it will explain in detail the differences between how a man and a woman relates. These insights not only teaches how a guy ought to love a girl, but also vice versa.

This book entails with it many good case studies and stories to present the dynamics of communication between a man and a woman. For instance, the author shares “The Train” concept to help men and women to build better understanding of each other’s modus operandi. Using “The Train”, this enables couples to have deeper communications towards enhancing their relationship with one another.

This is not an academic read, but an enjoyable read for either gender. The only “fault” I can find in this book is that it could provide more scriptural references to his insights. This would help the reader to “beef up” a reader’s knowledge of the Bible too, in regards to relationship matters.

Who should read it: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for ALL couples. Especially a must-buy for the men!

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My Read of the Month:

The Monk Who Sold His FerrariTitle: The Monk who Sold His Ferrari
Author: Robin S. Sharma
Published: 1999
Genre: Motivational/Self-improvement
Ratings:

The author attempts to do a Paulo Coelho with this book as the story begins in a similar fashion like The Alchemist. And like all copy-cats, they can never be as close as the real thing. The story line used to present his inspirational lessons falls really flat.

However, the powerful and practical insights he shares through the book is really helpful for effective living. Very similiar intention of Stephen Covey’s books, but in Robin’s lessons, he derives most of his teachings from new age concepts and neuro-linguistic programme (NLP).

If you are Christian, this book is still a good read as it helps to explain how the heart, mind, soul and body functions as a spiritual being. Just be open and replace the new age jumbo with the word of God in applying the lessons.  And it is a great way to understand these new age beliefs in order to be knowledgable in engaging them with the truth.

Who should read it: Anyone who wants to heighten his/her self-awareness and improve personal development.