Books about Mediocre from Amazon.com

With The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown masterfully concocts an intelligent and lucid thriller that marries the gusto of an international murder mystery with a collection of fascinating esoteria culled from 2,000 years of Western history.

A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ. The victim is a high-ranking agent of this ancient society who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave gruesome clues at the scene that only his granddaughter, noted cryptographer Sophie Neveu, and Robert Langdon, a famed symbologist, can untangle. The duo become both suspects and detectives searching for not only Neveu's grandfather's murderer but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Neveu and Langdon on a breathless flight through France, England, and history itself. Brown (Angels and Demons) has created a page-turning thriller that also provides an amazing interpretation of Western history. Brown's hero and heroine embark on a lofty and intriguing exploration of some of Western culture's greatest mysteries--from the nature of the Mona Lisa's smile to the secret of the Holy Grail. Though some will quibble with the veracity of Brown's conjectures, therein lies the fun. The Da Vinci Code is an enthralling read that provides rich food for thought. --Jeremy Pugh.
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Based on The Skillful Teacher framework, this book is targeted to evaluators and supervisors who want a field-tested tool kit of strategies to improve, rather than remove, underperforming teachers. The text includes valuable legal notes and a model contract, case studies, assessment tools, and personal accounts of leaders in action..
Price: $53.70 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Robert Hughes's memoir of the fishing life begins like a lazy day on the water. A few observations on the sport's history, a look at the literature, even some comical reminiscences about trying to harpoon tuna and battle tarpon. But then Hughes returns to the piers of his native Sydney. It is there that the boy who would turn into the preeminent art critic of his generation began educating his eyes: "To fish at all, even on a humble level," he writes, "you must notice things: the movement of the water and its patterns, the rocks, the seaweed.... Time on the pier taught me to concentrate on the visual, for fishing is intensely visual, even--perhaps especially--when nothing is happening. It is easy to look, but learning to see is a more gradual business, and it sneaks up on you unconsciously, by stealth."

Hughes has made seeing his life's pursuit, and despite claims of mediocrity in angling, his grasp of the larger picture is clear. In this slim volume's concluding essay, "Troubled Waters," he decries the ravages of commercial fishing, reasserts our need to respect creatures unlike ourselves, and provides an emphatic reminder that fishing's real joys are in the catching--not the killing. "We have no moral right to preserve only cuddly tourist attractions like the koala," he stresses. "Wildness, otherness, and dread, embodied in living creatures, also have their claims." --Jeff Silverman.
Price: $7.67 [Notify me when price goes down.]

After finding it was impossible to be "Super Mom" and realizing she was really nothing more than ordinary when it came to motherhood, Patricia D'Ascoli chose instead to find humor in her daily struggles as a mother of three boisterous boys. Her reflections range from frustrations over potty training her stubborn first born to lamenting the start of another summer vacation to celebrating the return of September and a new school year. Although she will never be voted "Mother of the Year," she hopes that her future daughters in law will give her just a little credit for creating the wonderful men they married. Diary of a Mediocre Mom: Why I hate Water Parks and Other Mid-Life Musings will make you laugh, make parents feel better about their own parenting and maybe give kids a little insight as to what their parents are going through..
Price: $14.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Now available in trade paperback, David Foster urges us to break free from other peoples mediocre expectations and accept the excellence of Gods plan for our lives. The biggest mistake people make is to accept the opinions of others as the truth about themselves. David Foster says labels limit our capacity to dream, aspire to greatness, or even feel worthy enough to know God. The deadliest label of them all is mediocre, which satisfies too many. But we dont have to settle for mediocre. Foster encourages and equips readers to excel at all aspects of their lives: WHO they are, Where they are, WHAT they have, WHILE they can. The perfect conditions and timing for achieving excellence will never come. Foster beckons us to seize today, and realize our full potentials in the present circumstances, whatever they may be..
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