Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book those new to options
Review: This was the first book I had ever read on options, and by far and away it was the easiest to understand. The reason this book is so accessible to beginners is because Thomsett doesn't spare the examples -- unlike most other books on the subject Thomsett provides clear examples for EVERY concept and strategy he discusses. He doesn't delve into complex theoretical models and mathematical formulas, but that obviously wasn't meant to be the scope of this book to begin with. I find it laughable that anyone would say this book is dry or too hard to understand, there's nothing difficult to understand about it at all! My only complaint is with the publisher: In future editions please get rid of the green ink! I'd like to see Thomsett come out with a more advanced sequel written in the same format.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Overview For Many Audiences
Review: Getting Started In Options is a very helpful Investment Guide. Michael Thomsett spends a good deal of time discussing Puts, Calls, and Advanced Strategies by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each scenario. This neutral tone is certainly a breath of fresh air when comapred to the many books out there by snake oil salesman types whose prime objective is to get you to attend one of their Thousand Dollar Sessions. This book gives many easy to read examples whereas even an advanced beginner can comprehend Bull and Butterfly Spreads. On top of all that, the glossary at the end of the book gives a clear definition of the key terms in the Options World. The only minor issue is that Thomsett should emphasize that a Written Covered Call that expires worthless can significantly add to the percentage gain on a specific transaction. Otherwise, Thomsett gives his audience many good ideas for maximizing one's profit in the Options Market. An excellent reference book that will yield many returns.
Rating: 
Summary: Very repetitive
Review: Thomsett provides the necessary information, but it requires great patience to absorb it all. He repeats himself constantly, as if the goal were to stretch the number of pages in the book.
After reading this book, I found another book that provided all I needed to know to get started with options. It's concise and easily understood. Read the following and be ready to make some money using options: The Short Book on Options: A Conservative Strategy for the Buy and Hold Investor
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for the Online Trader
Review: After reading this book several times (mostly on planes, it is not a 'heavy' read considering the topic) and scanning options chains online, I understand that options investing can be a very, very risky way to make money in the market. I also discovered that options can be a very conservative way to not_lose_money on existing long positions, as well as discount the purchase of stocks that I would take long positions in. If you are not the best stock picker in the world, options can be very useful as a hedge. The book has an enormous amount of example trades. I could have used a few sample conversations between broker / trader to help with the lingo, but having said that the 'nuts and bolts' portions of this book (e.g. option symbols) got me far enough where I called my broker and my first options trade went perfectly (and fast). I was speaking the language and I am very confident in my knowledge. The book is cheaper than a single options trade, it is worth every cent and has paid for itself many times over in money that I haven't lost ;-).
Rating:
Summary: Best book to start learning about options!
Review: I read this book over a year ago and now i'm training to be an options trader in the CBOE pits. It opened a whole new world for me. The options world is enormous and this book is the best intro for someone who wants to learn about options. Prior to reading this book, I had heard that trading options is the way to make a lot of money but I didn't have a clue as to what options were. A friend suggested I read this book and I did. This book will not teach you everything about options nor will it make you an expert on options. What it will do is explain the basics of options and some strategies that are commonly used. And it does this magnificently! Its an easy read and everything is explained very clearly.
Rating:
Summary: solid, but could be better...
Review: I found the information presented in this book to be the solid and simple basics of options, but the presentation itself needs a lot of improvement. There are numerous errors (mix-ups between the terms "put" and "call," and several erroneous examples), and the book is HIGHLY REPETITIVE--so repetitive as to be extremely de-motivating. I think this book could have easily been compressed into a pamphlet; at its current length, only people who learn best through repetition of scenarios and examples will enjoy this book. Perhaps if the author had enlarged the scope of the book to increase the information density of the book, I'd find it deserving of a permanent place on my bookshelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Would you desire to crash your car?
Review: I stopped reading this book when I read: "When you buy a put, your desire is that the underlying stock's value will fall below the striking price; the more it falls, the higher your profit." I was afraid the author would try to convince me that, after I buy insurance for my car, I should hope for my car to be crashed. OK. I understand this book is written for people that do not know much about options (like me). But this does not mean the author has to write things that are not true. I buy puts and I hope the stocks I buy puts on to soar.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Very Basic Stuff
Review: Although he does introduce you to options that is about it. He tells you very little, spends much time discussing Calls Puts with load of examples but never moves beyond that. Nothing on volatility, nothing on different options trading strategies, such as Straddles. Very very basic. Never talks about how a stock could jump 6 points and the option price doesn't change. I don't understand how anyone who has spent anytime at all trading options could rate this book as five stars. I've referred the to the book several times over the past year and have found nothing in it that helped. Unfortunately I can't recommend any good books, If you want to trade options look for free material on the web, there is a lot of good stuff out there. 21st century options education offers an excellent and free options course that simply blows this book out of the water! My own opinion is that unless your very carefull, Options are a great way to lose money fast! Me I'm going to stick with Stocks, at least for the time being.
Rating:
Summary: Very good for novices
Review: The book uses simple and easy way to explain the concepts of long/short stock options. Giving a lot of simple examples to let you understand the profit/loss on a simple long/short call/put, time values, intrinsic values, premium. If you are a novice on options, I strongly recommend this book to you as a first book on options. The book do not express much on professional terms like delta, gamma, theta,..... No detail usage of options strategies like straddle, strangle, butterfly spread, condor..... If you are well known on the concept of options, this book is not your choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Introduction To Options
Review: This is a good first step primer for those that are unfamiliar with options. It really attempts to break down the vocabulary for the lay person to understand the concepts. Where it fails is no fault of its own. With the addition of security futures and single stock futures, many of the strategies of picking market direction and synthetics are not as valuable. In order to get most out of a book like this you need to have a second book ... that explains how futures and options can work in tandem. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title
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