Rating: 
Summary: A Realistic, Helpful Personal Memoir for the New Graduate
Review: You've just graduated, and want to make your mark on the world. What should you focus on? Maria Shriver has excellent ideas for you!Most young people desperately want to carve their own niche and acquire competence in the 20s. In the course of doing that, they can fall into stalled thinking about living up to others' expectations and achieving perfection. This book provides a good antidote to those misconceptions. The advice encourages humility and realism. Because Maria Shriver is a celebrity who works in television, this message will seem relevant to even the most starstruck. The weakness of the book is that she only tells her own story, but doesn't use anyone else as an example. We all can learn from everyone we meet, so Ms. Shriver does fall down in this one department. Her memoir focuses on her life from the end of college to now. She comes across as well-meaning in this book, someone who's heart is in the right place and is willing to work like a dog. Even if you don't think you like her, take a look at the book. You can tell after a chapter or two if this is for you or not. Of her advice lists, I thought that 'pinpoint your passion' and 'be willing to fail' were the most pertinent to young people today who are just graduating. The reason these are important is that your passion will get you through the ups and downs in your chosen direction. Failures are your best learning experiences. Naturally, if someone you know wants a career in television, this book also contains some useful information about what the process is like. It's more hard work than many would imagine! Also, I suggest that you talk to some other older people to ask them what they have learned from experience. Most people do not have a glittering or greatly satisfying life by middle age. If they wanted better, where did they go wrong? You can learn a lot from other peoples' mistakes, as well. Persistence counts for a lot!
Rating: 
Summary: Ten Things I'm Glad I Know Now
Review: Just when you thought you were all alone, Maria Shriver saves the day with her wise advice in her new book Ten Things I Wish I'd Known-Before I Went Out into the Real World. This book is not only helpful for students of all majors, but will continue to be a source of wisdom throughout the course of a person's life. I, being a senior about to face the real world, have hit the wall of shock and devastation. I no longer have a crutch to lean on and will be thrown out all alone into the worst job market seen in years. While this has been the most stressful and horrifying time in my life, Maria Shriver's book gives me a drop of hope by giving me a head start through her own personal experiences and the experiences of others.
Ten Things I Wish I'd Know-Before I Went Out into the Real World was inspired by a speech Shriver was asked to give to the graduating class of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. The speech was so successful because of her fearless wit and hard-hitting facts that it was developed into a book to help graduating students across the country.
This book has been extremely helpful because Maria Shriver gives the facts whether you like them or not. She does not sugar coat a thing. She does not tell the reader to "go out there and get em'" or "you can do it all if you put your mind to it." In fact, she tells the reader the complete opposite. She writes that one person cannot do it all and one must be willing to fail and start from the bottom if they look forward to achieving anything.
Shriver uses her own experiences as well as others experiences as her prime sources. She does not go into the psychology and rhetoric of each situation, yet teaches the reader from first hand experience the advice and lessons she has had to learn the hard way.
Not only does Shriver help a graduating student at the starting gate of their career, but she also serves as a mentor throughout their entire life. With topics beyond work and successful careers, she hands out her own wisdom about finances, marriage, and children. These topics each have their very own chapter because as Shriver notes, these are some of the hardest yet most endearing jobs a person will ever face.
Now that I am three months from heading out into the real world, I wish I had read this book sooner. I wish I had known that even someone as successful as Maria Shriver has received criticism and cried her eyes out in the seat of her car. I am still scared and unsure about the future, but I know that while I am sitting at my very own commencement address, I will already be equipped with some of the best advice and wisdom given from a successful person who wasn't afraid to start at the bottom. If you or anyone you know are about to face the uncertainties of the "real world," I strongly suggest this book as a teacher, guide, and mentor.
Rating:
Summary: Like Spending Time With A Friend
Review: This is a charming, down-to-earth, honest little book, filled with important lessons about life. Written with humor and wisdom, it reflects the personality of a fiesty, spirited person determined to make her own mark in the world.
From the first chapter, in which she tells us to "pinpoint our passion" (hers was to be a broadcast journalist), to the second one where she tells us "no job is beneath you" and regales us with tales of learning every aspect of her job, and realizing there were some things she would never do well, and how important it is to be able to take criticism, and down through the others, which deal with such subjects as the necessity of mentors, the value of ethics, and achieving financial independence, we learn, along with Maria, that life is indeed a bumpy ride, with many lessons to teach us.
Particularly interesting were the chapters on husband and children, in which she tells us (as if we didn't know already!) that the Prince Charming and Happily Ever After myths are just that and that life is a compromise and we must make choices. Making the point that it is important to be your own person while at the same time maintaining these vital relationships, she combines the view of the modern woman with old-fashioned values.
By the time we reach the concluding chapter, on Laughter, which she says makes "all the other nine things doable," Maria has become a trusted and valued friend, with whom we have enjoyed spending a few hours.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new
Review: This book mysteriously showed up on my doorstep. it seems my roommate's mother does anything Oprah says, and Oprah said that every mom should buy this for their daughters. It's a little book, so last Sunday I started browsing through it; I had to know what I needed to know. I eventually ended up reading the whole thing (in less than an hour) and left with very little. I suppose this book is designed for women like me who have ventured out in the real world for the first time. Unfortunately, it fails. First, the book's list are nothing new (i.e. you have to work hard to get to the top, kids change your life, stick to your morals). Secondly, I couldn't relate with many of the things she was saying. We're from very different backgrounds with very different goals. Thirdly, she often writes that the best way to learn is by your mistakes...that it's not enough to just tell someone what to do. Okay, if so, what's the point of this book? The book does have some merit though. I've always had a shallow impression of Maria Shriver. I think this helped me warm up to her and have more compassion for her. She seems passionate about the things she cares about and what she deems important. I also think this would be a nice book for anyone trying to get into her industry.
Rating:
Summary: So - Get Happy
Review: The book is ok but it needs other "real" world info. Marraige, kids and work are terribly hard as is accomplishing goals after a family is created. Making it in today's whirl wind society as a successful woman, wife and mother is quite challenging. While we all wish we could be one of Oprah's buds to ensure success, it's not possible. Marriage and work are hard enough - but adding children is when the real strain on relationships begin. Maria doesn't live in the real world but her book has some valid points. I'd like to highly recommend three other books that have helped our family life with the children and in our marraige. In fact, for many of the same challenges described in this book about life's ups and downs - 1. "Talk So Kids Will Listen" (great skills in building listening habits) 2. "Mommy-CEO" (it's a parenting and life skill book with tips from REAL parents to use on kids and our relatives/friends/spouses) and 3. "The Road Less Traveled" (similar thoughts in life's decisions and awesome guidelines). Your home library will come close to being complete by the info in all four books. So - get happy.
Rating:
Summary: So - Get Happy
Review: The book is ok but it needs other "real" world info. Marraige, kids and work are terribly hard as is accomplishing goals after a family is created. Making it in today's whirl wind society as a successful woman, wife and mother is quite challenging. While we all wish we could be one of Oprah's buds to ensure success, it's not possible. Marriage and work are hard enough - but adding children is when the real strain on relationships begin. Maria doesn't live in the real world but her book has some valid points. I'd like to highly recommend three other books that have helped our family life with the children and in our marraige. In fact, for many of the same challenges described in this book about life's ups and downs - 1. "Talk So Kids Will Listen" (great skills in building listening habits) 2. "Mommy-CEO" (it's a parenting and life skill book with tips from REAL parents to use on kids and our relatives/friends/spouses) and 3. "The Road Less Traveled" (similar thoughts in life's decisions and awesome guidelines). Your home library will come close to being complete by the info in all four books. So - get happy.
Rating:
Summary: A bestseller, and deservedly so
Review: In "Ten Things I Wish I'd Known," Maria Shriver expands on her acclaimed Holy Cross Commencement Address, offering advice, suggestions and some hilariously funny anecdotes on what life is like in "the real world." (I especially enjoyed the story about her hair). Ms. Shriver is honest, at times, painfully so. She shares stories about her own insecurities, failings, and youthful assumptions which are as poignant as they are funny. The book is well-written, very entertaining, and is a fast read, yet one you can come back to again. This would make an excellent gift for any college graduate - or anyone else wanting to benefit from Ms. Shriver's experience.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: Maria is a great example of a person who is "wired for success". She explains her life and how her definition of success has changed with each stage. I will buy this for my wife and the kids in my church Youth Group. Plus she is funny!
Rating: 
Summary: A SHRIVELED SHRIVER
Review: The one thing I say now that I read this second book by Mrs. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Hasta la vista, baby.
Rating:
Summary: A way to have it all but there is a price
Review: Maria Shriver explained to us in her book that a person can have it all but not at one time. Ms. Shriver explains that professional success comes at a price which some people do not want to pay the gatekeeper. There are some people I see in the workplace who utilize deceit as a tool for success and those same individuals usually get what they have coming to them in the end. So the lesson Ms. Shriver had about ethics is one of the most important lessons about achieving success, because without ethics people will not respect you. This particular book is very well written and is something that I would give as a gift to someone who was starting off in their career.
| 
