Rating: 
Summary: Inspired! Couldn't put the book down.
Review: A quick read, The Ultimate Gift will inspire anyone who wants to enjoy a great story about attitude, helping others, determination, and dreaming. It reminded me of books by Jim Paluch (5 Important Things, and Leaving A Legacy) in the way that you learned heartwarming lessons through a story having a powerful message of triumph. You will want to share this book with friends and family!
Rating: 
Summary: Gifts presented within a story
Review: An interesting look at the everyday things that we have or do that are actually gifts. These things are exemplified as we participate vicariously in the hypothetical experience of a young person woven into a story. It was captivating enough to make me finish it in one sitting albeit hooked up to the wee hours of the morning. Some of the narratives tie up things a little too nicely to be realistic but we, nevertheless, get the point. And the points are good indeed.
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Summary: Had to finish it in one sitting!
Review: Enjoy the gifts of work, money, friends, learning, problems, family, laughter, dreams, giving, gratitude, a day and love while reading through this appealing story and journey into greatness. I'm glad that it starts with the gift of work and culminates with the gift of love. A person who only knows to love but not to work is hardly of much worth. The converse is equally true but is a good starting point for progress in the other areas. Eventually, love conquers all.
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Summary: Change can Happen
Review: Even a non-committal quick read of this book will change your life, if you take any of it to heart. After exploring the most important lessons to finding fulfillment in life, the book describes how to teach them to yourself and others. Penetrating, thought-provoking - at times I laughed uproariously and at times I needed a kleenex box. Truly a great book that will inspire!
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Summary: The Gift Everyone Should Give!
Review: Everyone NEEDS to read this book! Thought provoking and life changing. This should be the gift book everyone GIVES to loved ones, friends, family, colleagues, and just about anyone and everyone! What a different world we would live in if everyone would take this simple message to heart and live each and every day according to this very simple, clear message regarding the gift of living and how we relate to others in our life. It simply is what fulfillment on this earth is all about...plain and simple! Read it and find out how to start each day with your own "Golden List"...promise...life changing!
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Summary: Wonderfully written...The ultimate gift for someone you love
Review: I find it difficult to find the words to describe this story. The book was originally given to me by a philanthropist, who, like the entrepreneur in this story, built an empire by hard work and benevolence. I have since shared this book with many people who have in turn shared it with others. There is a kind of "pay it forward" phenomena about this book which beckons those who have discovered its rich gifts to share it with everyone they love. It will renew your spirit and rejuvenate your soul. I recommend this book for teenagers of all ages. This is one book you won't put down until you've gotten to the last page. And even then, you may find yourself re-reading a chapter or two before you finally turn the light off and go to bed. You won't be disappointed!
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Summary: The Ultimate Gift
Review: I ordered 7 copies for our Book Review Group at our church. We all loved the book and found that nothing was unrealistic in any of the ideas presented. All of us are giving our copy to someone else to read. One of the ladies is giving copies to each of her sons feeling that is an important lesson to be learned. If you read no other book - this is a must. I have read at least three times and find something new in it each time. Thank you James Stowell for writing a great little and powerful book.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating, Inspirational. Well worth the read.
Review: I started this book by looking at the Table of Contents. In the Beginning. A Voice from the Past. The Gift of Work. The Gift of Money. The Gift of Friends. What is this? Is this the kind of book I want to read? I flipped to the back cover of the book for insight to the contents. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to read the last will and testament of Howard 'Red' Stevens.." "Red Steves was a self-made man who gave his family everything-and ruined them in the process. Now, as his estate of oil companies and cattle ranches is divided among the greedy and self-serving relatives, one member is singled out for something special: Red's great-nephew, Jason. In a darkened room, isolated from the rest of his family, Jason is confronted by the image of deceased great uncle on a video monitor . . ." I began Chapter One out of curiosity. It was a story, not a touchy-feely book, like I feared. The narrative comes from an eighty-year old attorney who is reading the will of a very successful long-term client who had become a close, dear friend. As part of the inheritance, the old man's grand-nephew, a spoiled brat sort of young man, is given a special bequest. Each month he is to return to the attorney's office for a learning assignment. If he stays with the program successfully, meeting the approval of the attorney, he gains the Ultimate Gift. If he quits or doesn't meet the grade at any time, he loses his opportunity for the Ultimate Gift. As the book progresses through the chapters, the young man, Jason, transforms from an insolent know-it-all to a much different person. The series of learnings, prescribed each month by the old man by videotape, gives a new meaning to Jason's life. Each of the gifts, a learning, is described in Jason's words as he gains new realizations. I found myself surprisingly captivated by this book. I couldn't put it down. No, it's not a mystery or thriller, but it certainly held my attention. I can think of a number of people I know who would surely benefit from this book. One will receive my copy shortly as a very meaningful gift. A word about the author. Jim Stovall has overcome blindness to become a national champion Olympic weightlifter, a successful investment broker, and entrepreneur. He is co-founder and president of the Narrative Television Network, which makes movies and television accessible to our nation's 13 million blind and visually impaired and their families. With revealing more about this man's incredible background (see page 124), I "got" that this is a man to be listened to. You'll gain the same feeling as you read The Ultimate Gift.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Content!
Review: I would recommend to every parent that your child read this book. It teaches a person about every aspect of life to become a meaningful human being.
Rating:
Summary: This is the corrected review for "The Ultimate Gift"
Review: In clear simple language the storyteller leads the reader through a process of discovery in a quest for life's great gifts. This book is heart stuff and head food; it beseeches the reader to read it fully and then again "as needed", which will probably be often. "The Ultimate Gift" is designed for the motivated and unmotivated, for the believer and non-believer, for the cynic and the optimist, for the lost and for the found, for those who "don't need this kind of thing" and for those who know they do. The people who don't need this will love reading it and tout its benefits and those who do need it will benefit from it whether they read it or not. We all know people who have more than they deserve because everything was given to them, depriving them of the value of appreciating, the strength from adversity, the empathy from wisdom and the love from unselfishness. "The Ultimate Gift" offers a plan for them and for all of us to affirm or find the insights that come with efforts to improve. You will think of ways you can apply it to those who need its lessons. You will give it away to those you know so they may revel in its rush of revelation, savor its simple solutions and offer its gifts to others too. Give several away!
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