Rating: 
Summary: Very good for "Projects", but not for "projects"
Review: This is an excellent guide to doing large software projects (10 man months minimum) well. Not only does it tell one what the right steps are, but also what difficulties one may encounter and good ways to get around them.Unfortunately, most situations I've seen lately are for many micro-projects (a.k.a. feature enhancements) which, I think, require a somewhat different methodology.
Rating:
Summary: Good theory on project management
Review: This book is a strong theoretical background every software project manager should understand. The author provides deep analysis why such a big number of software projects fail. The author offers a set of reality-testing tools (software project survival test) that helps to understand chances of a project to success or to fail, from the very beginning. An intriguing idea is that "software project need hierarchy" is essentially the same as Maslow's "human need hierarchy": human beings respond to a hierarchy of needs that involve a natural progression from lower motives to higher ones. Lower motives such as food, air and water must be satisfied before we can be motivated by the need for belongingness, love, self-esteem or self-actualization. Similar hierarchy of needs applies to software projects. The author clearly shows that the outcome of any project depends equally on both the customer and the project team, and on the way of their communication and cooperation. Showing the power of process and distinguishing "process" from "thrashing" and "productive work", the author doesn't decline that the people are always important. Another cunning idea presented by the author is "The Cone of Uncertainty" which means "early in the project you can have firm cost and schedule target, or a firm feature set, but not both". While by no doubt the first part of the book "The Survival Mind-Set" is an excellent theoretic inspection, the remaining, practical parts of the book are questionable. I'd recommend you to take them skeptically, and, before taking decisive action, getting the full picture by reading "Agile Software Development" by Alistair Cockburn to get the overview of the modern methodologies, "Extreme Programming Explained" by Kent Beck as an example of such methodoloty, "Peopleware" by Tom Demarco & Timothy Lister to make sure that the good workplace and the jelled team is a major factor, "Quality is Free" by Philip B. Crosby to understand what really the quality is and "Leadership Without Easy Answers" by Ronald A. Heifetz to assure that nothing will succeed without a leader.
Rating:
Summary: Good to get you going
Review: This book was a joy to read and it provided very good examples and reasoning for doing certain tasks and tracking certain events. During the time my company was going through some reatructuring I deciced to use this book as a guide and see how things go. It went well. Many of the planning and tracking tips were very useful. The title suites it. It's a manual for survival. Not the definative book to get you through your PMP exam, but it will make things more organized for your day to day activities.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely critical
Review: Everytime I manage a new group, this is one of 4 books I buy for them - tell them to read - and then quiz them to see if they read it.
This is the bible on how to manage a software development project. I don't agree with it 100% and it misses a few things I think are important. But if a team followed this book religously, they would be miles ahead of most software development teams.
Read it and then read it again.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Read
Review: McConnell lays out his approach to managing software projects in simple language so that non-technical managers can use his concepts. His philosophy is based on a Staged Delivery Plan. In a Staged Delivery Plan, the functionality is delivered in successive stages. This concept follows the basic belief that objectives are more readily obtainable if broken down to smaller goals or steps. Furthermore this process allows greater flexibility in adjusting the ultimate product and allows users to be involved throughout development.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment after excellent predecessors
Review: I read Code Complete and Rapid Development and was trilled. Survival Guide is not in the same league as them. I think that the author feel in love with process and describes an ideal project that doesn't exist. That is the source of my disappointment since his other books were delightfully pragmatic and useful.
If you landed in nearly doomed project and you want a real survival guide, use chapter Project recovery in Rapid Development or even better, use whole book.
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Summary: Stage delivery approach - minimize your risk
Review: This McConnels's book is a very good explanation of the stage delivery approach. The most important "message" of this book is about the possibility of software project risks reduction.
It is not a detailed book but it gives you a frame to build up and manage your project using this method.
If you would like to find a solid but useful book that contains practicable guidelines related to medium sized sowftware projects - well, that's it.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not the best
Review: First, note that this book is enjoyed by a great many people. Also, I am not a project manager. However, I read this book for an IT course in project management, as well as another book. The other book I read was called "IT Project Management" (2nd Ed.), by Kathy Schwalbe and I enjoyed it much more than McConnell's book. I thought it was a more comprehensive guide to project management, apparently.
McConnell's book is presented well though, and fairly easy to understand. The section on Software Architecture is good.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Helpful Do's and Don'ts
Review: If you are involved with software development projects, reading and applying the advice in this book can make the difference between on-time completion or never-ending redevelopment. McConnell covers the entire development cycle and presents his successfully tested methods. He begins by outlining the mind-set that is required to complete the software development project. He then follows the cycle from planning to implementation to wrap-up.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to understand, easy to practice and enjoyable
Review: I found the book very easy to understand and practice in your projects, it is not a theoretical book, in contrast all advices are practical and got from real experience. You still have to read other books about team dynamics. This book is a must have book for any team leader or project manager.
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