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600 ratings, 3.81 average rating, 243 reviews
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published
September 2001
by RiverOak Publishing
binding
Hardcover, 156 pages
isbn
1589193571
(isbn13: 9781589193574)
description
What would you do to inherit a million dollars? Would you be willing to change your life? Jason Stevens is about to find out in Jim Stovall's The U...more
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| topics | replies | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall | 2 | 9 | 09/24/2008 05:48AM | |
| this book | 3 | 8 | 09/13/2008 06:34PM |
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 828)
I read this book because it is my next book club book. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have read it.
On the good side, it was a quick read. I was pleased after the first chapter that they left religion out of it until the very end since I get very tired of the attitude that you cannot be a good person if you don't believe in god.
On the bleh side, it read like a cheesy self help seminar. I don't understand how this book "changed lives" - there was nothing new in it, nothin...more
On the good side, it was a quick read. I was pleased after the first chapter that they left religion out of it until the very end since I get very tired of the attitude that you cannot be a good person if you don't believe in god.
On the bleh side, it read like a cheesy self help seminar. I don't understand how this book "changed lives" - there was nothing new in it, nothin...more
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Read in November, 2008
I found this book very contrived, emotionally manipulative, and lacking in any believability! After Red Stevens dies, he sends his great nephew Jason Stevens on a year long journey of self discovery. It was just too trite for me. The fact that Jason usually showed up on the last day of the month to discuss his experience then came back the next day to get his new instructions. It just bugged me - why didn't they give him the instructions the same day; the author didn't even seem to realize h...more
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Read in September, 2008
This book was a quick (3 hours, in fact), easy ready with a nice message. The author's "gifts" or points are important and it's nice to be reminded of them, plus the book was clean.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't a very interesting read. I would have liked to get to know the characters a little bit... as it was, there was no character development at all. You learn very little more than their names. Also, we get a short little summary of the lessons learned at the end of each chapte...more
Unfortunately, it just wasn't a very interesting read. I would have liked to get to know the characters a little bit... as it was, there was no character development at all. You learn very little more than their names. Also, we get a short little summary of the lessons learned at the end of each chapte...more
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Read in August, 2008
I gave this five stars not for the narrative itself, though it was war and heartfelt and moving. Rather, I gave it the highest rating because of the thoughts, ideas, emotions, and perspective it generated in me as I read and thought about it. Independent of the content of the book, and the nature of the "gifts" described therein, the simple idea of considering the gifts that are of inestimable worth to each of us, and the focus and will needed to pursue them, was of far greater worth t...more
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Read in June, 2008
I first saw the movie "The Ultimate Gift" and I just loved it! So when I saw this book at my public library, and made sure that the book was written before the movie, I checked it out.
I found out that the book and the movie are quite a bit different. The book separates each gift better, the movie lets some of them run together. In the book you can't really connect with the characters, they're one-sided, but in the movie you can. The book and movie balance each other pretty we...more
I found out that the book and the movie are quite a bit different. The book separates each gift better, the movie lets some of them run together. In the book you can't really connect with the characters, they're one-sided, but in the movie you can. The book and movie balance each other pretty we...more
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Read in December, 2007
THE ULTIMATE GIFT
By Jim Stovall
Published by: River Oak Publishing
156 pages
Book Description:
What would you do to inherit a billion dollars? Would you be willing to change your life? Jason Stevens is about to find out in Jim Stovall's The Ultimate Gift. Red Stevens has died, and the older members of his family receive their millions with greedy anticipation. But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family. ...more
By Jim Stovall
Published by: River Oak Publishing
156 pages
Book Description:
What would you do to inherit a billion dollars? Would you be willing to change your life? Jason Stevens is about to find out in Jim Stovall's The Ultimate Gift. Red Stevens has died, and the older members of his family receive their millions with greedy anticipation. But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family. ...more
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Read in September, 2008
My job has ruined me. A few years ago, I imagine I would've read this book and absolutely loved it. However, working in an environment in which people are trying every day to change their lives for the better, I realize now that the change process is long and grueling. A spoiled, selfish, angry young man does not simply change in a year, even if he does have monthly projects to work on. A "real life" version of Jason couldn't have made it through the requirements of the ultimate gi...more
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Read in November, 2007
A nice, easy, fast read.
A young man makes a year long journey to learn about "the ultimate gift".
The story was a neat idea, but it got very preachy. The young man must learn about honest hard work, but he only spends 30 - 60 days actually holding a working job of any kind. That kind of bugs me. Yeah, after one month of work, he understand the value of hard work.
I think they forgot one lesson, humility. The young man should have had a dose of that. After you finish his ...more
A young man makes a year long journey to learn about "the ultimate gift".
The story was a neat idea, but it got very preachy. The young man must learn about honest hard work, but he only spends 30 - 60 days actually holding a working job of any kind. That kind of bugs me. Yeah, after one month of work, he understand the value of hard work.
I think they forgot one lesson, humility. The young man should have had a dose of that. After you finish his ...more
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This gets two stars for effort and because it was clean. We watched the movie, and I liked it okay so I decided to check out the book. I appreciate what the author tried to present as a method to learn some important lessons in life, but those things probably wouldn't be absolutely life changing as he tries to portray with the main character, Jason. They would be good experiences, but not something to change a selfish spoiled rich kid into a responsible unselfish caring adult. Overall I thou...more
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Read in June, 2008
This book tells the story of a millionare's attempt to bequeath twelve non-tangible gifts to his spoiled nephew, Jason. "Tells" is the operative word--the book is nearly all "telling" and very little "showing" due in part to the story telling device the author uses: Jason is given a new task at the beginning each month and he must report back at the end of the month what he has learned from the task. So instead of seeing Jason learn to value work, money, friends, ...more
Read in June, 2008
recommended to Brenda by:
Book Club
I liked this book because there were a few parts that made me think about my own life and what I could do differently to live life to its fullest. I can't remember the actual quote, but one of my favorite parts was when a blind man said something like, "When you have problems in your life, you can either laugh or cry. I choose to laugh." This book is about the greatest gifts in life--all of our gifts are from God and the greatest ones are free.
I saw the movie before I read thi...more
I saw the movie before I read thi...more
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Read in November, 2008
blah! Thank goodness it was a very quick read because the writing style was truly terrible! This was really poor attempt at a "feel good book". The only salvageable idea is applying the "gift of gratitude". Each day before drifting off to sleep, think of 10 things for which you are grateful that day.
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Read in March, 2008
In this book a very wealthy man dies. He decides his whole family is ruined by his money except his great-nephew. He decides to will him "the ultimate gift." Jason, the nephew, has to complete tasks in order to get this ultimate gift.
This is a super-quick read. I didn't put it down - just read it the whole way through. I loved the parallel it is for faith in God. Jason was promised the ultimate gift and didn't even know what it was, but he labored to get it. Much like we do - we tr...more
This is a super-quick read. I didn't put it down - just read it the whole way through. I loved the parallel it is for faith in God. Jason was promised the ultimate gift and didn't even know what it was, but he labored to get it. Much like we do - we tr...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommended to Roses by:
Catherine
This book was full of wonderful life lessons that all of us can learn from about living our life to the fullest. It is an easy read (I finished it in a day), but is worth reading. There is a movie that is based off of it that is just as good. I liked the movie a little better because instead of just being limited to Mr. Hasting's view, it was more of Jason's view. The book showed us the overview of what happened as Jason went through his 12 gifts to reach the Ultimate Gift, but the movie goe...more
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Read in November, 2008
Loved it! I will have to keep some of it's ideas for my own. I was very surprised at the ending, though I realize I should not have been. Cannot say enough good things about this book. Spectacular and now I wish I owned it instead of borrowing it.
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Read in September, 2007
I read this in a day - it's an easy read, that gives you lots to think about. Quoting someone else's review:
"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 suc...more
"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 suc...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who LOVES chicken soup for the soul
This book dictated a list of good qualities any person should want to achieve in their lifetime. The qualities are good are good ones to have - don't get me wrong, but the story itself was overly repetitive, lacking in description, there was no depth to the characters and it just was not a very interesting read. It was an uneventful story that left me finally fully understanding that I cannot judge a book by its cover. (The cover was beautiful - the book was not.)
Oh... and if you saw the mov...more
Oh... and if you saw the mov...more
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Read in February, 2007
It's a simple book with a profound lesson to learn. When the character knew he was dying and realized that his entire family were selfish, indulgent and ungrateful he gave them a small amount of his fortune but in his nephew he saw a spark of himself and hoped that he could influence him. He set up a series of 12 challenges each to be completed to his lawyer's satisfaction in 30 days. If after a year, his lawyer was satisfied, he would receive the ultimate gift. I think we might require this ...more
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Read in March, 2008
I love the concept of this book. And I enjoyed that in the book he goes through each gift very specifically. But I found the format of the storyline very choppy and I never really connected with the characters. I felt like I was being told a one sided story and never experiencing it or reliving it... for this, I had to go to the movie. The movie pulled me into the storyline and made character connections, but the separation of all the gifts wasn't as clear. I was glad I watched the movie fi...more
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Read in September, 2008
I loved how quick it was to read this book...less than a day. And I loved the life lessons in it. I believe that work, money, friends, learning, problems, family, laughter, dreams, giving, gratitude, day and love are all amazing gifts.
No 4 because it just wasn't well presented. It was like the author wanted to show how change in a person takes time and sometimes it's 2 steps forward and 1 step back. But I didn't think he did to well on that point. The actual "monthly experiences&qu...more
No 4 because it just wasn't well presented. It was like the author wanted to show how change in a person takes time and sometimes it's 2 steps forward and 1 step back. But I didn't think he did to well on that point. The actual "monthly experiences&qu...more
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""Showing Respect Is not Slavery...and Must Be Taught""
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