Book's revews for March 2013

Books:

Spark and Hustle - By Tory Johnson


I really enjoyed this book.

Tory Johnson, a name I was unfamiliar with until I came across her book in the library is apparently a phenomenal businesswoman.

She has done PR for both ABC and NBC news and puts on different workshops and conferences across the country catered toward women. Had I known this book was intended for women I would've likely put it down. But, after reading the first few pages - packed with insight and inspiration I figured I had a duty to finish it.

This book is definitely meant for the person looking to start their own business as a bootstrapper. She gives quite a few tips on how to start a new business without going too deeply into debt and then peppers every other page with advice and insight from other entrepreneurs in other fields.

I can't really think of anything the author "needs to work on" in order to make this a better book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and may have to put it on my "oft-read" book shelf as opposed to my "why/when/how did I buy this?" book shelf.

And God Said - By Eric Ralph

This is a unique take on a funny love story from a deity's prospective. "And God Said" is a funny, quirky novel about God who becomes inspired to quit his job by a Wheel of Fortune contestant. The story only gets more interesting from there.

This is definitely a quick novel to be enjoyed by the Agnostic and Atheist crowd. However, I would NOT recommend this book to my Christian mother or mother-in-law due to their firm belief in the Holy trinity which this book pokes fun at.

If you're looking for a funny read with several pop culture references - "And God Said" is the book for you.

[full disclosure - the author is a friend - that being said the novel is really well written so buy the book!]

AudioBooks:

Now you See it - By Cathy N Davidson


So I just finished listening to Now you See it By Cathy N Davidson. Overall it was a good audio book that focuses on the science of attention. Professor Davidson goes into detail on how attention works today in several different arenas from online to the new corporate world to the NBA basketball court. Professor Davidson also goes on to ague how mutli-tasking can be a good thing despite recent studies that argue otherwise.

I enjoyed the book but, I would say there were two key areas that I didn't care for.

1) The audiobook is too long. The typical audiobook I pick up runs about 5-9 CDs long. This book was spread out over 12 CDs and a lot of the audio seems to be rehashing the same points. That being said it wasn't absolutely terrible to the point that I wanted to return it after hearing the first 2 CDs (which has happened before). The text is engaging but takes too much time to emphasize its points.

2) As someone who continues to try and narrow down my passions and focus on single tasks, the push in this book promoting multi-tasking rubbed me a little bit of the wrong way because of my own personal bias. That being said I've heard that women (such as professor Davidson) are typically better at multi-tasking in general then men (such as myself) so it's understandable if Professor Davidson has more enjoyment and productivity in her own personal experience with multi-tasking than I do personally.

Unfortunately this book was not read by the author.

Plato and a Platypus Walk into a bar - By Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein

It was really funny and sounded great at first but 3 out of 4 CD's were irreparably scratched. [full disclosure - I did borrow this from the library]

No Matter What - Lisa Nichols 
 

Lisa Nichols - one of the authors/experts from "The Secret" fame talk about her life in order to help inspire others to live theirs.

 There were a couple of "driveway moments" - moments when I was done driving but kept the CD player running to hear what would happen next - on this CD as Ms. Nichols is an expert storyteller.

 I also could identify with a few of the instances from Ms. Nichols life - in particular the "superhero contest" she talks about during the beginning of the book - an experience that chronicles her early childhood going to a racially mixed elementary school.

 Overall I thought the book was great.

 My one minor critique would be that she gets a little happy with the "muscle" analogy to describe emotions and thoughts which she uses throughout the book. I was done with the analogy by the book's conclusion.

 One great thing though is unlike some motivational speakers she does read her own audiobooks - which is a great added touch.

If I had to choose a "Best Book" for this month I would say Spark & Hustle by a nose - edging out No Matter What by inches.