Difference between revisions of "Newest Business and Finance Reviews"

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[[Category:Business and Finance|*]]
 
[[Category:Business and Finance|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Business and Finance]]
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{{newreview
 
|author=Jakob Lovstad
 
|title=Going Mental: Reaching Your Goals in Business and Sports - Full Contact NLP Coaching from a Full Contact Fighter
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Sport
 
|summary=Some books seem determined to put you off.  Unless it's literary fiction 'Going Mental' suggests something that I've gone to great lengths to avoid.  The man on the cover is bald, bloodied and apparently screaming.  I've been avoiding men like that too.  '…not for the soft and sensitive!' it says and whilst I wouldn't describe myself as either I do wonder whether allowing Jakob Lovstad to mess with my head is the wisest thing I've ever done.  When I realise that he's a cage fighter I'm ready to run.  What has that got to do with my business?  Because that's what this book is about – reaching your goals in business and sports.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685588</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=John Kay
 
|title=Obliquity: Why Our Goals are Best Achieved Indirectly
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Sometimes the shortest route to a destination isn't the quickest way to get there. Take crossing central America for example. Instinctively, you think that the best way to navigate your way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific is to travel directly from east to west. It may seem counter intuitive but the designers of the Panama Canal realised that the easiest way to make the journey was in fact to use a thin strip of land and then go in seemingly the wrong direction from west to east. Architects and cartographers found that the obvious route wasn't the best way to solve the problem put in front of them. An indirect or oblique approach would prove to be far more successful. That in a nutshell is noted economist John Kay's concept of obliquity.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682894</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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<!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
|author=Michael Lewis
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{{Frontpage
|title=The Big Short
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|isbn=0241636604
|rating=4
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|title=The Trading Game: A Confession
|genre=Business and Finance
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|author=Gary Stevenson
|summary=So. The subprime mortgage crisis, the worldwide financial crisis, people losing their jobs, their money, their houses, their security. Unregulated greed, that went on and on and on. And the people who caused it all got rich during and after, very few felt any sort of consequences, and millions of other people worldwide suffered greatly. Strip away all the intentionally confusing terminology and it all amounts to bets with unbelievable amounts of money. How did it all come about and how did it play out? Michael Lewis explains the mess as only he can. Just as his earlier excellent work {{amazonurl|title=Liar's Poker|isbn=0340839961}} encapsulated the excesses of Wall Street in the 1980s, so does ''The Big Short'' perfectly tell the tale of Wall Street in the 2000s. In fact, given the extent of the current global clusterfuck, it makes the shocking ''Liar's Poker'' look positively mild by comparison.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141043539</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler
 
|title=The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Business and Finance
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|genre=Autobiography
|summary=This little, black book with its gold lettering on the front cover is beautifully presented.  Truly pocket-sized to make it easy to refer to at any time, any placeDivided into four neat sections dealing with ''the self'' and ''others'' (others in the main being say business partners, colleagues or like-minded people) these fifty working models are designed to give the individual both self-awareness and ammunition, if you like, in order to cope with various business/political and even social scenarios, for example.
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|summary=If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary StevensonA hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice.  There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics.  Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy.  He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid.  It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank.  Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683955</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Fiona Parashar
|author=Stanley Gibbons
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|title=A Beautiful Way to Coach
|title=Stamps of the World 2011
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=In describing reference books the word ''bible'' has been used too frequently of lateSlim booklets on a particular subject have the word emblazoned on their cover, which makes it rather difficult when you encounter a book – or in this case a set of six books – which merits the wordStanley Gibbons 'Stamps of the World 2011' is genuinely a bible – an essential tool for a dealer and the serious collector.  It's now available in six soft-bound volumes and is rightfully the company's flagship publication.
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|summary= So what am I doing reading this book, using this book, and being audacious enough to review it?  Truth is I bought it out of curiosityI was at an on-line launch for the book and Fiona’s description of her Vision Days appealed to meI wanted to see if there were things in there that I could use with someone I am currently helping / supporting / trying to mentor – without committing them to a full day, which I know would send them scurrying for their burrow.  I also wanted to see if I could give myself a Vision Day, to bring me away from their vision and back to my own.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852597894</amazonuk>
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|isbn=103211603X
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=303091657X
|author=Stephen Lambert and Eli Holzman
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|title=Disaster in the Boardroom: Six Dysfunctions Everyone Should Understand
|title=Undercover Boss: Inside the TV Phenomenon That is Changing Bosses and Employees Everywhere
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|author=Gerry Brown and Randall S Peterson
|rating=3.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=I guess I have to admit to a certain weakness for a certain type of reality TV – it's a long time since I watched Big Brother and I've not been sucked into watching talent contests – but I do quite like programmes in which the participants swap places and/or step out of their normal lives to, allegedly, see how someone else lives.
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|summary=Boards must act in the best interests of their stakeholders and ensure that they are well-managed and financially secure.  This might seem obvious but a series of disasters - some of which have resulted in death or the collapse of a major company - have left interested parties asking what the board was doing.  Where were they?  Occasionally the boards were unaware of what was happening or they preferred to turn a blind eye, leaving watchers wondering which was worse - ignorance or criminality.  The 21st century has delivered some major company scandals but what has happened is nothing new: Gerry Brown and Randall S Peterson give us a very readable trip through such major debacles as railway mania, the South Sea Bubble and even tulip mania.  Over three centuries we seem to have learned very little.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0470916001</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529393930
 +
|title=Making a Living: How to Craft Your Business
 +
|author=Sophie Rochester
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Crafts
 +
|summary=''Starting a creative business has never been easier.''
  
{{newreview
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''If not now, when?''
|author=The Prince's Trust
 
|title=Make it Happen: The Prince's Trust Guide to Starting Your Own Business
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Who hasn't dreamed of being able to work for themselves, be their own boss, and not have to worry about the drag of a 9 to 5 job? Of course, the reality of starting your own business is that there are rather a lot of things you need to consider before getting started, as my sister found out when she started selling her own handmade greetings cards. Thankfully, this book was on hand to help her get things going and she's found it a really invaluable tool.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857080458</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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I know that I'm not alone in having wondered whether or not I could turn my hobby into a businessThere's a lot of motivation to do so: I make more items than we can sensibly use and there are a lot of people who have been delighted to accept what I make as giftsSelling would offset the costs, which can be quite considerable and it could be fun to do, couldn't itBut where to start? What do I need to think about? Well, the first thing anyone who is considering turning a crafting hobby into a business should do is to read ''Making a Living''.
|author=Robert Ashton
 
|title=How to be a Social Entrepreneur: Make Money and Change the World
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=This book is aimed at those individuals amongst us who want to make a differenceThey may have an idea of what they want to achieve but not sure of how to take that vital first stepThis is where this book comes in, says Ashton in his conversational style.  He takes the reader by the hand and guides him/her through the business maze.  And before we go any further, what, exactly do we mean by the perhaps woolly phrase of 'Social Entrepreneur'?  Many think it means doling out charity of some description to vulnerable individuals. Not quite. It's all about helping people to help themselves - and in doing so, they in turn are helping their families by lifting them out of poverty, joblessness or even hopelessness.  And I found that the inspirational elements of this book were uplifting.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857080601</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=suppl_stafl
 +
|title=Supply Chain 20/20: A Clear View  on the Local Multiplier Effect for Book Lovers
 +
|author=Kim Staflund
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Reference
 +
|summary=So, you've finished writing your book and you think the hard work is all done?  You're convinced that all you need to do now is get it published and the money will start rolling in?
  
{{newreview
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Wrong and wrong againYou presumably wrote the book because you wanted to - and you had a talent for delivering the written word.  You knew your subject back to front.  Now you're going to have to get to grips with the book supply chain, which even parts of the publishing industry believe to be wrong but it's too difficult to change and no one wants to be the first to try. Then, when you ''finally'' have a copy of the book in your hands, you're going to have to work out how to sell it - because it ''is'' going to be down to you.
|author=Matthew Stewart
 
|title=The Management Myth: Debunking Modern Business Philosophy
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Stewart's book is subtitled "Debunking Modern Business Philosophy"It is a criticism (and I mean criticism not critique) of the management consultancy business since its inception to the close of the first decade of the 21st century.
 
 
 
Matthew Stewart is a former management consultant, so he should know what he's talking about.
 
 
 
On the other hand, by his own admission he made a more than reasonable profit out of management consulting, and he is now doing likewise out of showing what a sham it all is.  Make of that what you will.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393338525</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Hugh Jefferies
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|isbn=0008350388
|title=Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Commonwealth & Empire Stamps 1840-1970 2011
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|title=We Need to Talk About Money
 +
|author=Otegha Uwagba
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Business and Finance
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|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Over the years the 'Gibbons Commonwealth' catalogue has seen many changes.  This is the second edition since Gibbons compacted its listings to cover the era of pounds, shillings and pence up to the end of 1970.  (This is fair as the currency in Britain and various other territories goes, though Canada and her territories went decimal in the mid-nineteenth century)This boundary is extended in a few instances, such as the Barbuda British monarchs series, issued at regular intervals over an eighteen-month period spanning 1970-1, but by and large this is what we might call the sterling era catalogue.
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|summary=''To be a dark-skinned Black woman is to be seen as less desirable, less hireable, less intelligent and ultimately less valuable than my light-skinned counterparts...'' ''We Need to Talk About Money'' by Otegha Uwagba
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852597975</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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''0.7% of English Literature GCSE students in England study a book by a writer of colour while only 7% study a book by a woman.'' ''The Bookseller'' 29 June 2021
|author=Sally Bibb
 
|title=The Right Thing: An Everyday Guide to Ethics in Business
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Bibb wastes no time in highlighting key areas of the whole ethics debate.  What, exactly, does the word mean ...  and why should it matter to us anyway?  She starts by informing the reader that ethics (which is a branch of philosophy) is usually the poor CinderellaOverlooked in favour of the more glamorous areas ie: big, fat, profits for the business or businesses concerned.  Bibb wants us to think more about the ethical side of things and perhaps less about the balance sheet.  She gives an example most of us will be aware of.  Two words.  Fred Goodwin.  Bibb comments that had he applied his moral compass in his leadership role, perhaps, just perhaps, the Royal Bank of Scotland may not have fallen so far from grace.  I'm aware that many will now be foaming at the mouth at the mention of FG (myself included).
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>047068853X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Otegha Uwagba came to the UK from Kenya when she was five years old.  Her sisters were seven and nineIt was her mother who came first, with her father joining them later.  The family was hard-working, principled and determined that their children would have the best education possibleThere was always a painful awareness of money although this did not translate into a shortage of anything: it was simply carefully harvestedWhen Otegha was ten the family acquired a carFor Otegha, education meant a scholarship to a private school in London and then a place at New College, Oxford.
|author=Graham Davies
 
|title=The Presentation Coach: Bare Knuckle Brilliance For Every Presenter
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=With plaudits all over the covers like a rash; plaudits from well-known people such as Nick Robinson, Political Editor of the BBC, Daniel Finkelstein of the Times and Boris Johnston, current Mayor of London, this book's bar is set pretty highStraight away and yes, I was asking the usual question - why another one of these seemingly endless 'how-to' manuals?  My first impression is of no-nonsense, time is precious but also a little in-your-face, American style er, presentation of the bookBut that's goodI like thatIt's all the wishy-washy books in this genre and similar that I don't like.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>085708044X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Philip Hesketh
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|isbn=reed3
|title=How to Persuade and Influence People: Powerful Techniques to Get Your Own Way More Often
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|title=Why You? 101 Interview Questions You'll Never Fear Again (3rd Edition)
|rating=4.5
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|author=James Reed
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=Having just taken up a new management role in a completely new culture, on a completely new continent, I'm well aware that it will be my soft skills, not just my supposed technical expertise, that I'll be relying on for the first few months at least. Thanks to this book, I will be better prepared for the task.
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|summary=Six years on from the original edition, the book is being re-issued with a bonus chapter entitled ''The Future of Work'' which includes an additional 10 questions.  I've come to this some 6 years after reviewing the original book and my life has changed significantly in the meantime. I'm no longer working in middle-management having opted for a down-shift into reduced hours freelancing to enable me to focus on other (not necessarily paying) work.  I can therefore relate to the first point made in this chapter namely that independence and flexibility are core skills that employees need to have.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857080423</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=3110706075
|author=Zarir Suntook
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|title=Making a Difference: Leadership, Change and Giving Back the Independent Director Way
|title=Learning Accountancy: The Novel Way
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|author=Gerry Brown
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=If you're planning on learning how to prepare accounts the traditional method has what almost amounts to an initiation ceremony.  You're introduced to double entry book-keeping, which is the equivalent of being asked to learn HTML without ever having seen a web pageSome people ''do'' take to it like ducks to water – they're usually the people who think that Sudoku is ridiculously easy – but most people find that the concepts are difficult to grasp and this isn't helped by not really understanding why they need to master it. Zarir Suntook hasn't quite stood the methods of teaching on their heads but he's taken a more logical approach which is gentler on the brain.
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|summary=''You're not there to run the organisationYou are there to make sure that it is run properly.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1443819484</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Gerry Brown is passionate about the benefits which Independent Directors can bring to a board - not just a corporate board, but the board of an NHS Trust, a university, a sports organisation or a charity.  He's particularly keen that there's increased diversity on these boards and feels that this would help to avoid some of the scandals (Oxfam, Kids Company - we're thinking about you) which have occurred in recent yearsFor this to happen, boards need to have a wider field of people to choose from when they're looking for an ID.
|author=David Soskin
 
|title=Net Profit: How to Succeed in Digital Business
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=There's a misconception that digital business is just like the old bricks and mortar type, except that the digital fellahs escape a lot of the expense that real people have to pay and that if they learnt how to do thinwhich a traditional business is content with is almost certainly a danger signal in a digital business and unless you can take your idea and make quick decisions then the chances are that you are dead in the waterLife is very different out there on the internet.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0470660813</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=3030513025
|author=Peter Doggett
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|title=The Independent Director in Society: Our current crisis of governance and what to do
|title=You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle for the Soul of the Beatles
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|author=Gerry Brown, Andrew Kakabadse and Filipe Morais
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Entertainment
 
|summary=When four young Liverpudlians got together to make music in the early 1960s, they can have had no idea of their future impact on the world around them.  Likewise they would surely not have had an inkling of the extraordinary business minefield which their existence as a group would create, and which would leave the scars long after they had gone their separate ways, even after two of them had died.  As at least one of them ruefully commented, they must have provided several lawyers' children with a very expensive education.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099532360</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan
 
|title=Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary='Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead' sounds like a gimmick, doesn't it?  Or, if not a gimmick, then the lessons that you learn when you see how it shouldn't be done. Over the past few years I've read quite a few marketing books and I've generally come away with the thought that they weren't aimed at a business like Bookbag and required far too much control.  We're not that sort of people!  We want to enjoy Bookbag and we want other people to do the same and we're definitely not in the business of trying to pull in every penny that we can.
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|summary=Independent Director: ''a job for which no one is qualified''  (''Financial Times'')
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0470900520</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Independent Director: ''An independent director is a member of the board of directors who (1) do not have a material relationship with the company, (2) is not part of the company's executive team, and (3) is not involved with the day-to-day operations of the company. (Corporate Finance Institute)
|author=Andy Bounds
 
|title=The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=This book has lots of glowing praise written all over the covers.  Such lines as 'Andy Bounds taught me more about effective presenting than a lady who'd previously taught two US Presidents.'  Unsurprisingly, my expectations were sky-high.  But will the book deliver?  I have to say at the outset that I didn't particularly take to the title (although original and presumably unforgettable).  I found it detracted at first glance and didn't do the book any initial favours.  And although it is explained in full I still felt it light and an Americanism too far.  But that's just my personal opinion.  That aside, I was keen to start reading, see what all the fuss was about ...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857080466</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Gerry Brown, Andrew Kakabadse and Filipe Morais feel that the relationship between the executive members of boards and the independent directors (formerly known as non-executive directors), trustees or governors of organisations is frequently unbalanced. The function of the independent director is to have general oversight of the executive side of the board - to spot when and where things are going wrong - but all too often the relationship is too cosy, too antagonistic or the independent director lacks the knowledge and/or experience to understand what's happening or to know how to intervene. Covid-19 has highlighted the failings and weaknesses of leadership and governance and you might be tempted to think that these are extraordinary times and that all will be well once we get back to 'normal' but a pandemic was predicted and modelled in the past and there has been a general failure to prepare for what has happened - and is still happening.
|author=Mark van Vugt and Anjana Ahuja
 
|title=Selected: Why some people lead, why others follow, and why it matters
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=''Selected'' is based on the psychology of leadership.  Some of us may ask the perfectly reasonable question 'Does it matter who leads and who follows?'  Well, apparently it not only matters but it matters greatly.  And the co-authors go to great lengths to tell us why. The useful prologue informs us that the whole area of leadership can be traced back in time, by no less than several million years.  Vugt and Ahuja explain that the rather innocent (and even a bit airy-fairy to some) word 'leader' is evolved from various academic disciplines.  Including the more obvious psychology, there is also biology and anthropology in the mix.  Heady stuff.  And yes, I did want to read on.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683270</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0241453585
|author=Stanley Gibbons
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|title=Banking On It: How I Disrupted an Industry
|title=Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue 2010
+
|author=Anne Boden
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=Stanley Gibbons Great Britain stamp catalogues come at basically three levelsAt one end of the scale is Collect British Stamps, a concise listing which excludes variations in shade, perforation, phosphor banding, watermarks et alAt the other is the multi-volume specialized edition. This is the intermediate catalogue, which provides in one 354-page paperback the main variations of each issue.  It also includes such extras as miniature sheets, special first day of issue postmarks, postage dues, booklets, and regional issues (Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, plus the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, the latter territories prior to postal independence in 1969 and 1973 respectively).
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|summary=Anne Boden had an impressive track record in the financial services sector: she had thirty years experience at a senior level including Group Chief Operating Officer at Allied Irish BankAIB was in the throes of recovering from the 2008 financial crisis when she arrived and she was one of the first to realise that banks needed to do things differentlyAIB thought it was at the cutting edge when it proposed opening a branch which allowed customers to access their accounts via a terminal. Boden took things a step further, realising that customers could access their accounts from their homes: the old branch network, employing thousands of people, would soon become redundant.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852597584</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=3110641119
|author=The Economist
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|title=The Journey Mapping Playbook: A Practical Guide to Preparing, Facilitating and Unlocking the Value of Customer Journey Mapping
|title=Style Guide
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|author=Jerry Angrave
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=I've always been fascinated by the use of the English languageI've loved the way that precise use of words can make meaning absolutely clear – or obscure it altogether. Some publications are a joy to read whilst others leave you with a frownGenerally ''The Economist'' comes into the first category and this is mainly down to the magazine's style guide – the rule book which guides writers towards clear writing.  This is the tenth edition and whilst it might sound rather dry it's the bible for people wishing to communicate with precision and style – and who appreciate the book's gentle humour.
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|summary=I had no idea what 'journey mapping' was until I read this playbook but any business that engages with their customers will benefit from reading the book and acting on the contentsYou're going to learn how to run a workshop to discover what it feels like to be one of your own customersAt this point, please don't say 'oh (expletive deleted) not another workshop' because this is going to be fun and you're going to be surprised by what emerges.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681758</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=3110641291
|author=Philip Augar
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|title=The Radical Innovation Playbook: A Practical Guide for Harnessing New, Novel or Game-Changing Breakthroughs
|title=Reckless: The Rise and Fall of the City
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|author=Olga Kokshagina and Allen Alexander
|rating=4
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=The City, 1997. Many major institutions are struggling in the City, with high profile scandals taking down Barings and severely damaging the reputation of Morgan Grenfell.
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|summary=So, why bother?  Every time you set out to do something new you end up with the same thing in a slightly different form and quite a bit of money spent. Why not just leave it as it is?  After all, it's ''roughly'' working, isn't it?
  
The City, 2007. Less than a fortnight before becoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, at the Mansion House Dinner, describes the current time as 'an era that history will record as the beginning of a new golden age.'
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You might not have said it, but you've probably thought it. You've also thought the small, incremental improvements which you have been able to make - the optimisation of your core business with cost efficiencies wherever possible, the extension of your existing products into new areas - haven't really delivered in terms of ''growth''. It's been manageable and largely risk-free but you could easily be challenged by a competitor who takes a more radical approach. You've merely kept the business ticking over and there's a nagging suspicion in the back of your mind that an organisation designed for the twentieth century might not survive in the twenty-first. What you need is innovation - ''radical'' innovation.
 
 
The City, 8th October, 2008. Author Philip Augar states 'even the most conservative observer would have to concede that 8 October 2008 amounted to a catastrophic failure of private-sector banking in the UK.'
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009952404X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1472962044
|author=Martin Kornberger
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|title=Creating Value Through Technology: Discover the Tech that Can Transform Your Business
|title=Brand Society
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|author=Andrew Hampshire
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=Brand Society is fundamentally not a business management book. This might come as some surprise given the title. Management books, at least the ''how to'' management books, tend to be simple and easy to follow. But, I suspect Kornberger would agree, that's what limits their use. They are over-simplified to the point of uselessness. Rather, Brand Society takes an holistic approach to the subject of the prevailing nature of brands in today's world (at least the Western world). He suggests that today's brands exist without a prevailing theory to understand them or make sense of them. So what Kornberger does, after first looking at how brands transform management and organizations, is present a brand-centred conceptual map for thinking about things like politics, ethics and aesthetics.
+
|summary=I was once told that 'technology' is anything that happens after you're eighteen, so there's been a lot of technology in my life.  I once worked for a manager who judged if an accountant was reputable by establishing whether or not they had a typewriter. Times  - thankfully - have moved on. Nowadays the problem is that someone running a business doesn't have the time to keep up with constant innovation and they might also be scared because previous IT investments haven't delivered as expected. It's also a fact that no one develops a business because they have the knowledge of the required technology, so they start off in conversations about technology feeling that they're at a disadvantage. They need help, but they frequently don't know what help they need.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0521726905</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1526362759
|author=Fraser's Autographs
+
|title=Dosh: How to Earn It, Save It, Spend It, Grow It, Give It
|title=Collect Autographs: An Illustrated Guide to Collecting and Investing in Autographs
+
|author=Rashmi Sirdeshpande
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
|genre=Business and Finance
+
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=There must be many of us who have at one time had an autograph book or something of the kind as children and asked friends, relations or even celebrities to 'do something', written to celebrities in the hope of obtaining a personally signed picture, or even waited patiently at a stage door after a play or concert eagerly clutching a theatre programme, record or CD sleeve and pen in hand.
+
|summary=What a relief!  A book about money, for children, with clear explanations of what it is, why it matters, how to acquire more of it (nope - robbing banks is out) and what you can do with it when you've managed to get hold of it.  Your reasons for wanting money don't matter: we all need it to some extent.  You might want to go into business, be a clever shopper, a saver (you might even become an ''investor'') and there might be something you really, ''really'' want to buy.  There's also the possibility of using to do good in the world.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852597525</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Linda Scott
|author=Emily Chan
+
|title= The Double X Economy
|title=Harvard Business School Confidential: Secrets of Success
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Harvard Business School has an almost unrivalled reputation for schooling some of the greatest business leaders (and George W Bush!). Former graduate, Emily Chan, who went on to work for leading management consultancy Boston Consulting Group and who is now a director in a family direct investment business in Hong Kong, promises to offer the secrets she learnt there. Does she succeed?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0470822392</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Amy V Fetzer and Shari Aaron
 
|title=Climb the Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=With the abject failure of the Denmark Climate Change Conference fresh in our minds, it is perhaps time to turn away from the politicians and look back toward what we can do.
 
 
 
The Conference may have finally got the likes of the USA, India and China to acknowledge that they have to join in if we are going to save the planet as a benevolent place for our species to live, but there is still too much posturing and not enough commitment. 
 
 
 
Clearly our governments and 'leaders' are not going to do this for us; we have to do it for ourselves.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>047074801X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland
 
|title=Why Women Mean Business
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Business and Finance
+
|genre= Politics and Society
|summary=Do you want to improve your business?  Make more profits?  You probably need to look at the sector which makes 80% of purchasing decisions, is the majority of the talent and represents 59% of graduates.
+
|summary='' Women are economically disadvantaged in every country in the world''. It's a bold statement for an opening chapter, but it's far from hyperbole as the following pages explain. This book shines a light on what is happening in different places, and the impact on the local and world economy. What can be learnt from the great strides in gender-equalising legislation in the west? What can be done about the selling of young women into marriage, and what can chimpanzees and bonobos teach us about mothering?
 
+
|isbn=0571353606
Women.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0470749504</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0349424926
|author=The Economist
+
|title=Life's Work: 12 Proven Ways to Fast-Track Your Career
|title=The World of Business: From Valuable Brands and Games Directors Play to Bail-Outs and Bad Boys
+
|author=James Reed
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=For years I've been a great fan of The Economist's [[Pocket World in Figures 2010 by The Economist|Pocket World in Figures]] series with all the unbiased statistics which the average person could wantI was just a little nervous when I opened ''The World of Business'' – just in case it was going to be a disappointment – but I needn't have worried.
+
|summary=Do you have a guaranteed and more-than-adequate income which will last the rest of your life?  Do you have no need to work, either for income or fulfilment?  If you even hesitate over either of those questions then you really ought to read ''Life's Work': 12 Proven Ways to Fast-Track Your Career''.  If you're not yet in work or considering that you might need to make some changes then this is the book you needJames Reed is the chairman and chief executive of REED, Britain's biggest and best-known name in the recruitment industry.  Who better to give you the advice you need?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681588</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{adsense2}}
+
|author=Anne Boden
{{newreview
+
|title=The Money Revolution
|author=Dr Richard Hale and Alan Chambers MBE
+
|rating=4
|title=Keep Walking - Leadership Learning in Action - A thrilling story of a polar adventure with powerful lessons in leadership and personal development
+
|genre= Business and Finance
|rating=4.5
+
|summary= Money is changing. It might not be in the ways you think. We’re not suddenly getting a 3p or £3 coin (and have you ever even found a country that offers anything different to the 1, 2, 5 model?) We’re getting a lot more digital with payments, which seems to suit most people apart from charity collectors and the homeless on the street, but although this book has the subtitle that includes the word ''digital'', it’s not really about this either. Instead, it's about the ''management'' of your finances, and how to take control.
|genre=Business and Finance
+
|isbn=1789660610
|summary=One side of this book is completely alien to me. I have had no reason to believe in any of the action learning, self-actualisation etc, that people in business sometimes deem necessary.  If pressed, I'd guess that if people needed so much in-work training they might just be the wrong person for the job. There's an anecdote here about a bright young thing fresh from business school, and faced with her first task at work, who panicked as ''she did not know which theory to apply''.  The theory of common sense, I'd have suggested.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312780</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1949395324
|author=Henry Mintzberg
+
|title=Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition
|title=Managing
+
|author=Kalpesh Ashar
|rating=5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=''Study after study has shown that managers work at an unrelenting pace''
+
|summary=''Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted to Know ''gives people without an accounting background who have risen in a company the knowledge to understand the accounts which show how the company is doing. The book begins by looking at why financial accounting systems are necessary, then moves on to give an excellent overview of the types of accounting systems which will be encountered and the terms used. We then look in detail at the balance sheet, the income statement and the statement of cash flows...
 
How true, though it always makes me wonder why, as a result, there's such a market for bulky management and leadership and general business books like this one. How does anyone who needs or wants to read one ever find the time to do so? This title actually has an answer to this, by providing two books in one, and it is such a simple yet effective solution that I have to start there. You can read this book in one of two ways. Option one is to read every word, chapter by chapter, cover to cover. If you have the time I would recommend this approach because the book is very readable, not too repetitive, and quite thought-provoking.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0273709305</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1946383627
|author=Alistair Milne
+
|title=Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know
|title=The Fall of the House of Credit
+
|author=Vibrant Publishers
|rating=3.5
+
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=It now seems to be established as fact that so-called 'toxic assets' – mostly sub-prime mortgage investments in the USA were the cause of the current banking crisis, but Professor Alistair Milne of Cass Business School argues otherwiseIt's his contention that many of these 'toxic assets' were (and still are) sound investments which will be repaid in full without any problems and even the defaults will not be a large proportion of the wholeHe argues that it was the initial loss of confidence in these investment vehicles which began a downward spiral and resulted in the collapse of several Banks.
+
|summary=I'm capable of drawing up a profit and loss account (income statement in the USA) and a balance sheet and I do so for my own business and for another organisationThe accounts give me ''broadly'' what I need: I know whether we're making a profit or a loss and I can look at the expenses and see what looks as though it could be trimmed back in future yearsMy problem was that the accounts didn't really give me any help in making decisions, which was why I turned to ''Cost Accounting and Management'', part of Vibrant Publishers' Self-Learning and Management series...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0521762146</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1072549271
|author=Ben Mezrich
+
|title=The Simple Act of Self-Publishing With Amazon: A Simple Step by Step Guide
|title=The Accidental Billionaires: Sex, Money, Betrayal and the Founding of Facebook
+
|author=Georgianne Landy-Kordis
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=As subtitles go, ''Sex, Money, Betrayal...'' is the sort you'd generally associate with works by Danielle Steel or Jackie Collins. But, with a website? And a supremely geeky (in its beginnings) website like Facebook? Surely not. And, yet, that's exactly the claim you find on the cover of this book, a work of faction that claims to tell the inside story of the founding of Facebook.
+
|summary=I frequently meet authors who are struggling to be published by the traditional houses, but when I suggest self-publishing they explain that they don't have the big bucks required to go down that road with Author Solutions or Matador or their like.  I then ask if they've considered Kindle and the answer is, inevitably, that they wouldn't know where to start. I can empathise with that. Despite having used a computer for about thirty years, running most of my life ''and'' a website online, I'm still nervous when it comes to starting something new.  I like someone to hold my hand as I go through it for the first time.  That was why I was very interested when ''The Simple Act of Self Publishing With Amazon'' came across my desk...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434019550</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Children's Non-Fiction Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 11:17, 27 March 2024


0241636604.jpg

Review of

The Trading Game: A Confession by Gary Stevenson

4.5star.jpg Autobiography

If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader. Full Review

103211603X.jpg

Review of

A Beautiful Way to Coach by Fiona Parashar

5star.jpg Business and Finance

So what am I doing reading this book, using this book, and being audacious enough to review it? Truth is I bought it out of curiosity. I was at an on-line launch for the book and Fiona’s description of her Vision Days appealed to me. I wanted to see if there were things in there that I could use with someone I am currently helping / supporting / trying to mentor – without committing them to a full day, which I know would send them scurrying for their burrow. I also wanted to see if I could give myself a Vision Day, to bring me away from their vision and back to my own. Full Review

303091657X.jpg

Review of

Disaster in the Boardroom: Six Dysfunctions Everyone Should Understand by Gerry Brown and Randall S Peterson

5star.jpg Business and Finance

Boards must act in the best interests of their stakeholders and ensure that they are well-managed and financially secure. This might seem obvious but a series of disasters - some of which have resulted in death or the collapse of a major company - have left interested parties asking what the board was doing. Where were they? Occasionally the boards were unaware of what was happening or they preferred to turn a blind eye, leaving watchers wondering which was worse - ignorance or criminality. The 21st century has delivered some major company scandals but what has happened is nothing new: Gerry Brown and Randall S Peterson give us a very readable trip through such major debacles as railway mania, the South Sea Bubble and even tulip mania. Over three centuries we seem to have learned very little. Full Review

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Review of

Making a Living: How to Craft Your Business by Sophie Rochester

5star.jpg Crafts

Starting a creative business has never been easier.

If not now, when?

I know that I'm not alone in having wondered whether or not I could turn my hobby into a business. There's a lot of motivation to do so: I make more items than we can sensibly use and there are a lot of people who have been delighted to accept what I make as gifts. Selling would offset the costs, which can be quite considerable and it could be fun to do, couldn't it? But where to start? What do I need to think about? Well, the first thing anyone who is considering turning a crafting hobby into a business should do is to read Making a Living. Full Review

Suppl stafl.jpg

Review of

Supply Chain 20/20: A Clear View on the Local Multiplier Effect for Book Lovers by Kim Staflund

4.5star.jpg Reference

So, you've finished writing your book and you think the hard work is all done? You're convinced that all you need to do now is get it published and the money will start rolling in?

Wrong and wrong again. You presumably wrote the book because you wanted to - and you had a talent for delivering the written word. You knew your subject back to front. Now you're going to have to get to grips with the book supply chain, which even parts of the publishing industry believe to be wrong but it's too difficult to change and no one wants to be the first to try. Then, when you finally have a copy of the book in your hands, you're going to have to work out how to sell it - because it is going to be down to you. Full Review

0008350388.jpg

Review of

We Need to Talk About Money by Otegha Uwagba

5star.jpg Politics and Society

To be a dark-skinned Black woman is to be seen as less desirable, less hireable, less intelligent and ultimately less valuable than my light-skinned counterparts... We Need to Talk About Money by Otegha Uwagba

0.7% of English Literature GCSE students in England study a book by a writer of colour while only 7% study a book by a woman. The Bookseller 29 June 2021

Otegha Uwagba came to the UK from Kenya when she was five years old. Her sisters were seven and nine. It was her mother who came first, with her father joining them later. The family was hard-working, principled and determined that their children would have the best education possible. There was always a painful awareness of money although this did not translate into a shortage of anything: it was simply carefully harvested. When Otegha was ten the family acquired a car. For Otegha, education meant a scholarship to a private school in London and then a place at New College, Oxford. Full Review

Reed3.jpg

Review of

Why You? 101 Interview Questions You'll Never Fear Again (3rd Edition) by James Reed

5star.jpg Business and Finance

Six years on from the original edition, the book is being re-issued with a bonus chapter entitled The Future of Work which includes an additional 10 questions. I've come to this some 6 years after reviewing the original book and my life has changed significantly in the meantime. I'm no longer working in middle-management having opted for a down-shift into reduced hours freelancing to enable me to focus on other (not necessarily paying) work. I can therefore relate to the first point made in this chapter namely that independence and flexibility are core skills that employees need to have. Full Review

3110706075.jpg

Review of

Making a Difference: Leadership, Change and Giving Back the Independent Director Way by Gerry Brown

4star.jpg Business and Finance

You're not there to run the organisation. You are there to make sure that it is run properly.

Gerry Brown is passionate about the benefits which Independent Directors can bring to a board - not just a corporate board, but the board of an NHS Trust, a university, a sports organisation or a charity. He's particularly keen that there's increased diversity on these boards and feels that this would help to avoid some of the scandals (Oxfam, Kids Company - we're thinking about you) which have occurred in recent years. For this to happen, boards need to have a wider field of people to choose from when they're looking for an ID. Full Review

3030513025.jpg

Review of

The Independent Director in Society: Our current crisis of governance and what to do by Gerry Brown, Andrew Kakabadse and Filipe Morais

5star.jpg Business and Finance

Independent Director: a job for which no one is qualified (Financial Times)

Independent Director: An independent director is a member of the board of directors who (1) do not have a material relationship with the company, (2) is not part of the company's executive team, and (3) is not involved with the day-to-day operations of the company. (Corporate Finance Institute)

Gerry Brown, Andrew Kakabadse and Filipe Morais feel that the relationship between the executive members of boards and the independent directors (formerly known as non-executive directors), trustees or governors of organisations is frequently unbalanced. The function of the independent director is to have general oversight of the executive side of the board - to spot when and where things are going wrong - but all too often the relationship is too cosy, too antagonistic or the independent director lacks the knowledge and/or experience to understand what's happening or to know how to intervene. Covid-19 has highlighted the failings and weaknesses of leadership and governance and you might be tempted to think that these are extraordinary times and that all will be well once we get back to 'normal' but a pandemic was predicted and modelled in the past and there has been a general failure to prepare for what has happened - and is still happening. Full Review

0241453585.jpg

Review of

Banking On It: How I Disrupted an Industry by Anne Boden

5star.jpg Business and Finance

Anne Boden had an impressive track record in the financial services sector: she had thirty years experience at a senior level including Group Chief Operating Officer at Allied Irish Bank. AIB was in the throes of recovering from the 2008 financial crisis when she arrived and she was one of the first to realise that banks needed to do things differently. AIB thought it was at the cutting edge when it proposed opening a branch which allowed customers to access their accounts via a terminal. Boden took things a step further, realising that customers could access their accounts from their homes: the old branch network, employing thousands of people, would soon become redundant. Full Review

3110641119.jpg

Review of

The Journey Mapping Playbook: A Practical Guide to Preparing, Facilitating and Unlocking the Value of Customer Journey Mapping by Jerry Angrave

5star.jpg Business and Finance

I had no idea what 'journey mapping' was until I read this playbook but any business that engages with their customers will benefit from reading the book and acting on the contents. You're going to learn how to run a workshop to discover what it feels like to be one of your own customers. At this point, please don't say 'oh (expletive deleted) not another workshop' because this is going to be fun and you're going to be surprised by what emerges. Full Review

3110641291.jpg

Review of

The Radical Innovation Playbook: A Practical Guide for Harnessing New, Novel or Game-Changing Breakthroughs by Olga Kokshagina and Allen Alexander

5star.jpg Business and Finance

So, why bother? Every time you set out to do something new you end up with the same thing in a slightly different form and quite a bit of money spent. Why not just leave it as it is? After all, it's roughly working, isn't it?

You might not have said it, but you've probably thought it. You've also thought the small, incremental improvements which you have been able to make - the optimisation of your core business with cost efficiencies wherever possible, the extension of your existing products into new areas - haven't really delivered in terms of growth. It's been manageable and largely risk-free but you could easily be challenged by a competitor who takes a more radical approach. You've merely kept the business ticking over and there's a nagging suspicion in the back of your mind that an organisation designed for the twentieth century might not survive in the twenty-first. What you need is innovation - radical innovation. Full Review

1472962044.jpg

Review of

Creating Value Through Technology: Discover the Tech that Can Transform Your Business by Andrew Hampshire

4.5star.jpg Business and Finance

I was once told that 'technology' is anything that happens after you're eighteen, so there's been a lot of technology in my life. I once worked for a manager who judged if an accountant was reputable by establishing whether or not they had a typewriter. Times - thankfully - have moved on. Nowadays the problem is that someone running a business doesn't have the time to keep up with constant innovation and they might also be scared because previous IT investments haven't delivered as expected. It's also a fact that no one develops a business because they have the knowledge of the required technology, so they start off in conversations about technology feeling that they're at a disadvantage. They need help, but they frequently don't know what help they need. Full Review

1526362759.jpg

Review of

Dosh: How to Earn It, Save It, Spend It, Grow It, Give It by Rashmi Sirdeshpande

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

What a relief! A book about money, for children, with clear explanations of what it is, why it matters, how to acquire more of it (nope - robbing banks is out) and what you can do with it when you've managed to get hold of it. Your reasons for wanting money don't matter: we all need it to some extent. You might want to go into business, be a clever shopper, a saver (you might even become an investor) and there might be something you really, really want to buy. There's also the possibility of using to do good in the world. Full Review

0571353606.jpg

Review of

The Double X Economy by Linda Scott

5star.jpg Politics and Society

Women are economically disadvantaged in every country in the world. It's a bold statement for an opening chapter, but it's far from hyperbole as the following pages explain. This book shines a light on what is happening in different places, and the impact on the local and world economy. What can be learnt from the great strides in gender-equalising legislation in the west? What can be done about the selling of young women into marriage, and what can chimpanzees and bonobos teach us about mothering? Full Review

0349424926.jpg

Review of

Life's Work: 12 Proven Ways to Fast-Track Your Career by James Reed

5star.jpg Business and Finance

Do you have a guaranteed and more-than-adequate income which will last the rest of your life? Do you have no need to work, either for income or fulfilment? If you even hesitate over either of those questions then you really ought to read Life's Work': 12 Proven Ways to Fast-Track Your Career. If you're not yet in work or considering that you might need to make some changes then this is the book you need. James Reed is the chairman and chief executive of REED, Britain's biggest and best-known name in the recruitment industry. Who better to give you the advice you need? Full Review

1789660610.jpg

Review of

The Money Revolution by Anne Boden

4star.jpg Business and Finance

Money is changing. It might not be in the ways you think. We’re not suddenly getting a 3p or £3 coin (and have you ever even found a country that offers anything different to the 1, 2, 5 model?) We’re getting a lot more digital with payments, which seems to suit most people apart from charity collectors and the homeless on the street, but although this book has the subtitle that includes the word digital, it’s not really about this either. Instead, it's about the management of your finances, and how to take control. Full Review

1949395324.jpg

Review of

Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition by Kalpesh Ashar

4star.jpg Business and Finance

Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted to Know gives people without an accounting background who have risen in a company the knowledge to understand the accounts which show how the company is doing. The book begins by looking at why financial accounting systems are necessary, then moves on to give an excellent overview of the types of accounting systems which will be encountered and the terms used. We then look in detail at the balance sheet, the income statement and the statement of cash flows... Full Review

1946383627.jpg

Review of

Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know by Vibrant Publishers

4.5star.jpg Business and Finance

I'm capable of drawing up a profit and loss account (income statement in the USA) and a balance sheet and I do so for my own business and for another organisation. The accounts give me broadly what I need: I know whether we're making a profit or a loss and I can look at the expenses and see what looks as though it could be trimmed back in future years. My problem was that the accounts didn't really give me any help in making decisions, which was why I turned to Cost Accounting and Management, part of Vibrant Publishers' Self-Learning and Management series... Full Review

1072549271.jpg

Review of

The Simple Act of Self-Publishing With Amazon: A Simple Step by Step Guide by Georgianne Landy-Kordis

4.5star.jpg Business and Finance

I frequently meet authors who are struggling to be published by the traditional houses, but when I suggest self-publishing they explain that they don't have the big bucks required to go down that road with Author Solutions or Matador or their like. I then ask if they've considered Kindle and the answer is, inevitably, that they wouldn't know where to start. I can empathise with that. Despite having used a computer for about thirty years, running most of my life and a website online, I'm still nervous when it comes to starting something new. I like someone to hold my hand as I go through it for the first time. That was why I was very interested when The Simple Act of Self Publishing With Amazon came across my desk... Full Review

Move on to Newest Children's Non-Fiction Reviews