Tag Archives: Book Review

The Promise: Never Have Another Negative Thought Again

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neverhaveanothernegativethoughtThe Promise: Never Have Another Negative Thought Again comes with high praise indeed.

‘If a book could change the world and the lives of everyone in it, this is surely such a book.’ Mark Nesbitt, director of Urbanark Group

‘Occasionally there’s someone saying something that makes you stop and listen. Graham W Price is one of these. His teaching is truly powerful.’ London Magazine

‘The most useful and effective training I’ve come across in 25 years.’ Michael Queen, CEO of 3i, a FTSE 100 company

‘I cannot recommend it enough. Nothing phases me anymore.’ Simone Plaut, manager, MS Society

Wow. Popular indeed. The blurb reads:

What would it be like to eliminate negative thoughts from your life? To remove regret, worry and dissatisfaction and never feel stressed again? To take on whatever life throws at you with confidence and an unwavering resilience? To achieve whatever you want to achieve and enjoy great relationships. With The Promise, you can – that’s a promise.

Based on an extraordinary truth that few are aware of, you’ll develop powerful new ways of looking at life and discover how to:

Replace negative thoughts with positive action.
Banish stress, regret, disappointment and worry from your life.
Calmly manage any challenging situation, no matter how big or small.

The Promise is a book that changes your thinking. Positive acceptance, or pacceptance as the author Graham W Price calls it, is the first step. Instead of getting upset about things you cannot fix you accept it instead. It has exercises and an action summary of each chapter, and all of the previous ones too.

Banning worry, accepting fear but getting on with it and less wishing, more action might seem like basic things we know why should not but might not get round to doing. But the book is not just self help and useful advice, it works on your way of thinking so you can reach your full potential. I like the book and found it very helpful. The summary and examples at the end were great, as were the exercises.

A great book if you are lagging behind and want to up your game.

The Set Table: The Art of Small Gatherings

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the set table the art of small gatherings.

Some books are just beautiful and deserve to be endlessly browsed. The Set Table is such a book. It is a beautifully designed and full of endless domestic pleasures.

For those of us who are not domestic (me!) a guide on linen, cutlery and the art of small gatherings is a much needed and much appreciated thing. If you ever wanted to know how to buy or make linen this book tells you how. It also tells you how to get stains out and the different types of linen. Buying second hand crockery and types of crockery are also covered. Along with shapes and sizes. It also goes through different materials and tells you how to clean silver.

Hannah Shuckburgh is features editor of Conde Nast’s Easy Living magazine and you can tell. This is a classy book which will surely turn it’s readers into dinner party gods and goddesses. I loved the illustrations. The one on cutlery shapes will never have you confused about the difference between your bouillon and salt spoon again.

I also love the chapter on food. You can add lots to a meal with bread, water and sauces and this book really lets you know how.

An adorable, educational book. Brilliant illustrations and lots of useful information.

Simple and beautiful ideas for laying the table is the subject of The Set Table. From supper for two on a candlelit urban roof terrace to a picnic lunch for friends on the sitting-room carpet, the look is effortlessly artistic and uncomplicated, celebrating the intimate and unique experience of eating well. With ideas for every aspect of a well-set
table – from napkins to glassware, cutlery to lighting – Hannah Shuckburgh inspires you to make even the smallest of gatherings very special with modest resources.

Genius tips on how to unearth good crockery in junk shops; easy guides for simple but special things to make at home; ideas for styling supermarket flowers and recipes for delicious homemade condiments are accompanied by soulful photography by Charlotte Bland and illustrations by Lydia Starkey. The Set Table is about clearing away the clutter and complications of daily life creating a warm, welcoming setting for unforgettable meals with the people you love.

Hannah Shuckburgh is features editor of Conde Nast’s Easy Living magazine. She also has written for Vogue, The Times, The Independent and The Huffington Post.

The Set Table: The Art of Small Gatherings

Enterprise in Action: A Guide To Entrepreneurship

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Enterprise in Action: A Guide To EntrepreneurshipEnterprise in Action: A Guide to Entrepreneurship by Peter Lawrence is a business book with a difference. Far from being a straight business book it also has exercises, questions and case studies. Along with a summary at the end and some great ideas and anecdotes. The book works your brain by quizzing you about the case studies and giving you an exercise.

The chapter titled Niche Markets and Entry Barriers was especially interesting and insightful. Each chapter also has a message at the end and this chapters message is: NICHE AND ENTRY BARRIER ARE VALUABLE AND USEFUL CONCEPTS. BUT THEY NEED A BIT MORE CONTEXTING AND UNDERSTANDING.

 

This is what they say, “An authoritative guide to understanding and mastering the core issues and competencies involved in entrepreneurial success. Where do entrepreneurial opportunities arise? How do successful entrepreneurs exploit trends? What is the role of innovation in entrepreneurship? How do companies get started and become self-sustaining? Based on studies of 80 companies, including 30 Sunday Times Fast Track Companies, and 20 highly successful US entrepreneurial firms, this book answers these and many other key questions about entrepreneurship. This authoritative guide to the world of entrepreneurship offers valuable lessons for MBA students and established entrepreneurs alike.

  • Shows practitioners how success is influenced by factors such as industry dynamics, entry barriers, reconfiguration, and core competencies

  • Delivers practical coverage of an array of key issues, including how to exploit trends, how to foster innovation, how to get additional funding for expansion, and much more

  • Provides expert guidance on how to successfully address each of the factors or core competencies covered

  • An excellent supplement to standard graduate texts on the subject, it breathes new life into standard curriculum topics by presenting them within the context of real-world success stories”

Peter Lawrence has a brilliant mind and I am glad he has put his ideas on paper. He has written a book which is thoroughly enjoyable and has a way of getting the point across in a clear, concise way. His way of using stories of real people and businesses makes building a business seem achievable.This guide book should herd the new wave of entrepreneurs in the right direction. It is a readable book which is not stuffy at all. It thoroughly covers entrepreneurship in an engaging way. Learning about entrepreneurship was never so enjoyable and easy. An incredibly good book. I learned a lot.

 

Lost Cat by Caroline Paul

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caroline-tibia-wendyI have to admit, I love cats. I have had four in my life. Two are still alive while the other two sadly passed. So when I got this book to review I was pretty excited.

This is what the dust cover says, “Caroline Paul was recovering from a bad accident and thought things couldn’t get worse. But then her beloved cat Tibia disappeared. She and her partner, illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, mourned his loss. Yet weeks later, Tibia waltzed back into their lives. His owners were overjoyed. But they were also…jealous? Betrayed? Where had their sweet anxious cat disappeared to? Had he become a swashbuckling cat adventurer? Did he lovesomeone else more? His owners were determined to find out.

Using GPS technology, cat cameras, psychics, the web, and animal communicators, the authors of Lost Cat embarked on a quest to discover what their cat did when they weren’t around. Told through writer Caroline Paul’s rich and warmly poignant narrative and illustrator Wendy MacNaughton’s stunning and hilarious 4-color illustrations, Lost Cat is a book for animal lovers, pet owners, and anyone who has ever done anything desperate for love.”

Caroline is a brilliant writer. She is funny, insightful and fresh. The book is an honest and refreshing book on how much a woman loves her cat. Jealousy and slight craziness included. I think every pet owner will recognise themselves in this marvelous book. The book is not just about the cat, it is also about what happens when you are suffering from an injury and are mostly house bound.

The observations about people in cities not talking to their neighbours and only opening the door for the postman is funnily accurate, and as relevant in London as it is where Caroline lives in San Francisco.

The illustrations, drawn by Caroline’s partner Wendy, are excellent. I love the illustrations. They are well done but also capture the spirit of the book.

Lost Cat is a great book. Cat lover or not. It is funny and insightful. As great to read as it is beautiful to look at.

Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology

Birth Made Easy Book Review

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birth made easyI have previously interviewed Paola Bagnall. She had a lot of great things to say about giving birth. Now, let’s get down to the book.

The book has a great overview of pregnancy, both Pre and Post. It also comes with a free self hypnosis CD. For those interested in hypnobirthing (and there are rumours that Kate Middleton has joined them) this book is great. Paola believes that pregnancy is not a medical thing but a natural thing that the body is supposed to do. Although I don’t agree that pregnancy is not a medical thing, her ideas are interesting and certainly have merit. She is a qualified hypnotherapist and healed her own shoulder using the power of her mind.

This book has a lot of great information in it for any mother-to-be. Chapter one is about hypnosis and other chapters are about breathing, the biology of the female body, and the biology of birth. They are all very informative and fascinating.

There is also a chapter on how to use the CD. In the getting ready for birth chapter there are a lot of great tips, followed by an entire chapter or problem solving in, ‘What To Do if You Have….’ Nausa and vomiting are covered. As are C-sections and having a large baby.

The books tells you how to use the three stages of hynothearapy for the birth in an easy to understand way and has an entire chapter on how to disassociate yourself from the feelings of the contractions.

The last two chapters are what to do after the birth, a great chapter with some exercises on how to get back into shape, health tips, and enjoying your time as a mother.

This is a very good book for women who want a natural birth, and even has great tips for those who don’t. I can’t say it has convinced me to have a natural birth when I decide to have children, but the information is there for those who do.

Birth Made Easy – The positive and enjoyable way to have a baby easily and naturally using self-hypnosis

Idea To iPhone: The Essential Guide To Creating Your First App For iPhone and iPad

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Idea To iPhone- The Essential Guide To Creating Your First App For iPhone and iPadApps are big business and the media is full of stories of app millionaires. The internet has made becoming rich easier than ever, or has it? How easy is it to make an app? Or more importantly, how easy is it to sell it?

17-year-old Nick D’Aloisio hit the headlines by selling his app, Summly, to Yahoo for an estimated £18m, making him a tech superstar. But what about the rest of us who are not teenage whiz kids? I reviewed new book, Idea to iPhone to find out. Read on….

Idea to iPhone: The Essential Guide To Creating Your First App For iPhone and iPad by Carla White talks you through building an app from idea to iPhone, iPad, iPad mini or iPod Touch. Chapter 1 kicks off with your app adventure. It lists the excuses you may have not to make an app and dismantles them. I immediately liked this book when I was flicking through it for the first time. It is 294 pages of hard to find knowledge that you would not get anywhere else. Well, maybe if you trawled the internet for days, but even then I am not sure.

The graphs and pictures are great. The book is easy to understand anyway, but they add to the information getting into your brain. I learned that making an app is not as hard as you think and nor is it as expensive.

The other great information in this book is on Apple. How to grab their attention and how to work with them. Carla goes through everything you need to know about working with Apple and how iTunes can help or hurt sales. For instance, did you know that Apple take a 30% cut? They also pay you once a month after a four-week delay. There is also a step-by-step guide on becoming an Apple developer. Each chapter ends with a handy table of key points.

Chapter 2 is Shaping Ideas into Apps People Want. An essential chapter as there is no point in making apps that no one wants. This brilliant chapter lets you know how to find your audience. It also tells you how to integrate your app with Facebook and which device will be right for you.

Another thing I liked about the book is the quotes doted throughout. Perfect for inspiration.

Teaching you about finding an audience and building an app is one thing but marketing is also paramount. This book also covers that. You don’t need to hire an expensive PR company (at least not at first) you just need some hard work and imagination. There is also a checklist on building a press kit and information on how people scan iTunes. Essential for marketing your app.

It also has tips on finding a great designer, or designing yourself. And also a lot of information on finding and working with a developer. Tech tips on Xcode are also incredibly useful.

Further tips on making a profit, keeping track of money and getting the press interested make this book essential for anyone who wants to create their own app and become successful.

Idea to IPhone: The Essential Guide to Creating Your First App for the IPhone and IPad

 

Living Gluten-Free | Book Review

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livingglutenfreeGluten-Free is the new food trend. And while living gluten-free used to be extremely difficult it has gradually gotten better. The need has met the demand. Gluten-free is now widely available and common in the mainstream media. Living Gluten-free is getting easier but it still has it’s challenges. Can these book help? Let’s find out.

Living gluten-free for dummies is a comprehensive guide to eating gluten-free. It talks you through the medical benefits of eating gluten-free, has almost 100 great recipes, and give you guidance on reading food labels.

The book also has great advice on coeliac disease, tells you about tests and lets you know what misdiagnoses you should look out for. Chapter 3 even has an entire chapter on coeliac disease. I don’t have coeliac disease but it would be a great resource for those who do. In fact 10p from every sale of the book goes to Coeliac UK.

The lists of food with and without gluten is also handy. As is the chapter on making sure food is gluten-free. There is also a table on shopping on a budget. This book is a really good resource on buying, eating and cooking gluten-free food. It certainly makes a daunting task much easier and tastier. The recipes are good. There is something there for everyone and not a horrible, cardboard-tasting meal in sight. For those who miss pasta or bread, there are even recipes to make your own. There is also a good amount of dessert recipes. Yum.

If you love eating out or are away from home a lot there is also a chapter to make sure you don’t fall off the wagon. For those with kids, there is a chapter on raising children gluten-free too.

Living Gluten-Free For Dummies