booksny's reviews
314 reviews

Reviewed for a free copy

 There are many great books on how to build a business. However, the work isn’t finished once you get that done, which is where Watertight Marketing by Bryony Thomas comes in. Through an entertaining analogy involving buckets and funnels, taps and leaks, Bryony Thomas shows you how to not just keep your business surviving, but thriving; how to not just get customers, but to keep customers as well. The first few chapters cover critical aspects of an effective marketing strategy which companies may often overlook, while later chapters provide helpful, concrete suggestions on how to deal with those oversights. Sprinkled throughout are informational graphics and interactive mini-exercises which will keep readers’ minds entertained and engaged. At the end of each chapter a summary of the key points, as well as recommendations for further readings, are given. Simply put, Thomas knows her material well, and has produced a book which will ensure that readers will thoroughly learn it too.

Watertight Marketing truly impressed me as one of the better marketing guides I’ve read. As I delved deeper into the book, I began to look at my surroundings through fresh eyes; it was surprising to realize how many subtle marketing messages I’m exposed to on a daily basis. It was intriguing to see the intricacy of the strategies needed to build successful marketing messages. Thomas is pretty good at explaining complex concepts in layman’s terms and making even the most technical bits sound interesting. Her fun and informal tone leaves readers feeling positive and motivated to try out the marketing strategies suggested. Watertight Marketing would teach lessons that stick to a marketing class, would liven up the marketing plans of inexperienced companies, and would make a fun read for anybody interested in learning more about the tricky aspects of this particular field of study. 

*Reviewed for a free copy

Meet J.A. Coppinger’s Godslayer, a most unwelcome figure in many an exalted circle. Some, like Lord Sanit, call him a murderous lunatic. Others, like Lady Catrina, see him as a chauvinistic pig. Everybody would agree that he is not a man you want to cross. But the Godslayer doesn’t give a fig about what you think of him. He’s here to do one thing and one thing only: to hunt down those who lay false claim to godhood and kill them. He’s done this job for years and done it well, which is why this latest task irritates him like none other - not only does he have to hold off on slaying a horrible godling in favor of investigating the source of said godling’s great powers, but he also has to cart along some obnoxiously haughty woman as a traveling companion! However, as danger and betrayal come to light, as assassins and tragedy dog their footsteps, the Godslayer must put aside his distractions and do what he does best - survive the threats and kill the false god.

The minute I started reading J.A. Coppinger’s The Screaming God, I was hooked. The Godslayer is an entertainingly flawed antihero. Grossly sexist and obnoxiously sardonic, he projects a cliched image to all and sundry of a barbarian who will gorge, guzzle and wench his way through life without care. The exciting plot does not shy away from his brutal role and tragic experiences in the harshness of this colorfully-crafted medieval world. And yet, as the story unfolds, his character develops to show some hidden depths, like his worldly cunning, soft spot for children and (somewhat twisted) code of conduct. His clashes with the confident Lady Catrina are pure gold in terms of entertaining snark and snappy one-liners, leaving me giggling every time the hard rock of the Godslayer’s head met the unstoppable force that is the Lady Catrina’s determination to seek justice. Through this, and other delightful characters, I felt incredibly invested in their adventures and watched with glee as they bluffed their way into enemy camps and battled detestable characters by the dozens before securing a highly satisfying victory. All in all, The Screaming God is an unabashedly entertaining romp, and I look forward to its sequel. 

 

Reviewed for a free copy

Ross Dinwiddy’s Danyrogof Deep is a coming-of-age story set in a world of magic, fantasy and adventure. Jake Darrow is just another unassuming kid with big dreams and a quirky, but weak talent for ventriloquism when his life is torn apart by tragedy. Scared and angry after the violent and fiery deaths of his family, he isolates himself from the world, with only a ventriloquist dummy as a friend. Matters worsen when his theories about the explanation behind his family’s deaths are met with skepticism and ridicule, leaving him vulnerable to violent bullying. It is after one such bullying attempt gone wrong, however, that he falls (literally) into the strange new world deep underground. Bewildered but brave, Jake attempts to navigate the treacherous politics and violent wars that are tearing this world apart, and in the process of helping his new friends, he slowly unravels the mystery of his family’s deaths and grows into his own as a leader.

Dinwiddy’s Danyrogof Deep is, in a word, brilliant. Dinwiddy’s strength lies in his absolute mastery in world building - the underground realm that Jake explores is utterly, delightfully alien in every aspect. The smallest details were intriguing, from the attic shaped like a witch’s hat to the sinister grandfather clock with its thirteen hands. Droll humor was often injected at unexpected, but welcome times. The only bit which took some getting used to for me was how fast paced the plot was - initially, I felt like I was given barely any time to take in Jake’s grief or see the characters develop properly. The bullies, for example, were evil in a very two-dimensional fashion and even the characters we were supposed to be sympathetic to, like Jake’s Nan and his friend Rhodri, were somewhat stilted. However, as the story progressed, I grew used to its style and increasingly invested in the characters. I mourned when I saw the good guys die and grinned when a little romance unexpectedly popped up for a couple of funny side characters.

Reviewed for a free copy

Ray White’s Connecting Happiness and Success: A Guide to Creating Success Through Happiness is an interesting self-help guide on how to reassess your life and change it for the better. White poses the compelling argument that we should focus upon happiness rather than success as, contrary to what many assume, happiness does not follow success. As most people’s definition of success is heavily flawed, we spend far too much time toiling after unattainable goals of wealth and fame and end up discontented and unhappy with our current lot in life. White proposes that to combat this we should instead realize that success follows happiness, and so appreciate and enhance the various facets in our lives which are vital to happiness.

Just the act of reading Ray White’s Connecting Happiness and Success will make you feel motivated to turn your thoughts and actions around to be more positive. While the concepts and practices that White lays out are nothing new, the various academic studies researching the subject of happiness that he references are fascinating - they certainly show that he knows his material well and lend much credence to his arguments on the need for people to redefine their assumptions relating to success and happiness. I also found the many anecdotes that he relates highly entertaining, as they gave his book a nice personal touch. The book further includes many interactive activities and suggestions which will give you a helpful boost in making happiness and thereby success a part of your life. All in all, it was an insightful read. 

 Reviewed for a free copy
If you have a passion for culinary undertakings, a desire for an interesting career, or a simple curiosity to see what following your dreams could bring you, Irena Chalmers’ Great Food Jobs 2: Ideas and Inspirations for Your Job Hunt is the perfect book for you. Great Food Jobs 2 is a comprehensive guide to the many and varied types of occupations which can be linked to food, ranging from the common ones like chefs and dishwashers to the atypical ones such as food anthropologists and recipe tasters. Indeed, even the common jobs are made interesting through Chalmers’ descriptions; one compares, for example, the challenges of being a military cook to the glamour of succeeding as a celebrity chef. Chalmers is persuasive in her conviction that there is a good side to every job; even the work of a waiter, which is widely (and often justifiably) held to be a tough and thankless job for many people, is showcased as a job rife with possibilities. 

No stone is left unturned in her quest to reveal the startlingly rich world of food jobs and the wonderful array of opportunities available to anybody who just makes a little effort to be versatile and to think outside the box. You’ll come away from reading Great Food Jobs 2: Ideas and Inspirations for Your Job Hunt feeling like literally any line of work can be successfully modified to include dealing with food. As a bonus, interspersed between the descriptions of food jobs are mouthwatering accounts of gastronomic delights, humorous culinary anecdotes, little-known food facts, etc. Chalmers clearly knows her field very, very well. The result, thus, is a wholly informative, interesting, and inspiring read. 

Took a trip down memory lane and reread this old favorite - it has the quintessential Roald Dahl humor and fun Quentin Blake illustrations

I remember reading this as a child and enjoying it enough to give it a 4*. Read it again and it's still a lovely easy read with a typically absurd Dahl premise, though I'm more conscious now of how sketchy Mr Hoppy is - can't say it made a significant dent on my childhood morals so happy to leave that rating as is

A surprisingly enjoyable melodramatic mystery. The characters do a lot of unnecessary things e.g. Kit is an emotionally overwrought blabbermouth, Audrey is a poor friend and judge of character. And yet, they're strangely likable. My favorite characters were Merrivale and Benson; they were the funniest/most competent out of the lot.

The book started off slow and I wasn't particularly invested in Buddy with the band, so it took a while for me to get absorbed. I really enjoyed the second half though - Death is such a fantastic character and Susan's observations of him were touching. Ridcully was also pretty interesting, though I didn't quite understand the role that wizards were playing in the storyline, especially in the end - their perspective felt a tad superfluous