My review of "My Adventures As A Young Filmmaker"

I was given the opportunity to read and review this book courtesy of TheReadingRoom.com and to say I loved it would be an understatement. I have been a fan of Andrew Jenks since the first season of “World of Jenks” on MTV and was incredibly excited that the show is finally back on.

While the show does an amazing job of sharing the lives of other individuals and their struggles and victories, it is not often you hear too much about Jenks himself. I really enjoyed how well written this book was and the background of the man behind the camera. He is an incredibly hard working man that has earned and deserves every ounce of success he has achieved through his documentaries and show (as well as his wonderful crew and friends that have helped him along the way).

It’s nice to hear how supportive his family is of him and how he chooses to go against the norm in regards to the documentaries he makes and the individuals he follows on his show. Anybody that is a fan of the show would love this book and it was definitely a book that I couldn't put down after starting. Not yet a fan or know of Andrew Jenks? Then pick this book up and you will be by the time you complete the book!

Nae'body's Hero Review

I was given the opportunity to read and review this book courtesy of the author Mark Wilson. It took a couple chapters to get into the book and I’m usually not a big fan of switching characters every chapter, but it worked for this book. I love how their intertwined at the end and watching the progression of each of the characters’ personalities and the growth that they each made throughout the story.

Robert Hamilton, Arif Ali, and Kim Baker all had interesting backgrounds and stories. There were a lot of historical references in the story leading up to September 11, 2001. Like the author states at the end of this book, I only wish that it all was true. Robert has Super hero powers of sorts and is very intent on doing only good and never taking a life. He makes it his mission to help everyone that he can as he can speed across the world in seconds.

Overall I really did enjoy this story and without giving too much information, I absolutely am a big fan of anything with a good amount of historical references and information that I can further Google. The portrayal of the terrorist training camps was eerily similar to what I have read in the past and heard from others. It is terrifying and does offer some compassion for the boys that are often forced into these positions in horrifying ways. I definitely would recommend this book as it was enjoyable and an interesting read.

Wealth Warrior (my review)

I received a copy of “Wealth Warrior” to read and review from my online book club 12 books, which has been a great source of personal development, for me.  This book was a quick read and definitely a book that I will refer back to often for sources of inspiration.

I enjoyed that the chapters were smaller and with a lot of quotes to really help you grasp what the author was referring to. I absorbed a lot of information from reading this book; much in the regards of setting up your life so that you are constantly looking for ways to help and serve others. That really is the point of our existence and the only way that our society will survive and continue to prosper socially and in business.

The author Steve Chandler, writes with such an incredible passion for the message he is sharing, that it would almost be impossible to not attempt to absorb every message he shares.

 He shares many of the misfortunes that he himself has been through and in doing so; I believe he empowers every individual to know that it is possible for them as well to have a life of success. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will recommend this book to my friends and family. We can all use that push every now and then; and sometimes we happen to get caught up in other things, forgetting what our real message and goals in life are. 

Review for Your Best Just Got Better

Through my online book club 12books, I was given the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book by Jason Womack. After reading this book, I can with complete honesty say that this was one of the best personal development books I have ever read. The principle of this book is about evaluating your current habits and activities throughout the day and finding the opportunities where you can increase your productivity.

It was pretty powerful reading that we are given 96 blocks of 15 minutes throughout the day and how we choose to use that time is up to us. It really put it in perspective for me and I have found that using Jason’s tips and techniques has made an instant difference in my productivity. Setting that timer for 15 minutes on my phone or iPad really gets me to apply that focus to the task at hand. I found that also taking note of what I find as my “When I am at my best” moments, that I think throughout the day of little things I can do to ensure that I am indeed at my best. I could really go on and on in regards to this book and how much applying these activities is already impacting my life, but there would be just too much to say and talk about.

My recommendation is that this book can be beneficial to any individual. It does not matter whether you are a stay at home mother, an entrepreneur, a military member, or just an individual trying to learn how to make the most of your day. This book was incredibly well written and I will be recommending it to everyone I encounter in my day to day activities. 

likeable business review

I read likeable business through 12 books group, which is an online book club that features a new personal development book to read and discuss each month, and it is definitely a book that I can see myself referencing back to often in the future. This material addressed in this book is by no means a new concept, which the author fully acknowledges, however it is presented in a way that significantly makes it easier to grasp and understand why these practices need to be put into place.

Likeable business addresses topics such as; listening, transparency, passion, responsiveness, authenticity, and more interesting topics. The book is full of wonderful examples of how each of these ideal business practices have been put into practice already. I felt like it was a lot easier to relate to what the author was writing with examples and tips of how to actually implement much of this within an organization. While the topics discussed felt like basic skills a manager, employee, or organization would already use, it was easy to see how many had lost the focus of going back to the basics.

This book helped me understand responsiveness and what going the extra mile for a customer can mean for an organization. There were also a lot of examples of organizations that chose not to go the route of applying these skills to their organizations, and unfortunately many of those organizations are no longer in business. The examples of businesses that went the extra mile made me want to jump on Twitter at that moment and let them know that their actions are not going unnoticed. They have me as a customer for life, even if I haven’t yet had the pleasure of doing business with them, I will in the future.

I would definitely recommend this book with ease to individuals looking to improve on their customer service skills, organizations who can’t understand what they’re doing wrong and anybody at all that would just want to learn how to apply these skills to their own personal life. It definitely comes down to treating individuals as you would want to be treated. It overall has improved my understanding and ability to identify organizations and businesses I currently shop at, that at the moment, do not seem to care if they lose my business. 

My review on Uncertainty

I was given the opportunity to read and review “Uncertainy” through and online book club I participate in called 12books. “Uncertainty” was a pretty challenging book to get into and found it hard to hold my attention until chapter 6. The concept of the book was very interesting in regards to learning to accept that fear and uncertainty come with most great things we do in life. Where I felt it was hard to get into were a lot of the random examples that were thrown into the book and the occasional paragraphs which would compare our brains’ response to the feelings of fear, judgment, and uncertainty.

Towards the end of the book though, my attention was held by the interesting topics that came up. How friends, family, mentors, and other individuals in our life can push a forward or hinder our progress is interesting. A feeling I had was that I could separate those thoughts but there is a lot of evidence that we internalize much more than we think. The author gives some good examples of how to turn criticism and judgment from people in our lives into fuel to push our dreams and goals even further.

The other interesting chapter and section for me, was that regarding mediation or Attention Training (AT). Meditation has always been of interest to me, but not something that I have ever been able to put into a consistent practice. I felt the author gave some great tips to get started and even so much as saying that if you are consistent, even for shorter periods of time, that you will begin to feel the effects of this relaxed state of mind fairly quickly. I definitely intend to make that a regular part of my day by starting out for shorter periods of just sitting and allowing my mind to be at peace. The author also gives some great advice about the correlation between exercising and your brain being in better shape to handle stress, work more productive, and to increase creativity. I definitely believe that adding more exercise to my life would impact my business endeavors and activities in a positive way.

Overall I would recommend this book to individuals that are in a limbo in their life. Do you continue forging through with your dreams and goals or is it time to take a step back and evaluate them? This book will help you think all that and more through. It is definitely a good read and I would just suggest pushing through the first few chapters if you find it harder to get into, because it does get better. 

My review for Come Home by Lisa Scottoline

I received an advance copy of Come Home by Lisa Scottoline from TheReadingRoom.com and St. Martin's Press to read and review.

I really enjoyed reading this book and felt bummed out when it ended. I really enjoyed the character Jill and felt that she was easy to relate to (being a mother of two myself). It was a well written story. Plenty of times felt like I knew what was going to happen next, I really had no clue. I was really rooting for Jill and Victoria to reconnect throughout the whole story and up to the end, I was rooting their relationship on. It ended well and thoroughly explained all the mysterious parts of the book that were unanswered.

My only disappointment was hoping there would be some sort of epilogue that would flash forward and show how the characters were all doing 10 years from now and how they were as a "whole family".

I will definitely be checking out more books from this author as it was a great read that held my interest the entire story.