Book Review: Hacking Growth

The definitive playbook by the pioneers of Growth Hacking, one of the hottest business methodologies in Silicon Valley and beyond.
It seems hard to believe today, but there was a time when Airbnb was the best-kept secret of travel hackers and couch surfers, Pinterest was a niche web site frequented only by bakers and crafters, LinkedIn was an exclusive network for C-suite executives and top-level recruiters, Facebook was MySpace’s sorry step-brother, and Uber was a scrappy upstart that didn’t stand a chance against the Goliath that was  New York City Yellow Cabs. 

So how did these companies grow from these humble beginnings into the powerhouses they are today? Contrary to popular belief, they didn’t explode to massive worldwide popularity simply by building  a great product then crossing their fingers and hoping it would catch on. There was a studied, carefully implemented methodology behind these companies’ extraordinary rise. That methodology is called Growth Hacking, and it’s practitioners include not just today’s hottest start-ups, but also companies like IBM, Walmart, and Microsoft as well as the millions of entrepreneurs, marketers, managers and executives who make up the community of GrowthHackers.com.

Think of the Growth Hacking methodology as doing for market-share growth what Lean Start-Up did for product development, and Scrum did for productivity. It involves cross-functional teams and rapid-tempo testing and iteration that focuses customers: attaining them, retaining them, engaging them, and motivating them to come back and buy more.   

An accessible and practical toolkit that teams and companies in all industries can use to increase their customer base and market share, this book walks readers through the process of creating and executing their own custom-made growth hacking strategy. It is a must read for any marketer, entrepreneur, innovator or manger looking to replace wasteful big bets and "spaghetti-on-the-wall" approaches with more consistent, replicable, cost-effective, and data-driven results.

My Review: 

This book is a great read for business owners and people in sales.  The ideas are that businesses need to grow and develop in order to keep up with their customer's demands and desires.  Data backs up the information given but it is given in a way that is still easy to understand and interpret.  The book gives great ideas for the present and also shares how successful businesses have also "hacked growth".  I highly recommend this book if you are in sales or a business owner who wants to grow an even more successful business.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Before I Forget

 

 

Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's

 

“I know where I’m going. I’m still myself. I just can’t remember things as well as I once did. So on short trips, I work hard not to be confused. I’ll say to myself, What are we going to do? How long are we staying? It’s like I’m talking to my other self—the self I used to be. She tells me, This is what we need to buy—not that. I’m conscious of that other self guiding me now.”

Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient.  She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks.

B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way.

At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.

 

 

My Review: 

This book was heartbreaking for me especially because my grandmother just died and she had Alzheimer's.  The disease is real and scary.  It confuses everyone.  I loved reading this because much of it was written from the woman who is struggling with Alzheimer's.  Her viewpoints were different from what we often hear about and see.  We imagine what it is like to deal with someone who has the disease but we often don't think about how the person with the disease feels. 

This is a great book and unfortunately it is one that we all could use on our shelves.

 

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Based on Maja Säfström's delightful book The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts, this collection of 50 collectible postcards is the perfect way for animal lovers and art lovers to share and collect Maja's charming illustrations.

Housed in a keepsake box and arranged, much like a recipe box or card catalog, in tabbed sections (air, forest, sea, etc) this posctard box lets the user share all the curious knowledge and amazing artwork that makes Maja's book so special. From the Otters (they hold hands when they sleep in the water so they don't float away from each other!) to the elephant (mother elephant pregnanices last two years!) each postcard presents a unique look at the animal kingdom that will delight and astound. 50 postcards; 25 designs repeating, printed on toothy uncoated stock, with the animal's biological classifcation on the back.

My Review:

These were so cute.  The facts were a bit simple, but great for a short and sweet postcard.  The pictures are wonderful.  You can definitely color them in, but they are great alone also.  I love that there are two of each because I might not want to send them if there was only one.  I can't wait for my kids to pick out which ones to send to family members.  Definitely love and definitely recommend!

I received these postcards for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: Accidental Saints

New York Times Bestseller | One of NPR's Best Books of 2015


What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?

And what if that's the point?
In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls “a religious but not-so-spiritual life.” Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people—a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA. 

As she lives and worships alongside these “ac­cidental saints,” Nadia is swept into first-hand en­counters with grace—a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are trans­formed in ways they couldn’t have been on their own. 

In a time when many have rightly become dis­illusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints dem­onstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike. 

Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.

My Review:

I was really intrigued  by this book and the author but I was not as impressed with this book as I thought I would be.  It is a very easy, enjoyable read and the author sounds like a lot of fun.  I enjoyed everything in the book except that the stories were... just not doing it for me-I'm not sure why.  The stories are about ordinary, imperfect people who influence us and "show" us a bit of God.  The stories were touching but so much of the story was spent on the author continuing to tell about her imperfections.  I appreciate reading that so much, but only so much, I guess.  I am excited to gift this book to someone who I think will easily relate to the author.  

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Game Review: Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers

From the daughter-father duo that created Brooklyn's beloved live pun competition comes Punderdome, the "Punderful card game [that] will replace Cards Against Humanity at your next party" (Mashable.com).

One part game, one part conversation starter, you don't need to be a pun master to master Punderdome: the goal is to make bad jokes and have fun along the way.

A player (the prompter for that round) draws two prompt cards from the deck, and then reads the prompts to the rest of the group, who have 90 seconds to create a single, groan-worthy pun that combines the two prompts.     

When time is up, pun makers share their puns with the prompter, who awards the prompt cards to the player whose pun he or she likes best. The winner then draws the next pair of prompt cards and the process repeats. Players win by obtaining 10 pairs of cards.

Every Game Set Comes With:
·         200 double-sided cards (100 White and 100 Green)
·         2 Mystery Envelopes with fill-in prize slips
·         2 80-page pads for drafting puns
·         1 instruction card and 1 pun example card
·         A stu-PUN-dous time for 3 or more players

My Review:

This game sounded like lots of fun.  It definitely is if you are clever.  I am the person who thinks of great come backs days later.  I am not a clever person in that way.  The game was fun to watch, since I am much better at observing this game than playing.  I am planning to gift this game to some people in my family who are all pretty "pun"tastic.  It would be a great game to play at a party!!  It may be just what your holiday party needs!

I received this game for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: The More of Less

Don’t Settle for More
 
Most of us know we own too much stuff. We feel the weight and burden of our clutter, and we tire of cleaning and managing and organizing. 
 
While excess consumption leads to bigger houses, faster cars, fancier technology, and cluttered homes, it never brings happiness. Rather, it results in a desire for more. It redirects our greatest passions to things that can never fulfill. And it distracts us from the very life we wish we were living.
 
Live a better life with less.
 
In The More of Less, Joshua Becker, helps you….
 
•          recognize the life-giving benefits of owning less
•          realize how all the stuff you own is keeping you from pursuing your dreams
•          craft a personal, practical approach to decluttering your home and life
•          experience the joys of generosity
•          learn why the best part of minimalism isn’t a clean house, it’s a full life
 
The beauty of minimalism isn’t in what it takes away. It’s in what it gives. 
 
Make Room in Your Life for What You Really Want
 
“Maybe you don’t need to own all this stuff.” After a casual conversation with his neighbor on Memorial Day 2008, Joshua Becker realized he needed a change. He was spending far too much time organizing possessions, cleaning up messes, and looking for more to buy.
 
So Joshua and his wife decided to remove the nonessential possessions from their home and life. Eventually, they sold, donated, or discarded over 60 percent of what they owned. In exchange, they found a life of more freedom, more contentment, more generosity, and more opportunity to pursue the things that mattered most.
 
The More of Less delivers an empowering plan for living more by owning less. With practical suggestions and encouragement to personalize your own minimalist style, Joshua Becker shows you why minimizing possessions is the best way to maximize life.
 
Are you ready for less cleaning, less anxiety, and less stress in your life? Simplicity isn’t as complicated as you think.

My Review:

This book couldn't have been suggested at a more perfect time for me and my family as we just left a 2100 sq foot house to move into less than 400 sq feet in an RV.  This book starts out with the father postponing his play time with his child because he has too much to do.  The too much was all based on stuff...on things they had accumulated.  Living with more is a very American way of living and one that causes us many issues that often don't even seem related.

This book can help you start release the ties and see what good could come.  I highly recommend it.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Book Review: The Mexican Slowcooker

A collection of 55 fix it and forget it recipes for Mexican favorites from an award-winning Mexican cooking authority, in a stylish, engaging package.

When acclaimed chef and cookbook author Deborah Schneider discovered that using her trusty slow cooker to make authentic Mexican recipes actually enhanced their flavor while dramatically reducing active cooking time, it was a revelation. Packed with Schneider’s favorite south-of-the-border recipes such as Tortilla Soup, Zesty Shredded Beef (Barbacoa), famed Mole Negro, the best tamales she has ever made, and more, The Mexican Slow Cooker delivers sophisticated meals and complex flavors, all with the ease and convenience that have made slow cookers enormously popular.

My Review:

I adore Mexican food. I love it.  I also adore my slow cooker.  I also love it.  Big time.  Who doesn't love sticking some food into a pot and having it cook itself in a few hours.  You can leave and come home to a house full of delicious smelling, awesome tasting food or you can be there all day and smell the goodness.  

This book is beautiful.  It is filled with colorful pages and great recipes.  It is the exact kind of cookbook that I love.  There are hardly any Mexican recipes to make in a slow cooker so I was very excited to see this book.  I really love it and now treasure it as a part of my collection.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Andi Under Pressure

Book Description

Twelve-year-old Andora ‘Andi’ Boggs and her new best friend Colin Carter couldn’t be more excited to attend the prestigious science camp at the local university in Killdeer, Ohio. Unfortunately, Discovery Camp’s curriculum appears to include much more than just chemistry and biology. From day one, the university is plagued by a series of pranks—missing markers, loose crickets, and stolen scales. Campus security blames the mysterious janitor Polk, but even though Andi agrees he’s acting suspicious, she can’t believe the gentle old man would do anything illegal. Then one prank goes too far and their chemistry professor is injured by an explosion in the lab, upping the stakes of the investigation. Andi and Colin must unravel the secrets behind the chemistry department and Polk’s dark past before danger closes the camp for good.

Book Review:

I am always looking for new books for my 12 year old daughter to read and enjoy.  I gave her this one hoping she would.  She loves mysteries and spy stuff.  She really did enjoy the book and read it quite quickly.  She loved that it was a series and we are definitely going to order more from Andi's adventures.  The book is clean and not full of stuff that I don't want my daughter reading or dwelling on.  It is similar to the Nancy Drew series in my opinion.  I definitely recommend this book and the entire series for your young daughter.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: Born to be Awkward

From the folks who brought us the bestselling Awkward Family Photos series comes a tribute to those awkward early years of life.
Our first few years are the most photographed time of our lives. Our parents document every milestone and then feel compelled to share these photos with the world. The only problem is, we haven't developed our motor skills and can't control our faces, or any other parts of our body for that matter. This, of course, leads to some of the most hilarious and unexpected family pictures. From our first post-delivery scowl, to our first throw-up, and yes, even to our first bikini--Born to Be Awkward is a celebration of what is literally the most uncomfortable stage of life.

My Review:

Oh my goodness!!  Awkward family photos are my favorite!  I just cannot stop laughing when I see them.  There are several that have lasting impressions in my memory and I can easily recall ones that crack me up.  

This book has added several to my memory!  It is filled with hilarious photos of families and babies being completely.... awkward!  The end of the book has captions with empty spots for your family photos to join the awkward book.  I love that idea!  

If you need a great laugh, you should definitely check out this book!  

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Another Way Home

Another Way Home (Abingdon Press, October 2015)

Sometimes God’s ways are not at all what we expect . . . and exactly what we need.

Grant and Audrey are adding grandchildren to their family left and right, but middle daughter, Danae, and her husband, Dallas Brooks, have been trying for years with no baby in sight.

Though Danae is ready to consider adoption, Dallas will not even discuss it. Despairing of ever having a family of her own, Danae decides to pour her passion and energies into volunteer work with a newly opened women’s shelter in town. Looking for a good cause to fill her lonely days, she never expects to give her heart to the hurting women she meets there. She’s finally learning to live her life with gratitude, but then heart-wrenching events on Thanksgiving weekend threaten to pull the entire Whitman clan into turmoil—and leave them all forever changed.

Deborah Raney’s books have won numerous awards, including the RITA, National Readers Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, and the Carol Award, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken, recently traded small-town life in Kansas—the setting of many of Deborah’s novels—for life in the (relatively) big city of Wichita, where they enjoy gardening, antiquing, movies, and traveling to visit four children and a growing brood of grandchildren who all live much too far away.

My Review: 

Who doesn't want to live where the cover shows?  This is the third book in the series and I did not read the other books.  I think that it would have helped, but it was not necessary by any means.  I might go back to read the previous 2 now that I have read and enjoyed this one.  The story line is one that many people can relate to in one way or another.  I found it very easy to see myself in the story and it was completely captivating.  I wanted to keep reading to see how God would work things out in the story.  If you are looking for a great, easy to pick up read I definitely recommend this book.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: Against the Grain (cookbook)

Revolutionary all-natural recipes for gluten-free cooking--from the owner of Against the Grain Gourmet.

Nancy Cain came to gluten-free cooking simply enough: Her teenage son was diagnosed with celiac disease. After trying ready-made baking mixes and finding the results rubbery and tasteless, she pioneered gluten-free foods made entirely from natural ingredients--no xanthan or guar gums or other mystery chemical additives allowed. That led her to adapt many of her family's favorite recipes, including their beloved pizzas, pastas, and more, to this real food technique. In Against the Grain,Nancy finally shares 200 groundbreaking recipes for achieving airy, crisp breads, delicious baked goods, and gluten-free main dishes.
     For any of these cookies, cakes, pies, sandwiches, and casseroles, you use only natural ingredients such as buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, and ripe fruits and vegetables. Whether you're making Potato Rosemary Bread, iced Red Velvet Cupcakes, Lemon-Thyme-Summer Squash Ravioli, or Rainbow Chard and Kalamata Olive Pizza, you'll be able to use ingredients already in your pantry or easily found at your local supermarket.
     With ample information for gluten-free beginners and 100 colorful photographs, this book is a game changer for gluten-free households everywhere.

My Review:

I have a gluten intolerance so when I saw this book as one to choose to review I jumped on it.  Although my family seems to handle gluten just fine, it is easier to make everything similar and it is also an opportunity to take out unnecessary gluten (and usually unhealthy) filled foods at the same time.  This book is beautiful, which I really appreciate in a cookbook.  The recipes have been about 70% able to be duplicated.  Cooking or really more baking gluten free is not the easiest thing to transition to.  Overall, I am very happy having this resource in my home and love the ideas I get from it.  

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.