You need this book to get what you want by Mark Palmer and Scott Solder

You need this book to get what you want is by Mark Palmer and Scott Solder and is currently on sale at Amazon.co.uk

Like most of you out there I’ve never read a self help book, the closest I came before this book was Feeling Unreal by Daphne Simon & Jeffery Abugel but that is about depersonalization and derealisation which as you can guess is a world away from getting what you want. But with a title that grabs you the way it does how can you not pick it up and read it?

Mark Palmer and Scott Solder are experts in their field of interpersonal dynamics and they took their corporate seminars that big multinational companies attend to get ahead and turned it into a book. With self help books like How to win friends and influence people and the like I’ve always looked at them as a bit ‘flouncy’ especially after participating in team building exercises in work. Surprisingly it isn’t though; in places it’s both wry and funny;

Most self help books are all about changing you as a person; they tell you how to be happy, easy going etc none of them teach the dark art of manipulation –until now. While I’ve yet to put what I read about into practice I don’t doubt it works a lot of it seems like simple common sense. Saying that though some of the other parts like reading people’s moods and being your own celebrity to get served at the bar quicker or to get someone to like you sound plausible but I’ve yet to try them.

One thing I will say though is while the premise sounds farfetched as regards it working a lot of topics and techniques –unsurprisingly are or at least were when I worked there taught by a certain UK telecoms behemoth to the advisors to get them to connect with the customer establish a rapport before over coming objections in the process of a sale. Now I know you’re thinking “all those advisors have a script” and while true there are scripts that the less able stick to the better sales advisors go off script and secure the sale usually quicker (and yes I speak from experience I was one of the sales advisors that got people to sign up to something you didn’t want, couldn’t afford or didn’t need.)

The bottom line is that this book works. I like many people out there have been taught how to sell, and it works. If this book is as easy to put into practice for the general public as the sales techniques were for me, keep your eye on the people around you they will be manipulating the situation to their benefit and you wouldn’t even know it. In short you need this book, not only to get what you want but to stop everyone else from getting what they want from you!

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice is by Lisa Genova is published by Pocket Books, its available to buy from the 4th of March 2010, it can be currently bought on pre-order from Amazon.co.uk

I’ve been trying to find a tactful way of saying this,  but tact has never been my strong suit. This… really isn’t my kind of book. There I said it. You’re far more likely to find me lost in a James Patterson, Dan Brown or Lisa Lutz book. But (and like all buts’ its a biggie) truth be told I enjoyed it and I really wasn’t expecting to.

As I mentioned above I’m a lot more at home with my characters chasing serial killers, kidnappers and the like. So a book about the slip in to an unrecognising oblivion didn’t appeal all that much. (In all truthfulness when I picked up Still Alice from the book case I picked up The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson and Martin Dugard, for when I’d given in after the first few pages or chapters. -As yet The Murder of King Tut is still sat on the coffee table unopened)

Personally, like each of you out there reading this I have a certain genre of books that I enjoy; there are other subsections of other genre that I find enjoyable but wouldn’t go out of my way to read like the Enid Blyton books I read as a child I enjoyed them then and probably would again but without being forced to read one I doubt I’d pick one up and read it. One thing that has remained constant since I was a kid though was that I always have a preference for fiction over non fiction and this is is because of 3 reasons.

1, Anything can happen, I don't read fantasy or sci-fi and never will they’re just not my kind of thing, much like many of you out there I’d rather be beaten with a phonebook rather than read a sci-fi fantasy book.

2, When something terrible happens be they murders, kidnapping or serial killers who tattoo themselves head to toe before trying to find out the secret word of the free masons. When you close the book you forget about it, its not like watching the news and seeing the damage of the earth quake in Haiti and not being able to do anything other than donate money. That kind of thing sticks with you.

3, To me non-fiction forces you to pick a side and then empathise with the people in the book, because that’s what they are… people they aren’t characters. The thought that they are out there; walking around some where just like you. So when you read some of the horrible things that happened to them its not as easy to put it out of your mind.

Although on the back of Still Alice it says fiction, to me it doesn’t read like it the little nuances and details that make up the quiet strengths of the book couldn’t be made up. Either that or Lisa Genova did an amazing job of researching before she sat down to write it.

In some parts of the book you feel like a bit of a voyeur as you read on, The profound feelings of loss strike out at you as part after part of Alice slips away. As I mentioned above it doesn’t feel like fiction as you read it, and I cant help but think that Lisa Genova has to have had experience of someone close with Alzheimer's, because to me there’s sections that simply couldn’t be plucked from the ether without first knowing, Like how after reading the book I got the feeling that I could trace it all back to a single point in time when it all began.

One thing I will say though is that Lisa Genova has wrote Still Alice with a forceful confidence that carries the book through some of the quieter parts of the story and forces you to empathise with Alice and her family as they go through the stresses and strains that Alzheimer's places on family and relationships.

I found Still Alice to be an enjoyable book, which is odd because as I mentioned at the top it really isn’t my kind of book.

Would I recommend it? Yes and I already have.

Will you enjoy it? Probably although its possible that you could like it for completely different reasons than I did.

Would I read it again? Yes and no for this one, yes I would read it again but it wouldn’t be for a while; I say that because like any book that leaves a mark, it takes a while and needs to be missed to be enjoyed a second time. That and now my mother has the book I doubt I’ll be getting it back anytime soon. LOL.

John Dies in the End

So, John dies in the end? Its a pity it wasn’t sooner and save us all the pain of reading the book. For the first 30-50 pages the stage was being set for what I hoped would be another cult read. Unfortunately this just wasn’t to be for me at least.

Where books like The Book with No Name and the Eye of the Moon find an inner strength and don’t force the story John Dies in the End doesn’t, it seems to jump around which only works for so long and in time becomes a distraction.

Its rare that I put a book back on my bookcase without finishing it BUT… and like all buts its a biggie John Dies in the End managed it. Through its ability to annoy and aggravate me in equal measure it’s gone to live on the upstairs bookcase with some of the other less than loved books I’ve bought over the years.

Why? I hear you ask, well… Its hard to read. I don’t mean it’s got words I don’t understand or its got harsh or graphic descriptions of events it doesn’t. What it does have is a ‘staccato’ narrative which seems to be the authors way of writing. -This could easily be from his time as cracked.com’s editor. I’ll be honest personally the ideas and the concept of the book sounds like fun, they were my original motivation for buying it in the first place and I’m sure when it’s been made into a movie (apparently by the same bloke behind bubba ho’tep) -I’ll come back to it and give it another go and see how it goes. I’m sure the film will be great I loved bubba ho’tep

A while ago I watched a documentary on the BBC called Why Reading Matters, during the documentary they described how your brain can ‘skip a beat’ as you read depending on what is wrong with the sentence that generated the ‘skip’. If its the meaning of a word that makes your brain skip its called an N400 which occurs 400ms after you read the words. Where as if the grammar causes the ‘skip’ it’s called a P600 and this occurs 600ms after you read the words.

For example Shakespeare used the sentence “they thought so well of the hero they godified him” which causes an N400 in your brain because of the use of godified rather than deified. Where as if the sentence had been “they thought so well of the hero they candled him” this would generate both an N400 and a P600 because it simply doesn’t make sense.

Now I know what your thinking ‘what’s this to do with John dies in the end?’ well when you read something that generates these N400’s and P600’s it takes you out of the moment. So you re-read it to make sense of it. Which for me at least kills the flow of the story; I’m sure there are those of you out there that would really enjoy reading this and enjoy the challenging linguistics. Unfortunately -for me, I'm not one of the chosen few.

Personally I’d have loved to tell you to rush out and buy this book. Sadly I can’t, I have to tell you to buy it only after reading some of it, if you like the writing style I’m happy you’ll enjoy it.

I’m not sad that its on the bookcase like I was with A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J Ellory (I wanted to enjoy that book) I’m just not that bothered that its back on there; which I suppose is worse than if I’d hated it.

If your on the look out for a pop culture referencing modern fun horror style of book, I have to tell you to spend the money and buy The Book with no Name and its follow on The Eye of the Moon both of which are by Anonymous. I found them both to be are far more enjoyable and rewarding read, not to mention the fact I wasn’t sat there with N400’s and P600’s getting in the way.

I’ve said it before about other books I’ve not liked, not all books are aimed at everyone and sometimes the more aimed and targeted a book becomes (such as this one is) the less of the public at large will find it enjoyable. But that’s not to say YOU wont like it. Only that after spending my own money on something I didn’t enjoy it.

Just a quick reminder…

 

Seeing how since the refresh of this site I’ve largely been ‘slacking’ on the reviews, –I say slacking but the truth is reading books takes time.

So I thought I’d just do a quick post to act as a reminder of the books that have been reviewed so far, you can click on any of the book titles to go to its review they all have links you can follow if you wish to buy the books.

ok in no particular order;

The Library of the Dead – Glenn Cooper

The Bro Code – Barney Stinson

Murder Most Fab – Julian Clary

Blindsighted – Karin Slaughter

Blood Born – Kathryn Fox

The Last Patriot – Brad Thor

The Crucifix Killer – Chris Carter

Free Agent – Jeremy Duns

Martin Misunderstood – Karin Slaughter

The End of Mr. Y – Scarlett Thomas

A Quiet Belief in Angels – R.J Ellory

The Book with No Name – Anonymous

The White Queen – Philipa Gregory

The Cairo Diary – Maxim Chattam

Child44 – Tom Rob Smith

The Seventh Daughter – Ronnie Seagren

Secret Speech – Tom Rob Smith

The Da Vinci code – Dan Brown

Angels and Demons – Dan Brown

Tuppence to Tooley Street – Harry Bowling

Family Betrayal – Kitty Neale

Along Came a Spider – James Patterson

Goodnight Sweetheart – Annie Groves

No time for Goodbye – Linwood Barclay

Silk and Steel – Catherine King

Home Before Dark – Charles Mclean

And to top off this little review freshener here is the link to my top 10 books of 2009 –click me

Kathryn Fox – Blood Born

Blood born by Kathryn fox
This was the first of Kathryn Fox’s books I've read despite having her previous book Without Consent on my book case for almost a year. You can buy Blood Born online from Amazon as well as play.com

Please don’t misunderstand me I did like the book but it got a little too lost within itself about 2/3rds of the way though before being tied up twice at the end, something which I’ve noticed more and more new writers doing and it only happens when I think they got a little lost with the story themselves. Like I said though I liked it. The characters felt a little distant in the beginning –something that I feel Kathryn Fox addressed during the book mainly when Anya the very self sufficient main character looked to her best friend for shelter and support.

Would I read it again or read any of the other books that Kathryn Fox has wrote? I would yes, I’m not the world biggest Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reichs fan although I do enjoy some of their work. At times they can be a little too detached from the characters which stops you from becoming engrossed in one of their books.

I will say though that Blood Born walked that fine line while it was a little cold at times by the end it was enjoyable although I didnt really care what happened to the characters.
I do think id have enjoyed it more had I read some of her previous books before this one, although the evolution of her writing style is evident as you work your way through the book so I’d hazard a guess that this could easily be her best so far,

When id finished the book I could help but think that If this had a little less of the clinical aspects and a little more of 10yr olds vomiting in the back of Ferrari’s it would have been a much better read. -Saying that the vomiting in the back of a Ferrari you cant help but think has to have happened at some point. It would be rare that a writer could write with such warmth and humour about something they’d not experienced be they the driver, passenger or the vomiting child

Favourite new book of 2010?

Its only early in 2010 and after only 8 days of this fresh and bright new year I've stumbled into a book I've not seen in any shops... or well anywhere other than amazon.co.uk and play.com for a whopping £200! on both sites which  is £190 more than I paid.

Its a book which is very much in the same vein as The Book with No Name and The Eye of the Moon. In all honesty so far... its not as good as Anonymous' duo, but I'm only in maybe 90-110 pages in so theres plenty of time and scope for it to be able to equal and possibly surpass the two books I
thought were the best from 2009
To find out more about which books made it into my 2009 top ten click here

Im not going to be giving a full on review or recommendation right now, I'm going to hold back with those until I've finished reading it and can give a considered review and recomendation

Top ten books of the year -so far

To make my list all I've done is list the books in the order of how much I've enjoyed them obviously from 10 to 1 with number 1 being the book or books I've enjoyed the most in the past 12 months.

I can honestly say hand on heart that the only thing that has got a book on my list are the stories held between the front and read covers of the books I've read nothing else.

now rather than my normal link-a-thon of the book or books in the list I've decided to go down the amazon associates route meaning you can buy any of the books listed below with the confidence that amazon.co.uk are the ones who will be dealing with everything, this gives you the peace of mind when you buy online that you WILL get what you pay and with a company the size of amazon you know its safe to shop online

OK first off number 10

10. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

After reading the review I think its fair to assume that this book was always going to be on a list of this type, in honestly I think it'll end up on more than just my top10 this year.

9. The lost symbol by Dan Brown

Whats not to like? another fantastic story that no doubt far too many people will confuse with fact at least they're reading though so... that's a good thing. in seriousness though I've got to say the only thing that's stopped me from putting it further up the list is the quality of the other books if they'd not been as good as they were this would have easily been no1 on the list.




8. Twilight, New moon, Eclipse and Breaking dawn all by Stephanie Meyer

I was put onto this after reading a tweet by Jason Bradbury (@jasonbradbury) after a couple of tweets I bought the first and then the 2nd and 3rd and then tripped slipped and bought the 4th and I must say they are much better than I gave them credit for if you've ignored the twilight saga as kids books pick one up and you'll see just how wrong you were (obviously change the dust jackets though if your reading them in public ;)

7. Cross Country by James Patterson

After going on some what of a James Patterson binge during the last 12 months (I bought the new Alex Cross book this week its like heroin it really is you start with a little an within a week your banging on the door of the library begging for another fix. If you've not read any of James Patterson's books I'd encourage you to, its easy to see why he's the worlds best selling thriller writer.

6. No time for goodbye by Linwood Barclay

After walking through Asda and buying it because it was one of Richard and Judy's summer reads I was unsure what to expect but I really didn't have to worry. It is by far and away the most surprising book in the top 10, its possibly the only one I picked up at 9am and didn't put down until I'd finished it. I'm currently reading the next book by Linwood Barclay and its just as good



5. The end of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas

I loved this book there's nothing else to say. Its smart, funny and imaginative and it doesn't pander to the masses which I like although I'll bet that Scarlett Thomas' publisher wishes it was a little more inviting to the casual reader but its not it requires you accept some pretty literal concept's like trains of thought while accepting that you can jump from consciousness to consciousness its a very surreal and fanciful tale that I honestly couldn't have enjoyed or lost myself in more.


4. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith and The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

Again like number 8 there are more than 1 book in this position but there we go, I started reading the secret speech as soon as I'd finished child44 and I'm glad I did the characters develop as you go through child44 and on into the secret speech is fantastic you really get the sense of change, frustration and worry in the first that makes way for fear and misunderstanding in the second and knowing what happened during the time of the cold war some how made these books come alive as I'm sure they will have for many many others

3. The Spellman files, Revenge of the Spellmans and Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

I'm fully aware that not a lot of people will know the author Lisa Lutz or any of her books and to be honest I don't know why not. These 3 books are funny, well written and very enjoyable I bought the first one (The Spellman files) on a whim when my local super market were doing a 2 for £7 deal and really enjoyed it all three of the books are sharp, fresh and bright way all through and the way the 3 of them are wrote reminds me of Veronica Mars a TV show I really enjoyed (before it was cancelled lol) I could go on and on about Izzy Spellman, Rae and the rest but I don't want to you should read them yourself they will enrich your literary lives

2. Free Agent by Jeremy Duns

Until I read Free Agent I'd never been all that into spy books and other than James Bond I don't think I could have named another fictional British spy. That's not the case any more though with the sense that I was watching a 1940's film noir rather than reading a book (even though its set in the late 60's) I really enjoyed this book and if not for the two in front this would be the only one that could hold The Lost Symbol off number one.

If you've not read it you really should not everyone is 100% good or 100% bad and unusually in this book it explores the main character (Paul Dark- see told you I could now name another literary spy other than Bond) and his double life as he tries his best not to become the new Kim Philby

1. The book with no name by Anonymous and The eye of the moon by Anonymous

If you know my preference for surrealism you'll easily know I was going to love this book, the fact that The book with no name has a history makes it all the better especially when you consider that just one decision could have stopped this book dead in its tracks and without as driven an author as Anonymous is (even going down the self publish route briefly before being picked up by an established publisher)

The Eye of the moon is one of those books albeit a rare one that's as good as the first and as surreal as can be having characters by the name of Rodeo Rex and Elvis (who's a Hit man obviously) not to mention The Bourbon Kid with a mixture of vampires, cowboys and ninja skilled Monks it really could have been terrible. But they're not both the books are like the best parts of Buffy the vampire slayer mixed with Firefly, Serenity and Deadwood all mixed together. If you don't enjoy these books there's something wrong with you, there I said it its not the books if you don't enjoy them it's you there's something wrong with you.

If like me you've read more than a few books this year and you think I've missed some out please feel free to email your suggestion to the50bookchallenge@gmail.com and if theres enough I'll post a user submitted top 10 books of the year.

Full refresh with added flavour

As you can no doubt see there have been some rather big changes here at the50bookchallenge.com with a full refresh of the site I've added some little extras like the book shop's.

You may notice there is more than 1 shop. The main one is at the top and it's where you can go to buy or pre-order from Amazon.co.uk some or all of the books from the reviews. The other shops are specific shops with specific books like the top10 books of 2009, you get the drift.

you can have a look through the book store in this post but if you look to the left you'll see the link's so you can access them anytime without needing to find this post

by all means if you think there's something I've missed or something you'd like to see more of please email me at the50bookchallenge@gmail.com or send me a tweet at twitter.com/50bookchallenge or @50bookchallenge.

Just the same before if you want to write reviews of the books you've read as part of your 50 book challenge you can just send it via email and it'll be posted along with credit to the reviewer.

What am I reading?

I just got an email from a reader who asked what I'm reading right now as its been a while since I last posted what I was reading.

So, at the moment as normal I'm reading a few books, The first is Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay. I wont spoil it for you but if you enjoyed No Time for Goodbye you will really enjoy this although its a completely different story its got the same sense of tautness and the feeling of there being more going on than you currently know


The second book that I'm reading at the moment is The lost symbol by Dan Brown, OK, OK I admit it I like Dan Brown's books I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code, Deception Point and all the rest and this is no exception its fast paced enjoyable and more than anything its immersive just like I've found his other books to be.

The third and final book that I've got on the go at the moment is Apathy and other small victories by Paul Neilan. I'll be honest I bought this book after reading the reviews on amazon. when it was delivered I opened it read the first page and haven't put it down since, its not a huge book, its about 230 pages but there's something about it that reminds me of The end of Mr Y, The Raw Shark Texts, The Book With No Name and The Eye of the Moon, its witty, funny and decidedly random in an odd but easy to read kind of way

library of the dead

Book number 25 is Library of the dead by Glenn Cooper and is available from Amazon and Play.com

By now you probably know I have a habit of buying books on a whim and hoping for the best, not that this is a bad thing, I read a lot of books on various topics and I try to enjoy them all in one way or another. (even if the enjoyment is putting it back on the shelf after reading the literary equivilent of toffee and weetabix.)

When I bought Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper for once I read the bumpf on the back of the book, saw the sticker Asda had added claiming it wa better than The Da Vinci Code and was impressed. I held out hope that it was as good a story and till about half way through it was. Following the 3 different stories within which all come together at the end was a nice touch... But (and you knew that was coming did'nt you) from about half way maybe a bit further it floundered, the premise of the book was lost within its own pages and the story fell apart before being pushed on to life support at the end and pushed off into the happily ever after world.

It was a shame really as up until the 3/4 way through it was a pretty decent story with a couple of nice twists, the ending though was more than a little contrived, not to mention the story seemed to stutter to a halt a couple of times.

Ive got to say i did enjoy the forst 3/4's but the last bit seemed to have been wrote by someone other than the author, it was like someone else had finished the book as quickly as possible rather than letting the story and the characters play out.

I cant say I didnt enjoy it, but I also cant say I did. It's not better than the da vinci code as was touted on the cover because its completly different both in context and style.

Would I buy it again if the dog ate it, probably not. Would I read it again or give it to a friend to read? yeah probably.

EDIT- I know in my last post I mentioned that there would be a post in which I labled my top ten books of the year. Due to a family emergency I've not been able to get around to it, although now everything is getting back to normal I hope to have it posted soon. sorry for the wait