A Book Review by Judi Singleton The Universe Doesn't Give a Flying Fuck About You (Epic series Book 1) Kindle Edition by Johnny Truant (Author)

If you walk around every day on eggshells, nervous about making a mistake or looking stupid, then you should read this. If you have a "next big thing" in mind you want to do because you know it will be awesome (starting the business, making the big move, launching the nonprofit, writing the book) but are afraid of doing what it would take to make that thing happen, then you should read this. The universe is very big. You are very small. In fact, you're so small and so insignificant in the big picture that you don't even register to the eye of the cosmos. The universe was here before you were born and will be here long after you're gone, and your life is but a blip on its vast, vast radar. If your life is to matter, it's not going to matter to the universe. It's up to you make your life matter in the only way you can: by doing things that make a difference to you, to those around you, and to those whose lives you touch. Time is short. You have exactly NOW to do whatever it is you're here to do, or to let the inexorable passage of hours and days and years kill your potential like fruit left to die on a vine. The universe doesn’t hate you, but it doesn’t love you, either. You’re just an atom in its infinite workings. The universe doesn’t care if you live, die, suffer, or thrive. Whatever your life here will mean is up to you. Stop worrying so much about what others think and start being who you're supposed to be. It's time to do some epic shit. Judi Singleton Review. This is a short little book on doing something epic in life. Do it now the author says as life is unpredictable and one never knows what is going to happen. So start now living your dreams and create what it is you have in mind for your life now. I didn't hate the book or love it. It was not a page turner that you could not put down. But a good message and reminder that we are responsible for creating our dreams and realities. If we want our lives to be meaningful we must start now creating things we love and of interest to us. Good little short essay. The only thing better than good advertising, is getting it for a great price! Enjoy a 25 percent discount when you sign up for dailyplanet.biz now!

A Book Reveiw by Judi Singleton Shadowland: A Tale From The Dark Ages Kindle Edition by C.M. Gray (Author)

Shadowland: A Tale From The Dark Ages Kindle Edition by C.M. Gray (Author).M.Gray We grow up with the Legend of King Arthur... But where did he come from? Who was Merlin? What part did the Druids play in bringing Arthur to his round table? This is the story that came before, when Britain was just a Shadowland.

Shadowland is a story of historical fantasy set in Dark Ages Britain. `I have lived more years than I can remember, probably more than the sum of a ...more Shadowland: These are dark times. The Romans are leaving the island of Briton, and the Saxons are taking their place, invading the land of the tribes. A false king sits on the throne, demanding allegiance. And all of that seems very far away to Cal and Usher, two boys living in a remote village. All that changes one dark night, when everything they knew and loved is destroyed. Forced to run, Cal and Usher cross a land that is in turmoil, unaware that each of them has a vital destiny to fulfill. Close behind is an implacable enemy determined to destroy a future king and willing to kill anyone who comes in the way. Assisted by a mysterious archer and a prophesy from the Druids, Cal and Usher must grow up fast, for they are about to be thrown into the midst of a battle that will determine not only their future, but that of all of Briton. "Shadowland" is a tensely written story about the dark days before the rise of King Arthur. Flawlessly weaving history, legend and imagination, C.M. Gray spins a thrilling tale that brings to mind classic epics of days gone by. The mystery of who Cal, Usher and their archer friend are is intriguing and satisfying. Anyone interested in historical fiction around the time of the Saxon invasion, or in stories about King Arthur and his predecessors, will enjoy this great romp through a small but significant time in the turbulent history of Briton. C.M.Gray Biography Born in Essex, England with a heavy dose of 'travel lust', C.M.Gray has since been lucky enough to live and travel in many countries around the world. In fact he has lived for more years outside of England than he has living there! Working as a carpenter, fruit picker and even a stint in stock brokering, he has called home Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains, the clamor of central Hong Kong to a farm in deep rural Burgundy. Forever vowing to return and sink his roots once again in English soil... some day, he hasn't quite made it back yet, but does live a little closer these days; just outside of Barcelona in the middle of the forest with his dogs and two wonderful children. C.M.Gray's writing is mostly fantasy and many of the experiences he has had in Asia, Africa and the middle east come to life in his writing. The Flight of the Griffin, a finalist in The Times/Chicken House literary competition 2013, follows the adventures of a group of young friends as they battle demons and bandits on a magical quest to stop the world from tipping into Chaos. Shadowland blends fantasy with history as an old story teller takes his audience back to Britain's dark ages and the birth of the Arthurian legend. The Sequel to The Flight of the Griffin, Chaos Storm was published Autumn 2013, while the Sequel to Shadowland, 'The Shadow of a King' will be published summer 2015. Please contact me on by email: cgray129@gmail.com or via my website: www.author-cmgray.com Happy reading! C.M. Gray's "Shadowland" was truly an educating, very accurate history, entertaining read. I learned a lot from Mr. Gray's description of the various U.K.tribes. I'd previously never heard of the Iceni or the Picts. I'm a story girl and this was an excellent story, well told. The author's method of using a present day storyteller to relate the ancient events was very well done. I liked the character, and the story line added nicely to the pre-tales of Author. I thoroughly enjoyed Shadowland. I think I have read every Arthurian legend written, I found this one intriguing and unique. The story of Uther Pendragon is well written and I found myself totally immersed in the world created by Mr. Gray I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the story of Arthur or to anyone who enjoys a good adventure tale with characters who are both likable and so well written you feel like old friends. Join dailyplanet.biz right now and not only will you enjoy a blog chockfull of industry information, you’ll receive a 25 percent discount on advertising!

Reclaimed (The Fire and Ice Series Book 1) Kindle Edition by Kim Faulks (Author)

Reclaimed (The Fire and Ice Series Book 1) Kindle Edition by Kim Faulks (Author) Natalie Sommers is an armed bodyguard. She has completed two tours in Afghanistan with the Australian Army and carries five different weapon licenses. To say she is a tough, no-nonsense woman, is an understatement. But underneath the tough exterior that she shows, lies the truth that she won’t admit - that she is lonely. Judi Singleton Review This is not a book I would not ordinarily read. I just not interested in Erotic books, even if they are paranormal. But I will have to say that the characters are well developed and the plot moves fluidly. The Main character Kim is a tough body guard but when she meets Alexander. She is attracted to him, but every time he around she hears another voice in her head. She feels like she is losing it. The idea that a woman living today could be the reincarnated wife of an immortal vampire is interesting. The book held my interest it was a quick read. I am sure I will not read the series because I hate the new way that Amazon sells parts of books for $2. and the full book costs at least $10. I don't want to be hand fed 200 pages at a time.

Book Review by Judi Singleton The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Kindle

Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable.  The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. 
Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business. 

The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively.  Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute. 

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs - in companies of all sizes - a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Every so often a business book comes along that changes how we think about innovation and entrepreneurship. The Lean Startup has the chops to join this exalted company. -- Philip Delves Broughton Financial Times Mandatory reading for entrepreneurs... loaded with fascinating stories and practical principles -- Dan Heath, coauthor of Switch and Made to Stick If you are an entrepreneur, read this book. If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, read this book. If you are just curious about entrepreneurship, read this book. -- Randy Komisar, founding director of TiVo The Lean Startup will change the way we think about entrepreneurship -- Tom Eisenmann, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School Eric Ries has created a science where previously there was only art. A must-read for every serious entrepreneur - and every manager interested in innovation -- Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz, Opsware, and Netscape I know of no better guide to improve the odds of a startup's success' -- Mitchell Kapor, Founder, Lotus Development Corp This book is the guided tour of the key innovative practices used inside Google, Toyota, and Facebook, that work in any business -- Scott Cook, Founder and Chairman, Intuit

Review

"Eric has created a science where previously there was only art.  A must read for every serious entrepreneur—and every manager interested in innovation."
—Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Opsware Inc. and Netscape
“This book should be mandatory reading for entrepreneurs, and the same goes for managers who want better entrepreneurial instincts. Ries’s book is loaded with fascinating stories—not to mention countless practical principles you’ll dearly wish you’d known five years ago.” —Dan Heath, co-author of Switch and Made to Stick
“Ries shows us how to cut through the fog of uncertainty that surrounds startups. His approach is rigorous; his prescriptions are practical and proven in the field. The Lean Startup will change the way we think about entrepreneurship.  As startup success rates improve, it could do more to boost global economic growth than any management book written in years.” —Tom Eisenmann, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School
 
“The Lean Startup is the book whose lessons I want every entrepreneur to absorb and apply.  I know of no better guide to improve the odds of a startup's success."
—Mitchell Kapor, Founder, Lotus Development Corp.
 
"At Asana, we've been lucky to benefit from Eric's advice firsthand; this book will enable him to help many more entrepreneurs answer the tough questions about their business."
—Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of Facebook and Asana
 
“Ries' splendid book is the essential template to understand the crucial leadership challenge of our time: initiating and managing growth!” —Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California and author of the recently published, Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership.
 
"The Lean Startup isn't just about how to create a more successful entrepreneurial business, it's about what we can learn from those businesses to improve virtually everything we do. I imagine Lean Startup principles applied to government programs, to healthcare, and to solving the world's great problems.  It's ultimately an answer to the question 'How can we learn more quickly what works, and discard what doesn't?'"
— Tim O'Reilly, CEO O'Reilly Media

“Eric Ries unravels the mysteries of entrepreneurship and reveals that magic and genius are not the necessary ingredients for success but instead proposes a scientific process that can be learnt and replicated. Whether you are a startup entrepreneur or corporate entrepreneur there are important lessons here for you on your quest toward the new and unknown.”  —Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO
 
“The roadmap for innovation for the 21st century. The ideas in The Lean Startup will help create the next industrial revolution.” —Steve Blank, lecturer, Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley Haas Business School

"The key lesson of this book is that start-ups happen in the present—that messy place between the past and the future where nothing happens according to PowerPoint. Ries's ‘read and react’ approach to this sport, his relentless focus on validated learning, the never-ending anxiety of hovering between ‘persevere’ and ‘pivot’, all bear witness to his appreciation for the dynamics of entrepreneurship."  —Geoffrey Moore, Author, Crossing the Chasm
 
"If you are an entrepreneur, read this book. If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, read this book.  If you are just curious about entrepreneurship, read this book.  Starting Lean is today's best practice for innovators.  Do yourself a favor and read this book." —Randy Komisar, founding director of TiVo and author of the bestselling The Monk and the Riddle
 
“How do you apply the 50 year old ideas of Lean to the fast-paced, high uncertainty world of Startups? This book provides a brilliant, well-documented, and practical answer. It is sure to become a management classic.” —Don Reinertsen, author of The Principles of Product Development Flow
 
“The Lean Startup is a foundational must-read for founders, enabling them to reduce product failures by bringing structure and science to what is usually informal and an art.  It provides actionable ways to avoid product-learning mistakes, rigorously evaluate early signals from the market through validated learning, and decide whether to persevere or to pivot, all challenges that heighten the chance of entrepreneurial failure.” —Professor Noam Wasserman, Harvard Business School
 
“One of the best and most insightful new books on entrepreneurship and management I’ve ever read.  Should be required reading not only for the entrepreneurs that I work with, but for my friends and colleagues in various industries who have inevitably grappled with many of the challenges that The Lean Startup addresses.”  —Eugene J. Huang, Partner, True North Venture Partners
 
"What would happen if businesses were built from the ground up to learn what their customers really wanted? The Lean Startup is the foundation for reimagining almost everything about how work works. Don't let the word startup in the title confuse you. This is a cookbook for entrepreneurs in organizations of all sizes." —Roy Bahat, President, IGN Entertainment

“Every founding team should stop for 48 hours and read Lean Startup. Seriously stop and read this book now.” —Scott Case, CEO Startup America Partnership
 
“In business, a ‘lean’ enterprise is sustainable efficiency in action. Eric Ries’ revolutionary Lean Startup method will help bring your new business idea to an end result that is successful and sustainable. You’ll find innovative steps and strategies for creating and managing your own startup while learning from the real-life successes and collapses of others. This book is a must read for entrepreneurs who are truly ready to start something great!” —Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and The One Minute Entrepreneur
“Every entrepreneur responsible for innovation within their organization should read this book. It entertainingly and meticulously develops a rigorous science for the innovation process through the methodology of “lean thinking”.  This methodology provides novel and powerful tools for companies to improve the speed and efficiency of their innovation processes through minimum viable products, validated learning, innovation accounting, and actionable metrics. These tools will help organizations large and small to sustain innovation by effectively leveraging the time, passion, and skill of their talent pools.” —Andrea Goldsmith, professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, and cofounder of several startups “Business is too important to be left to luck.  Eric reveals the rigorous process that trumps luck in the invention of new products and new businesses.  We've made this a centerpiece of how teams work in my company . . . it works!  This book is the guided tour of the key innovative practices used inside Google, Toyota, and Facebook, that work in any business.” —Scott Cook, Founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Intuit

Judi Singleton Review:

As I write this in late 2011, the US economy is still could be better, banks aren't giving and organizations are perched on heaps of money. It's a flawless time to dispatch a startup, yet capital is rare. Luckily, there are possibilities for yearning business people. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries (fellow benefactor of web organization IMVU) is an incredible spot to start. 

When I initially got the book I was somewhat worried that it would be more centered around block and mortar organizations to the avoidance of web and substance sort new businesses. In any case, Ries concentrates on an assortment of entrepreneurial circumstances from conventional, physical organizations to those just existent on the web. On the off chance that you are working a business or considering beginning one, odds are Ries has tended to your circumstance in some limit inside of the book's 290+ pages. I am in the middle of doing startups on two web business. I have the first one's start up money for an advertising firm. However, I must raise money for the second idea which is still just that until I raise startup money. 

The Lean Startup is loaded with specialized data, additionally fascinating stories that move down the creator's statements. I like this model on the grounds that it permitted me to see what he was discussing in a true setting. I likewise admire his comprehensive vision of business. Case in point, he supposes business visionary ought to be work class in bigger organizations and goes ahead to address the needs of individuals who are responsible for beginning new activities inside huge companies. 


To put it plainly, the incline startup model spotlights on getting a base reasonable item to the business, then accepting client input along the best approach to enhance the item and turn (take another methodology) if essential. This, obviously, is as opposed to the old method for working together where an item is dispatched completely utilitarian upheld by broad business research.

Judi Singleton is a free lance writer who writes for 20 blogs a week. You can advertise in her blogs now for just $5. a week in one or twenty. Email Judi And Order your Advertising now.

Book Review by Judi Singleton, The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Conventional Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World Kindle Editionok

Review

''Service aptitude is a big idea. Customer service is an investment, not an expense--the new marketing is here and it looks like this.'' --Seth Godin, New York Times bestselling author of Linchpin''In this hyper-connected, hyper-informed let-the-seller-beware world, the old rules of customer service just don't apply. John DiJulius gets that. He also knows that service comes from a happy heart. You'll learn something valuable about customer relations, sure. But you can learn something even more important from this book: How to be a better person.'' --Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of To Sell Is Human and Drive
''This is not only a book that every manager should read, but also every employee. If you want to take advantage of what John DiJulius teaches, then everyone must be part of the customer service revolution.'' -- -- Shep Hyken, customer service expert and New York Times bestselling author of The Amazement Revolution

About the Author

John R. DiJulius III is considered the authority on world-class Customer service and is the author of three books on Customer experience. He is the president of The DiJulius Group--a Customer service consulting firm that works with companies like Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, The Ritz-Carlton, Nestle, PwC, Lexus, and many more. John is also the founder and owner of John Robert's Spa--named one of the Top 20 Salons in America (in light of their impeccable Customer experience standards, no doubt). John lives in Aurora, Ohio with his three sons.

Judi Singleton Review of the book

Do right by your clients and your clients will make you proud, this is basically the creator's focal message. This may prompt you accomplishing an in number, steadfast client base that does not concentrate just on cost.  Customer service certainly is a big part of marketing.  Customers are your bread and butter, but more than that you have a relationship with them, which will take time to establish this relationship.  The more you can get the customer to respond to you the easier it will be to establish this relationship. 

Obviously it serves to have items and administrations that your clients need and need, yet in the event that you figure out how to persuade them to be energetic, steadfast and give to your organization, a great deal of the fight is now won. You will get supposed sticky clients. 

This is a genuinely light, open, intriguing read that attracts you. It underlines over and over how client administration is a speculation, a key prerequisite, a crucial piece of your organization's DNA and not only an undertaking that must be done to give a finish of administration. 

As the creator noticed, each one of us is value delicate to some degree yet normally, with the larger part of organizations where we work together, we know the amount they charge and what it expenses to get the same thing from somewhere else. Yet regularly we are arranged to pay maybe somewhat more or get to be ignorant concerning the value distinction in view of those little additional items they give us, how they make us feel, the bolster they give thus numerous other little yet capable things. Contending on experience can give a shocking support to numerous organizations. Contending on cost is something you do when you don't have anything else, the creator keenly notes, taking note of an overview that 85% of U.S. customers said they would pay 5-25% more to guarantee a predominant ordeal. That can be, even after any possibly higher expenses because of giving the experience, a great deal of benefit. On the off chance that you can furnish an incredible involvement with a still aggressive value you have the best of both universes.

Judi Singleton is a free lance writer who writes for 20 blogs a week. You can advertise in her blogs now for just $5. a week in one or twenty. Email Judi And Order your Advertising now.