Available from Libro.fm

Authors: Jack Schafer, Ph.D. and Marvin Karlins, Ph.D.

Reader: George Newbern

Short Review: A beginner’s course in verbal and non-verbal communication with others to instill trust and likability, with some entertaining and unbelievable personal stories.

Long Review: Dr. Schafer begins drawing you into his book with stories from his work in counter-intelligence, which sound like they should be a book in and of themselves. Every time the stories catch your interest, he switches back to the lesson at hand. With his knowledge of behavioural analysis he gives the most basic tips on etiquette and friendliness. Whether he’s telling you how to make small talk to engage the other person (spoiler: you LISTEN instead of talk) or having you practice facial expressions to appear more approachable (don’t scrunch your eyebrows or frown), there are a great many things in this book that are no secret. The narrator does a good job of relaying the book in an expert fashion, so that you may not even realize he’s not an author.

What makes this book the one you want on your mp3 player is: He ties all these little actions together. With some conscious thought about how you’re portraying yourself, you’re sure to notice an uptick in your ability to “win people over”. I remain a bit incredulous that he’s sharing *everything* he can with us, however. How can these simple techniques used over a long period of time help to turn an intelligence operative into a double agent? He shares stories with us of these techniques at work, but I must admit I find some of it too “easy” to believe. Is this a detriment to this book? Not at all, because it has the listener thinking even more about what he has been saying while anxious to test out new expressions and responses.

While the audiobook influenced me and won *ME* over, I’m not changing any alliances any time soon… especially being “hip” to the techniques now.

Available from Audible through Amazon.com

Author: Brenda Bence

Reader: Brenda Bence

Short Review: Speaking to “solo-preneurs” and SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), this book gives clear direction on how to market and brand your company for no-cost or low-cost.

Long Review: As her own website states, “Brenda Bence is a renowned international branding and leadership expert who shows both individuals and companies how to achieve greater success through corporate and personal branding.” If you want proof, listen to this book. This book holds your hand and walks you through many steps toward building your own marketing and promotional Brand. It becomes clear very early in the book that your intention and focus impact how you are received in the marketplace.

You need to have a Brand Positioning Statement. What is that? Jump on into this book, where Ms. Bence will easily explain it, with ample discussions and examples along the way. Once you have your Brand Positioning Statement, she leads you through understanding how to leverage your assets and differences into building a more successful business. Whether you are a direct sales person, a one-person company, a manager/owner, or the director of operations, you WILL benefit from this book. You won’t need extra time, you can re-apportion your time. You won’t need a big marketing budget, you can use approaches and ideas in Smarter Branding to build attention and respect for your products and services right away.

I want to give this book 5 stars, because it is great to have and refer to again and again. I had one problem with listening to it, however. The audio levels in this release vary so greatly, that it disturbed the listening experience. So, you are forewarned here: Crank it up loud while the softly-spoken Bence is speaking, and turn it down to half volume when the musical interlude pipes in between chapters.

Available from Audible.com

Author: Brenda Bence

Reader: Brenda Bence

Short Review: Master the Brand Called You; The proven leadership branding system to help you earn more, do more, and be more at work is a step by step look at how to use proven marketing techniques to further your own business persona and career. A clear, understandable method to reflect on how you can improve your skills and project your most needed qualities at work.

Long Review:

Brenda Bence is an enthusiastic proponent for applying product brand marketing techniques, with her own twist, to be used by you in your own career. She lays out an easy to understand plan for developing your own Brand identity and carrying it through in detail. You will determine your target audience, your strengths, and what you will need to work on.

In addition to the thorough explanations along the way, Bence has made a template available online to follow along with the book, so the listener can log their personal goals while completing the book.

If you can wrap your head around the fact that marketing and psychology bear such great weight in our perception of daily life, you will adore this book and Benceâ€s suggestions for gaining more control of your Brand. If you havenâ€t given much previous thought to the aspects that go into marketing, this book is going to open up an entire new world to you. If you can begin to understand how you influence others, you can change the world.

Short book. Great presentation. Great Author. Highly recommended.

Available from Audible.com

Author: Brenda Bence
Reader: Brenda Bence

Short Review: Would YOU Want to Work for YOU? How to build an executive leadership brand that inspires loyalty and drives employee performance is an audiobook that is short in length but big in information. Bence covers 15 behaviour sets to better lead others. Youâ€ll want more than one listen and a notepad to jot notes and diagrams.

Long Review: The book starts out in a lulling fashion, and I was originally concerned about Ms. Benceâ€s soothing voice causing me distraction. I was so intent on listening “differently” to this non-fiction piece, that it wasnâ€t until I reset my ears to her tone that I could focus. This well-spoken instructor said she would be posing me the hard questions and would be rough on my self-reflection; somehow, she pulls this off while remaining truly likeable the entire time.

Bence is intent on teaching you how to cross the “Leadership Threshold” by (in the quote by John Pepper) “Being Coachable”. Encouraging the listener to put a mirror in front of their OWN behaviours and attitudes, Bence gives AHA moments of realization to the listener. Each subject is accompanied by an example of why it works and how best to use the process.

While the book is aimed at executives wanting to become The Executive, the tools in this book can easily be helpful for any businessperson, parent, or decent human being. Youâ€ll find yourself nodding along in agreement, grabbing paper to jot notes to yourself, and wanting a second listen. I have already suggested this book to two people who are new to supervisory roles and want to learn how to improve. At just over 4 hours, I donâ€t see how anyone could afford NOT to listen to this book.

I look forward to reading more books by this author and her tips on Branding and Business.

Dark Bayou by Ashley Blake

Author: Ashley Blake
Reader: Ted Brooks
Available exclusively from Audible.com

Short Review: This storytelling intertwines the historical events which contribute to its modern day consequences. Gives you the feeling that the crazy, wild west isn’t so far removed from us. A mystery where violent scenes unfold in detail.

Long review: Ted Brooks, as a reader, gives one the impression that he is an accomplished, professional voice over actor, and the effect is like listening to a movie trailer or a documentary film. While very well spoken, most of the book feels like it is being read out loud to you, rather than enveloping the listener in the character performances. With that being said, I believe that listening to this book probably helped with Louisiana style pronunciations and speaking styles that I may not have garnered by a visual reading.

We begin the story with its historical context, honest and gruesome in a style of Stephen King. We play time traveler, learning all the area history between 1897 and 1992 in Beaux River, Louisiana. Freddy Tango is dealing with an unusual set of dramatic and violent events. By all suspicions, the ghost of murderous “Man On The Road” Percy Yates is after him and his loved ones; but this is recognized as impossible. Who could be behind these attacks on Freddy Tango, and why?

There are some necessary by-the-book plot points, and a few clever twists. One advantage to having this available as an audiobook over having the hard copy was that I didn’t know when the story was ending. Bonus points for that.

The story is intriguing enough to overcome some of the lack of character depth. The female characters specifically don’t speak with female personalities. The violence and death which occur in the book are rarely paired with average human reactions.

I suggest this is an entertaining read for trying to puzzle out the well-thought out historical mystery concept.

Mr Mercedes

Author: Stephen King

Reader: Will Patton

Short Review: Engaging story that lets you into the minds of a very horrible person and his current target. Written and read with such realism that your stomach will twist, and you’ll be tempted to cover your ears.

Long Review: Detective Bill Hodges retired with a couple open cases he can’t forget about. The Mercedes Killer takes advantage of the fact that the Detective can’t forget about the horrific events, and begins a correspondence with him. What is the motivation for the contact? What skills and connections can the detective use in his attempt to bring the killer to justice?  What ethical lines get crossed? And just how many more people will be in danger?

The listener is drawn in further and further, as is Detective Hodges. You want to stop listening because you don’t want to believe that people can think these things and do these things– but, like driving by a car crash, you can’t stop yourself from wanting to know more. Will Patton does a great job as reader, helping to flesh out the characters in your mind’s eye. He does a particularly masterful job of sharing a written note in the book that must have diagrammed emphasis that could’ve been lost by another reader.

While the story gives some comfort in having small plot items that are predictable, Stephen King pulls no punches with gruesome details. It’s as if he’s setting you up to knock you down. This is not an audiobook to listen to with your small children in the car. The book encompasses gory death, sexual situations, and more uncomfortable, taboo subjects. It is not adding these elements for sensationalism, but rather for furtherance of the point of the book.

Bad people do some unfeeling, bad things, and we can only hope that there are more clever good guys than bad guys in this world.

Skin Game

Author: Jim Butcher
Reader: James Marsters

Short Review: Skin Game is a continuation of the popular fantasy series about Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard. The series is best consumed in order, but the book contains some descriptions which could assist new Dresden readers in understanding basic series history. A very cleverly written series for adults who want to graduate from Harry Potter into something with more teeth. James Marsters reads this 15^th book in the series, bringing all the characters to life.

Long Review: Warning: this Review contains spoilers for those who have not read up to and through Book 14, Cold Days.

If you haven’t listened to any Dresden Files audiobooks, yet, Go Start. From the beginning. James Marsters has managed to give every one of hundreds of characters their own consistent voice, identity, and personality through his vocal interpretation. When I am reading the series with my eyes, I still hear Marsters’ voice in my head.

Skin Game (Book 15) shows us a relatively healthy Harry in the beginning (PARKOUR!), who is seemingly only compromised by the fact that thereâ€s a parasite inside his head. Thank the stars and stones that he has Queen Mab of the Winter Court as his boss. Sheâ€ll surely help him out, right? She just needs him to do one thing for her.

Always striving to Do the Right Thing, Dresden gets tangled up with old foes; The Denarians. Can he resist the temptation to chase off or smite his sworn enemies, as he must work alongside them? Or, will he deny the command of the Winter Queen and face her wrath, as the previous Winter Knight did? Which of his generous friends will he pull into the mix, and how much will he regret it this time? What is the “Storage Cubby of the Underworld? Who could say, Hello, lover and make the listener’s hair stand on end?

You’ll laugh out loud. You’ll get teary. You’ll panic. We’ll find a new Knight of the Cross. Butcher and Marsters knock this one out of the park. Again.

With so many secrets to peel away, I guarantee that you will want to listen or read this one a second time.

Want to hear more? Hell’s bells! Download it today!