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.

Author: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Reader: Julie Eickhoff

Short Review: The ultimate guide to anyone considering going into a freelance business or already working as a freelancer. Filled with useful examples, good advice as well as commiseration.

Long Review: Kristine Kathryn Rusch has always been a freelancer of one form or another. In her own words she’s made every mistake so that we don’t have to. She covers a wide range of topics from getting started to knowing when to quit. Rusch has extensive experience in freelancing besides writing. She has worked in radio, retail and editing. On top of that she has friends who are also freelancers in many other fields. It follows that the examples she gives around any given topic are from many different areas of freelancing.

The examples are by far the best thing about the book. They often induce sympathetic groans, sometimes laughter. But no matter how much you as a hopeful or new freelancer feel like you’re just flailing around in the dark, the examples will certainly let you know that at least you’re not the only one doing so.

It should be mentioned that The Freelancer’s Survival Guide can be read for free online. Rusch is also known to update the content as updates become necessary. The book started out as a series of blog posts that was retooled into a full book. Some of the book’s chapters were further cut down into minibooks for people who are only interested in a specific topic.

Julie Eickhoff is easily one of my favorite non-fiction readers. She has a no-nonsense type of voice that is still filled with humor on occasion. I know there are plenty of people who find her type of voice grating so I would advise on listening to a sample before purchasing the book.

Personally I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is practical while also encouraging you to dream big, realistic but also inspirational. I suspect this will become one of those books I’ll listen to over and over again, because most of the content is not tied to time in any way.

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.

Author: Amanda Palmer
Reader: Amanda Palmer
Extras: Songs. In the book you get lyrics. In the audio book you get music. Also, the introduction read by Brené Brown and the afterword is read by Jamy Ian Swiss.

Available from Audible.com

Short Review: Intense and personal treatise on art, music, creativity, community, connection, love, loss, and asking for (and accepting) help from others. Amanda’s style of reading is intimate and confessional.

Long Review: Amanda Palmer wrote ‘The Art of Asking’ in a series of whirlwind weeks in Australia. She poured it out during what sound like intense ten hour days. To my eye it is three stories woven together. One story traces her path as an artist and musician. The second traces her journey in figuring out how to be in love. The third is about coming to terms with the threat of losing your mentor.

This is definitely a book I would recommend you listen to rather than read. Not all authors are meant to read their own books, but this book is perfect for it. You get to hear her emphasis, her emotions, and (of course) her music. She is right there with you telling you her secrets – her revelations – her wild ideas. And I love the voice she uses when recounting the words of her husband, Neil Gaiman. The Neil Gaiman fans among you will get some behind-the-scenes details of his life too.

I am so glad that there isn’t any way for me to ‘spoil’ the story for you. It isn’t that sort of book. I knew going in that parts of the book made some people cry. I was braced for it… but somehow her story snuck up on me anyway. Followed by a very sad song. All on the subway on the way to work. Thank goodness I had a tissue in my coat pocket. I tweeted what happened. Amanda replied to my tweet with a <3.

Don’t worry, the book also made me laugh (which will also gets you strange looks on the subway) and dream and want to go home and make more art.

A lot of this book talks about community. About building and connecting with your community. It is as much about finding a community to give to as it is about asking for a community to help you. This book does talk about her wildly successful Kickstarter, but there is no silver bullet here about how to do the same. The real secret is the same one that my friend Fred knows (he and his partners over at Evil Hat have had a number of very successful game related Kickstarters): first spend ten years building and connecting with a community.

This book is more memoir than self-help book, but you might walk away from it with new ideas about how to approach your life. Do you consider yourself an artist or wish you did? Listen to this. Are you afraid to depend on others, even those you love? Listen to this. Are you a fan of Amanda’s music? Listen to this.

Not sold yet? Amanda gave a TED talk in February of 2013 on ‘The art of asking’. This book is a direct result of that talk and its resonance with people. Over six million people have watched it. It is less than 14 minutes long, and if you are on the fence about if this book is for you – go give it a listen. Either she will reel you in or she won’t.

Assorted Disclaimers: I was a fan of Amanda Palmer before I listened to this book. I backed her Kickstarter. I attended a house party (the one in Ashburn that involved time in the closet where I read her a poem and gave her a mobile made of doll parts). I attended one of the book tour concerts and waited in line for my copy to be signed the day after the book came out. I attended the same small liberal arts university (though not at the same time). I asked for, and was given, a review copy of this audio book. I expect I was quite pre-disposed to like it. Feel free to take that into account as you decide if you think you will enjoy it based on my review above.

The Professor and the Madman

Author: Simon Winchester

Reader: Simon Winchester

Audiobook Extras: The Audible edition includes a great discussion between the author and the current editor of the OED, John Simpson.

Short Review: A fascinating story about two of the men who dedicated their lives to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary: one a Scottish Philologist, and one an institutionalized American doctor.

Long Review: I had to read this book. My only disappointment is that I waited so long. I was particularly drawn to the book because of the way the subject matter touches on little things that are vital to me: lexicography and philology, Scotland, England, Virginia, and Washington, DC all twine through the book. It touches on most of the places I’ve lived and the center of my academic background.

The story tracks the intertwined lives of Professor James Murray, a Scottish autodidact turned academic who dedicated himself to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary; and Dr. W. C. Minor, a physician and American Civil War veteran who voluntarily assisted in the compilation of the OED while incarcerated in a British asylum. Winchester waded through British and American records to track the lives of both men and explain their unique contributions to this cornerstone of English lexicography, and in so doing revealed a lot of interesting information about Victorian and Edwardian concepts of mental illness, the community spirit that fuels so much of the OED’s creation and maintenance, and the changing technologies and social views the OED’s editors witnessed during their great undertaking.

Winchester makes for a wonderful reader–his diction is lovely and his pacing is good throughout, and his accent is just right for this subject matter. I’m looking forward to listening to other books of his.

The book’s pacing is excellent as well, and at times it feels almost like a cozy mystery. I enjoyed listening to an English historian’s tangential views about the American Civil War–something that dominates the local history in my region, but which often seems to be viewed only through two lenses. As with most enjoyable histories, this book left me wanting to learn more about Minor and Murray, but also about Victorian asylums, the OED’s other contributors, London’s early police, and a dozen other topics that pop up throughout the course of the work.

Seriously…I’m Kidding

Author: Ellen DeGeneres
Reader: Ellen DeGeneres

Short Review: Light and airy visit with the popular comedienne. Nothing too deep here, but it is fun to listen to Ellen share her upbeat cheerful thoughts and get a taste for her life beyond the public eye. Be prepared for some outright silliness.

Long Review: If you have seen Ellen DeGeneres doing standup or hosting her show, you have a good idea of what you are in for here. She is off the cuff, engaging, goofy and lighthearted. I gave this three and a half stars because it is not something I can imagine returning to – even though it did brighten the few afternoons I listened to it in the car. Clocking in at barely over three hours, this is a short happy ride of an audio adventure.

My favorite parts of this book are the little ‘behind the scenes’ tidbits she shares of her real life in the shadow of public moments. Parts of this are meandering thoughts, parts are closer to memoir. I haven’t read any of her other writing, so I can’t compare it to her other books. She does some fun things with the audio format, changing the text of some parts (to listener rather than reader for example) and even includes a short little chapter for her audiobook listeners.

I think this is one of those books that does better as an audio performance than it would on paper. Ellen clearly approaches this as a performance, and the audio book is all the better for it. If you like Ellen, you will likely enjoy this book. It would make for an easy cheerful afternoon.

Author: David Sedaris

Reader: David Sedaris

Short review: One of Sedaris’ best books of essays and stories, read tenderly and hilariously and scathingly by the author. Several pieces are live performances, and many of them are downright great.

Long review: I’m a fan of David Sedaris, and this book has a lot to do with that. This time around, he includes more stories about his family and growing up in North Carolina, including some really poignant pieces about his own weaknesses. “Repeat After Me” is particularly important to me, because Sedaris deals with his guilt and his family’s anguish over being used as fodder for his work. Sedaris is generally funny, but he’s also clearly a man who loves his family and isn’t particularly comfortable with the way he exposes them to scrutiny by writing about them. I love that about him, in part because I’m always terrified that I’ll hurt my family and friends in my own (nowhere near as successful) writing.

“Six to Eight Black Men” is a side-splittingly funny story about Dutch Christmas traditions. Sedaris’ pieces about travel and other cultures always get me, but this one succeeds because of both how very ridiculous the traditions seem to Americans and the reaction of the live audience.

Sedaris’ significantly-younger brother Paul is perhaps the star of this book. He features in two great stories: “Rooster at the Hitchin’ Post,” about Paul’s wedding, and “Baby Einstein,” about Paul’s daughter’s birth. The first is read in front of a live audience, which I particularly appreciate. Within the confines of the stories, the contrasting sexuality and temperaments of the two Sedaris brothers make for a wonderful dichotomy. Paul pokes at David’s homosexuality (referring to him as “Big gay hoss”) and David explains that his would-be macho brother is short and sloppy, with a higher voice than David’s nasal high tenor. The portrayal could seem cruel in another writer’s voice, but David Sedaris skewers himself right along with his little brother to keep things fair. But it all seems loving. Sedaris’ constant turns from the sweetness of love and birth to the family’s odd jokes about kids’ names, sexuality, in-laws, and the like keep the pace moving quickly and allow the shock of his humor to build over and over again.

 Author: David Sedaris

 Reader: David Sedaris

 Short Review: Sedaris’ funny, self-deprecating, heart-breaking stories about moving to France with his partner Hugh, learning French, his family, and his own flaws and experiences. The author reads his own work in his distinctive voice, never flinching as he excoriates himself either in front of a live audience or alone in a studio. Sedaris is an amazing, brave writer and reader. I’ve listened to this particular book three or four times, and I know I’ll keep returning to it.

Long Review: I adore Sedaris’ stories. I learned of his work listening to his pieces on NPR’s This American Life. I’ve read several of his books on paper, but because I fell for this writer reading his own work, I truly prefer his audiobooks to their paper siblings.

There are a few real standouts in the book. My favorites are “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” a description of his traumatic time in a French class taught by a heartless misanthrope; “Jesus Shaves,” a recounting of his French class’ strange discussion about how holidays are celebrated in their home countries; “A Shiner Like a Diamond,” about his sister Amy’s habit of transforming herself into strange characters and how it tortures their father; “The Youth in Asia,” about the Sedaris family’s relationship to their pets; and “I’ll Eat What He’s Wearing,” about his father’s strange views on food and frugality.

Some listeners may be put off by some of Sedaris’ topics. He openly discusses some medical and dental issues that may gross out the delicate. He’s gay and out, and there are some people who still take offense at that for whatever reason, though I doubt they’d settle on Sedaris’ work for entertainment in the first place. And he openly discusses some very self-destructive drug use when he was a student. None of those things throw me, though. It’s his honesty that makes me love Sedaris’ work so much, and I have a deep-seated appreciation for people who describe their faults without hesitation.

Into Thin Air

Author: Jon Krakauer

Read by: Jon Krakauer

Short Review: An author-narrated memoir of one of the most tragic seasons on Mt. Everest.

Long Review: This book was highly recommended to me by a family member, and I was very curious to literally hear the tale in the author’s own voice. Anyone familiar with the story of that tragic season on Everest is familiar with the controversy surrounding the actions of the guide companies and some of the climbers, and the flak that Krakauer himself has received. I’m certainly no expert on climbing, Everest, the 1996 tragedies, or on the validity of Krakauer’s version of events, but the book itself was riveting and seemed believable throughout.

I know some audio book fans aren’t particularly fond of author-read material, but I think it’s absolutely vital in this instance. Krakauer’s book is intensely personal in parts, and reliant on journalistic integrity and accuracy in others. Throughout, his grasp of the facts is vital–speaking for his own work as a journalist is one of those acts of bravery any non-fiction writer should face. But the personal material is even more important to transmit in his own voice. In the book, Krakauer recounts his friendship with several of the people on the 1996 climb, his own role and experiences on the climb, his work for Outside magazine, his own survivor’s guilt–and none of it would have rung as true in another person’s voice.

That said, he’s not a professional actor or speaker. Krakauer doesn’t have a Voice voice. But he does a great job all the same. His pacing is good, he’s careful in pronouncing names and words that come from other languages, and he is meticulous when he reads the really important bits–facts about elevation sickness, oxygen tanks, times and messages, historical material, and the like. At no point did I feel like his voice or pacing was keeping me from taking in the material.

Overall, I came away from the book pretty impressed by Krakauer’s honesty and his reporting skills. He’s critical of several of the guides and climbers who were on that mountain with him, but he’s intensely critical of himself as well. I’m glad to have heard his story, and have no ambition whatsoever to court that level of danger on a mountain anytime soon.