Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society: A Novel by Amy Hill Hearth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book! I was drawn in immediately to the wonderful characters that make up the Collier County Women’s Literary Society and their stories. An unlikely grouping of people (one a man), their stories and dreams wove themselves together in this novel set in the early 1960s. I could not put the book down except for when I went to sleep. 🙂
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I hesitated for a long time before reading this book. I loved Gary Vaynerchuk’s first book, Crush It!, SO much, I was afraid I’d be disappointed but I was not! This is a great book about how brands need to bring it back to the customer. Incredibly awesome customer service, let them know you care is what he recommends.
I believe that being thankful both personally and professionally is the way to go and The Thank You Economy was a huge confirmation of beliefs I already held. I loved the real life examples of companies, both large and small, who are employing these techniques with resultant booming business.
Thanks for another fabu book, Gary! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in customer service and getting closer to the people who keep you in business.
Think Like a Rock Star: How to Create Social Media and Marketing Strategies that Turn Customers into Fans by Mack Collier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh how I loved this book! I was drawn in right from the start as the difference between how rock stars treat their fans and how brands treat their customers was laid out. With terrific, real life examples of how rock stars engage their fans to bring about an amazing, unbreakable connection, Collier gives step-by-step instructions for how you can bring your brand to rock star level. At the end of each chapter, you’ll find a Backstage Pass to help you work your plan. There is a lot of excellent information in this book for brands looking to forge a closer relationship with their customers. I give two thumbs up and rock and roll fingers to Think Like a Rock Star!
The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence by Vala Afshar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great book about how Enterasys set out to and is becoming a social business. “Social collaboration is a mindset that leverages culture, people, process and technology to unlock the full potential of an organization.” Using the tools of modern technology, their own ISAAC, and social media tools like twitter and Facebook, Enterasys has been able to cut costs, improve response times, and create a corporate culture that would be great to work within. Their TLC: Think Like a Customer mindset, allows them to continually improve their business.
I find Enterasys’s use of gamification to increase employee success inspired. Also, I love how they encourage peer reviews and a more horizontal organization where everyone has input because “none of us are as smart as all of us”. Love!
Truly an interesting inside look at a company who delights in serving their customers to the best of their ability and is always collaborating within to find out even better ways to delight the customer.
If you are not a social business yet, this book will help you to see how Enterasys is doing it and give you suggestions about how your can do it, too.
I was so excited when I woke up yesterday because I knew that the UPS man would be delivering my  books. And I waited.
Doesn’t UPS deliver early here?
We have only gotten something from UPS once in the month we’ve been here so I wasn’t sure but I seem to remember it being early. And I waited.
Around 5:00 it wasn’t early anymore. I checked the email to see if my package was still on the truck and I found this:
What? When? I was here ALL day!
I called UPS while also getting connected with them on the chat. Both people arranged that I’d be able to pick my package up and I would receive a phone call within the hour letting me know it was okay. That didn’t happen. But I went down to UPS anyway. It’s 2 blocks away. 🙂
I got my package!
Swoon!
It’s SO pretty! 🙂
I got kind of choked up over the whole thing. David said, “Are you okay over there?” Oh, yes. Just trying to get a grip. I’ve never written a book before. 😉
I started writing this book back in the summer when we lived in Amarillo. I was nearly finished when my computer melted down. The great guys at Westgate Computers were able to save all of my data, thank goodness!
But then I was kind of stuck. I didn’t have any motivation to finish the book even though my annoying loving friends kept bothering asking me about it.
After we moved here last month, I decided I really should finish the book. One of my big goals as an adult has been to finish what I started and this was kinda of big.
I made up my mind to do it and gave myself a deadline of two weeks out. I knew I was close to being finished. When I finally put my mind to it, it was sort of embarrassing how quickly I finished it. Try two days not two weeks!
Then it was such a nerve wracking experience getting the ISBN number and placing the order for the book itself. Both websites are loaded with DANGER DANGER Warnings.
If you make a mistake this will cost you a whole lot more of your hard earned dollars!
Tilt!
Ha ha. Not really. But that’s how it looked to me. 🙂
I finally got that business all taken care of and I waited. Until yesterday when it was finally there at the UPS counter for me to pick up.
So…I love it. Did I mention how pretty it is? 🙂
I have lots of people to thank. My beautiful and wonderful friends Chickee and Suzy. If not for you two, I might not have finished. Thank you for your loving support and encouragement. Suzy, thank you SO much for the amazing foreword you wrote. My first thought upon reading it was “I’m not worthy,  I’m not worthy”.
Many thanks to Lyndzee and Sherri for the cover photo. I told them what I wanted and just liked they grabbed the image out of my head and put it on the paper, there it was! I love it so much. 🙂
Thanks to Bryan from b|creative tulsa for my fabu headshot. It’s on the outside AND the inside of the book. 🙂
Without Scott Townsend teaching me how to tweet, I sincerely doubt this book would have ever been written. Twitter has opened so many doors to me it’s really hard to believe. Thank you, Scott!
And of course, last but not least, David. He’s really a good guy, you know? I’m sort of a handful and I know I’m noisy but he always believes in me and I appreciate his love and encouragement so much.
The website for the book is http://www.pageantsavvy.com and I’m super excited to begin adding photos of savvy pageant gals to it. Stop by if you’d like a book. It’s really pretty. 😉
Pampered to Death by Laura Levine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As all of Laura Levine’s other books, I loved this book. Jaine Austen is a great character and the story is fun and intriguing. Now to read the rest of them! 🙂
This Pen For Hire by Laura Levine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book! It was as cute as her last book which I read first. This is the first book and I’ll definitely be reading the ones that come in between. Such a cute character, Jaine Austen is. 🙂
The Darlings: A Novel by Cristina Alger
This was a really good book. I’ll admit, when I first saw it at the library, I got it because it was about the Darlings of New York. I loved that show Dirty, Sexy Money which featured the Darlings of New York. But this book is not about those people. It’s a great story and I hope there’s a sequel. 🙂
