Mini Book Expo For Bloggers

Sweetsmoke [Julie's review]

Sweetsmoke gets another great review from a Mini Book Expo Blogger named Julie:

Ever since I was a kid, I have always found novels about the Civil War to be extremely interesting -- I guess I'd choose that time period as my favorite one in the United States' history. SWEETSMOKE definitely goes up there are one of the best books about the Civil War that I've read in recent memory.
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Julie's review.....

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More information

• Q&A with David Fuller
• Reader Group Guide
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1401323316 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323318

That Went Well [Alyce's review]

That Went Well went over well at Alyce's blogspot, At Home With Books, too:

The story really pulls you in from the very first line: "It's Christmastime, and in a bright supermarket, with 'Joy to the World' spilling out of the overhead speaker, I am ducking a flying packaged chicken that is sailing past my head, thrown at me by my furious sister. . . . People are staring at us both, two middle-aged women, one throwing and one ducking the chicken."
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Alyce's review...

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More information

• Author's Blog: Terrell Dougan
• Book Site: That Went Well
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1401323294 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323295

Sweetsmoke [Luanne's review]

Sweetsmoke wafts into a coveted spot on Luanne's 'favourites' shelf at A Bookworm's World:

I've been waiting since the release in August to read this book. And good things come to those who wait!
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Luanne's review...

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More information

• Q&A with David Fuller
• Reader Group Guide
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1401323316 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323318

Click [Sheri's review]

Sheri appreciates Bill Tancer's humour and passion for data in Click, but would have liked a little more personal content about the research and less publicity for Tancer's company. Here's an excerpt from her review:

Click follows in the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell and the “Freakonomics” duo, by analyzing modern-day trends and extracting meaning behind society’s behavior through the use of data and statistics. There a number of different topics discussed including politics, entertainment, and consumer behavior. What makes “Click” unique is that all of Tancer’s findings are based upon search engine data and all his conclusions are drawn from drawn from how Americans spend their time on the internet.

Keep reading Sheri's review...

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More information   

• Author:      
  
  • Site: BillTancer.com       
  • Blog: Hitwise   
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com 
• ISBN-10: 1401323049   
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042 

Click [Miro's Review]

The first Mini Book Expo: Business Edition book review is in! And the book is Click by Bill Tancer. Miro Slodki pens our first MBE:BE review and I'll give you a preview - he didn't enjoy it. Here's his review:

Click's book jacket starts with a compelling endorsement,
"Bill Tancer is the king of measuring online research. And online research is the Main Street of the new world. Which makes Bill Tancer king of the world or something like that." - Stephen J Dubner, co-author, Freakonomics

Who is this King of the World? Bill Tancer is general manager of global research for Hitwise, the online search/competitive intelligence company. Drawing from the privileged perch of his database, he gives readers a glimpse into the aggregated online behavior of 10 Million American households. "Click - What millions of people are doing online and why it matters. Unexpected insights for business and life." is his first book.

Tancer seeks to illustrate how the internet is becoming a more pervasive mirror of society and how our collective behavior in cyberspace can be used to understand and even presage our future actions.

Part 1 of the book delves into the darker side of the internet and (American) habits revolving around porn, pills, casinos and celebrity. From there it skips over into search and My Space/social media.

Part 2 seeks to explore some attempts to use the data to predict (short-term) outcomes (Dancing with Stars - missed, Residential home sales - missed, American Idol Taylor Hicks - success, Unemployment claims - success) based on keyword popularity.

I did not walk away as a fan of this book for two key reasons:

1. The content/insights seem to be gleaned for general public consumption - I found little new knowledge for marketers. For example, Tancer seems to make a lot of noise about the linkage between mass media and the direct response/impact on subsequent web searches.
2. There is a lack of theoretical or experiential underpinnings from which readers might learn to draw extrapolations. For example, the author brings forth the story of the Arctic Monkey's word of mouth success in the social media/MySpace. His 'popular' examination of the subject matter is limited to innovation diffusion as put forward by Gladwell. He suggests that future tipping points can be charted/predicted by looking at the intersection of web searches and social media buzz, yet armed with access to the data, he fails to put forth any formal substantiation.

In his defense however, Tancer does go into a little more detail about his attempts to make predictions - but pinning down a key learning is frustrating - unless one finds satisfaction with the Stacey Keibler Correlation Coefficient (pg 161)- refining gross search term results to exclude non-relevant entries.

Tancer charts things but offers little insight. Overall, I would rate this book a 2.5 out of 10.

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More information   

• Author:      
  
  • Site: BillTancer.com       
  • Blog: Hitwise   
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com 
• ISBN-10: 1401323049   
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042 

Schooled [Carmen's Review]

Carmen schools us on not to judge a book by other people's reviews! She read Schooled and left a great review over on her blog, c-alexis

I had read a review about how "Schooled" was just a name-dropper and had no substance. Well, I beg to differ. Sure there was a lot of name dropping, but surely, that was the author's intention. It is the seduction of all those brand names that Anna is hooked on, and even as a reader myself, I could feel that want and need of a better living condition and style.

Keep reading Carmen's review...

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More information 

• Author Site: AnishaLakhani.com 
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• Publisher: Hyperion (August 5, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1401322875 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401322878

Schooled [Nicole's review]

Schooled reminds Nicole of another rather popular story about the rich and their realities:

In Schooled, Anisha Lakhani’s debut novel, teacher Anna is confronted with the harsh realities of private school life. In a school where her students have a larger allowance then her salary, Anna struggles to make ends meet while fulfilling her dream of teaching. Unfortunately, most of her students have private tutors… tutors who more or less do the homework in place of the kids. Learning this disillusions Anna, who takes up tutoring herself and notices a big change…

Lakhani’s first novel is quick paced and cheeky, with believable characters every step of the way.  From the shallow students to the rare caring parents to the other teachers, you really feel like you’re submerged in this socialite world. Anna herself is young and idealistic and we follow her fall from grace and eventual reckoning with the closeness of an old friend.

While Schooled is a good read, it is strongly reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. Both star idealistic young women who take jobs to further their careers, but are blindsided by their respective industries, loose their way, and eventual reconcile with themselves. I’m not saying this similarity is a bad thing, but it is something I couldn’t help but notice. As the book progressed, I could almost predict Anna’s choices based on DWP.

Schooled is what I would consider a light read- a great end-of-summer book. Even though it’s a little predictable, it’s still a page-turner that is easy to get lost in. I think this would be a fun read (or a great gift!) for anyone in the education system, or even anyone thinking of becoming a teacher. The characters are relatable to any school and the story does have a good lesson in the end.

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More information 

• Author Site: AnishaLakhani.com 
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1401322875 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401322878

Click [Mhairi's review]

Cllick  is right up Mhairi's alley; as a click enthusiast herself, Mhairi recommends Tancer 's book  to anyone interested in "data mining" and its relevance for marketers:

As someone who can fritter away hours on Google analytics looking at web traffic patterns and trying to understand them, I was over the moon when the opportunity arose to review a book for the Mini Book Expo for Bloggers about just that.  Click - Unexpected Insights For Business and Life by Bill Tancer takes a very close look at online patterns: specifically what millions of people search for online and turns up a number of unexpected and interesting parallels.

Keep reading Mhairi's review...

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More information   

• Author:      
  
  • Site: BillTancer.com       
  • Blog: Hitwise   
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

Product Details   

• Hardcover: 240 pages   
• Publisher: Hyperion (September 2, 2008)   
• ISBN-10: 1401323049   
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042 

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by Hyperion

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Click [Josh's review]

Click doesn't quite push all the right buttons for Josh, but he believes it to be a dataphile's wet dream:

Bill Tancer loves data. He loves it so much he has a blog called "I love Data". His book, Click; What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters is an extension of that love. As the general manager of Hitwise, his job is to evaluate internet traffic for companies to better understand consumers and how to market to them.

Keep reading Josh's review...

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More information   

• Author:      
  
  • Site: BillTancer.com       
  • Blog: Hitwise   
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

Product Details   

• Hardcover: 240 pages   
• Publisher: Hyperion (September 2, 2008)   
• ISBN-10: 1401323049   
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042 

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by Hyperion

That Went Well [Terrell Harris Dougan]

Adventures in Caring for My Sister

Courtesy of Hyperion Books

Meet Terrell Dougan’s sister, Irene: a woman in her sixties who still believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny—but who also enjoys playing those characters for the children at the local hospital; whose favourite outfit, which she’ll sneak into whenever Terrell’s back is turned, consists of Mickey Mouse knee socks and shorts; who wins over the neighbourhood kids by hosting two fire trucks at her lemonade stand; whose fridge bears a magnet: NORMAL PEOPLE WORRY ME. 

When Irene was born, her parents were advised to institutionalize her. They refused and instead became trailblazers in advocating for the rights of people with mental disabilities. The entire family benefited, with a life rich in stress, sorrows, hilarity, joy, and overwhelming kindness from strangers. Terrell has found that the only way to get through the difficult moments is to laugh—even in the most trying of times. In her moving, funny, and unforgettable memoir about life with Irene, Terrell Dougan shows that love, humour, and compassion are enough to heal us, every single day.

About the Author
Terrell Harris Dougan wrote a column for the Desert News for thirteen years, for which she won the award for Best Humor Column from the National Federation of Press Women. She served as president of the Utah Association for Retarded Citizens for eight years, and on the board of the National Association for Retarded Citizens for two terms. She also took part in the beginnings of the Sundance Film Festival. Dougan lives with her husband in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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More information

• Author's Blog: Terrell Dougan
• Book Site: That Went Well
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 5 copies available This book is CLAIMED.
• Hardcover: 224 pages 
• Publisher: Hyperion (January 6, 2009) 
• ISBN-10: 1401323294 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323295

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by Hyperion Books

Click [Bill Tancer]

What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters

Courtesy of Hyperion

What time of year do teenage girls search for prom dresses online? How does the quick adoption of technology affect business success (and how is that related to corn farmers in Iowa)? How do time and money affect the gender of visitors to online dating sites? And how is the Internet itself affecting the way we experience the world? In Click, Bill Tancer takes us behind the scenes into the massive database of online intelligence to reveal the naked truth about how we use the Web, navigate to sites, and search for information--and what all of that says about who we are. 

As online directories replace the yellow pages, search engines replace traditional research, and news sites replace newsprint, we are in an age in which we've come to rely tremendously on the Internet--leaving behind a trail of information about ourselves as a culture and the direction in which we are headed. With surprising and practical insight, Tancer demonstrates how the Internet is changing the way we absorb information and how understanding that change can be used to our advantage in business and in life. Click analyzes the new generation of consumerism in a way no other book has before, showing how we use the Internet, and how those trends provide a wealth of market research nearly as vast as the Internet itself. Understanding how we change is integral to our success. After all, we are what we click. 

About the Author 

Bill Tancer was named one of the twelve people to watch by TVWeek. As the general manager of Global Research at Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence company, he has access to the best data regarding Internet usage and the tools with which to properly analyze it. In addition to his weekly column, "The Science of Search," on Time.com, he has been interviewed and quoted widely in the press and on television and radio. He lives in San Francisco. 

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More information   

• Author:      
  
  • Site: BillTancer.com       
  • Blog: Hitwise   
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

Product Details   

• 23 copies available This book is CLAIMED   
• Hardcover: 240 pages   
• Publisher: Hyperion (September 2, 2008)   
• ISBN-10: 1401323049   
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042 

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by Hyperion

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Interested in this book? Then go claim it over at the Mini Book Expo: Business Edition, hosted by One Degree.

What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters

Courtesy of Hyperion

What time of year do teenage girls search for prom dresses online? How does the quick adoption of technology affect business success (and how is that related to corn farmers in Iowa)? How do time and money affect the gender of visitors to online dating sites? And how is the Internet itself affecting the way we experience the world? In Click, Bill Tancer takes us behind the scenes into the massive database of online intelligence to reveal the naked truth about how we use the Web, navigate to sites, and search for information--and what all of that says about who we are. 

As online directories replace the yellow pages, search engines replace traditional research, and news sites replace newsprint, we are in an age in which we've come to rely tremendously on the Internet--leaving behind a trail of information about ourselves as a culture and the direction in which we are headed. With surprising and practical insight, Tancer demonstrates how the Internet is changing the way we absorb information and how understanding that change can be used to our advantage in business and in life. Click analyzes the new generation of consumerism in a way no other book has before, showing how we use the Internet, and how those trends provide a wealth of market research nearly as vast as the Internet itself. Understanding how we change is integral to our success. After all, we are what we click. 

About the Author 

Bill Tancer was named one of the twelve people to watch by TVWeek. As the general manager of Global Research at Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence company, he has access to the best data regarding Internet usage and the tools with which to properly analyze it. In addition to his weekly column, "The Science of Search," on Time.com, he has been interviewed and quoted widely in the press and on television and radio. He lives in San Francisco. 

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More information   

• Author:      
  
  • Site: BillTancer.com       
  • Blog: Hitwise   
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

Product Details   

• 23 copies available This book is CLAIMED   
• Hardcover: 240 pages   
• Publisher: Hyperion (September 2, 2008)   
• ISBN-10: 1401323049   
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042 

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by Hyperion

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Interested in this book? Then go claim it over at the Mini Book Expo: Business Edition, hosted by One Degree.

Sweetsmoke [Erin's Review]

Erin, from Library Scenester finds Sweetsmoke to be, well, quite sweet! Here's a snippet from her review:

Cassius, a skilled and sought-after carpenter, sets forth to find out who is responsible for the murder of Emoline Justice, a freed slave. What he learns about the people surrounding him pales in comparison to what he learns about himself in this tale of love, deceit and the thin line between the two.

Keep reading Erin's review... 

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More information

• Q&A with David Fuller
• Reader Group Guide
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details 

• Hardcover: 320 pages 
• Publisher: Hyperion (August 26, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1401323316 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323318

Schooled [Anisha Lakhani]

Courtesy of Hyperion Books 

All she wants to do is teach. For Anna Taggert, an earnest Ivy League graduate, pursuing her passion as a teacher means engaging young hearts and minds. She longs to be in a place where she can be her best self, and give that best to her students.

Turns out it isn't that easy. 

Landing a job at an elite private school in Manhattan, Anna finds her dreams of chalk boards and lesson plans replaced with board families, learning specialists, and benefit-planning mothers. Not to mention the grim realities of her small paycheck. 

And then comes the realization that the papers she grades are not the work of her students, but of their high-priced, college-educated tutors. After uncovering this underground economy where a teacher can make the same hourly rate as a Manhattan attorney, Anna herself is seduced by lucrative offers--one after another. Teacher by day, tutor by night, she starts to sample the good life her students enjoy: binges at Barneys, dinners at the Waverly Inn, and a new address on Madison Avenue. 

Until, that is, the truth sets in. 

About the Author 

Until 2006, Anisha Lakhani taught English at the Dalton School on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Soon after she started teaching, she was named chair of the Middle School English Department. Lakhani received both her B.A. and M.A. degrees from Columbia University. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and their beloved Shih Tzu, Harold Moscowitz. 

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More information 

• Author Site: AnishaLakhani.com 
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details 

• 5 copies available This book is CLAIMED 
• Hardcover: 368 pages 
• Publisher: Hyperion (August 5, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1401322875 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401322878

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by Hyperion Books

Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters [Laura's Review]

I once had a Apple Newton that connected online with a 2400 baud modem, which was pretty snazzy back then. It was about 7 times bigger than an iPhone... oh sorry. Got a bit wander-y there. Which coincidentally is what Laura, from Thoughts Like Pebbles, mentions in her review of Click... Here's the link to her review and here's a snip:

There is very little delivered in the way of interesting, insightful material. The potential is there, but it does not appear that Tancer has taken care to arrange the information in a way that is helpful to the reader. The prose jumps all over the place and doesn't appear to coalesce into a recognizable whole by the chapter's end. Unfortunately, the remainder of the book follows in the same fashion.

Keep reading Laura's review... 

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More information

• Author:
  • Site: BillTancer.com
  • Blog: Hitwise
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

Product Details

• Publisher: Hyperion (September 2, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1401323049 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042

Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters [Heather's Review]

Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters. Goodness, that's a big title. Thankfully we're not using those little library cards to catalog books anymore, 'cause that would be a lot of data for one small card. Speaking of data, Heather over on Reflections in the Pond wrote this shiny happy review:

 

By analyzing the trends of specific search terms ...Tancer has been able to figure out that prom dress buying season actually starts in January for some teens, and even predict the winners of some celebrity reality TV shows, among other fascinating tidbits.

Keep reading Heather's review...

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More information

• Author:
  • Site: BillTancer.com
  • Blog: Hitwise
• Hyperion | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

Product Details

• Publisher: Hyperion (September 2, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1401323049 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323042

Sweetsmoke [David Fuller]

Courtesy of Hyperion Books

The year is 1862, and the Civil War rages through the South. On a Virginia tobacco plantation, another kind of battle soon begins. There, Cassius Howard, a skilled carpenter and slave, risks everything--punishment, sale to a cotton plantation, even his life--to learn the truth concerning the murder of Emoline, a freed black woman, a woman who secretly taught him to read and once saved his life. It is clear that no one cares about her death in the midst of a brutal and hellish war. No one but Cassius, who braves horrific dangers to escape the plantation and avenge her loss. 

As Cassius seeks answers about Emoline's murder, he finds an unexpected friend and ally in Quashee, a new woman brought over from another plantation; and a formidable adversary in Hoke Howard, the master he has always obeyed. 

With subtlety and beauty, Sweetsmoke captures the daily indignities and harrowing losses suffered by slaves, the turmoil of a country waging countless wars within its own borders, and the lives of those people fighting for identity, for salvation, and for freedom. 

About the Author

David Fuller has been a screenwriter for twenty-five years. He spent eight years researching Sweetsmoke, his first novel, and along the way discovered that he had ancestors who fought on both sides of the Civil War. Fuller lives in Los Angeles with his wife and twin sons. 

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More information

• Q&A with David Fuller
• Reader Group Guide
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 5 copies available This book is CLAIMED
• Hardcover: 320 pages 
• Publisher: Hyperion (August 26, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1401323316 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323318

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by Hyperion Books

Technorati Tags: Fiction,Civil War,1861-1865,Historical,Historical fiction,Virginia,African American families,Slavery

Click [Bill Tancer]

Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters by Bill Tancer

Courtesy of Hyperion

What time of year do teenage girls search for prom dresses online? How does the quick adoption of technology affect business success (and how is that related to corn farmers in Iowa)? How do time and money affect the gender of visitors to online dating sites? And how is the Internet itself affecting the way we experience the world? In Click, Bill Tancer takes us behind the scenes into the massive database of online intelligence to reveal the naked truth about how we use the Web, navigate to sites, and search for information--and what all of that says about who we are.