Lately, I have almost completely stopped reading. I do still enjoy reading but being on a computer screen 8 hours a day and then trying to strain your eyes to read a book was proving too much for my aging eyes (GASP! I am getting older.). I have switched over to audio books and I must say, I am able to retain the information better and I am getting through more information than I used to. Here are some of the audio books I have listened to lately.

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Darren Rowse (Author), Chris Garrett (Author), Erik Synnestvedt (Narrator),

The reason I listened to this book was that I was thinking about starting a blog and wanted to know the best way to utilize a blog in moving my career and profession forward. This book goes into details about how to utilize a blog for direct and indirect monetization but does not spend enough time on indirect monetization of blogs. For many blog writers such as myself, blogging is an extension of our professional lives but not our primary source of income. This books goes in to details on how to turn blogging in to a full-time endeavor but does not spend enough time on how to use blogging to advance your career in other ways.

What I really appreciated about this book was the up-front manner in which the authors discussed the fact that making a full-time income from blogging is not accomplished overnight. This book does not make false promises. It emphasizes the fact that making an income from blogging requires long-term effort and that when starting out, you may struggle and perhaps should not quit your day job.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and its contents and would recommend the book to someone looking for a resource on how to start and sustain blogging as a career.

LinkedIn Mastery for Entrepreneurs  Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Chris J Reed (Author), Lucy Vest (Narrator)

I listened to this book in order to learn how to best utilize LinkedIn and update my LinkedIn profile to win new clients and to create a person brand.

One of the bigger disappointments is that the author does not fulfill the promise he made which was to provide guidance on how to better utilize LinkedIn. What he does do however is repeatedly lament how top fortune 500 companies are not utilizing their LinkedIn pages properly. This entire audio-book seemed like a pitch to fortune 500 companies on what they are doing wrong and why they should hire the author to fix it.

This book also has writing problems. The author may be a LinkedIn master and a power profile but he is not a good writer. There are sections in this book that are literal copy and paste jobs of other sections. I had to make sure my car audio was not on repeat thinking that I had heard this part before.

If I was to try to sum up the content of this book, it would porbably go something like this “Why aren’t more fortune 500 companies using my services to enhance thier linkedin presncse?” Chris Reed

Although there is some good content in this book, most of the book is spent lamenting how companies are doing it wrong where as not sufficient time is spent on how it ought to be done right. This book is not a how to book. An overall disappointment, but due to some good content, i am giving it two stars.

Data Science Audiobook – Unabridged

John D. Kelleher (Author), Chris Sorensen (Narrator), Brendan Tierney (Author)

I chose this book to refresh some of my knowledge and to listen to some new and interesting perspective on AI and some of its ethical implications and I was not disappointed.

This is a terrific book but some parts are not audio book friendly since data science concepts require visuals. However, I learned a lot from the book and still highly recommend it. I especially loved the sections on data privacy and the ethics of machine learning and data science.

This is not a how-to book nor can it be. In order to pursue data science as a discipline, you must get in front of a computer screen and start learning by doing. This book does not promise to be that and it is not that which is OK. If you are looking for a summary of data science, some of its ethical and moral implications, this is a good starter book.

Four stars due to some sections being not suitable for audio but a great book and I highly recommend it.

Personal Branding for Dummies, 2nd Edition  Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Susan Chritton (Author), Samantha Desz (Narrator), 

If I were to sum up this book in one sentence (this happens to be quoted in the book as well) is the following

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
Dr. Seuss

I have read multiple books on personal branding and its purpose and this is by far the best one. It contains not only the prupose of personal branding and its positive effects on ones personal and professional endeavours, it also a helpful “How-To” guide for someone starting to build their personal brand. This books goes in to detail about what is a personal brand, how you should build a personal and the pitfalls to avoid.

The single greatest insight that I can quote from the book and one that I will take with me going forward is (and I am quoting roughly here since I listened to this book almost a month ago)

“There is nothing more exhausting than pretending to be someone you are not.”

Susan Chritton

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn about personal branding. Four stars due to some sections droning on with too much detail but overall highly recommended.

The Secrets of Closing the Sale: Included Bonus: Selling with Emotional Logic  Audible Audiobook – Original recording

Zig Ziglar (Author, Narrator), Tom Ziglar (Author, Narrator)

I picked up this book in order to gain some insight in to the profession of selling and I was not disappointed. I also wanted to learn about how to build a sales pipe-line and how to get appointments with clients and I was somewhat disappointed in that. This book is not a how to guide on how to land appointments but places emphasis on closing the sale once at an appointment. Zig repeatedly mentions in the book that if you can’t get appointments, you can’t close but the book does not go over how build a sales pipeline.

At time feels, this book like a course on how to use emotionally charged tactics to close the sale. I am of the personal belief that the sale should close itself and you should be guiding the prospect. Doing a clever close with at times emotional trickery seems like dis service to the client. I agree with Zig that you should always ask for the order. However, at times the tactics discussed in this book seemed like pressure tactics.

Zig is difficult to listen to due to his accent but man can he hold your attention. I listened for 15 hours and at times 2 hours at a time I have to tell you, I was not bored. In a world requiring constant attention, that says a lot.

Overall, I highly recommend this book as it is entertaining and educational but lacks some content I was hoping would be on there so I am giving it 4 stars.