Prima Donna, Megan Chance

Sabine Conrad is an impoverished young girl with a phenomenal voice. With the help of her brother and a family friend, she becomes one of the most acclaimed opera singers in the country. But then, of course, sex, power, greed, jealousy, etc. take over and chaos ensues.

All of the characters, especially the protagonist, were insufferable. That being said, the story is clever enough and it was a fun read.

You can grab a copy now on Amazon in paperback.

(Source: nextpagenewchapter)

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

As in her previous books, Moriarty combines the tales of three seemingly differently suburban women unknowingly connected by a dark secret. The book has her typical wit and levity, but also addresses heavy issues of murder, responsibility and infidelity. It begs you to question how far you would go to protect your children and family, and how much you would be willing to forgive. Catholicism and the Easter season play rather large roles throughout the story, presumably to discuss moral reasoning in the traditional black and white context versus the more nuanced day-to-day decision making, which gave the book a rather conservative feel. The periodic racial slurs and not-so-subtle encouragement for women to “look the other way” didn’t help that. However, I still felt myself drawn to a few of the characters and enjoy the way Moriarty weaves stories together; I will likely read another book by her.

Year Published: 2013 | Rating: 2/5

You can grab a copy now on Amazon in paperback.

(Source: nextpagenewchapter)

The Walls Around Us Reviews

The Walls Around Us, Nova Ren Suma

Beautiful Jennie Gerhardt is the eldest child of a large, impoverished family. Her beauty, naivete and kindness make her appealing to men of all classes–she becomes pregnant after a liaison with a well-known senator, and ends up living out of wedlock with a wealthy heir. The book explores the impact of the decisions we make, as well as societal and economic injustices.

Americanah

On Americanah and Observations of an American

Americanah is about Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman who comes to the United States for college. The book begins during Ifemelu’s last days in the United States after 13 years, as she is going back to Lagos in Nigeria. From there, Americanahjumps back to Ifemelu’s life growing up in Nigeria, showing us her parents and her relationship with her boyfriend Obinze, and also through her years in the States, first as she struggled financially, and then later as she found her footing. Despite becoming seemingly successful, she eventually decides to back to to Nigeria.

Learning Google AdWords and Google Analytics

Learning Google AdWords and Google Analytics by Benjamin Mangold

A new book showing you how to make the best use of both Google Analytics and Google AdWords is now available. The book is called Learning Google AdWords and Google Analytics by Benjamin Mangold of Loves Data (a Google Analytics Certified Partner). Here’s what Benjamin says about the book:

“Google Analytics is an incredibly powerful business tool and the focus of this new book is to show you how to unlock the hidden value of your reports. There are lots of techniques and tips covered, making the book a very practical resource to get more out of your website data and your online advertising campaigns.” 

Google Analytics Advocate, Justin Cutroni says, “Benjamin brings all of the information you need to get started and to grow and take advantage of these powerful tools. What I really like is how he brings all of the information about both systems – AdWords and Analytics – together in one central place. He makes it easy to understand how to measure your AdWords campaigns in Google Analytics data. This makes the information very actionable, which is exactly what you want.”

The book includes a foreword by Avinash Kaushik who says, “It balances the critical strategic elements that need to be present in any digital discussion (jump to Chapter 5), and the tactical elements that you’ll find useful every day (for example, Chapter 13 or, my favorite, Chapter 21).”

Google Analytics topics covered in the book include:

• Using the Multi-Channel Funnels reports
• Interpreting reports to improve your website and marketing
• Comprehensive overview of reports and interface features
• Introduction to Google Tag Manager

The way you can use Google AdWords and Google Analytics together is also covered, showing you how you can take your search and display campaigns to the next level. 

Google AdWords topics include:

• How to run successful Google AdWords campaigns
• Advanced campaign configuration opportunities
• Reporting on campaign performance and optimization
• Setting up and running display campaigns

You can grab a copy now on Amazon in paperback or for your Kindle.

(Source: analytics.blogspot.com)