Category: Featured Books

How To Complain For Fun And Profit: The Best Guide Ever To Writing Complaint Letters.

Featured Book Review: How To Complain For Fun And Profit: The Best Guide Ever To Writing Complaint Letters.
Bruce Silverman (Author)

The author, Bruce Silverman recounts his personal life in funny anecdotes. The stories presented in “How To Complain For Fun And Profit” deal with customer service. We have all had our moments wanting to scream into the other end of the phone. All that does is cause a busy signal to magically appear and we have to work the process all over again. Since all of the stories are real it makes them all the more fun as well as important as you will find instances that apply to your own life.

When you are on hold for 45 minutes and then get hung up on, when the repair guy says 2 and he shows up at 4 two days later, when your credit card is triple charged and you’re stuck paying overdraft feeds – these are all issues people face everyday and, quite frankly, we do not have to put up with them. The question then reverts to, “What DO I do about it?”

“How To Complain For Fun And Profit” by Bruce Silverman is the answer to that question. In the book Bruce, along with all of his funny experiences, tells you how he got satisfaction. The reader is presented with samples and lists on how to properly complain in order to get that person in customer service to listen and to give satisfaction.

This book would be a great gift for anyone who has been bullied by customer service. The book itself is self-explanatory and the concepts are basic. It’s the examples that are perfect for those of us that have problems collecting and organizing our thoughts.

How To Complain For Fun And Profit: The Best Guide Ever To Writing Complaint Letters.
Bruce Silverman (Author)
ISBN: 978-1438284330

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The Casual Vacancy

Book of the Week: The Casual Vacancy
J.K. Rowling (Author)

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.
Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?


The Casual Vacancy
J.K. Rowling (Author)
ISBN: 978-0316228534

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The Boy in the Suitcase

Featured Book Review: The Boy in the Suitcase
Lene Kaaberbol (Author), Agnete Friis (Author)

The Boy in the Suitcase is a suspenseful crime thriller that follows the kidnapping of a three-year-old boy from the viewpoints of each of the adults that the abduction affects. The reader is able to simultaneously witness the mind of the bereft and desperate mother of the child, the less than compassionate abductor, the mysterious benefactor of the crime, the woman who gets wrapped up in the whole affair accidentally but with a heart that won’t let her walk away, and the man who wishes she would. The book provides access to the inner thoughts of the main characters, which are immediately endearing, and startling in their ferocity. What results is a dynamic portrait of a crime from the motivation to the casualties to the fear and strength of those who fight to right the wrong.

As the story unfolds from so many different angles, the reader cannot help but be invested and engaged. Even the worst of the characters has enough background and emotional depth to force the reader to view him as a real, fleshed-out person, and this is an impressive literary feat. Additionally, the writers adeptly describe gruesome displays, powerful inner turmoil, and uncomfortable situations with equal vividness, causing readers to squirm as they feel what the characters are feeling in each passage. Finally, and most importantly for any novel with aspirations in the crime genre, the authors are more than able to build the tension and drama of a scene to an almost unbearable point. The full story only unfolds piece by piece, and until it is finally put together in the powerful conclusion, readers will be kept in a perpetual state of delightful suspense.From shocking murder scenes to haunted pasts, Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis have crafted a thrill-packed story that will keep readers chained to the pages until the emotional end.


The Boy in the Suitcase
Lene Kaaberbol (Author), Agnete Friis (Author)

ISBN: 978-1616951696

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Featured Book Review: Compelling American Conversations

Featured Book Review: Compelling American Conversations: Questions & Quotations for Intermediate American English Language Learners
Eric H Roth (Author), Toni Aberson (Author), and Hal Bogotch (Author)

Compelling American Conversations is the third in a series of textbooks whose main purpose is to assist intermediate students with learning the advanced conversation techniques of the American English language. All three of the authors have been involved with teaching English as a second language and it is clear that they are well educated, informed and very passionate about passing on their knowledge. The textbook stresses not just the formal learning of the language but also the casual conversational topics, which are so important in real life interactions. Chapters include sections on making and breaking habits, being yourself, handling stress, exploring American cities and more. Students also have the opportunities to discuss fashion styles, their hometown and other ordinary, everyday topics that will help them in real life.

The chapters are very structured and organized – each chapter includes a topic, a vocabulary list, writing exercises, pertinent quotes, homework and a section for notes. The quotations, from both historical Americans and other international figureheads, celebrities and personalities, make the reading material especially fascinating as some are even from contemporary individuals such as Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga. Additional educational benefits include a list of recommended online ESL resources, an academic word list, a bibliography of references, an index of quotations and even an index of proverbs by nationality. A short section on the backgrounds of the authors and the other two books in this series close the textbook.

Compelling American Conversations assists in furthering those who not only wish to learn but also to understand and embrace the American English language and gives them the opportunity and the tools to do so. This book admits that the American language is difficult and does not always follow the structure and grammatical rules and that this complicated but intriguing language has come about due to the vast variety of individuals from other countries with many different dialects and backgrounds. The premise of all three of the authors textbooks is that it is much easier to learn from actual conversations than from long lectures on vocabulary and grammar.

It is the day-to-day language skills that newcomers to the country need more than anything and it is the authors understanding of this premise that makes their works so pertinent and successful. Compelling American Conversations is a benefit to ESL teachers as it provides them with an interesting, useful and social tool to teach their students the essential conversation skills necessary to conduct day-to-day lives. The opportunities for interaction and the homework exercises provided give students the necessary exposure to the American English language, which will continue to assist them for years to come.

Compelling American Conversations: Questions & Quotations for Intermediate American English Language Learners
Eric H Roth (Author), Toni Aberson (Author), and Hal Bogotch (Author)
Laurie Selik (Photographer)

ISBN: 978-1468158366

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