Weaker – DaneCobain.com

Title: Towards Zero

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 192

Rating: 3.25/5

This book is one of Christie’s Inspector Battle books, and I’ve always found them to be a little weaker than the Marple and Poirot books, as well as just her general standalones. Unfortunately, Battle just isn’t a particularly gripping character, and so when he’s front and centre in one of Christie’s books, it’s a bit of a struggle.

I think part of the problem here was that the mystery itself also wasn’t particularly interesting, and so that left me just reading for the sake of reading even though the story and the characters were of only passing interest. I mean, it’s still alright, just not great.

Still, I should caveat this with what I always say about Agatha Christie, which is that even a bad Agatha Christie book is better than a good book by most other authors. It’s just a shame that I left this one until towards the end, because I was kind of hoping to go out on a high. And now I only have two more of her books left.

Learn more about Towards Zero.

Gary Vaynerchuk – The Thank You Economy | Review

Title: The Thank You Economy

Author: Gary Vaynerchuk

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 258

Rating: 3*/5

Gary Vaynerchuk – The Thank You Economy

This is another example of something that’s happened a lot of late. I was looking forward to reading it but once I actually got round to it, I was left unimpressed. The problem is that while Vaynerchuk was clearly right in what he was saying, it’s a lot less revolutionary now than it was back then.

That doesn’t mean that I’m not a fan of his, though. It just means that I think it’s one of his weaker books, and it’s also the one that hasn’t aged well. Don’t get me wrong, the basic principles of the book – which largely focuses on going out of your way to help your customers as much as possible – are still relevant, and they’ll still be relevant in the years to come. But the truth is just that many of the examples are now outdated and it just has nothing on some of Vaynerchuk’s more recent books.

That’s why I’d recommend getting started with something like Jab Jab Jab Right Hook or #AskGaryVee if you can – or better still, skip the books altogether and just watch Vaynerchuk on YouTube instead. His energy comes across more in videos than in the written word, and ultimately you’ll feel more inspired if you catch some footage than you will if you read the book. I was hoping to get some more out of it, but no worries – I can inspire myself enough.