Category Archives: Booko

Posts about booko, some technical, some explaining new features

Booko Tutorial: how to Find the Best Prices for Uni Textbooks

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At Booko HQ, we love to help you find the best deals for the books you want… that way you can buy even more books, right?  And not only can we help with the books you want to buy – the book-treats for yourself and your loved ones – but Booko can also help find discounts on the books you need – including textbooks for school and university, as well as specialist texts for professionals.

With just a few clicks or taps on your device, Booko can help you save up to hundreds of dollars.  Here are some examples:

Macroeconomics Australasian Edition (4th edition) by Olivier J. Blanchard and Jeffrey R. Sheen

Savings for new copy up to $50   Savings for used copy up to $100

Gray’s Anatomy for Students by Drake, Vogl and Mitchell

Savings for new copy  up to $150
Savings for used copy up to $150

Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 1 Workbook (3rd edition) by Yuehua Liu et al

Savings for new copy up to $50
Savings for used copy up to $60

Now read on for some step-by-step instructions:

Booko’s standard search finds you the best prices for right now.  For even better deals, Booko offers a set-and-forget Alerts and a Lists feature. Booko Alerts regularly checks the prices for your chosen items and will email you as soon as the price falls below the current (or a specified) level. It’s a great way to monitor for sales.  To set an Alert, first search for the book you want – if possible, use the ISBN to confirm the correct edition.


This shows the search for a Psychology textbook.  The top listing on the Right is the current best price. To create an Alert, click the Add an Alert button below the Cover Image on the left side of the page.  Set your preferred price – and you can set separate prices for new and used books. Then enter your email and click Add.  Now all you need to do is wait for the Good News email! 

If you are logged into your Booko account, you can set an Alert faster, because you won’t need to enter your email each time.  A Booko account allows you to modify your alerts (delete or change target prices) more easily, as a list. 

A Booko account also allows you to set up Lists.  These help you sort and group the books you are watching for.  To add a book to a list, click the Add to List button below the Cover Image (next to the Add an Alert button). This adds the book to your Wishlist (the default list for each Booko account).  To create more lists, click on the My Lists tab on the Top Right of the page, then click the Manage Lists button.

The Manage Lists option has several nifty features – here you create new personalised lists (A), View/Edit or Delete existing lists, or Export list data in a spreadsheet-friendly format (B).  Booko will also tell you whether you can buy all your list items from a single store (C) – and do a price comparison as well.

Booko Alerts and Booko Lists can help you minimise the time and money you need for your back-to-uni essentials – so that you’ll have more time to relax before Semester starts!

The Best Last-Minute Gifts (including Great Vouchers!)

Blog, Booko, Christmas, Gifts

Two weeks till Christmas and still shopping for gifts?  Thanks to online shopping, you can access retailers from around the world, who can get your gift to your loved one in-time, even if they’re overseas.  Booko can help you compare stock availability and delivery times across a range of retailers – and don’t forget that express shipping may also be available. Just head to the Booko website, make sure the country flag at the top right hand corner is displaying your required destination (click on the flag to display and change options), then search for the item you want.  Booko will display prices and availability in the results table.

More details about buying for overseas deliveries are in our handy guide here.

 

Booko can help you find the best prices and fastest shipping for books, DVDs, games and even jigsaw puzzles ! Here are some more last-minute gift ideas:



Slow Down and Grow Something : the Urban Grower’s Recipe for the Good Life by Byron Smith and Tess Robinson

Gift this to your loved one, and you may be helping them check off several life goals at the same time.  Both gardening and cooking are great for our wellbeing – encouraging us to slow down, get outdoors and live in the moment.  Slow Down and Grow Something combines the horticultural skills of Byron Smith and cooking skills of Tess Robinson to offer us lots of tips on how to create your own food oases – whether you have a big backyard or just a few pots in an apartment.  Then make the most of your harvest with delicious recipes that you can enjoy on your own, or share with your friends (another boost for our mental health!).

Guinness World Records 2019

The Guinness World Records makes a classic gift – this is a perennial favourite for school-aged children!  Kids just love quirky and amazing facts (and reading them will quietly broadening their knowledge of the world).  It is also a thoughtful choice for reluctant readers – kids who find it difficult to enjoy “chapter books” or novels may enjoy the short, easy-to-dip-into format, the non-fiction focus and the colourful, lavishly illustrated pages.

Azul board game

The eye-catching Azul board game is the well-deserved winner of this year’s Game of the Year (Spiel des Jahres) award, and has been described by game reviewers as an “Instant Classic”.  Azul’s beautiful visual design is inspired by the intricate patterns on azulejos, Moorish decorative ceramic tiles from Spain and Portugal.  Azul is an abstract strategy-based game that is governed by simple rules, yet delivers surprisingly complex game play.  This family-friendly game is suitable for 2-4 players, aged 8+.

Sushi Go!

Sushi Go is a popular card game that is easy to learn and fast-playing, great for kids on their own, or multi-age groups such as family gatherings.  Make the most points by collecting different types of sushi and desserts!  The cards are colourful, with cute sushi characters, and come in a sturdy metal tin that is perfect for taking along on holidays.  For 2-5 players, aged 8+.

The Elements by Theodore Gray 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle

Theodore Gray’s The Elements is a coffee-table book that combines the best of science and art – it is a tour through the chemical elements of the periodic table, in a stylish format, lavishly illustrated with photographs of objects associated with each element.  This million-copy bestseller has inspired two sequels (Molecules and Reactions), apps, jigsaw puzzles and even quilts!  This 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle shows the full periodic table as displayed in the book.  The finished item measures approximately 92cm x 41cm.

Gift Vouchers / Cards / Certificates

Gift vouchers/cards/certificates can be a real life-saver when you have no time to shop – vouchers are emailed immediately upon purchase, either to you for printing, or directly to the recipient. So all you need is a few minutes to click through and complete the purchase!  Delight children with the ability to “go shopping” for exactly what they want; or introduce a loved one to the huge range on offer in an online bookstore.  Booko has a list of bookstore gift voucher options here.

The best way to use Booko & Bricko/Popz… a guide for clever people

Booko, Christmas, Community, Gifts, Top Tips, , , , ,

We’re not really ones to blow our own trumpet but you guys have been telling us that the best way to buy cheap books online is to search through Booko – we’re rapt, of course, and couldn’t agree more. Thousands of people a day are using Booko to find the best price for books and DVDs – and that’s just here in Australia, not even counting the other 22 countries we are in.

In its infancy, Booko was just a web page with a series of small programs collecting prices and calculating delivery costs for a handful of online book shops, to find the cheapest supplier of books. The overarching objective was to find both new and second-hand books online for the best price possible and when shops which offered free shipping could be added, it made the page even better.

Fast forward 10 years and we have people in 23 countries using Booko every day to find the best price for new and used books, DVDs and board games. To cater for our LEGO loving users, the family has grown to include Bricko, and Popz.deals for those collecting Pop! Vinyls.  That’s a lot of clever people finding lots of good prices. 

Here are the best ways to use Booko to make sure you remain one of those clever people. The same features are included on Bricko and Popz.deals. 

Create an account 

We treat data very seriously at Booko and want to give you ultimate control of all of your data too. Creating an account allows you to make wish lists, set price alerts and view your search history along with deleting said history, and disabling Booko from keeping track of your history altogether. Just so you know, we don’t actually use your history for anything at all; it’s housed just for your entertainment and reading pleasure.

We have tweaked the account function to give you more control. You can now export your data or delete your account and data altogether. Just click on the user icon in the top left of the screen when you have logged into Booko.

Make Lists

Once you have created an account, you can set up lists to keep track of the products you’re interested in. 

Want to know how much the 5 books you’re buying as Christmas presents will cost? Booko will take your list, find the shop that sells the whole lot for the best price and calculate shipping for the entire list.

What’s best is you can have multiple lists and even download and email them to people. There’s nothing like giving someone a nudge as to what they may like to buy you for your birthday, or Christmas…or ‘just because’.

The list feature allows you to check the prices for used books as well as new, if you wish. 

Set Price Alerts

Booko / Bricko / Popz has a price alert feature (which is a super handy set-and-forget tool) that emails you as soon as the price of a product falls below the current price, or a price specified by you.

To set an alert, you need to be logged into your account (because we need to know which email to send the notifications to). Just click the ‘Add an Alert’ button directly below the product image on the left side of the page. Nominate a price you are happy to pay, type in your email and the Alert is set. Now all you need to do is wait for the Good News email!

The alert function is really handy when you are shopping and have a little extra time up your sleeve (like getting on top of Christmas shopping early, or buying textbooks for courses next semester). You can have multiple alerts on a product, too. 

With our latest round of updates, you can also now specify a separate price alert for new and used books. This function is loved by many of the students that use Booko…because let’s be honest, not all courses ask for a brand new textbook…nor do they need one. Academic textbooks can be breathtakingly expensive – a single title can be over a hundred dollars, so imagine how much your entire reading list will cost! Booko is great for searching for specialist or academic texts. All you need to do is type a book’s ISBN into the main search box (this ensures you are searching for the correct edition) and away you go. Booko can find most books, whether they are e-Books, Reference books, Fiction or Non-Fiction. And since Booko can locate used copies, you may be able to save even more by buying second-hand!

If you fancy a little more detail have a look at this blog post.

Buy for friends and family overseas

If you want to purchase something as a gift, Booko has some clever functionality where you can purchase in the local currency and the gift gets shipped directly to the recipient…saving you on both gift wrapping and postage! 

Here’s what you do: Jump online to Booko / Bricko / Popz. In the top right hand corner, there will be a flag (it’s usually your local country flag). Click on this and all the countries that Booko works with will appear. Simply select the country that you want to send a book to and then keep using Booko the way you normally do. When you choose a different country, both the shipping charges and times are specific to that country (so it’s easy to make sure your gift will make it in time). 

Click here for a detailed How-To guide.

Finally, shopping clever means being one step ahead. Did you know we now have a newsletter? It’s super low volume and we don’t email you every week, or even every month, just when we have something exciting to share. You can click here to subscribe (oh and you can unsubscribe at any time, it’s okay we won’t bug you or make you feel guilty, we know inboxes can get a little overwhelming). 

You can also follow us on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

Enjoy!

Get the best price for textbooks with Booko Alerts

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Hey Students, I know it’s still the middle of January, and preparing for the start of Uni may be the last thing on your mind; but what if a few minutes’ work now can help you save lots of dollars, that you can put towards your dream trip / job interview outfit / coffee budget? What I mean is, using Booko – and also Booko’s Alerts feature – to help you find the best prices for your textbooks.

Academic textbooks can be breathtakingly expensive – a single title can be over a hundred dollars, so imagine how much your entire list will cost! You may have used Booko before to check prices for popular titles or gifts, but Booko can also be used to search for specialist or academic texts.  All you need to do is type a book’s ISBN into the main search box (this ensures you are searching for the correct edition) and away you go.  Booko can find most books, whether they are e-Books, Reference books, Fiction or Non-Fiction.  And since Booko can locate used copies, you may be able to save even more by buying second-hand!

Booko Alerts is a set-and-forget feature that emails you as soon as a price falls below the current (or a specified) level.  Just click the Add an Alert button directly below the Cover Image on the left side of the page.  Nominate a preferred price, type in your email and the Alert is set.  Now all you need to do is wait for the Good News email!

For more detailed instructions on Booko Alerts, click here for a step-by-step guide.

To give you some idea of the sort of savings achievable through Booko, here’s a list of potential savings for some common academic texts.  The savings are based on comparing the best price and the prices charged by leading academic bookstores, as found by Booko.

A Guide to Business Law (21st edition) by Christine Miles and Warwick Dowler
Save approximately $35

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Save approximately $7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psychology (4th Australian and New Zealand Edition) by Burton, Westen and Kowalski
Save approximately $100

 

 

 

 

 

Microeconomics (Second Edition) by Goolsbee, Levitt and Syverson
Save up to $600

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (10th Edition) by Wilkinson et al
Save approximately $25

Our Top 10 Hacks to Get the Most out of Your Reading

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We know, we know, reading is fairly straightforward and not the most obvious topic to hack. You choose a fabulous  book, open it, read the words and drift off into a wonderful world leaving yours alone…even if just for a moment.

However reading has changed over the past few years with the introduction of eBooks, smart phones, apps, and online news feeds. Suddenly there just isn’t enough time to sit and read, there are a ton of distractions and constant demands for our attention. But do not despair, your friendly Booko team has tried and tested a few little hacks to help you find more time in your busy day to read.

Here goes…

#1 Listen to Your Books

Audiobooks are amazing inventions; not only can you multitask while being engrossed in a book, but if you choose wisely you can have some pretty fabulous people read to you.

Find our favourite audiobooks on this Pinterest board – here’s one of our favourites at the moment:

Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion by George J. Thompson, PhD.

Verbal Judo is the classic guide to the martial art of the mind and mouth that can help you defuse confrontations and generate cooperation, whether you’re talking to a boss, a spouse, or even a teenager. For more than a generation, Dr. George J. Thompson’s essential handbook has taught people how to communicate more confidently and persuasively in any situation. Verbal Judo shows you how to listen and speak more effectively, engage others through empathy (the most powerful word in the English language), avoid the most common conversational disasters, and use proven strategies to successfully express your point of view — and take the lead in most disputes.

#2 Read your books in tiny pieces

Decide how log you want to read for and then set yourself a timer. If you can only do ten minutes a day, that’s fine…we bet you’ll end up wanting ‘just one more page’ after the timer goes off.

Another way of reading in small chunks is to tear a few pages out of your book and pop these in your bag (I know….yes we actually wrote that it’s okay to tear pages out of a book)… but if this is just too upsetting for you to even comprehend, then we suggest just sticking to a timer.

#3 Read at the gym

It’s okay to multitask every now and then, and your warm up on a stationary bike or cross trainer may be just the place to take your mind off what’s ahead of you… just perhaps not the treadmill though.

#4 When you’re reading online news, don’t read the comments

Make your own mind up as to how you feel towards the news and current events. Reading comments can often lead you to create a confirmation bias or drag you into pointless arguments.

#5 Make your own fabulous reading space

Reading nooks are not just for kids, though they do love them. Create a little space at home that you get to enjoy and feel comfortable in. We’ve compiled a number of different reading nooks on Pinterest, come and take a look here.

Why not take a leaf out of the Danish ethos of Hygge – here’s one of our favourite books on it.

The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking

Embrace Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) and become happier with this definitive guide to the Danish philosophy of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. Why are Danes the happiest people in the world? The answer, says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, is Hygge. “Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience,” Wiking explains. “It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe.” Hygge is the sensation you get when you’re cuddled up on a sofa, in cozy socks under a soft throw, during a storm. It’s that feeling when you’re sharing comfort food and easy conversation with loved ones at a candlelit table. It is the warmth of morning light shining just right on a crisp blue-sky day. The Little Book of Hygge introduces you to this cornerstone of Danish life, and offers advice and ideas on incorporating it into your own life, such as: Get comfy. Take a break. Be here now. Turn off the phones. Turn down the lights. Bring out the candles. Build relationships. Spend time with your tribe.

#6 Make apps your friend

When you don’t have time to wander through a book store or library trying to choose a title, just whip out your phone. We use Booko when at a computer and Booko Buddy when we are out and about – it’s available here and it’s free!

Just like Booko, Booko Buddy can quickly and easily look up the price and availability of your favourite books and DVDs. Searches can be performed by title, author, ISBN, keyword or by scanning the barcode. Once you’ve looked up a book or DVD you can pick a vendor and be linked directly to the buy page to complete the transaction. Linking is via Booko so that your purchase still supports the best price comparison engine on the Internet!

You can also create and organise your own lists of books and DVDs, to buy later or to share with a friend.

#7 Take a reading challenge 

Every year the Premier of Victoria runs a reading challenge for children of different ages. Schools can participate, as can individuals. The Premiers’ Reading Challenge encourages children to read a set number of books and record their efforts online. It’s a great way to get young people talking about reading with their friends and pushing themselves to read as many books as they can.

Visit the link here.

#8 Read while you’re waiting 

Whip out your book or reading device when waiting for appointments, a bus, on the tube, and our favourite…at the hairdressers! Teach your children to carry a book with them too so they can always have something to do when they are waiting… in fact one little Booko reader likes to read while she’s walking to school.

#9 Get recommendations for what to read next

There’s nothing better than having someone to debrief with when you’ve finished a book and you emerge from the literary world which is why we love recommendations so much. Asking friends for recommendations for books (or handing them a book that you’ve just finished) is a great way of broadening your range of literature and reading something that you have never picked by yourself.

We have a page on Booko which shows our most clicked-on titles and the titles we recommend. Check them out here and here.

#10 Read because you love to … not because you have to

Okay, so not a ‘hack’ per se, but it’s our best little nugget. Doing something you really love is what it’s all about, so it’s okay to start a book and then put it down because you aren’t enjoying it….just make sure you pick up another.

Enjoy!

The best of the EOFY sales

Blog, Booko, Shops, Tax time, Top Books, Top Tips, , ,

Ohhh you’ve got to love the end of the financial year where stores all dramatically lower their prices and we can all reduce our wish lists by snapping up a bargain or two. We’ve browsed the online world for books and are happy to share top picks of the EOFY sales… you’re welcome!

First up, the usually very pricy beautiful arty books for coffee tables…

Monochrome Home by Hilary Robertson

Decorating in black and white is perennially popular and eternally chic. Hilary Robertson demonstrates how, whether used alone or together, these contrasting shades can create dramatic effects at home, from the classic to the eclectic. Sought-after interiors stylist Hilary Robertson celebrates the stylish simplicity of the monochromatic home, elegant interiors in black, white, and every shade of grey in between.

 

 

 

All in Good Taste by Kate Spade New York

In this charming guide to entertaining, Kate Spade New York throws rigid rules out the door and shares unpretentious ideas for the modern day hostess that are easy, festive, authentic, and always with an air of deliberate polish. Filled with how-tos, personal essays, anecdotes, recipes, and a liberal dash of style, All in Good Taste will transform you into the hostess everyone wants an invitation from. All in Good Taste is the modern classic you’ll treasure for years. Disclaimer: The wine stain on the cover of the book is a design element and is intentional.

 

Urban Pioneer by Sara Emslie

More than half the world’s population now lives in cities as we flock to urban centres in search of jobs, easy commutes, cultural institutions and a thriving social life. The resulting pressures on housing mean that homeowners and renters are boldly converting ex-industrial and non-residential spaces into innovative contemporary homes. In Urban Pioneer, Sara Emslie investigates the practice for transforming non-residential spaces into homes, the key elements of the look and the related rise in the popularity of industrial design. She then explores twelve inspiring and varied real-life homes that showcase the very best of the Urban Pioneer look.

 

 

Art of the 20th Century by Karl Ruhrberg

It was the century that changed art forever. Who could possibly have forecast on New Year’s Eve 1899 that, one hundred years later, painting and sculpture would be only options, not prerequisites? The term “art” has been defined and redefined so many times over the last 100 years that it has gained entirely new social, political, and technological meanings. Ranging across the full spectrum of disciplines available, including photography and new media, and thematically chaptered to highlight relationships between works and movements, this readable and encyclopaedic masterwork does just what it says on the cover. An undertaking as immensely ambitious as this one deserves to be owned by everyone.

 

 

Capture Your Style by Aimee Song

With 3 million Instagram fans and counting, Aimee Song knows a thing or two about taking the perfect Instagram photo. In Capture Your Style, Song reveals the secrets behind creating the ultimate feed and breaks down the technical and editorial essentials for creating an account that will draw thousands of followers to earn you likes and brand attention. Organised by lifestyle categories, including fashion, travel, food, decor and more, the book presents the best apps and filters for processing photos, improving your voice and capturing your story on Instagram. There is also how-to information for propping and styling food and fashion photos. Whether you’re launching a career or simply sharing a gorgeous meal with your friends, Capture Your Style empowers you to become a master mobile photographer and shows you how to turn everyday moments into Instagold.

 

…for those with a green thumb, or a hammer…

 

Urban Jungle by Igor Josifovic

This beauty is a source of inspiration, ideas and a manual for all of those who want to bring more plants into their home. The book guides the reader through different “green” homes in five European countries and shows how beautiful, unique, creative and even artistic living with plants can be. More than that the reader finds endless ideas for styling from the bloggers of the “Urban Jungle Bloggers” community. To complete the topic of indoor plants the book offers easy help for taking care of the plants and DIY tips. Super handy!

 

 

Grand Designs Australia Handbook by Peter Maddison

An inspiring and practical handbook for everyone who has ever dreamed of renovating or building their own home. An inspirational and practical guide to building exciting, beautiful and extraordinary homes. It is a bit of a must-have book for all homeowners, builders, renovators and dreamers. Showcasing the striking homes that appeared in Grand Designs Australia television series 1-3, this book is packed with practical guidance, advice and ideas.. From the initial vision through to the planning, construction and finishing stages, Peter Maddison steps you through the principles and practicalities involved in creating your own dream house.

 

…and for those wanting to curl up and drift into another world…

 

Wonder by R J Palacio

‘My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.’ Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things – eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary – inside. But ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids aren’t stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life. Now, for the first time, he’s being sent to a real school – and he’s dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted – but can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, underneath it all? WONDER is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

 

 

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival, about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain and heals a different heartache. Readers are taken through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and find sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Thinking of Starting a Business? Our top 5 books to get you on your way

Blog, Booko, Entrepreneur, Lifestyle, Personal development, Top Books, , , ,

Starting your own business is an exciting time. But before you start, save yourself some time and money by being aware of what’s involved in running a business. Operating a small business is not just about working for yourself or working from home, it is also about having the necessary management skills, industry expertise, technical skills, finance, and of course a long-term vision to grow and succeed. Do yourself a favour and set some time aside to do a little research about business  – it’s key to turning your dreams into reality.

Here are our Top 5 books to help you get ahead of your competition.

The Power of Broke by Daymond John

Daymond John has been practicing the power of broke ever since he started selling his home-sewn t-shirts on the streets of Queens. With no funding and a $40 budget, Daymond had to come up with out-of-the box ways to promote his products. Luckily, desperation breeds innovation, and so he hatched an idea for a creative campaign that eventually launched the FUBU brand into a $6 billion dollar global phenomenon.  But it might not have happened if he hadn’t started out broke with nothing but a heart full of hope and a ferocious drive to succeed by any means possible.

In this book, this Shark Tank star shows that broke can actually be your greatest competitive advantage as an entrepreneur. Why?  Because starting a business from broke forces you to think more creatively. It forces you to use your resources more efficiently. It forces you to connect with your customers more authentically, and market your ideas more imaginatively. It forces you to be true to yourself, stay laser focused on your goals, and come up with those innovative solutions required to make a meaningful mark.

 

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up. Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited “not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.” Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek. There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

 

The Founder’s Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman

Often downplayed in the excitement of starting up a new business venture is one of the most important decisions entrepreneurs will face: should they go it alone, or bring in cofounders, hires, and investors to help build the business? More than just financial rewards are at stake. Friendships and relationships can suffer. Bad decisions at the inception of a promising venture lay the foundations for its eventual ruin. The Founder’s Dilemmas is the first book to examine the early decisions by entrepreneurs that can make or break a startup and its team.

Drawing on a decade of research, Noam Wasserman reveals the common pitfalls founders face and how to avoid them. He looks at whether it is a good idea to cofound with friends or relatives, how and when to split the equity within the founding team, and how to recognize when a successful founder-CEO should exit or be fired. Wasserman explains how to anticipate, avoid, or recover from disastrous mistakes that can splinter a founding team, strip founders of control, and leave founders without a financial payoff for their hard work and innovative ideas. He highlights the need at each step to strike a careful balance between controlling the startup and attracting the best resources to grow it, and demonstrates why the easy short-term choice is often the most perilous in the long term.

 

 

The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

As it turns out, you don’t have to be a trust-fund baby, on the hook for a business loan, or just plain old lucky to start your very own enterprise. Guillebeau gives rousing examples of somewhat accidental entrepreneurs making success out of strife, opportunity, and circumstances mostly by turning a passion or hobby into something that can be profitable. He doesn’t necessarily encourage every knitter to open a craft store, but he does promote creative thinking about how you can leverage a natural talent or long-loved activity into a business model.

 

 

 

 

 

Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight

From the author who brought you the bestselling book everyone is talking about, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: the no-fks-given, no-holds-barred guide to living your best life. Ever find yourself snowed under at the office or even just glued to the sofa when you really want to get out (for once), get to the gym (at last), and get started on that daunting dream project you’re always putting off? Then it’s time to get your sh*t together. In The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck, ‘anti-guru’ Sarah Knight introduced the joys of mental decluttering. Get Your Sh*t Together takes you one stop further – organising the f*cks you want and need to give to help you quit your day job and move abroad, balance work and fun – and save money while you’re at it – or simply get out of the door for happy hour, every day.

 

If you fancy a little more research before you take the plunge, check out more titles on our Pinterest board for Entrepreneurs.

 

Enjoy!

New authors to read in 2017

Blog, Booko, Fiction, Hacks, New authors, Top Books, , , ,

Did you know Spring (in the Northern hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern) is the season when major publishers unveil fiction debutantes to the world of book lovers?

From the gripping and hard hitting The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, to the lighthearted romantic story of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne we’ve read the reviews of books being released and here are our picks for what you’ll want to cozy up and read this year…

 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl’s struggle for justice.

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.

 

 

 

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey.

 

The Cows by Dawn O’Porter

This is the first grown-up novel from TV presenter, and founder of Help Refugees, Dawn O’Porter. Following on from the success of her Young Adult novels, Paper Aeroplanes and Goose, The Cows is an equally smart and insightful read. It’s about three women, female friendship and feminism.

Women don’t have to fall into a stereotype. Tara, Cam and Stella are strangers living their own lives as best they can though when society’s screaming you should live life one way, it can be hard to like what you see in the mirror. When an extraordinary event ties invisible bonds of friendship between them, one woman’s catastrophe becomes another’s inspiration, and a life lesson to all. Sometimes it’s ok not to follow the herd.

 

The Futures by Anna Pitoniak

In this fabulous debut novel about love and betrayal, a young couple moves to New York City in search of success only to learn that the lives they dream of may come with dangerous strings attached.

Julia and Evan fall in love as undergraduates at Yale. For Evan, a scholarship student from a rural Canadian town, Yale is a whole new world, and Julia, blonde, beautiful, and rich, fits perfectly into the future he’s envisioned for himself. After graduation, and on the eve of the great financial meltdown of 2008, they move together to New York City, where Evan lands a job at a hedge fund. But Julia, whose privileged upbringing grants her an easy but wholly unsatisfying job with a nonprofit, feels increasingly shut out of Evan’s secretive world.

 

 

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

The Hating Game has been described as ‘A brilliant, biting, hilarious new voice that will take the romcom world by storm’. Reviews like that from New York Times bestselling authors is pretty much a super shiny gold star in our books. Hats off to Sally Thorne for her debut novel.

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She prides herself on being loved by everyone at work – except for imposing, impeccably attired Joshua Templeman. Trapped in a shared office, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game, The Mirror Game, The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything – especially when a huge promotion is on offer. If Lucy wins, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign.

 

Happy Reading!

Fostering adult literacy

Blog, Booko, Non-fiction, Personal development, ,

Can you imagine not being able to help your child with their homework?  For many people in our society, reading their mail or filling out a form is a seemingly impossible task.

14% of adults (one in seven) in our community have low levels of literacy, according to the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey.  Many of the tasks you might take for granted like reading medicine labels, writing lists, interpreting maps, reading instruction manuals and other things that we encounter in our lives are a challenge.

If you know of a family member, friend or neighbour that could benefit from assistance, there’s a multitude of resources that can help improve their proficiency (as you might imagine).  Here are some of them:

Adult migrant English program

Eligible adult migrants and humanitarian entrants to Australia can access up to 510 hours of free English lessons.

Literacy Net

Part of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training, this site provides a range of adult literacy resources, training material and Professional Development resources for industry trainers/assessors.

National Literacy and Numeracy Week 

This occurs from 29 August – 4 September and celebrates the progress Australian schools are making in raising the literacy and numeracy levels of students.

Skills for Education and Employment 

This site provides language, literacy and numeracy training to help people improve their speaking, reading, writing or basic maths skills. The program aims to improve chances of getting and keeping a job, as well as making everyday life easier.

Bringing attention to literacy challenges is quite often met with shame and embarrassment.  What’s important to bear in mind is that people who acquire literacy skills later in life are adults; they think like adults and require resources and support tailored to them specifically.  We’ve sourced a range of resources suited to adults learning to read and write, here are some of them:

Yes We can Read by Libby Coleman

Gatehouse Books is a great source of literacy support books.  ‘Yes we can read’ is a fantastic ‘go-to’ book because it guides the coach through the entire program.  Suited towards any learners between the ages of 8 and 80, it’s a phonics-based program helping people develop reading for meaning.

The book teaches you how to help with teaching individual phonic sounds, blending sounds, building words and sentences together and reading fluently.

 

 

Teach anyone to read by Lillie Pope

If you’re not trained as a teacher and not an expert in the field, teaching an adult to read might seem like an overwhelming ask.  Pope’s books is as ‘no-nonsense’ as she claims. The techniques described in Pop’s book have been used successfully for more than 50 years and by thousands of instructors, helping thousands of students to read.

 

 

 

 

Liz and Joe go on holiday by Jennie Cole

This book is part of a series that feature the Liz and Joe characters.  Aimed at new readers, it’s targeted at those learning English as a second language (ESOL),  In short story format, the books are illustrated with colour photos and in a comic books style format.  The objective of these titles is to gradually increase your vocabulary with regards to daily life.  Other titles in the series include Joe’s Surprise, Liz and Joe Have a Day out and Liz Gets a Gas Bill.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Level 3 by Robert Louis Stevenson

Pearson English Readers have a great reputation as a ‘go-to book’ when working with adults.  Like most readers they work in a graded system and they cover a range of titles, including Young Adult or Adult titles, making them suitable for adult literacy support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crow Girl Rises by Kate Cann

Crow Girl Rises is published by Barrington Stoke, a publishing company established by a mother-daughter team aimed at helping children and teens suffering with dyslexia.  Innovations such as dyslexia-friendly font, tinted paper and short, engaging achievable books from an amazing range of authors have helped them win a number of publishing awards.  This title is aimed at the Teen/Young Adult reader and deals with the teenage themes of love, parties and friendship (with a halloween theme).