Category Archives: Organisation

The clever way to buy cheap textbooks with Booko

Thousands of people a day are using Booko to find the best price for their books and that’s just here in Australia not even counting the other 22 countries we are in. One group that uses Booko more than ever are students. Whether they are at school, University, studying for professional development or hobbyists, textbooks are always popular.  The beauty of Booko is that textbooks can be sourced either new or second-hand as cheaply as possible. Here are a few of the best ways to use Booko to make sure you can source everything on your reading list as cheaply and quickly as possible. 

Step One: 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.

Click on the ‘sign in’ button at the top of the page and follow the prompts to enter your name, email address and password. If you already have an account, welcome back, just pop in your password and proceed to the next step.

Step Two: Make a List

Once you have a Booko account, you can set up lists to keep track of textbooks on your required reading list or lists. 

Want to know how much all of the books on your reading list 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 which is great if you like keeping your subjects and classes seperate. The list feature allows you to check the prices for used books as well as new, if you wish. 

To add a textbook to your list, simply search up your book by entering either the ISBN or the title of the book into the search bar and when the search populates click the little orange box ‘Add to a list’. (Please note that searching by ISBN is the best way to ensure you have the edition your lecturer wants, and you should always check before finalising the purchase that the edition in your shopping cart is the correct one.)

Step Three: Set Price Alerts

Booko has a price alert feature (which is a super handy set-and-forget tool) that emails you as soon as the price of a book 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 book’s cover 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 Booko alert function is really handy when you have a little extra time up your sleeve (like buying textbooks for courses next semester). You can have multiple alerts on each book too. 

You can also 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!

To set a price alert for a textbook, simply search up your book by entering either the ISBN or the title of the book into the search bar and when the search populates click the little orange box ‘Add an alert’.

Once the ‘Add an alert’ button is pressed, a box will appear asking for you to enter a price for a new and a used version of the book. Enter the price you would like to pay for either and click ‘Add’. The alert will be created and and email will be sent to you when the book has been sourced at the prices you have set.

Step Four: Create shop filters

Have some shops you’re not a fan of? Now you can filter them out of Booko’s price table and remove them from triggering your alerts. Simply edit them at the filters page.

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. We’d love you 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). 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

Enjoy!

Booko: The clever way to buy textbooks online -Language, Literacy & Early Childhood Education

Heading back to uni and have a textbook list as long as your arm? Pop the ISBN into Booko and load up your cart the clever way.

Today’s clever pick is Language, Literacy & Early Childhood Education.

Getting motivated in 2021; The best self-help books on the market

2021 is a year that comes with big expectations and even bigger dreams. After the whirlwind year that was 2020 everyone is banking on this year being so much brighter. While the start was a bit rocky here in Australia with new outbreaks of Covid we are still gearing up for a year where we get to take charge and dream big. The motivational and self-help genres are hugely popular and we have chosen a few of our favourites to help you get motivated to hit your 2021 goals. 

The Right-brain Workout 2 by Russel Howcroft and Alex Wadelton

Are you out of ideas? Feel your creativity drying up? Is brain fog taking over your life? Give your right brain a workout with the experts. In just ten weeks, you can reignite your imagination and tap into the creative potential inside you. Following on from the highly successful Right-brain Workout Vol 1, here are seventy more questions posed by some of Australia’s most innovative individuals – creatives from the world of comedy, film, literature, art, photography and advertising – designed to help you to think outside the box to unleash your inner genius. You wanted more, and Russel Howcroft and Alex Wadelton have delivered.

Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight 

From the author of the bestselling book everyone is talking about, The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F%*k. 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%*k, ‘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.

The Now of Work by Lisa Messenger

For more than 19 years Lisa Messenger has had the absolute pleasure of inspiring game-changers, thought-leaders, stylemakers, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs across the world. After the crisis of COVID-19 the world was suddenly faced with a new way of working, people felt, and are still feeling overwhelmed and lost. The Now of Work takes you through all the steps needed to be able to thrive in a work from home environment. It covers practical, actionable ways for creating location freedom, as a solopreneur, entrepreneur or intrapreneur. You can see Lisa’s other books here.

Speak Your Truth by Fearne Cotton

Fearne Cotton’s voice is familiar to millions, whether that’s through television, radio or on her hugely successful Happy Place podcast. Her voice is her career, her livelihood and the way she communicates with her audience and her loved ones. So, when Fearne’s doctor told her she was at risk of needing a throat operation followed by two weeks of being unable to speak, she found herself facing a period of unexpected contemplation. As she considered what silence would mean, Fearne began to think about other times her voice had gone unheard as a young woman, as ‘just the talent’, as the foil to louder, more dominant figures. She found herself wondering, at what point do we internalise this message, and start silencing ourselves? When do we swallow down our authentic words to become pleasers and compromisers at the cost of our own happiness or wellbeing? Speak Your Truth dives into all the ways we learn to stay quiet for the wrong reasons, and explores how to find your voice, assert yourself and speak out with confidence. Brave, vulnerable and deeply personal, Speak Your Truth shares Fearne’s compelling story and helps you to shape your own.

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell

The routine traffic stop that ends in tragedy. The spy who spends years undetected at the highest levels of the Pentagon. The false conviction of Amanda Knox. Why do we so often get other people wrong? Why is it so hard to detect a lie, read a face or judge a stranger’s motives? Through a series of encounters and misunderstandings, from history, psychology and infamous legal cases, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual adventure into the darker side of human nature, where strangers are never simple and misreading them can have disastrous consequences. No one challenges our shared assumptions like Malcolm Gladwell. Here he uses stories of deceit and fatal errors to cast doubt on our strategies for dealing with the unknown, inviting us to rethink our thinking in these troubled times. You can see Malcolm’s other books here.

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World by Haemin Sunim

The world moves fast, but that doesn’t mean we have to. In this timely guide to mindfulness, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist monk born in Korea and educated in the United States, offers advice on everything from handling setbacks to dealing with rest and relationships, in a beautiful book combining his teachings with calming full-colour illustrations. Haemin Sunim’s simple messages, which he first wrote when he responded to requests for advice on social media, speak directly to the anxieties that have become part of modern life and remind us of the strength and joy that come from slowing down. Hugely popular in Korea, Haemin Sunim is a Zen meditation teacher whose teachings transcend religion, borders and ages. With insight and compassion drawn from a life full of change, the bestselling monk succeeds at encouraging all of us to notice that when you slow down, the world slows down with you.

Enjoy. 

Planning the new year in style (the best notebooks, diaries and planners) for 2021

January marks the start of a new year full of promises, fresh resolutions and plans to get things done. It’s also the time of year where we all vouch to become slightly better organised making it the perfect time to get yourself a new diary. Diaries and planners are come in so many shapes, sizes and formats. There are online versions that sit in the cloud and can be accessed from multiple devices, there are paper ones that weigh down you bag, tiny ones that slip into pockets, ones that offer daily motivational snippets and ones made to look pretty on a desk. We’ve rounded up a few of our favourites for you. 

Leuchtturm1917 Notebook A7 Plain Lemon

It’s got 169 numbered pages, a blank table of contents, handy little pocket in the inside cover large enough to store business cards and other treasure. A page marker and elastic band fastener and it’s bright yellow. What more could you want than a notebook screaming of sunshine and bright times ahead?

Leuchtturm may be a brand that we can’t pronounce but it’s one you’ll find yourself being loyal to. Founded more than 100 years ago, Leuchtturm1917 is a cult icon amongst lovers of fine stationery. With a classic air of simplicity and unmistakable attention to detail on show in their range of notebooks and diaries, Leuchtturm1917’s time-tested designs continue to be the standard by which others are measured.

Moleskine Weekly Planner 2021

Begin the new year with this hugely popular weekly 12-month planner which covers the entire year, from January to December 2021, with a page dedicated to every day of the week for a complete view. The Moleskine Weekly Planner allows you to have a complete view of the entire week on the left, while on the right it includes a ruled page for notes just like the classic notebook.

These planners include a special insert of 295 coloured stickers to personalise your weekly planner: 1 sheet of alphabet stickers and 2 sheets of icon stickers.

Born in 1997, Moleskine has brought back the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries, such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. Based in Milan, Moleskine brings the timeless quality of classic notebook design to a vast family of paper objects, bags, books, travel and writing tools.

So. Many. Planner Stickers.: 2,600 Stickers to Decorate, Organise, and Brighten Your Planner

This one goes out to all the #plannerlife fanatics. The stationery experts at Pipsticks+Workman know the pure joy (not to mention organisational prowess) that comes from personalising a planner with stickers. So. Many. Planner Stickers. is a collection of 2,600 stickers, bursting with energy and colour, that are specially made for use in a planner to flag appointments and notes, track goals, spruce up any occasion or just trade with your besties. There are 50 sheets with 52 tiny, friendly stickers on each one: chic glasses to mark book club meetings, trendy sneakers for gym days, cute tote bags for travel weekends, and helpful, simple reminders.

#makechichappen: Your 52 Week Social Media Game Plan by Katy Ursta

If you have a small business or a side hustle and are looking to grow your social media presence this year then this planner may be what you need.  #makechichappen is a 52-week social media game plan by Melanie Mitro and Katy Ursta of Chic Influencer will help the busy entrepreneur stay organised, craft a niche specific message, and create a comeback audience.

The planner will help you simplify your social strategy and clarify your specific marketing messages. It also offers an Income Producing Activity Tracker, Time Blocking Tracker, Resources, Content starters, Weekly planning, Reflection, and Brainstorming activities.

Encounters Day Planner 2021 by Paulo Coelho

World-renowned author Paulo Coelho has inspired millions with bestselling classics like The Alchemist, The Pilgrimage, Manuscript Found in Accra, Adultery, The Spy and most recently, Hippie. Now, with this 2021 day planner, the same wisdom that draws readers to his books time and time again can serve as a source of daily inspiration year round. Available in English and Spanish, Encounters (Encuentros) features moving and revealing quotes by internationally beloved author Paulo Coelho. More than your average planner, readers can begin each day with a word of wisdom, receive spiritual food-for-thought as they navigate through their everyday lives, and have Coelho be their guide as they plan and embark on their own travels and personal journeys.

Sad Animal Facts Weekly Planner 2021 by Brooke Barker

Kinda sad – but oh, so funny. This is a quirky and engaging weekly planner based on the Instagram phenomenon @SadAnimalFacts that became a New York Times bestselling book. From writer and illustrator Brooke Barker, Sad Animal Facts highlights a different animal species, and the unfortunate truths of its existence, every week with a drawing, a fact, and a dryly hilarious thought bubble communicating what the animal may actually be thinking. Studies show that snails prefer eating in groups to eating alone. (All this lettuce and no one to share it with.) A horse can produce a gallon of sweat in an hour. (That saddle was bone dry a minute ago.) The average worker honeybee produces a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey during her life. (Enjoy that toast.) It’s a planner that will tickle the fancies of animal lovers all year long.

Enjoy!

Grow your bookshelf with Booko: Happy Inside

We have all been looking at the walls inside our home all year, perhaps dreaming of changes we can make. Happy Inside offers ideas to help us with these changes, it’s our book pick for today.

The Best Books to gift this Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday and while we are all staying safe we may not be able to visit her in person but we can all try to call, celebrate or think of our Mums.

Because of these trying times, many book launches have been delayed or have simply been quietly popped onto bookstore shelves without the usual press or social media fanfare. So we have rounded up our favourite new releases that you may have missed as there are so many beautiful books that would make fabulous gifts.

London in Bloom by Georgianna Lane

This book takes us back to when our cities were what we remembered as opposed to what they are today. Acclaimed photographer Georgianna Lane chronicles the flower markets, gardens, and floral boutiques of London. This beautiful book showcases the floral abundance of the English capital’s extraordinary parks, gardens, florists, and flower markets. In this companion to her popular books Paris in Bloom and New York in Bloom, Georgianna Lane takes us on a romantic floral tour of London, juxtaposing luscious blooms with intricate floral details found in the city’s iconic architecture. The book also includes a detailed list of recommended parks, gardens, markets, and floral designers; a spring tour of blossoms and blooms; a field guide of common spring-blooming trees and shrubs; and step-by-step instructions for creating a London-style bouquet. For flower lovers and Anglophiles alike, London in Bloom offers a unique and irresistible view of London.

Now for Something Sweet by Monday Morning Cooking Club

The irrepressible, unstoppable women of the Monday Morning Cooking Club are back, with the very best, most delicious sweet recipes curated and perfected from Jewish homes across Australia and the world. ‘We are always dreaming of soft, airy, pale chiffon cake, thinking about chocolate-swirled, glossy yeasted babke, imagining flaky, chewy, jammy strudel, baking almond-studded, citrus-glazed Dutch buns, frying golden, syrup-drenched coiled fishuelas, biting into hot, sugared jam-filled doughnuts, eating crisp-shelled, marshmallowy vanilla-flecked meringues, feasting on sticky, steaming, sweet butterscotch pudding and sharing it all with abundance and love.

Life in a Box by Sarah Jane Adams

Treasures and mementos from the estate of Sarah Jane Adams, aka @mywrinklesaremystripes on Instagram. Auction catalogues can reveal a lot about a person – their lives, loves and style. Sarah Jane Adams, a jewellery and antiques dealer who became an international model and Instagram sensation overnight in her 60s, tells her story through a lifetime’s collection of rare pieces, valuable jewellery and worthless objects, as well as personal photographs and effects from her ‘estate’. Told with wit, pathos and charm. Life In A Box illustrates how style is always deeply personal to the wearer, laden with rich meaning and adventure and above all, redolent of our stories.

Happy Inside by Michelle Ogundehin

Be happier, healthier and more empowered with Michelle Ogundehin’s step-by-step practical guide to creating a home that supports your well-being.

Whether your home is owned or rented, small or large, and regardless of how much money you have, Happy Inside shows you how to harness its potential in pursuit of becoming your best self. If you want to feel calm, content, soothed or energised, you must begin with what surrounds you.

This comprehensive guide covers everything from how to create more light and space to how to get a good night’s sleep; the path to a perfect sofa and why a dining table is your most vital piece of furniture. Plus, how to decorate to promote joy; the importance of play (and circular side tables); your definitive capsule kitchen kit; and why your hallway is where it all starts. Combining Michelle’s knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness, colour psychology and good design, Happy Inside is your one-stop guide to living well.

Not So Mumsy by Marcia Leone

For mamas everywhere, this is your Mother’s Group in a book. Parenting is hard, but it’s also beautiful. For women who have embraced motherhood but also yearn to retain a sense of self and style, Not So Mumsy has been a pioneering site driving the Modern Mama movement. Bridging the gap between pre-mama life and the whole new world of leaky boobs and pureed banana, Marcia Leone (aka Not So Mumsy) has always shared her journey with honesty and humour, providing a warm and inclusive support network for like-minded women. With powerfully uplifting perspectives from inspirational mamas across the world, including Jaime King, Teresa Palmer, Megan Gale and Tammin Sursok, Not So Mumsy will help you navigate pregnancy, your first year and beyond with style, humour and confidence.

Petal by Adriana Picker

This is a beautiful book to gift mum when you can’t make it to a florist. It’s a compendium of floral wonder, Petal reveals the colours, details and unique sculptural beauty of nature’s most remarkable creations. Botanical artist Adriana Picker has curated specimens from all over the world to celebrate through her stunning illustrations, accompanied by writer Nina Rousseau’s words on the folklore, fame and meaning of both favourite blooms and herbaceous curiosities. Mum will love it.

Enjoy!