Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

Authors Nitin Rakesh and Jerry Wind present eight principles on turning crises into opportunities in order to stay relevant and competitive in these challenging times in their book, Transformation in Times of Crisis. As the world goes through a series of global health, economic, and political problems, this book discusses how to create opportunities in times of such disruption. These principles are discussed in separate chapters that reflect the best practices of notable companies. It not only helps to identify opportunities but also how to defend against these disruptions. Aside from the eight principles, it similarly provides a framework to develop your implementation strategy, as well as ten tools to aid you in the implementation process. It has a workbook feel to it, as it provides useful Q&A checklists to monitor your real-time progress.

I am not a business-savvy person, but Transformation in Times of Crisis was worth the time and read. This is a solid reference book that can help create a path for businesses to continue to navigate the tides of change in the world of business. Nitin Rakesh and Jerry Wind not only guide but also inspire, using relevant quotes to put emphasis on the points they are trying to make. Their case studies of prominent companies like Tesla, Netflix, and Zoom make them succeed in changing your negative perceptions and give solid proof that the pandemic is not an excuse for any business to flounder. One of the best parts of this book is how it allows you to view setbacks as an opportunity to transform and to emerge as a stronger entity in the market. Similarly, it shows you the pitfalls and ramifications of what could possibly happen if you choose to stand back and refuse to adapt. This is a highly-recommended read to all decision-makers, retailers, entrepreneurs, and anyone in need of an idea of how to overcome contemporary business adversities.

Reviewed by Dr. Jordan Alexander for Readers' Favorite

Do you believe in your limitless potential? Monica Kang does. She’s the author of Rethink Creativity: How to innovate, inspire and thrive at work. The entrepreneur, founder and CEO of InnovatorsBox® has cracked the code on creativity at work and shares how you too can be liberated to bring your whole self to work - and that includes your creative part! I can hear you say, ‘but I’m not creative’ or ‘I’m not an artist or musician’. Don’t worry, reading the latest edition will help you realize that creativity is universal and everyone (even you) can be creative. I loved the format of Rethink Creativity as each chapter cites a powerful quote to set the scene – like Edison ‘failing’ 10,000 times before creating the perfect lightbulb. So how can we call the 10,000 times a failure? Monica challenges readers to reflect on topics with probing questions and ‘outside the box’ practices. She introduces new ways of working, thinking, and relating to others so that by the end, you are set to bring 100% of your superpowers to work.

Rethink Creativity is a high-energy guidebook with something for everyone. Whether you head up a Fortune 500 company or the school’s PTA – leaders, managers, and team members will all learn something new. I was shocked that over 80% of professionals feel stuck at work, lack a creative outlet, and are afraid to offer an alternate opinion. No wonder the World Health Organization officially declared burnout (caused by chronic workplace stress) a major health problem. Imagine turning that statistic around, as Monica Kang did for herself. This internationally recognized expert shares how she cultivated her own creative side as a mindset and way of living. Her diverse work experience (including giving nuclear non-proliferation policy advice), and insights from growing up between two cultures, Korean and American, help us learn how to become better problem solvers, more mindful, and happier. Her lived experiences and humorous stories add to the book’s relatability.

There has never been a more important time to foster meaningful creativity in the workplace. Complete with exercises, an extensive reading list, and access to free resources so you never stop learning, Monica’s wish is to leave audiences with more questions than answers. Rethink Creativity certainly left me with more questions as it unleashed my creative genie out of its box. I’m enjoying playing detective and pushing deeper as I learn to innovate, unleash teams, and grow creative organizational cultures. You cannot be creative alone, so best get a copy of Rethink Creativity today, and let Monica leave you with more questions and poised for a brighter, more colorful, creative workplace.

Reviewed by Vernita Naylor for Readers' Favorite

As Erin traveled on her life journey, she realized that once the pandemic hit, she, like others, had to rethink their lives. The systems in place to help America sustain itself during this traumatic time are unable to help us maintain our quality of life or save us. With her book, Get the Hell Out of Debt: The Proven 3-Phase Method That Will Radically Shift Your Relationship to Money, you will learn how to overcome and balance your relationship with money, material possessions, and debt. This book will motivate and empower you because the author is transparent and speaks from experience about her struggles that anyone can relate to. In three phases, you'll be able to strategically walk through the process to financial literacy and freedom. Sometimes it takes beautiful words of wisdom to cause us to create a paradigm shift for our future, especially coming from someone that we love and admire. If it wasn't for author Erin Skye Kelly's grandfather Jidi, her life would have turned out differently. The wisdom imparted to her allowed her to view her dreams from another perspective. In creating this book, Erin wants to do the same for you; to live your life and fulfill your dreams without the fear of debt.

Not only did I enjoy this wonderful gem, Get the Hell Out of Debt: The Proven 3-Phase Method That Will Radically Shift Your Relationship to Money by Erin Skye Kelly, but I appreciate the passion that the author has for others to get out of debt. It's rare that someone creates a program to further educate its audience and provides a support group but she has. Not only is this book an excellent resource but the author provides a glossary along with suggested books to keep you educated on money matters. We all need this type of book, no matter where you are on your financial journey. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

The Wholesaling Blueprint: Real Estate Investing with No Money out of your Pocket by Luke Weber is a business book that gives readers inside information about selling real estate without investing any money. In this book, the author defines real estate wholesaling and creates a roadmap that takes readers to success. Readers will find information on how to start, the strategies for quality lead generation places to find properties for sale, getting the properties under contract, and finding clients to buy them. That is the general idea articulated in this book. Still, it brims with information, lessons, and how-tos that are invaluable to readers.

For anyone interested in investing in real estate, this book is the best place to start. It contains what readers need to know and how to successfully navigate the real estate market. However, most importantly, it unveils a goldmine where those without any initial financial investment can still break through. Luke Weber writes in a style that is popular, engaging, and hugely accessible, taking readers through every step of the process, from how and where to start to what they need to know; from finding the right prospects to successfully closing deals, from handling the paperwork to building a successful team. The book is chockful with helpful information. I enjoyed its direct delivery style with real-life situations and examples to drive lessons that will change readers' lives. Luke Weber will make any reader want to get into the real estate business. While this book focuses on real estate, it contains strategies that can be applied to other companies. The prose is strong, the voice authoritative, and the entire book is filled with techniques and practical information that will change the way most people look at real estate.

Reviewed by Randy B. Lichtman for Readers' Favorite

For anyone looking to start a business, improve their current business, or scale their business, Finance Secrets of Billion Dollar Entrepreneurs: Venture Finance without Venture Capital by Dileep Rao, Ph.D. is an excellent book that brings together academic research and use of principles by successful entrepreneurs into a practical framework for business finance. Based on interviews with 30 billion- and hundred-million-dollar entrepreneurs, Dr. Rao found the majority of those he interviewed were successful and retained control of their companies by avoiding or delaying venture capital (VC) in financing their ventures. In addition, he conducted research on 80 additional billion-dollar entrepreneurs. He found that 90% of those entrepreneurs finance their ventures without VC, and 80% never use VC at all. He encapsulates lessons learned from his research in this book, which provides strategies for business owners to become “finance smart.”

Finance Secrets of Billion Dollar Entrepreneurs is an excellent mix of theory and application as each of the principles Dr. Rao introduces has been utilized by the entrepreneurs contained in his research. The entrepreneurs featured in his study include the founders of Best Buy (Richard Schulze), Capella Education Company (Steve Shank), Medtronic (Earl Bakken), Great Clips (Ray Barton), Fastenal (Robert Kierlin), United HealthGroup (Richard Burke), and many others who have proven that sound financial management principles, when carefully chosen, can bring great success to a business. Since a start-up possesses little history on which to base projections, Dr. Rao provides valuable information on how to choose the correct method of financing based on the stage of development, as well as alternative financial instruments other than venture capital. It also offers lessons on developing the right capital structure for the business, as well as the importance of preserving and utilizing cash flow to survive and thrive. Dr. Rao’s experience as a serial entrepreneur, an investor, and a Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship, support the sound principles presented. This book provides valuable information on financial strategies for entrepreneurs, supported by extensive primary and secondary research, and conveyed in an effective and compelling manner. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

Are you already envisioning the kind of retirement that you want? Will you be pursuing a passion? Set up your own business? Travel? Whatever your plan for retirement, it's wise to prepare now, and author Mike Yuen gives you a brilliant how-to guide in his book Intrinsic: Using LEAPS to Retire Early. This concise yet comprehensive personal investment guide is divided into five parts: Part One explains his personal journey and the development of his interest in stocks. Part 2 provides a rationale on why he prefers tech stocks. Part 3 is a review of options and introduces you to Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities (LEAPS). Part 4 discusses which LEAPS to buy and uses actual examples of his own trades to illustrate a return on investment. Part Five is your recap, an overview of essential takeaways including some important final words.

While Intrinsic is beginner-friendly, author Mike Yuen assumes that you at least have some knowledge of how the stock market works, how to buy and sell stocks, and understand what options are and how to buy and sell calls and puts. These fundamentals are essential for you to fully grasp the concept and maximize the optimum effect of what this book imparts on your journey toward financial productivity. Yuen does his best to cover everything you need to know, and at the same time, the work is inspiring and encouraging when you read about examples of his own trades. It has worked for him, and he wants it to work for you. He wants you to be comfortable and to make early, smart decisions that will greatly impact your financial gains and the life you wish to live in the future. If you have a starting knowledge of the stock market and are looking for a viable investment, then Intrinsic is the book is for you.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Sales Accelerator: How to Expand your sales capability to compete successfully in any market is a work of non-fiction focusing specifically on sales techniques, and it was penned by author Yamini Virani. Designed to be read and utilized by those who work in the sales sector of their companies, or indeed CEOs looking to expand into new markets, this well organized and innovative book looks at the top strategies that can be put forward to build new sales teams in new environments and coach those teams towards adaptability, engagement and overall positive results when the sales figures return.

Author Yamini Virani bases this excellent work on years and years of intensive experience side by side with CEOs and sales executives, watching both their failures and successes as a strategy is developed towards faster scaling up and better return in new environments. The world of global communication makes international business a must for any large company, but Virani’s organizational style enables readers to break these vast issues down and understand them better from a specific sales perspective. Rather than a generic catch-all approach, Virani’s advice actually gives practical strategies to train a sales team, old or new, for adaptability and changes, which means that they will have the tools to develop around whatever new information they find as they tackle any international market. Overall, The Sales Accelerator gives some excellent advice which is well worth heeding, and the work comes highly recommended for CEOs and executives looking for solid and reliable advice.

Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Readers' Favorite

The Happy Leader: A Leadership Fable about Transformation in Business and in Life, by Shawn Johal, is an inspiring, original guide to becoming a better leader. The author uses a fresh, unique approach in this self-help book, incorporating his experience as an entrepreneur and leadership coach. But the most appealing part of this book, besides the valuable information, is the way Johal presents the material: Life-altering advice wrapped in a fable. In the world of business and finance, the words "happy", "forgiveness", or "meditation" may not immediately come to mind, but in this book they do, because these are just some of the concepts that Johal uses to transform your leadership skills, and maybe even your life.

Sometimes in life, or in the working world, you just need a change in perspective, or a new way of looking at what possibilities lie ahead. This is what the fable is all about. You can put yourself in the character's place, and learn something about yourself and what you can do to make changes for the better. The best lessons are often learned through parables, anecdotes, or stories, and Johal is clever in presenting his information this way. It's also entertaining. I especially like Ravi, whose impact on others is illustrated and recognized. Even if meditation is part of your life, the author will show you styles you may not be aware of and can make a difference, starting today. Positive change can come with commitment. It won't happen on its own. So the strategies found in this book are for those who really want to transform but aren't sure where to start, or who need to take a new route.

When the author talks about healing, happiness, and forgiveness, you really feel the personal side of leadership. One of my favorite things about the book is the actionable advice it contains: Establishing routines, creating habits that produce results, incorporating physical activity into your daily life, and being more disciplined. It will take some effort, but the journey will be worth the results. And if you find yourself not quite understanding the story, the author has included a Happiness Guide, which explains the philosophy and psychology behind it. For an inventive, impactful book on leadership, The Happy Leader by Shawn Johal is a must-read.

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Get Rich In Real Estate: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Acquiring Properties in NYC by Elliot Bogod is an engaging journey through the exciting world of real estate and gives the basic tools that will help readers to make informed choices and successful investments. The book is educational and informative and will give readers details about the terms usually used in real estate investment, clear information on mortgages, taxes, and laws, reviews of different types of residential investments, townhouses, and condominiums, multiple strategies and techniques to build wealth through investments, and how to save money while buying real estate. Readers will be familiar with the NYC real estate market by the time they finish reading this book.

The approach to the subject is entertaining and there is a lot of information that will guide readers to make wise choices in their real estate investments. The five steps are listed in a typical real estate process; select a property, offer is accepted, the sale contract is signed, financing is secured, and closing is good when it comes to structuring the real estate thinking and experience success. The book will make readers think like professional investors and it also gives good information about owners vs renters. The author's style of writing is neat and elegant and that makes it easy for readers to comprehend the explanations of the complex market of NYC real estate and improve their awareness of it. It is definitely a book for all those readers considering investing in real estate in NYC.

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Kicking Financial Ass by Paul Christopher Dumont is a non-fiction self-help book for Millenials who are looking for achievable and sustainable financial stability in a world where the majority are saddled with massive debt. Broken down into four distinct parts and fourteen chapters, Dumont covers Foundations, Growth, Investing, and Living Your Life with guidance for both Canadian and U.S. readers. Coming from humble beginnings himself, Dumont makes a case for the layman's ability to elevate beyond their circumstances. The ultimate goal of a comfortable retirement is road mapped in a strategy to maximize a reader's saving potential, eliminate debt, and simplify life in a way that ensures a level of true happiness without detracting from the prior two goals. Throughout the book, Dumont includes personal stories and diagrams to make this guide relatable and easy to understand.

My first impression of Kicking Financial Ass was that Paul Christopher Dumont wasn't out to pitch sky-high promises that are so common in other books of this nature. He's an authentic motivator who addresses a monetary system that almost guarantees entrapment in debt while the majority of millennials shift their focus to 'living their best life' at the expense of being prepared to do exactly this in the latter half of their lives. The book reads like a friend sitting down for a comfortable conversation, and I chuckled at a few of Dumont's Canadianisms such as eating Kraft Dinner. There are no preachy financial sermons, just succinct advice and straightforward information for young North Americans with enough attention paid to recovering time and money lost by readers who have already made mistakes and wish to get back on track. My favorite part and one that resonated with me the most is the phenomenon of being house rich and cash poor. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I once went to a friend's unbelievably gorgeous house in the prestigious Pacific Heights district, only to find their living room was filled with cheap lawn furniture and everyone slept on inflatable mattresses. There's no time like the present to get your finances in order and I think Dumont's book has all the right bone structure to get readers there.