Amanda Palmer to Release Book, The Art of Asking, November 11th + Musical Book Tour

After bringing the world of crowdfunding into the spotlight, Amanda Palmer is now giving back with advice in her book, The Art of Asking or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help. The book, out on November 11, 2014, discusses her TED talk, her crowdfunding campaign and her personal life.

Unfortunately, her publisher is in a legal battle with Amazon.com, so you will not be able to pre-order the book from them. Luckily, many independent bookstores and major outlets (i.e. iTunes, Barnes and Noble) have it available for pre-order here. There are signed copies available as well. On top of that, the day the book is released, Amanda will be going on a Musical Book Tour. Check out the dates below:

BOOK REVIEW: What Does The Fox Say? by Ylvis

What Does The Fox Say?
Ylvis, Christian Løchstøer (co-authors) and Svein Nyhus (Illustrator)

By: Nevra Azerkan
Rating: [The Breakdown]

“The Fox” song by Norwegian duo, Ylvis made a huge impact in music in 2013.  What started out as a comedic video later turned into a viral YouTube phenomenon. To date the video has obtained over 342 million views. Though it’s debatable whether the song is catchy and entertaining or just plain annoying and ridiculous, the reality is that the song did its job of becoming popular.

To capitalize further on the success of the song, and in a brilliant move, the brothers released a children’s book of the same name through Simon & Schuster. Essentially, the lyrics of the song are the book’s story—and it’s perfect. If the lyrics didn’t already get stuck in my head, I can now read along with the book and share my excitement (and silliness) with others. Seriously, I was extremely stoked that they came out with this book and I bought my copy right away.

BOOK REVIEW: Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Leaving Paradise
Simone Elkeles

By: Nevra Azerkan

Rating: [The Breakdown]

Leaving Paradise at a first glance is about an unlikely love story. The story begins with Caleb Becker who has been at a juvenile detention facility for almost a year and is released early for good behavior. He landed there after being convicted of a hit and run which caused the victim, Maggie Armstrong, to be in and out of surgery followed by ongoing physical therapy sessions. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, it gets better when we learn that Maggie was Caleb’s neighbor and his twin sister’s best friend. Oh yes, the tangled web we weave. When Maggie finds out Caleb is released early, the trauma from that night floods back instantly. They hope to avoid each other, but as luck would have it they both become employed by the same sassy elderly lady who will teach them many of life’s lessons.