Book Reviewers 3: The Blake Edwards/PMBR Edition

Facts, Hercule, Facts!

We somehow managed to find a boatload of books hanging around the attic that would make for a great review. This time around, we honour the late Blake Edwards, famed director of the Pink Panther films as well as Breakfast at Tiffany’s after getting his start in show business as a radio script writer in the 1930s and ’40s, a trove of work which included gems for the famed War of the Worlds American radio broadcast of 1938.

Book Reviewers Wanted 3, aka "We're Running Out of Space"

A couple of weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to be in the position to hand out for free project management titles to practitioners eager to review the books for us, be it in a future edition of our-just released monthly Project Management Tipoffs newsletter, or for a daily post on the How to Manage a Camel blog. You can check out previous reviews originally published in Tipoffs here and for the Camel here to get an idea of length, depth of analysis, and style, or to get another opinion on a book you might be dying to read. As we all know, with that second opinion of the book reviewer, you may come to a book with a different, enlightened or even wary outlook. Your perspective heading in after a good review is enhanced. You’ll believe everything and you’ll believe nothing, suspect everyone and suspect no one.

Here are the books we’ve available for you to review:

• Training for Project Management: Skills and Principles, Volume 1 (Looseleaf) – Ian Stokes (valued at £94)
• Leading Project Teams – Anthony T. Cobb (valued at £29)
• Project Sponsorship – David West (valued at £25)
• The Art of Funding and Implementing Ideas – Arnold R. Shore, John M. Carfora  (valued at £25)
• Green Project Management – Rich Maltzman, David Shirley (valued at £45)
• Benefit Realisation Management – Gerald Bradley (valued at £65)
• The Lifelong Project – Joseph Phillips (valued at £10)
• The 77 Deadly Sins of Project Management – Management Concepts (valued at £17)
• Improve Your Project Management: Teach Yourself – Phil Baguely (valued at £10)

All we need is a project management writer, that’s P-R-O-J-E-C-T  M-A-N-A-G-E-M-E-N-T  W-R-I-T-E-R. If you leave a comment in the box below and indicate which book you like for us to send to you, you’ll be in with a chance to review that book.

But there is a quid pro quo: yes, a certain, specific pre-requisite will have to be met in order to receive your book for review. Indeed, there is more going on here than meets the ears. This month and into January, we’re looking for project management personnel nationwide to help shape the outlook of the UK marketplace in PPM with the 2011 Arras People Project Management Benchmark Report. Our survey is a precursor to the PMBR, which is the only one of its kind in the UK. Therefore, you’ll need to take the survey first in order to receive one of these books. If you’ve already taken the survey (like people who lie about their certifications, we have ways of knowing), you’re in like Flint.

Some Tips for Choosing a Book

Let’s break it all down for you: Just leave a comment and let us know which book you’re interested in. You’ll be asked to enter an email in the comments box, but don’t worry – this isn’t visible to anyone but us. We’ll be sure to get in touch via email to ensure we can get the book to you.

When you choose a book, please understand that we operate on a first-come, first-served basis. The third commenter who wants Leading Project Teams earns precedence over the fourth commenter who wants Leading Project Teams. But be sure to enter an email address when you comment – not doing so could be a deal breaker. A good rule of thumb: It’s usually smart to have a second book choice as well, just in case you end up being the aforementioned fourth commenter.

You can take up to three months to read and review the book. Just know that we need a 500 word (about a side of A4) review from you, which we’ll try to get on either Tipoffs or the Camel. Take a look at previous book reviews to get a feel of the types of reviews we’ve had already.

Please note that we won’t be able to sort out the winners of each book until the 5th January 2011. Also note that because only UK personnel can participate in the Benchmark Report, unfortunately this contest is open to UK residents only.

Image © striatic and used with permission.

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