How to Draw Anime

How to Draw Anime: The Essential Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide, Josiah Eyeington, Matsuda Publishing House, 2021

Over the past few years, anime (Japanese animation) has become increasingly popular in America. This book attempts to give a step-by-step guide to draw your own anime. It is intended for people of any age.

In the beginning was the circle, which becomes the character's head. Use the whole arm to draw the circle, not just your wrist. The author then talks about adding pencil guidelines (that can be erased later) to know where to put the other facial features. He shows how to draw eyes, mouths and ears. Noses are more indicated with a couple of lines for the nostrils then actually drawn.

After your character is complete, the book looks at more advanced topics. Among them are: showing emotion with the eyes and mouth, the hair (lots of spikes are a good thing), dialogue bubbles and creating your own comic book.

This book is short (barely 100 pages) and does an excellent job at painlessly taking the reader through the whole anime process. It is very much recommended for people of any artistic ability.

Digital Marketing and E-Commerce

Digital Marketing and E-Commerce (The Complete MBA Coursework Series), Hicham and Mohamed Ibnalkadi, 2021

Part of a series, this book attempts to give a short overview of the world of digital marketing.

The book starts by looking at "traditional" marketing. Some sort of marketing plan is needed, ahead of time. Segmentation of the market is also very important. Who is your customer? Don't say "everybody." What makes your product or service different from the rest of the market? The next thing to consider id the marketing mix (product, place, price and promotion).

Today, there are many more marketing avenues. Come up with several different ads, or several different versions of the same ad. What works on Instagram will not work on Twitter. An ad that works on Facebook will not work on Snapchat. There are ways to analyze how well each ad is working. How many people are clicking on your ad? How many of those people actually buy your product?

For millions of people all over the world, access to the Internet is through their cellphone. The average online banner ad will not work on a cellphone. There are a number of ways to reach a potential customer, like through SMS or text messages. Overall, don't ignore older marketing methods, like email mailing lists, and video marketing through YouTube.

This does a really good job at presenting an overview of the world of digital marketing. It is recommended for MBA students. It is also recommended for small and large business owners who want to start digital marketing. This is very much worth reading.

100 Business Math Questions and Answers

100 Business Math Questions and Answers (The Complete MBA CourseWork Series Book 2), Hicham  and Mohamed Ibnalkadi, 2021

The business problems described in this book (with answers explained) are not bookkeeping or accounting questions. These questions and answers involve calculus and linear algebra.

For anyone who loves math, this book is recommended. It is especially recommended for anyone who is on the journey toward getting their MBA. For the average reader, this book can be skipped.

Rose Red and Other Modern Fairy Tales

Rose Red and Other Modern Fairy Tales, Kate Swansea, Rainhouse Press, 2020

These four novelettes are modern re-tellings of lesser known fairy tales, with a good amount of romance included.

Rose is a struggling entrepreneur in present-day San Francisco. She is being pushed, hard, to sell her business, and the entire building, to a shadowy entity called VF Enterprises. They have gone so far as to spray paint graffiti on her front window, and leave dog droppings by her front door. During a vacation at Lake Tahoe with Snow, her sister, Rose meets Matthew, a tech millionaire with his own connection to VF Enterprises.

A male medical student from the East Coast intentionally to attend a small college near Seattle. It is to get away from his rich and domineering family. He is about to be thrown out of school, on a charge of fraternity graffiti. That is, until he meets the science nerd daughter of the female Dean of the college, a Dean who sets new records for being cold and domineering. A modern re-telling of "The Princess And The Pea" takes place at a California winery.

This collection is very much worth reading. They are modern stories, with very good writing. The best part is that the romance is not overwhelming (coming from a non-reader of romances). The reader will not go wrong with this one.