Elyse Sewell

No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel
$7.99
More than I expected to learn about Janice! Great book with lots of detail, gets you into her life.

Everything About Me Is Fake-- And I'm Perfect
$14.95
It's interesting that people are complaining that this book is all about Janice - well DUH!!! That's exactly what it's supposed to be!

So, if you don't want to read about Janice Dickinson, then don't buy this book.

However, if you DO want to read about Janice Dickinson - I HIGHLY recommend this book. It's funny, sometimes sad, sometimes disturbing, always honest and in your face. EXACTLY what I was expecting when I bought it!

I couldn't put it down - I swear I read it the day I bought it, and I'm planning on reading it again.

Don't read if you're under 18, don't read if you're easily shocked, and don't read if you don't like Janice Dickinson...

And as far as the "name-dropping"? I bet if any other reviewer had the same types of experiences in their lives, they would be shouting it from rooftops. And if you say you wouldn't, you're lying.

Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them
$24.99
Although there are hundreds of blogging books in print, from my surveying this one appears to be the most relevant practical guide -- so I gave it an extra star. I liked it for the following reasons:

(+) good tips on building readership (plus some SEO)
(+) explanations of importance of garnering and giving referent links
(+) practical tips on monetization
(+) coverage of some useful tools I might not have otherwise discovered
(+) highlighting some popular blogging platforms
(+) engaging writing style
(+) accessible as a book you could give to a co-worker, or even less-technical family member
(+) gets reader excited about blogging

However, it has the following problems:

(-) some material highly subject to aging (e.g., blogger how-to steps could have been omitted)
(-) promotion of some obnoxious tools (e.g., White Smoke grammar helper, user-unfriendly Microsoft Live Spaces)
(-) very little mention of WordPress (you wouldn't realize its popularity by reading this book)
(-) not enough emphasis on blog *reading* (Google Reader got one sentence, but its features and best practices could been expanded to a whole chapter). Optimizing your reading habits/patterns is a critical skill for surviving blog-bombardment
(-) no mention of the role of pinging (and necessity by some services)
(-) too many interviews (police wives and military perspectives didn't add anything for me)
(-) a number of grammar and spelling mistakes
(-) audience target may have been too broad (I would expect Apress to have had a better techie focus)

Overall, I thought the book could have been half the length and still had the same impact. But as a new blogger I got quite a bit out of the book, and I still recommend it to anyone who is not already a pro. Just be prepared to do a lot of skimming, and try to get a library/used copy that has important points highlighted.