Book list - books already claimed by students

Read and review a current popular trade book involving marketing. The goal is to get you into the practice of reading practitioner thought and relating it to the field of marketing. Note that a review is not a book summary, but a thoughtful critique.

The book you select must be from the Amazon bestseller list. Visit Amazon.com bestsellers in Marketing & Sales. Select one of the top 25 books in this category, or in a subtopic category by "narrowing by category" (left side of page) into advertising, consumer behavior, customer service, marketing, public relations, or sales & selling. Note that the expensive books are textbooks, so do not select them (over $50). Note that part of your evaluation includes the value to your peers of the book you selected. A valuable book is weighty, either current or a classic that most haven't read, and highly related to marketing.

Each student must review a unique book (no duplicates in class). This requires advance approval by the professor. Select your book, then look at the book list page to see if anyone else has claimed it, and if not, e-mail me for approval prior to purchasing it.

Deliverables:

• A 1-2 page handout with copies for the class that summarizes the book and your review of it. The handout format is: 1) book citation, 2) paragraph of book abstract in your own words (do not even paraphrase someone else's review), 3) three of the most interesting points the book made (bullets ok), 4) two connections you can make to marketing concepts and theory (bullets ok), and 5) your evaluation of the book using criteria you develop, 6) at least one provocative question the article raises in your mind.
• A 5 minute oral presentation summarizing above with 2 or 3 Power Point slides.

Any presentation over 7 minutes will be cut short and penalized 5 points. After the presentation we'll allow a few minutes for discussion about your question, depending on the time constraints in class. Arrive at class early to load your presentation.

Sample book review

Evaluation rubric