Francis Shanahan[.com] » my book

My Book Reviews

Francis — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:48:00 +0000

My book’s been for sale over a year now. It was written back in 2006 and released in 2007. I fully expected the whole "Mashup" craze to be over and done with at this point. Here we are in 2008 and I’m still hearing folks touting this as "cutting edge". The latest evidence came this week actually when a vendor presented their "web 2.0" capability as if we’d never heard of it.

Writing a book is fairly rewarding. Just the satisfaction of seeing the words you’ve toiled over printed and bound is a unique experience.

Probably the most rewarding thing though is to read the reviews. The book is published in a number of countries. I will now shamelessly include two reviews. One from the US and one from the UK.

Robert Robbins, (Williamsport, PA USA) – "The book covers more than the Amazon APIs so I recommend it if you are interested in mashups in general. I’m very keen on JSON right now and was pleased to find that covered as well. I think the author is a very good programmer who has many clever ideas like using XSL to transform XML into JSON (although using Yahoo! Pipes is easier). I’d have to say that this is one of the few programming books I’ve read that presented some really ingenious solutions and creative project ideas. Most books just provide uninspiring "Hello World" examples." [LINK]

Alix, (South East) – "Recently purchased this title, and it is quite excellent. From the outset the author makes you aware that this is not going to be another of those boring manuals. He is true to his word, it is crammed with information that you will need to become familiar with if you are looking to write new web applications that havent been done before. There is plenty of information for those in the earlier stages of learning all things ASP.NET and then you are smoothly introduced into the requirements for creating mashups and remixes of widely available APIs. The real strength of the book is in inspiring your imagination to come up with new web based applications, summed up by the fact that i wanted to read and finish this book as quickly as possible because you know that good stuff is waiting for you in the later chapters." [LINK]

I’d say I’m happy with that.

Kind Words and the First Review of Amazon.com Mashups

Francis — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 06:42:00 +0000

Finally, someone was nice enough to post a review of my book [LINK]! The review is up at CSharp-Online.net here: [LINK]

Here’s an excerpt:
"Mashups are becoming ever more important to Web 2.0 applications. (A mashup refers to a combination of various third part data feeds into a new harmonious feed or presentation.) If you are not yet excited about Web 2.0, you will be after reading this book!"

Here’s probably the most critical commentary:

"The book is a bit of a jarring experience for the reader. Much of it reads like someone’s lecture notes or a PowerPoint presentation. Transitions are abrupt. But, partly, this is the price of bringing to market such a topical book so quickly."

You know I can’t fault them there. The book was cobbled together over many long nights last year and I can absolutely see how the result might be a bit "jarring". As first-time author I take this criticism to heart as valid and hopefully can improve in the next one.

The "Bottom Line":
"Amazon.com Mashups is a great overview of mashups and introduction to integrating Amazon Web services with other mashable services using a variety of Web 2.0 techniques."

4 out of 5 stars? Not bad, I’ll take it.

In related news I got the following email from Alex in the UK over the weekend. This really brightened my day:

"Just wanted to send an email of appreciation. I have purchased your book and am thoroughly enjoying it. It is nice to read a book that is technical but not at all boring and very, very useful. Hopefully, you are considering writing new titles that maybe go even further. These new range of books that inspire the imagination as well as go into technical detail are great and so much better than reading manuals all the time. I’m sure you have had many similar emails, but I just wanted to add my bit."

Amazon.com Mashups: Sample Chapter Available

Francis — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:07:00 +0000

A quick update on my book [LINK]. The "Search Inside" feature from Amazon is on its way but in the interim you can read a sample chapter (Chapter 15) from this book here: http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-303068.html

This chapter covers the Amazon S3 platform and shows you how to build a generic interface into it. For those of you on the fence as to whether to buy the book this might push you over the edge and for those who’ve already bought it, thank you, this might be a useful online reference for you.

Jeff Barr has blogged it here [LINK]. The Wrox Newsletter cites it also.

Still no reviews posted on Amazon. If you’ve bought the book, liked it or hated it, I’d appreciate it if you could post a review on Amazon’s product page. The feedback is invaluable in improving future writing endeavours.

The Yahoo Develop Network also mentions the book today: [LINK] along with some of the other titles in the series: "Yahoo Maps Mashups" by Charles Freedman, "Flickr Mashups" by David Wilkinson and "Del.icio.us Mashups" by Brett O’Connor.

"Additionally, "Amazon.com Mashups" by Francis Shanahan features mashups with Yahoo! Maps. All books carry on the fine tradition Wrox has of delivering quality technical books to real programmers. As I learned last year at many conferences, our developer community deserves and expects nothing less."

They’ve also launched the following site as a central location for the entire series: http://www.mashupexperts.com

Enjoy.

Amazon.com Mashups: Now Shipping

Francis — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 11:40:00 +0000

I’m pleased to announce Amazon is now shipping my book.

Here’s hoping you all had an enjoyable holiday.

Book Prices Around the World

Francis — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 07:34:00 +0000

My book Amazon.com Mashups launches in less than a month and websites/stores all over the world are beginning to list it. I compiled the following list of the different prices and websites. Just for kicks I converted the local price to USD for comparison. It’s interesting that the although the Euro is a stronger currency with more buying power, the price of the book is inflated so as to cancel out this savings. As a result you end up paying significantly more than in the USD market. I have known this for many years but perhaps this is the most it’s ever resonated with me, for obvious reasons.

Ireland
Easons – €29.79 (Euros)[LINK] about $39.34 USD

United States – MSRP is $29.99 (about £15.34 GBP or 22.7 Euros)
Buy.com $29.99 – $18.61 [LINK] save 38%
Amazon $29.99 – $19.79 [LINK] save 34%
BookPool – $19.95 [LINK] save 33%
Barnes and Noble – $23.99 [LINK] save 20%
Wrox – $29.99 – [LINK]

The United Kingdom – MSRP is £19.99 GBP ($39 USD)
Amazon – £13.81 (GBP) [LINK]
The Register – £11.99 (GBP) [LINK] about $23.99 USD, save 40%
Computer Books – £16.99 (GBP) [LINK] about $33.21 USD, save 15%
WaterStones – £19.99 (GBP) [LINK] about $39 USD

And on to the World Tour…
Norway - BookWorld 298kr (NOK) [LINK] about $48.50 USD!!!
Australia - Wiley $44.95 (AUS) [LINK] about $35 USD
Japan - Amazon 3,100Yen (JPY)[LINK] about $26.65 USD (save 15% vs local currency)
Canada - Amazon $22.67 (CDN) [LINK] about $19.72 USD
France & Europe – Amazon €23.96 (Euros) [LINK] about $31.64 USD

Marc Mercuri on Amazon Mashups

Francis — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 06:41:00 +0000

My friend Marc Mercuri was nice enough to mention my book in his blog. Marc is a WCF guru among other things and the creator of the wildly popular InfoCenter.TV project. He was supposed to have a quote on the front cover but unfortunately it didn’t make it. Maybe next time Marc.

Final Review, Acknowledgements and Secrets

Francis — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 14:39:00 +0000

So the book is done-done. That’s completely written, reviewed, submitted and signed off. The acknowledgements are written and now all that remains is to wait for it to arrive.

Writing a book is an interesting experience. As George Orwell put it, "like a long drawn out illness". To keep myself engaged, I added a few obscure references in various places. Here’s a few things which are hidden away:

A reference to Hail to the Thief
A picture of Ireland
A virtual Jeff Barr.
Dumb and Dumber
A Creative Zen mention.
A pint of Guinness
My two children
A Rooster
The movie
Casino
Lots of Zeppelin references

There’s also a mention of crystal oscillators and Winston Churchill.