First a warning: this is written by an American, so some of the advice might seem a bit over-the-top for us reserved Brits. Nevertheless, there are some interesting ideas here, some of which I've taken on board.
The subtitle tells us that there are "96 all-new little tricks for big success in relationships". She's not kidding. There are indeed 96, which is way too many to remember, let alone put into practice, but I would say, as with all of this self-help stuff, take what you want from it.
By "relationships", the author is really talking about anyone you might come across, at work or socially, not people you already know well, though some of them are also applicable to existing relationships. The bulk of the book seems to be about impressing and convincing people professionally, rather than improving your marriage or whatever, so I felt that the sub-title was slightly misleading.
The layout of the book is probably one of its best features. Each "little trick" is described in detail; we are often told its origin, its uses and the effect on other people, then the "trick" is summarised helpfully in a text box, which does help when you are trying to find it again. The text is well-written, chatty, even entertaining at times, so not a heavy read. I would buy, rather than borrow this book, because, if you find it useful, you'll either need to refer to it again and again, or read it really slowly, as it's fairly chunky at over 300 pages.
And do the tricks work? She's fairly convinced they do. In my own experience, it's too soon to tell. Many of them are to my mind simple courtesies which, once you are told about them seem fairly obvious. Many of the most emotionally-aware people I know are already doing most of them, as far as I can see; but for those of us who have to work quite hard at reading people's body language etc., this is a very useful source of ideas and information, even if some of them do seem like a lot of hard work.
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