The Funeral Planner

An Interesting Concept

I read this book because I love the Publisher, Red Dress Ink. I was somewhat surprised by this book. It was kind of slow in parts, but the concept was interesting. Not my favorite, but it was okay.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Wall St meets chick lit funeral entrepreneur

Even as a child Maddy Banks equated self worth to be equal to net worth. So she is concerned that she has yet to make her entrepreneurial mark. Maddy has no time for self pity as she travels from Los Angeles to Ann Arbor to attend the funeral of her friend Tara Pintock. --- This second sudden death, last year her cousin was hit by lightning, with a canned eulogy by a clergy who never knew the deceased has Maddy thinking that ceremonies should be customized to honor the dearly departed and provide solace to the guests. Her Uncle Sam lends her $15K to develop the strategic business plan for Lights Out and soon sells the concept to venture capitalist Victor Winston. Her business booms until the Fed Uncle Sam pulls the plug on her. She misses Victor, who encouraged her every step of the way as he was with her the extra miles beyond that of an investor, more than Lights Out. Maddy reconsiders her mantra as her self worth is much higher than her net worth if she can persuade Victor that he invested in love. --- THE FUNERAL PLANNER is a primer for starting a business with satirical chapter titles that Maddy¿s entrepreneurial efforts never seem to quite achieve. Maddy is terrific as even as a preadolescent preferred the financial reports over dolls. Her how to succeed at business with trying makes for a fine chick lit tale even when she breaks the first commandment of the Bush Administration ¿Thou shall not worship any other god but Adam Smith' when she entered the dark side of placing her personal life over the bottom line. --- Harriet Klausner

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Death Looks Sexy!

The Funeral Planner is a well written book that articulately and artfully puts a spin on death and how people respond to it. Through the eyes of determined and strong willed Madison, a character everyone can relate to, Isenberg weaves a story of a girl who is trying to find not only her career but her identity. While following her journey you will find yourself cringing in disdain for the villain Derek Rogers which makes you love him, yet hooked on what will happen next and what "Maddie" will do to solve such problems. Using this dynamic plot Isenberg allows the reader to walk away with a new revelation: we should not mourn death but instead celebrate life.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ads are awesome

I'm from southeastern Michigan and to be honest, the big brand names the person wrote above me are really cool but I love that the author included small town places too. It is nice to see the restaurants in the story get recognition, like btbburrito, got kosher, andiamos, and eagles nest. Right on!

Awesome ads!

Ingenious! In the back of the book are promo codes that you can use. Everything from godaddy, echosign, Cadillac Travel, heardable, to 1800flowers are there. Plus dna2diamonds where you can get twenty percent off turning a lock of hair or cremated remains into diamonds (WHO KNEW!?). I even used one to get 10 percent off of my flowers at 1800flowers for my mothers's birthday! A great book and the chance to save money sprinkled with proceeds going to the national hospice foundation? Seems like a win win deal to me.

Love The Funeral Planner Books and Digital Series

I just bought the first two books in THE FUNERAL PLANNER series and loved them! I'm looking forward to the third one. The author cleverly inserted ads relating to the storyline. I learned about the Dignity Memorial Network for funeral services, and Legacy.com for online obituaries, and Forethought Financial for pre-need insurance--for when you plan ahead for that end of life celebration in the sky! And I discovered Eternal Image - a company that makes urns and caskets with Major League Baseball and Star Trek logos on them for all those trekkie fans who want to beam up. What's also cool is that some of the proceeds go to the National Hospice Foundation so you get to feel good knowing your purchase is helping people depart in comfort and with dignity. There's also a promo code for 1800Flowers-a nice touch-which came in handy when my best friend's mom passed away. I highly recommend these books. Not only are they a great read about being an entrepreneur in a fish out of water story, but all these extra goodies are a pleasant surprise and wonderful bonus!

Joss Stone gives a stellar performance in The Funeral Planner Digital Series. This is a really cool and different series, with both short and long versions, as well as bonus material. Reminds me of "Sex in the City" if Carrie Bradshaw and friends entered the world of funerals and brought fashion and life to it! Joss is amazing in this! She truly lights up the screen as a funeral-fashionista introducing us to end of life products such as Star Trek Urns (brought to you by Eternal Image!). She is refreshing and delightful and I hope this gets made into a movie or TV series so I can see more of her as the ever hilarious and off-beat Eve!

A touching, funny, informational, good read

The Funeral Planner opens with Madison Banks dealing with issues that every person can relate to, death and failure. The novel follows Madison as she conquers both problems, starting with failure. Madison Banks quickly turns an idea into a successful franchise and the reader gets the honor of witnessing each step. The ups and downs of her company Lights Out Enterprise, creates a lingering suspense as the reader hopes desperately for Madison's success. Actually, Madison's business plight can serve as a great guide to any entrepreneurs.
The deeper issue of death is an aspect of life that everyone can relate to. Madison Banks suffers loss in a variety of ways all which most people can relate to, which ranges from loss of family members, mentors, friends, business, to relationships and hopes. Her struggle with grief feels incredibly genuine. Reading how she deals with loss made me as a reader analyze the different levels of pain in my life. If the business aspect can serve as a guideline to entrepreneurs then, the issue of death and dying can serve as a guideline for people to keep their sanity in times of grief.

An amazing take on grief.

The Funeral Planner by Lynn Isenberg is a fun novel about the character of Madison Banks, a young workaholic entrepreneur who wants nothing more than for one of her start-ups to succeed. Constantly plagued by the left of her ideas by her long time rival Derek Rogers, Maddy is inspired to start a new company named Lights Out Enterprises after the loss of a close friend.
The book is a fun read, very informative about the beginning of any company and the drive that it takes to get a new business off the ground. Maddy Banks is an artist when it comes to business, which is fitting, seeing as she is also the only business savvy member of her family, the rest of who are all artists of some sort. Her knack for business and the jargon that goes with it really helped me gain some insight into corporate America.
Overall, The Funeral Planner is a good book about the struggles of a young woman in a very male dominated business world.

Death Looks Sexy!

The Funeral Planner is a well written book that articulately and artfully puts a spin on death and how people respond to it. Through the eyes of determined and strong willed Madison, a character everyone can relate to, Isenberg weaves a story of a girl who is trying to find not only her career but her identity. While following her journey you will find yourself cringing in disdain for the villain Derek Rogers which makes you love him, yet hooked on what will happen next and what "Maddie" will do to solve such problems. Using this dynamic plot Isenberg allows the reader to walk away with a new revelation: we should not mourn death but instead celebrate life.