Great Courses: Influence by Kenneth Brown

 In this twelve lecture series, Brown discusses how people are able to influence others, for good or bad, and how people can recognize and resist predatory influence.  He starts out by identifying four elements that factor into an interaction, and how these factors can be tweaked to improve the chance of influence. He also discusses how to recognize con-artists and how they use the same elements to trick people.  Professor brown quotes different studies throughout and also takes examples from both research and popular media.  He ends each lecture with suggested exercises to reinforce the principles taught.

I have listened to several Great Courses series before and this one was neither my favorite or my least favorite.  A lot of the things he talks about are part of common wisdom, like the importance of wearing a smile, using a firm handshake, and being genuine. As I was listening I thought that his suggestions were just as likely to help people manipulate others as to legitimately influence others.  I found it useful to think about his main points, and the series did remind me of some things I could do better with as a manager and government employee. (12 lectures, 6 hrs total, 2014)

A Reluctant Bride by Jodie Hedlund

Mercy Jenkins takes care of her many siblings while her mom works picking rags and her dad works in a factory.  Then her mom loses her job, and Mercy knows they won't be able to feed all the children anymore.  Mercy hears of opportunity for women who are willing to immigrate to Oregon Territory.  Even though Mercy had long since decided to never get married and become a baby factory like her mother, she hopes she might be able to get a job and send money back home.  It is only when she is on the ship that she realizes the women are intended to be brides for single men in Oregon.  On the ship she starts helping a young ship's doctor as a nurse and assistant.  He is a nobleman running away from an unhappy past.  Both know that they should not get romantically involved, but when has that ever stopped anyone?

Here is a new historical Christian romance writer I hadn't tried.  The book is pretty good.  The pacing is a bit slow, and Hedlund doesn't really explain how the couple are going to overcome the obvious obstacles that they face, but the characters are well drawn and there are enough interesting side plots to keep a reader engaged.  The Christian element isn't too heavy handed and probably appropriate to the time period. The audiobook reader handles Mercy's cockney accent well. I will probably try reading either more in this series or something else written by Hedlund again. (352 p. 2019)

The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates

 Melinda Gates has been the driving force behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's charitable projects.  In this book Gates tells about her journey as she entered into humanitarian aid and what experiences guided her direction.  She has mainly focused on projects that will help women in underprivileged communities. In the book she has chapters about some of the main challenges women face, including having access to birth control, having access to education, having options to work outside the home, having control over who and when to marry. She also discusses issues women face in developed countries, like the lack of women in leadership and tech jobs, creating partnership in marriage, and dealing with religious beliefs that support male dominance.

I chose this book because I felt like, in a time of year so often focused on materialism, it is good to be reminded that not everyone enjoys the advantages we do in the United States.  The stories Ms Gates recounts are heartrending, and it is hard to internalized that there are so many places still left in the world where women lack basic rights.  I also appreciated her discussion about how she, as a devout Catholic, has dealt with reconciling the Catholic Church's prohibition of contraceptives with the reality of their importance in lifting women from poverty and oppression.  I must admit, I was having similar feelings of conflict when I read the chapter about male dominant religions and how they perpetuate the idea the women are somehow "less" than men.  The audiobook is read by Ms Gates, and was written in 2019.  It is a little sad to hear the enthusiasm in her voice as she discusses how she and Bill managed to establish a relationship of true partnership, knowing that just two years later they divorced because of Bill's involvement with the Jeffery Epstein sex scandal. Still, the book is worthwhile  and a reminder of all that still needs to be done to create a completely equitable society. (2019, 288p)

Spider's Web by Agatha Christie, Novelization by Charles Osborne

 Clarissa loves her quiet life with her diplomat husband, but sometimes longs for a little adventure.  It arrives in the form of the new husband of Clarissa's husband's druggy ex-wife.  He wants to gain custody of Clarissa's step daughter, Pippa, something Clarissa cannot allow.  After an argument the ex leaves in a huff, but a little while later Clarissa finds his dead body in the drawing room.  Fearing the impact the murder investigation will have on her husband's career, she convinces three friends to help her move the body.  Before their plan can be enacted the police arrive. Clarissa has to use all her wits to discover who killed the despicable man before she or others she loves are implicated. 

This story was originally written as a stage play which has run continually in London's West side since 1953.  Charles Osborne adapted it as a short novel, and the sound recording by Harper Audio is really well done.  Agatha Christie was such a master.  The plot was intricate, and the ending was surprising enough to be satisfying. Christie included enough clues in the story that you think, "Oh, yeah, I should have seen that."  I have seen Mouse Trap two times on the stage (Christie's only play that has run longer than this one) and I think I like this one better.  It didn't have the cliché final scene where everyone's secrets are revealed like Mouse Trap does. This would be a great audiobook to listen to on a car ride with a spouse. (4 hrs, 2012)

The Sheriffs of Savage Wells by Sarah Eden

 Paisley Bell had been working as the unofficial assistant to the sheriff of their sleepy Wyoming town before he left to become a logger in Oregon. She kept on acting as sheriff until the city council decided to advertise for a replacement. The other four candidates scoff when Paisley applies for the position, especially a famous lawman, Cade O'Brien.  Cade is tired of killing bad guys, first in the Civil War and later as a sheriff.  He wants a job in a quiet town where he can settle down. At first he finds Paisley's stubbornness frustrating, and the two butt heads.  But as the competition for the position advances, they come to secretly respect each other and realize that they enjoy their verbal sparring matches. Sparks start flying of a different nature, but will their ambition to land the same job prove to be a permanent wedge between them?

After my two failed book attempts, I just wanted something to read that I knew wouldn't contain any smut. This is one of Shadow Mountain's "Proper Romances"  and although they are full of romance, they don't contain bad language or sex. This book ended up being so cliché that it made me laugh out loud.  It was like Louis Lamour meets Georgette Heyer. The characters were bigger than life, and there is no real attempt to make the setting authentic. Still, it was just what I was in the mood for at the time and I really enjoyed it.  I am glad I have a few authors I can return to for refuge with the I need a break from modern amorality.  (336, 2016)

Two books I didn't finish by Emily Henry

I discovered this week that Emily Henry is not the author for me.  I started with Book Lovers and really liked it in the beginning.  The dialog was clever and snappy, but two hours in the description of their sexual attraction got too much for me.  I just don't want to hear over and over which body parts were throbbing and what each was touching when they lost control around each other. 

It just so happened that the next book on my hold list was also by Henry.  I actually didn't realize it was by the same author in the beginning but when I figured it out I was instantly on my guard.  People We Meet on Vacation was less steamy than Book Lovers, and I liked the characters a little better.  I actually listened to 8 of the 11 hours of the recording, but then got bored.  The reader learns early on that the main characters had spent 10 summers vacationing together. I had listened to the descriptions of 4 of them. They involved a lot of drinking and being silly together, and I thought, "do I really want to listen to the last  6 vacations for three more hours?" and the answer was "No."  Plus, their relationship in the "present" was heating up and I was afraid it would be as descriptive as in the Book Lovers book.

It is interesting that I put them on hold because they were some of the top requested titles on our library's e-books server.  Other people are clearly liking them better than I did.  

The Candy Cane Caper by Josi Kilpack

 Sadie is getting ready for her children, her husband's children and all the grandchildren to come to visit for Christmas.  In the midst of her busy preparations, she takes time to visit an elderly friend, Mary, who is in a care center and dying of cancer.  During the visit Mary tells Sadie about the vintage ornaments on her Christmas tree and Sadie is astounded to find out how valuable they are.  The next day some of the ornaments are stollen, and Sadie, who used to be a private invistigator, sets aside her busy Christmas preparations to try to find them before Mary discovers that they are missing and it ruins her last earthly Christmas. 

Here is a very mild cozy mystery to start off your Christmas reading.  Nobody get's killed, nobody even yells at another person.  Kilpack sprinkles the story with some funny scenes, and some touching family reunions. Of course, there are recipes at the end of each chapter, but the audio book doesn't read through them. They are suposedly available from an attached pdf but I didn't try to find them.  This isn't the first book about Sadie, and I would be willing to read the first one, but sadly it is not available in audio on Libby. (sigh) (2019, 320 pages)