Leadership 101 by John Maxwell

John Maxwell has written numerous books on leadership and management.  This one is a short summary of his basic leadership principles.  I liked the fact that he presents his ideas without gimic; no catchy acronyms or catch phrases. He just lays down common sence ideas like the importance of selfdiscipline, and earning people's trust by having integrity.  He also emphasies that developing leadership is on ongoing effort that can take years.  He illustrates principles with short anecdotes from history or from his own life.

So, I had a tough week at work politically, and felt like I needed a leadership peptalk.   I just randomly chose this title and it wasn't a bad choice.  For one thing, it is short.  The recorded book is only two hours long so I was able to listen to the whole thing in one day of doing chores around the house.  Also, I realized that I actually do much of what he is speaking about, which built my comfidence a bit. It also gave me some ideas about how to go forward with some of my problems at work.  So, if you just need a two-hour book to groud yourself and reset as a leader, I recommend this one.  I may read more by Maxwell in the future.(110 p. 2002)

The Selection by Kiera Cass

America Singer is a 5, a social class that are mostly artists and performers.  As 5's her family generally has enough to eat and a place to live, but there are times when they must choose between eating and having their home heated. America has a secret relationship with a boy who is a 6. Marriage outside your caste is frowned upon, and America's mom would be devistated to know she was dating someone of a lower caste. One avenue to attain a higher status is to participate in "The Selection," a process by which the crown prince chooses a bride from amoung his countrywomen.  When America is invited to participate in the "Selection," she, at first, refuses. But when even her boyfriend urges her to go, she takes the plung, but only because she knows how much her being a participant will help her family. What she doesn't know is how much she is going to end up really liking the prince.

This is the first book in one of the most popular YA series in our library.  All the time I have teens or their parents looking for "books like The Selection."  I finally decided I better read it, and can see why it is so popular.  It is a distopian Cinderella story, pretty similar in plot to both Cinder by Marrisa Meyer, and Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.  In all three, a girl doesn't understand how stunningly beautiful she is, and is surprised to find she has caught the attention of someone way above her station.  In all three books the Prince/Magical Being is just as attracted to her for her strong morals, as her good looks.  Cass's world building is interesting and her characterizations are good.  I enjoyed the book but am still deciding if I want to committ to read the whole series.  I must admit, YA fiction isn't really my favorite genre (with some exceptions) and I only read the first books in both the Cinder and Twilight series and then got tired of the raging hormones. (2012, 327 p)

Ali Cross by James Patterson

Ali Cross is the 13 year old son of the famous Washington DC, detective Alex Cross. Ali adores his dad, and wants to be just like him.  Unfortunately, his dad is on administrative leave because he is going on trial in a police brutality case.  Ali is also worried about a friend of his, Abraham, who has gone missing. Then on Christmas Eve, the Cross family's home is robbed, and all their Christmas gifts are stollen.  It is a tough time for Ali and his family, but Ali is determined to work to make things right.  He uses the skill and determination he has learned from his Dad to try to solve his first big case by finding his friend.

James Patterson has written so many books, and this one is an offshoot from his successful Alex Cross series for adults.  I have read a bunch of his kid's books, but when I tried to read one of his adult action/adventure crime books, it was way too dark and gritty for me. When I saw this book on the shelf, I decided to give it a try, and it turned out to be a decent kid mystery.  I am glad to know about it, because it is hard to find good kid mysteries with a male protagonist.  (It turns out most kid sleuths are girls.)  After reading this, I am interested to read a Alex Cross book. In this book Alex Cross is very moral, and even religious.  Maybe the Alex Cross mysteries are not as dark as other Paterson adult books I have tried. (2019, 320 p.)

La Casa en Magno Street by Sandra Cisneros

 Esperanza lives in a small house in the poor side of town.  This book contains short vinettes from her life as a Latina in a big American city.  

I wanted to read this book for several reasons.  I had, of course, heard of it and knew it was a multicultural classic, but had never read it.  It was also on a list of books on a grant I was considering applying for.  The other books on the list seemed super heavy, but this one seemed a little lighter.  The thing is, when I went to check it out on Overdrive, they didn't have an audio version in English, only in Spanish.  I have studied a little Spanish, and sometimes listen to Spanish blogs, so I thought I would try listening to it in Spanish.  As it turned out, I only caught about 1/3 of the words.  Some of the stories about words I know I understood pretty well. Other stories were about some word I didn't know, and I got very little of what was happening. I will have to go back some day and read it in English if I really want to find out what happened.  That said, trying to understand a book in Spanish, about a Spanish speaker who had to learn English was somehow a meaningful experience and I don't regret the time I spent doing it. (1994, 112 p)

My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade

Kate Donovan has always wanted to fall in love, get married, and raise a family, but her 30th birthday has come and gone and that hasn't happened for her. She decides to take a break from her career as a social worker to help her grandmother restore their family home.  There she meets the handsome handiman, Matt Jarreau.  He is reserved and seems to live under the cloud of grief.  Kate takes it upon herself to bring some sunshine back into his life, and ends up getting closer to Matt than she ever dreamed. Has God answered her prayer for a real love at last, or is her relationship with Matt only a temporary part of the Lord's plan?

After reading La Casa en Mango Street, my brain and soul needed a break.  Becky Wade's books are so silly because of the over-the-top male protagonists she creates.  In this one Matt is a Stanley Cup winning hockey player, and heartborken widower (his departed wife was a former Miss America).  Still, it is a fun read and just the mental break I needed.  It is a little nice to have characters who seek to be lead by the Spirit to do God's will, even when (or maybe especially when) that "will" concerns someone whose muscles ripple under his tight hocky t-shirt. (2012, 346 p)

The Christmas Heirloom by multiple authors

This is a collection of four Christmas romance novellas by four different authors*. The first is set in the 1700's in England and is about Sarah Gooding who is the hired companion to an older aristocratic woman.  Sarah finds herself falling in love with the woman's grandson, but knows the match is impossible because she, as a hired girl, is below his station as a gentleman.  The old woman, who herself married for love, gives Sarah a brooch that gives her the courage to follow her heart.

In the second, Sarah's granddaughter, Ruth, has inherited the brooch but has to use it for collateral when her husband dies and she doesn't have the money to secure housing for her and her daughter in the frontiers of Texas. As Sarah works to earn enough money to get the broach back, her landlord begins to see what a remarkable woman she is.

The third and fourth novellas also follow the romance of the granddaughter of the previous story's heroine.  The third woman is a sharp shooter in West Virginia, in the 1950's and the fourth is a woman in modern times. Each finds the man of her dreams at Christmas time with the help of the brooch. 

Ok, I read this back in March during all the COVID-19 crisis.  I was super stressed at work and needed total cotton candy escapism to get my mind off of my work troubles for just a few minutes each day.  This set did the trick.  Each of the stories features a Christian heroine, who prays for help and guidance as she makes difficult choices.  It is all super sappy, but was just the right thing for me right then in my life.  This a a great choice for those ladies out there who watch the Hallmark Christmas Specials all during December.  (Has a man ever read this book?  I doubt it.) (2018, 386 p)


*the authors in order
Kristi Anne Hunter
Karen Witemeyer
Sarah Loudin Thomas
Becky Wade

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

A family of fox kits sneaks out to hear stories that are supposed to be so scary they will "put the white in their tales."  Six young foxes sit together as the stories begin, but as the heroes of the stories face sickness, familial betrayal, a giant water lizard, and a crazed taxidermist, one fox after another sneaks away to the safety of their own den.  As the storyteller warned at the beginning of her tale, only those who are brave enough to last until the end will find the stories contain, not only terror, but also love.

This book won a Newbery honor medal last year.  It is a unusual book.  You wouldn't think that stories about anthropomorphized foxes could be very intense, but they are.  Heck, I almost sneaked away like the little foxes did after the first couple of stories.  The writing is lovely, and, like I said, very intense.  I am not quite sure what, if anything, the book was meant to accomplish, except maybe to reassure the reader, that, no matter how bad things get, there can still be better times ahead.  That said, I would not give this to any child unless they specifically asked for a scary story.  It could make a sensitive child have bad dreams for weeks, especially if they didn't finish the book.  Especially disturbing is the story about the an knife wielding Beatrix Potter. She puts even Dolores Umbridge to shame. (2019, 314 p)

Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Kamet is a slave, but a very powerful slave and a very valuable one as well.  As the chief slave of a Mede prince he directs all his other slaves and takes care of all his accounts and correspondence.  He has access to a good education, a good library, and even makes a little money of his own on the side.  Despite occasional abuse from his master, he is satisfied with his life, and scoffs when an Attolian visitor offers him freedom if he will come with him to Attolia. That all changes when Kamet hears that his master has been killed.  He knows that he will be blamed for the murder so he reluctantly escapes the city with the Attolian.  He doesn't really believe the Attolian, who claims to be a friend of the Attolian King, will really grant him his freedom, but traveling with the huge warrior is safer than traveling alone.  He plans to escape from him at his first chance.  He does not expect that his traveling companion, so different from himself, may slowly become a friend.

 

I don't know if my faithful blog readers know the history of this series.  Ms Turner wrote the first book in 1996.  This is the fifth in the series, and the sixth just barely came out.  So she has basically written the series at the rate of about one book every 4-5 years.  The fact that she has devoted fans who have been patiently following the series for a quarter century attests to how good they are.  I love Turner's books.  They are so clever and subtle in plot and rich in characterization.  Each one deals with relationships of unexpected love and respect. I love that in this one, Costis and Kamet develop a deep bro-love that is not sexual or twisted in any way.  They just become really good and trusted friends because of what they go through together.  I also really like the setting for this series.  It is an alternate BC Southern Europe/Southwest Asia.  Having been a classics major in college I eat it up.  So yay!  Now I have finished this one, I can read the last one in the series that just came out.  I even plan to actually read it ...in print!  Enough said. (336 p. 2017)

The Downstairs Girl by Stacy Lee

 Jo Kuan works as first a shop girl and later a lady's maid during the day, but at night she anonymously writes an advice column for a struggling newspaper.  Little do the owners of the newspaper know that Jo and her "uncle" Old Jen live in an old abolitionist hiding place under the newspaper office. Jo and her guardian are Chinese, but Jo was born in Georgia, and raised by Old Jen, who came to America as a young man to work on the railroad.  Since no one know where they live, they have to keep a low profile or risk losing the only home Jo can remember.  That becomes harder when Jo's advice column becomes popular and controversial.  When she is caught in the act of delivering one of her "anonymous" articles, she has to decide what she is willing to risk to keep having a way to let her real voice be heard.

I checked out this book because it is was on Overdrive's "Always Available" list.  When I started listening it, I almost returned it at once because I didn't like the voice actor. I stuck with it and ended up enjoying it pretty much.  Jo is an interesting protagonist.  She is a Chinese American living in the deep south and most people treat her like a colored person, but some do not.  I guess I always thought of the Chinese who ended up in California after the trans-continental railroad was finished, but it makes sense that not all the Chinese immigrants stayed in California.  Lee's writing style is a bit flowery for me.  She uses a lot of short simile's and metaphors to describe stuff.  They are not cliche; in fact, they were quite original, but I did get a little tired of them by the end.  Still, I enjoyed the book and it opened to me a new awareness of the plight of Chinese Americans in the Reconstruction era South.  (376, 2019)

A Lady in Disguise by Sandra Byrd

Miss Gillian Young's mother was an heiress, but became an outcast from society when she decided to become an actress. She married a middle class police detective and they lived very happily until the mother's death.  When her father subsequently dies in a freak accident Gillian is suspicious, and her worry only grows when evidence turns up that her dad was a crooked cop.  As she looks into the allegations she is both pleased and confused by the attentions of two men.  Lord Thomas Lockwood, a man of wealth and title, could have any debutante, so why was he concerning himself in her troubles?  Constable Francis is probably more of her own social class, and the son of her late father's partner, but she doesn't feel any real attraction to him.  As evidence mounts of her father's alleged indiscretions, it is hard for Miss Young to know whom to trust, and where to turn.

After reading the book below (Fighting Words), I felt like I needed something light to read for a little while.  I decided to try a new author of my favorite escapist genre, Christian romance.  I must say I was a little underwhelmed by this one.  It was fine.  The mystery is decent and the romance is OK.  What it lacked was sparkle.  I would liked to have had witty repartee and funny interludes to break up the suspense of the mystery elements.  They just weren't there.  I also think that the portrayal of the relationships and interactions were not very authentic to the time period.  I think I would have liked it better on another week, but this week it just didn't do it for me. (plus, I didn't really like the reader, she read way too slowly, and I thought her accents a little forced) (2017. 376 p)

(I need to make a list of Christian Romance authors and if I liked them or not, so I can find new books in a hurry when I need.  If I do, I will add a link or and entry on this blog.)