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Meeting Mr. Wrong – A Book Review

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Ok, we’ve all been there. Well, maybe you haven’t but I know I have. You meet someone and it doesn’t seem right. Then you meet someone else and that doesn’t seem right. After a few of these adventures you begin to wonder if you’re a magnet for crazy people. And I really hope I’m not alone in this one.

We enter the scene of Meeting Mr. Wrong with the words “I never thought I would have to do this again.” Meet Stephanie Snowe who is launching herself (and that’s an almost literal phrase) back into the dating world. She records her real-life adventures in her book subtitled “The Romantic Misadventures of a Southern Belle.”

Stephanie has a writing tone that I can only describe as sassy. Lines like “I was especially not interested in cheating with married men due to my personal situation which involved my husband leaving me for a woman who was not only married to someone else but also had a really ugly Billy Ray Cyrus mullet and inner-thigh tattoos” left me shaking my head and re-reading them twice just to make sure I read it right.

The book had me laughing out loud. Especially the part where she writes the personal ad that kicks of her new dating career. Bound and determined to find the perfect man for her, Stephanie braves date after date with all sorts of characters that you’d think you can only find in romantic comedies. But Stephanie found them in real life.

This book is an excellent gift for a girlfriend who needs a pick-me-up and a good laugh. I will definitely be reading more of Stephanie’s works in the future.

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Married to the Brand – A Book Review

I was turned on to the book Married to the Brand by my dear friend Jen. She said it is one of her business bibles. Now that’s some high praise, right? Well, it only made sense that I had to check it out ASAP. I ordered it that day and I couldn’t wait to start reading it once it arrived.

The premise of this book is simple.  There are times when certain individuals bond with a particular brand / company / product and they absolutely refuse to use or buy anything else. I can relate. I rarely use anything but RSVP pens from Pentel. There is nothing like Old Navy jeans for me. And a Caramel Macchiato from anywhere but Starbucks? It’s just not the same.

But how did that happen? How did I get attached to certain brands and not others? Why, in a world full of imitations (many of which as just as good as the full priced brand) am I hooked on certain products or services to the point where nothing else is good enough? It’s simple. I’ve married the brand.

Married to the Brand is based on countless hours of studying consumers and market insights to find the keys to creating that marriage. It’s not easy. Oh sure, it’s simple in concept, but the market place is not predictable. So how does it happen? This book outlines simple plans of action to potentially entice consumers into marrying your brand. But here’s the thing: the entire time I was reading this book, I didn’t feel like I was getting suggestions on how to create the perfect atmosphere for a brand marriage. It’s more like “don’t let anything get in the way and possibly prevent a brand marriage” type of a book. You can quite possibly do absolutely everything right, but the marriage still doesn’t happen. That’s just the nature of attracting consumers sometimes. But maybe that’s just me.

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The Celebrity Experience – A Book Review

Welcome to 10 Days of Business Book Reviews, a power series of sorts. This should be a lot of fun especially for people like me who enjoy the following:

Books that make you think
Books that provide powerful case studies
Books that offer straightforward guidance and are structured in a “how to” fashion
Books that appeal to your entrepreneurial spirit

The first book up for review is called The Celebrity Experience. This book is all about a topic that is near and dear to my heart: Customer Service. But really, it’s more than that. It’s about going above and beyond for your customers.

Call it what you want: customer service, client attention, patron appreciation… it doesn’t matter. What does matter is how your customer base perceives the way that you treat them. It’s true. And 99% of your customers LOVE it when you go above and beyond for them. (Let’s face it; about 1% of your customers will never be happy no matter what you do.)

This book by Donna Cutting (who told me about this book on Twitter several months ago) is fantastic. The case studies are outstanding and intelligently placed within the context of the book. The tips are simple and well thought out and the concept behind the whole book is completely relevant to almost every type of business out there. Regardless of whether your entire business is online or if you have a brick and mortar establishment, you can take the concepts of this book and apply them to how you handle and work with your clients. Not to mention the fact that I really want to stay at the Gaylord Opryland Resort after reading what they do for guests.

I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone who has a business, is in management, or is interested in making a revolution in their workplace.

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Tribes: A Book Review

This month, I’ll be focusing reviews on business-related items. I’ve been reading a ton of business books lately and so I figured dedicating a whole month to it would be a good idea.

Today, we’re starting off with Tribes by Seth Godin. Seth is revered by many to be a marketing genius. His blog is read by tons of people everyday and he’s definitely a breath of fresh air in what can be an extremely stale industry. He talks about doing things differently. Not just things that you haven’t tried before, but things that you never considered doing before either. I first heard Seth speak at an SES Conference (Search Engine Strategies) in Chicago in 2007. His book, Meatball Sundae had just been released and he was talking about what marketers were doing wrong. Then he took it one step further and said what they should be doing instead.

Tribes is no different. The whole concept is the difference between managing and leading. At least that’s what I got out of it. Like most of Seth’s books, it’s short and to the point. He breaks down his concept of Tribes (and the leaders of those Tribes) via case studies, pointed stories, and easy steps to accomplish tasks. Here is an example:

It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.

It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.

It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.

It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.

His insights are always based in his experiences and while there are some theories of his sprinkled throughout the book, most of them made sense to me. And that’s saying a lot since I’m just now really pushing my business side of myself into high gear. Seth has a very candid way of discussing business, marketing and various industries. His books always leave me thinking about where I can grow as a business woman and where I need to improve. I recommend this book for anyone who is thinking of starting a business or feels stagnant in their current situation.

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Slumdog Millionaire: A Book Review

A few months ago, my husband and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire in the theater. Nevermind the fact that we hadn’t seen a movie in a theater since Charlie Wilson’s War was out and the one before that was Balboa. Yes, three movies in two years.

Anyway, lack of date nights aside, I loved the movie. I stuck around through the credits and saw that the movie was in fact based on a book called “Q&A” by Vikas Swarup. It didn’t take me long to order the book to see how the story lines matched and plus I was curious about a few scenes in the movie that I wanted a little more explanation on.

About two chapters into the book, I knew I was reading a different story than what I had seen on the screen. The premise was still the same; a kid goes on a gameshow with a “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” style to it and does amazingly well considering his lack of education and his background. But that’s where the similarities end. His motivation for going on the show, his life, the people he meets along the way… it’s very different. Still a good read, but very different.

This is one instance (and it is extremely rare) that I liked the movie better than the book. If you’re a fan of the movie and you read the book, you’ll see why. I also recommend seeing the movie first (another rare thing for me to say) before you read the book. I would love to hear from someone who liked the book better and why.

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Books I Read Over & Over

Some books are magical. Books that you can read over and over again and they never lose their intensity no matter how many times you read them.

Here are just a couple that fit the bill for me:

1. Pride and Prejudice – truly one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. The language is vivid and it pulls on your heart as the characters struggle with their inner desires and what their heads tell them they should do. Quite honestly, I feel this way about all of Jane Austen’s books, but this one in particular stands out to me.
2. American Brutus – This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you like history or non-fiction, add this book to your reading list. It is a biography of John Wilkes Booth and it follows him through the assassination of President Lincoln and his attempted escape. I am a Civil War History buff (not that I can recite facts, I’m just fascinated by that entire time period) and my dad recommended this book to me. I recommend it to anyone looking for a historical non-fiction book that reads like a novel.
3. Catcher in the Rye - My definitive favorite book. I read this in high school and fell in love with the idea of Holden Caulfield. His struggle with reality and his own perception of it was something I could identify with both then and now. Language aside, this book changed the way I look at literature.
4. Little Women – This book is one that I hope my daughter falls in love with. There is nothing like the bond of sisterhood (I have two brothers and no sisters, but now I have two sisters-in-law and another about to join our family) and reading that book took me to a world where I suddenly had four sisters that I could share adventures with. Again, I get lost in the language of the book and Louisa May Alcott paints a vivid picture of the life and times of these four young women and Laurie.
5. Gone With the Wind - The obstinance and determination of Scarlett O’Hara evolves through every page in this book. While I didn’t like the follow-up book nearly as much as the original, this book captured my imagination of the world during the Civil War and the situations that Scarlett found herself in as she was forced to grow up from her childish and immature ways. While she didn’t fully grow up, she quickly learned that she was no match for Rhett. Another amazingly romantic book, this one had my full attention every step of the way.

There are a lot more books that I would read repeatedly, but these are my top 5. What books would you read over and over again and feel the same way that you did the first time you read them?

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Beyond Belief: A Book Review

I’ve mentioned this book before, but it really is deserving of its own post. I’m a huge fan of comeback stories and Beyond Belief is quite a story. I didn’t much at all about Josh Hamilton until he made his comeback into baseball. I first heard bits and pieces of his story during the Homerun Derby of this past season. I was intrigued.

Then I was given an opportunity to read the book. I jumped at the chance. Josh Hamilton, if you didn’t know, was an athletic phenomenon; he was recruited out of high school to join MLB in the minors. He was a good, wholesome kid. Raised with strong values and loyal to his family. But then, things started to happen.

He started trying drugs and tattooing his whole body. He knew that he was sinking into an abyss but he couldn’t stop. Soon he was addicted to crack cocaine. He was running out of money, respect and time. All of his energy and efforts went to finding more drugs. Alienating his entire family including his wife and daughter, he searched for answers and didn’t find any. He failed drug test after drug test and was soon one failed test away from being banned from baseball for life.

He finally hit bottom and started looking for help. It wasn’t easy. He went through lots of tough times. He was accompanyed everywhere because he didn’t trust himself. But he started to come back out of the fog, a little bit at a time. He continues to struggle but everyday gets easier.

Josh details the downward spiral and the uphill battle in this book. It’s an excellent read for anyone like sports or comeback stories.

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Book News: March 29, 2008

Here are some books that you may want to keep your eye on that have just been released:

Handle with Care (Jodi Piccoult) Description: “Handle with Care” explores the knotty tangle of medical ethics and personal morality. When faced with the reality of a fetus who will be disabled, should a parent have the right to consider termination? Bestselling author Picoult explores a timely yet controversial issue in her latest novel.

Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption (Jennifer Thompson-Cannin) Description: What happened in this book will change what you think of the criminal justice system in this country. Each of [the authors] tells an extraordinary story about crime . . . but it’s their shared spiritual journey toward reconciliation and forgiveness that is even more compelling and profound.–Barry C. Scheck.

A Lion Called Christian (Anthony Bourke) Description: In 2008 an extraordinary two-minute film clip appeared on YouTube and immediately became an international phenomenon. It captures the moving reunion of two young men and their pet lion Christian, after they had left him in Africa with Born Free’s George Adamson to introduce him into his rightful home in the wild. A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity, cruising the streets in the back of a Bentley, popping in for lunch at a local restaurant, even posing for a fashion advertisement. But the lion cub was growing up—fast—and soon even the walled church garden where he went for exercise wasn’t large enough for him. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the hit film Born Free, led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of “the father of lions” George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions. Originally published in 1971, and now fully revised and updated with more than 50 photographs of Christian from cuddly cub in London to magnificent lion in Africa,A Lion Called Christian is a touching and uplifting true story of an indelible human-animal bond. It is is destined to become one of the great classics of animal literature.

New York Times Best Seller List for Fiction this week:

1. HANDLE WITH CARE, by Jodi Picoult. A woman whose daughter has a dangerous birth defect must decide whether to sue her obstetrician, an old friend.
2. CORSAIR, by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon search for a missing secretary of state whose plane has been shot down.
3. THE ASSOCIATE, by John Grisham. An idealistic law-school graduate is forced to take a job at a large, brutalizing law firm.
4. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer. One woman won’t surrender to the aliens who have taken control.
5. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. A New York detective raising 10 children alone must stop a killer.
6. PROMISES IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. Lt. Eve Dallas investigates a colleague’s murder; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously.
7. THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. A journalist travels to the island of Guernsey to meet residents who resisted the Nazi occupation.
8. HEART AND SOUL, by Maeve Binchy. A doctor establishes a heart clinic in a Dublin neighborhood.
9. ONE DAY AT A TIME, by Danielle Steel. A Hollywood mother and her two daughters all find love.
10. DEAD SILENCE, by Randy Wayne White. Doc Ford searches for a kidnapped boy.

New York Times Best Seller List for Non-Fiction this week:

1. OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell. Why some people succeed, from the author of “Blink.”
2. A LION CALLED CHRISTIAN, by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall. Two men buy a pet lion cub in London, bring him to Africa when he is grown, and later have a heartwarming reunion; an update of a 1971 book.
3. HOUSE OF CARDS, by William D. Cohan. The fall of Bear Stearns and the beginning of the Wall Street collapse.
4. THE YANKEE YEARS, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. The former Yankee manager (1996-2007) on his years with the team.
5. THE LOST CITY OF Z, by David Grann. A New Yorker writer searches for a British explorer who disappeared 80 years ago in the Amazon.
6. MY BOOKY WOOK, by Russell Brand. A memoir of sex, drugs and stand-up from a British comedian.
7. INSIDE THE REVOLUTION, by Joel C. Rosenberg. The power of three groups in the Middle East: Islamic radicals, moderate reformers and Muslims who are becoming Christians.
8. DEWEY, by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter. The kitten left freezing in the returned-book slot of an Iowa public library and his rise to fame.
9. A BOLD FRESH PIECE OF HUMANITY, by Bill O’Reilly. The Fox News commentator on his upbringing and career.
10. THE UNFORGIVING MINUTE, by Craig M. Mullaney. A soldier’s coming-of-age.

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When a Skeptic Finally Reads the Book

I admit it; wholeheartedly in fact. I was completely avoiding the whole thing. The excitement and the frenzy around it was baffling. I didn’t get why people were so excited about it. So I purposely didn’t read it.

I’m talking about Twilight. When I first heard the buzz about it, I picked up the book in a store and checked it out for a minute. But it was about vampires. Um, not so much my thing. So I put it back. I’ve watched all the books come out and, of course, the hype about the movie and I’ve shook my head and gone on. I almost went out of my way to avoid it all.

Why? Because it was vampires. Like I said, it’s not my thing. Coffins, stakes through the heart, garlic (and this statement incidentally mirrors a scene in the book) are not something that I’m particularly interested in. I’ve never seen Interview with a Vampire, never read books on the subject and I decided wasn’t about to start. It’s ironic that I read all seven Harry Potter books in a month but refused to read Twilight, but that’s another story.

But then I was at my brother and sister-in-law’s house and she started talking about how much she liked it. I highly respect my sister-in-law’s opinions on books. We’re frequently recommending things to each other, loaning each other books and then comparing notes. So when she said she liked it, I was stunned.

“It’s about vampires, right?” I asked

“Yeah, but it’s not what you think.”

“It’s not?”

“No. All the stuff about coffins, silver bullets and all that…”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not in there.”

Ok. I decided to try it. She leant me the book and it took me nearly a month to finally decide to actually read it. So I started it this past Wednesday night. I finished it Friday  night. I couldn’t put it down. It is wonderfully written. You have a clear sense of everything happening in each of the character’s minds and their internal struggles as the story progresses. And, in an odd sense, it’s one of the most romantic books I have ever read. Seriously.

I’ve joined in the fervor over other books before. Some lived up to the hype, some did not. This one, for me at least, surpassed it.

So what am I going to do now? Probably head over to my sister-in-law’s house to borrow the other books at some point today. Oh, and maybe get my mom to read it.

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Supergirls Speak Out: A Review

As a young woman and as the mother of a little girl, I’m acutely aware of the pressures surrounding women today. The pressure to succeed, the drive to do more, the drive to be more – it seems to permeate all aspects of women’s lives today. So when I got the opportunity to read Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls, I was definitely interested in what author Liz Funk had to say.

Over the years of my life I’ve been faced with scenarios spelled out like the ones that Liz describes in her book. I worked with troubled kids (both boys and girls) for several years and there are definite patterns that emerged from that work. And I see it in adult women too, not just high school and college age girls.

Liz is right; there is a pressure to be perfect on girls and it starts at an early age. So Liz took a really unique approach; she followed five girls very closely and interviewed nearly one hundred others to get some insight. She introduces us to Katie, Allie, Yolanda, Pegah and Leah (along with lots of others) and shows us how these girls are attempting to handle life as it comes at them pretty quickly.

Liz also uses these girls to try and determine the causes of this overachieving syndrome that is known to result in breakdowns and the inability to handle life in general. What are the things that manifest into eating disorders, insecurities and countless other anxieties that affect so many young girls these days? While Liz may not have all the answers, the picture she paints is pretty clear. And as a reformed Supergirl, I can say that she’s pretty accurate.

While I don’t agree with Liz on every point that she made, she’s written a well-thought out book and she’s thrown in some humor along the way. The key (and I agree) is to learn to live a balanced life and loosen up when you need to. There’s nothing wrong with having a strong desire to achieve (and Liz admits this); the issue is when it becomes an extreme.

I really enjoyed this book. Any mother of young girls and even teenagers would probably like this book, especially if they are an overachiever themselves.

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