“Business book reviews - Dallas Morning News” plus 3 more |
- Business book reviews - Dallas Morning News
- Green Reads: Book Reviews For St. Patrick’s Day - Kidzworld
- New and Notable book reviews - AZCentral.com
- Book Reviews - MLive.com
| Business book reviews - Dallas Morning News Posted: 08 Mar 2010 05:55 AM PST
Top Talent
Sylvia Ann Hewlett (Harvard Business Press, $18)
Sylvia Ann Hewlett's research shows that survivors of layoffs suffer from "downsizing syndrome." While management believes many survivors are happy because they still have jobs, the opposite is true. Even in a tough job market, Hewlett found that 84 percent of women and 40 percent of men were considering bolting. Why? Survivors think a downsized organization, especially one that also slashes its training budget, downsizes their career paths, too. Their workloads will increase, as will the pressure to meet deadlines. No wonder more than 60 percent of these workers described themselves as demoralized, paralyzed and demotivated. Management's failure to consider the reaction of survivors is an ironic misstep. Companies kept essential people, yet most of them don't feel essential. Hewlett shows that two-way communication minimizes downsizing syndrome. Let people voice their concerns. Smaller teams offer more options for career growth. Managers must help survivors grow into expanded roles. Nonmonetary rewards increase buy-in, too. Use time as currency. Allowing flexible schedules shows your concern for work/life balance. Hewlett addresses how to introduce restructuring plans so employees know they're trailblazers creating the future, not survivors of the past.
Go-Givers Sell More
Bob Burg and David Mann (Portfolio, $21.95)
The typical sales process involves persuading customers to buy. The go-giver process makes customers want to buy by creating "value for other people through excellence, consistency, attention, empathy and appreciation." When your customers plan to purchase a complementary product, a go-giver does research on products that seamlessly integrate with what they already have. Think about how customers would react when alerted to such products and provided with information and sales contacts. Then think about the "thank you" call you'd get from the other product's salesperson. You might receive reciprocal referrals. Jim Pawlak reviews business books for The Dallas Morning News. bizbooks@hotmail.com
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| Green Reads: Book Reviews For St. Patrick’s Day - Kidzworld Posted: 07 Mar 2010 11:50 PM PST Ever feel like celebrating a special day or holiday with a really great book? In honor of St. Patrick's Day 2010, we're reviewing some "Green" books that will help you do just that! Green By Laura Peyton Roberts Turning 13 starts off with a bang for Lily. Literally. A birthday present explodes on her porch … and soon after a trio of leprechauns appears in her bedroom. They whisk her away to a land of clover, piskies, a new friend, a cute boy and lots of glimmering, glittering gold. A world of Green. It turns out that Lily, like her grandmother before her, is next in line to be keeper for the Clan of Green, and in charge of all their gold. That is, if she passes three tests. And she has to pass them. Because if she doesn't she may never get to go home again. She'll be stuck with the Greens. Forever. Green Angel By Alice Hoffman Left on her own when her family dies in a terrible disaster, fifteen-year-old Green is haunted by loss and by the past. Struggling to survive physically and emotionally in a place where nothing seems to grow and ashes are everywhere, Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. But in destroying her feelings, she also begins to destroy herself, erasing the girl she'd once been as she inks darkness into her skin. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters that Green can relearn the lessons of love and begin to heal enough to tell her story. Green Witch By Alice Hoffman In this powerful, lovely sequel to Green Angel, Green must learn the stories of a number of "witches" and free her true soul mate from a prison as she grapples with life, love and loss in a post-disaster world. Knights Of The Ruby Wand By Tony Abbott In this Secrets Of Droon book (#36), a big problem's come up: it seems that the secret of Droon is no longer a secret! Eric's mom knows about the rainbow staircase … and, what's worse, so does Gethwing. The Moon Dragonhas sent his minions to the Upper World in search of a magical object that COULD give him power over all of Droon. Now no place is safe from Gethwing's dark magic … The Pickle King By Rebecca Promitzer Bea lives in Elbow, where it rains all summer. Most people leave to go somewhere sunny, but there are always a few kids left behind. Already bored on the second day of the holidays, her friend Sam turns up at her house and drags her through the rain to see a discover he's made in a creepy, derelict house – a dead man. A mystery unfolds in front of their eyes, and with her gang of misfit friends, Bea must uncover the clues to find the answers. But they're being watched and the more they discover, the more dangerous it becomes. After Ever After By Jordan Sonnenblick After Ever After takes place during Jeffrey's eighth grade year. He has beaten cancer, though it's left him with nerve damage in one foot and brain damage that makes school, especially math, a real struggle. On top of his disabilities, Jeffrey is dealing with his best friend Tad's interpersonal issues (Tad is also a childhood cancer survivor), the looming fear of a statewide assessment exam the absence of his beloved brother Steven and his first real crush on a girl. Woods Runner By Gary Paulsen Samuel, 13, spends his days in the forest, hunting for food for his family. He has grown up on the frontier of a British colony, America. Far from any town, or news of the war against the King that American patriots have begun near Boston. But the war comes to them. British soldiers and Iroquois attack. Samuel's parents are taken away, prisoners. Samuel follows, hiding, moving silently, determined to find a way to rescue them. Each day he confronts the enemy, and the tragedy and horror of this war. But he also discovers allies, men and women working secretly for the patriot cause. And he learns that he must go deep into enemy territory to find his parents: all the way to the British headquarters, New York City. To Come And Go Like Magic By Katie Pickard Fawcett Twelve-year-old Chili Sue Mahoney has never been outside of her small Appalachian town. Momma says Mercy Hill, Kentucky, is her "true home," but Chili longs to see the world—to have the freedom to leave and to explore. So when Miss Matlock is brought in as the 7th grade substitute teacher, Chili and her classmate Willie Bright are thrilled. Everyone knows Miss Matlock has traveled around the globe. Why she's come back to her childhood home after all this time is a mystery, but Chili and Willie are eager to befriend her despite the rumors. As the three spend time together, Chili learns about the jungles and deserts and cities of the world. But she also discovers that there's more to Mercy Hill than she thought: beauty, in the people and places she's known all her life, and secrets, sometimes where they're least expected. Related Stories: Read more: Books Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| New and Notable book reviews - AZCentral.com Posted: 07 Mar 2010 09:52 AM PST 'The Man From Beijing' Henning Mankell (Knopf, $25.95) On a cold night in 2006, 18 of the 22 residents of a tiny Swedish village are slaughtered. A 19th victim, a boy visiting relatives, is killed quickly in his sleep, but the others, all elderly, are hacked and sliced to death. The dead share three surnames - Andersson, Andren and Magnusson - and due to inbreeding it's likely that they're all related. Only the survivors' names differ. Into this mysterious crime scene comes Birgitta Roslin, a judge from Helsingborg in southern Sweden. Her mother's foster parents, whom Brigitta never knew, were named Andren, and she thinks there's a connection to the murders. Against all odds, she turns out to be a better detective than the real ones as she uncovers a mystery that's rooted in the 19th century, fueled by a quest for revenge, and spans the globe from China to Sweden to the American West. Not all your questions will be answered neatly, but the book's territory is so broad that you'll probably forget them before you notice. Mankell's "Kurt Wallander" series was adapted for PBS. 'Not Without Hope' Nick Schuyler (Morrow, $25.99) In February 2009, a 21-foot boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico some 70 miles off Florida after the four men aboard were unable to raise its anchor when bad weather closed in. Schuyler alone was rescued after clinging to the hull of the boat for more than 40 hours. His friends (including Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, son of Channel 12 sportscaster Bruce Cooper) had died, one by one, most likely of hypothermia. Schuyler gives a searing description of what happened, from the men's initial disbelief when they were dumped into the water (their life jackets, warm clothing and cellphones still in the submerged boat), to their fight against crushing waves, to the hallucinatory effects of cold and exhaustion as it overcame them. They were inexperienced and unlucky, and they paid dearly for it. Schuyler was left to answer the questions of his friends' families and to wrestle with his own thoughts. Why was he the only survivor? And between the lines, his unspoken dilemma: How much, in the end, should the only survivor reveal? 'Vanishing Phoenix' Robert A. Melikian (Arcadia, $21.99) I'd guess that to a historian the two dirtiest words in the English language are "torn down." I've lived in Phoenix for 30 years, yet I never knew that most of the buildings in this book existed. And you know why. Torn down. The heart of present-day Phoenix is, it seems, full of ghosts. There was the lovely Clark Churchill house on Van Buren between Fifth and Seventh streets, which was sold by its owner two years after its completion in 1895 and became Phoenix Union High School. There's the dainty cottage-like building that in 1895 opened as St. Joseph's Hospital (it had six patient rooms; a photo shows Sisters of Mercy in their habits standing on the porch). There's the John T. Dennis house (built in 1887, torn down in 1952) on East Monroe, the street where Phoenix's wealthy built their mansions, and the Coffee Pot, a kitschy restaurant at Seventh Street and McDowell Road where you could get a sandwich for 20 cents. Melikian's comments are as interesting as the photos. You might just take a ghostly tour of your own. 'Execution Dock' Anne Perry (Ballantine, $15) Victorian Londoners had sensibilities different from ours, but they dealt with some of the same ugly problems. In this novel, now new in paperback, it's the sexual abuse of children and slick legal maneuvering on behalf of unsavory clients. In 1864, Perry's elegant detective, William Monk, is the new head of the Thames River police. After a hectic chase among the river barges, he captures Jericho Phillips, a pornographer accused of the torture and murder of an adolescent boy. An anonymous patron hires Oliver Rathbone (Monk's friend and former suitor of Monk's wife) to defend Phillips. He gets an acquittal, threatening his friendship with the Monks and the future of the river police. Things happen carefully and at length in Perry's books, as if she wants to make very sure we understand everything her characters feel and do. The slow pace calls attention to itself, but doesn't seem out of place in a novel set so long ago, a suspenseful, atmospheric story about the seedy side of London in another time. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 06 Mar 2010 10:36 AM PST "Alice I Have Been" by Melanie Benjamin Random House, 2010, 368 pages, $25 "Alice I Have Been" is a brilliant blend of fact and fiction that explores the entangled lives of Alice Liddell Hargreaves and Charles Dodgson. Alice was the inspiration for the universally beloved tale "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and Dodgson is better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll. They met at Oxford when Alice was just a young girl, whose father was the university's dean and Dodgson was a shy, stuttering mathematics professor. The unlikely pair strike up a deep friendship, inspiring Dodgson in both his writing and his photography. Their bond, however, is misunderstood by Alice's family, and though she is forced to sever their friendship, she is forever haunted by their connection as heartbreak dominates her life. "Alice I Have Been" also has a current media tie-in with the new movie remake by Tim Burton featuring Johnny Depp. — Amy Churchill, Zauel Memorial Library For high school students and adults "Poems from the Women's Movement," edited by Honor Moore American Poets Project, 2009, 202 pages, $20 The decade of the 1960's was the turning point for many who felt that they needed the world to know that they were an integral part of the thread of America. Among these cultural and political trends, was also the defining movement of "the Woman." Women's History month is a time to pay tribute to the many remarkable women in our lives — and this inspirational book of poems does just that. With passion and power, the voices of Sylvia Plath, Sonia Sanchez, Anne Waldman, Alice Walker and many others share their poetry, which captured an age of purpose. Biographical notes about each poet are also included . — Rhonda Farrell-Butler, coordinator, Children's and Teen Services, Saginaw Public Libraries Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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