Reading & Reviews

Wife 22

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Wife 22

Melanie Gideon’s “Wife22”  will make you smile, make you laugh and even make you think about your own marriage differently.  Alice Buckle has been married 20 years and feels like she has lost who she is and the romance she once shared with her husband, William, has vanished.  Alice is asked to participate in a marriage survey anonymously as “Wife 22”.  Her caseworker is “Researcher 101”.  It all starts innocently enough with standard questions that Alice answers.  But then the questions get more personal.  Alice remembers how thrilling, exciting and sexy the memories of first meeting William and their early dating years were.  She suddenly feels lonely and unloved and Research 101’s flirting hits the right nerve.  Alice begins to flirt back realizing that all the anonymous confessions have brought back the thrill of an early relationship.  This anonymous, secret romance leads to an interesting, unexpected conclusion.  “Wife 22”  is written with modern touches of Facebook and Twitter posts.  Gideon writes with the contemporary world in mind and realistically tells the tale of what any couple married 20 years might feel.  “Wife 22”  is a must read for anyone who thinks their marriage, and life, might be a bit stale.   So read on to see how Gideon solves the marriage doldrums.

Quick Brainstorming Activities for Busy Managers

Posted on by Seniye Groff

In  “Quick Brainstorming Activities for Busy Managers”,  Brian Miller has developed an indispensable tool to get teams’ creativity juices flowing.  The flow of the book mimics the brainstorming process beginning with what brainstorming is, to asking a starting question to doing the activity, recording the information and finally prioritizing all of the ideas.  Miller proposes several techniques and lets the reader know the strengths and pitfalls of each style.   He summarizes content at the end of each chapter; which is especially helpful for the BUSY manager.  Miller even offers variations of every idea so, in fact, this book is loaded with way more than 50 exercises and strategies. 

” Quick Brainstorming Activities for Busy Managers”  is also equipped with lots of drawings so that the reader really gets an idea of what the author is trying to accomplish with each particular idea.  I love, love, love this resource!  Miller should be applauded for writing a concise, idea-filled, practical guide for the art of brainstorming.

The Rose of Winslow Street

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Elizabeth Camden has created a mesmerizing tale in  “The Rose of Winslow Street”.  Historical Fiction lovers will instantly connect with the main character, Libby Sawyer.  Libby lives a quiet, predictable, straight-laced life with her father in Colden, Massachusetts in the late 1800’s.  While they are away at their summer house, Michael Dobrescu breaks in and takes over the Sawyer house and claims it as his own.  Dobrescu is a Romanian immigrant with many secrets and desires and an entourage of people that have secrets of their own, too.  Libby is torn between loyalty to her father and an intriguing connection to Michael and the obvious love he has for flowers.  As the battle of the home’s true owner plays out in court, Libby finds herself helping Michael’s family while risking her reputation with the townspeople.  Camden writes with clarity and immense emotion.  The reader cannot help but fall in love with the characters of this engrossing novel.  The story has plenty of twists and turns that keep the reader wanting more.

Le Road Trip

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Cheaper than a ticket to Europe, Vivian Swift’s Le Road Trip is the next best thing to the sights and sounds of France. Swift likens her travel to falling in love, beginning with anticipation. This book is about France but not in your practical, fact-filled travel book way. There are hundreds of watercolor illustrations that create a whimsical, charming book that instantly immerses you in the French-way. Swift infuses the book with some cute ideas such as the traveler’s scrapbook, an accordion folding pocket-sized scrapbook for your travel mementos.

Swift has an aggressive itinerary with Paris, Normandy, Brittany, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Chartres and back to Paris. After anticipation comes infatuation, where Swift debates the differences between her travel in 1975 and 2005 in France. She discusses food, buildings, gardens and the night light from the Northern Lights. ||As in love, nothing is perfect and Swift’s third phase wanders through some bumpy travel. During the honeymoon phase, Swift discusses all things romance and in phase five, survival tips for both love and travel. But ultimately, Swift’s book is about arriving in the comfort zone, which Swift calls being a vagabond…where the affair turns into a relationship. Sit down, have a glass of wine (from Bordeaux of course) and enjoy this book for what it was meant to be–a quirky visual record of Swift’s travel and love throughout France.

http://www.portlandbookreview.com/le-road-trip-a-travelers-journal-of-love-and-france/

Two Recent Books Reviews-“The Vertical Garden” & “Mediterranean Landscape Design”

Posted on by Seniye Groff

The Vertical Garden

The Vertical Garden by author, artist and botanist Patrick Blanc is a book beyond your typical garden book.  The book opens with nine chapters devoted to natural habitats such as waterfalls, cliffs and epiphytes, just to name a few.  Blanc has traveled the world and has captured some stunning photos of plants and their habitats.  The book then moves to the impact of plants on architecture.  Again, Blanc has countless photos detailing superficial, hazardous and destructive impacts.   For many of the pictures, you must look at them several times in order to believe it is real.  Blanc’s passion is obvious.  He invented the concept of the vertical garden in 1991 and believed he could make a building transparent or invisible with plants.  He offers step-by-step photographs detailing the incredible process.  The book then closes with almost 100 pages of photographs and details of many of his works.  This book is a testament to Blanc’s vision, dreams and artistry in a life-altering way.  You will be mesmerized from beginning to end with the intricate plans and the attention to detail that is not often seen.

Mediterranean Landscape Design

265 tantalizing, breathless photographs grace the pages of Mediterranean Landscape Design by Louisa Jones with photographs by Clive Nichols.  Jones asks “What is the role of human beings in nature?”  This book reviews mountains, stonework, earthwork, woodwork, clipped greenery, meadows and field geometry with that vision in mind.  She explores the inspiration of age-old materials, skills and sites to give the reader lots of ideas.  The garden tapestries chapter was especially beautiful and the seascapes and gardens of Venice romance the reader with the pictures and the words.  Mediterranean Landscape Design places the reader in the middle of the Mediterranean landscapes of Greece, Spain, France, Morocco and Italy.  After you have viewed this book, you will almost feel like you have just returned from a stunning, relaxing Mediterranean vacation.

Results Without Authority

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Just finished writing my review for Tom Kendrick’s book “Results Without Authority”.  If you are a project manager, or just tasked with managing projects, this would be a good book to add to your bookshelf!

Tom Kendrick’s “Results Without Authority” shares strategies, tips and tricks for project managers and the projects they manage.  The greatest challenge for a project manager is to keep a team and project on task, even though the team does not ultimately report to the project manager.  Kendrick believes that three things can keep a project moving forward:  project process, influence and metrics or measurement.  The first half of the book explores these three elements.  The second half of the book examines when to use these elements throughout the project.

Kendrick has a no-nonsense, practical approach to managing projects.  He gives key ideas and the end of each chapter and sprinkles the chapters with lots of example stories.  Although this book is dense, with more information than most 267-paged books, this is a book you will refer to time and time again.

Love Learning, Love Change

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I love to learn new things.  I love change.  That point of discomfort is when I know I am forcing myself out of “comfort zone”.  I know that most people try to stay as far away as possible from that discomfort zone, but I guarantee that if you are willing to color outside the lines once in a while, you will be amazed at how many new things you can learn. 

Here are some ways that I try to erase the ordinary, both at work and in my personal life:

  • I try at least two new recipes a week.
  • I try to have lunch or coffee with someone I haven’t met at least once a month.
  • I have a list of things I want to learn how to make.  I have mastered cheese, yogurt and bread and my next thing is roasting my own coffee beans.  I will be able to check that item of my list next Saturday, by the way!
  • I read voraciously and read a varied reading list.
  • I volunteer a lot and with a variety of organizations with various missions.
  • I have eclectic interests which means I have an eclectic group of friends and acquaintances which means I am exposed to a wide variety of views, interests and knowledge.
  • I love to travel.  Nothing will get you out of your comfort zone faster than going somewhere that doesn’t speak English!
  • I attend all sorts of webinars on a variety of topics…they cost nothing but my time and I usually garner at least one new nugget of information, thought or idea.

Begin with the Business in Mind

Posted on by Seniye Groff

It is no secret that the “training department” is often viewed as an expense rather than a revenue-generating partner.  So how can the training group change the perception and be viewed as a partner in running the business?  “Begin With the Business in Mind” by Matt Donovan shares some ideas.

Donovan suggests that the training organization “should be able to effectively describe the organization’s competitive position in terms of:

  • Industry and key features
  • Range of products and services provided
  • Customers and their affinity for the company’s products and services
  • External partners in the value chain
  • Competitive strategy
  • Competitive advantage
  • Current and emerging competitors.”

Once the training organization understands the company’s competitive advantage, it should then understand how the company structures itself to execute its strategy.  The PARC model in the book “Strategic Management” is mentioned as an ideal framework.  The PARC model is comprised of People, Architecture, Routines and Culture.  Only after the learning team has mastered their understanding of the company’s competitive position and its competitive advantage can they move forward to  being a true business partner rather than just an order-taker.  Trainers will be much better at assessing the business challenge, the cost of the training solution and ultimately the cost of the problem.  When trainers begin to use the language of “business problem” and “cost of the problem” rather than just cost of trainee per hour or smile sheet evaluation results, they demonstrate their position as a true business person.  Now that will be music to any leader’s ears!