bookpagedev

Good business

Review by bookpagedev

Still curious about how Enron went from a high-flying success to the largest bankruptcy in history? Me neither. That is, until I picked up The Smartest Guys in the Room, a sharp, provocative book that brings the company and its characters to life. While the book relies heavily on unnamed sources, authors Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, both Fortune magazine writers, provide incisive and detailed portraits of the men and women involved. It’s intriguing and comprehensive, and after the introduction, you’ll be hooked. Stephanie Swilley is studying for her M.B.

A. at Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management.

Still curious about how Enron went from a high-flying success to the largest bankruptcy in history? Me neither. That is, until I picked up The Smartest Guys in the Room, a sharp, provocative book that brings the company and its characters to life. While the…
Lifestyles

Encyclopedia of Scrapbooking

Review by bookpagedev

Billed as the most complete guide to scrapbooking ever published, Encyclopedia of Scrapbooking, edited by Tracy White, has page after page of eye-appealing photos from actual scrapbooks in addition to step-by-step instructions for creating your own beautiful memory book pages. If you’re a beginner, you may want to skip ahead to the chapters on mini books, gift albums and cards. These are smaller, relatively quick projects, but they can get you started working with the materials and techniques described throughout the book and used in more ambitious scrapbooking projects.

Many seemingly difficult techniques are demystified here, such as transferring images to a variety of surfaces including fabric, cardstock, tags and mica and creating dimensional effects with special glues and glazes. Weddings, anniversaries, a summer vacation, prom night and, of course, the early stages of a child’s life, can all be chronicled creatively in the pages of a scrapbook, with memorabilia and whimsy complementing the photos. According to the Encyclopedia, the popularity of scrapbooks dates to the 1800s. Author Mark Twain got involved in the trend when he invented a product called Mark Twain’s Adhesive Scrapbook, which had prepasted pages. We may live in more hectic times, but we can still capture our special moments by preserving them in scrapbooks.

Billed as the most complete guide to scrapbooking ever published, Encyclopedia of Scrapbooking, edited by Tracy White, has page after page of eye-appealing photos from actual scrapbooks in addition to step-by-step instructions for creating your own beautiful memory book pages. If you're a beginner, you…
FictionHistorical Fiction

Struggling in the South

Review by bookpagedev

Robert Morgan paints a searing portrait of a North Carolina family during the 1920s in his latest novel, This Rock. Ginny Powell, widowed for years, tries to keep her sons together while they struggle to survive in a grim Appalachian valley. Moody, true to his name, looms sullen and mean-spirited, running moonshine and developing a reputation as a knife-fighter. The younger brother, Muir, dreams of building things and escaping the valley. The conflict between the two runs rampant throughout the book, spilling over into internecine violence.

As he demonstrated in Gap Creek, a widely admired novel that became an Oprah Book Club selection, Morgan has a gift for capturing the cadences and diction of North Carolina mountain people. An honesty bordering on intense self-reflection graces the voices of both Ginny and Muir, who alternate in narrating the novel. Ginny remains preoccupied with making peace between her sons, and her anguish at Moody’s self-destructive behavior parallels the anxiety she feels with Muir’s restlessness. She is a tough but tender woman, tempered by tragedy and hardship, fixated on her family. She is also a curious hybrid of Pentecostal and Baptist, and she limns her story with a heavy spiritual tone. The chapters narrated by Muir also reveal a spirituality (at the age of 16, he feels called to be a preacher, and later, in a moment of drunken epiphany, he charges himself with building a church) as well as his wanderlust. At one point, Muir lights out for Canada, only to encounter bewildering cities and people on his journey. This collision of urban and rural proves too intense, and he eventually returns to North Carolina chastened and humbled.

Morgan’s prose is sharp and saturated with details, and he has a particular talent for describing the intricacies of manual labor. He can spend pages chronicling the minutiae of clearing land on a mountain in order to build a road, though never in a fashion to bore or stunt the story’s flow. Indeed, he imbues his writing with a sort of lyrical sheen, taking particular delight in illustrating with words the mountains, forests and rivers of Appalachia. The sum of these parts is a novel that explores the relationship between people and land in a way both moving and spiritual.

Michael Paulson teaches English in Baltimore.

 

Robert Morgan paints a searing portrait of a North Carolina family during the 1920s in his latest novel, This Rock. Ginny Powell, widowed for years, tries to keep her sons together while they struggle to survive in a grim Appalachian valley. Moody, true to his…

Proving ground

Review by bookpagedev

The president of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself, but ordinary leaders only get 90. So says author Michael Watkins in The First 90 Days, a transition roadmap for anyone stepping in to turn a business around, guide a start-up or continue a history of success. The Harvard Business School professor lectures on how to build coalitions, a subtle but necessary skill for easing into a new job or promotion, and his advice leans toward the touchy-feely. Harvard MBAs aren’t known for playing well with others, but this book can keep you from falling into the most common new-leader traps, like forgetting to develop relationships.

Watkins is about doing things faster, whether it’s learning about the organization or securing early wins to build momentum. The goal is to get to the breakeven point where new leaders start contributing and not just consuming within 90 days. Following this survival guide will get you there, with fewer hard knocks along the way.

Stephanie Swilley is studying for her M.B.A. at Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management.

 

The president of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself, but ordinary leaders only get 90. So says author Michael Watkins in The First 90 Days, a transition roadmap for anyone stepping in to turn a business around, guide a start-up or…

FictionHistorical Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

One of the odder things about art vs. life is that synchronicities, coincidences and generation-spanning family patterns occur in real life that one would never believe in fiction unless the writer is exceptionally skilled. In her latest novel, October Suite, writer Maxine Clair displays the required talent as she deals with the fortunes and misfortunes of the Brown family, particularly October, the book’s conflicted heroine.

The novel takes place in the 1950s Midwest, where October not the name she was born with, but one she adopted as a tribute to her mother works as a school teacher. Having striven all her life to be a proper Negro lady in order to distance herself from an exceptionally fraught legacy, she is nevertheless seduced and abandoned by the married handyman at her boarding house. Times being what they were, the disgraced October takes refuge with her sister Vergie, her husband Gene and the two maiden aunts who raised the girls after tragic circumstances took their parents from them. When her son David is born, October, resentful over the failure of her affair and possibly suffering from postpartum depression, hands him over to Vergie, who possessive and loving can’t tolerate the thought of anyone ever telling him the truth. From then on, Clair quietly uncovers the real story behind the sisters’ upbringing and the recurring patterns that have both blessed and cursed their family.

October is a fascinating character, tidy but hankering after pleasure, a bit selfish and a bit rigid but essentially kind-hearted. She is jealous of Vergie’s relationship with her son but grateful to her, obviously intelligent but just as obviously dumb when it comes to her love life. Vergie, unable to have children of her own, is all unleashed maternal passion, ready to take on her sister if it means sparing David pain. The minor characters are also well drawn, particularly the maiden aunts Frances and Maude, both strong, funny and insistent about their own version of the family myth; Leon the jazz musician October finally realizes she’s in love with; and Foots, Leon’s grizzled mentor who has a past of his own.

The award-winning author of the novel Rattlebone, Clair evokes a time and place beautifully; a snowfall that begins in the morning and buries a tall fence by lunchtime; 78s played on Victrolas; Negro teachers’ clubs; chenille bedspreads in a boarding house room; the cut of a shirtwaist dress. The sad and lovely story of October Suite lingers in the mind like the first hint of fall in the Midwest.

Arlene McKanic writes from Jamaica, New York.

 

One of the odder things about art vs. life is that synchronicities, coincidences and generation-spanning family patterns occur in real life that one would never believe in fiction unless the writer is exceptionally skilled. In her latest novel, October Suite, writer Maxine Clair displays the…

Accidents happen

Review by bookpagedev

AMACOM Books just released two titles designed to ease promotion anxiety. Written for folks who never intended to be anyone’s boss, Gary Topchik’s The Accidental Manager ($17.95, 192 pages, ISBN 0814471803) teaches the radical concept that it’s actually "easier, more rewarding, and less time-consuming" to be a good manager rather than a poor one. After identifying and describing the 10 worst manager types, Topchik explains the art of "doing nothing." While this plan sounds lazy, it actually requires "platinum skills" like developing the ability to delegate, active listening, giving and receiving feedback and creating a motivational climate. The advice is concrete and actionable, and role-playing examples make it easy to put into practice. Topchik’s book is great for dealing with accidental promotions or learning to manage an office Dogbert.

A blessing for anyone who hates meetings (who doesn’t?), How Great Decisions Get Made has simplified one of the biggest managerial challenges the art of team decision making. Author Don Maruska, who writes the widely syndicated Business Success column, has designed a 10-step process to battle the fears that undermine decision making. The key to superior solutions is to cure fear by getting everyone involved and focused on shared hopes. Don’t dismiss this approach as corny until you see how the steps work in the real world. For those still not ready to give up long, unproductive meetings, Maruska gives a simple 30-minute technique for a trial run. Plus, the author covers how to cope when you’re not in charge, not in the same location or dealing with a large group. Short, focused chapters without jargon make the book easy to read while waiting for meetings to start.

Stephanie Swilley is studying for her M.B.A. at Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management.

 

AMACOM Books just released two titles designed to ease promotion anxiety. Written for folks who never intended to be anyone's boss, Gary Topchik's The Accidental Manager ($17.95, 192 pages, ISBN 0814471803) teaches the radical concept that it's actually "easier, more rewarding, and less time-consuming"…

Accidents happen

Review by bookpagedev

AMACOM Books just released two titles designed to ease promotion anxiety. Written for folks who never intended to be anyone’s boss, Gary Topchik’s The Accidental Manager teaches the radical concept that it’s actually "easier, more rewarding, and less time-consuming" to be a good manager rather than a poor one. After identifying and describing the 10 worst manager types, Topchik explains the art of "doing nothing." While this plan sounds lazy, it actually requires "platinum skills" like developing the ability to delegate, active listening, giving and receiving feedback and creating a motivational climate. The advice is concrete and actionable, and role-playing examples make it easy to put into practice. Topchik’s book is great for dealing with accidental promotions or learning to manage an office Dogbert.

A blessing for anyone who hates meetings (who doesn’t?), How Great Decisions Get Made ($21.95, 224 pages, ISBN 0814407935) has simplified one of the biggest managerial challenges the art of team decision making. Author Don Maruska, who writes the widely syndicated Business Success column, has designed a 10-step process to battle the fears that undermine decision making. The key to superior solutions is to cure fear by getting everyone involved and focused on shared hopes. Don’t dismiss this approach as corny until you see how the steps work in the real world. For those still not ready to give up long, unproductive meetings, Maruska gives a simple 30-minute technique for a trial run. Plus, the author covers how to cope when you’re not in charge, not in the same location or dealing with a large group. Short, focused chapters without jargon make the book easy to read while waiting for meetings to start.

Stephanie Swilley is studying for her M.B.A. at Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management.

 

AMACOM Books just released two titles designed to ease promotion anxiety. Written for folks who never intended to be anyone's boss, Gary Topchik's The Accidental Manager teaches the radical concept that it's actually "easier, more rewarding, and less time-consuming" to be a good manager…

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Orphans out to save the world

Review by bookpagedev

The Emerald Atlas begins on a snowy Christmas Eve, when three toddlers are taken from their parents and placed in an orphanage in Boston. Ten years and 12 orphanages later, 14-year-old Kate (who promised her mother to keep her younger siblings safe that fateful night), 12-year-old Michael and 11-year-old Emma find themselves in the Edgar Allan Poe Home for Hopeless and Incorrigible Orphans. Perhaps they have one more shot at a real home when they are shipped off to the village of Cambridge Falls.

Their new orphanage is the grand estate of a mysterious Dr. Stanislaus Pym, and Kate, Michael and Emma are its only residents. While exploring their new abode, the children find an old green book that transports them to the past, where they find the missing children of Cambridge Falls, held captive by an evil countess. The trio learns that the Atlas is one of three Books of Beginning that possess the secrets of the birth of the universe—and that the Countess will do anything to find them.

With magic, humor and unforgettable characters, John Stephens’ remarkable debut novel follows Kate, Michael and Emma as they attempt to outwit the Countess, rescue the children and maybe even save the world in the process. Unanswered questions and two more books to locate ensure a sequel and more robust adventures ahead.

 

The Emerald Atlas begins on a snowy Christmas Eve, when three toddlers are taken from their parents and placed in an orphanage in Boston. Ten years and 12 orphanages later, 14-year-old Kate (who promised her mother to keep her younger siblings safe that fateful night),…

Biography

Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self

Review by bookpagedev

This much-celebrated biography of one of history’s foremost memoirists is a triumph of accessible scholarship. In his daily diary, Samuel Pepys described life in Restoration England, documenting catastrophic events like the Great Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666) in mesmerizing detail and commenting on England’s stormy political scene. Tomalin introduces readers to the man behind the memoir, examining his early career in the government, his years as a navy official and his connections to notables such as Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren and King Charles II. Pepys’ personal life, which included one tumultuous marriage and numerous illicit amours, is also scrutinized here. Tomalin tells Pepys’ story with energy and authority, creating a lively profile of this unique man of letters a writer with a shrewd eye, unmatchable wit and incomparable intellect.

This much-celebrated biography of one of history's foremost memoirists is a triumph of accessible scholarship. In his daily diary, Samuel Pepys described life in Restoration England, documenting catastrophic events like the Great Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666) in mesmerizing detail and commenting…
History

Turning the tide of WWII

Review by bookpagedev

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and England’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a few disagreements about fighting the Axis powers during World War II. And their personalities differed, as well. For instance, Churchill frequently and unashamedly cried in public, while Roosevelt struck Vice President Harry S. Truman as “the coldest man I ever met.” However, their differences were outweighed by their similarities. They both loved politics, history, strong liquor, and neither outdid the other in confidence and courage.

In Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship, author Jon Meacham tells the remarkable story of the two men who mapped the strategy that saved the world from the Axis war machines. From the beginning of the war until Roosevelt’s death, the two exchanged nearly 2,000 messages and spent parts of 131 days together to forge a united Allied stance. FDR’s schedule was so docketed with heavy matters that when his sons needed to talk with him they had to make appointments.

There were some light moments. Once, when FDR rapped on Churchill’s bedroom door in the White House, Churchill shouted, “Come in.” On seeing a nude Churchill dictating to an aide, FDR apologized and retreated. Churchill stopped him and said, “You see, Mr. President, I have nothing to hide from you.” The book details FDR’s hidden romance with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd and Eleanor’s stoicism. No evidence links Churchill to extramarital dalliance, but in a rare moment of anger his wife Clementine hurled a plate of spinach at him. (It missed.) Meacham, Newsweek’s managing editor, examines the strain between Churchill and FDR at the crucial Tehran and Yalta summits, and he explores the perplexing question of why Churchill decided not to attend Roosevelt’s funeral. Refraining from second-guessing, as some historians are wont to do, Meacham makes clear that if Churchill and FDR’s compatibility and mutual affection had not allowed them to do what they did, we all would be living in a very different world.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and England's Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a few disagreements about fighting the Axis powers during World War II. And their personalities differed, as well. For instance, Churchill frequently and unashamedly cried in public, while Roosevelt struck Vice President Harry S.…
Memoir

David Brinkley signs off

Review by bookpagedev

David Brinkley once said TV journalists simply find out what’s happening and tell what they’ve seen. In his fourth book, completed shortly before his death in June, Brinkley does more: he also tells us what he was thinking. Brinkley’s Beat: People, Places and Events That Shaped My Time, eschews any chronological inclination and, in grab-bag style, shares observations and opinions on headline-makers and events that fascinated Brinkley during his 50-year career in broadcasting.

Brinkley pulls no punches in discussing newsmakers who intrigued him, such as Jimmy Hoffa, Joe McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy. First on his list is Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo, who, claiming to be the "best friend the Negro has got," bragged about introducing legislation to settle U.S. blacks in Africa. Among the 11 presidents he knew, Brinkley viewed President Clinton as "maybe the most dazzling political talent of my lifetime." He says the whole Clinton/Lewinsky scandal including Clinton’s behavior, the sensational press coverage and the "vindictiveness" of prosecutors and congressional bigwigs "made me sick." Brinkley applies the description of "most impressive and, in some ways, the most appalling" to President Johnson, who snubbed Brinkley and ordered his phones tapped after the commentator said U.S. involvement in Vietnam was pointless.

Brinkley covered 24 national political conventions, drawing particular admiration for sustaining viewers’ interest during boring periods with clever ad-libbing. He now attributes this performance to intensive staff research on every person and issue that figured to come before the delegates. He vividly recounts how television handled President Kennedy’s assassination, while a frightened nation prayed for assurance that the event was not part of a wide conspiracy. In those hours and days, television came of age with what Brinkley calls "the most useful single service in television’s history." Brinkley’s Beat is a readable and revealing account, just what we would expect from an insider who made a huge difference in television’s serious side. Alan Prince lectures at the University of Miami School of Communication.

David Brinkley once said TV journalists simply find out what's happening and tell what they've seen. In his fourth book, completed shortly before his death in June, Brinkley does more: he also tells us what he was thinking. Brinkley's Beat: People, Places and Events…

Children's & YA

Un enfant terrible, rediscovered

Review by bookpagedev

Since its original French publication in 1959, Le Petit Nicolas and its sequels have been classics, beloved by French children and translated into two dozen languages. Now, naughty Nicholas’ humorous adventures are finally available in English in Nicholas, translated by prize-winning translator Anthea Bell.

An only child, Nicholas spends his school days causing trouble for his teacher and his principal and his leisure time antagonizing his parents and neighbors. Part of a gang of troublemakers, Nicholas plays hooky, smokes a cigar and conducts explosive science experiments. He and his friends always seem to get the better of the adults, at least in their own minds. Nicholas is written in a breezy, almost stream-of-consciousness style, using long, sometimes convoluted sentences and lots of exclamation points to underscore Nicholas’ exuberance. His naivete as he narrates his own misadventures add to the book’s humor. For example, the chapter I am Sick starts out: I felt fine yesterday; you can tell I did, because I ate a whole lot of caramels and candies and cakes and fries and ice cream, and then in the middle of the night, I can’t think why, I was very sick, just like that. Both children and adults will enjoy Nicholas’ escapades kids will simply laugh at Nicholas’ naughty antics, while adults will chuckle at the author’s tongue-in-cheek tone and the contrast between the reality of a situation and Nicholas’ understanding of it. The 19 stories in this collection (each of which can be read on its own) make this a great choice fo reading aloud. Detailed, expressive drawings by New Yorker cartoonist Jean-Jacques SempŽ add to the charm.

Readers who care about such things can find commentaries on French culture, educational systems and family life in Nicholas. The nice thing about the book, though, is that it can be enjoyed on its own merits as a delightful collection of stories about a typically flawed little boy.

Since its original French publication in 1959, Le Petit Nicolas and its sequels have been classics, beloved by French children and translated into two dozen languages. Now, naughty Nicholas' humorous adventures are finally available in English in Nicholas, translated by prize-winning translator Anthea Bell.
History

The Greeks who sailed before us

Review by bookpagedev

Echoes of classical Greece are all around us. A short list of influences would include our vocabulary; the roots of sciences and mathematics; culture and the arts; and even the role of the military. American democracy did not derive directly from Greece, but Athenian political ideals, had a significant impact on Enlightenment thought. Using a wide range of sources, Thomas Cahill gives us a sophisticated, gracefully written introduction to this subject in Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter. The latest in the author’s internationally best-selling Hinges of History series skillfully combines history and carefully chosen excerpts from the works of Homer, Plato, Sappho, Pericles and others with insightful commentary. The underlying question for the Presocratics (the philosophers before Socrates and Plato) was “what is the nature of reality?” Their quest for an answer helped create such disciplines as philosophy, theology, the physical sciences, psychology, political science and ethics. The author is keenly aware of the negative and contradictory aspects of life that lay behind such achievements. “One needn’t sail the wine-dark sea for long before realizing that the classical Greeks were classically classist, sexist and racist.” At its height, the population of Athens was probably not more than 250,000. It is likely that slaves made up 40 percent of that number and that metics (resident aliens in Athens for trading purposes) were also close to 40 percent, leaving a citizen population of just over 20 percent. For those citizens, Cahill argues, “Athens, the world’s first attempt at democracy, still stands out as the most wildly participatory government in history.” Cahill’s enthusiasm for the subject is contagious. His discussion leaves no doubt that “whatever we experience in our day, whatever we hope to learn, whatever we most desire, whatever we set out to find, we see that the Greeks have been there before us, and we meet them on the way back.” Readers will find Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea both satisfying and enjoyable.

Echoes of classical Greece are all around us. A short list of influences would include our vocabulary; the roots of sciences and mathematics; culture and the arts; and even the role of the military. American democracy did not derive directly from Greece, but Athenian…

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features