Northern Spy by Flynn Berry

I will be the first to admit that I have limited knowledge about Ireland and the IRA. Other British colonies have been in the news lately, which made this a timely read for me. I don't know what it's like to be governed by another country. This is a fast-paced novel about living in Northern Ireland and the dangers associated with living there.

The main character is Tessa, who is recently divorced and has an infant son. She works for the BBC. Tessa's sister, Marian, is accused of being a member of the IRA. Tessa initially rejects this idea completely, since the IRA is associated with bombings, murder and robberies to drive home their agenda. Tessa soon discovers however that Marian has been involved with the IRA for a number of years. She had been recruited seven years previously. Tessa also realizes that Marian thinks of her fellow IRA members as "family". She genuinely cares about them.

This new information puts Tessa and her mother in a tight spot. Tessa is especially concerned about the safety of her son. Things get even more complicated when Marian reveals that she is an informer (against the IRA) - and that she wants Tessa to be one too.

Tessa wants to pack up her son and leave immediately to keep him safe. But that would mean leaving a country that she loves, her mother & sister, her son's father and her job. Also, she wonders if running away from Ireland's political issues is something that she could live with. Marian keeps telling her that a cease-fire is close at hand, so Tessa is torn about what to do. What to stand for.

As Tessa gets deeper into her involvement with the IRA and informing on the IRA, she is certainly putting her life at risk. She also starts to have romantic feelings for her handler. I honestly cannot imagine living a life where you don't know who you can trust. These people that she started associating with (ALL of them on both sides) are going to do whatever it takes to further their agenda, no matter how much they might "like" a person. If someone dies for the cause, then so be it. It's for the "greater good".

This was an interesting read - and a fast one. I really enjoyed it, in an eye-opening kind of way. It was well written. I would definitely read this author again.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

This is a Field Guide to The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. It provides the practical tools to help implement the concepts presented in the book. To review, the five dysfunctions of a team are: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability, Inattention to Results.

A team is a small group of people that share a common goal and the rewards and responsibilities for achieving the goal. Each team member sets aside their individual needs for the greater good of the group. If the above statements are not true, then you really don't have a team.

Trust on a team is the most important quality of a team. It takes courage to develop trust. We each have a strong desire for self-preservation and it's difficult to put ourselves at "risk" by being vulnerable to others. Each team member has to be comfortable with the "exposure" that they made a mistake or don't know what they are doing. Each person has to be able to ask for help when they need it. This Field Guide recommends starting with a Personal Histories Exercise, which is simply have each person share where they grew up, how many kids are in their family, and what was the most challenging thing about being a kid. This helps team members become more comfortable with being vulnerable. Then it suggests Behavioral Profiling by using a profiling tool like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This will allow everyone to see their strengths and weaknesses.

To master conflict on a team, the field guide suggests using the MBTI profile since this includes a specific analysis of how each type deals with conflict. When people can publicly state their outlook on conflict, they are more open to adjusting to the established team norms surrounding conflict. A team needs to be comfortable having passionate debates around issues.

Achieving commitment, or buy-in, is being able to defy a lack of consensus on a team. It's about the team coming up with every possible idea, opinion and perspective, and then the team leader having the courage to make a decision. The team needs to establish a Thematic Goal. The goal should be a general achievement (not a quantitative goal). This creates clarity within the team.

Embracing accountability involves peer-to-peer accountability. In order for this to become part of a team's culture, it has to be modeled by the leader. The field guide recommends using the Team Effectiveness Exercise (TEE). It involves two questions: "What is the single most important behavioral characteristic or quality demonstrated by this person that contributes to the strength of our team" and "What is the single most important behavioral characteristic or quality demonstrated by this person that can sometimes derail the team?" Each team member reads their answers to the group. This exercise needs to be reviewed at future meetings so that people answer for their progress on the identified areas.

Focusing on results. This can be achieved by using a "scoreboard". Using a visible scoreboard is a good way to focus attention. The two primary components of the scoreboard should be the ongoing metrics of the team (revenue, expenses, etc) and the supporting objectives, which form the team's thematic goal.

"The true measure of a great team is that it accomplishes the results it sets out to achieve."

Wendy's Rating: ****

Epitaph Road by David Patneaude

I have read many, many dystopian/utopian novels. I am always fascinated by what different authors come up with as a way to solve our world's issues. How do we make our world a better place? In this particular novel, one drastic change is to eliminate the male population. (Well, the majority of the male population. Some males are still needed to procreate the next generation of females, after all!)

Kellen is a 14 year old boy. His parents received authorization to have a child, although his father "was surgically implanted with a hormone-excreting gadget to drastically reduce the changes of him producing a male infant". Those efforts failed, and Kellen was born. (This novel is set in 2097 - with the first wave of Elisha's Bear - the plague that nearly wiped out the male population - occurring 30 years earlier in 2067. So using medical gadgets to allow only female babies doesn't seem that far-fetched to me. Some people already choose the gender of their children today.)

With the near elimination of men, the world becomes a safer, better world. Crimes against women and children are reduced dramatically. Wars come to a halt and are not re-instigated. Illegal drug use, prostitution and pornography are eliminated. Prisons are emptied. The money spent on all of the above are reallocated to health care, the environment, medical research, etc. Sounds pretty wonderful, right?

All is not what it seems. First of all, women have all the control and all of the power. The surviving men are forced to live under that control, be sterilized, work only in a handful of jobs that do not involve positions of authority, or live as an outcast. Kellen's dad, Charlie, chooses the latter. When Kellen is 5 years old, Charlie leaves to live in a community of men - or really near a community of men, since he chooses to be a "loner" living on his boat in a marina. Charlie lost his own father in the original wave of Elisha's Bear, so he knew what it was like before the plague. Charlie was only one person in a growing number of people - both men and women - who rejected the new world.

What I love about these books is the reminder that there is no such thing as a "perfect world" - that elusive utopian society that some strive for. As long as there is a person, or group of people, in power, there will never be true happiness and security for all. There is a "twist" in this story towards the end, which cements that even more fully. The end of this book isn't really an ending. It's more of a beginning of a new chapter of a new world.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

This is a good example of why you should always read an entire book, and not just the first couple of chapters! At the beginning of the book, a married woman (who we know nothing about yet) leaves her husband, children, mother and friends visiting inside her home while she goes outside to have sex with a childhood friend (who we know nothing about yet). It's shocking and made me cringe. Right away I envisioned this "rendezvous" as something distasteful and so incredibly wrong.

The farther I got into the book, the more I connected with the characters and their individual feelings and histories. It sucked me right in. The main character, Elle, spent her summers at "The Paper Palace", which included a main house and a cluster of cabins in Cape Cod. The buildings are in rough shape after generations of weathering and apparently limited maintenance or upkeep. But this is where Elle's heart is, despite the tragic things that have happened to her over the years.

Elle's grandparents and parents seemed to all be "searching for love in all the wrong places". They each married a few times, but none of their marriages lasted. Elle married Peter, who was by all accounts deeply in love with Elle. He was a wonderful, trusting, supportive husband and an awesome dad. All around good guy. Even Elle's crabby & critical mother loved him. Elle and Peter have three children, who are well-loved. So, what's the problem, right?

The problem is Jonas. Jonas was Elle's childhood friend. Jonas was younger than Elle, but they connected on a deep level. Jonas was the only person in Elle's life that knew Elle's "good, bad and ugly". Elle protected herself and others through lies of omission. Jonas was the only person in Elle's life that she never lied to. They spent their summers together. After a tragedy happens one summer day, when Elle, Jonas and Elle's step-brother (Conrad) are out sailing, Jonas' mother sends Jonas away and he doesn't come back to the Cape for a few years.

Elle & Peter eventually reconnect with Jonas and his wife, Gina, and they become "couple friends". The problem is, Elle and Jonas love each other. The novel is split into sections. We read about the present day (which is only 24 hours in length); we read about Elle & Peter's relationship; we read about Elle & Jonas' relationship. After delving deeply into Elle and her feelings for both men, and understanding what exactly happened in each person's life that guided them to make the decisions they each made, the opening chapters make a lot more sense. Therefore Elle is faced with a true dilemma. Does she choose safety & security & love with Peter - or does she choose the love of her life, Jonas?

The ending is ambiguous on a surface level. I read the last couple of paragraphs several times. But if you really know the characters and you understand the significance of the final words & gestures (by Elle & Peter) - and the foreshadowing of the ending in the opening chapter of the book - then the ending is clearer. I won't give it away here though. ;)

I really enjoyed this story. This novel is a first for Heller. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Wendy's Rating: ****