The Other Wes Moore, One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore

This was a compelling autobiography of the narrator, Wes Moore. Wes also researched the history, family background and life events of the "other Wes Moore" by interviewing him, his friends and family members that were close to the other Wes when he was growing up. This analysis begs the question: are we a product of our environment?

The narrator Wes was being raised in a two-parent household with two sisters when his dad suddenly died. His father's death was a result of medical malpractice. His mother settled out of court for a specific sum of money, which she actually did not keep for her own family. She donated it to make sure all first responders were properly trained in administering CPR. This shows you a bit about Wes' family, since Wes's family was poor and they could certainly have used the money. Wes' mother, Joy, eventually moved to Baltimore with her children to live with her parents for the extra support. Joy's parents were strict and protective, but also older. Joy tried to give her children every possibility in life to make something of themselves. (Wes' father had been a journalist before he died.) Wes still managed to get into trouble, blow off school, resist his mother's attempt at giving him a better life. Joy finally takes a drastic course to "save" Wes from himself: she sends him to Valley Forge Military Academy. This decision comes at great cost for Wes' family, especially his grandparents. They fund his first year of school by giving everything they have. Wes has no idea about their sacrifice however.

The other Wes Moore was raised by his mother, Mary. Mary ended up having three sons by three different men. Tony was Wes' oldest brother. Tony lived with his father a lot of the time, but was Wes' "father-figure" since Wes did not have contact with his own father. Tony thought he was doing what was right for Wes, which meant teaching him to be tough and to never back down from a fight. Tony ended up being a fierce contender on the streets. No one messed with him. Mary tried to do right by her sons, and was even enrolled in school when Wes was little, but when the program that was funding her schooling was discontinued by the government, she couldn't continue. She tried to keep Wes on the "straight and narrow", so to speak, for awhile, but in the end she pretty much gave up. Soon Wes was making money the same way Tony did: selling drugs. This is a lucrative business of course, so the money started rolling in. The babies started rolling in too. Wes had two children with one woman at a very young age, and then two from another (who happened to be a heroin addict). Once he had to support all of these people, it was too difficult for him to get out of the drug business. He ended up in prison for life after engaging in armed robbery, which ended with a police officer's death.

Both Weses grew up poor and were raised by single mothers. They grew up in the same area - the crime & drug infested streets of Baltimore. One made is out. The other did not. Parenting? Environment? Mentorship? Self-Determination? All of the above?

Very interesting read.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Home by Nightfall by Charles Finch

The 9th installment of this series. I wasn't happy about the death of a significant character in the last book, and I am definitely not happy about another sudden (and surprising) death of a significant character at the beginning of this book! I am starting to wonder why Charles Finch is killing off some of his characters! Maybe it's just a "sign of the times". These stories are set in the 1870s after all, and people die of illness all the time. (Cops also get shot too, obviously, referring to book #8.)

Anyway, other than a wonderful person dying, I really liked this book. First of all, Charles spends a lot of time with his brother, Edward, and we get to see that relationship up close and personal. They are like any other brothers I know, close & supportive for the most part, with bits of sibling rivalry thrown in from time to time. I like when Charles spends time at the Lenox House and in the town he grew up in. The townspeople are hilarious with him, always assuming he is back to stay forever. (Because honestly, who would want to live in London!) Ha! Their comments provide some of the humor in this book (and other books when Lenox visits his hometown.)

The mystery is interesting. In this case, it starts with a childish drawing, a stolen dog, a stolen bottle of port and ends in an attempted murder/murder. We get to meet a lot of the townspeople and see how they are connected to each other. Meanwhile, in London, Dallington & Polly (and Scotland Yard) are trying to figure out the sudden disappearance of a renowned German pianist who disappeared after performing at a theater, leaving behind his dead "sister". Charles is also connected to this case in London, and returns to London a couple of times to put his two cents in. The new detective agency is still struggling financially, but I am hoping after solving these two cases, things will be looking up by the next book. I want Polly to stop worrying so much and working herself so hard.

Wendy's Rating: ****

On Managing Across Cultures by Harvard Business Review

Cultural intelligence is related to emotional intelligence, but it picks up where emotional intelligence leaves off. A person with high emotional intelligence grasps what makes us human and at the same time what makes each of us different from one another. A person with high cultural intelligence can somehow tease out of a person's or group's behavior those features that would be true of all people and all groups, those peculiar to this person or this group, and those that are neither universal mor idiosyncratic. The vast realm that lies between those two poles is culture. (By Earley and Mosakowski, Harvard Business Review.)

I read this book to gain some insight into how to teach people from different cultures - considering each person's unique learning style in addition to that - so that everyone is receiving the same message. The majority of my company's employees come from diverse cultures, which can cause communication issues on the job. Some of this book was outside the scope of the small company I work for, but it was interesting in and of itself. I like the way the book is set up because each chapter is written by different authors, concerning a different topic, and there is an "Idea in Brief" embedded within each chapter for easy reference.

One thing I learned is that challenges are not simply due to verbal communication styles. There are four challenges: direct vs. indirect communication; trouble with accents & fluency; differing attitudes toward hierarchy & authority; and conflicting norms for decision making. There is also a gap between what is said and what is heard. The words are the same for two people, but the meaning may be different. We need to be able to "de-code" another person's expressions and expectations.

Thomas and Ely talk about the emerging paradigm: connecting diversity of work perspectives. They talk about eight preconditions for making the paradigm shift. 1) Leadership must truly value different perspectives and approaches to work; 2) Leadership must recognize both the challenges & learning opportunities that different perspectives presents; 3) The organizational culture must create an expectation of high stands of performance from everyone; 4) It must stimulate personal development; 5) It must encourage openness; 6) It must make workers feel valued; 7) It must have a well-articulated and widely understood mission; 8) It must have a egalitarian, nonbureaucratic structure which promotes the exchange of ideas.

Managers who have helped their organizations make the change successfully have consistently demonstrated their commitment to the process and to all employees by setting a tone of honest discourse, by acknowledging tensions, and be resolving them sensitively and swiftly. (By Thomas and Ely, Harvard Business Review.)

I believe all people in leadership roles would find sections of this book relevant to their individual circumstances. It certainly highlighted for me what I need to focus on in my leadership role.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Laws of Murder by Charles Finch

The 8th book in this series, Lenox definitely struggles in this installment. The road back to being a full-time detective is not as easy as he thought it would be. Lenox, Dallington, Polly and LeMaire have opened a detective agency. Unfortunately, Lenox has had a setback in his renown as a respected detective, thanks to a couple of negative interviews slandering him in the newspaper. What really hurts is that the two interviewed were his "friends" from Scotland Yard. Lenox doesn't seem to hold grudges however, especially toward Jenkins, who he worked many cases with. Lenox feels incredibly bad about not pulling his weight in the agency. Since he and Dallington are independently wealthy, he is not used to working for money. Since Polly and LeMaire need to earn money to survive, hard feelings seem to develop pretty quickly. LeMaire leaves the agency after three months in fact, which puts the other three under more pressure to simply "survive" in the business, much less thrive.

Fortunately, despite Jenkins harsh words in the press, he '"saves" Lenox's reputation as a detective by handing him a murder case. I can't bring myself to tell you who it is, because it made me sad. Never-the-less, one murder leads to another murder and it ends up all being connected. I really do love the partnership between Lenox and Dallington. I was happy that LeMaire left the business so quickly. Polly was offered another position as well - with yet another start-up detective agency - which seemed a lot more lucrative, but in the end, she turned it down. I guess I would have been fine either way. It's interesting to me that there is a sudden interest in detective work (in 1876), when prior to that it was looked down on.

I love how Lenox's mind works. He is always thinking. Suddenly pieces will fall into place in his head and he knows either who is involved and/or why it happened. I also like his close relationship with his brother, Edmund, and best friend, Thomas McConnell, the doctor. In this book, Lenox develops a relationship with another Scotland Yard detective, Nicholson. So he continues to be well-connected at every turn, which is helpful when solving crimes - especially murders.

Lenox's career as a detective is back on track by the end of the book, thank goodness. I didn't want him to go back to Parliament! Ha!

Wendy's Rating: ****