Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

This is the third book I have read by this author and I really loved it. My favorite by Backman is A Man Called Ove, but this is right up there too. This book is not only quirky with honest and original characters, but it is laugh-out-loud funny at times. While the book is entertaining, it also shows how suicide affects those that are left behind. Even people who are not directly related to the person who decides to end their life can be affected by this action, which is something I had not thought about before.

The setting of the story is an apartment showing. A group of people interested in buying the apartment (or not), the realtor and a bank robber are thrown together into an unplanned "hostage" situation. We get to know each character - and the two policemen handling the hostage situation - through the interviews after the hostages are released. It would probably be even funnier if I read it again knowing the ending. I couldn't figure out whether everyone involved was simply ornery or naïve or just enjoyed being difficult. The interviews were quite interesting. The characters bond with each other while they are being detained by the bank robber as well, so we find out a lot about their personal histories and their relationship challenges.

There are a couple of surprises along the way. The author is very good at revealing connections between this group throughout the book. We are also introduced to one of the main character's (Zara's) therapist (Nadia). Nadia learns things about herself as she tries to help Zara figure out how she wants to live her life.

I love books where the characters are all "flawed" humans who make mistakes and try to learn from them. We are all just trying to make our way in this world and we all have "baggage" that we carry around. Some people are more successful at love & forgiveness than others, but most of us just do the best we can.

Wendy's Rating: *****

Messenger by Lois Lowry

This is the third book in The Giver quartet. This is the book where characters from The Giver and Gathering Blue converge. We finally discover what happened to Jonas and Gabe from The Giver and the story continues for Matt (now Matty), and Kira from Gathering Blue.

Jonas' true name ends up being "Leader" and he leads the village that welcomes all people, especially those that are "imperfect" or disabled in some way, like Kira with her twisted leg. Kira does not live in this village yet however. She stayed behind at the end of Gathering Blue to make positive changes in the awful village she was born in. Kira's father, "Seer" lives in Leader's village and he has taken Matty in like his own son.

Leader's village becomes corrupt due to the Trade Market when people start trading their "inner selves" (kindness, patience, compassion, love) for changes in their outside appearance or character, like "fixing" their disability or imperfection. As the people in the village turn "ugly" on the inside, the forest around them turns dangerous and fatal for those that dare enter it. The village people vote to "close" the village, no longer accepting any mistreated, disabled travelers coming from other villages.

Matty is one of the only people in the village who can travel throughout the forest without the forest harming him. Because of this, he is the town's messenger when Leader wants to send messages to other villages. Matty also discovers that he has a special power, which was hinted at in Gathering Blue. Matty can "heal" himself and others, although it takes a lot of energy out of him, even if it's just saving a frog or puppy.

When the town votes to close its borders, Seer asks Matty to travel to his old village and persuade Kira to come back with him so that Seer can be near his daughter again. Once the village closes, he would potentially never see her again. Leader agrees to this plan, but since Leader has the ability to "see beyond", he knows that this will be an extremely dangerous mission for Matty. The forest was growing more and more dangerous by the hour.

This mission ends up being very dangerous indeed and the three characters with "special powers" (Matty, Leader and Kira) have to pool their powers in order for at least some of them to survive. The imagery of the angry forest is very powerful, as well as the descriptions of the severe injuries the forest caused Matty, Leader and Kira. I can't say that I love the ending of this book. I can say that the writing is excellent though.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

This is an amazing story. I can't express how much I loved it, despite the tragic circumstances and overwhelming sense of hopelessness and helplessness. I did not want to put it down until I knew the ending.

What's interesting is that I read No Country for Old Men years ago and I did not like it. I even refused to watch the movie when it came out. Considering how much I loved the writing and storytelling in The Road, I may have to give No County... another read.

This is an example of, in the truest definition of the word, a dystopian novel. America has been destroyed. There are few survivors and those are few and far between. We don't really know how many years it's been since the apocalypse, but the two main characters are a man and his son. The son was born two weeks after the apocalypse and he seems to be between 6-8 years old. The country is cold and desolate. The air is filled with gray ash. There is limited food resources (for those that are lucky) and no way to settle down in one place. Staying in one place too long would mean sure death. Other survivors are eating each other. When is snows, the snow is gray. They have to strain ash out of their water supply before drinking it.

The man and his son live on "the road". This is their life, such as it is. The son knows no other life. The only thing that keeps them going is each other. There isn't any "light at the end of the tunnel" in this story. The man and his son simply survive one more day. One day after another. They are starving and deeply cold. It is a profoundly moving story.

As depressing as this story is, I absolutely loved it. A must read.

Wendy's Rating: *****

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

After re-reading The Giver recently I decided to research online to see if Lois Lowry ever explained the ending since it could be interpreted a couple of different ways. It didn't take long to figure out that Lois Lowry had written not one, but three additional "companion novels" to The Giver! I had no idea! Anyway, Gathering Blue is the first companion novel. This book does not explain what happened to Jonas & Gabe. The story is set in a different village or community with a more dystopian feel to it (while The Giver is more utopian).

The main character is a young girl, Kira, whose mother recently died due to illness. Kira has a bad leg (from birth) and normally babies born with a deformity are pretty much sent to the forest, or in other words, killed. Kira's mother, Katrina, insisted on keeping Kira though, and since Katrina had an important family member in the community, she was allowed to. Katrina also had a special skill. She knew how to color threads and sew/weave. Katrina was responsible for repairing Singer's beautiful robe each year after The Gathering. The Gathering was an annual event for the whole community. Singer's robe illustrated the history of the village and Singer pointed to the various sections of the robe while singing a very long song that reviewed the history of the village.

Anyway, after Katrina died, Kira was an orphan - or really a crippled orphan. Her father had died years ago on a village hunt. Kira's life was spared again by a member (Jamison) of the Council of Guardians. She was saved because she was even more talented than her mother at weaving threads. She was sent to live in a building with an indoor bathroom, hot meals and all the supplies she needed to restore Singer's robe. The village Kira lived in was grounded in poverty. The people were harsh, dirty, hungry and mean to each other and their children. The village had an underlying feeling of despair (hence my dystopian comment in the first paragraph.)

As in The Giver, Kira soon learns that all is not what it seems. Kira has two companions. Matt is a young, mischievous troublemaker and Thomas is the Carver, who lives in the same building as Kira. Thomas' job is to restore (and finish) Singer's staff/cane, which also illustrates the village's history. In this book you know the character's age range from their names. A one syllable name (like Matt) indicates the child is young. A two syllable name (like Kira & Thomas) indicates they are at least a young teen through early adulthood, I would guess. There is no one mentioned in the book that has more than a four syllable name. Kira makes a different decision than Jonas did in The Giver, and I can't wait to see how this story unfolds.

Gathering Blue was written seven years after The Giver. I really enjoy Lois Lowry's stories and look forward to reading the last two.

Wendy's Rating: *****

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

Wow. I am struggling to know what to say about this collection of short stories. Apparently, this is the book that "established Flannery O'Connor as a master of the short story and one of the most original and provocative writers to emerge from the South." There is no doubt that she is a talented writer. Her character descriptions are painfully vivid. There are no beautiful people in her stories for sure! Most are unhappy, dissatisfied, negative and ugly, inside and out.

I don't think I have read a book of short stories since I left college. I'm not sure I will be jumping at the chance to do it again either. There are 10 stories in this book and most of them end in death. Not happy, peaceful deaths either. They were pretty dang depressing. There is not one single character in this collection that I could even remotely identify with or would ever want to meet. 

If I had to choose my "favorite" story, I guess I would choose The Displaced Person. This story was made into a TV movie in 1977. It is the story of a once-widowed, twice divorced woman, Mrs. McIntyre, trying to keep her farm afloat on her own. She has slaves as well as white (lower class) people working for her. The rhythm of the farm is upset when she takes in a "displaced family" from Poland, who escaped the horrors of World War II. The father of the displaced family, Mr. Guizac, is a hard worker and knows how to operate all of the farm machinery. He is a huge asset to the farm, but his presence puts the white "caretakers" and slaves' employment statuses at risk. Mrs. McIntyre can't afford to pay Mr. Guizac more money without letting someone else go. This would be a legitimate concern for any Southern woman trying to make it on her own in the deep south in the 1940's, especially when she discovers that Mr. Guizac wants one of her young slaves to marry his (white) cousin. Alas, the story ends tragically, as they all do, but at least I understood the message.

My least favorite would probably be the title story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, but not by much! All I can say about it is that it was tragic, depressing and I am not sure what the intent of the story was.  Don't stray off the beaten path? Beware of strangers? Don't listen to your mother? Or, maybe, listen to your mother and go to East Tennessee rather than Florida! Ha!

Sorry, this just wasn't my cup of tea, no matter how talented the author is.

Wendy's Rating: ***

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

I am always looking for ways to change the culture at my work and build a more effective leadership team. This book was recommended by the authors of another book our leadership team read (Heart, Hope & Honesty by Craig De Fasselle and Scott De Fasselle). This book is actually "a leadership fable", so it's reader-friendly.

Basically, it talks about the "five natural but dangerous pitfalls" that organizations get caught in, which doesn't allow them to create a strong team. These pitfalls are referred to as the five dysfunctions of a team. The five dysfunctions are not separate issues, but are interrelated.

The first dysfunction is an absence of trust among team members. The solution to this dysfunction comes down to team members being vulnerable with each other. Each team member should be able to admit their mistakes and weaknesses without fear of reprisal or being seen as weak. A trusting team will ask each other for help; accept feedback; give people the benefit of the doubt before jumping to a negative conclusion; focus on the important issues and not politics. There has to be an understanding and acknowledgement of what talent(s) each team member brings to the team. One way to start learning to be more vulnerable is to share personal histories. (Nothing private, just personal experiences, interests, hobbies.) They also recommend using a profiling tool like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I have done this in the past and it's quite interesting to see what personality types are on your leadership team.

The second dysfunction is a fear of conflict. If you think about it, all long-term, meaningful relationships in our personal lives have productive conflict from time to time. At work however, conflict, or "passionate debates" are seen as negative. The book mentions that it's "important to distinguish productive ideological conflict from destructive fighting and interpersonal politics." The result of productive conflict is finding the best solution to an issue in the shortest period of time without people holding grudges against each other. When teams don't discuss or debate issues openly and honestly, nothing ever gets resolved and there are behind-the-scenes conversations between individuals which are harmful to the team. The book suggests that a team member assume the role of  "miner of conflict". The miner is "someone who extracts buried disagreements within the team and sheds the light of day on them." When team members get uncomfortable discussing a conflict, the miner needs to interrupt the discussion (conflict) simply to remind those that are uncomfortable that this is necessary.

The third dysfunction is lack of commitment. Commitment means clarity and buy-in from every single team member, whether they agree with the decision or not. Everyone wants to be "heard". They want their ideas discussed and considered. After being heard, people are more willing to commit themselves to a unified goal of the team, even if they don't 100% agree with it. Great teams realize that it's better to boldly make a decision and be wrong than to waffle. Waffling causes ambiguity, a lack of confidence and a fear of failure. One of the best tools for ensuring commitment is setting deadlines and fulfilling those deadlines with discipline and rigidity. The leader must push the team for closure around issues and stick to the team schedules/deadlines.

The fourth dysfunction is avoidance of accountability. This was an interesting one for me because the book talks about the necessity of team members willingly calling out their peers on performance or behaviors that hurt the team, instead of a leader holding each team member accountable. The "most effective and efficient means of maintaining high standards of performance on a team is peer pressure." Who knew? This will ensure that poor performers feel pressure to improve and it establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards. In order for this to happen however, each team member needs to know exactly what needs to be achieved, who needs to deliver what, and how everyone must behave in order to succeed. Clarity.

The fifth dysfunction is inattention to results. There is a tendency of team members to care about something other than the collective goal(s) of the group as a whole. A team that focuses on collective results will retain achievement-oriented employees and minimize individualistic behavior. Teams must be willing to publicly commit to specific results. This will promote team members to passionately and even desperately try to achieve the publicly-stated goals. "Teams that say, 'We'll do our best,' are subtly, if not purposefully, preparing themselves for failure." Rewards and recognition must be reserved for the team members who make real contributions to the achievement of the group goals.

This book is an important tool to use if you are trying, like me, to provoke positive change in how our company is run and to promote a sense of teamwork. I also bought Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team; A Field Guide, which I also plan to read!

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

I pretty much like any book I have read about books, writers and/or the writing process. I also like books that are fast-paced mysteries. This book includes all of those elements. I also love how the definition of "Plot (Noun)" is included on the book jacket of the hard copy edition of the book I have:

• 1. a sequence of events in a narrative, as in a novel, for example
• 2. an immoral or illegal plan
• 3. a designated section of land for a gravesite

This book's plot also includes all definitions of the word "plot", which makes it all the more intriguing.

The main character, Jacob Finch Bonner, is a struggling author teaching writing classes at a second-rate school. His first published novel achieved moderate success, but his 2nd, 3rd and 4th attempts were each a bust. One of his uninterested (in Jake's feedback) and seemingly uninvested students, Evan Parker, shows some promise as an upcoming author in the few pages he submits to Jake for review, but Jake remains skeptical until Evan verbally shares his future novel's plot with him. By all accounts, it's a best-selling novel plot.

Jake doesn't see or hear anything again from Evan after the end of the writing class. Occasionally he thinks of Evan and his "plot" and wonders why the book has not been published yet. After three years, Jake finds out that Evan never wrote the book because he died not long after the writing class. It's at this point that Jake has a decision to make. Knowing that Evan's parents and sister had died even before Evan, and there doesn't appear to be any other family member, and realizing that this wonderful plot has never been published, Jake decides to write his own novel - in his own words and not using any of the words Evan submitted to him in class - using Evan's "best-selling plot".

So, are Jake's actions plagiarism? No. How could they be? Jake doesn't copy any of the words from Evan's writing sample. So is it unethical to use someone's else's plot after they have died? Each writer has their own voice, so how can it be unethical to use a dead person's idea if it hasn't actually been used previously? And really, aren't all TV shows, movies and books just variations of the same plots/ideas?

These questions haunt Jake after someone starts accusing him via social media outlets of stealing the story. Since Jake's book (Crib) becomes the best-selling, Oprah-promoting novel that Evan predicted it would be, these online taunts threaten Jake's reputation as a writer.

Whether you are a writer, a want-to-be writer, or simply enjoy reading, I would recommend this book!

Wendy's Rating: *****