How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men's Feelings

 How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men's Feelings by Sarah Cooper  209 pages

"Ambitious women are so scary. In this fast-paced business world, female leaders need to make sure they’re not perceived as pushy, aggressive, or competent. In How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings, Sarah Cooper, author of the bestselling 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings, illustrates how women can achieve their dreams, succeed in their careers, and become leaders, without harming the fragile male ego.

Chapters include, among others, “9 Non-threatening Leadership Strategies for Women,” "How to Ace Your Job Interview Without Over-acing It," and “Choose Your Own Adventure: Do You Want to Be Likable or Successful?” It even includes several pages to doodle on while men finish what they're saying. Each chapter also features an exercise with a set of "inaction items" designed to challenge women to be less challenging."

Obviously, this is a humor book -- this isn't real advice. Or is it? The not-quite-funny thing is that there are things in this book that I think a lot of women identify with. Like suggesting something in a meeting which gets ignored . . . until the guy next to you suggests the same thing and gets all the credit. Or being called "emotional," and a number of other adjectives that are positive until they're applied to describe a woman in the working environment.  I admit I snickered at several of the chapters and appreciated Cooper's snarky take on women and work.

Good Omens

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman     412 pages

According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.

So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . . 

This was an interesting read - it took me a while to get into it and get used to the format of the book. If you're not a fan of constantly switching pov, then you might want to skip this, because there is a large cast of characters and many of them get at least a little portion of the text from their perspective. In this way, it was a bit tricky remembering people as you read the book, especially if they were just a minor character and they popped up early in the book and many not again until much later. In this way, I think the movie of this book might actually be a better format for this kind of story. It will be easier to remember characters, for one, but also the humor that Pratchett and Gaiman employ might come off better told from actual people than being read on a page. The humor was another thing that made it difficult for me to absolutely love this book. I guess since I'm not British, some of the humor just went over my head. Also, because I'm not as familiar with certain customs or companies that were either real and mentioned or parodied, it didn't come off as funny to me, per say. There were also lots of references and playing off of Biblical subject matter, and since I did not grow up learning Biblical subject matter, a lot more might have gone over my head. However, there were some pretty funny bits and I did enjoy a good portion of the book. All in all, it was fun read, but it didn't roll along easily for me. I definitely read it in chunks. I would recommend it, but only to people who I think this humor would go over well with.

Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (4 stars, 390 pages, paperback)

This is a fascinating and hilarious book. In this world, possibly a distant future after Something Happened, people have limited color perception. Society is based on the works of Albert Munsell, color scientist and inventor of the Munsell Color System.What colors you can see determine your caste in society, and how much of your colors you can see influences your rank. Purples are at the top of society (aside from the almost-unheard of people who can see all colors), while the unfortunate Greys can see little color and form the working class. Color forms the basis of medical care, drugs, employment, last names, and pretty much every aspect of their lives.

Eddie Russett is a Red. As the story opens, his father has been sent to the town of East Carmine to fill in as relief swatchman - a doctor, who heals people with color swatches. Eddie tags along as a punishment - officially, he’s conducting a chair census. The book follows him as he navigates new friendships (and crushes), marriage contracts, the will of the collective, and the dangers of lightning. Along the way, he learns some things about his society, and of course, about himself.

Fforde has achieved an epic feat of imagination and world-building. The dystopia exists somewhere on the spectrum between teen fiction and classic Orwellian sci-fi, but it’s all dealt with in the deadpan humor of an expert satirist. It drags a bit in the middle when the plot stalls, but the comedy and creativity kept me coming back.

It’s the first of a planned series. You can tell the story is not done, but the book has a reasonably bittersweet conclusion. If you’re allergic to unfinished stories, maybe you should hold off, but there’s no clear indication that the next books are coming anytime soon. Personally, it’s well worth the read for the world-building alone.

You're Making me Hate You

You're Making me Hate You by Corey Taylor, 243 pages

What you see above is only the shortened, for everyday use title. The full title is:

You're making me hate you : a cantankerous look at the common misconception that humans have any common sense left. In its extended form you get a pretty good idea what the book is about. For those that do not know, Corey is the lead singer in the band Slipknot and also Stone Sour. He apparently is also a novelist, seeing as how this is his third book.

 

When I picked up this book I did not make the connection that this was the same Corey Taylor from Slipknot. I blame it on the lack of a mask/makeup rather than my ignorance. It wasn't till he mentioned his time with the band that I made the connection. Not that it matters much. I certainly am not more inclined to read books by famous people, but I do tend to avoid them slightly more than normal. I blame it on how awful some are.

 

I tend enjoy books that rant about life. Books that make you take a hard look at society and think how the heck did we end up like this. I especially like them if they can do it in a humorous way. You're Making me Hate You manages to do just that. I mean he certainly hit on some of my pet peeves with humanity: walking next to someone so you block the path and do not move so people can go around you, check. Sauntering across the street and blocking traffic as the light changes, check. Thinking the world revolves around you, check. I could go on, but it is just easier to tell you to go read the book. So go read the book.

 

 Parental advisory note: there is a fair amount of cussing in this book.

 

 

The Awful Mess: A Love Story

The Awful Mess: A Love Story by Sandra Hutchison  410 pages

When Mary and Roger Bellamy’s marriage falls apart, Mary seeks solace in the small community of Lawson, New Hampshire. Lawson is typical of a very, very small town. “Everyone in town knows about the young divorcee from Boston who bought Miss Lacey’s house.”  And she’s hardly unpacked!

Mary isn’t a religious person, but she has made her first new friend in Arthur Tennant, the rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. She looks forward to their meetings on the Main Street Bridge. She enjoys Arthur’s company. She knows he’s in an unhappy marriage and can both sympathize and empathize his position. Before long, each falls into a serious case of like.

Arthur is also helping Mary and introducing her to some of the other locals…in particular the town cop, Winslow. Each feels the attraction. Winslow is single and extremely handsome.

Mary is enjoying settling down into her new life. She was able to keep her job as an editor thanks to telecommuting. Now she’s gotten word that the company is getting ready for a big layoff.  She is hopefully that she’ll get lucky and survive. After all, there isn’t any publishing industry job sin Lawson.

There’s a lot going on in Mary’s life: Arthur, whom she had a one-night stand; Winslow, whom she’s unsure of her feelings; and the potential of having to pack up and move when she’s just settled in. And oh yeah, she’s pregnant. After years and years of being told she was incapable of having children, it looks like a miracle has happened! Then Roger reappears to wreak havoc on her life. His interference is shocking.

Mary is a no-nonsense kind of gal. She picks herself up and dusts herself off when the going gets tough. And boy, oh boy, are things getting tough.

I’m a new fan of author Hutchison. I thoroughly enjoyed her other novel, The Rib and Thigh Bones of Desire. Her characters are down to earth and believable, the story lines realistic, the pacing is superb. I was pulled in immediately with the first sentence. Hutchison creates vivid worlds and characters.

I highly recommend The Awful Mess; A Love Story. It’s the perfect book to curl up on the couch with…I wasn’t able to put it down.

 I give it 5 out of 5 stars.