Lords of Finance: The Bankers That Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed

Lords of Finance: The Bankers That Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed

In 2009 we’re deep into a major recession in the United States and many other countries throughout the world are experiencing many of the same problems. Each week we hear comparisons to previous recessions and economic downturns – but the benchmark for all financial crisis is the “Great Depression”. So, this seems like a great time to read and learn more about what happened around the world from the end of World War I and the late 1930’s. Liaquat Ahamed has written a great book that documents what was happening in the world during this twenty year period. I highly recommend that anyone interested in learning more about what lead up to the Great Depression and how the financial leaders handled it – must read this book.

In 1918 the world was reeling from the events during World War I and they were trying to rebuild their countries and the economies in those countries. We are all familiar with the bare bones of the end of World War I, the Roaring Twenties in the United States, rebuilding in Europe, the financial crash in the United States, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party and many of the other events between 1918 and 1938.

· But, how many of us know the details of the individual financial systems in the United States, France, Britain and Germany?

· Do you know what people managed the financial decisions in these countries during that time?

· Do you understand how the gold standard worked and what that meant for each country?

· Do you know what happened in the ongoing debate about war reparations and what that did to various economies around the world?

· What happened within Germany when they were ordered to pay substantial reparations after the war?

· What happened when Germany started printing money around the clock to boost the economy?

These are just a few of the questions that are answered in this book.

In school I remember learning that the financial situation in Germany after World War I was one thing that enabled Adolf Hitler to gain power in Germany. But I never understand the extent of the financial crisis. My depth of understanding on that piece of history has increased dramatically. Understanding what happened in the different countries and the various domino effects are staggering as you turn the pages and see how things fell apart.

I love to read about history and to get a deeper understanding of what led to various events. But I think in the current economic climate – this information is even more important. Most of us have heard the saying that “those who do not study history are destined to repeat it”. That idea kept coming to mind as I read this book and saw many examples of the things these power players in the worldwide economic community tried that failed and in a good number of cases – made the situation much worse.

Through the pages of this book you will meet Montagu Norman of the Bank of England, Emile Moreau of the Banque of France, Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank in Germany and Benjamin Strong of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition, you will learn how each of these men reached these positions and much about the history of these various financial institutions.

Anyone interested in the economy – and especially people who could make a positive difference in the financial situation – should be required to read this book. For people who are concerned about authenticity – there are 23 pages of notes and references for the information in the book and a 12 page bibliography. This is a long book – over 500 pages of content, plus the notes, bibliography and index. It took me a while to read the book – because its not really the sort of content you want to rush through, but I thoroughly enjoyed the content and feel like I have a much more complete understanding of the things that led up to the Great Depression and how the world recovered from this crisis.

The Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver

I'm made myself a promise that each holiday, I'll try to take some time off from working and I'll treat myself by reading a book just for fun. The vast majority of the books I read are for clients and although I thoroughly enjoy those books - its fun to read a book just for fun. So, you will probably notice that on many holiday weekends, I've posted reviews for Jeffrey Deaver books :)

The Broken Window is a high tech story about identity theft taken to extremes. Picture this, you are at your home having dinner or watching TV and the police knock on your door. They ask where you have been that evening and even though you know that you haven't done anything wrong, the police find evidence that ties you to a crime - murder. How can that be? They have a shoe print that matches your shoe, the condom at a rape scene matches the condoms you bought a couple of days ago, the potato chip crumbs at the scene match a bag in your garage and the worst news is that the victim's blood was found in your car.

This master criminal thinks that he has all the necessary information to pull off repeated "perfect crimes" and he did for years. Then he makes a "fatal" mistake - he frames Lincoln Rhymes cousin. That brings the renowned forensic specialist to the case and that means the criminals days are numbered (he would appreciate the pun :).

As the criminalist and his crew work on the crime, they find their way to a business that collects every bit of available information about every man, woman and child in the US. The business gives credence to the concerns about 'big brother watching you'. They know where you were, what you did, what you bought and much much more. The idea that a company could have all this information is creepy enough - but then imagine that a criminal mastermind has access to that information.

We see bits and pieces of the criminal and he lashes out at Rhyme, Amelia, and the other people who work with Rhyme. Literally, no one is safe from him and while Rhyme is very good - he has limited access to the information he needs. As always there are plenty of people who appear to be guilty while the reader is given tidbits to help us figure out who the mystery man is.

For anyone who likes a detailed and well researched thriller, I highly recommend this book. If you are a fan of Jeffrey Deaver - this book does not disappoint.

NOTE: I read through a number of other reviews before I posted this and I enjoy the immense detail that Deaver brings to his book and as an author I know the amount of pain staking work that is involved in being authentic and bringing this realism to a story. There was a lot of detail in this book and his usual multiple sub plots, but those are all things that make a Deaver book so great. Its not short or full of fluff and it is very possible to get lost in the story. I didn't think this book had as many whiplash twists to it, but with the detail that was included, I'm not sure that would've worked as well in this novel.

How Obama Won by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

How Obama Won by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
A Comprehensive Dissect of Obama's White House Win

I have to be honest that I’ve never followed politics for many reasons. But in the past year, I’ve worked with Earl Ofari Hutchinson, read four of his book and followed his blog posts. I can tell you that it has been a crash course in politics.

The unbiased details that he shares and the historic information that he provides to support his conclusions are fascinating to me because I love to learn the story behind the news. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a nationally recognized political analyst and author who has had his finger on the pulse of the political system for years and he uses that experience to help the reader dissect Obama’s win.

That is also one of the things I really liked about his latest book, How Obama Won. So many things happened through the 20+ months of campaigning, that I had lost track of many of the details. Through the 20 chapters of this book, he starts with Obama announcing that he will run, his big and important win in the Iowa primary and brings the reader through the final days of the election. I was talking to a friend who was reading this and he mentioned that it felt like a friend was explaining the election to your personally.

In the pages of How Obama Won, Hutchinson discusses many things that helped propel Obama to victory and some things that had the potential to derail his candidacy. These topics include: the economy, fund raising, the black vote, Oprah’s support, “the Bradley Effect”, Jesse Jackson, Reverend Wright, the race issue, the Clintons, choosing the right vice president, Sarah Palin, Colin Powell, blue collar America, and more.

There are very high expectations for President Obama and his administration. This book is to the point and will take you back through the election process and remind you of the details that got Obama to his current position. Take a look back at this historic election that people will study for years to come. This is your chance to dissect Obama’s win. Sure Obama got more votes, but what lead up to him getting those votes? That’s what you learn in How Obama Won.

Book Promo 101: Learn the Basics of Book Promotion by Nikki Leigh

This review was done for one of my book by Lillian Brummet. Her details are at the bottom of the review.

Book Promo 101: Learn the Basics of Book Promotion

Only a small part of a writer’s career, no matter what genre they focus on, is the act of writing – most of the writer’s schedule is filled with record keeping, office work and marketing. The first year after a book is published is often referred to as the “honeymoon period” because this is when the authors direct contacts have been exhausted. Typically, sales drop off and the author becomes disenchanted with the thought of facing more promotion activities for a seemingly “dead” book. Sadly there are only a few in the industry that seem to understand that a marketing plan should last the life of the contract for that book, sometimes longer.

Nikki Leigh has graciously put together a series entitled Book Promo 101 and the first book of this series has just been released. This first installment is an overview of the basic process and tools that are involved in book promotion activities. The author will go into each of these tools in more detail in the upcoming books in this series. This is a great way to have a brief understanding of what each of these tools are, why they are employed and some great tips on how to avoid using them ineffectively.

There are, what looks to be more than 50 contributors to this book. Virtually every page has a contribution from authors, educators and others that are involved in the world of writing. These insiders tips are very helpful; I was impressed at the amount of comfort that is felt through reading these personal experiences. The contributors’ willingness to admit errors, discuss
emotions and share their favorite resources is refreshing.

Readers will find lists of questions for them to use to define what their needs are and how they plan to reach society with their message. Find out if you need services, such as a professional full time publicist, and learn about alternatives that are available for you to consider. There is an excellent sample conversation in the chapter dealing with bookstores that will definitely be of service to readers.

In total there 208 pages in the print book which is a generous 8 x 10 book. It contains 16 chapters along with Appendices that offer extensive lists for review sites and best selling book sites. Book Promo 101 was released in March 2008 by Write Words Inc – an imprint of Cambridge books. (The ebook is standard size 5 x 8 and over 400 pages.)

The author, Nikki Leigh, has been involved in marketing businesses, books and web design for over 15 years. She has 4 novels and 4 non-fiction business books that are available for readers to investigate through their favorite bookseller. She also runs several bogs, offers virtual book tour services to her clients and facilitates classes in character development.

ISBN#: 978-1594314985 (e-book)

ISBN#: 978-1594314698 (print)

Rating: 5-out-of-5 stars

~ Lillian Brummet: co-author of the books Trash Talk and Purple Snowflake Marketing, author of Towards Understanding; Host of both the Conscious Discussions talk radio show & the Authors Read radio program (www.brummet.ca)

For more information about Book Promo 101 - visit www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm

Bounce! by Barry Moltz

Bounce! Failure, Resiliency and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success by Barry Moltz

We all love to share our success stories in business. But, there is so much to learn from our failures. One key to learning from our failures is to be prepared for failure, develop the humility to deal with problems and to develop the keys that we need in order to be resilient.

Bounce! This seems to be the year where people discuss resiliency and how to bounce back. I’ve personally reviewed four or five books about improving our lives, making needed changes and moving on. The full title of this book is Bounce! Failure, Resiliency and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success. Its an inspiring title and the book is very good. When we think of failure, we need to also think about bouncing back and starting over

In the United States and in other countries around the world people are facing very tough economic times and it doesn’t appear that will change drastically in the near future. We see huge companies failing and/or being taken over by the government or being sold on a pretty regular basis. If multi billion and multi million dollar businesses are failing, doesn’t it make sense that other businesses consider that failure is possible and to be ready for the possibility? No one is saying that failure is inevitable, but develop the mindset and skill set that make it easier for you to face failures and the situations we encounter as a business faces tough times.

Barry Moltz built his original business reputation at IBM. That’s where I initially heard about him, but he decided to leave IBM and start his own business venture. At one point in the book, Moltz mentions how his stature and income increased each year while he was at IBM and he had the mistaken opinion that the trend would continue even when he left IBM. That’s something I’ve heard from people who left a fulltime job to begin their own business. That can be one of the first things to rattle a new entrepreneur. The steady paycheck and job security disappear overnight.

Moltz gives the example of a rubber band ball that is created by wrapping rubber bands and creating a ball. Each band increases the size and strength of the ball. Through the pages of Bounce!, he shares the key “bands” we need to create sufficient bounce. They include:

Environmental and Cultural DNA – Attitudes in your country and associates about success and failure have an impact on how you view these elements of business.

Humility – Humility has the ability to lift us up or to pull us down. If you fail, will you wallow and brood over it or will you understand that people fail and pick yourself up and move on?

Face Your Fear of Failure – Failure is always possible. No matter how qualified or prepared we are in business, it is always possible to fail. Its best to be prepared for that possibility. If we never fail, that’s wonderful. But, if it does happen, be ready to deal with it.

Give Up Shame About Failure – This is not simple, but it is necessary. Once you decide to stop feeling shame over failure, tackle the things thrown at you by others. Some people will be obnoxious about any failure, but you need to be convinced it’s a temporary situation and move forward.

Failure Offers a Choice – How many people do you know that are stuck in a “no win” situation because they decide to stay in a failing business instead of admitting defeat? Give yourself the choice to say, “It’s not working” and get out of a losing situation. Make the choice to fail and move on to something better.

Be Careful About the Risks You Take – As your decision making skills improve, you are better qualified to make careful decisions and to limit the potential for risk and failure. Make sure that you understand the full risk and the full benefit of any major decision you are going to make.

Refine and Improve the Process to Improve the Outcome – Business goes through cycles and its important to understand that the processes we use make a difference in the outcomes we get.

Develop Patience About Success and Failure – We must be realistic and many times we don’t succeed as quickly as we hope. So, patience is needed. Set realistic goals and work toward these. Even when progress is slow, goals and benchmarks enable us to see the progress that is being made.

Develop Your Own System to Measure Your Success and Failure – Most people realize that just having money is not a guarantee of happiness. Decide what you need to feel successful. No one else’s idea of success should guide you – what makes you happy? Once you know that answer, strive to be happy.

Place Value on Action and Progress – Read the book, but then realize that you need to make things happen. Your experience is a great way to build confidence and the humility to face the tough situations and to move on to bigger and better things.

Those points are the key elements that the book covers and is built around. The longest chapter in the book, is Chapter 5 Forget the Archetypes: Messy Lines Teach Humility. At first glance this was interesting and a bit confusing because we all know that strong entrepreneurs need confidence, to be self assured and to be strong. So, why did Moltz include such a long chapter about humility? He discusses ego and how it does and does not help a business person. He discusses how humility is crucial is facing problems and failures in a way that helps us start over and rebuild or future.

There is so much great information in this book, but I highly recommend that no one skip the last chapter, Read This Book – Then Throw It Away. He makes great points including the fact that planning is great and needs to happen, but we also know that you will never succeed or fail until you take the leap and actual work to make it happen. Anyone who is waiting for the “perfect” time to start will be waiting forever. There is never a “perfect” time.

Do sufficient research and planning and learn to make sound decisions. Then develop true and positive humility and move forward. It’s also critical to realize many great people have failed, some failed in huge ways. The great people, large and small, are the ones who pick themselves up and start over. There is always another possibility and another opportunity. Will you move on and find your next opportunity?

What the Best CEO’s Know by Jeffrey Krames

With all the focus in the last several years on corporate scandals, are there any CEO’s who can teach us something? There are, and their stories are included in What the Best CEO’s Know by Jeffrey Kramer. We cannot deny that there have been an unusual number of corporations who find themselves on the wrong side of the legal system, but that is not the case with every CEO.

What traits are needed to be a top CEO? How do you build a business that can weather the inevitable storms that will come? The stories of these men will inspire you, help you analyze your abilities as a CEO along with learning how to improve your effectiveness in business. Some of these men survived personal and business pitfalls, but established durable companies.

You are given the chance to “Assess Your CEO Quotient” by using questions to evaluate your performance and your business. These unique features offer you the opportunity to learn improved ways to handle your business.

Six Traits That Connect 7 CEO’s

1 – “Outside-In” Perspective – This perspective requires the ability to analyze varying aspects of the target market. The organization must focus on and satisfy the market.

2 – “Evangelical Leadership Gene” – A common mistake that people make, is to confuse this trait with charisma. A CEO must arouse enthusiasm and devotion.

3 – Importance of Culture and the Difficulty in Changing Culture – Some CEO’s create a fun, family culture in their businesses and others opt for a culture of a healthy fear of competition and failure.

4 – “Next Generation” Companies – Top CEO’s must anticipate what the market will need and how their business can fill that need. They need to have vision about what will be needed.

5 – “Implement Best Idea” – Some people must take credit for all good ideas. These CEO’s realized that a good idea should be utilized, no matter who originated the idea.

6 – Advance Leadership Body of Knowledge – These men understood the knowledge of a leader should always increase and improve their performance.

Focus Your Business Around the Customer

Michael Dell was a Fortune 500 CEO at 27. He realized any product needed to fill the customer’s need. His system eliminated the need to stockpile items. Each system is custom built to meet a specific customer’s needs, after the order was placed.

He learned an expensive lesson, when a new product was designed without consulting the public. After this setback, Dell returned to the principle of listening to his customers. They realized a profitable use for the internet was placing orders online. This also collected information from customers and freed employees for other duties. These things help Dell to maintain a competitive edge and rock bottom prices. By eliminating the middleman and inventory, he held prices down and ensured a higher profit. Focusing on the customer and satisfying them multiplied potential profits and made Dell a company to watch and learn from through the years.

Create an Authentic Learning Environment

Imagine being promoted to CEO in an established company and the best move is to totally reorganize the organization? This is the situation that confronted Jack Welch as CEO of GE. To make the situation worse, key vice presidents and thousands of managers didn’t see a problem.

Welch needed a better learning environment to reorganize GE, but his first priority was to cut expenses. The company needed to be financially stable before the education could be implemented. The training would be costly, but the cost would be offset through increased productivity and more effective management of the companies which made up GE.

Welch knew a key source for valuable ideas could be competitors. He encouraged his employees to actively search for ideas in any place. Employees were rewarded for bringing ideas to his attention. New ideas were celebrated within the company and the best were shared in a company newsletter. He felt the employees needed to share information and this enabled them to understand how the company operated and their part in the process.

GE spent billions to train their employees, but their revenues proved this was a worthwhile endeavor. When Welch took over as CEO in 1981, the total market capitalization was $13 billion. While this was a very respectable number, the value in 2000 was an impressive $596 billion.

Focus on Solutions

What if you were chosen as the CEO of a company founded by Thomas Edison. If that isn’t intimidating enough, the previous year the company posted the largest annual loss to date - $8.1 billion. How could one person remedy the problems in that company?

At one time, IBM was the largest computer company. As the CEO, Gerstner’s first priority was to stop the financial bleeding. The last CEO wanted to break up the company, but Gerstner planned to keep the company together. The decision was to expand and make IBM a full service computer company. The existing customer base needed more and the new plan would enable IBM to capitalize on long term and loyal customers by satisfying more of their needs.

Each part of the company needed to be involved in this restructuring and expansion to make it a success. Gerstner also went to the customers and asked for their input. In the past, IBM became arrogant about their business position. They developed the mindset that they didn’t need to study their competitors or talk to their customers to maintain their position.

Gerstner turned to Jack Welch for help. He “shocked” the company into understanding the situation by cutting expenses by $1.5 billion in six months. The original idea was to sell products, but under Gerstner, they needed to provide solutions. One of Gerstner’s primary goals was to increase research and development. The researchers put their emphasis on finding and creating ways to solve their customer’s problems.

Prepare the Organization for Drastic Change

Intel developed and manufactured microchips. They discovered that limitless information could be stored without needing more space, the potential was limitless. But, a Japanese company found the same answer and could make the chips cheaper. This shook Intel’s foothold on the market. It took three long years, but Intel bounced back. They shifted from microchips to microprocessors and regained their footing in the industry. This decision by Andy Grove put the company in a profitable position and positioned the company to become a giant in the industry. He viewed the company in a brutally honest way and saw what was needed. It was a drastic answer, but it was what the situation needed. He found this answer by thinking like a person outside the business.

A small defect was found in a chip. He had two possibilities, one was to convince the public it was a small problem or he could replace the part. Grove decided to replace the parts, which cost the company $500,000,000. Andy Grove helped Intel survive several large crises by insisting that there was no place for complacency within the company. Regular meetings with managers help everyone keep an eye on potential problems and deal with many before they become large problems. A healthy fear also needs to be instilled in employees. This will keep them watchful for trends that can harm the company and their future.

Harness the Intellect of Every Employee

Bill Gates became involved in the computer industry at a key time. He was able to get in on the ground floor and build his business while the industry was young. His belief that every employee had something to contribute was a key to forming an idea driven company and that gave an employee the confidence to come to him about the potential of the internet. An employee noticed how Cornell students were using the internet for more than research, and he brought the information back to his employer.

Create a Performance Driven Culture

Airlines were especially hard hit after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Even in these tough times, the CEO for Southwest Airlines showed a profit for three decades. Herb Kelleher’s strategies contributed to that success. Southwest originally flew commuter routes in Texas and grew into a $5.7 billion business.

There is little conventional thinking at Southwest Airlines. These ideas begin with the low pricing structure and include the policy of no assigned seats. The overall attitude creates an incredible loyalty among employees. In 2000, fuel prices that had tripled and that could threaten the company. Each employee found ways to save $5 a day, in 6 weeks they saved $2 million.

The company hiring policies are a little unorthodox, but people’s attitudes play a big part in their hiring decision. The attitudes they want include: “cheerfulness, optimism, decision-making ability, team spirit, communication, self-confidence and self starter skills.” Kelleher told his people to focus on service and pleasing the customer. He believed if you give excellent service and satisfy the customer, profits will follow.

Learn from Competitors, but Remain Faithful to the Vision

Sam Walton started with a small retail store and created a mega store. He had a trial and error process, but he learned from each mistake and continued to make changes throughout the years. He admitted that he “borrowed” ideas from competitors. He kept an eye on their product selection, prices, customers and service. Walton understood to keep an eye on the competition and to learn from them.

Many people have a hard time comprehending Walton’s most prevalent idea – the belief that lower prices bring higher profits. He bought products at very low prices because he bought in such bulk. Then he sold more than others and the profit grew. Look down the aisles of your local Wal-Mart. Most products are represented on the shelves, but there are only a couple of types of each product. Limiting the depth of selection gave Walton a wide breadth of products.

Summary

What common threads are seen with these seven CEO’s? Each one knew customers were a key to their success. They needed to supply a product the customer wanted and to do it better than their competitors. To do this, they needed to study their competition, use good ideas and improve on the bad ideas. These men knew a good idea was important, no matter where it originated. Many rewarded their employees for sharing good ideas and didn’t penalize bad ideas. The CEO’s acknowledged some of the best ideas came from employees.

Through the “CEO Quotient” questions in each chapter and practical examples, each CEO or small business owner can find invaluable tips. Even if you have heard the idea before, these men may procide a different slant on it that would benefit you and your business to reach heights you didn’t think was possible.

Personality Not Included by Rohit Bhargava

Personality – Personality is defined as “the unique, authentic, and talkable soul of your brand that people can get passionate about. Personality is not just about what you stand for, but how you choose to communicate it. It is also the way to reconnect your customers, partners, employees, and influencers to the soul of your brand in the new social media era.”

Have you ever thought about the fact that your business should have a personality? You might not have thought about creating or developing a personality for your business – but in the twenty first century, your business needs a personality. The time for faceless businesses is gone. We have all been told to develop a brand for our business. But, creating a personality that reflects and deepens that brand is taking the idea to a higher level.

Think about your favorite coffee shop or your favorite restaurant. What do you like about that business? Is it the service, the products, the atmosphere, the location, or something else? The personality includes things that set that business apart from other similar businesses.

This book contains six chapters in Part One. Part Two contains learning guides which expand on the content in Part One and various other resources. The contents include:

Part One

1. Sign Here to Read This (How Organizations Lose Their Personality)

2. The Accidental Spokesman (How Unlikely Voices Are Shaping Your Brand)

3. A Signature is Not Enough (How to Define Your Organization’s Personality)

4. Lessons from the Storytellers (Crafting a Backstory People Care About)

5. Conquering the Fear Factor (Getting Your Organization to Embrace Personality)

6. Add Personality and Stir (Finding and Using Personality Moments)

Part Two

· The Butler Was a Marketer (Putting Personality into Action)

· New Styles of Marketing (Ten Techniques are Described in Detail)

· Taking Theory Further (Tools and Guides to Accompany Chapters 1 – 6)

Throughout the book Rohit Bhargava provides ample examples of businesses which are using the techniques that he discusses. The case studies were almost enough to sell me on this book, but learning about each technique and then being given an interesting and detailed example of how each idea can be implemented in real life was invaluable. For example, we all know that Starbucks is very popular. In Personality Not Included we are given details on what they did right and then how they let the personality slip away.

Another fascinating chapter is chapter two when we learn about the many types of accidental spokesmen that can represent a business. In addition, he tells us how each type of spokesmen is effective and how to make the most of their enthusiasm and appeal. In business for years, I’ve learned so much through mistakes that have been made, by me or by others. There are plenty of examples in this book of what techniques won’t work in certain situations or when it’s better to use another option. I love to highlight the valuable information in books and my copy has plenty of information marked for future use for me and my clients.

Backstory is critical when writing a novel, but have you ever thought about sharing the story behind your business? This chapter explains why you should have a backstory and how to use that backstory. The strangest thing happened as I read this chapter. I usually share my business and promotional background with people when I give my experience, but chapter four helped me begin to develop a new approach. My dream as a teenager was to be a novelist named Nikki Leigh and later on I got my feet wet in promotional work as a consolation prize in a management job and I found that I loved it. Those are two of the things I can use to begin to put the backstory for my business on paper. What story do you have behind your business that would attract the public and help them to see you in a more favorable light?

In the opening chapter and introduction of the book I was patting myself on the back because I’ve used many of the ideas that are presented. Then Rohit Bhargava said something that really got my attention. He mentioned that just learning to create a personality isn’t enough. You need to learn the best way to implement that personality plan in your business and learn to identify even more ways to find opportunities to develop this personality even further.

When you read the book, definitely take the time to read the learning guides in Part Two. Here is an example. In Chapter Four (page 112), we learn about How to Use the Backstory Model Picker. This section summarizes the different types of backstory, what they include and who should use each type. Once you read that information, you flip to the guide on page 259 for much more detail on each of the types of backstory and how to utilize them in the best way. There are many “guides” in the book which give you additional information on how to get the most out of the ideas and techniques in the book.

I highly recommend this book for any entrepreneur and business person who wants to understand the need for a business personality. Business managers can also learn so much from the content in this book. It is also for the person who wants to find the different ways to develop this personality. Your business can stand out from the competition in amazing ways - it just needs more personality. When you read the book, keep your eyes open for the interesting ways the author has woven a unique personality into the pages of the book.

The Appeal by John Grisham

I enjoy John Grisham's book and especially the legal books. It seems like a long time since I've read one of these, so I was looking forward to this one. I enjoy books that deal into subjects that I don't know a lot about and that applies to much of the legal system and especially appeals. So, I enjoyed the subject.

The reader learns about a husband and wife legal team who have quite literally "risked it all" for a client who has lost her husband and her son due to the negligence of a large corporation. I feel the reader is brought even deeper into the story as they learn more about the repercussions for the town because of things that were done by this corporation. It was nice to see that the attorneys didn't resent their situation (which I have seen in other characters - real and fictional).

As a reader, I wanted to reach into the book and help some characters while I wanted to strangle other. The art auction was a nice way to show the stark differences between the corporation owner and the people who his company hurt.

The plan that is implemented in part two seems very plausible and there have been elections where it seemed this sort of "campaign" is being executed. The detail in the planning and the specifics for an interesting array of characters was enjoyable.

I won't give away the end, but I wanted the new justice to have something happen to him and the "incident" worked very well for the book and seemed appropriate for John Grisham who is very involved in youth baseball.

It was great to read a new Grisham legal book - I'm looking forward to the next one :)

Nikki Leigh
www.nikkileigh.com

Baby Be Mine by Diane Fanning

I've been a fan of true crime books for many years and have several favorites that I read. However, in March of 2006, I met Diane Fanning when I moderated a panel she was on at the Festival of the Book. To prepare for our panel discussion, I read two of her books and I was hooked. She takes the true crime book to a new level that I appreciate.

She doesn't just give the well publicized facts of the case, but she digs deeper. In Baby Be Mine, she gave a lot of information which some may consider to be unnecessary and I was a little confused at first. However, as I continued to read, I realized she was giving us information about the collateral damage that was caused by this act of violence. The repercussions were felt by many people in many areas and not just the immediate family of the victim.

I found the information she wove into the book about similar crimes to be very enlightening and it gave more depth to the Bobbie Jo Stinnett murder. For this case, murder does not seem like a sufficient description of the crime perpetrated on her. I appreciated the additional information that was included in the book and feel it made the content even more compelling. I have two other books of Diane's in my to be read pile and hope to read them soon.

Review By Nikki Leigh - www.nikkileigh.com

Cape Cod by William Martin

This is a wonderful version of the settling of Cape Cod. The story begins before the boats arrive in the New World and follows a family's struggle through the present time. The history is interwoven with his fictional town. I read this after I visited Cape Cod for the first time and loaned my copy to a friend from the area. It didn't find its way home and I bought another copy. Highly recommended. The flashback chapters which are worked into the story and the present day chapters may be confusing, but stick with it, this is a great book. My novels are set just north of Cape Cod on the Cape Ann coast and I'd love to read his take on Cape Ann.

review by Nikki Leigh - www.nikkileigh.com

Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass

I read this book because I will moderate a panel discussion with Dr Bass and Mr. Jefferson at the Virginia Festival of the Book in March 2006. I real a lot of true crime, thrillers and mysteries and thoroughly enjoyed this book. The details are incredible and the descriptions make you feel like you are bumping along the road with the doc. I'm glad to say that I didn't know "who did it" before the end. The characters are vivid and blend well with the setting for the story. The personal touches to show the expert is human were a great touch. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a well written thriller. Can't wait to meet you both in March :)

UPDATE - I just met Dr Bass and Jon Jefferson and they were great. It was a joy to be there when they talked to potential readers about their books. Its also amazing the number of questions I knew the answer to, because I'd read Carved in Bone and Death's Acre. Looking forward to the next fiction and non fiction. My parents attended the programs with me and are now interested in forensics for the first time. Great job guys :)

Dr Barbara Holstein Shares "The Truth"

I recently got a chance to read Dr Barbara Holstein's book "THE TRUTH: I’m Ten, I’m Smart and I Know Everything!"

This book is centered around a ten year old girl who has some important information to share with you. Do you remember what you thought of life when you were ten? What did you expect to happen in your life? Now that you've grown up, did you reach the dreams that you had when you were ten? If not, why not?

Dr Barbara starts off in the Introduction and reminds us of how many woman are leading unfulfilling lives and who feel they have lost the feeling that they have any control over their lives. Many woman have forgotten how to laugh and are feeling depressed and discouraged with the way their life ended up.

Its never too late to take control and try to take back your life. Do you have creativity that is untapped? This could be the time to find a creative outlet. Let the young heroine of this book transport you back to the time when you were time. She will remind you of how innocent life was at that time and all the promise that was before you. It can be productive and therapeutic to go back in time to a simpler and more interesting time. Come along as our young friend tells you about her "first love", "balloons" in her father's nightstand, betrayal by her best friend and the feeling in the pit of her stomach every time her parents fight.

Dr Barbara's Contact Information
Visit her website at www.enchantedself.com/ or her blog at www.enchantedself.typepad.com/.

Review by Nikki Leigh - www.nikkileigh.com

Past Imperfect by Nora Peterson

Nora Peterson introduces us to Casey McCloud. She is a thirty something woman who is on a mission. A young woman hired a private investigation office to find out some mysteries from her past. That sounds simple enough, but the young woman dies under questionable circumstances a couple of days later. Casey realizes that something is not as it seems and decides to solve the mystery, even though the client is dead. Her quest sends her to Boston a week before Christmas. The Boston atmosphere will make you dig out your gloves and hat as you make your way through the streets with Casey as she pieces together the clues to solve the mystery. Nora Peterson will also take you from the world of high society and into the world of the homeless as a harsh winter storm heads toward Boston. I love a good mystery and Past Imperfect kept my attention and even distracted me for an entire morning while I kept reading to find out "who done it".

Killraven by Arline Chase

Intrigue and Romance on the Chesapeake Bay in the 1890's,

I know Arline Chase and I think she's a wonderful woman and publisher. But, I'd never read any of her writing until we were in a chat together.

I love books set in places I know little about and set in the past, so Killraven was the perfect choice. It's set along the Chesapeake Bay in the late 1890's. I was hooked from the first pages and had a hard time putting it down.

From the beginning, I felt like I was walking along the docks and riding along the oyster shell roads with Hope and DeCoursey. These two couldn't be more different, but we all know that opposites attract. She had a strict religious upbringing and DeCoursey is a scoundrel. The question is whether he's as bad as the rumors the local gossips spread about him.

My favorite books make you feel that you're part of the story and that the characters are your friends. I had that feeling right away and I worried about Hope who had left her family and community. Even with the rumors about Coursey, I wanted him to find peace with his past and possibly to find love.

Arline Chase's book simply oozes with atmosphere and drew me in from the beginning. She weaves a variety of interesting and memorable characters into the story and gives us vivid details of their home, their community and their lives. Killraven had humor, dread, fear, suspense, murder, robbery, love, friendship and so much more. I would recommend this book and especially to people who enjoy a historic mystery with a bit of romance.

For more information, visit -
http://www.amazon.com/Killraven-Arline-Chase/dp/1594311374/nikkileighaut-20