Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

A friend lent me this book as I am grappling with the mental and physical decline of my oldest dog. You will find though that you don’t need to own a pet  to be swept up in the story of Denny, an up-and-coming race car driver, his family and the events that reshape their lives.

Garth Stein’s book stands out among the overly long list of doggy literature and it doesn’t have the fluff of Marley & Me. It is a humans’ story as told by their dog Enzo. He proves to be a wise, funny and ultimately philosophical narrator. If like me, you prefer not to look at life’s bigger issues through a spiritual purple haze his worldview even if it is from ground level is refreshingly logical. The reader will find themselves thinking about an odd assortment of things from their thumbs to the big stuff like navigating life as though you’re on a race track, hence its compelling title.

This is one of those books that affects everyone differently which makes The Art Of Racing in the Rain a great book club choice. Published in 2008 it came into my life at the right time. Reading about living and dying from a dogs perspective enabled me to step back from the overwhelming heaviness of it all.

As he nears the end of his life, avid TV watcher Enzo is fascinated by a documentary about Mongolia where dogs are laid to rest high in the hills. While I cannot give that to the chocolate Labrador who has shared my life for many years; I can grant him this last summer to warm his aching body and perhaps bring some peace to a now cloudy mind. And I know that he too will tell me when it is time.

The other day I looked out of the kitchen window and there was Duke trying to fit his big Labrador body on one small dry sunny spot in the snowy back garden. Here in Alberta winter is still clinging on for dear life; there were a few spring like days but this morning we woke up to more snow.  The prolonged winter is why I have yet another book review; as the evenings are more about reading than being outside. I have started Roberta Rich’s The Midwife of Venice which I will probably have finished before I see any blades of grass on the lawn and here are my thoughts on the just finished Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay -

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read Sarah’s Key. Over the years I made sure that I was informed about the Holocaust; starting with the Diary of Anne Frank, onto Jean-Francois Steiner’s Treblinka and then Night by Elie Wiesel. I was also careful to watch shows that treated the subject with respect and truth; World at War, Schindler’s List and HBO’s 2001 undervalued Conspiracy come to mind.

From the first few pages I was soon to realize that like the main character Julia I knew nothing about the Vél d’Hiv roundup. As the book unfolds I found Sarah’s journey riveting and the modern day Julia’s story was well intertwined. Unfortunately when de Rosnay drops Sarah’s narrative and let’s the rest of it unfold through Julia’s research the book loses its substance. At that point Sarah’s Key takes on the veneer of a romance novel; the characters and scenes became banal.  The last chapter was positively Danielle Steelesque, so much so that when Julia reveals the name of her baby it doesn’t read as poignant but trite.

I do recommend the book as the first half is well written and devoid of melodrama; as France is now willing to face and apologize for the Vél d’Hiv this event needs to take it place in our consciousness. Which further reinforces that if de Rosnay had continued to write Sarah’s character into the second half of the book this would have been a truly great novel from beginning to end.

As for Duke he is back in his cornor of the living room fast asleep on his big soft dog bed with an extra blanket for padding and probably dreaming about spring.

I finished the book knowing a lot more about life of the Chinese immigrants in Gold Mountain (Canada). Descriptions of present day China and some of its 20^th century history were also eye opening and fascinating.

The flow of this memoir is however uneven. Fong Bates has a wonderful way with words as illustrated in her more descriptive passages. Had she turned that deft talent to allowed us to get to know her and the relatives that she encountered in more depth the book would have been richer and ultimately more fulfilling. Instead there are sketchy bits about this and that person and as for the author she is an aloof and withdrawn narrator.

It is not easy to recognize that our parents were ‘people’ first. They loved and hated, laughed and cried, succeeded and failed all before they became a mother or father. For someone who went to China openly seeking her father’s story’ Fong Bates’ comes across as surprising judgemental of the truths as they reveal themselves.

The book is a quick read, enjoyable and interesting but it is not up to the gushing reviews that some have written. Jan Wong in The National Post writes a well balanced review.

With Your Biscotti & Coffee

1) I had never given much thought to the notes scribbled in the margins of books until I read about Professor Jackson and her two decades of researching ‘marginalia’. From the sidelines by Kathryn Blaze Carlson

2) It takes a team to successfully find the right home for a foster child and St. Loius is paving the way to proving that;  Foster Care: Extreme Edition by Curtis Sittenfeld

3) Curl up with a second mug of coffee and be prepared to view some of the worlds greatest art collections;  Google Art Project

There are plenty of people speaking out over the perceived harshness in the Chinese ‘Tiger Moms’ child rearing style. With near epidemic school bullying, little girls in kitten heels and make-up and our boys struggling in school with record low grades perhaps all is not going so well in North American homes either.

I had an English upbringing; a child rearing style that lacked in spontaneous hugging and trips to amusement parks; along with a zero tolerance for whining and not eating one’s vegetables. There were rules and there was discipline. On the other side of the coin talking things through and being heard was only a cup of tea away.  I was loved in that ‘we are here when you need us, always do your best, try everything once and treat people with respect’ way.

The world’s children can not be bought up in a universally approved homogenized process. Cultural differences in raising a family shouldn’t bring with it an assumption that being strict translates into an absence of humour or love.

Maintaining a steady grade average, taking part in carefully chosen extra curricular activities as well as learning good manners, deference to personal boundaries and self-reliance aren’t old fashioned they make for a well adjusted adult. Without these traits many of today’s ready to enter the work force young adults are about to learn that the world doesn’t have time for their poor inter-personal and communication skills, inability to empathize and over inflated sense of self.

With Your Biscotti & Coffee

Continuing our look at the younger generation …………

1) Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter. To purchase amazon.com

2) Before heading off to college some students are going out into the world to expereince adventure and  volunteerism. Is the gap year worth it? by Sean Gregory

3) Can Google Earth enhance the reading experience for students? What the Joads Saw by Vanessa Farquharson

It seems as though we were just celebrating the arrival of a new century and here we are a decade into it. 

In 2010 Jill Crossland Coaching grew in the way that I had engineered, veering away from life coaching and taking on more business clients, an unexpected plus was working with male entrepreneurs. This works well as not all women like my direct and down to earth coaching style. As I said to one female client last month ”You don’t pay me to agree with you.”

TimeFinders Magazine is looking for a new name that better encapsulates its broad demographic with the common denominators of being a woman with a business, family and personal life. Contest details can be found at the bottom of the home page.

In 2010 I became part of  The Nuttermother online book club because I wanted to broaden my book choices; while I didn’t read every book the ones I choose took me  away from my usual genres. If you haven’t done so already I recommend that you read Little Bee and The Help before taking on the latest crop of bestsellers. Little Bee brings you face to face with the question what would you do in a life and death moment. While also looking at the possible actions of a significant other if they were there beside you.

The Help should be read before the movie comes out in August of this year. I am not convinced that Hollywood will do justice to the subtle nuances of both the characters and the time in which they live. I would have preferred to see the story brought to life through an HBO or PBS”s Masterpiece Contemporary production.  By the way if you were a fan of Upstairs, Downstairs new episodes are being broadcast in April.

Last years crop of  mainstream TV shows had very few bright spots apart from The Good Wife and Blue Bloods; both shows have a strong cast and well written story lines. For me The Walking Dead was just another zombie show only with a better cast and script then usually accompanies this type of entertainment. Whatever your entertainment preference is it is important to carve out time to relax. 

Every January I encourage clients to avoid the vicious circle of resolutions and instead we work on setting realistic goals and format a plan to find personalized solutions to problems. It is best to stay away from the one size fits all answers to life’s challenges. The National Post had another approach in their article “Instead of resolutions why not try solutions?”. The first thing that I have done was to purchase the new Blackberry Torch this weekend in the hopes of being a bit more efficient when out and about. Now to find the time to set it up to meet my specifications.

I haven’t mentioned the dogs in awhile. Mia is as lovely and easy going as always. She is enjoying the dog park that the town has finally opened. Neurotic Duke was really good  at the park for a couple of weeks but then suddenly started to be grumpy with the others dogs so we had to make the decision to stop taking him. That’s my boy, always a challenge no matter how old he gets.

I hope that you continue to drop by Life Deco and I will endeavor to stay current in my writings. Happy New Year!

The Forgotten Garden has been compared to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden; even author Kate Morton writes veiled references to it in her book. If you expect that quality of narrative and characters you will be disappointed. However if you are looking for the perfect summer read that will whisper “make a glass of ice tea and take me outside for half an hour” this is the book for you.

The story has a charm that takes one from page to page effortlessly. The lives of Nell, Cassandra and Eliza weave around you as their stories unfold in three different time periods.

Morton also wrote some interesting male characters in Linus and Nathaniel and it is a shame that she didn’t allow them to play a more pivotal role in the story line especially as it drew to an end. Linus in particular would have made the conclusion more affective. Instead the ending was predictable and the last few pages insipid but you are so engaged by that point you suffer through the harlequin style dialogue between Christian and Cassandra. I get the romance but Christian was not crucial to the plot that we have been following for over 500 pages.

A woman’s search to find her real family, fascinating fairy tales and a walled garden at the end of a maze all play a key role in everyone’s lives. Underneath all this is the question “How is home defined?” It is the place where we are born? The house that we return to at the end of the day?  Is it being with family or that certain someone? Will one unexpectedly discover home while travelling?  As the book illustrates we know when we have found home, but we don’t know where or even how it may come into our lives.

Kate Morton talks about her book.

With Your Biscotti & Coffee

1 – An Interesting Woman:  Maria Gunnoe
When you fight a big company, a town and a way of life the danger to one’s self and your family is real. Maria Gunnoe took on the big coal industry in Appalachia. Coal Country Crusade by Tamara Jones/More Magazine  

2 - Nine of the most amazing bookstores in the world  from The Huffington Post

3 - American Theatre Wing
An in depth look at what is playing on and off Broadway and behind the scenes.

When it comes to my choice of television shows this season I seem to be experiencing some symptoms of having a multiple personality.

Love The Good Wife for all the right reasons; from the story lines, the clothes, to its strong female characters and if that isn’t enough I watch just to see how Christine Baranski can punctuate the end of a sentence with her expressive eyebrows.

Stepping back in time I confess to enjoying the very lusty and bloody Spartacus: Blood & Sand. Step aside Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) the Emmy goes to John Hannah as Batiatus. This role takes him from supportive roles to carrying the majority of scenes and story line and he does that exceptionally well. In my defense for having this 18A rated show on my list it was a lusty and bloodied time……….wasn’t it?

Tom Hanks & Steven Spielberg have another classic with The Pacific. Done with the same finesse and attention to every detail as Band of Brothers, this is a great series. When the camera puts you right on the battle field you want to turn away but you cannot because if those young men can face the death and agony so can we.

In between these TV shows I am trying to read AS Byatt’s The Children’s Book; many reviews call it absorbing, I’ll let you know. So far it is a bit hard to get into. I will say that some basic knowledge of Edwardian England and an interest in the same is a prerequisite for reading this book. Thank goodness I have all those Masterpiece Theater shows behind me!

With Your Biscotti & Coffee

This week I am bringing you a film site, a book and some perspective on reality TV.

1) The Auteurs, an online movie theater and gathering place for film lovers

http://www.theauteurs.com/dashboard

2) What’s Right with Reality TV by James Poniewozik

I was first going to skim this article because I thought it would be just about the reality shows but he went deeper; touching on generational and social changes which proved interesting.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1963739,00.html

3) This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson

For all the closet librarians out there or info junkies like me this book looks perfect.

http://www.thisbookisoverdue.com/This_Book_Is_Overdue/Stop_Here_First.html

Check out the Librarian Blogs page.

Recently the New York Times asked “How do you decide to get rid of a book.” The answers from six authors and one book store owner are worth reading if you too are the ‘ I would rather read than have sex, what bestsellers are on sale this week, I want to die in my favorite book store’  kind of person.

Which books we get rid of goes to the root of what type of readers we are. I read fiction and biographies to relax and for the escapism into a different life and someone else’s reality. If I don’t like it I pass it on or take it to the second hand book store. I am not snobbish about my library; hardback, trade paperback or written in the margins from a garage sale if I enjoyed reading it….it stays.

As a business coach business books get rotated quickly as they have to be current. There are of course the classics that all entrepreneurs should read such as: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson, The E-Myth by Michael Gerber or the timeless Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich

The majority of life self-help books are overly clichéd and devoid of any genuine long term life solutions, unless it is exceptionally thorough I don’t buy much of the self-improvement genre. This criterion makes it easy to maintain a manageable selection.

While I have a minimalist attitude when to clutter in general, obviously this doesn’t seen to apply when it comes to books.There are piles in the living room and dining room, my office shelves are full and what does the top of my beautiful antique bedside table look like any way? I’ll just put a basket underneath to catch the spill off and stop it from groaning.

I can definitely relate to Joshua Ferris sentiments in his last line of the NY Times piece “………..I leave and come back, and the books I find there tell me I’m home.”

I must also confess that while I will not read about what famous people are wearing, eating or where they vacation; I am curious about what books they are reading. So Lesley Jane Seymour , Al Gore,  Rahm Emanuel, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Michaëlle Jean, Angela Merkel what are you taking to bed?