Reviewing books is a wide open activity, especially for a writer. Not only do you get to feed your interests, when you test the waters of non-fiction, you can do research for your own books. What would be my vested interest in my reading a book titled The Leader's Checklist? I don't think of myself as a leader, but I am sure that I have some skills that could use some help getting developed. And if I am not a leader, how can a book with rules about leadership be of benefit to me? And of course it hits me like a ton of bricks-this is certainly a book that could apply to creating a character. So that is how I, a reformed list-writer, arrived at the two pronged mindset for approaching Michael Useem's The Leader's Checklist: 15 Mission-Critical Principles, Expanded Edition. First, looking for what I could glean from it, and second, how I could use it for character development.

I should point out that the author has expertise in research and development. Useem has set up these principals (lists) and has gotten feedback from leaders who applied the lists. When feedback indicated there were problems or the strategy needed rethinking, changes were made to correct and improve procedures in order to get better results. The idea here persists that some things are consistent to all leadership rolls; but at the same time, Useem suggests that such lists are also specifically contoured to the location, degree, culture, and specific company, situation or purpose. He's also augmented his someone dry concept with colorful stories, including interviews of key persons in the mine rescue, and 911, etc. So these are not just theoretical principles; they are precepts grounded in real-life situations.

The book, in fact is common sense, layered on more common sense, modified by trial and error. The lists are presented as works in progress, especially in the sense that if you're planning on implementing any of these lists, then you will need to keep your ear to the ground, study your own leadership moments and become a self-directed student, developing your own lists for your own purposes. (Useem's words.) I will say this much also, that steps laid out here can apply to a number of personal situations. If you're planning a business, working with groups, really if you're planning anything at all, these are directions that can get things done. The same point applies to characterization, and perhaps more vividly, in action. I could certainly see how a writer might have a character in the midst of disaster go through a leadership checklist as he steps up to the face the challenges in whatever fictional situation he might be facing, (though not in a rote fashion, any more than you would put a character through the stages of grief and then number them. ) If I were running a large business, facing a crisis, or even facing a classroom, I could certainly see how the wisdom in this book would provide support. So yes, if you are interested in non-fiction, have a business, or a group you regularly address, need to develop coping strategies, or write characters who deal successfully with any of these things, then I would recommend looking at the lessons in this book. (There are also video interviews available, for further review.)

Most everyone who has been in a romance, first fell out of another romance. And most of those who first fell out of another romance boinged back into a new romance with a phenomenon they call "rebound." They discuss this in movies now, as if the rebound relationship is a rite of passage. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. But the lack of success of rebound relationships is the main reason it is recommended to take some time off from romance when a romance fails. They advise us not to start off on the wrong foot, with jagged emotions, neediness, and looking for justification through relying on someone else rather than finding one's own footing. That's good advice for people. Not necessarily good advice for book characters, whose stupid mistakes and wrong-headed behavior are what makes books interesting, and whose missteps inform us exactly why we shouldn't put ourselves through making bad choices. In Just a Little White Lie Lynnette Hallberg gives us a heroine on the rebound. Lucky for her (not so lucky for the book), she's somewhat luckier in her rebound relationship than most of us are.

Yes, she's on the rebound for the right reasons. She is marrying the wrong guy, and she catches him with his pants down. The best move she makes in the entire book is walking out on that jerk Donald. She runs out of the church, and in her wedding dress, drives off into Georgia where she ends up stuck on the side of the road. And of course, who is going to come along and rescue a stranded ex-bride-to-be but the rebound guy, Jake Parker. (Only for Lucinda, rebound guy turns out to be a keeper. Surprise!)

From here on in, this mismatched couple builds a fake relationship based on mutual lies (to each other and everyone else. ) He doesn't tell her what he knows about her family, she doesn't tell him who she is, and they both don't tell his family that they're not really engaged.

I don't know if it was that the story was predictable, or if Jake's coincidental relationship with Lucinda's father is just too pat, or if I don't like liars, or if the characters moved too fast, or that the secondary characters were more interesting than the primary characters. The writing was okay, but I just could not get into the story. I kept finding myself turning pages faster but not because I wanted to know what happened next. I pretty much had the book mapped out to the end from the moment Jake pulls up and offers Lucy a hand.

I know there will be readers who will like this book. It's a quick, simple unpretentious read, and not badly written. Maybe I'm developing champagne taste where books are concerned. At any rate, I suspect this is not Lynnette Hallberg's pinnacle, and that she has more developed characters, interesting plotting, and better books in her future. I gave this book a "5" of 10 rating, which is not a bad rating, but it matches my opinion of the book so well that I'm providing a link so can see exactly what this means: http://novelspot.net/Rating_Guidelines

I don't know how other writers are. I've only been myself, and so I can only know how I approach a page. It's rarely the same way twice, whether it is fiction or non-fiction. It is usually some spark in me pushing an idea out there, whether it is fiction or non-fiction. The first draft is usually an unholy mess centered around one seriously vivid scene. And that scene may contain the seed of the story, a whole character, it may just be a point of ignition or the climax, or might end up happening off the page, after all is said and done. Usually there's enough oomph left from that spark to get through the first scene to boost me to the next stage, and the next. (It helps me to have a list of beats through to the end, just so I know where I'm going next, even if it changes.) Maybe this is not a good way to write, or the right way, but it usually works for me, at least in the sense of getting through a draft. So when I came across this book, Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers there's a big part of me that balked. There should not be a code. Writing is art. It's not paint by numbers. Statistics have nothing to do with it. Art is art. It creates itself. By definition, art defies definition. So what's the nerve of this guy James Hall thinking he's got some kind of geiger counter that can turn the art of a best-seller into a code.

For me, even the book's title is, by itself, throwing down the gauntlet. Makes me want to put my fists up and get into some kind of aggressive posture to duke it out, because he can't tell me what works. But then...I started thinking. When you join a group of writers who know what they're doing, whether it is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or Romance Writers of America or Horror Writers Association, they all tell you read every hot book you can in your specific genre. You do this to learn what works for your target audience and target publisher. Chapter length. Conventions. Voice. All the details that work. Learn the mechanics. Then you come from your reading with a set of tools fully fledged, and can approach your own stories with an eye to how they can be successfully presented. You understand the box--the form-the container that will house your story. It's good advice. It's also the thought process behind what Jack Hall did when putting together his Hit Lit book, but he's asking bigger questions. His research doesn't confine itself to genre; he looks at bestsellers just as most writers look at genre. To see what makes it tick.

And here's the thing--as soon as I picked up the book, I was hooked. The gloves went down, and I was more than ready to read. This isn't a list of do's and don'ts by the annoying guy in the back of the conference who keeps asking the panel of your romance-writing peers when they are going to write "real books." You can tell, as James Hall takes us through his journey into books, that he loves the written word. He lures his reader in through the context of his life, his own reader/writer journey from when he was a boy in a 50's library "frightened out of my skin that I would be spotted by my friends in such a place" to the moment he shared a conspiratorial look with a librarian, "that floats into my mind whenever I am feeling isolated from the human race." He knows firsthand that weird communion of book lovers. James Hall gets it: that books grant you membership into the club of readers who understand that inside each book is a universe.

James Hall condenses his answer into twelve features which he discusses in twelve chapters. He suggests a list of bestsellers to read, and even though they're all books I have read before, I found myself stopping what I was doing at the time to read them again, so I could nod, and agree with the points he makes, as he generalizes across the field. To get the most out of this book, you should do the same. This is the book of someone who gets it, and he gets it from multiple points of view. He gets what is so great about books from being a reader. He gets it as a writer, and he gets it as a teacher of writers. If you're like me, this will be one of those books you have trouble finishing, because you keep going back and re-reading certain parts, and you don't really want it to be over. In fact, I just picked it up as I was writing this review, and I think I'm going to give Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers another read...

This Mother reads comic books. No not Richie Rich© or Casper© (used to as a kid though). No these days, this Mom is more into Witchblade. It takes a real story and real art to keep this lady happy.

To say the graphics are superb in Witchblade like saying the restaurant French Laundry, on the West Coast with a two year waiting list for reservations has good food. The art work zips you through the story like a good cinematographer in a movie. Then as every fan of comics and good movie making knows, you go back again and re-watch or re-gaze to find those loving details that can only be found with careful attention.

The usual marketing exaggeration of sexual organs are shown here in plenty, so there is no disappointment in that department. Usually for me this is very offensive and off putting. However the work is done so tastefully, I found myself amused by it instead. Either I am simply older, or the artist is just that good in finding better ways to display the human body other than “lookie here” type of angles. In some places that sell this book, the artist Stjepan Sejic name comes before the author. In this case well justified—as you can see even I am speaking of him before Ron Marz.

Not to slight Ron Marz. He and Sejic are long time collaborators on this series of Witchblade of which Vol. 4 is the final of 150 works. His writing is the perfect compliment to the lush graphics. His writings fit the character of Sara, a cop with a secret, and her boyfriend. In this issue a fellow cop has found her out and is forcing her to chose between giving up the Witchblade and staying a Cop, or keeping Witchblade, but turning in her badge. There is a real story here and it is told with real conviction. You hold and read a fine movie here lovingly collaborated. This is a work of art you will want to go over repeatedly. Get the whole set.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© May 2012

Rita Brooks is a psychologist who has plenty of problems of her own. Her biggest issue is a failure to develop and maintain an intimate relationship with a man until now. She knows she’s found “the one,” even though he’s hundreds of miles away. There is the fact they’ve never met face to face. Maybe that’s what makes their relationship work. Only emails and calls are no longer enough. Rita is ready for the next step in Tina Wainscott’s romantic suspense novel, WHAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW.

Rita Brooks is a buttoned down type of gal. Her hometown of Boston suits her. How could she fall for a smooth talking Southern gentleman from New Orleans, but fall she did. Now, all she has to do is meet him, and just maybe, love will follow, then who knows. Suddenly, everything literally goes black when a car crash puts her in a coma. The last thing she sees before the impact is a feathered mask, a Mardi Gras one. While in the coma, a man tries to communicate with her giving her cryptic messages and horrific images. She tells no one. It is never good for people to wonder if the head doctor is crazy too. The accident, along with the blond man haunting her dreams, plus the fact her potential sweetie is ignoring her emails and calls adds up to one bad day. Then he walks through her door, a man wearing the face of the man in her dream, demanding answers and making accusations.

Christopher LaPorte was always the lesser son, the bad prince in all the family dramas. That’s why he stayed away from his family and New Orleans. He figured everyone liked it better that way. It worked for him to until his brother jumped from a balcony. Now he’s determined to find out what would cause his charismatic brother to hurl himself from the gallery of the family home. He believes Rita Brooks is at the bottom of it. The woman is definitely hiding something.

WHAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW moves fast creating a sense of urgency. Using the colorful backdrop of New Orleans during Mardi Gras develops the complexity of the story. The antagonist while interesting is at first mesmerizing, but tends to bog the story down near the end when info dumping pages of backstory about how he became so twisted. There are a few glitches in the story that shouldn’t bother most readers. The chemistry between Christopher and Rita works. They both grow through the novel providing a satisfying conclusion.

WHAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW is a novel worthy of mysterious New Orleans. This is an early novel of Miss Wainscott. It makes me want to investigate her newer works. I would recommend this book. It kept me riveted on the plane with two crying babies, and a snorer nearby.

I suppose just because I am a sucker for a great animal in real life, it is inevitable that I am a sucker for a great animal character in fiction. Some animal characters just lodge themselves in the memorable voice playlist to be remembered for eternity (like Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, for example, not the movie character whose rapture over Oats rendered my kids a decade of amusement.) I have found a dog character to join the lineup, one with such a charming (and literal) voice that he is unforgettable.

I am speaking of Chet, police dog trainee dropout, the canine half of the Little Detective Agency. Bernie Little is the human half of, as Chet puts it, the partnership of Chet's nose and Bernie's brain. Chet has such a perfectly genuine dog-voice that I know the author Spencer Quinn (a pseudonym of Peter Abrahams) himself must be an animal aficionado, or at least one who has a dog at his side, probably one not unlike Bernie's fictional canine sidekick. I could recommend this book solely on the charm and charisma of Chet, who narrates, and leave it at that, but I suppose I should give you more of an idea what to expect.

The Dog Who Knew Too Much begins with Bernie being hooked by the president of the Great Western Private Eye Association to speak at a convention. We find out right away that Bernie is short of money, long on Hawaiian shirts and not the world's best speaker. We learn that Chet may be a bit of an unreliable narrator, as he hears "cut to the chase" and gets ready to run. And we learn that whatever the circumstances of his wallet, Bernie's not going to sell Chet, no matter what the offer is. Every aspect of characterization is rendered so cleverly that somehow we see Bernie through our human eyes even though we are looking through Chet's. And we like them both right away—a guy who must know he's a terrible speaker, desperate enough to accept five hundred dollars to humiliate himself before a convention of his peers, but who won't take ten thousand dollars for his dog; and the dog, whose literal voice has us on his side from his very first syllable.

The case begins with Bernie being hired to protect Anya from her ex husband; but then her son is kidnapped, and Bernie searches to searching for the missing boy. But things are not what they seem, and in true bait and switch fashion, the mystery deepens. For people like me who have not met this detective duo in earlier books, rest assured that you do not have to read all the predecessors in order to understand The Dog Who Knew Too Much. But, like me, once you have read this one, you're going to want to go out and find Dog On It, Thereby Hangs a Tail, and To Fetch a Thief which are books 1-3. There is even a blog for Chet.

Devoured the book, light fun, thoroughly entertaining, can't wait to read more. Call me a fan.

I have two children ages two and three and I try to read a book to them every night. The problem is sometimes time is short and you need just a little story to make it to bedtime. Up Dog is a board book that fits this bill nicely.

I took my laptop into my three year old daughter's room to read her Up Dog since we had an electronic version and she loved flipping between the pictures. She actually could read most of the words herself and since the word "up" is featured on every page even my two year old could figure that one out.

Beyond being enormously cute with illustrations of a dog that gets into mischief, Up Dog is a wonderful teacher of cause and effect. The dog gets dirty and then the dog gets cleaned up. The dog digs a hole; the hole gets filled with dirt. These types of lessons are sometimes hard to teach young children, but this little book does a great job and opens up the chance for discussion with your child about what might happen next.

A wonderful read all around.
 
Reviewed By Shawn Marie Mann
© May 2012

I really love books that have companion books. Hazel Hutchins has written two books very much alike, but one features a dog and one a cat. We are cat people at our house so Up Cat was right up our alley.

Up Cat is a board book that is cutely illustrated by Fanny with a kitty just going about its day doing what cats do. Our favorite picture is of the kitty fitting himself into a box that is just a bit too small.

I really like books that have few words in them for toddlers because it allows you the room to have a discussion with them about what is going on in the pictures. My three year old daughter and I talked about why cats like to drink milk; that cats nearly always land on the feet and why cats like to sleep in the sun.

Any book that prompts questions from children and offers a teaching opportunity is more than just words on a page and Up Cat is just such a book. Easy to read with words my three year old could read plus adorable pictures, well, it is just a great book. We also enjoyed Up Dog, also by Ms. Hutchins.
 
Reviewed By Shawn Marie Mann
© March 2012