Ask A Manager

Ask A Manager: How to Navigate Clueless Colleagues, Lunch-Stealing Bosses, and the Rest of Your Life at Work- Alison Green
Ballantine Books/ Random House
Release Date: May 1, 2018

Rating:
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Synopsis: From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York magazine’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to navigating 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice!
 
There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when
 
• coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it
• you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all”
• you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all
• you catch a colleague in a lie
• your boss seems unhappy with your work
• your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal
• you got drunk at the holiday party

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For all of those people who have wanted advice about any number of potentially awkward workplace discussions, without reading dry tomes on how to be a better person, Alison Green's Ask A Manager is the answer!  Green approaches workplace issues with both experience and humor, and the realization that people are only human- and need to be treated as such.  

Ask A Manager is broken down into 4 sections: you are the manager, you have a manager, you work with others, you're interviewing for a job.  Even if you don't necessarily fall into all those categories (maybe you aren't a manager yet) the entire book is well worth reading.  You get excellent advice about real world situations- and I, for one, always find it helpful to read as many other views as possible.  I felt better about some of my own work experiences after reading this and discovering I wasn't the only one who had ever had to deal with X, Y, or Z.  Since Green is an advice columnist, each section is short and to the point.  She mixes the more general situations ('how do I ask for a raise') to the still common but awkward ('I totally got drunk at the office party) to the (hopefully) less common ('my boss always steals my lunch out of my desk').  Even those situations you haven't dealt with yourself are good opportunities to think about what you would do in a similar situation.

What I really enjoyed about Ask A Manager was the light, humorous, and down-to-earth style of writing Green uses.  You can easily imagine you're having a quick phone conversation with a friend who's giving you the support you need to handle any situation.  Humor and kindness are Green's recipe for handling many of the awkward interactions humans have with each other and I found myself wishing everyone would read this book and follow its advice.  

A fast, fun read that will help give you confidence as you maneuver not just your professional life- this book is full of advice that should certainly be applied to daily life in all aspects!  Not your regular book on how to manage others, but one that makes you reflect on your interactions in a whole new way.  A must read for everyone who has to deal with people.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Perfect Horse

The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis- Elizabeth Letts
Ballantine Books
Release Date: August 23, 2016

Rating (out of 5):

📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: In the chaotic last days of the war a small troop of battle-weary American soldiers captures a German spy and makes an astonishing find—his briefcase is empty but for photos of beautiful white horses that have been stolen and kept on a secret farm behind enemy lines. Hitler has stockpiled the world’s finest purebreds in order to breed the perfect military machine—an equine master race. But with the starving Russian army closing in, the animals are in imminent danger of being slaughtered for food.

 
With only hours to spare, one of the Army’s last great cavalrymen, American colonel Hank Reed, makes a bold decision—with General George Patton’s blessing—to mount a covert rescue operation. Racing against time, Reed’s small but determined force of soldiers, aided by several turncoat Germans, steals across enemy lines in a last-ditch effort to save the horses.

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The Perfect Horse tells the little known story of some of Europe's most priceless horses during World War II.  This story of the Lipizzaner of Austria's Spanish Riding School and prized Arabians from Poland, Yugoslavia, and other European countries will be compared to the story of the Monuments Men, saving priceless art and cultural treasures being stolen and hoarded by the Nazis.  And the comparison is apt. These horses were taken to be part of a eugenics program to breed the "perfect" German warhorse.  The trials of the horses and their caretakers during the war cumulated during the final days of the war.  Between the Germans, the Americans, and the Russians, these amazing animals and the traditions they represented were placed in mortal peril.  

The book gives an overview of the history and importance of these horses in Europe, especially the Lipizzaner in Austria; the dangers they faced throughout the war; and an interesting history of the American cavalry that helps to explain the attitudes of both individual Americans and the Army in general during and after the war in reference to the horses.  Letts does a fantastic job of bringing some of the key players to life: Alois Podhajsky, an Olympian in charge of Austria's Spanish Riding School; Colonel Hank Reed, one of the last real 'horsemen' of the U.S. calvary, German army veterinarian Rudolph Lessing, and more-all people instrumental in saving the horses.  

While The Perfect Horse starts off a little slow, and Letts has a tendency to repeat herself more than I thought necessary as well as veer off into unnecessary and dramatic emotional wanderings ("will this ever happen?", "what is happening back home?") that detracted a little for me, when the war comes to its final days and timing is of the essence to save the horses, it was fast paced, exciting and dramatic.  The race for horse lovers from multiple countries to come together and save these amazing animals was both riveting and dramatic.  

The story of these horses reminds the reader that even in (or perhaps especially in) such huge conflicts as a world war, it is in the small acts of courage and kindness that people regain their humanity, and perhaps rediscover what they fight for.  

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Tall Tail- Rita Mae Brown

Tall Tail- Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine
Advanced Reader's Copy: Release Date: May 17, 2016

Synopsis: During a sudden storm Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen's pickup nearly collides with a careening red car that swerves into a ditch.  Harry recognizes the dead driver as Barbara Leader, a nurse and confidante to former Virginia governor Sam Holloway- her best friend Susan's grandfather.  Though Barbara’s death is ruled a heart attack, dissenting opinions abound. After all, she was the picture of health, which gives Harry and her four-legged companions pause. A baffling break-in at a local business leads Harry to further suspect that a person with malevolent intent lurks just out of sight: Something evil is afoot.  As it happens, Barbara died in the shadow of the local cemetery’s statue of the Avenging Angel. Just below that imposing funereal monument lie the remains of one Francisco Selisse, brutally murdered in 1784. Harry’s present-day sleuthing draws her back to Virginia’s slave-holding past and the hunt for Selisse’s killer. Now it’s up to Harry and her furry detectives—Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker—to expose the bitter truth, even if it means staring into the unforgiving eyes of history and cornering a callous killer poised to pounce.

I was introduced to the Mrs. Murphy series with the very first book, and absolutely loved it.  Murder mysteries, sleuthing cats and corgis- what wasn't to like? After the first few books however, Brown's writing style changed to the point that I didn't enjoy reading her books anymore.  After several years off I decided to try Tall Tail and see if things had changed for the better.

The book alternates chapters between present day and 1784, where the present day mystery has its roots.  History is one of Brown's strong points, and her excellent research makes the reader feel immersed in that time period.

That is about the only positive I found in this book. It was slow paced, and the mystery often felt pushed to the back burner in favor of Brown's now characteristic rambles about government, the world, and the human condition.  When the story finally reaches the end, things pick up slightly, but still feels disappointing.  There's a chance you haven't figured out the why before it's exposed, but you're certainly not surprised by the who.  Much of the book looks at the idea that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and it is the rare few who learn from the past and their mistakes.   Far too many chapters end on what is supposed to be some kind of cliffhanger, or ominous statement- which works once or twice but gets old fast when used so frequently.  The great characters of Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, and Pewter are almost side characters here, and have sadly little to do to help the book plod along. 

Combining the present day and past story makes a clever way to explore this idea, but it's almost the only clever part of the book, and does not- in my opinion- make it worth the read.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.