Picture Perfect Autumn

Finished March 31

Picture Perfect Autumn by Shelley Noble

This contemporary romance was an enjoyable read. The main character, Dani Campbell, is one of the hottest new photographers on the New York scene, but she is insecure and feels that something is missing from her work. On a visit to a thrift store for inspiration, she comes across an envelope of photographs and is determined to track down the photographer. He is Lawrence Sinclair, an 80-year-old reclusive man who lives alone in a run down Rhode Island beach house. 

Dani is insistent on getting him to mentor her and she makes assumptions based on what she sees of his life. She agrees to pay him rent to stay at the house and also agrees to do chores for him in exchange for his mentorship. She really puts her heart into it, bringing the house back to life. She also gets drawn into the local community, particularly getting involved in a local art school run by three aging nuns. Her life in Rhode Island is juxtaposed by her New York persona, where she dresses for attention and mingles with the wealthy. Her agent is supportive but also demanding and there are things happening in New York that she can't opt out of, including a show and a potential sponsorship opportunity. 

Lawrence is still grieving the losses of his life: his wife, his son, and his relationship with his grandson Peter who he was close to before his son's death. Lawrence isn't poor, although the way he lives gives this impression. Peter has recently joined the family business, something he was pressured into by his mother. This is not the type of law he wants to practice and he resents the situation he is in. He also misses his grandfather and their previous relationship.

When Peter's mom pressures him to visit his grandfather, Dani misrepresents herself as Lawrence's housekeeper, while Peter's mother is looking for signs of his loss of capability to function on his own. 

This is an interesting study of the three main characters. Dani, successful but insecure; Peter, successful, but unhappy; and Lawrence, caught in the past until the present insists on his presence. 

I liked the characters and the plot, and found the themes covered here meaningful to me. 

Francine's Spectacular Crash & Burn

Finished October 10

Francine's Spectacular Crash & Burn by Renee Swindle

The title character of this novel completely drew me in. She's a people pleaser, a young woman who was both dependent on her mother in some ways and supportive of her mother in others. When her mother dies suddenly, she is lost. She knows how the close relatives she has will react and avoids telling them, doing the necessary tasks when someone has died. Francine is also a hard worker at her job, a social media company called Peeps that connects people to others with the same interests. She is a glorified secretary for her boss Hayden, doing work that includes not only booking meetings and such but personal tasks like laundry and getting her coffee.

Soon after her mother's death, Francine hears a ruckus out on the street and ends up rescuing ten-year-old Davie from a group of bullies trying to take his iPad. After more encounters with Davie, the two connect in a way, both feeling like outsiders and suffering from loss. When Francine discovers that Davie's foster mother is Jeannette, a strong-willed woman with a temper that Francine had a crush on in high school, she grows close to her as well. 

As Francine struggles between trying to move forward with her newly rekindled interest in photography, and meeting new people, she also finds herself drawn to Jeanette for reasons in addition to wanting to maintain a relationship with Davie.

Francine has undeserved guilt and makes some bad choices, but she is well-intentioned and lonely, and she ends up finding friendship and support in unexpected places, and finding the strength to pull herself out of her own mess. 

I really liked Francine and found myself caring about her and about Davie. Highly recommended. 

Rules for Second Chances

Finished January 30

Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North

This book is centered on Liz Lewis, who grew up and lives in a small community in the mountains of B.C. where much of the business is around tourism. She is married to Tobin Renner-Lewis, and they both work for a small backcountry tour company. Lately Liz doesn't feel seen, either at home or at work. At work, her suggestions don't seem to be taken seriously by the owners, and she hasn't been promoted, even after her immediate boss left and she'd doing all his work. 

At home, her husband doesn't appear to be able to say no to anyone that asks for help, even when that means her plans are affected. Her parents have a house nearby that is no longer their primary home, and that her older sister and niece live in. She is close to her niece, who is autistic, and spends a lot of time with her. 

Tobin's parents bought the house next to theirs shortly after they married, and his mother demands of lot of him, and hasn't warmed up to Liz at all. As the book opens, his mother has co-opted Liz's birthday party and that is the last straw for her. 

As she takes a break from her marriage, and tries to put together a winning pitch for the company's annual service pitch competition, she gets pushed into attending improv classes.

This is a very interesting twist to the story, as improv becomes a way for Liz to let go of some of her fears, as well as using an improv guide to reconnect with Tobin and change their dynamic. 

I really enjoyed Liz as a character, and could relate to her in many of the feelings and experiences she has. 

I loved the Canadian setting, and found it especially interesting that the author is herself autistic and thus could really describe certain elements of the autistic characters in the book so well. 

This book has real depth to it, and some of the exercises described for Liz and Tobin might be taken and used in readers' own lives. I loved seeing Liz grow and appreciate her own strengths. 

Snowed In for Christmas

Finished March 27

Snowed In for Christmas by Sarah Morgan

This romance starts off in London, but most of the action takes place in small town Scotland. Lucy Clarke works for a small advertising firm in London. The staff are close and feel like family to each other. They recently lost two of their biggest accounts, one company was downsizing, and the other cutting costs. As the book opens, it is two weeks until Christmas, and the staff are putting together a campaign for a new product, a campaign with a winter theme, but they are also worried about the future. Unless they can get some  new big accounts, layoffs are likely. They've heard that a UK-based athletic apparel company is looking for a new add company and Lucy knows that, as a smaller firm, they will need to be proactive to get the chance to bid. She is a rising star in her industry and that also gives her a potential edge, as does the skills that got her that reputation.

As the holiday approaches, Lucy decides to double up. Going to Scotland for the shots for the winter campaign for one account and hand delivering the plan for the athletic company at the owner's Scottish family home to make an impression.

The Miller family has a long history with their family-based shortbread company, but all three children in the younger generation have careers in other directions. Ross, the eldest has started his own company, that previously mentioned athletic apparel firm, Alice is a busy London-based doctor, and Clemmie is currently working as a nanny, but has a plan for her future that she's kept to herself until now. As all three plan to return home to Scotland for Christmas, they meet up to get their stories in order and know what they should reveal to their parents about their siblings. Their parents, Glenda and Douglas are keen to have them settle into long-term relationships and provide grandchildren. So is their grandmother Jean. 

Of course, a storm is approaching just in time for the big holiday, and they are all three working to get in ahead of it. Lucy is also planning to drop off the carefully crafted campaign plan and get on the train back to the city.

All of the young people have secrets. Most of these are made clear fairly early in the novel, and there is also some fun factors of coincidence that come into the plot to add humour and quirkiness. 

Pretty much all the characters are pleasant people, nice and well-meaning. Some have insecurities and some have experienced loss, but all are well-meaning and care about those close to them, family and friends. As they are thrown together in this small town, they must work through their issues, have their secrets revealed and dealt with, and come to terms with past issues. 

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, with a feel-good core. 

Sea Wife

Finished June 28

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige

This fascinating novel reads like a memoir. The narrator is mostly Juliet Partlow, but sometimes her husband Michael through the pages of the ship's log he kept. The couple have a marriage that has become shaky. Michael doesn't enjoy his job anymore and finds himself dreaming about the years he spent on a sailboat with his father, who has since passed away. 

As the book starts Juliet is in a bad mental state, spending most of her time when the children aren't home sitting in her husband's closet. You know that something has happened, but not what exactly. 

As the story reaches back a few months to Michael talking Juliet into taking a leave from work, buying a sailboat, and sailing as a family, you see into his mind, and how he was unhappy with his life, but very much in love with his wife and afraid for his marriage. Their children are young, Sybil is seven and George is under three. Michael thinks Juliet is depressed and that the adventure would be good for her. Juliet is worried about failing in yet another area of life. But she finally agrees. 

As the voyage goes, we see Juliet gain confidence and the two grow closer. The kids are also confident and daring and learning so much. This is a story of hope, of renewal, and of rebuilding a relationship. Until the unthinkable happens. It tests Juliet in ways she doesn't think she's ready for, and now in the aftermath she finds herself depending on someone else again, in this case her mother. 

This is a book where I grew to love the characters, this family that was willing to try something that seemed crazy to others. Their personalities are shown through their behaviour as well as the adults thoughts. I had a hard time putting this one down. It was so good. 

Intrapreneurship Handbook for Librarians

Finished June 24

Intrapreneurship Handbook for Librarians: How To Be a Change Agent in Your Library by Arne J. Almquist and Sharon G. Almquist

There is a common saying that the only real constant is change, but too often we get into a rut and do the same thing because it works okay and we're used to it. But sometimes there is a better way to do something, sometimes it is something we don't need to do anymore, and sometimes there are other things that are even better to do. But it is hard to leave that place of comfort and this book helps you help your library make those changes. 

The book is organized into nine chapters plus a couple of useful appendices. 

Chapter One digs into the idea of entrepreneurs and how entrepreneurship is defined, what it looks like, what the history of it is, and what it has looked like in a library context, giving actual library-related examples, and looking into the motivations of those entrepreneurs.

Chapter Two looks at Intrapreneurs and how they are different than entrepreneurs and how they are similar to them. Here we also have a definition and I really liked the idea of the five Ps that is associated with this: Passion, Perseverance, Promotion, Planning, and Professionalism. This chapter looks at the qualities associated with intrapreneurs, and how they measure success in their actions. It also gives some questions that can help you get going.

Chapter Three discusses the idea of Agents of Change and the idea of intrapreneurial innovation. There are many things associated with these people and actions including creativity, communication and collaboration. The role of strategy is discussed, as well as that of conflict, which will definitely happen at some point. Various barriers to change are introduced from groupthink to collective disfunction, and you will likely recognize a few of them. They also differentiate between true innovation and improvements (both good things!), and give some advice on how to become a change agent. 

Chapter Four gets into corporate culture and how to develop an intrapreneurial culture at your library. These include things like accepting for mistakes, taking risks, considering diversity, and working with professional respect. They also talk about how to support that type of culture and to recognize that you will likely need to pick your battles. The idea of competitive advantage is also given some discussion in terms of opportunities versus choices.

Chapter Five looks at process, the nitty gritty of making changes. Ways to get going includes brainstorming, needs assessments, and thinking through ideas. You will have to be prepared to answer the difficult questions that will come up. It can be helpful to think of it as creating your future. Not everything will work as you originally propose it, and they discuss the process as a form of distillation. There are lots of good tools mentioned here: SCAMPER, SCORE analysis, and feasibility studies are some. 

Chapter Six gets into how to pitch your ideas and get others on board. From writing and delivering your elevator speech to a slide checklist for a pitch presentation, this will help you put your best foot forward. It will also help you deal with the reaction, whether it is acceptance, rejection, or something in between. Also included in this chapter are things such as pilots, project plans, and funding plans. Funding can be internal or external, and donors can be one way to get your project going. 

Chapter Seven looks at the team, how you put it together, what the roles and responsibilities of team members are, and how the team and the project are managed. 

Chapter Eight gets into implementation, including tools for project management, how to analyze the failures that may arise, and how to celebrate achievements. 

Chapter Nine takes you from the completion of one innovation to moving on to the next. You want to make this type of change a part of the expected culture of your library.

The appendices give some tests and commentary that may be useful to you as you decide on how you want to do intrapreneurship. 

All in all, this book offers great guidance for the move for you to get your library looking at change in a more positive way.

Finding Lucy

Finished February 2
Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

This picture book follows a young girl as she first paints for herself and the joy of it, then tries to please various others that view her work with critical eyes and try to have her paint to their preferences. She finds that no matter how hard she tries, they aren't satisfied and she become more and more unhappy.
It is interesting to see how they tell her that what they see is less than what the painting is to her, and how she begins to work their ideas into her work, trying to be polite in her interactions with them, even when they aren't polite to her.
I liked the twists and turns as others came and went and the surprise when she kissed the frog. Lucy encouraged others even when they weren't happy with her work.
It is her cat, whose has been with her from the beginning, that finally reminds her of how she began painting and why she did it.
This book is full of colour and movement and there are so many small things to see when you look at it, just like a good painting.
This book is a reminder to readers that we are all individual and should express ourselves in the way that feels right to us, no matter what others say.