THE BRAIN POWER COOKBOOK:  More Than 200 Recipes to Energize Your Thinking, Boost Your Mood, and Sharpen Your Memory

By Dr. Frank Lawlis and Dr. Maggie Greenwood-Robinson

This is a timely book.  Millions of us are concerned about our memory and keeping our brain as sharp as possible.  We are also concerned about our health and looking for ways to more effectively manage our stress.  Tackling a different challenge in each chapter, this book discusses which foods will give you the benefits you're looking for and incorporate those ingredients into good tasting food that also happens to be good for you.

The 11 chapter book includes chapters on:

-Brain-Energizing Foods

-Foods That Soothe Stress and Anxiety

-Dish Up More Concentration

-Memory-Boosting Meals

-Foods To Help You Snooze

and last but not least Aphrodisiac Foods

In the current state of calamity for all of us, we could all use some help keeping our diets on track, sleeping more and managing our stress.  I think this book is terrific.  What do you think?  

 

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HEIRLOOM COOKING WITH THE BRASS SISTERS:  The Queens of Comfort Food

By Marilynn Brass and Sheila Brass

The Brass Sisters cookbooks are quite unique.  Marilynn and Sheila could be classified as "cuisine historians."  Their cookbooks contain handwritten family recipes they have collected from all over the United States and Canada.  These recipes come from  a variety of places, heirloom, handwritten recipe books, known as "manuscript cookbooks", loose handwritten recipes , known as "living recipes" and are gleaned from a variety of places like garage sales,  used bookstores, as well as individuals who wanted to share a treasured recipe from their mother or aunt.

The recipes are simple to make and don't require exotic ingredients, as a matter of fact you probably have all that you need right in your pantry.  The Brass Sisters encourage all home cooks to begin to collect their own heirloom recipes in the lined pages provided in the back of the cookbook.

The photographs are wonderful and feature images of original recipes and prized antique kitchenalia from the Brass Sisters personal collection.  This is truly a one-of-a-kind cookbook by two wonderful, unique authors!  What do you think?

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COMFORT FOOD

By Kate Jacobs

The novel revolves around August "Gus" Simpson, a TV cooking show host who is about to celebrate one of the big "O" birthdays, her 50th. For the first time ever, Gus, a consummate party enthusiast, cake lover and hostess both on and off the air, doesn't want to have a birthday party this year. Worse, her shows' ratings are in the tank and the Food Network is talking about taking her show off of the air.

Gus uses her creativity and internal fortitude to reinvent herself. The show becomes a "reality" cooking show featuring real people who are not only members of Gus's real family, but also extended family members, members of the staff and a Spanish beauty queen who is the current love interest of her boss. The show not only goes "live" but it also develops a "life." In the process of all of this change, the characters learn lessons not only about cuisine, but also about love.

I love Kate Jacobs writing style. Her "comfortable" way with words, plot and characters makes this novel fun to read. Her novels fit my definition of "slice-of-life." I really enjoyed reading about Gus and found myself rooting for her. I think you will find yourself caught up in the world of food, television, and business. You won't like all of the characters or all of the things that happen, but hey, welcome to life! What do you think?

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NOT EVERYONE GETS A TROPHY:  How to Manage Generation Y

By Bruce Tulgan

 The multi-generational nature of the workplace has become the new, hot issue for organizations.  I can't tell you how much complaining I hear when I do training within organizations about how the "younger generation has no idea how to come to work and how to do the work.   It's not that they aren't intelligent, it's just that they don't seem to have any work ethic!"The frustration of managers and supervisors has reached epidemic proportions.

The author researched the so-called Generation Y's (born between 1978-1990) for more than a decade.  He believes that much of the information on how to deal with the influx of young workers is going in the wrong direction.  His approach of  "less Google, more United States Army"  is a clear departure from everything previously written on this subject.

Here are a few suggestions for frustrated supervisors and managers:

-NEVER undermine your own authority

-NEVER pretend that the job is going to be more "fun" than it is

-NEVER suggest that things are up to GenYers when they are not 

-NEVER gloss over details

-NEVER let problems slide

-NEVER offer praise or rewards for less than excellent performance (hence the book title)

His discussion of the difference between mentors, career coaches is interesting.  Tulgan believes that there has to be at least come compromise on how the workplace should be run, but both sides need to do some giving.  This is a different approach and I think it has merit.  What do you think?  

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THE SURVIVORS CLUB:  The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life

By Ben Sherwood

Did you know?

-Every hour, of every day 136 people lose their jobs.

-Every hour, 80 families can't hold on to their homes.

-Every hour, 330 people are injured in auto accidents.

-Every hour, 171 people are victimized by violent crime.

-Every hour, 160 people are diagnosed with cancer.

These statistics came from the book.  Don't you wonder who survives and thrives and who doesn't?  Who bounces back from adversity and who surrenders to it?  What do survivors and thrivers know about beating the odds that we don't?  This book has some intriguing answers to these questions.

The book explores "What does it really take to overcome life's greatest challenges? And what kind of survivor are you?"  There are true stories and some surprising research.  The author did personal research with the U.S. military survival schools and the FAA's airplane evacuation course.  He even underwent genetic testing to find out if he has the so-called "Resilience Gene."

One tidbit of information I found fascinating was about flight attendants.  I have always thought they were there for passenger comfort and to be helpful in times of emergency.  I had no idea that part of their job was to "profile" each passenger and determine which ones might be suspicious and to identify the ABP's (able-bodied passengers) who they could call on for help in case of an emergency.  ABP's are typically solo travelers who are alert, healthy, and physically fit.  They wear clothing that suggests they are some kind of military, law enforcement, or firefighter.   Thank you flight attendants for trying to keep me safe.

Readers are offered a unique opportunity to discover their own unique Survivor IQ.  Each book  comes with an access code printed on the underside of the dust jacket.  By going to www.TheSurvivorClub.org, you can take the test.  I did and found it very interesting.

The book is filled with interesting information that may just save your life.  What do you think?

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THE RIGHT LEADER: Selecting Executives Who Fit

By Nat Stoddard with Claire Wyckoff

"I wish that all the interviews I did where ascomfortable and professional as yours, and that the interviewers came as well-prepared with relevant questions as you did. You really made the entire experience a pleasure." -----Nat Stoddard

As I read the author's credentials, "Chairman of Crenshaw Associates, former CEO of a leading kitchen products manufacturer and a former president, and CEO of GE's Canadian appliance affiliate, Camco, Inc.," I was very impressed. There is no doubt that Stoddard knows what it looks like from the top. My initial question was "What does this book have to do with someone like me? I am just a regular employee. I have always looked up at the top executives in the organization from somewhere in the middle."

As I read the book, I began to understand the importance it has for me and for anyone else involved in an organization.

The book is well-researched, interesting and thought provoking. The statistics about the failure rate for top executives in corporate America are staggering. The amount of money wasted would sustain a small country for at least a year. Why do organizations give top executives such "golden parachutes" when they do a bad job and are replaced? Why can't Boards and Teams select the right person for the job in the first place? They seem to be looking at the wrong things and not asking the right questions.

Stoddard and Wyckoff present a Match-Fit Model that makes a lot of sense. There is also information about how to put together the selection team. There are recommendations for questions that should be asked as well as a discussion of the organization's culture. Doesn't it make sense that if there is success at the top there will be success at the bottom of the organization? Don't we all want to be part of a successful and stable organization with solid leadership?

I believe this book contains ideas that are useful to any group choosing new leadership, whether it's a church group, a non-profit organization or a major corporation. The idea of actually choosing the right person the first time just seems like common sense. but I read a quote the other day that says, "Common sense isn't so common any more." What do you think?


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MY BIG BOOK OF HEALING:  Restore Your Body, Renew Your Mind, and Heal Your Soul

By Echo Bodine

Due to the current state of chaos in our lives, this book seems so timely.  The author gives practical advice and solutions for "healing" eighteen illnesses, addictions, and "distractions," such as stress and depression, loss and grieving, fear and resentment.

All of us are under a tremendous amount of stress and stress is described as "the fever of burnout."  I found Chapter 7, Negative Feelings and Beliefs, particularly interesting.  There is also healing information from a gender specific standpoint in Section III. 

Not only are stress issues addressed, but also food and weight, relationships, parenting and pregnancy, intuition and so much more.

I enjoyed the interview with Echo very much and her book is one I plan to keep as a reference for myself whenever I need to be reminded of positive steps I can take.  What do you think?  

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UNDER THE FIFTH SUN

By Jeffrey Osburn

The novel is characterized as reality-based fiction.  The author jumps headlong into the critical intertwined issues headlining relations between the United States and our neighbors to the South, Mexico.  This rock 'em, sock 'em plot takes on border security, immigration reform, and narco-terrorism.

What starts out as just "another day in paradise" for Border Protection Agent Felipe Vega turns  tragic when a shootout with a rogue Mexican Army unit escorting a drug convoy, ends in death.  Even though Vega is a veteran of the Iraq War, he never imagines that he would fire on a soldier armed with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in El Paso, Texas.  In a test of political wills, the new Mexican President joins the United States in sending elite Special Forces troops in to topple the brutal Sonora Cartel kingpin.  Intrigue and betrayal compromise the mission, an innocent family is killed and Felipe Vega finds himself stranded South of the Border.

The book is controversial and non-stop action.  I couldn't stop turning the pages.  What do you think? 

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BONES OF BETRAYAL:  A Body Farm Novel

By Jefferson Bass

This latest Body Farm novel from the collaborative team of Dr. Bill Bass and journalist Jon Jefferson is captivating from the first page.

The body of an unidentified, elderly man is pulled out of a frozen swimming pool in Oak ridge, Tennessee, birthplace of the Bomb.  Local police call in  Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton for help. 

 The body is identified as that of Dr. Leonard Novak, noted physicist who played a pivotal role in the famous Manhattan Project.  What starts as a routine autopsy to determine cause of death, turns into a nightmare when Brockton, the medical examiner, Brockton's graduate student and Detective Jim Emert are all exposed to possibly deadly levels of radiation coming from Novak's body.

While trying to come to terms with his own exposure to the radiation, Brockton accidentally meets 87-year-old Beatrice Montgomery, an utterly charming and unreliable guide to Oak Ridge and it's world shaking past.  Beatrice alternates between lucidity and dementia as she spins a story about espionage, treachery, and a long-concealed murder committed as the Manhatten Project hurtled toward its cataclysmic conclusion.

Combining fascinating history and cutting edge science, this novel weaves a dramatic story.  The book is meticulously researched and written with such surgical precision, the reader can't separate fact from fiction.  I couldn't put it down.  What do you think?

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CODE OF SILENCE A Ben Reese Mystery

By Sally Wright

1947:  Miriam Gold, a linguist at Arlington Hall, a high-security US decoding and decrypting facility, dies while trying to get information to her friend and colleague, Carl Walker.  Suicide over a love affair gone bad is suggested, but Carl cannot believe this is true.

Fast-forward ten years - Ben Reese is in the midst of mourning the loss of his beloved wife and their unborn son, when he receives a cryptic letter from Carl Walker.  Although Walker is a distant acquaintance, Ben discovers Carl is missing after asking for help in tracking a man by the name of Weisberg.  Carl has reason to believe that Weisberg not only has something to do with the death of Miriam Gold, but that he also is guilty of breaching US security and sharing secrets with the Russians.

The novel is part fact, part fiction.  It weaves a story of love, death, and international intrigue involving the Venona Code, a real Soviet code partially decrypted by the US and Britain.

I really enjoy Sally Wright's writing style.  Her complex plots are fascinating to watch unwind.  The Ben Reese character is based on a real, live person who makes his living as an archivist at a local University.  His experiences as a tracker in World War II are the basis for the novels.  

I really enjoy reading a good murder mystery and I loved this one!  What do you think?  

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