Release date: 2011 / 227

Synopsis (from the jacket cover): At age twenty-one, Theresa Weir falls in love with Adrian Curtis, the pride of a prominent local family whose lives and orchards seem to be cursed. Married after only three months, young Theresa finds life with Adrian on the farm far more difficult and dangerous than she suspected…

First Sentence:  Lily’s father sold herbicide and pesticide to farmers.

Review:  The opening scene of The Orchard involves a salesman asking his daughter to drink a glass of herbicide before an audience of farmers.  This haunting image provides context for the world Weir enters when she marries a Wisconsin apple farmer in an attempt to escape a dead-end job at her uncle’s bar; she is plunged into a culture she could never have imagined, dictated by a controlling mother-in-law and the rigors of farming life.

As a young bride, Weir soon learns about the economic and environmental challenges contemporary farmers face when deciding whether or not pesticide use is justified.  Weir’s tenacity eventually leads to a life she is able to embrace as she begins to understand the allure of farming:

“People who’ve never lived on a farm romanticize farm life. But people who grew up on a farm and perhaps still live on a farm romanticize it more… They hide its dark secrets, burying them so deep that they no longer know the truth… They’re hypnotized by the way the wet slabs of black earth fall away from the sharp edge of the plow blade, and the way the pattern of the cuts follows the contours of the land… There was immeasurable comfort in knowing that this would be the rest of your life. And there was immeasurable sorrow in knowing that this would be the rest of your life…” (181-182)

Weir, now middle-aged, is not only honest about the early difficult years of her marriage, and her childhood with a wayward, irresponsible mother and an absent father, but she exposes the devastating effects of modern farming on the land and those who harvest it. Thank you to Shelf Awareness for asking me to read and review this!

Interested in winning a free copy? Please leave me a comment!

Another great post from: BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Thanks for visiting...

The Orchard: Review and Free Giveaway

On the Origin of Tepees: The Evolution of Ideas (and Ourselves) by Jonnie Hughes

Release date: 2011 / 285 pages

Synopsis (from the back cover): Following Darwin’s lead, he ventures out to observe, first hand, the natural history of ideas — the laws of variation, inheritance, and selection operating within the cultural landscape. the choice of sandwiches in a mall, the shape of cowboy hats, the evolution of barn roofs, the wording of jokes, and, of course, the way the tepee evolved in different tribes, all provide insights into the ways in which cultural evoution takes place.

First Sentence: We all look at the world through goggles.

Review: A few months ago, I applied to become a reviewer with Shelf Awareness – a daily newsletter that shares news and insights, as well as reviews, about the world of literature.  Happily, they were actually willing to pay me for my reviews, so at long last I would be paid money for reading!  So, about once or twice a month, I receive a stack of galleys (advance uncorrected proofs, often without cover art).  I then  choose two that I think I will find interesting.  When I first looked through a recent stack, I will admit that the title “On the Origins of Tepees” did not grab me.  But happily I was not too deterred by the title.  The sub-title of this work — How Human Culture Evolves — is a more accurate representation of this fascinating study of ecology, geography, psychology, anthropology, and linguistics.

The author, Jonnie Hughes, is insatiably curious and embarks on a journey to discover how cultures – and culture — are created, shaped, and changed over time.  The history of the tepee is his overt goal, and is surprisingly interesting, but he explores many other ideas along the way, including the Mall of America.

Hughes believes “…if culture is evolving, then something must be driving it, because otherwise it wouldn’t go anywhere in Life and, in fact, would not even have started the journey it’s on” (18). Hughes’s tone is warm and engaging, and the reader feels privileged to join him and his brother on this journey of ideas as they drive from the Midwest to the Rockies.  Ultimately, Hughes concludes: “And that’s the story of the whole of American: an accidental discovery, an automatic human invasion, a mindless scramble for resources, and a subsequent, predestined regime change in the world of Ideas.” (146)

Fans of Bill Bryson will especially enjoy this. Thank you to Shelf Awareness for asking me to read and review this!

Interested in winning a free copy? Drop me a comment below and I will choose a lucky winner by the weekend!

Another great post from: BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Thanks for visiting...

On the Origin of Tepees: Review and Free Giveaway

Release date: 2011 / 288  pages

Synopsis (from Amazon.com):  Even for the most self-confident among us, public speaking can be a nerve-racking ordeal. Whether we are speaking to a large audience, within a group, or in a one-on-one conversation, the way in which we communicate ideas, as much as the ideas themselves, can determine success or failure. In this invaluable guide by two of today’s most sought-after communication experts, Peter Meyers and Shann Nix offer a comprehensive approach for tackling the underlying obstacles that almost all of us experience when faced with speaking in public.

Review:  On the surface, As We Speak: How to Make Your Point and Have it Stick explains how to become an effective public speaker.  However, the true spirit of this book is expressed on the very last page: “Show up in the world. Be generous with your voice. Share what you have to say. Give your gift; the world is waiting to receive it.”  Meyers, founder of Stand and Deliver consulting group and an award-winning actor, and Nix, an award-winning journalist, novelist and radio talk show host, explain exactly how to do all of the above in an entertaining and persuasive manner.

As We Speak has wide appeal – from CEOs whose speeches affect millions to individuals who hope to better communicate with friends and family.  As a former high school speech teacher, I would have loved to use this work with students – not only to teach the principles of effective public speaking but to reinforce the importance of finding a personal vision and voice.

Meyers and Nix believe “…High Performance Communication is about creating clarity where there’s confusion [and] creating relevance when people feel disconnected… most importantly, it’s about inspiring people to achieve things they never thought possible.” (15) To help readers achieve High Performance Communication, the authors focus not only on content and delivery, but on how the emotional state of a speaker influences every aspect of communication.

The authors’ ability to communicate effectively with their readers inspires confidence and credibility and the result is a pleasure to read.

Thank you to Shelf Awareness for asking me to read and review this!  If you would like to win a free copy, please leave me a comment!

Another great post from: BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Thanks for visiting...

As We Speak: Review and Free Giveaway

EntreLeadership

Release date: 2011 /   pages

Review: EntreLeadership is a nice mix of radio host Dave Ramsey’s personal experience, wisdom from other successful business people and common sense.  The tone is both motivational and instructional as Ramsey addresses each stage of an entrepreneur’s journey – from finding an idea to be passionate about to knowing when to quit the day job to hiring the first “team member.”

Ramsey’s moral compass is dictated by Christianity and this is apparent by the Biblical verses and parables referenced throughout.  However, Ramsey believes that anyone with a dream can create goals and become a success, especially if those goals are measurable and shared by the team.  To help budding CEOs, Ramsey explains the principles of effective time management, how to make good decisions, how to empower team members to take responsibility and how to maintain momentum with any burgeoning business.  Once a business is on the path to success, he then provides tips for how to effectively manage people by hiring and keeping the right individuals – he emphasizes hiring people you like and who share your passion.

The only false note is Ramsey’s occasional use of “ladies,” which seems out-of-step with his otherwise progressive ideas.  Most women would assume they were naturally included in Ramsey’s audience, so referencing “ladies” seemed unnecessarily exclusionary and even condescending at times.

However, overall this is a useful guide to business that many would enjoy. EntreLeadership is meant to be both motivational and practical and succeeds at both. Thank you to Shelf Awareness for asking me to read and review this!

If you are interested in winning a copy, please leave me a comment!

Another great post from: BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Thanks for visiting...

EntreLeadership: Review and Giveaway

American Dervish: A Novel

Release date: 2012 (paperback) / 368 pages

Synopsis(from Amazon): Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand. Then Mina arrives, and everything changes…

Review:   I was so glad when Ayad Akhtar’s publisher contacted me to read American Dervish since I had already heard praise and could tell I would enjoy the novel.  I am drawn to how people interpret religion — whether embraced or condemned — and I particularly enjoy reading about other cultures. The place and circumstances of birth seems to be such an act of fate — or God, or the universe, or chance —  since we have no control over where we are born, or to whom, and must  decide whether to accept or reject the belief system of our parents.

Hayat Shah is born to progressive, but deeply unhappy, Muslim parents who have each turned away from religion for their own reasons.  Hayat’s father, a physician, wants his son to think for himself and sees Islam as a flock of blind followers. Hayat’s mother embraces the cultural aspects of Islam, and misses Pakistan, but is not religious either, mostly because she is married to a philanderer.  Enter Mina — Hayat’s mother’s best friend — an unparalleled beauty and deeply devout Muslim who has escaped an failed marriage in Pakistan with her son and soon falls in love with Hayat’s father’s best friend, who happens to be Jewish.  Hayat is drawn to her on many levels and is forced to forge this own relationship with Islam.

What transpires is a hero’s journey — of faith, identity, longing — and the pages fly since Hayat’s “voice” is so effortless and authentic.  American Dervish is also a frame story — it begins and ends in the present, but the bulk of the story recounts Hayat’s childhood and the decisions he made that, he believed, affected the life of Mina — his beloved “aunt.”

I strongly recommend this novel — as a good read, a compelling discussion starter, a well-crafted hero’s journey, an exploration of how religion and culture and form and even warp our paradigm of the world.

Interested in winning a copy?  Leave me a comment below!

Another great post from: BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Thanks for visiting...

American Dervish Review and Free Giveaway