Aethelflaed: the Lady of the Mercians, by Tim Clarkson

 

Aethelflaed is the oldest daughter of Alfred the Great, but the most important near-contemporary history of that time, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, doesn't devote much attention to her. Tim Clarkson, an independent scholar of the Anglo-Saxon period, uses other sources to flesh out Aethelflaed's life, including many Anglo-Saxon charters, the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, and the Mercian Register. Even with these (and other) additional sources, there is a lot of speculation about Aethelflaed's life; however, this book provides a rich and well-written history of the early 10th century period in what eventually becomes England. In addition to eight pages of photographs, I really appreciated the many maps throughout the book along with the many drawings of the layouts of various towns and burhs that Aethelflaed founded or built up; many of them show the original Roman walls and streets as well as the newer Anglo-Saxon defenses added in the 10th century. The overarching theme is of Aethelflaed and Edward the Elder building burhs and other defenses against both the Danes in the north and east and the Welsh in the west, and ultimately expanding the borders of the Mercian and Wessex territories into East Anglia and Northumbria, slowly growing their lands to become the England that we're familiar with today, although that doesn't happen until later.

The burnout challenge: managing people's relationships with their jobs, by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter

 

Psychologists Maslach and Leiter follow up their book The Truth About Burnout with this guide to the causes of burnout and how organizations and employees can make changes to prevent it. The reality is that only a mere 20 percent of workers are fully engaged with their jobs, and the COVID pandemic has only exacerbated this problem. Organizational pressures such as cutting costs, downsizing, and overwork lead to burnout, defined as a combination of exhaustion, cynicism, and a feeling of ineffectiveness. Many view burnout as a problem with the individual, or even a mental health issue; the authors point out, however, that in 2019, the World Health Organization defined burnout as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical one. The authors propose that the way to prevent or ameliorate burnout is by addressing the mismatches between the workplace and the worker, which can fall into six areas: work overload, lack of control, insufficient rewards, breakdown of community, absence of fairness, and value conflicts. They apply their research alongside real-life examples to provide insightful strategies for both individuals and organizations to avoid burnout. VERDICT This book proposes a thoughtful approach to tackling a common and serious workplace problem.

This review was previously published in Library Journal 147:10 (2022): 148-149.

The hidden public: the story of the Book-of-the-Month Club, by Charles Lee

On a recent trip to Bennington, VT, we stopped off at the Dog Ears Book Store, where my favorite section is the books about books category, and where I found this interesting history of the Book-of-the-Month Club (BOMC) from its founding in 1926 through 1958, when it was published. The BOMC filled a significant niche in the literary marketplace because much of the US population did not live within a reasonable drive to a bookstore. Mail order book businesses allowed them to learn about new authors and buy contemporary fiction and non-fiction. Dozens of similar book clubs popped up, many of which were unsuccessful, but others of which continued for many years. Booksellers were outraged by the book club model, protesting the prices, premiums, and dividends offered to members, but industry analyses showed that the book clubs did not take away from book store purchases, and in fact, books and authors selected for the book club had skyrocketing sales in book stores as well due to the publicity offered by the book clubs.

I have my own history with book clubs, having been a member of one or more for decades starting in high school. I began subscribing to Organic Gardening in high school since I'd been gardening for years. Back then I really liked getting mail, and I would sign up for every catalog I could by filling out the postcards inside the magazine, as long as it had the stamp "no postage necessary." This way I got on tons of mailing lists, and I enjoyed reviewing all the catalogs that came my way, including the ones for the Troy-Bilt Roto-tiller, which my Dad continued receiving for decades, long after I moved out. Anyway, one of the mailings that I received was invitation to join a book club that focused on gardening and related pursuits. I decided to join, and my first three books covered many of my interests: a book about gardening, a book about how to become a vegetarian, and a book about raising small livestock. But the books kept coming, and I didn't have any way to pay for them, and I just hid them in my dresser drawer, until my Dad finally noticed all the mail and asked me if I'd joined a book club. I had to come clean. He paid the bills, and I let him read the books, too. My next book club was the Quality Paperback Book Club (QPBC), which I joined in the mid 1980s. I managed that book club better, and by that time I had my own checking account, so I could pay the bills. I belonged to the QPBC for decades, and have it to thank for opening my eyes to a lot of great literature. Some of the books that I remember getting from them in the early days included Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Toni Morrison's first five books, Paul Scott's The Raj Quartet, John Edgar Wideman's The Homewood Trilogy, and Richard Wright's Native Son and Black Boy (in one volume). I got a lot of nonfiction from QPBC as well, such as a biography of Mahatma Ghandi and collected articles by Ernie Pyle. It really expanded my horizons. Over the years I joined other book clubs: The Literary Guild, BOMC, History Book Club, and the Cooking and Crafts Book Club, but the QPBC will always be my favorite (with the History Book Club a close second).
 

The Bezos blueprint: communication secrets of the world's greatest salesman, by Carmine Gallo

 

Communications coach Gallo (Talk Like TED) teaches successful speaking and writing by breaking down the communication style of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Intended for professionals in a business setting, the book draws lessons from real excerpts of speeches and shareholder memos that Bezos has delivered over the past 20- plus years. Gallo also mines the records of other successful entrepreneurs for examples of effective writing. Among the book's basic communication strategies are to write at an eighth-grade level (using words with only one or two syllables, in sentences of varying lengths) and to deploy metaphors and analogies to add interest. Some of the techniques come from screenwriting, such as formulating a logline and developing "three-act" presentations. Key Bezos tactics include replacing PowerPoint presentations with narrative memos in management meetings, working backwards to get ahead (i.e., writing a product's press release at the beginning of the design stage), and treating every day as "day one." Additional examples reveal insights on communication at companies such as Apple, Canva, and Airbnb. VERDICT An insightful guide to improving communication skills.

Review published originally in Library Journal 147:9 (2022): 148.

A man of the world: My life at National Geographic, by Gilbert M. Grosvenor

 

I picked up this book at the ALA conference in Washington, D.C. in June. It tells the story of author Gilbert M. Governor's life growing up within the National Geographic Society. Following his family's generations-long involvement with founding, working for, and leading the Society, Grosvenor was immersed in geography, adventure, travel, photography, and writing from a young age. After college he went to work for the magazine as a photographer, and spent the next 40+ years working for them in a series of roles of increasing responsibility. He served as editor for a decade in his forties, following that with service as chairman for many years after. Even after he stepped down as chairman, he continued to serve on the board, contributing in many ways to National Geographic Society projects. His most ambitious project was to incorporate geography education into K-12 schools across the U.S. This is a captivating inside look into one of the most ubiquitous institutions in the country. While I'm thrilled to have picked this up at ALA, it's an advance reader's edition and lacks the photographs. When it comes out in September, I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy to check out the images.

Lady in the lake, by Laura Lippman

 

I really enjoyed this mystery set in the 1960s. Maddie Schwartz has left her husband and is trying to make it on her own. She begins an affair with an younger, Black police officer, and befriends a young woman who is using her to get out from under her parents' overprotective sight. When they find a missing young girl's body, Maddie uses that to break into the news business, first writing a short piece, and then working as an office assistant. She decides to investigate another missing woman, and her research leads to another body. Maddie won't drop the story, though, and her investigations upend a lot of lives in the process. Each chapter is told from a rotating set of viewpoints, with Maddie's being the most prominent. I liked this way of framing the story; it kept it moving, but also allowed each character's story to be told.