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​book reviews

Who Put Me in Charge? Getting to the NEXT LEVEL  By Garry J. Peterson, MBA

2/22/2020

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Multi-volume, multi-genre author, Garry Peterson introduces us to his solution to managing a business and outstanding customer service, “Who Put Me in Charge?”:
BENEFITS TO READING THIS BOOK

• Understanding your business role and responsibilities

• Managing expectations for yourself and your team

• Setting short-term and long-term goals and reaching them

• Creating a blueprint for taking any size company or entity to the NEXT LEVEL

• Building accountability and discipline in any and all improvement processes

• Engaging with a plethora of stories and exercises to build your self-esteem

• Adding a wide scope of “lessons learned” to your skill set going forward

• Developing a TOOL BOX to handle any leadership or management issue raised

• Applying nuggets of wisdom and experience into your own demanding workplace

• Expanding your experience base with actual knowledge from successful activities

• Having the ultimate “go-to” reference guide for your constant use

• Finding a way to have FUN solving serious problems or issues and LOVING your job
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I really enjoyed Garry’s book. I see a tremendous amount of truth in his book. I had a twenty-year career in retail management and twenty years in construction. Now, I am running my own business and loving it. I learned one very important principle: no matter what kind of business you are in, there is always a customer with a problem that is hoping you will solve that problem for him or her. First and last.
If you can solve the problem for each customer, you will stay in business for a long time.
Garry’s book is a marvelous road map for doing exactly that, no matter what size of business you have. He has a plethora of stories. They are laced with humor and the application is easy to understand. His writing style is straight forward and well thought out, backed up by years of experience.
I award “Who Put Me in Charge?” a score of 4.7 stars. 
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You can buy this book:
https://rdrpublishers.com/who-put-me-in-charge-getting-to-the-next-level-by-garry-j-peterson 
https://smile.amazon.com/Who-Put-Me-Charge-Getting-ebook 
https://www.goodreads.com/-who-put-me-in-charge? 
 
You can follow the author:
http://petersonadvisorsgroup.com 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garry-peterson 
https://www.facebook.com/garry.peterson 
https://twitter.com/GarryPeterson 

I have also reviewed the first two books of Garry's sci-fi series:
www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/shattered-truth-and-alien-disruption-by-garry-j-peterson 


​Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction


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The Teaching Mirror

2/15/2020

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Lessons Learned as a First-Year Teacher ​

by Victor Z. Stanhope

Debut author and multi-year teacher, Victor Stanhope, introduces us to his book, “The Teaching Mirror”:
An Introspective and Honest Analysis of a Teacher’s First Year’s Experiences.

One out of every ten first-year teachers leave the profession after that frightful first year – and author Victor Z. Stanhope knows why. Despite the expansive list of books and resources geared towards helping first-year teachers, none of them illuminate the realities of the first-year teaching experience. THE TEACHING MIRROR: LESSONS LEARNED AS A FIRST-YEAR TEACHER is the first book to explore a first-year teacher’s experience through analyzing journal entries written before and throughout the school year. This book synthesizes the author’s journal entries and experience into lessons for first-year teachers to help them better cope with their upcoming or current life as a new teacher.
This book is very helpful for new teachers in that it:
•Provides incoming first-year teachers with an honest and practical perspective of the experience.
•Connects with and addresses first-year teachers’ emotions and worries.
•Offers applied tips and exemplifies their effectiveness.
•Illustrates the author’s failures, remedies, successes, and learned lessons.
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 Victor Stanhope (a pen name) has provided an insightful look at the work-life a first-year teacher might well expect to experience. While student-teaching and interning might ease the shock of the transition from the cocoon of academia to the harsh reality of beginning a teaching career, there is no denying the shock of the new experience in the best of situations.
Victor’s story is very candid and quite engaging, I really enjoyed his story-telling style. His descriptions of his failures and successes make a great difference in the entertaining nature of his book. There are a lot of good lessons that can be applied in other situations in life. I greatly appreciate his willingness to share what worked and what didn’t. Much of life is experimenting to determine what will bring the desired results and what won’t.  
I award a score of 4.8 stars to “The Teaching Mirror”. 
You can buy this book:
https://rdrpublishers.com/the-teaching-mirror 
https://smile.amazon.com/Teaching-Mirror-Lessons-Learned-First-Year-ebook 
https://www.goodreads.com/-the-teaching-mirror 

You can follow the author:

https://theteachingmirror.com 

Tags: teaching, education, memoir, biography


​Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction
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The Fruitcake Factory   By Roberta Glacken

2/8/2020

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A fictional representation of life with mental illness

Multi-volume, multi-genre author, Roberta Glacken, introduces us to her recent fictional story about mental illness in “The Fruitcake Factory”:
Follow the lives of several mentally ill patients in a psychiatric facility and what life holds for them in the outside world. 100% of all proceeds will go to Mental Health charities. I just want to spread awareness and stop the stigma.
​
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Mental illness knows no boundaries and is not a respecter of persons at any level. Mental illness manifests in so many different ways and intensities, that nearly any person could be diagnosed as mentally ill, even for a short period of time. I have known many people who are or have been mentally ill. Some recover and some don’t.
I think this book does a good job of showcasing the struggles mentally ill people endure, some internal and some external. This book is quite funny at times. Without denigrating anyone, those trying to help frequently have their own struggles that can get in the way of delivering true aid.
I like the upbeat ending, showing success for a couple of people even as they mourn the untimely defeat of another.
The real genius is in the dialogues, the interactions with everyone in and out of the institution. I give “The Fruitcake Factory” 4.5 stars.
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You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Fruitcake-Factory-fictional-representation-illness-ebook 
https://www.goodreads.com/-the-fruitcake-factory 

You can follow the author:

https://twitter.com/robertaglacken 
robertaglacken.com/ 
​

 Tags: psychology fiction, biographical fiction, mental health
​
Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction. 
103 Comments

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