Book Review: The Help

Wnot counting the last book I read) since before 2005, I think, speaks for itself how awesome the iBooks app is. In any case, I thought that now that I’m actually reading (YAY!) I’d include some book reviews on the site.

The Help is my most recent read. Written by Kathryn Stockett, the story takes place in the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi, during the Civil Rights movement. The book presents an interesting (fictional) perspective of black maids that worked for white families in that area. The core characters are a young white woman, and two black maids who tell their stories, and enlist the help of other maids to also tell their stories that eventually get put together as a book. They risk their lives doing this.

Having just finished reading what was basically a love story, I wasn’t sure I was going to get into this book, but I got sucked in immediately. The author switches perspective several times throughout the book, and some of the text is written in “conversational” English – as the person you’re reading about would think or talk. But it’s done very well and doesn’t cause you to stumble trying to follow along. The perspective changes can be a little weird at times, and sometimes I forget who is doing the thinking – but I guess that helps make the point of the book.

It reminded me how relatively recent the civil rights movement took place. I would like to think that a lot has changed since then but really, who am I to say that and/or how would I know. How many things from that time period still linger, but are not as noticeable or socially acceptable to be as obvious. The author is white, and I wish I knew if she did in fact interview people who lived through this time in history to get a realistic as possible perspective. I would assume so. I would also love to know how someone who is black feels about the book – especially someone from that time period. Do they feel the book portrays a relatively accurate description? I know the point of the book is to show how we’re all just people. We’re all the same. Of course this is true, but how we are treated by others can vary greatly – and I’m sure that sadly sometimes the color of your skin can still influence that treatment.

The characters are very well defined and I’ve found that this is an important key for holding my interest in a book. I feel like I know these women. I wasn’t ready for the last page of the book, because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them. It was a great book and I highly recommend it.

If you’ve read the book, I’d love to know what you thought about it.

Book Review: The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey: How to Be Happy and Successful at Work and in Life by Simply Changing Your Mind

I was given the opportunity to review a new book that will be coming out, and I thought I’d break from the standard here and ask a friend of mine to help me out and write the review for me:

The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey: How to Be Happy and Successful at Work and in Life by Simply Changing Your Mind.  By Barbara Burke.  Northfield, MN: Front Wheel Learning, 2006; pp. 1+138.  $16.99 softcover.

Reviewed by Katherine Weinstein, Ph.D.

It’s no secret that customer service work poses its own special challenges on a very personal level.  Assisting disgruntled customers on a nearly daily basis can test and even dishearten the most positive and stalwart employee.  Barbara Burke’s The Napkin, the Melon and the Monkey provides both helpful advice to lift the emotional burdens of stressed employees and guidelines for better communication in the workplace.

Burke’s sage advice is packaged in the story of Olivia, a struggling customer service rep at a power company, and Isabel, the wise co-worker who takes her under her wing. Under Isabel’s guidance, Olivia learns to emotionally step back from stressful situations and have a SODA—Stop, Observe, Decide and Act. She begins by taking time every day to mentally “unplug,” and finds that the daily breaks help her to find calm in the middle of workplace turmoil.  Once Olivia is able to stop taking her customers’ angry outbursts personally and actually helps them, her life at work and at home takes a positive turn.

The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey is jam-packed with Olivia’s 22 “aha!” moments which are repeated over and over throughout the book.  These include nuggets of wisdom such as “A simple apology works wonders” and “Winners don’t just point out problems.  They fix them.”  According to the book’s cover, the author has a customer service training program that incorporates the lessons of the book.  You can almost see the Powerpoint presentation in your mind as you read along!

Burke’s book clearly has value as a tool to help employees communicate better with difficult customers and deal with the emotional stress of their jobs.  However, some of the books “aha!” revelations are of the pat variety you might find printed on an “inspirational” poster next to a picture of a waterfall—ie. “Real freedom comes from letting go of the outcome.”  The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey gives us a laundry list of such platitudes, but doesn’t always show how to apply these concepts in everyday life in a meaningful way.