Book Review: Hire Train Monitor Motivate By David J Waldron

About the book:

Title: Hire Train Monitor Motivate By David J Waldron

Paperback, First Edition, 86 pages
Published May 31st 2016 by Country View

Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb: The transformational workplace of the twenty-first century is front and center. Are you ready to navigate its twists and turns toward reaching your career goals and dreams? In Hire Train Monitor Motivate, author and veteran organizational leader, David J. Waldron, offers powerful, yet simple techniques that can dramatically improve your organization, team, or individual career achievements in today’s hyper-competitive local and global marketplaces.

This practical book will teach you how to master the art of workplace effectiveness by first making a lasting commitment to placing people first, whether a customer, recruit, staff member, or coworker. Then hire, or get hired for an optimistic mindset; train, or be trained for delivering quality products and services; monitor, or allow monitoring for regulatory compliance; and motivate, or stay motivated for enduring performance.

As a practitioner more so than an academic, Waldron, presents unpretentious, everyday workplace rules that when implemented, or followed, can transform your organization, team, or individual career to one of lasting distinction. Master the proven techniques for playing the game the right way and learn how to practice leadership or teamwork by inclusion toward making your workplace a great place to learn, earn, and grow.

Hire Train Monitor Motivate guides the reader toward recognizing his or her essential role in today’s transformational workplace. A work environment—whether for-profit, nonprofit, or in the public service—that requires an understanding and buy-in to the Millennial Model, the cultural transition of the now predominant generation that, according to Waldron, is fast becoming the new standard in organizational behavior, group dynamics, and individual effectiveness. This horizontal hierarchical model will likely drive the influential organizations, teams, and careers of the twenty-first century as the vertical hierarchy of the Baby Boomer generation did in the twentieth century.

Waldron guides the reader in embracing crucial areas of the modern workplace. Join him as he explores the emerging dominance of the expert economy; the importance of lifelong learning and perpetual career development; and how to be an active participant—as opposed to the spectator—on the precipice of reinventing compensation and worker equality. Plus, why accepting the significance of work/life balance will remain necessary to sustainable career success.

Whether an owner, donor, leader, manager, supervisor, or staff member, make a commitment to your essential role in the transformational workplace. Read Hire Train Monitor Motivate, today, and make your workplace a great place tomorrow. Your organization, team, and career are counting on you.

About the author

David J. Waldron is a passionate student and practitioner of organization, team, and individual career effectiveness in the transformational workplace. He is the author of the new book, Hire Train Monitor Motivate (Country View) published May 31, 2016 and now available on Amazon Books and in the Kindle Store.

He is also author of The Ten Domains of Effective Goal Setting (Country View: 2016) and A Great Place to Learn & Earn (Country View: 2015).

David is an award winning contributing writer to Seeking Alpha; and frequent contributor to Career Education Review, HR.com, and Pulse. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business studies from Stockton University and completed The Practice of Management Program at Brown University. David lives with his wife, Suzan, outside Providence, Rhode Island USA.

Find the author here: 

My Review:

To begin with, this is a quick, good read. Usually the books that talk about HR and management wisdom and the like read as textbooks, always didactic, always sleep-inducing. What sets this book apart is the fact that this isn't a lengthy text or research paper that uses jargons to make a point look valid.
For one, it is a fairly quick read, and while you'll surely want to make notes and markers and jot down tips from it, it doesn't take you very long to absorb the meaning that the book is trying to convey.
There are umpteen professional, hands-on tips on important HR activities like interviews, group discussions, hiring, incentives, among other things. So, even if you are not hiring but are getting hired, it provides useful insights from the other side of the table. I have myself made a lot of markers at different pages to refer to these points in the future.
If you're a part of any organization, which at some level, each one of us is, then, in my opinion, you need to apprise yourself with the mechanics of the crucial processes of hiring, training, etc.
So, to give you an example, it talks about ninety-day impact, which is a very useful piece of information, considering its knowledge will help everyone in the system aim at higher efficiency.

With short paragraphs and short snippets on every HR topic under the sun, I can see myself coming back to the book for reference purposes in the future.
Simply put, here is some practical knowledge. here are some techniques that work.
The other things- the title, the cover are also so precise and apt that they reflect and portray the meaning of the book quite well.
So now, while this book is certainly not boring as a textbook, while imparting equal, if not more, information, still there's a scope for including more and more anecdotes and maybe engaging comments/exercises. It would have drawn me to read the book almost instantly.
The author's own experiences have been drawn inspiration from, considering his amazing background in the field and his body of work. No doubt, this book is a resource for anyone who wishes to enhance his/her knowledge about human resource management.

For a limited time, the eBook edition of Hire Train Monitor Motivate is being offered in a free promotion on Kindle, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, Inktera, and Smashwords. 

Links to the book:

Source of the review copy: Book Received from the author, in exchange of an honest review

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Book Blast: The Conspiracy at Meru

The Conspiracy at Meru (Vikramaditya Veergatha # 2)

 Book Trailer At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5EaT0ypBX8

VICTORY IS TEMPORARY. THE BATTLE IS ETERNAL.

Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine have fought valiantly to repel the rampaging hordes from Devaloka and Patala – but Avanti has been brought to its knees. Ujjayini lies battered its citizens are scared and morale is badly shaken. Meanwhile, the barbaric Hunas and Sakas are gathering on the horizon and cracks are emerging between the allied kingdoms of Sindhuvarta.

The only silver lining is that the deadly Halahala is safe. For now.

Bent on vengeance, Indra is already scheming to destroy Vikramaditya, while Shukracharya has a plan that can spell the doom for the Guardians of the Halahala. How long can the human army hold out against the ferocity and cunning of the devas and asuras? And will Vikramaditya’s love for his queen come in the way of his promise to Shiva?

Goodreads * Amazon

The deadly Halahala, the all-devouring poison churned from the depths of the White Lake by the devas and asuras, was swallowed by Shiva to save the universe from extinction.

But was the Halahala truly destroyed?

A small portion still remains – a weapon powerful enough to guarantee victory to whoever possesses it. And both asuras and devas, locked in battle for supremacy, will stop at nothing to claim it.

As the forces of Devaloka and Patala, led by Indra and Shukracharya, plot to possess the Halahala, Shiva turns to mankind to guard it from their murderous clutches. It is now up to Samrat Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine to quell the supernatural hordes – and prevent the universe from tumbling into chaos!

A sweeping tale of honour and courage in the face of infinite danger, greed and deceit, The Guardians of the Halahala is a fantastical journey into a time of myth and legend.

Goodreads * Amazon 

About the Author

Door-to-door salesman, copywriter, business journalist & assistant editor at The Economic Times; Shatrujeet Nath was all this before he took to writing fiction full-time. He debuted with The Karachi Deception in 2013, followed by The Guardians of the Halahala and The Conspiracy at Meru, the first two books in the Vikramaditya Veergatha series. At present, he is writing volume three of the series. Shatrujeet lives in Mumbai, but spends much of his time in the fantasy worlds of his stories.

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Also by the Author:

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Book Review: Dream Job by Janet Garber

About the book:

Title: Dream Job, Wacky Adventures of an HR Manager

Paperback, 178 pages
Published March 16th 2016 by Janet Garber via Lulu

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Single sexless Melanie Kohl's trying to keep it all together at Axis Mundi Medical Center in NYC where misbehaving doctors and immoral staff line up outside her HR office for solace and solutions. Hey, she's got her own problems! Where is her life? Just as she's starting to melt down . . .

Join Melie for a wild ride through a landscape dotted with comical mishaps, murder, and romance. Will she learn to balance work and life? Have you?

About the author

Janet Garber toiled in the trenches as a HR exec in NYC for xx years, using those experiences to indulge in her prime passion: Writing. She focused on careers (WSJ, NY Post, trade journals), reviewed new books (www.neworldreview.com and simplycharly.com), movies (Stage and Cinema, Senior Film Files), and published a non-fiction book, assorted articles, essays, poems, short fiction, and, in March 2016, her first novel, Dream Job, Wacky Adventures of an HR Manager.

Find the author here: 

My Review:

I will start from the cover of the book. It has management and HR written all over it.
With a silhoutte of a face and dream job inscribed on it, it is hard to miss the irony and the multiple meanings lent to it.

At first I found it an exercise and a tough one to delve under the skin of the book but there was an inundation of names making it a bit tougher for me to get through without going back every 5 sentences or so.
But then the humor and the cases of HR take over, and my reading caught up speed.
There's the tricky area of sexual harassment cases, and makes me want to double up how grievance redress can be so annoying and for the lack of a better word, cathartic at the same time.

The protagonist is an interesting portrait herself who at one point was just okay with the idea of having a boyfriend, but as it turns out romance isn't every ones domain of expertise.
Bottom line: the job of an HR manager is not an easy one. If anything, it is the resignation to a morbid tell-tale of people's complaints and dealing with the most difficult creatures on this planet: humans. Oh the relief it is to have defused a major catastrophe.

Her subway escapades had me sympathising with her. And the description was so life like.

Links to the book:

Source of the review copy: Author

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A New Bookstore In (Virtual) Town: BOOKLE

Bookle.in/ is India's first online bookstore for kids. And who am I kidding, I read children's books even now, so nothing really comes as a surprise.


My experience with Bookle:
The search was pretty easy.

There was a filter for price.

Shipping is free only for order above Rs 500, which is not a bad deal, considering that I would definitely buy a bunch of books and not just one.

The collection is adorable.

They let you sell books you bought from Bookle only, at 50% of the price.

Here's the bunch I ordered, and that arrived promptly, and for 500, it wasn't a bad deal at all.
I had never read GooseBumps ever, so I ordered those, along with a copy of High School Musical.

I received the delivery in a fine state, and the quality is not bad at all. Traversing the portal wasn't difficult at all.

Here's what my purchase looked like!

The only surprise element that could also be a downside is the fact that you can never guess the actual condition of the books that you're going to receive. I received some of them in a really decent condition, but all of them reeked of a used-rugged smell and sight. They looked like they came from a library clearance. I think what could help in this case is posting pictures of the actual products. Which also brings me to another glitch, that the pictures are pixelated. Had the pictures been clearer, I could have made wiser decisions.

The prices, for this condition, do seem higher, especially when we can get these books at this quality at Sunday markets, among other cheap deals.

But children's books are a tricky affair and this website will definitely untie some knots of the trick here.

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Book Review: Take One More Chance by Shriya Garg

About the book:

Title: Take One More Chance

Paperback, First, 426 pages
Published January 2011 by Mahaveer Publishers

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: When Naina is set the daunting task of finding her Mr Right, her siblings and best friend offer to help. But after sending every man she meets to the hospital, she finds herself falling for the one she cannot stand. This is the intriguing and hilarious love story of Naina Kashyap and her arch enemy.

About the author

The author bio is from Juggernaut, the app where I read this book! They are  a mobile-first publishing company started by Chiki Sarkar and Durga Raghunath, aiming to give authors and books a physical as well as a digital platform. 

My Review:

This one was a couple-hours long read. And a thorough entertainer nevertheless.
While the plot was a giveaway right from the blurb, it was interesting to see how the plot panned out.


There is an uncanny pleasure (sadistic?) I derive from stories that revolve around finding THE ONE. Any story around this theme inexplicably cracks me up, and there's no dearth of humor in them either. The world has been very dynamic and the approach to relationships has undergone a huge change, but a section Indian parents have not moved even a bit from their concerns. And that's nothing short of hilarious. Because it is so painfully real to life, there's some fun involved in casually reading these tales. The plots are a treat always, in that they are always interspersed with jokes, amateurish frustration and healthy banter. The protagonists Naina and Aditya were endearing right from the start, and the other characters were just as pivotal as they were a good company.
There was a slight need of lubricants in the scene that linked the plot to the opening lines, rest was all a thorough joyride.

Bonus: I loved reading it on the Juggernaut app, which is super-comfortable and convenient.

Links to the book:

Source of the review copy: Juggernaut app

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Book Review: What Might have Been by Lynn Steward

ABOUT THE BOOK

 

As a fashion buyer at one of New York’s most glamorous department stores, Dana McGarry is a tastemaker, her keen instinct for fashion trends and innovative ideas coupled with a razor sharp business sense. But like the elegant and conservative store that employs her, Dana is caught between two eras—between being liked and standing her ground, between playing by the rules and being a maverick. Dana is sensitive and beautiful, but what you see is not what you get. Behind the cool and attractive facade, Dana is both driven by her need to control yet impeded by her expectation of perfectionism. As she competes to replace women at the top of their game, she is challenged by jealous colleagues. And when a wealthy love interest wants to open doors and support her ambition, she embraces Coco Chanel’s mantra of “never wanting to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” As the women’s movement paves the way, Dana finds a path to the career she wants at the expense of happiness that was not meant to be.

Steward captures the nuances of 70s life in New York City and provides the perfect backdrop for an independent woman determined to make her mark. What Might Have Been is a story that transcends any period.

Title:  What Might Have Been

Genre:  Literary fiction/women’s fiction

Author: Lynn Steward

Website: www.LynnSteward.com 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/What-Might-Have-Been-McGarry-ebook/dp/B00U8CR2KG

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Steward, a veteran of the New York fashion industry and a buyer on the team that started the women’s department at Brooks Brothers, created the Dana McGarry series, set at a transformational time in the 1970s world of fashion and in the lives of multigenerational women. What Might Have Been is the second volume in the series. A Very Good Life, Steward’s debut novel, was published in March 2014.

LynnSteward.com

Pinterest.com/LynnStewardny

Facebook.com/LynnStewardnyc

Twitter: @LynnStewardNY

My Review:

This book had me at its cover. The cover is a pretty enticing considering that this is a novel set in the time that is depicted thoroughly in how the cover has been done. 

Coming over to the plot, it is a treat for the readers who crave for a strong female protagonist. The book actually talks about her professional pursuits. Sure, relationships are a pivotal aspect of all of it, but this novel is quite different from any cliches or predictable, beaten plots I've read before. 

The best part to watch out for is the letter. One could easily cry at that juncture. What makes this novel worth it is the freshness in the plot: "She had a million things to do and she didn’t
know where to start. And that, of course, was exactly how Dana liked it."
The setting builds up slowly, but in meticulous detail. 

This review is a part of the Book Tour hosted by DDS at b00kr3vi3ws

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Book Review: The Summer That Melted Everything

About the book:

Title: The Summer That Melted Everything

Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: July 26th 2016 by St. Martin's Press

Genre: Literary Fiction, tinge of Magic Realism

Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb: Fielding Bliss has never forgotten the summer of 1984: the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio. The year he became friends with the devil.

Sal seems to appear out of nowhere - a bruised and tattered thirteen-year-old boy claiming to be the devil himself answering an invitation. Fielding Bliss, the son of a local prosecutor, brings him home where he's welcomed into the Bliss family, assuming he's a runaway from a nearby farm town.

When word spreads that the devil has come to Breathed, not everyone is happy to welcome this self-proclaimed fallen angel. Murmurs follow him and tensions rise, along with the temperatures as an unbearable heat wave rolls into town right along with him. As strange accidents start to occur, riled by the feverish heat, some in the town start to believe that Sal is exactly who he claims to be. While the Bliss family wrestles with their own personal demons, a fanatic drives the town to the brink of a catastrophe that will change this sleepy Ohio backwater forever.

About the author

Tiffany McDaniel is an Ohio native whose writing is inspired by the rolling hills and buckeye woods of the land she knows. She is also a poet, playwright, screenwriter, and artist. The Summer that Melted Everything is her debut novel. 

Find the author here: 

My Review:

Rarely do you come across a book that makes you excited about it, right from the title. The title reeked of a metaphoric significance which is when I took an uncanny yet immediate liking to it.
So the story is unlike anything I've read before.

I was obviously searching for metaphors throughout, and wasn't disappointed. The metaphors existed in the very structure of the characters, places, setting, and elements. The town, for instance is called Breathed (pronounced Breath from "He breathed" plus +ed)
The novel says about the place, "I once heard someone refer to Breathed as the scar of the paradise we lost. So it was in many ways, a place with a perfect wound just below the surface"
And the metaphoric characteristics do not just end there, the entire narration is replete with metaphors much to my sheer delight.

The story, I have to admit is quite different from what one might expect in the first, innocent instance. Different, as in, not a slight difference in tone, or language, but a major departure from the expected cliched plots. It is refreshing and new, and the new-ness takes one with surprise, because the imagination applied by McDaniel is active, pleasing and engaging.
Since the language is full of metaphors and words and phrases which aren't slang, it becomes difficult at first to draw a hold on the book. But once you're 30 pages into it, it becomes a test of patience not knowing what happens next.
And to an avid reader, nothing sounds better than quotable quotes, and this one is flooded with those.
Before picking it up, you may evaluate it, but it is worth a read!

Links to the book:

Book Trailer:

Quotes from the book:

"It's a waste of time to live better when you have got no one to care for and no one to care for you"

"It's a miraculous thing, how a ship floats. Always a tragedy when it sinks"

"He knew the resilience of a seed, and the vulnerabilities of it also"

“The heat came with the devil. It was the summer of 1984, and while the devil had been invited, the heat had not. It should've been expected, though. Heat is, after all, the devil's name, and when's the last time you left home without yours?” 

“A foolish mistake, it is, to expect the beast, because sometimes, sometimes, it is the flower's turn to own the name.” 

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Source of the review copy: NetGalley

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