Friday, May 05, 2017

Review: Fame is a Killer

Fame is a Killer Fame is a Killer by Meredith Potts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is something I had never heard of before. It is a cozy mystery. Short stories with no adult content. It was kind of nice to have that but that does not leave out the fact that to have a good mystery you have to have a good story.
In the end it was any of a list of people who could have done it including the storyteller herself. We know it was not her because she is telling us what she did.
Someone once said that if you kill someone in the third act with a sword, you better have made it available in the first act. And that was my problem here. There was nothing that pointed to the killer as well as no red herrings to throw us off on the other people.
As a quick mystery to kill some time it was OK.

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An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily InfluenceAn Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence by Alan Fadling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Standard disclaimer. I got an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley and Intervarsity Press in exchange for an honest review.

Some books you can skim and get something out of them. Some books take a lot of time to read because you want to take your time and soak it all in. This is one of those times. Reading pre release copies can be frustrating sometimes. After a certain time period the books can no longer be read. This is one of those books I may have to spend some money on.

The premise is that most leaders in Christianity (yes it is geared towards Christian Leaders), tend to make plans and then ask God to come into them. Mr. Falding changes that idea. Why not ask God what He wants do and then make the plans. How much of leadership in organizations is done with asking God first. When we do this it tends to slow things down first.

One of the first thing this type of leader does is to fill himself with the fountain that comes from God. You can not spill onto others what you do not have in yourself. That is chapter 1, and the other 9 chapters do not disappoint. They include topics of looking at out thoughts (one that helped me a lot), taking time to pray (not as an afterthought for the start of a meeting but before it all starts), and leading with the same grace that God gives to us.

Each chapter has a set of exercises to be done as you finish the chapter. Do not skip these. These take what you have learned and make it something solid in your life. You learn some by seeing, some by writing and a lot by doing. Not doing these exercises leaves out the chance to make these internal in your life. I only did a few of them because of time constraints in my life but I have used them in helping others find something inside themselves to help change themselves.

I cannot recommend this book any higher than 5 starts or I would. If you are even in lower levels of volunteer work in a church, you can learn so much from this book.


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