Two books to share with you today…
For at least 4 years the book Heroic Leadership – Best practices from a 450 year old company that changed the world by Chris Lowney has been sitting on my bookshelf. And in August I finally picked it up and started to read it – on the beach. Management/Leadership books aren’t necessarily my typical beach read, but I was fascinated by this book.
Author Chris Lowney, a former Jesuit seminarian, left the seminary for a job at J.P. Morgan and saw that the Jesuit approach to “molding innovative, risk-taking, ambitious, flexible global thinkers worked – better than many modern corporate efforts do today.”
I earned degrees from two Jesuit universities and always appreciate learning more about the history of the Jesuits. This book was a really interesting look into the history of how the order formed, risks taken, successes, failures, and lessons-learned. Lowney applies them to today’s world and presents opportunities for reflection on one’s own leadership style and goals.
If you’re interested in being entered into a drawing to win a copy of the book, you can take this short quiz on the author’s website.
Next up, The Cutting Season by Attica Locke. This is a story set on a former plantation in Louisiana. Current day, it is a historical site and tourist attraction – open to tour groups and available for events. Caren Gray is the estate’s manager and her family history is tied to the plantation. There’s a murder on the land and Caren is pulled into the investigation.
I really enjoyed Locke’s writing style. Descriptive, suspenseful, and engaging. I’ve been on former planation land in Georgia – there’s a certain beauty and spookiness to it – think narrow roads surrounded by huge trees – dripping with Spanish moss. A stillness in the air that holds history. That made Locke’s story especially engaging because I felt like I was on the land with the characters.
This was a hard to put down book – in fact, I woke up early this AM to finish it. I had to know what happened! Well, that and it’s due back to the library.
What are you reading? Any recommendations for me?
Apples and Arteries 
I’m currently reading When I Go To Sleep. So far, pretty interesting!
Just looked it up – does sound interesting.
Love seeing what you’re reading! I’m on The Calligrapher’s Daughter right now… and Bossypants on the side. Haha.
I was traveling the past couple of days so I had a lot of airplane time – finished 2 really good books that I’ll post soon! Tonight it’s time to load back up at the library.