On Perspective

Keeping the proper perspective is important, in work and in life.

Many years ago when I was working at a bank, the bank's president told me, "Remember, we're just trying to make the owners some money. We're not saving lives or defending the nation." It took me longer than it should have to internalize that idea, but when I finally did, work became much easier.

In the years since I was told that, I've seen multiple people who did not get the advice lose perspective and then lose their job.

cross-posted to LinkedIn

Review of The Christmas Bookshop

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I try to support independent bookstores. My local, Prairie Path Books, has an after-Christmas / before annual inventory sale. I was there and the owner was fluttering about doing owner things and she mentioned that due to an ordering mistake, they had a lot of copies of this book. I bought a copy, as did somebody else standing next to me. Well, I finally got round to reading it.

The book would be categorized as adult contemporary, which is not something I read a lot of. Carmen, a 30-something Scottish woman, is broke and unemployed. She's been a disappointment, unlike her sister Sofia in Edinburgh. But out of options, Carmen moves in with her sister who has found her a job trying to save the "Young Mister McCredie's" bookshop. (Spoiler - he's not young.)

There's a bit of romance, some sisterly conflict, the application of Retail 101, and picturesque descriptions of Edinburgh all mixed into a delightful read. I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 only because the author uses an omniscient point-of-view which I found a bit distracting at times.



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