Well, I finished reading "Lean In" last year.  But for some reason, I never finished reviewing the chapters.  I decided that I should correct that by getting to the end of the book before March, when we'll be celebrating Women's History Month.

I'd welcome thoughts and comments on these reviews if you have any.

“Lean In,” by Sheryl Sandberg

Chapter Ten:  “Let’s Start Talking About It”

It’s clear that Sheryl Sandberg is not simply writing a book, she’s on a mission.  And this chapter is her invitation to the rest of us to join her in that mission.  She begins the chapter by thinking back to her youth, and how so many of us in the 80’s and 90’s didn’t really want to take on that “feminist” label.  We thought, mistakenly, that the battles had been fought and the war had been won.  We didn’t realize that in rejecting the labels, we were ignoring the fact that gaining equality is a marathon, not a sprint.

  

Photo:  aware.org.sg

After years of working hard to “fit in by pushing herself to prove to others that women could accomplish as much as men; and watching skilled female colleagues drop out of the workforce through frustration, lack of support by companies and partners; or simply “scaling back their ambitions to meet outsized demands,” Sandberg decided it was time to speak out.

During the remainder of the chapter Sandberg returns to the biases and old-fashioned perspectives that she has written about in the previous nine chapters.  She suggests that maybe in order to change our perception of what being a feminist means, we need to change the definition.  A feminist is “someone who believes in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.”  This is a definition that most of us can get behind.  And if we’ve read this far through Sandberg’s book, we’ve been given the tools to start making the changes happen around us step by incremental step.

Photo:  Michellefreed.com

And I’ll end this chapter review as Sandberg does:  “the result of creating a more equal environment will not just be better performance for our organizations, but quite likely greater happiness for all.”

One thing is crystal clear when you've read this book. Aaron Cohen is a strange and troubled man. However, that should not take away from either his commitment to his causes or the primordial importance of fighting Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

This book is more a character study of Cohen himself than an exposé on TIP. As we follow him through sex, drugs, and rock and roll, we do get a very personal version of tr

afficking as he experienced it, and if this is all you ever learn about trafficking, you will come 

away 

convinced that it's an evil we need to tackle. However, as Cohen says himself, his methods are unorthodox, and focus totally on the "one starfish at a time" theory of making the world a better place.

His work is important, and I admire him for saving even one person, but I prefer the work of those who take a more holistic alproach, and seek to cut out the roots, rather than cut at the results, of TIP.

It's a good read, probably carried along mostly by the writing skills of Christine Buckley, a writer whom I've had a chance to meet in Paris, and who inspires me with her style and energy. Cohen's part seems more depressed, and name-dropping, and strangely focused on esoteric Jewish teachings that are, for me, a distraction from reality.

I wish Cohen the best of luck with his efforts to free slaves, and hope that his life has come together since publishing the book. Read it, but don't rely on it as a sole source of information on TIP.

OK, so I've been reading the Game of Thrones series for the past million years, and for the moment, I'm finished (another book is due out soon).  Here's my take on the series and the most recent book, A Dance with Dragons.

George R. R. Martin is no Tolkien.  It's obvious that he wrote these books with a screen in mind, whether it is a small screen or a large screen.  I don't think that that excuses the fact that his writing is only mediocre.  However, as is the case with other mediocre books that I have enjoyed (Twilight leaps to mind), Martin's prose is addictive.

I think that I mentioned earlier on this site that if you really like the Middle Ages and stories related to King Arthur or similar, you're much better reading Bernard Cromwell's "The Winter King" and it's sequels.  You might also like "Mists of Avalon." Or for those who prefer romance, Mary Stewart's Arthurian saga starting with "The Crystal Cave." Martin's books are not in their realm (pardon the pun).

Final criticism -- any book which requires chapters at the end listing the families and how everyone is relating to everyone else is a book that is not holding up its end of the bargain.  I simply cannot keep track of all the disparate stories -- not to mention that he gives all of his characters multiple names, and we are expected to keep track of them.  This works fine on screen, where the face helps us to identify the character, but I don't like working this hard when I'm reading a book for pleasure.  And what is "Game of Thrones" if not something I'm reading for pleasure?

The books are good, but after having watched the first season of the TV show, I can pretty happily say that I think I would have gotten just as much enjoyment from just watching, rather than trying to read as well.

The characters are fascinating, the plot lines are intriguing, and the supernatural / magic / fantasy threads appeal to readers and TV viewers like me.  However, (sorry, one more complaint), the scope is too wide-reaching.

Bottom line, read it if you like, but I suggest reading something else you'll like more, and watching this one on your favorite service, or by buying the DVD.

And be careful, because Winter IS coming...