Wednesday, August 27, 2014

#Review: "What Counts the Most Is How You Finish" by Shelia Payton



Summary:
While each person has to find his or her own way in life, we can all learn worthwhile things from each other. The goal of each essay in this book is to share ideas about addressing life’s challenges.
The book draws from the authors own experiences, the experiences of her generation (who helped end legal segregation), and others. 

My Review:
The author grew up in a time when segregation was a huge part of life for her. This alone would have brought many people of her time to feel less than human. However, her parents encouraged her to be who she wanted to be and she stuck with that philosophy all her life and overcame barriers.

She writes little two to three page lessons based upon her experiences of growing up and entering a work force that was not supposed to be for women, much less a black woman. Her perseverance, tenacity, and faith in a higher power, has helped her be the person she is today. She shares that wisdom with a new generation with the hopes that they too can overcome.

The book is divided into broader main categories and the subdivided into the smaller lessons under each category. Each brings hope to the present and future generations.
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Overall, I think the author's wisdom is pretty terrific. I did think sometimes it did not apply to today's teens but mostly this generation could learn a thing or two from her.

I was intrigued by the authors life and I think I would have liked this book more if she had made it into more of a memoir. Perhaps she will?

4 stars!
Disclosure: I, Naila Moon of Reading Authors, received a copy of this book for my open and honest opinion. The review expressed here is 100% my own and may differ from yours. This review is also a part of a blog tour from iRead Books.

Where to find the author:
Amazon
Goodreads

1 comment:

Shelia Payton said...

Naila Thank you for reviewing my book and sharing your insights with your readers. And a special thank you for sharing your love of reading and learning “stuff.” This is a great service to both authors and readers. I share your love of learning, and believe we can learn from each other. As you mentioned, because of the time period in which I grew up gender and color barriers were the main challenges. But even today, people face barriers based on “differences” of various kinds. By sharing lessons learned about overcoming barriers in What Counts Most is How You Finish, I hope readers—particularly young people—who face challenges come to realize the way things are now is not the way they have to be forever; and feel empowered to take steps that turn their lives in a different direction. I wish you continued success in your “…bid to take over the universe and become Supreme Leader…” *laughs* Seriously, though, I do wish you great success in the good work you are doing.—Shelia Payton