Books that have stayed with me...

...about libraries and education. (I think I'm changing the focus of my dissertation question.)

In the car these days, I'm listening to Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, and realizing that the types of books I like are about education, about how to get from good to great (ah, yes, a book by Jim Collins), how to improve situations and give opportunities to those who may not otherwise get them.

So, I hightailed it over to my librarything.com account, in the hopes that I can unearth some books whose titles I've forgotten.

Small Victories has stayed with me even though I read it ONCE, 20 years ago.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children by John Wood. Got to hear him speak at a conference in Minneapolis. WOW. This guy started a program for school libraries all over the world, mostly in South Asia.

Sahara Special by Esme. The author was a teacher who now is an author and advocate for kids reading. In the book, the kid is labeled "special" and the new teacher changes things.

Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (my hero!)

Work Hard, Be Nice. by Jay Mathews. This book really made me think differently about education and creating opportunities for kids that might not otherwise get them. KIPP schools (Knowledge is power program) were started initially by two Teach for America teachers.

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Books I think I should read: Stones into Schools by the Three Cups of Tea guy.

Random book I found while looking: The Lady Tasting Tea (about statistics, but it looks really good.)

Random book in my librarything.com account, tbr (to be read): Stop being your symptoms. Sounds good to me! It's upstairs in Large Print, so I'll have to find it tomorrow. Time to check the kid's section for disasters, we close in 10 minutes.

Buh Bye!

(Wow, three posts in one day? But we're not going for number of posts. We're going for posting 5 days a week.)

Books I didn't read as of January

...that need to go back to their respective libraries:

Today I will: a year of quotes, notes, and promises to myself by Eileen & Jerry Spinelli
(found that it was more of a "literary devotional" than what I wanted, with a quote, a homily, and an affirmation.)

Girl Group Confidential: the ultimate guide to starting, running, and enjoying your own women's group by Jennifer Worick. (I find that I want to be that person that starts something but in the end, right now, for better or for worse, I prefer to just show up.) But it looks like a good book. Not sure I even opened it...

the amazing adventures of working girl: real life career advice you can actually use by Karen Burns
I wish this book had been available to me sixteen years ago, and it's the sort of book I would recommend to my sister, who is ten years behind me in her journeys, though her journey at work is so different from mine. the hold slip in this book is in the chapter called, "boss from hell." Let's not go there.

Biggest Loser simple swaps: 100 easy changes to start living a healthier lifestyle by Cheryl Forberg et al. This is the sort of book I would buy if I wanted to admit that I'm not crazy about the fact that I've gone up two jeans sizes. But I never ever opened it, and it is now the item on my library record that would block me from taking anything else out if I didn't know how to override that. The library that owns it wants it back or wants my $28.00. (This is the book that started this exercise.)

You're so money: live rich even when you're not by Farnoosh Torabi. Another book that I would buy if I bought books right now. I started reading it, but I'm still pretty much in denial. Oh, the tax refund will take care of...etc. BLECH!! I got as far as p. 16.

Cooking with all things Trader Joes by Deanna Gunn and Wona Miniati. If I read cook books...This book still has the hold slip in it, which means I never even cracked the spine.

Writing and Publishing: the librarian's handbook. Edited by Carol Smallwood. This is the book I would read if I believed that I could read it at work. (I guess I'm not a committed enough librarian that I want to take my work home...) And since it's an ALA guide, it probably retails at $50. It's the one book I would buy tomorrow if I had an extra $50.

*I apologize to all my Indy book lovers that all my links are Amazon. Unfortunately, it is the easiest way to link to book titles, and give folks the option of reading reviews beyond the tiny ones I'm giving here.

Grumpy grumpy grumpy

Grumpy and grieving start with the same sound. And there's a reason, grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So, within 48 hours, I lost the dream of a dream job and the dream of a dream boat. He was swell, but never noticed me. (It only took me six months to figure it out this time.) And I love the dear woman who is most definitely qualified for the job that I pined after. (With her in the running, no one else was going to get that particular job.) So.

So, in an effort to not dwell on the losses, but to be the librarian extra-ordinaire that you know me to be:

Books (on relationships) that I would never add to my GoodReads profile that I love and would recommend to girlfriends:

(gotta go check the laundry)

Okay, laundry still spinning. GAH it is soooooo cold. (Like 9 degrees Fahrenheit outside, cold cold in the stairwell.)

Revelations of a single woman: loving the life i didn't expect by Connally Gilliam

Have thought about getting a copy of this and giving to sister for Christmas, but like a Sex and the City calendar, it's not the sort of thing you want to open in front of people. Oh, thanks, a book about being single. Gee, um, thanks. I've written about this book here before.

My most favorite image from Connally's book is that if you are looking for relationships as a single person, you often find that you are splintered, trying to be friends with everyone, drinking from "a thousand little waxy Dixie cups" when you really want some deep wells. (19)

Or this tidbit: "women, oftentimes--for better or worse--seem to invest in and draw more life from their workplace relationships than men do. Hence, a woman's actual job might be a misfit--one that doesn't engage her best abilities--but she'll stay longer at it for the sake of the people." (182)

Or how about this one, single women? "Where can I find community?.... 'I'm on my third set of friends right now,' writes one woman who has cycled through the marriages and moves of numerous friends. " (190)


Is he Mr. Right? Everything you need to know before you commit by Mira Kirshenbaum (author of Too Good To leave, Too bad to stay, another helpful book.

This is the book that inspired this list, as I'm currently making my way through it. After I realized that Mr. "All That" really wasn't, it helped me as I figured out why: (fortunately, I hide books like this under tables and find them at opportune moments) I don't feel safe when I'm with him, and I don't think he's fun. (There are 5 compatibility levels and those are two of them.) I mean, why should I be with a guy that I think is mostly boring, who only pays attention to me at church, and and and (fill in the blank.) I mean, it took me twenty years to get over a guy who only paid attention to me when we were on the phone, so I'd like to think I've grown past the "one venue" kind of guy. But I do still need to grieve, and that's okay.

The main gist of this book is dump him as soon as you figure out he's a dud, which I've never been successful at, but hey, maybe I just did!

I haven't finished this book, but my therapist knew of it, has actually recommended it to folks (though I found it on my own, in the 646.77's (DDC for dating and choice of mate)).

Here's a gem: "Maybe you realized you felt bored or depressed. Bad chemistry." (13) (Sort of like when I was dating the guy who was writing a novel and I thought it was horrible. Um, I'm a writer. So if you are too, and you don't write well, there's going to be a problem.)

It's called a break-up because it's broken: the smart girl's break-up buddy by Greg Behrendt and Amiira Ruotola-Behrendt.

I read a lot of break-up books the summer I was dealing with the loss of my friend Boston (who doesn't live in or near Boston, and is again my friend). This was one I got on audio. While I ABHORRED the first book Greg wrote (He's just not that into you) because it seemed boorish and in your face, I liked this one, because the audio presentation made it funny, and it was true. Why do we waste time on relationships that are O-V-E-R? Maybe it's time for me to check out this audio book again. (Yes, I realize this particular relationship was mostly in my head, but I'm a writer, so I had sub-plots and nuances, it was still a "relationship" albeit imaginary.)

and one that I might add to my GR profile:

The peril of magnificent love by Emma Magenta.

I bought this when I was trying to get rid of the rejection of Tony (yes, the high school guy), Boston, Mr. "All That" (the first time around) and other relationships, all at the same time. I bought a slew of books from Amazon, and this is one of the ones that survived the ever necessary purging. It's a sweet little picture book about what happens when you put that crush on a pedestal, when you become a different person for them, the mind games, and when you finally figure out that all the costumes are pointless. It's a much cuter book than my description, I promise. Here it is on Google Books.

Well, my dears, I better check the laundry again, figure out which items can stay drying in the dryer and which ones should be hung on the line. It's been fun. Shall we meet again soon? Same Bat time, same Bat Channel?

hogs and quiches, SL

"Birthday singers ready?"

(My father, as he would dial the phone number of an unsuspecting relative whose birthday it was.)

A tradition at the Louise household, well, when we were all at home, at least, was on birthdays to get in front of the phone and sing. The person would pick up and if it wasn't them, we'd ask for the "birthday boy or girl" and then start to sing "Happy Birthday to you." I've called two friends in the past 24 hours (I seem to have a lot of friends with birthdays right now) and haven't done it. I guess you need more than one "birthday singer."

I need to grab some grits (as if) (but doesn't that sound great?) (more like TJ's waffles) and get out the door, but I still have a few minutes.

So yesterday, I was telling you stories about my car and my travels and how writing is what I do. This morning, I awoke to three more comments, one from Badger (thanks, doll!) one from someone who has a Google alert to "Berkeley Springs," and one on a post I wrote ages ago, about this fabulous book (you've read it by now, right?) Welcome to Eudora. She has a new one coming out in the spring, so you better get hopping on the reading, I know you have less time to read now that you're off "elfing" as Mrs. X. would say.

I gotta go. Be good!

In which I find myself watching the Fiesta Bowl instead of Seinfeld...

So, I had no idea that WVU lost their coach...I don't really follow college football. But after Two and a half men was over, all of a sudden, I was brought straight into the middle of a college football drama...

My cousin went to WVU. Her ex-husband went there, and my other cousin's husband did too. It's almost a West Virginia joke.

So yesterday the Penguins played the Sabres in Buffalo and WON! I fell asleep on the sofa during the game, thus catching up on lost sleep from the previous night.

No, this has not become a sports blog while you were sleeping (or while I was) but hey.

Oh, and last night I watched Happy Gilmore (about a failed hockey player who turns into a pro golfer).

That's it. I don't have any more sports to report.

I took a lot of books out today, though:

• Praise Habit by David Crowder (Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi) I like David Crowder sort of (he's a musician) and this looked interesting. I found it on a friend's Library Thing account.
• Three Weddings and a Giggle by Liz Curtis Higgs, Carolyn Zane, and Karen Ball. I read this like two years ago, the first time I worked an election. I dig funny smart Christian romances, and I re-read books. (This is three novellas bound in one binding.)
  
• Mixed Signals by Liz Curtis Higgs. It was right NEXT to TWAAG. One is good, two is better.
• Bookends by LCH. Third is the golden princess.
  

(All these were picked up on the way home at a nearby library that has a librarian that buys a lot of good Christian fiction.) (Which my library does NOT.) (Also, the Christian fiction titles have blue labels, such that I can browse the shelves and quickly find something.)

Also:

• What they found: love on 145th st by Walter Dean Myers. Our children's district librarian's blog-->link to reviews-->our great YA collection. I haven't read any WDM in a long time.
• First Daughter by Mitali Perkins. When my Yahoo address book was imported to Facebook, sort of unbeknownst to me (I didn't realize it would take ALL of my addresses), Mitali's address was in there. I've never read one of her books, but she wrote an article that I commented on, and so her email address was in my address book. Hence, we are Facebook friends and I feel like I need to have read at least one of her books...

Hey, I may even come back and write reviews...

Meanwhile, I'm slouching towards upgrading my computer to Windows XP from Me and one of my bosses just gave me an old laptop that has Windows 98.

I'm sorry, it would take me forever to link up all the books listed. Go use Google.

Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons is singing the U.S. National Anthem. Anyone know why it was "God Bless America" and not "The Star Spangled Banner" after "Oh Canada" before the hockey game yesterday?

And now it's decision time...watch college football or read? I think I'll throw a load of laundry first.