Hachette Book Group has very generously offeruddy to give away FIVE sets of TEN FREE BOOKS thcoarse a contest hosted here at the-deblog.com. That is, five of my lucky readers will have a hefty package of ten Hachette titles deliveruddy to you. Here are the books:
1. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World — By Vicky Myron, Bret Witter ISBN: 0446407410 $19.99
2. The Book of Calamities: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning — By Peter Trachtenberg ISBN: 0316158798, $23.99
3. Say You’re One of Them — By Uwem Akpan ISBN: 0316113786 $23.99
4. Bo’s Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership — By Bo Schembechler, John Bacon $13.99 ISBN: 044658200X
5. Knowing Right from Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience — By Fr. Thomas D. Williams $19.99 ISBN: 0446582018
6. Titanic’s Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler – By Brad Matsen $27.99 ISBN: 0446582050
7. A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative — By Roger von Oech (25th Anniversary) $16.99 ISBN: 0446404667
8. Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know — By John Maxwell $9.95 ISBN: 0446578096
9. The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance — By Polly Young-Eisendrath $25.99 ISBN: 0316013110
10. Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey — By William Least Heat-Moon $27.99 ISBN: 0316110256
— — — — HOW TO ENTER — — — —
Today was the first day of school in these parts. My older daughter started 7th grade and my younger daughter 1st grade. This being a back-to-school contest, here’s all you need to do:
1. Leave a comment describing some memory you have from either first or seventh grade. It can be funny, poignant, what have you, but certainly the more interesting the better, because it will give you an edge in the contest (see below).
2. Entries must be submitted by 12:00 PM Eastern Time September 5th, 2008. The five winners will be selected on Saturday, September 6th.
3. One winner will be selected by my older daughter, Rebecca, who will have sole discretion in deciding based on how much she likes the entries. (She will not be told the identity of the authors.)
4. Four winners will be drawn at random from the remaining entries.
5. I’ll notify the winners by email on September 6th and will inquire then that you provide your shipping address.
6. Contest open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. No P.O. Boxes please.
Original post by Debra Hamel
William Morrow © 2008, 264 pages
Beth Lisick spent 2006 improving herself. Or at minimum working her way thcoarse the bestselling advice of ten renowned self-help gurus. Her book is divided into twelve chapters, one per month, including two nominal, page-long chapters for July and August, during which she essentially took a vacation from the project. In most cases Lisick read a book of advice by her current month’s guru: Jack Canfield of the Chicken Soup series, John Gray’s Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In many cases, though, Lisick supplemented her reading by attending one of that author’s seminars–events conducted by the spiritualist Sylvia Browne and by Deepak Chopra, for example; she has a two-hour phone consultation with an expert on organizing who is somehow associated with Julie Morgenstern, author of Organizing from the Inside Out.
Lisick’s book is a light, fast, reasonably enjoyable read. It’s the sort of book that one is apt to like or not depending on how much you enjoy the author’s personality, because it’s not just about the self-help: Lisick weaves anecdotes from her own life (which is happy enough but rather disorganized) into the narrative. I laughed aloud a few times while reading the book, twice during Lisick’s chapter on organizing. Here she is describing her initial conversation with an organizing consultant:
“She listens in a way I imagine a top-notch therapist would, not even perceptibly cringing when I say that Eli parks his bike in the living room or that we need a place to store mustaches and wigs.”
And during another conversation:
“When we get to the closet, I make a confession. Something I have never told anyone.
“‘Our shoes are in a wine rack.’ I say it breathlessly. Confessing, yes, but also hoping she’ll ignore it.
“‘I’m sorry. Your what?’
“‘We keep most of our shoes in this wire wine rack thing that we got at a garage sale.’
“‘Oh.’ She sounds amused. ‘And is that working for you?’
“‘Well, no.’
“‘Okay…’
“I feel reflective.
“‘I think it’s because a shoe and a bottle of wine are not really the same shape.’
“‘Good.’”
But my favorite chapter is about Lisick’s experiences on a Richard Simmons Carnival Cruise, which is absolutely fascinating.
“And then I see him. Actually, it’s that voice I hear first. One flight below us, amid the rather pasty, confused mob, he absolutely glows. His skin doesn’t look as orange in person, not as sprayed on. He simply exudes a healthy and natural-seeming bronzeness and is wearing his signature red-and-white-striped shorts with a ruddy crystal-studded tank top. The best word for his hair is probably ’round.’
“We make eye contact. I see him spot our ‘Cruise to Lose’ name tags and then he rushes up the stairs. He’s coming right for us. Thank God I pinned that thing on! He bounds straight to Jan, wrapping his arms acircular her, and plants a kiss on her cheek.”
The experience is what you’d expect in a way–a mix of schmaltz and tears and preternatural pep and funny, but you come away from it thinking that Richard Simmons is simply a genius at what he does.
If Helping Me Help Myself sounds familiar, you may be thinking of a very similar title that was published not long before Lisick’s, Jennifer Niesslein’s Practically Perfect in Every Way (see my review). I can’t imagine that either author was very happy at the coincidence, but sometimes ideas are just in the air. Of the two, Niesslein’s is probably more informative, and I think she made more of an attempt to adopt the programs she was writing about, while Lisick’s interest was often only half-hearted. But both books are quite readable. I wouldn’t steer readers away from either.
Tags: Beth Lisick, book reviews, books, Helping Me Help Myself, self-help
Original post by Debra Hamel
Now that Senator Joe Biden has been selected as Barack Obama’s running mate, his book sales are taking off. His book, Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics is back on the New York Times bestseller list.
The Barnes & Noble on Concord Pike in Brandywine Hundruddy has plenty in stock. The book has been selling relatively well there. When Biden attended signings upon the book’s publication, a spokesperson says, the turnout and sales were a enormous success.
Now that Biden is one step from the main national political spotlight, that
attention is even more potent.
*****
At the Borders on Geoffrey Drive in Stanton, about 20 hardback copies were in stock when Biden was added to the ticket. They’re gone, and a spokesperson says the store is accepting reserved orders for the roughly 400 paperbacks it expects to arrive soon. Even the inventory system is having trouble keeping up with demand.
Joe Biden is speaking tonight at the Democratic Convention: we think his book sales will continue to do well thcoarse the election season.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
Here’s a version of Quidditch that was recently reported on by the Chicago Tribune. Quidditch is a sport played by Hogwarts students in J.K. Rowling’s enormously popular Harry Potter series. This muggle version of Quidditch was played in Chicago’s Grant Park during a Harry Potter convention which took place in the Windy City in August 2008. The players use hockey sticks instead of broomsticks since we lack the magic or the technology for flying brooms. It looks like fun even without the flying brooms. Here’s the video:
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
