Why did parents start looking for razor blades in apples that were given out on Halloween?  Do you remember when you became aware of the amount of fat in a bucket of movie theater popcorn? Why was the Subway sandwich diet so successful? This enlightening book explores why some ideas are more memorable. The Heath brothers unearth six characteristics of “sticky” ideas and offer practical, entertaining, and fascinating information about how we can communicate more effectively.  According to the … [Read more...] about Made to Stick

Just in time for summer.  This is the perfect beach read/one-day indulgence.  Think 9 to 5...ish.  It’s an office where the women (the “assistants”) embark on a plan to squeeze money out of the company and their less-than-wonderful bosses to pay off their college loans.  Oh, and there’s a love interest--of course.  It’s playful and thoroughly entertaining. … [Read more...] about The Assistants

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize!

Caroline Fraser has an affection for Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House books.  But Fraser also is a realist and an incredible historian. She takes the reader on a remarkable page-turning journey, delving deep into the real world of life on the prairie. Of course the Ingalls, Pa and Ma and the rest of the clan, figure prominently, culminating in Laura’s own family and life beyond the Little House books. Full of mind-numbing stories of hardship, Fraser … [Read more...] about Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Brilliant, funny, informative, eye-opening, masterful….these are just some of the adjectives I would apply to this WOW of a book.  Noah grew up in South Africa.  He was born about five years before Apartheid officially ended.  His a storyteller extraordinaire!  More importantly, his own experiences captured so vividly in this memoir will forever enlighten your understanding of Apartheid, leave you marveling at the selflessness of his mother, and make you love Trevor Noah forever. … [Read more...] about Born a Crime

Rosling, a Swedish statistician and academic who died last year, wrote the book with his son and daughter-in-law. The book delves into human tendency to incorrectly guess global trends and lays out several human instincts that cause such a distortion in perspective.

“Although I think everyone should read it,” Bill Gates writes, “it has especially useful insights for anyone who’s making the leap out of college and into the next phase of life.”

Gates concludes by sharing a quote from Rosling … [Read more...] about Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World

The perfect gift book. An inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age.  This little book presents ten transformative principles that will help you discover your artistic side and build a more creative life. They’re just great ideas about life in general. Loved it!!! … [Read more...] about Steal Like An Artist

Philpott is a kind of modern-day Erma Bombeck or Nora Ephron, spinning extraordinary stories from life’s ordinary details. In this witty and moving memoir-in-essays full of spot-on observations about home, work, and creative life, Philpott takes on the conflicting pressures of modern adulthood.  She offers up her own stories to show that figuring out who you are, who you’re not, and where you belong doesn’t just happen during one midlife crisis; rather, it’s an ongoing journey that doesn’t … [Read more...] about I Miss You When I Blink

Declutter and Organize to Make Room for More Happiness

“Don’t Wait to Start Creating Order” is one of the many valuable “tidying up” tips that Rubin offers in her action-packed (by that I mean get-you-butt-in-gear kind of action) book on ways to create outer order so that you can have inner calm.  As one professor of sociology and gerontology observed, “After age 50, the chances that a person will divest himself or herself of possessions diminishes with each decade.” Uh oh.

Not to worry.  … [Read more...] about Outer Order Inner Calm

The opening description of a 17-year-old girl playing a pickup game of basketball on the streets of NYC in the 90's is electric. Captivating story, thought-provoking themes, incredible writing. I devoured this book and just sent it off with my 22-year-old son on his trip to Florida. Maureen Corrigan at NPR reviews it here. She loved it too! Maureen Corrigan's review of The Falconer … [Read more...] about The Falconer