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