Borders - this doesn’t make me smile

I was particularly bummed to see the articles about Borders mulling a possible sale.  It’s never a good thing to lose any bookstore, whether it’s the small corner store rapidly going the way of the do-do bird, or #2 chain in the US.  It’s a losing proposition for authors, publishers, and readers. 

There’s a school of thought that says that it’s ok, more customers will buy books online.  But if you think about it, that doesn’t always work that way.  Think about it.  Any time the retail locations diminish, so does the customers ability to buy the product.  OK, I can’t find a book at my local bookstore, or my local bookstore has gone under, so I have to buy online.  I have a choice - find another bookstore, buy it online, or just go without.  Unfortunately, reducing the amount of retail locations that sell books has been leading to people to make the last decision. 

It’s especially unfortunate because Borders seems to be making a move into social media.  Facebook has a Borders fan page online for big Borders and Books ETC.  Borders NY also has an event page that’s really handy.  I had no idea Alton Brown would be signing books this week until I saw that - thought you should know in case anyone wonders why I am taking Thursday off :-). 

I was depressed enough when the Borders near my house closed.  To think about the chain going away in any way, shape or form is something too horrible to even conceptualize. 

 

My book personality

This is comical:

You’re Love in the Time of Cholera!
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Like Odysseus in a work of Homer, you demonstrate undying loyalty by
sleeping with as many people as you possibly can. But in your heart you never give
consent! This creates a strange quandary of what love really means to you. On the
one hand, you’ve loved the same person your whole life, but on the other, your actions
barely speak to this fact. Whatever you do, stick to bottled water. The other stuff
could get you killed.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Thanks to Eva for this.  As I have previously mentioned, it is my favorite book of all time but I don’t agree with the description!  I thought for sure she and I would have the same book personality, but we didn’t.  Not sure where I went astray.  

 

13 Shopping Days Left Till Christmas!

Here’s a great article (by way of Shelf Awareness) with quick tips for book shopping for children. 

Let me add one point to the “bring a kid to the bookstore” tip.  If you have an independent store near you, especially one that specializes in kids books, let that be your destination.  You’ll get a more varied and informed selection that you’ll find at your average chain or mega store.

There is nothing as rewarding as finding the right book for a child.  It can inspire, amaze and live longer in their hearts than any toy can. 

 

The big birthday weekend looms

Yes, only two more days before I leave for the big Vegas blowout weekend.  And you’d be surprised what the main topic of debate is.  No, it’s not who will be lugging the big suitcase with them to the office (I’m certainly hoping that Mr. IT, who is taking a bus from the office to the airport will volunteer - I have to take many subways and luggage and NYC subways do not mix).

Rather, the big debate is what books I should bring.  I know right now you’re thinking a weekend in Vegas doesn’t exactly spell big literary extravaganza.  But hear me out.  I don’t have as much spare reading time as I used to when I took a train to work.  I drive, and that’s not really conducive to reading (don’t even try to tell me audio books count, because they don’t.  I’m a visual learner and those don’t work for me.)  

I’m going to have a 5 hour flight, plus airport waiting time, plus leisurely minutes while Mr. IT fetches breakfast for me every morning (if I’m dreaming, don’t wake me).  I’m thinking 3 books will be needed.  One, a fun read, maybe chick lit, maybe not.  Another, a more procedural mystery type of book.  The third, something in the sci-fi genre.  Just because.  I’ll probably get to books in the reverse order from what is listed, but that’s ok too.

Heard an ad for this book tonight (who says radio ads don’t work!).  I might check that out.  Or Steve Martin’s new memoir - love his writing and his story sounds interesting.

If anyone has other suggestions, don’t hesisate to let loose and “throw a book at me.”

 

The Mommy “Wars”

I just got done reading The Mommy Wars by Leslie Morgan Steiner.  Normally, these books are like brussels sprouts to me - don’t like them, don’t want them, keep them as far away from me as possible.  This is surprising to many of my friends and co-workers, but I have my reasons.  I happen to live in a community where I rarely feel like there are any conflicts between stay-at-home-moms and “working” moms.  In our town, we have women who used to have careers outside of the house and now don’t.  We have women returning to the workforce after taking time to stay home with their kids.   It’s a little of everything, and I rarely feel any judgements.  OK, that’s not to say when a parent shows up 30 minutes late to pick up their kid from a birthday party that there isn’t a bit of buzz.  But that’s about it. 

I’ve faced the whole “you work?” battle much more at work than anywhere else, and surprise, more from men than from women.  Here’s a great example - some time ago, a memo went around that a woman was leaving her job to be a “full-time mom.”  I was taken aback by that.  Was the implication that those of us who worked were “part-time moms”?  Because I have a c-section scar that brands me as a mom 24/7.  Was this person, a male person I might add, implying that I was less of a mom because I was pursuing a career? I whipped the note back at him with these comments and more sprinkled around it. He replied that he didn’t write the note, his boss did, and he couldn’t care less about what choices women were making these days. Fair enough. So I sent it to his boss and asked him what was behind his choice of words. In truth, I should have let it go there, but no, I persisted. The boss never responded, and when I asked him in person, I was told to give him a break, and that’s exactly what she was doing. He stopped short of suggesting that my bare feet retreat back into the kitchen, but that’s what it felt like.

Anyhow, why did I read this book? It was a gift from a friend who thought it was “right up my alley,” so I felt obligated to at least crack the binding. This friend reads this blog sporadically, so I don’t want to come out and say, “Wrong way alley, babe.”  But I’m a lot more interested in double teaming on Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd’s dueling tomes than I am reading a “I’m right because I stay home with my kids” vs. “I’m right because I am a good career role model for my kids.”  Let’s face it, the majority of our kids are doing all right, and by our I mean both SAHM and working moms’ kids.  This book did have a little of I’m right, no I’m right, so that bothered me.  At the same time, it did present almost every viewpoint that was out there, so in the end I felt that it made me more sympathetic to ALL moms.  Something happens when you become a parent that changes you forever.  We know that the decisions we make will impact our children for better or for worse, so we struggle with them.  We have only to look at our kids and find a single fault to be ready to place the blame on a decision that we made.  Worse, at times others find those faults in our kids and blame us and our decisions.  But the truth is stuff happens, and it’s not always something that can be blamed on the fact that mom had a job and wasn’t home to make cookies.  Or vice versa.  By calling this book “Wars”, the author implies that there are sides to be taken.  When in reality there is one side, and that’s for our kids and what’s best for them. 

Overall though, I was disappointed that a woman had to dredge up the whole “mommy wars” angle. The book was an OK read, but do we need yet another book in the media drawing a divide where there really shouldn’t be one? In the end, we are a lot more supportive of each other than the media gives us credit for. And that’s what the story should be.

 

For those about to read, I salute you

When I am asked what my favorite book is, I usually hesitate.  Let’s be honest - for a bookworm, it’s like asking a parent who their favorite child is, or what my favorite chocolate is.  How do you choose?  When pressed, and I often am, I sometimes volunteer “Dracula” because it was the first book that caused me to truly understand what the written word was capable of.  Sometimes I say “Possession” because it combines historical geekiness with great literature and makes even poetry (which I normally loathe) lyrical.  However most of the time, I offer up “Love in the Time of Cholera”. It’s a truly magical read that takes you to another place and time and makes you believe in the power of love.  I read it for the first time many years ago.  I had read “One Hundred Years of Solitude” in college, and really liked it, despite having to constantly refer to the “Jose Arcadio” family tree, because characters all seemed to have that name, and be able to talk to dead relatives.  But that’s another post.  Anyhow, I recall savoring, no, devouring every word on every page.  When I was close to the end of the book, I was on a train heading into Grand Central Station.  Tears were streaming madly down my face as I attempted to finish it before my train reached it’s final destination.  I will never be more angry at myself for rushing what has to be one of the most amazing endings to a book ever.  I’ve since reread it, pausing ever-so-cautiously at the ending to take more care with my reading, but let’s face it, we only have 1 first time, right?

This post comes because Oprah has selected it as her latest book club selection, certainly due in part to it’s worthiness, but also in part to a movie version coming out next month.  Even if you’re an Oprah snob, and you really have no reason to be, read this book.  You can surely find a version without the “O” book club logo. Feel the magic.  You’ll fall it love with it.  If you’re planning on waiting for the movie, don’t. You’re going to miss out on the experience of reading this remarkable work without any preconceived notions. I probably will see it, because Mike Newell is directing it, but I will be quite anxious about having my magic tampered with.

In closing, for those about to read this book, I envy you.  You’re going to have a first time you’ll never forget. 

 

At last! IT Girls are here!!!

I have the joy and honor to say that I am holding in my hot little hands one of the first copies of “The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie.”

Let me give you a little background and explain why I am so excited.  About 2 years ago, our editorial teams gathered in Indianapolis for a 3 day meeting to talk about the industry and brainstorm new ideas.  One of the themes that came up repeatedly during this pow-wow was the lack of a truly female-focused series on technology.  Something that spoke to women, not down to them.  Books that made being a geek, well, chic. 

We left that meeting determined to define what made this customer, someone we affectionately dubbed an “IT Girl”.  It’s both a play on the concept of an “it girl”, someone new on the scene and making waves, and IT, for Information Technology (duh!).  While a typical “it girl” is a dime a dozen and lives for those 15 minutes of fame, our IT Girl was different.  IT Girls are intelligent, interested (and interesting), active, and educated.  They want to learn new skills or enhance existing ones, and are eager to use tech in their hectic and fast-paced lives, but want it on their own terms.

A working team of anywhere from 5-10 women and 1 man began meeting weekly to further refine the IT Girls concept.  We came up with profiles of who our customers would be.  Looking rarely further than the person in the next cubicle or the mom in line behind me at carpool, we talked about what the needs of these women were and how our series would work to empower them.  In the end, our concept was fleshed out and we were off to find authors to make these books a reality.

In the meantime, I left Wiley temporarily to create my little IT boy (aka my son).  When I returned, I was anxious to see where we were on the series concept.  In the time that I was gone, the team of aquisiton editors had rounded up some amazing authors to fulfill the dream as it were.  For our first book on blogging, I couldn’t imagine we could find anyone better than Joelle and Kathy to write this book.  Their fun and flirty style gives the perfect delivery to what in anyone else’s hands would be dry and technical information.  “Blogging with Moxie” is a fun, hip-how-to that I can’t wait to dig into.  In fact, in the next few days, I will be posting the top 5 things I learned from this book. 

There are so many people to thank for this, from editoral team members Katie Feltman, Katie Mohr, Melody Layne, Mary Bednarek and Willem Knibbe who worked tirelessly on coming up with the series concept.  Marketer Kelly Trent was a driving force from the beginning and led the team in my absense.  Andy Cummings, the publisher from the group that put out the blogging book is a true IT boy in my book.  There are so many others who I won’t name here, for fear of sounding like Julia Roberts at the Oscars, but trust me, I know who you are and I will never forget your support.   

“IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie” is available in bookstores both physical and virtual.  Later this month, starting on about the 16th, it will be on promotion at Borders.  Just wanted to give them a little shout-out and thank them for their support.

 

How would you make a “LinkedIn For Dummies”?

The Dummies team is working on a LinkedIn book.  At first, the response around the table was that LinkedIn is pretty easy and most people would not need a book to set up a LinkedIn account.  As the discussion evolved, people who have used LinkedIn for profile building, job hunting, and social networking started piping up with things they wanted to see covered.  I ended up calling the acquisitions editor after the meeting with a whole list of things I want to be able to do on LinkedIn but cannot figure out how to make them happen. 

 So I turn it over to others - what would YOU want to see in a LinkedIn For Dummies book?  What are you trying to do that you cannot figure out how to do, or what are you doing that you want to try and do better.  Use this opportunity to help shape a new book!