A while back, Stella (my nine-year-old daughter) and I added Amazon widgets to the sidebar of this blog — take a gander over on the right-hand sidebar of the blog’s homepage. We didn’t have any ambitions of getting rich off of our 4%, but rather to share what’s on our respective bedside tables as fellow bookworms.

I don’t know about you, but I just love poking around people’s bookshelves and knowing what people have cracked open and set their minds to. So I thought I’d return the favour, so to speak.

This month, I will update my widget to show the following books that are currently sitting bedside — some waiting patiently, some already started.

The Meaning of Children by Beverly Akerman

I wasn’t sure what to make of this book when I first heard the title and saw the cover. I thought perhaps it was a non-fiction piece when Annie from PhD in Parenting suggested a few of us head out to the author’s reading when Akerman, a Canadian writer, was in town. But it is actually a collection of 14 short stories — each unique in its own tale and perspective. Katherine Hewitt of the Globe and Mail sums it up nicely: “Each story is an independent experiment, with varying results. But the sum of its parts is positive.” I really enjoyed this book. If you like short story collections a la Alice Munro style, I think you will too.

Enchantment, by Guy Kawasaki

I picked up Enchantment to participate in the Business Book Club that Karen at The Media Mesh started up. I haven’t started the book yet, but I’m really interested to participate as soon as I can get it read. Mostly, I’ve been wanting to read it because I admire everything that Kawasaki has achieved — he founded Alltop.com, held a key role at Apple, and is the author of 10 books. Not too shabby, eh? The book has become a sort of touch point in marketing circles, and I’d like to understand all the buzz.

The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes

I was inspired by a recent post by Andrea on her blog A Peek Inside the Fishbowl to start up a Mother-Daughter Book Club. I reached out to a few girlfriends who had daughters the same age as Stella and shared the idea and they immediately jumped on board. For our first book, one of my friends suggested The Hundred Dresses because, although it was originally written in 1944, it touches on the timely topic of bullying.

One Day, by David Nicolls

I had started to read the book Sarah’s Key but was really finding the material too emotionally disturbing, so I reached out to my Twitter folks for a “light reading” suggestion. I can’t quite remember who suggested this One Day, but I picked it up and couldn’t put it back down. It seems I was not the only one who read it compulsively, as this NY Times review attests, and now it is being made into a movie with Anne Hathaway. It is an interesting take on the classic Ross-Rachel long suffering, unrequited love story.

The Wealthy Barber Returns, by David Chilton

If you’re of my vintage, you’ll recall the original Wealthy Barber book, which was released in 1989 and was a hit with its story-telling format for finance lessons. I recall this book, handed to me by my parents I think, as a welcoming way of learning about managing your own personal finances. I’m about 3/4 through this book of Chilton’s and I’m finding it just “okay.” I suppose if I was a young person who was just starting out and needed to learn the basics, I’d appreciate it far more. But as it is, I am not gleaning much in the way of new insight and his jokey humour is starting to wear on me. However, Chilton’s approachable style to finance remains a breath of fresh air, and I’m definitely getting some good reminder notes.

Okay, so let’s be real … I have way more books than this stacked up high, teetering away on my bedside table (it’s a bit of a “problem,” says Hubby), but I am going to take a rest here. So tell me, what’s on your shelf?