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?

I’m in attendance for my “day job” as a corporate communications manager for a high-tech company, so the track I’ve been following is the Social Media for Business Summit. But at the end of the day, all attendees are reunited for a keynote session. And today’s keynote was about the world of book publishing.

*********

People still love books. The printed word. The tactile page. That’s a fact. And it’s underscored in a certain ironic tone with Book Expo America (#BWENY) taking place in the same venue as Blog World.

But what IS changing is how an author gets published and promoted. For instance, Scott Stratten, of UnMarketing.com and a book of the same name, wrote a post (“The awesomeness of being a 2.0 author“) last January about how authors can now interact with their readers and get immediate feedback on how people are responding to their book.

And today’s keynote session included three authors who expanded on this topic … what has stayed the same, and what is now different with social media on the scene. The three panelists and their bio clips (as lifted directly from the BlogWorld directory) are:

Gary Vaynerchuk(@garyvee)
Gary Vaynerchuk is a self-trained wine and social media expert who has revolutionized the wine industry. Gary’s cult-like following is the result of his unconventional, often irreverent commentary on wine, combined with his business acumen and foresight to use social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, and You Tube to reach an untapped audience. Known as the “King of Social Media,” Gary is regularly asked to consult on social media for some of the world’s largest and most recognizable companies like Google, Johnson & Johnson, Disney, Proctor & Gamble, and Pepsi.

Jeffrey Hayzlett (@jeffreyhayzlett)
Jeffrey Hayzett, author of The Mirror Test, hailed a Celebrity CMO by Forbes Magazine and famous for his outspoken appearances on numerous television networks. Hazlett is widely recognized as one of the most influential marketers of our time. Previously as Chief Marketing Officer of the iconic Eastman Kodak Company, Hayzlett was responsible for the company’s worldwide marketing operations. Hayzlett’s best selling book has been acclaimed by thought leaders such as Donald Trump who said, “This book is a reflection of marketing genius…read it to find out how companies, big and small, “Trump” the competition!”

HP Mallory(@hpmallory)
HP Mallory is a kindle and nook bestselling author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Currently she has written two series, the Jolie Wilkins series is about a woman who realizes she’s a witch who can reanimate the dead and the Dulcie O’Neil series is about a fairy in law enforcement. HP Mallory recently signed on with Random House to publish the next three books in the Jolie Wilkins series. Look for the third book in this series, Be Witched, in Spring 2012! HP still self publishes her Dulcie O’Neil series and loves being an indie author.

Same. Same. 

What has stayed the same is that there is still prestige and credibility tied to being a book author with a publishing house. For Hayzlett, a best-selling book gets him in the door for high-paying speaking gigs. For Vaynerchuk, it is another way to continue growing his audience base for his companies which include retail and consulting. Mallory, on the other hand, is less “business” and more about the pure love of writing and being published.

In the end, Veynerchuk summed it up in his abrupt style (that really grows on you). A friend asked him why he would want to publish a book in print when he is so big into social media. He responded: “Because people still read books, asshole.”

Different. Mostly.

What’s different is that it’s not enough to let a publisher sinn you up for a book tour and call it a day. Book tours are gruelling and are still a big must, but the work has now grown to include building a fan base on Facebook, responding to tweets, maintaining a blog, and the list goes on.

Each of the three panelists had some very innovative ways to create these connections with readers. Veynerchuk is big into just about every social media avenue there is and spends up to 12 hours a day “plugged in.” He’s always experimenting and testing with new ways to make results happen. A favourite quote from him today was “It’s not enough to read about doing pushups, you have to actually do them.” And he does it … he gets down and dirty and works his guts out.

Hayzlett noted that he spends about 2 hours a day on social media communications. But I get the sense that he has a whole team behind him, helping to connect all the dots behind the scenes. And that cash to pay for these experts is not a problem for him. Don’t get me wrong, he works damn hard, I’m sure of it. I just think he gets more sleep than Veynerchuk does.

Mallory, on the other hand, is an interesting mix. She too says she spends about 2 hours a day, but she’s come up with some unique tactics that are all free. Alot of her work is on Facebook. And beyond just a general Facebook page for each book series, she has a separate Facebook page for: writing tips, sharing current reads, and for each of the main characters in her books. That’s right … people love her characters so much that they chat with them on Facebook!  

That field.

The inspiring part of the whole thing is that, for those who have aspirations to become a published author, social media has leveled the playing field in many respects. Mallory is a prime example of this. She is completely self-funded, and does not have the coin to do book tours. And yet, she has sold more than 200,000 books.

She didn’t have connections at a book house. Nor did she have the money to buy ads or go on book tours. She just put her nose to the grind stone and threw in some creativity to make it happen. She has now left her full-time job where she was a Director of Digital Marketing and is a full-time author. She sees social media as a means to an ends (i.e. she built up a following, so there was less risk for a publisher to take her on) but also as an end in and of itself (i.e. she plans to continue self-publishing some of her books since she likes being an “indie” author).

Have you read any indie books? Do you think that digital authors will ever get the same credibility as print authors? And have you ever used social media to connect with an author? (I have, as you’ll see if you click on that UnMarketing link.)

So imagine our delight to come across a line of books published as “Wordsworth Classics” that were only $3.99 (!) each. We had to limit ourselves since there were so many great titles to pick from!

Here are the four that we took home: The Swiss Family Robinson, Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, and Complete Nonsense.

I was feeling like mother extraordinaire and telling Stella how wonderful all of these “classics” are. She then (of course), asked me what makes something a “classic.” I explained that it was a book that was timeless … something that Mommy could have read when she was younger, but that would still be of interest to young kids today. And also, that “classics” are usually something that is considered a really good read.

It was not until after we’d actually gotten home that I realized that, although all of these titles were familiar to me and that I knew the general plot lines, I hadn’t actually READ these books. Gah! How could I get to this point in my life and not have read Alice in Wonderland? Or The Secret Garden?

So, yes, I’m feeling mildly ashamed of myself. (Add to this that I used the word “peaked” instead of “piqued” yesterday in a piece for work … and well geez! How does one even look in the mirror??)

What about you? Have you read these “classics”? Which one would you recommend that I read first?

But really, the timing couldn’t be worse … our house is torn apart and we’re in the middle of painting it, the kids have stuff going on tonight that requires taxi-driving, and I can barely think straight from the insomnia I had last night.

In case you are wondering who he is, which I suspect you might be, because when I wrote a post on Sedaris titled “I’m in love with a gay man” eons ago, I didn’t receive a single comment. Nope, no endless streams of “me too!” and “yes! I adore him too!” Same for this post, and even in this post, where I included quotes from Sedaris that I thought were just so witty and hilarious … the response from you my dear readers? Silence again.

So, let me guess — if you were me, you’d pass on the tickets, put on your jammies and curl up on the sofa, eh? I know, it is kind of tempting. (Especially since Glee is on tonight.) REALLY tempting, in fact.

But hubby has shown his true colours and valiantly insisted that I go — timing be damned. And he’s right.

Off I go …

I have been sitting back in fascination for some weeks now watching the scathing reaction that has continued to out pour towards Amy Chua, aka the “Tiger Mom,” for some weeks now.

In case you missed the brouhaha, Chua is a Yale professor who recently released a memoir titled Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom. The flames were first fanned with an excerpt of the book shared in the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ titled the article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.” With a title like that, it’s no surprise really that the article received almost 8,000 online comments and spawned countless follow-on pieces in print and television.

While many of the excerpted anecdotes — calling her daughter “garbage,” or locking her out in the winter until she agreed to practice piano — did indeed make me react by covering my mouth in utter shock … I have to say that, in some ways, I can’t help but admire her mothering.

Well, maybe “admire” is too strong a word, but just consider the sheer energy it would take to be a Tiger Mom. After returning from a demanding day job, Chua would spend hours ensuring that homework and music lessons were completed to perfection. Literally HOURS. She notes, for example, what happens if a child returns with a “low” mark on a report card:

If a Chinese child gets a B—which would never happen—there would first be a screaming, hair-tearing explosion. The devastated Chinese mother would then get dozens, maybe hundreds of practice tests and work through them with her child for as long as it takes to get the grade up to an A.

This raises all sorts of questions for me, like, “Do Chinese children never have a learning disability that might make an A an unrealistic prospect?” and “What are Chinese fathers doing while Chinese mothers are busting their butts as Tigers Moms?” But if you look beyond these kinds of questions, this sort of parental dedication to getting that A is pretty remarkable. The A is always considered possible — you just need to work hard enough to get it.

Now, I don’t know about you, but spending hours doing hundreds of practice tests sounds like a real nightmare. I’m tired after work and there is only so much time left in a day after dinner. Granted, I do have lower energy levels than most people I know. (Yes, I have gone to my doctor about this, with limited success.) But even if I imagine having more energy, I can’t imagine wanting to spend it on this. Which means that even if I did believe that this kind of practice would be helpful to my child’s development, I wouldn’t actually take it on. It is just too much work.

And Chua knows this about me. She writes:

All the same, even when Western parents think they’re being strict, they usually don’t come close to being Chinese mothers. For example, my Western friends who consider themselves strict make their children practice their instruments 30 minutes every day. An hour at most. For a Chinese mother, the first hour is the easy part. It’s hours two and three that get tough.

But Chua isn’t afraid of the work. She’s ready to put in as many hours as it takes to get the results she feels are worthy. I can’t help but admire that kind of dedication. It’s pretty impressive, really.

Beyond the sheer energy and time that Chua puts into her mothering efforts, I have been giving quite a lot of thought to this statement (the bold is mine):

First, I’ve noticed that Western parents are extremely anxious about their children’s self-esteem. They worry about how their children will feel if they fail at something, and they constantly try to reassure their children about how good they are notwithstanding a mediocre performance on a test or at a recital. In other words, Western parents are concerned about their children’s psyches. Chinese parents aren’t. They assume strength, not fragility, and as a result they behave very differently.

I think there is a lot of truth in this statement. That’s why every kid gets a medal after a sports tournament these days — not just the winning team. And I also wonder how this statement applies to me, and my parenting. Have I been assuming fragility in my children, rather than strength? If I assumed strength, might I react to a particular situation differently?

So these two things — relentless dedication and an assumption of strength — have still got me thinking, and yes, even admiring the Tiger Mom.

What to you think about the whole “Tiger Mom” brouhaha? Have you Chua’s book yet? How do you feel about the way Chua categories Chinese and Western parents ….

For instance, I was working on this presentation about OEM boards and their design implications. For weeks, we were using the word “flexible” in the presentation and then it dawned on me just as I was about to press “send” that the right word was “versatile.” I got inordinately excited about this–versatile!–so my boss probably thinks I’m a tad eccentric, but hey, I was excited about it!

Now, thanks to Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, I now know that the word I’ve been looking for is not itchy, or U-curve or even mid-life crisis – it’s midlife malaise.

Malaise! It’s perfect, isn’t it? Here’s how she describes it:

“I wasn’t depressed and I wasn’t having a midlife crisis, but I was suffering from midlife malaise–a recurrent sense of discontent and almost a feeling of disbelief. “Can this be me?” [...]

“Is this really it?” I found myself wondering, and answering, “Yep, this is it.”

But though at times I felt dissatisfied, that something was missing, I also never forgot how fortunate I was. When I woke up in the middle of the night, as I often did, I’d walk from room to room to another to gaze at my sleeping husband tangled in the sheets and my daughters surrounded by their stuffed animals, all safe. I had everything I could possiblly want–yet I was failing to appreciate it. (p. 2)

So, at only a few pages into the book, I’m very glad to have bought it this weekend. Just for that word alone–Malaise!

I was never planning to buy it though. It struck me as one of those trendy books where a person thinks of something wacky to do and then chronicles it simply to get a book published at the end of it. But I was introduced to Rubin and her work by Andrea, because while I was trying to get a “celebrity sighting” of The Bloggess at BlogHer, Andrea was trying to see if she could spot Rubin. I trust Andrea’s taste; so if she thought Rubin and her book were great, then I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Plus, I just finished reading the book Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, whose characters, although exquisitely drawn, are so deeply entrenched in their own midlife malaise that I thought I needed a fresh break. Something light. Something positive.

What Rubin ends up deciding to do to overcome her “malaise” is to see if she could make herself happier but consciously working on it. She takes on happiness as if it is a project and charts her tasks with checkmarks and x’s along the way. She allocates a subject to focus on each month, with tasks related to those subjects. So for example, she chooses “Energy” for her launch month of January. Drawing on research insights related to energy and happiness, she identifies tasks to take on. So for January, she must: Go to sleep earlier; exercise better; toss, restore, organize; tackle a nagging task; and act more energetic.

I’m really looking forward to following Rubin’s journey, and picking up some extra insights along the way too.

• Have you read The Happiness Project yet? Why not read along with me!
• Tell me what you think about making happiness a project with to-do lists and charts, like Rubin does.
• And last but not least, I’m looking for great book recommendations to help me get through this winter. Do share your faves! 

And this year? Douglas Coupland.  

[Read more on why I just couldn't miss this ...]

If you’ve never lived in Australia, you can be forgiven for having never heard of Tim Winton. But, really, he is way better than Vegemite sandwiches. Trust me. He’s written 9 novels, and I’ve read them all. He’s that good. (And besides, Vegemite is awful. Bleh.)

The Turning is a collection of short stories. If you’re not a big lover of short stories (I kinda have to be in the mood for them too), you’ll like the fact that the stories overlap in unusual ways. Here’s how the Sydney Morning Herald describes this work:

“Each of these 17 stories is a self-contained whole — as all good short stories should be — yet the sequence reveals striking connections among seemingly disparate lives and experiences. The result is at times mysterious, moving and occasionally deeply unsettling … “

Anyhow, I’m no book reviewer … but you can read reviews here and here and here and here. But don’t bother with those – just take my word for it! (Hint: the Chapters.Indigo.ca has a copy for $15) 

Happy reading!

Here I am with Joanne Harris, author of one of my favourite books Five Quarters of the Orange but most famously known for her novel Chocolat, which was made into the Oscar-nominated film with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche. I recently had the chance to hear her read from her latest offering blueeyedboy when she came to Ottawa as a guest for Writers Fest. She was part of a series of events that Writers Fest puts on called The Writing Life.

As for me, I don’t think I have what it takes to be a novelist, but I like to lurk around these kinds of events and imagine that it’s possible. And I’m sharing my thoughts on this today at Life As A Human.

Please click here to read them and let me know what you think makes a novelist, a novelist.

This photo was generously taken and shared with me by a local photographer at the event. His name is John W MacDonald and you can check out his work here.

When I first started blogging one year ago, I didn’t — and couldn’t — have known what to expect. But BOLO left me feeling very optimistic about it all.

It seems that blogging is one of those things that, like becoming a parent, you just have to do it order to really understand it. And although I have a much better understanding now than I did one year ago, I still have so much learning to do. (Again, just like parenting!)

It seems apt then that I am now reading a novel that is written as a series of blog entries. Other authors have done this in a more fun and light-hearted way, like Kathy Buckworth’s novel The BlackBerry Diaires, but this book, blueeyedboyby Joanne Harris is quite the contrary. Here is how the protagonist, blueeyedboy, describes the WebJournal that he participates in:

On WeJay I can vent as I please, confess without fear of censure; be myself — or indeed, someone else — in a world where no one is quite what they seem, and where every member of every tribe is free to do what they most desire.

Tribe? Yes, everyone here has a tribe; each with its divisions and subdivisions, binary veins and capillaries branching out into a near-infinity of permutations as they distance themselves from the mainstream.

Although dark, this description isn’t exactly in-accurate. We all know there are some seedy sides to the internet. Perhaps naively, I do like to believe that there are more positive than negative sides to engaging on the internet. I have to admit that I’ve stumbled once or twice though. I’ve tried to join in on some ”tribes” and found that my voice is simply not welcomed in that community or on that specific blog. But I think I’ve concluded that those particular tribes exist to preach to the converted, not to engage with others outside of their tribe. It’s been a learning experience.

And that’s okay, because I am learning.

I’m learning that writing for myself (not just for my clients) gives me a really enjoyable feeling of satisfaction. Almost a high. And that the more often that I write, the easier it is to write. I think what I’m finding out about the act of blogging and being part of a blogging community has been best described recently by Christine on Coffees and Commutes in her post “Blogging: Conversations in Happiness and More“:

And that’s what comes from this place, a renewed desire to discuss issues, to think and write about life, and the things that make me happy and unhappy. Perhaps a luxury, but one I craved. I needed an outlet where I could connect with like-minded women who think and worry about the same things. I can see the future, the places this might take me and it excites me. As long as I stay true to what this is, focus on the writing, the connections and less on the hype.

Christine does describes a “tribe” of sorts – like-minded women who think and worry about the same things. But unlike blueeyedboy, there is no artifice. No pseudonym, no desire to actually distance herself from society. That feels right to me. And I like feeling like I belong in her tribe.

I hope that I can offer a similar experience here on my blog. I want this to be a place where you can sit and have a coffee break during work or a child’s nap (or simply to join me in procrastinating from doing the laundry!). A place where you can feel free to join in the conversation and share your point of view.

So far, I think it’s working out that way. (Do you?) And that makes me happy. Happy bloggy-versary!

And happy bloggy-versary to everyone of you who has stopped by to have a coffee and maybe even leave a comment or two. I’m grateful for the company and  I look forward to another year of the same!