Balancing the Books

Pictorial history book features DVD of interviews with 16 Boyertown folks

2010-02-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in learning more about this Berks County town or simply want to remember it as it once was, you may want to check out "Coming Together—Interviews with Special People from a Very Special Kind of Place—Boyertown, PA," a two-hour DVD included with Boyertown’s second pictorial history book.

The DVD compiles interviews of 16 men and women of Boyertown’s past and present.

In addition to taking a look at the lay of the land and the town's civic and service organizations, the book and DVD focus on the town leaders and community volunteers who have devoted their time to Boyertown since it was chartered in 1866.

The book includes a look at Main Street businesses, everyday life, and scenes of the area.

Each chapter of the 169-page volume has a differenc author, providing a variety of "voices" to the effort.

Copies of the pictorial history book and DVD are available at the following Boyertown area locations: Bause’s Super Drug Store, 42 E. Philadelphia Ave.; Crown Card and Gift, Gilbertsville Shopping Center; Twin Turrets Inn, 11 E. Philadelphia Ave.; Gracefully Framed, 135 E. Philadelphia Ave.; Studio B, 39A E. Philadelphia Ave.; and the office of Building a Better Boyertown, 12 N. Reading Ave.

Contact Building A Better Boyertown’s Main Street Manager Heather Oxenford at manager@boyertownpa.org or 610-369-3054 to order a copy of the book and DVD through the mail. Cost for soft-cover and DVD is $31.79; Hardcover with DVD, $52.99 (prices include tax, please add $10.35 for shipping and handling).

Boyertown native offers free e-book

2010-02-05T14:48:00.000-05:00

Marshall E. Wren, a 1965 graduate of Boyertown Area High School and current adjunct professor at Colorado Technical University, has announced that he has published "Simeon’s Witness: Volume I of The Origins, History and Purpose of Mankind, Revisited Series," a novel in E-book format.

Wren's brief description of the work, eight years in the making, is as follows:

"A family in a future world, a father preparing his son for a destiny which lies ahead, with the primary textbook for this preparation being the history of a world known as Earth."

Read the book for free on his Web site, http://webpages.charger.net/mewren.

Per his Web site, Wren is a graduate of Ursinus College, with a bachelor of arts in philosophy and religion, and of Colorado Technical University with an MBA in health care management. He is currently positioning to pursue a doctorate of theology in christology and neurotheology.

Wren worked for 16 years as an underwriter and vice president of marketing in the property and casualty insurance industry. He later worked 17 years as a computer software developer, and subsequently as a manager of an assisted living facility.

He is currently an adjunct faculty professor, as well as a faculty mentor and coach, with Colorado Technical University in their Health Science College teaching a healthcare management associated course of instruction via the university’s online virtual campus.

Wren was recently recognized by his students and peers as CTU On-line’s 2009-2010 Educator of the Year in the Category of Leadership.

He describes Simeon's Witness as the culmination of years of amateur ancient history research, archeological readings, religious and philosophical study, along with a passion for science, technology, and theoretical physics.

Miles from Nowhere

2010-02-01T07:34:00.002-05:00

I am so addicted to bookstores. I love to leisurely browse the shelves and see what speaks to me.

On a recent trip to a major book retailer, Christmas giftcard in hand, I did just that and came away with "Miles From Nowhere" by Nami Mun, Riverhead Books, 2009, 286 pages, $14.00 (paperback).

I opened the book an read the first paragraph, which begins: "I'd been at the shelter for two weeks and there was nothing to do but go to counseling or lie on my cot and count the rows of empty cots nailed to the floor or watch TV in the rec room, where the girls cornrowed each other's hair and went on about pulling a date with Reggie the counselor because he looked like Billy Dee Williams and had a rump-roast ass. I didn't see a way to join in, but I didn't feel like being alone, either."

I was intrigued and wanted to stay with this lonely narrator, 13-year-old Joon, and find out where she was going from that point.

Cursed by parents obsessed with their own dramas who don't care if she lives or dies, Joon takes to the streets and survives - sometimes barely - on her own wits. We go along for the ride with her as she spirals into addiction, is beaten, used, taken advantage of in so many ways. But she survives, and on the streets that is success of a sort.

It's the way the story is written that is captivating. It's spare and wise, unemotional and blunt, bold and painful. The tone doesn't apologize, it simply reveals.

During the course of the novel, which is set in 1980s New York City, the young Korean girl finds work as a dancer/hostess, newspaper hawker, drug dealer, makeshift hooker, Avon lady in the ghetto, nursing home activities assistant, and as a delivery girl for a sandwich joint. She quickly - very quickly - becomes addicted to heroin and will gladly try any drink or drug she can get her hands on, just to escape for a moment the brutality of the life she's chosen.

Joon knows the street life is no good for her, but she can't find a way to climb out of it (when she does, someone is always there to show her the way back down). She's often homeless, sleeping on a ferry some nights, the subway on others.

"At night I used to ride the ferry back and forth, from the city to Staten Island. I'd watch the diamond lights smearing the wet window glass or stand out on the windy deck as the regulars sat crooked, drinking their pints and shouting about different kinds of loss."

At one point, she's sharing an apartment with 20 people taking turns on the one mattress. If it's not your "night," you're on the floor or in the bathtub. But if you do favors for the person who has the mattress for the night, well, then, you may just get so sleep a few inches off the flor.

The apartness Joon feels from her own situation, from the street life, is apparent and compelling. She does make friends along the way: Knowledge, her protector from the shelter; Benny, the bad-news boyfriend who keeps her on the needle; Tati, her crazy asian drinking buddy.

It turns out the novel is somewhat autobiographical. Like Joon, Mun is Korean, grew up in the Bronx, and, according to the book jacket, has in her lifetime worked as an Avon lady and activities coordinator for a nursing home.

This is her debut novel. A bestseller, it was shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers.

It's no-holds-barred glimpse into the netherworld of every American city. We are invited into Joon's bleak world and are treated to beautiful descriptive passages at times when it seems all hope is lost.

I was rooting for Joon to not only survive, but find her place in the world. A worthwhile read, if bleak and brutally honest. The glimpses of hope and beauty are enough to sustain you through this short, readable novel.

Holden Caulfield stays mum for now

2010-01-30T12:56:00.007-05:00

Did J.D. Salinger write a novel - or 10 - to rival "The Catcher in the Rye"?

We may never know.

Though there's much speculation about the unpublished writings of one of the most-talked about novelists of our time, time will tell if his family will release them - if indeed any writings exist.

The reclusive Salinger, who died on Jan. 27 at the age of 91 in New Hampshire, remains an enigma. The mass adoration of his 1945 classic caused him to run for cover.

I admit, I would salivate to see more of Salinger's shorter works. At least he did see fit to publish "Franny and Zooey," "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters," and "Nine Stories," the collection that contains two of my fave stories "For Esme with Love and Squalor," and "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish."

And yes, a "new" novel would be a dream come true. Too bad the guy had to die before we could see it (possibly).

Below, The Assocated Press asks the question that's foremost on the fan's minds.

"What’s in J.D. Salinger’s safe?"

By the Associated Press (1/29/10)

NEW YORK — So what about the safe?

The death this week of J.D. Salinger ends one of literature’s most mysterious lives and intensifies one of its greatest mysteries: Was the author of "The Catcher in the Rye" keeping a stack of finished, unpublished manuscripts in a safe in his house in Cornish, New Hampshire? Are they masterpieces, curiosities or random scribbles?

And if there are publishable works, will the author’s estate release them?

The Salinger camp isn’t talking.

No comment, says his literary representative, Phyllis Westberg, of Harold Ober Associates Inc.

No plans for any new Salinger books, reports his publisher, Little, Brown & Co.

Marcia B. Paul, an attorney for Salinger when the author sued last year to stop publication of a "Catcher" sequel, would not get on the phone Thursday.

Salinger’s son, Matt Salinger, referred questions about the safe to Westberg.

Stories about a possible Salinger trove have been around for a long time. In 1999, New Hampshire neighbor Jerry Burt said the author had told him years earlier that he had written at least 15 unpublished books kept locked in a safe at his home. A year earlier, author and former Salinger girlfriend Joyce Maynard had written that Salinger used to write daily and had at least two novels stored away.

Salinger, who died Wednesday at age 91, began publishing short stories in the 1940s and became a sensation in the 1950s after the release of "Catcher," a novel that helped drive the already wary author into near-total seclusion. His last book, "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour," came out in 1963 and his last published work of any kind, the short story "Hapworth 16, 1924," appeared in The New Yorker in 1965.

Jay McInerney, a young star in the 1980s thanks to the novel "Bright Lights, Big City," is not a fan of Hapworth and is skeptical about the contents of the safe.

"I think there’s probably a lot in there, but I’m not sure if it’s necessarily what we hope it is," McInerney said Thursday. "’Hapworth’ was not a traditional or terribly satisfying work of fiction. It was an insane epistolary monologue, virtually shapeless and formless. I have a feeling that his later work is in that vein."

Author-editor Gordon Lish, who in the 1970s wrote an anonymous story that convinced some readers it was a Salinger original, said he was "certain" that good work was locked up in New Hampshire.

Novelist Curtis Sittenfeld, frequently compared to Salinger because of her novel "Prep," was simply enjoying the adventure.
"I can’t wait to find out!" she said. "In our age of shameless self-promotion, it’s extraordinary, and kind of great, to think of someone really and truly writing for writing’s sake."

Some of the great works of literature have been published after the author’s death, and even against the author’s will, including such Franz Kafka novels as "The Trial" and "The Castle," which Kafka had requested be destroyed.

Because so little is known about what Salinger was doing, it’s so easy to guess. McInernay said he has an old girlfriend who met Salinger and was told that the author was mostly writing about health and nutrition. Lish said Salinger told him back in the 1960s that he was still writing about the Glass family, featured in much of Salinger’s work.

But the Salinger papers might exist only in our dreams, like the second volume of Nikolai Gogol’s "Dead Souls," which the Russian author burned near the end of his life. The Salinger safe also could turn into a version of Henry James’ novella "The Aspern Papers," in which the narrator’s pursuit of a late poet’s letters ends with his being told that they were destroyed.

Margaret Salinger, the author’s daughter, wrote in a memoir published in 2000 that J.D. Salinger had a precise filing system for his papers: A red mark meant the book could be released "as is," should the author die. A blue mark meant that the manuscript had to be edited.

"There is a marvelous peace in not publishing," J.D. Salinger told The New York Times in 1974. "Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure."

What're the odds?

2010-01-18T17:48:00.003-05:00

I guess it's close enough to Groundhog Day for a little Deja Vu.

Just a couple of weeks ago I reviewed "That Old Cape Magic," by Richard Russo, about a guy named Griffin who's having some marital problems. Shortly thereafter, a novel called "Say When," by Elizabeth Berg was recommended to me by a coworker. It's about a guy named Griffin who's having some marital problems.

What're the odds?

While I did enjoy Berg's writing style, and I give her props for writing from the male point of view for the first time, I will admit was annoyed when I picked up the book. "Ugh. Another divorce story ... Fantastic." I almost said "when" right then.

But I wanted to read the book. My friend Pat who gave it to me has exquisite taste in so many things. I wanted to see what she liked about this novel.

The protagonist, Frank Griffin, is a guy who's pretty content with his life. His wife is his best friend, and together they have a precocious 8-year-old daughter named Zoe, a comfortable home.

So when his stay-at-home-wife, Ellen, tells him she's having an affair, Griffin's world is pretty well rocked. Ellen, who was Griffin's college sweetheart, doesn't want to leave the house or Zoe, but after discovering Griffin's not about to leave (he is, after all, the wronged party), she moves out and continues her affair with her lover, and asks him for a divorce.

But she's not completely out of the picture. She and Griffin alternate nights at the family home with Zoe after school.

Meanwhile, Griffin struggles to come to terms with the end of his marriage. Is it worth saving? Staying strong for his daughter keeps him from entirely losing it. He and Ellen proceed to have a lot of painful and bitter fights.

Griffin keeps himself busy with a seasonal job playing Santa at the local mall, and taking the beautiful and too-understanding (divorced herself) Santa photographer out on a couple of dates.

Griffin starts to learn about himself and to take responsibility for his role in the problems with his relationship with Ellen. His personal growth and change is the interesting part of the novel for me. The acrimony and petty insults that surround the dissolving marriage, not so much. I admire him for his attempts to get Ellen back, even when it seems there's no hope left.

In the end, "Say When" was a worthwhile read. The characters, their dialogues and relationships are real. I got over my annoyance with the subject matter and finished the book just to find out what happened. When you want to know what becomes of the character, that's when I think you're invested.

Incidentally, I read that Elizabeth Berg - a former nurse - writes only one novel a year (I don't know if that's true), and that she has quite a following who wait for that yearly tome. Thus far she's published 10 novels, including New York Times bestsellers "Never Change" and "Open House," which was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 2000.

You'll want to be privy to these private lives

2010-01-05T12:30:00.006-05:00

When I finish a good book - one that takes me out of my life, away from the droning of a plane's engine, a cold doctor's office, a mediocre day, and into a story - I go through a little mourning period. Now I have to find another book, and will it be as good?

That's how I felt after finishing Rebecca Miller's "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee," (2008, Canongate Books, 231 pp.).

I devoured this book in a couple of sittings. I didn't know when I was reading the novel that it was Miller's first (she is the author of a book of stories, "Personal Velocity," and director of movies, "The Ballad of Jack and Rose," the film version of this novel), or that she is the daughter of famed playwright Arthur Miller and photographer Inge Morath, and wife of actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

When the novel begins, we are introduced to Pippa Lee, a 50-year-old woman, married to an 80-year-old publishing mogul Herb Lee. Pippa is serene, loving, an accomplished cook and devoted wife. Herb's third wife, that is, but the one who is in it for the long haul - she's the one Herb calls his "true wife."

The couple, parents of two grown and successful twins, have just sold their Gramercy Park and Long Island properties and belongings and moved into Marigold Village, a retirement community where the plan is for Herb to transition into old age and Pippa to go along for the ride. Herb's had some heart problems, and he's supposed to take it easy now. But he still works constantly from his new "retirement" home.

But Pippa, known as one of the community's "young ones," is restless in "Wrinkle Village." She begins to fall into old, bad habits. We are given a glimpse of Pippa as a child, a teen, a young woman. The novel shifts from the third person (the present day) to the first person (the past). Young Pippa's actions fall more on the bad-ass side than you'd expect. Illicit affairs at 16, visits to sex clubs not long after, a latent addiction to uppers.

So when we return to to the present day, it's not such a shock to find Pippa drawn to the much-younger son of a retirement-community neighbor. Or Herb involved in a personal crisis of his own. But the tale's conclusion is not the ending we imagine when we first meet Pippa at her own dinner party, receiving compliments on her butterflied lamb, laughing about being relegated to a retirement community while still quite young and vibrant.

I won't spoil it further by telling you.

If, as the adage goes, we are the sum of our experiences, then Pippa the party-girl turned-housewife is the sum of hers. And following those experiences is an interesting ride.

"I don’t have all the answers," Miller said in a November interview with The Associated Press. "It’s more that I’m bringing up all sorts of questions and incongruities and things that don’t match because that’s what people really are, these anomalies. There are all these qualities that don’t match within people, and that’s what makes people individuals and makes them very difficult to understand and yet also interesting."

I knew, as the paperback book I picked up is graced with the beautiful face of actress Robin Wright Penn, that "Pippa" is now a major motion picture, directed by Miller, of course. It was released in the U.S. around Thanksgiving, and is not yet in any theater that I've heard of (maybe it's not a great film?). Stars include Blake Lively as a young Pippa, Alan Arkin as Herb, and Keanu Reeves as the drifter son of Pippa's neighbor. Also, Julianne Moore, Winona Ryder.

Though the movie is never as good as the book, I'm dying to see it.

At the end of the story, Pippa has a new beginning of sorts, and a new hope. Kinda like I'd like to feel:

"I feel an unfamiliar story unfurling in me. I have no idea how it will go, I don't know who will be in it. I am filled with fear and happiness," she says.

Not enchanted by 'That Old Cape Magic'

2010-01-03T12:00:00.008-05:00

When I think about Richard Russo's latest novel, "That Old Cape Magic" (2009, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, 272 pp., $25.95), one word comes to mind - annoying. It fell far from the mark, in my opinon, for the Pulitzer Prize winning author of "Empire Falls."

I only started to be less annoyed and actually begin to like the book and its protaganist, Jack Griffin, about two-thirds of the way through. That was when he and his wife separated and Griffin seemed to regain some humility. The pages preceding described ad nauseum Griffin's unhappiness with himself and his marriage.

True to her name, Griffin's wife, Joy, always looks on the bright side of their outwardly successful life, their well-adjusted daughter. Griffin wallows in doom and gloom, haunted by his own parents' seemingly unhappy union. It's as if he can't see the good in his life. His wife, his daughter, his career.

That's where it became tedious for me. Much of the book was about the marital argument. Who's right? Who's wrong? Who can do the most damage to the other without even trying? Ugh.

The novel begins and ends with weddings - one on Cape Cod and the second on the coast of Maine - just a year apart. One dead parent accompanies Griffin via ashes in an urn is his trunk to the first, another to the second.

Cape Cod was the stuff of Griffin's parents dreams. The family would summer there in rental homes, never able to afford to buy a place in their shangri-la. They would spend summers poring over real estate books, putting the properties they surveyed into two groups: "Can't Afford It" and "Wouldn't Have it as a Gift." Their dream was unattainable.

Griffin's parents taught college English and history courses at a midwest college, never quite making it to the bigtime - the Ivy League, and never seeming to have enough money to follow their dream of moving to the Cape fulltime. Their marriage crumbles late in their lives. Following her death, Griffin paints his mother as the unhappy voice in his head. Griffin unwittingly repeats his parents' mistakes in his own life.

More than once, when Griffin was hearing his dead mother's commentary in his head, I was reminded of Norman Bates being haunted by his mother's voice. I found the allusion creepy rather than comic, as the Washington Post's book reviewer seemed to find it: "It's a sign of Russo's comic genius that these two hilariously acerbic parents - one on the phone, the other in an urn - just about steal the show," wrote Ron Charles for the Post.

Like his parents, Griffin ends up a professor. He does them one better by ultimately landing at a private Connecticut college, where he yearns for his days as a screenwriter in LA. By the time this story begins, his 34-year marriage is on the decline, his daughter has grown up and doesn't need him, and he is in the middle of a midlife meltdown. The year-long span of the story details Griffin's experience with that meltdown.

What Russo does best is make us like the regular guy - Jack Griffin (for me, that affection was won after a time) despite his insecurities and his foibles. He also weaves plots, describes relationships (with the dreaded in-laws and siblings), and creates scenes that ring true with poignancy, humor and grace: The elder Griffins' beach rentals; the horrible wedding catastrophy where half the wedding party ends up at the local hospital.

All told, the Russo magic just wasn't in this one for me.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't be surprised to see the story on the big screen soon: I can picture the novel, with its two weddings and two funerals, failed and redeemed relationships, and the sometimes cliched Cape reminisences, easily translating to film.

The Rudolph Factor

2009-12-21T12:00:00.003-05:00

Though I didn't have a copy of this book to review prior to the holidays, I thought this book's name alone warranted a mention this week.

"The Rudolph Factor: Finding the Bright Lights that Drive Innovation in Your Business" by Cyndi Laurin and Craig Morningstar (Wiley, July 2009, $21.95) uses The Boeing Company as an example of how a large corporation needs only to focus on employees who are hyper-creative yet sometimes not in traditional leadership roles to ensure future success.

Laurin and Morningstar recommend turning to those employees who "light the way" for their coworkers, the "Rudolphs." They say "Rudolphs" are highly-engaged, creative thinkers that populate about 10 percent of every organization. But for the most part, they aren't the traditional company leaders, and their talents ,may go untapped, the authors state.

"Depending on the business culture, political structure, and reward system, Rudolphs either let their nose glow, or they cover it in mud so as to not create any career-limiting moves with their non-traditional, and generally unconventional ideas," Laurin said. "Obviously, the more progressive and innovative the business culture, the easier and safer it is for Rudolphs to contribute business-growing innovations or cost-saving solutions to their company's bottom line."

In the last decade, the "Rudolphs" of The Boeing Company helped the giant aircraft manufacturer turn around a cruscial division that was the edge of collapse.

Paraphrased from the book’s inside flap:

The Boeing Company aircraft manufacturers has struggled with the cyclical nature of demand for commercial aircraft. Between the challenging integration of the Rockwell and McDonnell Douglas employees into Boeing, competition from Airbus, and market pressure, the company was facing serious financial consequences ... until it managed a remarkable turnaround.

"The Rudolph Factor" explains how Boeing's journey back to excellence began a decade ago with the Boeing C-17 Globemaster, an Air Force cargo aircraft. Hampered by a toxic culture and struggling to stay alive, Boeing C-17 management and employees partnered with the Air Force to fix the program. They — all 10,000 of them — instituted a new set of progressive practices from the top down and from the bottom up.

This experiment was a smashing success. The C-17 Program continues to be so successful, in fact, that its leadership and employee involvement principles are currently being instituted throughout Boeing.

"The Rudolph Factor" uses Boeing C-17's success as a platform for teaching organizations how to elicit and benefit from the creative, revolutionary thinking of current employees. A small percentage of hypercreative, out-of-the-box thinkers can be the catalyst for organization-wide reform — if you can recognize and nurture their special abilities.

In a Wiley press release supporting the book, Laurin and Morningstar recommend the following ways to motivate the Rudolphs in your organization (a la The 12 Days of Christmas):

1) Give them ample time to shine. No one knows your company and its customers as well as your employees. After all, they are the ones closest to the processes that work and those that don't. That's why they are best suited to uncover the solutions that will make your organization a success in the New Year. But great innovation doesn't necessarily happen overnight, so it's important that you give your employees plenty of time to brainstorm their bright ideas.

"Allowing your employees time to brainstorm each day will likely produce some great cost-saving ideas," asserts Laurin. "Even if it's just for fifteen minutes. Some of the most progressive companies begin and end each workday with a five-minute huddle. It's a great opportunity for the Rudolphs in your workplace to shine!"

2) Include your Rudolphs in the reindeer games. Management often has difficulty solving problems due to a natural level of disconnect between their position and the work itself. "Start listening to the unlikely voices amongst your workforce," suggests Morningstar. "If a red nose is shining, pay attention! Include workers in strategy meetings, and ask for their opinions. You may be surprised at the solutions and innovation that is generated this way."

3) Be on the lookout for a red nose. If you aren't sure how to spot the Rudolphs in your organization, here's a tip: one of the most obvious signs of a Rudolph is that they light up when talking about their work. Maybe not literally like the nose of the most famous Rudolph of all, but you can definitely see and feel their passion for their work. To pinpoint your Rudolphs, look for a face that is shining bright and listen for a passionate voice, and that will be the person who can help you through your company's foggy nights.

"If you want to inspire this phenomenon in others, make sure you take the time to connect with your employees everyday," explains Laurin. "Ask them about their projects and ideas for improvements, and watch them light up with excitement when they speak."

4) Keep their curious spirit alive. Another surefire sign of a Rudolph is that they ask a lot of questions. And they have a tendency to ask those questions even when it isn't the most popular thing to be doing. It's important for you to understand that when your employees are asking questions, they are engaged and generally trying to gain a better understanding of the company's goals, which should be encouraged.

"Make sure you are not inadvertently discouraging their questions," warns Morningstar. "Encouraging questions in your employees helps you to develop a dialogue with them, and it encourages a dialogue for them amongst one other—precisely the way most great innovations come to life!"

5) Don't put your Rudolphs (or their ideas) in the corner. Most employees want to work in an environment that is safe, supportive, and offers them an opportunity to make a difference—it's our human nature. Rudolphs have a natural tendency to see their world through a lens of potential and opportunity. Encourage this type of thinking in all of your employees by listening to their ideas—even if they seem unrealistic or just plain crazy.

"Some of the greatest innovations in history seemed unrealistic or un-marketable at first," Morningstar explains. "For example, the concept of a wireless telephone was being discussed at the famous Bell Labs in the 1950s. Look at how many decades it took to come to fruition, and think about all the great ideas that could be simmering in your own organization."

6) Congratulate them on a job well done. One of the more interesting characteristic of Rudolphs is that they are not interested in self-promotion. Instead, they are genuinely vested in wanting their organization to succeed. And while they aren't looking for personal accolades, it's still a good idea to let them know that you've noticed their good work. It will keep them motivated in the long run.

"Make sure that all your employees understand how their individual work has contributed to the organization this past year," says Laurin. "It may seem trite, but a simple acknowledgement goes a long way in today's business cultures. Try taking advantage of the season and send a simple holiday card with a hand-written note thanking them for a job well done. You may be surprised at just how far a small gesture will go."

7) Reward your Rudolph with action. The greatest reward a Rudolph can experience is seeing their ideas in action. Encourage all employees to share their ideas, and have a system in place for reviewing them. Remember, there is nothing more de-motivating than being asked for ideas only for them to end up in some organizational black hole.

"Be prepared to respond to ideas quickly and briefly," says Morningstar. "And seek more information if the idea is not clearly presented. The only way to keep the creative Rudolph juices flowing is to encourage all ideas, good or bad, and to never discourage an employee from offering suggestions."

8) Encourage your herd to be, well, a team. Rudolphs are natural team players, and when they need help, they are generally not afraid to ask. To bring out the Rudolph-ness in everyone at your organization, make sure that the doors of communication are open. And give people an opportunity to collaborate with one another, if necessary, so that ideas can be shared, refined, and encouraged within your organization.

"It's amazing to meet workers who don't even know the person sitting in the cubicle next to them," says Laurin. "You may be missing out on some great ideas by simply not encouraging the great minds in your company to work together."

9) Be willing to branch out from the eight reindeer you know. Encourage diversity in thought as well as other types of traditional diversities. Many employees intentionally stop sharing ideas if their work environment is not conducive or if the perception is that management doesn't care. This can result in "million-dollar" ideas forever locked in people's minds.

"Make sure your organization recognizes diversity in thinking as a legitimate and unique human quality," adds Morningstar, "And you may also want to consider hiring employees with non-traditional or diverse backgrounds who may offer a completely unique and value-added perspective."

10) Give them some ownership over the workshop. Rudolphs are natural entrepreneurs, a quality many managers will tell you is a great asset to an organizational team. To encourage entrepreneurial thinking, be open with your employees about business information. Employees will feel a greater sense of ownership over your business if they have a basic understanding of the organization's current strengths and challenges.

"Keep in mind that this may require some basic training for all employees," says Laurin. "Every employee should understand the fundamentals of profits and loss, budget creation, and how their work contributes to the bottom line. Without a clear value proposition to employees, it will be difficult to reap the rewards of innovative thinking."

11) Let all your reindeer lead the sleigh (in their own special way!). Rudolphs tend to be natural leaders because of the way they define leadership. Rather than looking at leadership as a position on the organizational chart, encourage employees to lead from where they are.

"This can be easily accomplished by offering a new definition of leadership," asserts Morningstar. "Try to define leadership as 'a commitment to the success of people around you' or 'connecting people to their future.' With the appropriate verbiage in mind, all employees can start leading today!"

12) Always offer your Rudolphs the resources they need. Give them the tools, training, and resources they need to contribute to the organization's bottom line.

"And remember, your people are your most sustainable competitive advantage, and many are just chomping at the bit to make a significant impact to the bottom line," Laurin conclude. "So when you see those red noses shining bright, why not give them the chance to guide your company's proverbial sleigh this year?"

'The red tornado is Santa Claus'

2009-12-11T14:47:00.004-05:00

I saw this book cover photo by the Associated Press on the wire, smiled, then wished I had it to review.

Not only am I feeling a little Scrooge-like (which will happen when you have a secondary job in retail during the holidays) at this point in time, but I also agree with the author's premise: That a lot of the gifts we give just become clutter in someone else's closet.

From The Associated Press' Bookshelf Roundup:

TITLE: Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays

AUTHOR: Joel Waldfogel

PRICE: $9.95

SUMMARY: This 186-page pocketbook measures just 4 by 6 inches in size, and invites readers to think just as small when it comes to holiday excess. Joel Waldfogel, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, goes beyond the obvious in arguing against habitual gift-giving.

Buying a tie that Dad will never wear or a toy that a child may use once, will hurt more than just your pocketbook and add to household clutter. Waldfogel argues all those ill-chosen gifts damage the economy, whether they're purchased using credit or not. He calculates waste of $85 billion each winter from holiday gift giving's failure at "allocating resources" — getting stuff to the right people who can actually use or enjoy it.

QUOTE: "The red tornado is Santa Claus. And despite the warm feeling he evokes in children, his tornado of giving does a perennially poor job of matching stuff with people. In so doing, he destroys a lot of value."

PUBLISHER: Princeton University Press

Free book, seminar propose to make you more productive

2009-12-08T16:49:00.007-05:00

The Philadelphia Business Journal and Neen James (pictured below), president of Neen James Communications LLC have informed me that on Friday, January 22, I can attend a free "supercharged: seminar to jump-start my productivity and make 2010 my most productive year ever!

This description, the use of the word "supercharged" and the exclamation point have already scared me away. Plus the fact that my job doesn't allow me to jaunt off to Philly on workdays for a seminar, albeit free. That simply wouldn't be productive.

But you, reader, may reserve your spot now for the Supercharge Your Productivity seminar, where you'll meet Philadelphia Business Journal Publisher Lyn Kremer and special presenter Neen James, president of Neen James Communications LLC. James is an international productivity expert, author, and native Australian.

The seminar takes place Friday, January 22, from 8 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. at the offices of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, 200 South Broad St., Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA 19102. In addition to complimentary admission, light refreshments will be served and each attendee will receive a free copy of James' book "Secrets of Super-Productivity."

From the press release: Do you ever hear yourself saying 'there are never enough hours in the day?' Do you ever feel like you get to the end of the day and you haven't achieved anything? If you answered yes to these questions you need to hear productivity expert (and Aussie), Neen James share her practical advice on how you accelerate your business and start creating impact with super-productivity. It's not about time management; it's about focusing your time, attention and energy in the things that will deliver the best results for you and your firm. During these current times you need to stop being busy and start achieving! (again with the exclamation point!)

Program Details:

8 to 8:30 a.m.: Registration and Networking

8:30 to 9:15 a.m.: How to Make More Money with the Philadelphia Business Journal. Learn how to turn our business news into new business for you! During the seminar, you'll become resourceful at unearthing key information, prepared to achieve your sales goals, successful in recognizing sales leads, proactive in pursing warm leads and informed on what networking events are geared to your business.

9:15 to 9:30 a.m.: Break

9:30 to 10:15 a.m.: Super-Productivity: How to make 2010 your most productive year ever with Neen James, President, Neen James Communications LLC.

Although the seminar is free, registration is required. To register, visit Supercharge Your Productivity.

Quoth the Raven: Never before

2009-12-04T14:23:00.005-05:00

The dark wordsmith Edgar Allen Poe, were he alive today, might brighten a bit to learn that his first published work fetched more than a half-mil at auction today - and set a new record to boot.

The rare, tattered copy of "Tamerlane and Other Poems" sold for $662,500 earlier today, smashing the previous record price for American literature. The 40-page collection of poems was published in 1827 by the author, who identified himself only as "a Bostonian" on these particular pages. According to the Associated Press, Poe wrote the book shortly after moving to Boston to launch his literary career.

The previous record is believed to be $250,000 for a copy of the same book sold nearly two decades ago, per the AP.

No more than 40 or 50 copies of "Tamerlane" were printed, and only 12 remain.
The record-breaking copy is stained and frayed and has V-shaped notches on the outer and lower margins.

According to a post on Marjorie Kehe's Chapter and Verse blog, the book’s owner is former television executive and rare book collector William Self. His 300-book collection, all of which goes on sale today, also includes rare works by Mark Twain, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens.
Self, who is 88, has told the press that were his children to inherit the books, they wouldn’t be able to afford to pay the taxes on them.

Kehe writes that “Tamerlane” is the Latinized name of 14th-century historical figure Timur, a Mongol conqueror and emperor. Although a fierce and controversial character with a mixed legacy, Timur was a great patron of the arts who, according to legend, knew a thing or two about rare books himself. His court calligrapher is said to have created two remarkable editions of the Koran, one so small that its text fit on a signet ring, and the other so large that it had to be carried in a wheelbarrow.

For my fellow poetry geeks, click here for the full text of "Tamerlane."

Amazon wants your old textbooks

2009-12-03T20:37:00.006-05:00

Back in the day, when I was a college student ... you know, just a few years back ... after finals I'd sell my textbooks and hope to get enough money back to pay for some Christmas presents for my family. No matter that my parents had shelled out for the textbooks in the first place.

Today Amazon announced its Textbooks Trade-In program for college textbooks, "just in time for the end of the semester."

Per the program, Amazon.com customers can swap their used texts for Amazon.com gift cards. You just go to www.amazon.com/tradeinbooks, print out a prepaid shipping label and mail off those books.

The instant gratification will be sacrificed, but it's worth it for the convenience. No more waiting in line and hoping the person who's taking in the books has reached their quota of Statistics texts, or feeling defeat wash over you when that $200 anatomy book gets you a measly $11, or worse, is not accepted because a newer edition is being used next term.

Per Amazon's press release: Once the book is received and verified by a third-party merchant, an Amazon.com gift card will be deposited into the student’s Amazon.com account. This gift card can be used toward the purchase of next semester’s books, or the millions of other items on Amazon.com.

“We’re thrilled to add the trade-in feature to the Amazon.com Textbooks store,” said Julie Todaro, director of Books at Amazon.com. “Our student customers know they can rely on Amazon.com for a great selection of titles and low textbook prices, and we’re happy to be able to offer them another service to help them save money and time.”

Students can buy textbooks through them, too. Amazon claims to offer savings of up to 30 percent off the list price of more than 100,000 new textbooks and up to 90 percent off the list price of millions of used textbooks.

If only poor journalists could afford to go back to school...

Best Friends Forever

2009-12-02T18:40:00.004-05:00

I wanted to read "Best Friends Forever " by Jennifer Weiner (Atria. 362 pp. $26.99) as soon as it was released this summer ... but I couldn't touch it at the Pottstown Library. The reserve list started in the hundreds.

So I waited. And waited (it's quite a rare occasion that I will buy a new book these days, and this was not one of them). Until finally one day last month my avid-reader boss, who had purchased a hardcover copy of the book, brought it into work to share.

I thoroughly enjoy Jennifer Weiner's books. They're the kind of engrossing, escapist chick lit reading you just want to tear through after a crappy day. She's a writing talent who intrigues me, as she wrote at my hometown paper, the Centre Daily Times, in the early 1990s and later was hired as a columnist and reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Here's someone who was once in my line of work and, well, made it ... in the bigtime sense.

The author makes Philly her home today. Check out her fun website, JenniferWeiner.com, to learn more about Weiner and her books, which include her debut "Good In Bed" and the more ubiquitous "In Her Shoes," made into a popular movie starring Toni Collette and and Cameron Diaz.

"Best Friends Forever" is the story of Addie and Val, who were best friends as girls who parted ways after some bad thing happened in high school. At the outset of the novel is their reunion, on the eve of their 15th high-school reunion, when Val shows up unannounced late at night at Addie’s door saying “Something horrible happened, and you’re the only one who can help.”

Weiner, a master of keeping her readers hanging from chapter to chapter, waits to reveal what exactly it was that made the girls take a 15-year hiatus from their friendship. We learn that both Addie and Val have undergone massive transformations over that time. Addie, who had been a chubby kid who ate her emotions, has lost a lot of weight and gained some healthy habits, such as eating right and exercising. Val has "blossomed" into a gorgeous yet shallow TV news personality who has a knack for using people to get what she wants.

This is where the story gets a little played out for me. In many of Weiner's previous novels, notably "In Her Shoes," this same theme has come up: Mildly unattractive girl with a heart of gold gets taken advantage of by her beautiful yet mean/troubled sister/friend. Unattractive girl has an epiphany of sorts and starts working out. Despite bad behavior of now morally reforming pretty bad-girl friend gets the guy. Bad-girl friend steps up to the plate in the end.

And there you have a basic sketch of what goes on in "BFF" - and other Weiner novels. Val gets Addie involved in a bunch of bad situations, steals/spends her money, nearly gets her arrested. Addie overcomes and comes out of it all with a new lease on life, her BFF back and a loving new BF.

On her blog, wittily named A Moment of Jen, Weiner says this book differs from her previous tomes in that it has a main male character. That would be Jordan Novick, the cop who ends up investigating Addie and Val. I have to agree, the male POV is new, and I liked it. Like Addie, he's a real person with real faults and an interesting past.

Despite having heard it all - or at least some of it - before, "Best Friends Forever" was a fun mind-candy kind of read. A nice digression from the more serious (boring, slow) books that have graced my nightstand lately. And so, as it's been since the day I finished reading her first novel, I look forward to whatever Weiner has coming out next and hope to run into her in Philly someday. I wonder if she salsas?

More Lisa Montgomery book signings coming up

2009-11-25T21:39:00.006-05:00

Raw foodies, take note:

Updated book-signing schedule from Royersford resident Lisa Montgomery, author of "Raw Inspiration: Living Dynamically with Raw Food" (2009, Martin Pearl Publishing, $20, 184 pp.):

*Sat., Nov 28 - Book Signing/Tasting Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Fantes, Italian Market, Philadelphia.

*Sat., Dec 5, Noon to 2 p.m., Book Signing, Tasting at Barnes & Noble, Route l00, Exton

*Sunday, Dec. 6, Demo at Arnold's Way, Lansdale, 4:15 p.m.

*Sat., Dec. 12 , Noon to 2 p.m., tasting and book signing at Panache, Kimberton

NEW DATE ADDED (BOOKS SOLD OUT AT 12/5 EVENT):
*Sat., Dec. 19 , Noon to 2 p.m., book signing Barnes & Noble, Route l00, Exton

To learn more, visit Montgomery's Web site http://www.livingdynamically.com/

Phoenixville author to hold book-signings in December

2009-11-24T18:08:00.005-05:00

The Mercury's policy (in print) is to refrain from reporting on self-published books. But on my blog, well, the rules get a little bendy.

And so to I introduce you to A.P. Morris, a Phoenixville author who is releasing a non-fiction book, "They're Not Gone: A Collection of True Stories from People Reunited with Their Loved Ones Who've Passed Away " this holiday season through Outskirts Press.

Morris, pictured at right, will be appearing/signing books at the following area locations next month:

• Saturday December 12, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Holiday Bazaar at Phoenixville Middle School, 1330 Main St Phoenixville, PA 19460. (484) 927-5200 (hosted by the National Junior Honor Society).

• Tuesday December 22, 2009 from Noon to 4 p.m. at Spring Run Natural Foods, 909 E Baltimore Pike, Kennett Square, PA 19348. (610) 388-0500. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a nonprofit organization Urban Compass located in Southern California. Urban Compass was formed in partnership with local schools to combat poverty and violence and make a difference in children’s lives by providing tutoring support, enrichment activities, and field trips to keep the children engaged in a positive learning experience and off the streets.To learn more or donate directly you can go to http://www.urbancompass.org/

I have not read this book, but if you'd like to learn more about it, read on. The following is excerpted from a press release about the book:

"They’re Not Gone" shares stories of 13 people whose loved ones passed away and their eventual ‘reconnection’ through the assistance of local psychic medium Ricky Wood. Each story contains ‘evidence’ that their spirits are still very much alive.

Wood delivers specifics from names and dates to mannerisms and jokes to verify the spirit who is communicating.

“I wanted to share my story to give others hope, especially during the holiday season when missing them can be even more difficult. I am now 100% positive that our loved ones don’t vanish with death, they are still very much alive,” Morris said.

Morris tells of the loss of her brother to suicide when she was just 16. After hearing from him through the psychic medium, Wood, her life was transformed.

“I spent so many holiday seasons sad and depressed because I missed my brother so desperately. If I’d only known that he wasn’t just gone, I think it may have been a whole lot easier for me,” said Morris.

Following each story, there is a question and answer section where the reader gets to learn more about Wood’s beliefs based on his years of experience working as a medium.

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to share some amazing true life stories. The information contained in this book could change so many people’s lives. I know - it changed mine,” Morris said.

Morris said her hope is that by sharing these stories it will bring peace to those who need it, especially during this holiday season.

To purchase a copy of “They’re Not Gone” for $16.95 visit http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.theyrenotgone.com/.

Royersford raw foods author to hold area book signings Nov. 7-8

2009-11-02T12:53:00.006-05:00

Royersford resident Lisa Montgomery, author of "Raw Inspiration: Living Dynmically with Raw Food" (2009, Martin Pearl Publishing, $20, 184 pp.) will hold book signings on Nov. 7 and 8 at Boyertown area locations.

*From 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, Montgomery will visit the Innerlight Holistic Center, located in the GrosserEase shops, Grosser Road and Route 100, just south of Boyertown.

Montgomery will share personal stories of healing through raw foods, tips for setting up and maintaining a raw foods kitchen and lifestyle, and delicious recipes. She will prepare the Chocolate Mousse Pie recipe from her book to share. Contact Cristina Leeson for more information at 610-413-8191.

*From noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, she will sign books at Studio "B" for the Art Alliance of Boyertown.

Since the release of her book in August, Montgomery has been conducting book signings at McGuire Air Force Base in Maryland, and recently was the guest speaker at a Raw Foods Gathering in Manhattan.

Montgomery has also been featured locally on the "Boyertown Live" TV program and has sponsored and also been a repeat guest on "What’s The SCORE" radio show on 1370 WPAZ AM.

According to Montgomery's publisher, Martin Pearl Publishing, "Raw Inspiration: Living Dynamically with Raw Food" is an inspiring and informative raw foods lifestyle book featuring personal stories of healing through raw foods, tips for setting up and maintaining a raw foods kitchen and lifestyle, and delicious recipes. The personal stories are intended to be inspirational to those seeking a healthier diet. "Raw Inspiration" also explains the basics of nutrition and meal planning with raw foods, as well as providing a guide to equipping a raw foods kitchen.

“What you put in your mouth and how you live your life are so important,” says Montgomery. “A Raw Food diet cleanses the body and nurtures the soul.”

Montgomery is known for her monthly Living Dynamically Raw Food Potluck gatherings in Royersford as well as workshops, and annual Living Food Expo are attended by celebrities, raw food experts, and enthusiasts.

In 2007, model Carol Alt visited Montgomery's annual Living Food Expo in Royersford and published one of Montgomery's recipes in her book, "The Raw 50."

In her book, Montgomery credits Dick Powell of the Pottstown SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) chapter for helping her with publicity and marketing for that event.

"SCORE's assitance was instrumental in getting local and national media attaention," she writes in the book.

Montgomery is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in Manhattan. She is also a Certified Associate Raw Chef and Instructor from the Living Light Institute of Raw Foods in California. According to her publisher, her focus is on living dynamically – teaching people how to heal their entire being (physical, emotional, and psychological) with the raw foods lifestyle. To learn more, visit her website, www.livingdynamically.com.

The Probable Future

2009-10-21T08:51:00.000-04:00

I'm a fan of Alice Hoffman's books. And while she didn't lose me with "The Probable Future" (Ballantine, 2003, 352 pp. $13.95 paperback), I didn't love it.

True to the author's form, the book draws you in with intricate interweaving plotlines and mystical goings-on.

"The Probable Future" revolves around 13 generations of women in the Sparrow family who have special powers and are native to a small Massachusetts hamlet called Unity. Each of the women bears just one female child who is given her unique gift on her 13th birthday.

The powers range from not being able to feel pain - a "gift" that gets Rebecca Sparrow killed on suspicion of being a witch in the 17th century - to being able to discern a lie, to being able to look at a person and see how they die.

(SPOILER ALERT:) The latter gift is that of one of this novel's main characters, the predictable and annoying teenager Stella Sparrow.

The rebellious Stella's gift gets her in trouble pretty quickly. Or, rather, it gets her philandering father in trouble. During a dinner out to celebrate her 13th birthday, Stella spies the death of a woman seated across the room and begs her father to do something to stop her murder. Relating this tale to the police turns out to be not such a good idea when the women does die in the way his daughter described and now Will is the main suspect.

Stella's mother, estranged from her father and whom she can't hide her hate for, is drawn back to the childhood home she abhors to try to protect Stella, who is forced to move there after her father leaks the story to the big bad press. Every Sparrow woman seems to hate her mother, and Jenny Sparrow (whose gift is being able to dream other peoples' dreams) now must make peace with her own ailing mother, Elinor (who can see peoples' lies).

And so everybody gets drawn back to Unity to figure it all out, and past and present are interwoven - or unraveled as it may be. Sparrows start nearly liking Sparrows again, or re-discovering a tolerance bordering on love. The story of the present and of the past Sparrow women continues until we get to the climax of the story, where it seems every loose end is tidied up in a bow - a little too neatly.

What drags the novel down is that you can see the ending coming from a mile away. You can see the unrequited loves about to become requited and the killers about to get their due.

It was just kinda boring. I wanted to finish the novel just to get it over with rather than to stay with the characters to see what happened to them.

Was it worth reading? Yes.

Was it a great read? No.

Maybe I simply need to stop reading every single book by a favorite author. Beattie, Hoffman, Atwood, Kingsolver, Tartt, for example. They are bound to disappoint sometime.

Cheaper books now at major retailers' Web sites

2009-10-19T17:45:00.004-04:00

They are piled high on my desk at work, on my nightstand and bookshelves at home, and they keep multiplying.

I have too many books, and still I want more. When not satisfying my book addiction at local stores such as Gently Used Books in Douglassville or Wellington Square Bookshop in Exton, I can now get some of the latest novels online for pretty cheap, thanks to some good old fashioned price wars.

Three major retailers are offering new bestsellers at UNDER $10, according to a report today from The Associated Press:

Target joins in price war on expected best sellers

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK — Target Corp. has thrown itself into a heated price war on books expected to be top sellers.

The Minneapolis-based discounter said Monday that it will offer some of this season's most anticipated book titles at $8.99, in line with recent moves by Walmart.com and Amazon.com.
Target says the price applies to pre-orders on Target.com of such books as "Breathless" by Dean Koontz, "Ford Country" by James Patterson and "Under the Dome" by Stephen King.

The book battle started Thursday, Oct. 15, when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its Web site, walmart.com, would charge just $10, with free shipping, for such upcoming hardcover releases as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" and John Grisham's "Ford County,"60 percent or more off the regular cost.

Amazon.com, the largest online book seller, then matched the prices. The fight became even fiercer when the two competitors lowered the prices even further to $9 by Friday, Oct. 16.

A check online Monday afternoon of several of the titles revealed that Target.com, Amazon and Walmart.com have similar prices. Walmart.com and Target.com are selling "Under the Dome" and "Breathless" at $8.99, a penny less than Amazon.com.

The price war, occurring as the critical holiday shopping season gets under way, is bad news for independent bookstores, as well as the large chain bookstores Borders Group Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc. These chains have seen their sales and profits squeezed by discounting and a decline in their music business.

Wal-Mart has said that the steep book discounts won't be available in stores.

Act quickly to win a DVD of The Botany of Desire movie

2009-10-15T13:18:00.005-04:00

The Boyertown Farmers Market Newsletter informs me that you could win a DVD of a movie based on a bestselling book just by writing down how you feel about plants.

The contest centers around Michael Pollan's bestseller, "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World," (Random House, $24.95, 271 pp.).

This is a book that Mercury Reporter Evan Brandt has been raving about. But I didn't run to the library to check it out as Evan is into, let's say, whole genres of books that might not ever make the leap onto my bookshelf -- Historical non-fiction and science-y type books, for instance. Our ideas of escapism, which the exception of a tall Bluecoat Gin and Tonic, are quite different.

But, I'll give credit to Evan, this book does sound intriguing and educational.

To borrow from the New York Times Book Review (they can borrow from me anytime),

'' 'The Botany of Desire'' is divided into four parts, each focused on a different facet of human desire and its exploitation of and by domesticated plants: sweetness and apples; beauty and tulips; intoxication and cannabis; control and potatoes."

The Times sums the book up in this sentence: "The author explains how flowering plants have prospered by exploiting human desires."

You could win a DVD of the movie based on Pollan's book from LocalHarvest.org, according to our friends at the Boyertown Farmers Market, if you act by Sunday, Oct. 18:

The Botany of Desire will be airing on PBS on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 8 to 10 p.m. Called an "eye-opening exploration of the human relationship with the plant world - seen from the plant's point of view," and narrated by Frances McDormand, this is sure to be good.

For those who haven't read the book, the idea is that we think that we control the plant world. But what if, in fact, they have been shaping us? Local Harvest has a director-signed copy of the movie, so they are introducing a new contest giveaway playing with the theme of the book.

To enter, send them your story of a time you were obsessed with something in the plant kingdom - such as, going to great lengths to protect your tomatoes from frost, watching and waiting for your seedlings to come up, praying for rain, or spending a summer growing flowers for your wedding, etc.

Submit your story by Oct. 18 (that's this Sunday), and they will announce the winner of
The Botany of Desire DVD (click to view trailer) and publish the stories at www.localharvest.org.
To learn more about the film, visit www.pbs.org.

To learn more about the well-publicized Boyertown Farmers Market, visit their Web site (where you can also sign up for their e-newsletter).

They are bravely starting an outdoor winter farmers market on Nov. 21 at their regular location in the parking lot of the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles at 100 South Walnut Street, two blocks south of the intersection of Routes 562 and 73.

And they're giving away a free cup of coffee to everyone who visits the the rain or shine Winter Market (open from 10 to 11:30 a.m.) during the chilly months on the following dates: Nov. 21, Dec. 19, Jan. 23, Feb. 20, March 20, April 17 and May 22.

Who had time to read this week?

2009-10-09T15:40:00.001-04:00

Apparently, not me.

Well, I read a few pages of "The Probable Future" by Alice Hoffman, my pleasure reading of the moment. But my to-be-reviewed business books are languishing on my desk under piles of yesterday's and the day before's page proofs, papers, handouts from Wegmans, phone messages and an overripe Bosc pear.

Thankfully, The Associated Press was up to the task. Below is their weekly Bookshelf Roundup of the latest finance-related reading:

Bookshelf: Millionaires and football philosophy

By The Associated Press

You can learn how the rich really live, how one renowned football coach approached leadership and some new strategies to put to use when searching for a job with three new books that explore these diverse themes.
Researcher Thomas Stanley walks readers through his findings uncovering the surprising spending habits of the wealthy. The late coach Bill Walsh dishes on his philosophies about professionalism and other aspects of leadership that helped him transform the San Francisco 49ers into a football dynasty. And career coaches Richard and Terri Deems help job hunters turn their experience into ammunition for finding their dream jobs.
Here's a look at the new titles:
_____________________
TITLE: Stop Acting Rich and Start Living Like a Millionaire
AUTHOR: Thomas J. Stanley
PRICE: $26.95
SUMMARY: Being a millionaire is not about fancy cars, expensive watches, fine dining or top-shelf liquor, Thomas Stanley argues.
Building on the sort of research results he previously reported in the "The Millionaire Next Door" and its follow-up books, Stanley explores the behaviors of millionaires and extrapolates how people who aspire to be wealthy ought to act.
Using findings from surveys of wealthy people, Stanley explains, for instance, that most millionaires don't drive BMWs, wear Rolex watches or live in million-dollar homes. He also explores the cultural impact of what he calls "the glittering rich," the celebrities whose extravagant lifestyles many people try to emulate.
In trying to live like those who have enormous wealth, he argues, ordinary people actually set themselves back and make true financial security more elusive. And since financial security is what his research shows provides for happiness, he concludes that a more frugal lifestyle that enables people to build wealth will make them happier than any Mercedes or bottle of Grey Goose vodka.
The book can be repetitive in spots but it contains some surprising data that makes for a convincing argument supporting a simple lifestyle as a path to security.
QUOTE: "I don't mean to suggest that one live like a miser; the occasional guilty pleasure is perfectly acceptable. If you work hard and save accordingly, you should enjoy a treat from time to time. The problem is that people have come to enjoy the guilty pleasure every day to the exclusion of working for a financially independent future."
PUBLISHER: Wiley
—Eileen AJ Connelly
_____________________
TITLE: The Score Takes Care of Itself
AUTHOR: Bill Walsh, with Steven Jamison and Craig Walsh
PRICE: $25.95
SUMMARY: Before his death, legendary NFL coach Bill Walsh discussed his philosophy on leadership in a series of interviews. Now those interviews have been turned into a book, written from Walsh's perspective, and drawing on his experience as a transformative figure for the San Francisco 49ers and football strategy.
In discussing the importance of professionalism, for instance, Walsh recounts how he didn't allow players to showboat or taunt the other team on the field. At the 49ers headquarters, phones had to be answered promptly and courteously. Walsh says the rules, big and small, eventually helped infuse the entire organization with an atmosphere of professionalism.
Interspersed throughout the book are insights from former colleagues, including assistant coaches Bill McPherson and Mike White.
QUOTE: "There is no guarantee, no ultimate formula for success. However, a resolute and resourceful leader understands that there are a multitude of means to increase the probability of success. And that's what it all comes down to, namely, intelligently and relentlessly seeking solutions that will increase your chance of prevailing in a competitive environment. When you do that, the score will take care of itself."
PUBLISHER: Portfolio
—Candice Choi
_____________________
TITLE: Make Job Loss Work for You
AUTHOR: Richard S. Deems and Terri A. Deems
PRICE: $12.95 (paperback)
SUMMARY: Using their experience working people making career changes, some pop psychology and some traditional advice, the authors put together a helpful book for those who find themselves looking for work.
The book aims to help unemployed readers focus on their accomplishments at work in order to better define what they want to do. Readers are prompted to answer numerous questions and to come up with specific achievements in measurable terms — information that can later be translated into lines on a resume or cover letter.
The couple offers both traditional wisdom about organizing a job search and some unconventional advice, including the suggestion that resume writers add positive quotes from co-workers or clients to their resumes. And there's a section that reviews the sorts of questions a job seeker may have to answer during an interview.
QUOTE: "If you've not been happy or satisfied doing what you've been doing, now's the time to think through your options and design your future."
PUBLISHER: Jist
—Eileen AJ Connelly

The Mercury's own Laura Catalano co-authors Along the Schuylkill River

2009-09-29T06:59:00.001-04:00

This may be too much information, but I was in the shower on Sunday morning listening to the news on KYW (I recently purchased a shower radio just for this purpose, cinching my reputation as a news geek), when I heard a familiar voice: The Mercury's own beloved columnist and OJR-area stringer Laura Catalano.

The extensively talented Catalano, who writes a Sunday column for The Mercury that always has me laughing out loud, has gone and written a book. She somehow found the time outside of her full-time job as a staff writer at the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, her part-time writing gig for our fine paper, raising three children and whatever she does for fun.

Along with SRHA executive director Kurt D. Zwikl, Laura has written "Along the Schuylkill River," (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99, 128 pp.) a pictorial history of the river that borders Pottstown. The book is part of Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, which, incidentally, also includes a history of The Sunnybrook Ballroom and of The Route 100 corridor.

More than 200 vintage photos are featured in the book. According to a release from the SRHA,

the authors have included multiple pictures of the Schuylkill Canal, such as old canal barges, mules, boatmen and locks.

"The book contains images from virtually every major town and city along the Schuylkill River and gives a glimpse into what life was like across the region from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries. It includes photos of numerous "firsts" in America: the first wire suspension bridge, opening day of America's first zoo, the first tunnel in North America and the country's first vineyard," states the release.

Upcoming book signings are scheduled at the followinglocations:

* Sun. Oct. 4, 1:30-3:30 p.m.-Fairmount WaterWorks Interpretive Center, Philadelphia

* Sat. Oct. 10, Noon-3 p.m.-Schuylkill RiverFestival, Riverfront Park, Pottstown

* Sun. Oct. 18, 1-3 p.m.-Schuylkill CanalAssociation Open House, Locktender's House Lock 60, 400Towpath Rd, Mont Clare, PA 19453

All author royalties benefit the nonprofit Schuylkill RiverHeritage Area.

If you want to buy a copy of the book, buying one directly from the nonprofit Schuylkill River Heritage Area ensures that a greater portion of the profits supports their mission of using conservation, education, recreation, tourism, and cultural and historic preservation as tools for community revitalization and economic development.

To order, contact Cindy Kott at the Schuylkill River Heritage Area at 484-945-0200. Or order online HERE at the SRHA website.

Boyertown native's book to be released Oct. 15

2009-09-28T16:37:00.006-04:00

Boyertown native K. Scott Schaeffer (unknown to me whether he is related to the Schaeffers of former South Reading Avenue Pa. Dutch restaurant fame) has penned a book, "Biblical Freedom from Religious Oppression" (Albireo Publishing, $14,95, trade paperback, 256 pp.)

Midwest Book Review calls Schaeffer's work “an intriguing and fascinating read that may change some reader's lives for the better."

The following is taken verbatim from the Midwest Book Review:

Schaeffer examines how the teachings of most Bible-believing churches conflict with the Bible’s teachings. Using messages that resonate throughout the Bible to free Christians from strict, man-made religious rules and practices that add to human misery, Schaeffer delivers a complex and controversial book that shows how the Bible is actually more lenient than the Church.

"Schaeffer explains how Christians can achieve religious freedom by using the Every-Verse Method of Bible Study — a means through which the Bible is studied in totality, as opposed to pulling isolated verses out of context — on some of the most complicated — and confusing —issues Christians face.

"Meticulously researched and engaging, Biblical Freedom from Religious Oppression contains over 700 Bible verses and examines Biblical perspective on such issues as: freedom, creationism, alcohol consumption, sexual thought, divorce and re-marriage, oppression of the poor, Christian political power, judgmentalism, and religious arrogance. Rather than focus on isolated verses in the Bible, Schaeffer presents all of the applicable verses that address the various issues and explains the historical background, whereby allowing readers to achieve a greater understanding of the Bible’s message. For example, Schaeffer presents all 35 Bible verses addressing alcohol consumption, and upon examination of each verse, it becomes clear that the Bible’s stance on alcohol consumption is far more lenient than that of many churches.

Biblical Freedom from Religious Oppression explains the Four Fundamental Freedoms of the Christian Faith, as well as the Four Freedom Defeaters. Moreover, Biblical Freedom from Religious Oppression presents, in clear and concise terms, where the Bible and the Church differ in sections entitled “Required by the Church, but Not by the Bible,” ”Forbidden by the Church, but Not by the Bible,” and “Committed by the Church, but Opposed by the Bible.”

Thoughtful and thought-provoking, Biblical Freedom from Religious Oppression explains how Christians can differentiate between which Christian practices are truly Biblical, which are optional, and which are evil, and explains how to achieve freedom from the myths, misconceptions, and man-made rules that prevent us from leading the lives God intended.

According to Schaeffer, “Millions of people have been driven away from both the Bible and God thanks to those who have distorted isolated Bible verses to promote oppressive religious traditions. The good news is that the Bible actually rescues us from this oppression. Biblical Freedom from Religious Oppression is simply a fresh look at the Bible, stripping away tradition and assumption as much as possible, and, from beginning to end, forces us to let the whole Bible dictate the truth to us. It denies us permission to approach the Bible with the intent of finding verses that support our pre-existing beliefs. My hope is that readers are prepared to have their traditional beliefs challenged, but will ultimately develop a greater appreciation for what Christianity is all about.”

Schaeffer now devotes his life to exposing the differences between Biblical teaching and church tradition.

"Biblical Freedom from Religious Oppression" will be nationally released on Oct. 15. To learn more, check out the Biblical Freedom website.

The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel

2009-09-22T10:52:00.006-04:00

Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel" (HarperCollins, 1998, 543 pp.) is an epic by definition and in scope and proportion. I realize now I was just cutting my teeth on Kingsolver's earlier, shorter yet just as vividly and potently written novels, "The Bean Trees" and "Pigs in Heaven." I am now convinced of - or happily reacquainted with - her genius.

What begins as the tale of an evangelical Baptist family on a mission trip to the Belgian Congo in the late 1950s, evolves into a larger more allegoric tale.

Nathan and Orleanna Price bring their four daughters, Rachel, twins Leah and Adah, and baby girl Ruth May into the remote jungle village of Kilanga fully unprepared for what awaits them. They bring with them cake mixes, bean seeds and Sunday best clothes, not realizing the climate will render such things useless.

The book's chapters are narrated by the female characters in turn. The viewpoints range from self-centered teen Rachel, who worries more about her appearance than anything else, to crippled Adah, who, due to a birth deformity, walks with a limp and tends to see things differently - literally: She reads books back to front, speaking and reading the words backwards. Leah drinks in Kilanga, becomes a huntress, a teacher, a speaker of its language. Then there's the innocent Ruth May, wide-eyed and accepting, who teaches the village children to play "Mother May I."

I expected the book to end with the family's return to the states. But the majority of the family never go back to their native land. We follow the girls into their very different adulthoods and witness how Africa has marked and changed them forever.

I can tell you that one of the daughters loses her life on that vast continent, as Orleanna will tell you on page one of the novel. But she won't tell you which one. That's revealed a few hundred pages later.

Orleanna (the mother): "We aimed for no more than to have dominion over every creature that moved upon the earth. And so it came to pass that we stepped down there on a place we believed fully unformed, where only darkness moved on the face of the waters. Now you laugh, day and night, while you gnaw at my bones. But what else could we have thought? Only that it began and ended with us. What do we know even now? Ask the children. Look at what they grew up to be. We can only speak of the things we carried with us, and the things we took away."

The poisonwood bible, the basis of the novel, basically says that, well, "Tata Jesus" really is "bangala," a Kikongo word that can have several meanings, including most precious and most deadly. The bible, for a baptist preacher, is a much different set of life lessons when compared to the hundreds of years of oral traditions passed down through the ranks of the African villagers. Baptism, which may be a sacred rite for the Rev. Nathan Price, is equated with fear and certain death for the children of Kilanga (in a river rife with hungry alligators). Simlarly, their ways confounded the Rev. Price.

Ruth May: "Father is trying to teach everybody to love Jesus, but what with one thing and another around here, they don't. Some of them are scared of Jesus, and some aren't, but I don't think they love Him. Even the ones that go to church, they still worship the false-eye dolls and get married to each other time and time again. Father gets right put out about it."

There is also the political aspect of the novel. The Belgians, the Portuguese, the Americans and others who exploited the various African countries' resources (diamonds, people) and tried to force Africa to adapt to their ways might have won the battle, but not the war, Kingsolver seems to say. These conquerers and their pieces of history will dissolve into the greater story of Africa.

My journey through this novel, I can say with chagrin, took roughly a month (kind of an epic in itself). I got the audiobook out of the Pottstown Public Library for a 6-hour roundtrip in August. It was interesting because Kingsolver read the novel herself, and did the various girls' voices, Georgia accents and childish misconceptions and all.

But I didn't get through it all, because the tapes ran 10+ hours, and my check out time ran out. I traded them in for the actual book after my trip. I hauled that huge library book around for a long time! Not that the reading wasn't enjoyable, just that I've been busy and have only been reading a page or two here and there.

This morning, as I finished the novel, I was happy to be reunited with the voice of the Price sister/daughter who didn't make it. How fitting that she should narrate the end of the novel. She was there with the family all along, and urges them to move on with their lives.

Biz book authors to speak at Pa. Governor's Conference for Women Sept. 17

2009-09-14T12:35:00.005-04:00

Cathy Greenberg and Barrett Avigdor authors of "What Happy Working Mothers Know: How NewFindings in Positive Psychology Can Lead to a Healthy and Happy Work/LifeBalance," (Wiley, $19.95, 2009, 256 pp.) will be two of the keynote speakers at the Pennsylvania Governor's Conference for Women on Thursday, Sept. 17, at The Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

Barrett S. Avigdor, J.D., is the director of legal talent strategy at Accenture, a position she created in 2007. In this role she strives to maximize the productivity, creativity and engagement of the 400 legal professionals at Accenture around the world. Avigdor spent much of her legal career as a senior executive in the legal group at Accenture, though she's also a certified career coach and an advocate for happiness. Avigdor writes and speaks to audiences around the globe on the subject of finding happiness by working to your strengths and aligning your time to your values. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and a former Fulbright Scholar to Brazil.

Cathy L. Greenberg's books include "Global Leadership: Next Generation," with Marshall Goldsmith, which ranked No. 1 in leadership on Amazon.com. She is cited as an authority on leadership behavior by all major business and financial newsorganizations, as well as by popular media outlets such as Glamour, Oprah Magazine and Martha Stewart Living Radio. Named a "Top 100 Leadership Coach" byExecutive Excellence Magazine (2008), she is a business talk show host on "Voice America" and founder of h2c, LLC Happy Companies Healthy People, a beacon for successful leaders.

Click here for more information about the Pennsylvania Governor's Conference for Women.

Every attendee will receive a free copy of "What Happy Working Mothers Know."

17 books in 3 years

2009-09-08T21:31:00.002-04:00

James Patterson just created a new definition for deadline pressure.

He must've wanted a challenge ... and a few more million dollars.

Crankin': Patterson to write 17 books in 3 years
NEW YORK (AP) — After more than 40 best sellers, James Patterson is just getting started.

He has agreed to a 17-book deal with his longtime publisher, the Hachette Book Group — an unthinkable commitment for most writers, but for Patterson a mere three years worth of work.

"Jim has all of these incredible franchises," says his literary representative, Washington attorney Robert Barnett, who cited such popular series as "Maximum Ride," ''Daniel X" and the Alex Cross detective stories. "And when you put all of those franchises together, that's a lot of books."

Hachette announced Tuesday that the ultra-prolific novelist will turn out 10 adult thrillers, one nonfiction work and six novels for young people by the end of 2012.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Patterson will have help with those books. His co-authors have included Maxine Paetro and Andrew Gross and he will continue to use collaborators, Barnett says.

"Whenever he works with a co-author he fully discloses it," Barnett says. "There's no secret he works with collaborators."