Balancing the Books

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:53:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:51:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:45:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:18:00 +0000

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?

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:40:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:59:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:37:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:52:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:35:00 +0000

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

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:31:00 +0000

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."

Not a book review, but a tragic tale heard too often. One more reason to bring our servicemen and women back home.

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:04:00 +0000

I knew Bill Cahir in the peripheral way of the small town.

His mother and mine are friends.
We grew up attending the same church.
His brother and I were classmates and continue to be friends.
Bill graduated State College Area High School in 1986, four years before his brother Bart and I did. He earned an English degree from Penn State in 1990, four years before Bart would graduate with a petroleum engineering degree and years before I earned my journalism degree from Penn State.
After college, he went to Washington to work on a Senate Committee for Sens. Edward Kennedy (who, incidentally, died Tuesday night) and Harris Wofford.

Bill later became a journalist, first working for the now defunct Newhouse News Service Washington.
I remember feeling extremely impressed when I ran into him at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., circa 1997. My reporting professor had brought my class to D.C. for a press briefing at the Pentagon and some kind of reception in those hallowed rooms. I introduced myself as "Bart’s friend" to this guy with a lot of personality, obvious talent for communication - written or otherwise, and an inviting wide grin.
Bill was working for the Washington, D.C., bureau of The Express-Times of Easton at the time.

A few years later, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, Bill pursued what he was most passionate about. Despite the fact that at 34 he was technically too old to enlist, he talked his way into an age waiver and joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 2003.
It was something he felt he had to do.

Bill served two combat tours of duty in Iraq in 2004-05 and 2006-07 as the lead turret gunner in a Humvee, according to the Centre Daily Times.

After returning home, Bill decided to take it easy … and run for office.

He moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania, pursuing yet another way to serve his country. Bill ran for a 5th Congressional District seat in 2008, competing in a three-way Democratic primary to replace longtime Republican Rep. John Peterson, who retired. Bill lost the primary to Clearfield County Commissioner Mark McCracken, who was, in turn, defeated by Republican Glenn Thompson in what the CDT reported is an overwhelmingly Republican district.

The Express-Times reported that after losing the primary, Cahir said, "My journalism career is over. I'll talk to the Marine Corps and see what they want me to do and talk to my wife and see what she wants me to do."

Bill returned to Washington and worked for a time for a consulting firm before being reactivated by the Marines.
In the spring of 2009, Marine Sgt. William John Cahir deployed to Afghanistan. His wife, Rene Browne, a Washington attorney, was already pregnant with twin girls — their first children.

According to the CDT, Bill was a sergeant in the 4th Civil Affairs Group, one of about 4,000 Marines and 650 Afghan troops deployed in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province. Per published reports, the province is a fertile opium poppy area, a Taliban stronghold and is home to much "fierce fighting."

On August 13, 2009, at age 40, Bill was killed in action by enemy fire while his civilian affairs unit was attached to a Marine infantry unit. Only one shot (that was determined not to have originated from a sniper) was fired, and no shots were returned. No other Marines were killed, according to Marine Maj. Jerry Kalogiannis, 4th Civil Affairs Group spokesman. He told the CDT that Cahir was the first 4th CAG Marine — about 150 are in the group — to be killed in action since the group deployed to Afghanistan in May.

He is the first person I know to be killed in this war.

"What're the odds?" a friend asked rhetorically, sadly during calling hours in a ballroom at The Penn Stater hotel in University Park on Sunday afternoon. He was speaking of the single shot that fatally struck Bill.

"It's just not fair," are the words that kept running through my brain, as I waited in line with my mom, high school friends, teachers, Marines, a Penn State football coach or two, and the president of the university, among others. Included in that line was a high school classmate, now a Marine and father of two, awaiting deployment to Iraq. I'm not sure if it's his second or third deployment.

We all wanted an audience with Bill's parents, siblings and widow. Some people made video tributes intended to be shown to Bill's twins at some point. Not knowing him well, I did not.

Over three hours, thousands of friends and supporters waited in a long snaking line (which I heard was up to a 45 min. wait at times) to greet and offer condolences to the pregnant Rene and the entire Cahir family — mom and dad Mary Anne and John, sisters Ellen and Kathryn, and the youngest sibling, my friend Bart, who had flown back to Pennsylvania from his current job post in Indonesia with his new wife, Andrea.

The part of the overnight flight he was most assuredly awake for, gripping the armrests of his seat tightly, Bart said, was traveling through the darkness over Afghanistan — the country that claimed his brother Bill’s life just days before.

***
Among the definitions of a hero, according to Merriam-Webster, are "an illustrious warrior; a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities; and one that shows great courage." The definition of patriot is "one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests."
Bill Cahir was all those things.
He served his country.
He died for his country.
And he was also a regular guy — a husband, brother, son and journalist — excited for the arrival of his twin daughters this December.
He was a guy who, like so many others, served valiantly in both Iraq and Afghanistan, only to be rewarded by being called back again and again.

What are the odds of surviving three tours? Slim indeed.

With countless others who died in service of our country, Bill Cahir will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. He will posthumuously be awarded the Purple Heart Sept. 13 in Washington.

***

Help keep alive Bill's belief in family, service, community and country alive. Contribute to the Bill Cahir Memorial Fund to support his wife and expected twin children.

Multi-author book signing event August 15 in Lebanon

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:48:00 +0000

Author Joan Landis ("Oh My God... She's Huge!") sent me the following notice about a booksigning in not-too-far away Lebanon, Pa.:

MULTI AUTHOR BOOKSIGNING SATURDAY AUGUST 15TH
to be held at the Waldenbooks, Lebanon Valley Mall
20% of the proceeds to benefit the Lebanon Library

10-11 a.m. discussion panel on how to become an author with a publishing contract with Megan Hart, Savannah Russe, Jeri Smith-Ready, Mindy Klasky and Maria V. Snyder

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Author Signings

Authors include:
Angela Ginnetto, Romance
Vicky Burkholder, Romance
Arthur Ford, Fiction
Victoria Smith, Romance
T.K. Marion, Civil War
Natalie Damschroder, Erotic Romance
Brian Keene, Horror
Savannah Russe, paranormal Romance
Byron N. Morrison, Fantasy
Sandy Asher, Children 11-2 only
Charlene Haines, young adult
Kelly Ann Butterbaugh, children’s history
Doris Washington, poetry
Robert Vogel, Fiction
Dr. Dewey Shaak, Memoir
Richard Curtin Military, fiction
Dr. Laszlo Geder, Memoir
Mindy Klasky, Fiction
Frank Bittinger, Horror
J.F. Gonzalez, Horror
Maria V. Snyder, Fantasy
Misty Simon, Romance
Joan Landis, Self Help
Megan Hart, Erotic Romance til 12
Lucy Finn, Romance
Andy Pete, Fantasy
David Boyle, Horror
Jeri Smith-Ready, Fantasy
Diane Troup, Autobiography

List subject to change without notice
Raffles to be held throughout the day for items donated by various merchants in the mall.
Other items to be raffled are: Gift basket from Megan Hart
U.K. signed versions of Maria V. Snyder’s Study series

What can CEOs learn from stand-up comedians?

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:58:00 +0000

Sometimes good things really do come in small packages.

The adage holds true for Roger Edward Jones' lates book, "What Can Chief Executives Learn from Stand-Up Comedians? Fifty essential skills top performers perfect and you can learn," (2009, BookSurge Publishing, $10.99, 64 pp.)

The slim book, which was runner-up at the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival (business category), is perfect for the time-challenged: It can be read in just a few minutes in one sitting. It's the kind of book an executive - or really anyone who has to speak in front of people - could benefit from paging through while writing a speech or for referring back to from time to time. Jones presents 50 thought-provoking tips for those who could be speaking to a crowd/looking to influence a group.

The format is simple. Jones points out a behavior/characteristic of a stand-up comedian and then poses a question that might cause you to reflect on how that relates to you/your work/your presentation skills. A few that spoke to me were:

No. 29 ENJOYMENT
"When you watch most comics they look as if they're enjoying themselves rather than as if they are standing in front of their audience as some sort of punishment. Do you look as if you enjoy your job when you interact with your customers, staff and shareholders?"

This one made me chuckle a little, as I'm sooooooo uncomfortable speaking to groups. Once in a while some poor soul will ask me to address his or her business organization as a representative of the paper or as a writer/editor. I make polite excuses and bow out every time. It feels a lot like punishment to me to speak in front of a group of people, for any reason at all. Yet, I know that lacking that skill/experience/comfort level is holding me back personally and professionally. I'll just keep Jones' little book handy for ideas for future situations when a presentation might be needed...

Also, No. 1 PREPARATION
"Good stand-up comedians' performances appear totally spontaneous, almost as if they have just walked into the venue and are talking 'off-the-cuff.' The reality is quite different. They spend hours and hours honing their material and practicing their routines. Do you spend a sufficient amount of time preparing for your conference speeches and client meetings?"

Good speakers do have an ease about them. And preparation certainly helps those of us who aren't blessed with this natural ease.

And, No. 42 SILENCE
"As good comics tell their stories you can often hear a pin drop as they use the power of silence to create a sense of intrigue and suspense. Could you use the power of silence a little more when negotiating?"

Um, yes. Yes I could.

As you can see, Jones took a simple concept and came up with 50 inspiring, practical and quite usable little tips. Simple as they are, I can see how these insights could help a CEO, anyone in a leadership or management role, or just a regular Joe who has to give a speech.

A trained geologist, UK native Jones is currently an executive coach for major companies including Accenture, Cisco, Eon, IBM, Shell International and Siemens. He is also the author of "The Key Account Manager's Pocketbook."

Learn more about Jones and his book on his website, http://www.rogeredwardjones.com/

Free-ebooks available

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Free books online!

That is, if you have a Kindle or Sony reader to read them.
Which I don't.
But I do like to hear about and get my paws on free stuff ... If only someone was giving away free Kindles!

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that you can also get free mp3 music downloads from Amazon if you search for "free" under the mp3 downloads tab. Some good stuff, too.

Anyhow, check out this story from the Associated Press:

The latest craze: Free e-books offerings

By HILLEL ITALIE

AP National Writer

NEW YORK — James Patterson's latest best seller, "The Angel Experiment," is a little different from his usual hits. The novel isn't new; it came out four years ago. Its sales aren't happening at bookstores, but mostly on the Kindle site at Amazon.com.
And the price is low even for an old release: $0.00

"I like the notion of introducing people to one book, while promoting the sales of another," says the prolific and mega-selling author (and co-author) of numerous thrillers." His Kindle download is the first book of Patterson's "Maximum Ride" young adult series.

"We've given away thousands of free e-copies," Patterson said. "'Maximum Ride' is big already and we think it could be a lot bigger. That requires getting people to read it."

Patterson is among the biggest brands added to the growing list of free e-book offerings. Over the past few months, top sellers on the Kindle — with downloads in the tens of thousands, authors and publishers say — have included such public domain titles as "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," and novels by Jennifer Stevenson and Greg Keyes.
In recent days, the top three Kindle sellers have been free books: Patterson's, Joseph Finder's "Paranoia" and Keyes' "The Briar King."

"There's always going to be someone who wants free things. What we're trying to do is link free with paid," Maja Thomas, senior vice president of digital media at Patterson's publisher, the Hachette Book Group, said. "It's like priming the pump."

"What we like to do is make the first book in a series free, usually a series that has multiple books," said Scott Shannon, publisher of the Del Rey/Spectra imprint at Random House, Inc., which published Keyes' fantasy novel.

Shannon said Del Rey has had especially good luck with Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" fantasy series after offering the first book for free. He said sales for the other Temeraire novels increased by more than 1,000 percent. "It's been stunning," he said.

Publishers and authors have been nervous that the standard cost for electronic editions of new releases, just under $10, will take away sales from the more expensive hardcovers and set an unrealistically low price for the future. They are concerned, but open-minded, about free books, which present a chance and a challenge: Readers may buy other books, or, they may simply seek more free titles.

"It's a huge hot-button topic we've been discussing within our division and at the corporate level," Shannon said. "We have had phenomenal success with using free books to get people to buy others by an author. But in the long term, we have to guard the market. We have to make sure people understand that time and energy goes into writing a book."

"Consumers love free — free is a good price. But the opportunity they present to publishers is to experiment, and I stress experiment," Ellie Hirschhorn, Simon & Schuster's chief digital officer, said.

The dominant e-book seller Amazon.com has been aggressive about keeping prices low, and has given free e-books high visibility by including them on the Kindle best-seller list. A leading rival, Sony, does not include free works among its best sellers, although some free books have popular downloads.

"We do withhold them from the best-seller list, so that it's an accurate reflection of what people are actually buying," says Sony eBook store director Chris Smythe.

In an e-mail statement about free ebooks, Amazon.com spokeswoman Cinthia Portugal, said, "We work hard to provide customers with the best value possible and pass savings on to them whenever possible." Portugal added that Amazon includes free books among its top sellers because the list is "based on customer orders — customers are still ordering these books, they just have a price tag of $0.00."

David Bailey, 56, a systems analyst in Tacoma, Wash., is the kind of customer publishers and authors want to get. He has downloaded free texts by Kelly Link, Scott Sigler and others, but has then purchased other books by those authors, sometimes "just to support them."

One of Bailey's free downloads was Finder's "Paranoia," a thriller first published in 2004. Finder, whose "Vanished" comes out Aug. 18, said he initially saw the free offering as a "no lose" deal since "Paranoia" wasn't selling many copies anyway and sales for his other books, including "Power Play" and "Killer Instinct," have gone up. But, noticing all the free best sellers on the Kindle, he wondered if readers will get used to not paying.

"I get a lot of e-mails from people, saying, 'I hadn't even heard of you until I read your free book.' So no question, it does bring in free riders," Finder said. "But I'm also increasingly concerned. There are so many free e-books that basically you could stuff your Kindle or Sony Reader with free books and never have to buy anything."

A true mountain mystery

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:03:00 +0000

I went into the woods because
I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the
essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn
what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived.

~Henry David Thoreau, Walden

"The Last Season" (HarperCollins, 2007, 384 pp.), Eric Blehm's account of a missing backcountry ranger is captivating and sad, in the vein of Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild."

Blehm details the life and ultimate disappearance of Randy Morgenson, a ranger in the wilds of California's High Sierra. Randy was raised in the Yosemite Valley by parents with a love of nature and of passing that reverence on to their children. Notably, and fascinatingly, guests at the Morgenson family dinner table included famed nature photographer Ansel Adams and his wife, Virginia, and writer and naturalist Wallace Stegner.

Randy turned a lifelong affinity for the mountains and nature into what seemed like the perfect life for him: Tending to a ranger station in the middle of nowhere in one of the country's largest national parks. He spent 28 summers manning a ranger station for the National Park System. But the solitary life proved taxing on his marriage, to a woman who seemed like a great fit for him: Judi would hike into the backcountry something like 18 miles just to spend time with him, and one year spent a happy winter season snowed in at a high-country station with him.

In the year preceding his July 1996 disappearance, Randy and Judi had a falling out. Randy, 54, had strayed with a female ranger and lied about it to Judi. She filed for divorce. He took the divorce papers with him that season to look over and presumably sign, and was in a noticeable funk to all those around him. The woman he had the affair with also moved on.

One day in July, Randy goes out on patrol and doesn't return. He leaves a note on his ranger station saying he'll be back. The rangers' radios were notorious for malfunctioning, so no one thought much about it at first when Randy was out of radio communication. But after 4 days, they organized an intensive search-and-rescue operation. After a thorough search involving dozens of rangers trained in searching, K-9 and helicopter searches of a vast amount of country, nothing turned up. No clues, nothing. Randy, who lived by the philosophy of preserving nature and not leaving a trace of oneself on it, was gone. Theories abounded that he'd done himself in, took off to Mexico, or perhaps was out there in the woods, injured.

Randy was a highly skilled hiker, extensively knew the country in which he was paid to patrol, and had a knack for finding injured or stranded hikers. That he would get himself into a life-threatening situation seemed unlikely to those who knew him best who were part of the search for him. Blehm plays to this theory. He includes others' accounts/corroborations of evidence of Randy's less than enthusiastic mental status the summer of his disappearance. The fact that Randy had written, at one point in his diaries, that "The least I owe these mountains is a body" seems prescient, foreboding.

So you read on, wanting to find out what became of Randy. And here's where this adventure tale seems to lag. The book is interesting, but parts of it (some of the myriad minute details) seem to stretch on unnecessarily.

A New York Times review questioned whether the tale had any legs beyond a magazine article. That's gotta smart for Blehm, a former editor of Transworld SNOWboarding magazine, who had written two books before this one: One about snowboarding ("P3: Pipes, Parks, and Powder") and one about a business ("Agents of Change: The Story of DC Shoes and Its Athletes"). "The Last Season" seems to be on a whole other intellectual level for Blehm, however.

Blehm's strength is in telling and interesting tale and completing the in-depth research he did to back it up. It may be his folly that it was not more throroughly edited.

Thatwithstanding, I enjoyed the descriptions of Randy's hikes in the backcountry and excerpts from his ranger logs and diaries. Blehm's descriptions of the beautiful isolated valleys and meadows Randy loved make you want to hop the nearest plane and go exploring there.

In addition to being about Randy Morgenson and what became of him, this book, a winner of the National Outdoor Book Award, is also about what it takes to be a backcountry ranger, a vocation that requires intense training and dedication, long absences from society, little glory, and for which the perks are decidedly not paid in money or respect from the NPS.

Blehm's book is a good summer read that will keep you up past your bedtime and will serve as a call to the wild for those of us currently camped in suburbia.

I will not spoil the book's ending by telling you the outcome.

Notably, Blehm is at work on a new book "The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan," which is due to be released in November 2009. I would expect nothing less than a riveting true adventure tale that is meticulously researched.

Thanks to Mercury Online Editor Eileen Faust, who has a yen for travel/adventure writing, for the loan of her paperback version.

A long wait for my BFF

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:47:00 +0000

I just became the 124th Montgomery County resident to request Jennifer Weiner's latest novel, "Best Friends Forever," from the library system.

I'm a fan of Weiner's work, and am fascinated by the fact that she got her start at my hometown paper, The Centre Daily Times, then worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer and is now a wildly successful novelist. Pie in the sky? Perhaps not.

So I tried to persuade Simon and Shuster to mail me a free "review" copy of the book, which is just out this month. No dice. No. 124 it is.

Below is the Associated Press review of the book (the reporter didn't like it so much).

It might be some time before I can write my own...

'Best Friends Forever' - not Weiner's best book

By ALICIA RANCILIO

Associated Press Writer

"Best Friends Forever" (Simon & Schuster, 368 pages, $26.99), by Jennifer Weiner: Addie Downs and Valerie Adler became BFFs when they were both 9. Then something happened. And, as it goes with so many best friends, it was TTYN — talk to you never.

Jennifer Weiner introduces us to the lonely, single Addie in her newest exploration of women, friendship, relationships and the random emotions of life in "Best Friends Forever."

Addie, who lives in her parents' house and takes care of her damaged brother, searches for love on the Internet. Then, she gets an unexpected late night visit from her former childhood friend, Valerie, who needs Addie's help because Valerie may have seriously injured a former school classmate at their high school reunion. Unlike Addie, Valerie has built a successful career as a TV weather reporter.

Addie's parents have both died and her brother has a brain injury. She was very overweight until recently. (Weight, a problem that has challenged the author, is a recurring theme in Weiner's books from her very first, "Good in Bed.") Addie was made fun of so much as a child that she's isolated herself as an adult.

Weiner knows how to create characters that make you care about them. She mastered this from the get-go with "Good in Bed." There, lead character, Cannie Shapiro, was so likable she made a cameo in Weiner's second book as a wink to readers. And last year, Weiner published a sequel to Cannie's story called, "Certain Girls."

Addie Downs is similar to Cannie Shapiro in that she's got self-esteem issues and you want her to be OK. Valerie Adler is just the opposite: She's self-absorbed, flighty and where she's intended to be quirky she's annoying.

Once back in Addie's life, the two women leave town to figure out what happened. They again elevate each other to best friend status in a way that feels superficial, insincere and silly. Meanwhile, a detective investigating the case pieces together details about Addie's life and finds himself falling for her.

The book leaves you feeling as though Weiner thought her first draft was too long so she highlighted random chunks of detail and hit the delete button. There are conclusions that seem unnatural and poorly developed secondary characters, such as police officers investigating the case who seem unnecessary.

While Weiner's writing has heart, it falls flat and doesn't measure up to her previous works. She can do better. Much better.

Sadly, the plot doesn't pull you in the way "Good in Bed" and "In Her Shoes" do, and one endearing character can't save the story.

A Walk in the Woods

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:23:00 +0000

I'm penning this review of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail" (Broadway Books, 1998, $13.95, 302 pp.), for the benefit of, I believe, the only person who reads my blog, my friend Evan.

I started the book, a New York Times Bestseller, about a month ago. It was suggested by and loaned to me by my boss, the well read Nancy March, and recommended by her and Evan, to whom the moniker well read would be a vast understatement (the man just posted 100+ books on his Goodreads account, within about 20 minutes of opening it...).

It won't surprise you, after this introduction from The Mercury's editorial big hitters, that Bryson was a longtime newspaperman in both the U.S. and the U.K. and is the author of several travel memoirs and books on language.

He has an easy way with language that draws you in and makes you a part of the moment, so that in the course of reading his adventure, you're sitting around a campfire with him on the Appalachian trail, sharing his fear of bears and mountain lions and such, or freezing your ass off in a dilapidated shelter during a partcularly slow-to-start spring in Georgia.

This may shock those of you who know me, but I have never been much of a camper (apart from a truly wonderful week-long stay on Assateaugue Island, Md., circa 1989, complete with giant mosquitoes and cold showers), though I do enjoy a day hike now and then. But hiking the Appalachian Trail is the stuff of legends and dreams. Wouldn't it be great to have six months free to take on that challenge?

Bryson did just that, for the sake of curiosity and art (writing the book) and proving something to himself. Not a born camper, either, Bryson got himself outfitted for the momentous undertaking, recruited a friend, the enigmatic and curmudgeonly Stephen Katz, to join him on his journey, and got himself to Springer Mountain, Georgia, early one spring.

Bryson and Katz embarked with the intention of hiking the entire AT, from Georgia to Maine -- a trip of about 2,100 miles. Their struggles and triumphs, the people they meet and the misadventures they have -- and Bryson's laugh-inducing retelling -- make the book a sheer delight. Aside from being a travel tale, Bryson includes a lot of history of the trail, the good and the bad of the National Park Service, the towns, wildlife, unsolved murders along the trail, what kind of food to bring with you (they breakfasted on raisins a lot, and ate lots of noodles...?).

One passage describes a group of hikers the two encounter while they are getting ready to camp on a nasty, rainy day in a trailside shelter in Shenandoah National Park:

"At about five o'clock, just to make our day complete, a group of six noisy people arrived, three men and three women, drest in the most preposterously Ralph Lauren-style hiking clothes - safari jackets and broad-brimme canvas hats and suede hiking boots. These were clothes for sauntering along the veranda at Mackinac or perhaps going on a jeep safari, but patently not for hiking. One of the women, arriving a few paces behind the others and walking through the mud as if it were radioactive, peered into the shelter at me and Katz and said with undisguised distaste, 'Ooh, do we have to share?'"

After this pack of fashionable hikers crams into and pretty much takes over the shelter, Katz and Bryson opt to leave and pitch a tent in the horrid weather rather than endure a night with a buch of pains-in-the-asses.

"We pitched our tens about thirty yards away -- not an easy or enjoyable process in the driving rain, believe me -- and climbed in."

The next day they packed up and left while their new acquaintances were still asleep. AFter they were out of sight of the camp, Katz says.

"You know that woman who said 'Ooh, do we have to share?' and shoved our clothes to the end of the clothesline?... Well, I'm not real proud of this. I want you to understand that. But when I went to get my shirt, I noticed her boots were right by the edge of the platform and, well, I did something kind of bad."

"What?" Bryson asked. And then Katz opens up his hand and there were two suede shoelaces. Then he beamed -- a big, winning beam -- and stuck them in his pocket and walked on.

Sometimes Katz is such a character, we forget he's actually a real fellow. He's a nice, if burly and crude, foil to Bryson's Everyman.

When the two decide to take a month-long break from the trail, because it's hard, because they miss civilization -- basically, because they need a break, I was kind of disappointed yet I could completely understand and relate. I don't think I could do the 2,100 entirety of the trail, not with my knees, or what's left of them, my fear of bears, especially since watching the documentary "Grizzly Man," and my lack of fondness for crazed hillbillies, giant insects, blisters and raisins for breakfast. But I was glad their adventures continued when they got back on the Trail a few weeks later in Maine's Hundred Mile Wilderness.

But before they do that, Bryson does some solo day trips though good old PA, which is home to 230 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

"I never met a hiker with a good word to say about the trail in Pennsylvania," Bryson writes. The trail is rocky in the Keystone state. Very rocky. And does not, apparently, traverse the most scenic mountain ranges. "Lots of people leave Pennsylvania limping and bruised. The state also has what are reputed to be the meanest rattlesnakes anywhere along the trail, and the most unreliable water sources, particularly in high summer."

He also makes stops in Centralia, a town that's been on fire for nearly 50 years, and where I have not visited but am nonetheless fascinated by; and Palmerton, site of my beloved ski destination, Blue Mountain, and also of some mean hillbillies, according to Bryson.

After spending four days in Pennsylvania, walking just 11 miles of the trail, Bryson moved on to the Delaware Water Gap. By his description, I wanted to put the book down and go there tout de suite. There, in the state of New Jersey, which, according to Bryson knows how to maintain a trail that's not just a bunch of rocks like its western neighbor, are several worthwhile sites. These include a 41-acre mountaintop pond, formed by glaciers, called Sunfish Pond that's surrounded by trees, is secluded and "flawless."

All told, Bryson manages to log 870 miles on the AT -- a feat that he is proud of, yet he still has some regrets.

"I regret that I didn't do (Maine's Mount) Katahdin (though I will, I promise you, I will." I regret that I never saw a bear or wolf or follwoed the paddling retreat of a giant hellbender salamander, never shooed away a bobcat or sidestepped a rattlesnake, never flushed a startled boar. I wish that just once I had truly stared death in the face (briefly, with a written assurance of survival). But I got a great deal else from the experience," he writes. "...I had discovered an America that millions of people scarcely know exists."

And he shared it with us.

Anyone want to go explore the Delaware Water Gap?

How 'bout running your family like you run your business?

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:34:00 +0000

Could your family benefit from being run like a business?

That's the premise behind author Patrick Lencioni's latest, "The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family: A Leadership Fable ... About restoring Sanity to the Most Important Organization in Your Life," (Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint, 2008, $24.95, 208 pp.) (I favorably reviewed Lencioni's book "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job" in January 2008 -- check that review out here.)

While this book is labeled in the "family & relationship/parenting" category, it certainly doesn't hurt to look at it from a business perspective.

Much as he did in "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job," Lencioni uses a simple tale to communicate what might be to some a complicated business concept -- or in this case, an idea for improving family time.

A father of four and business consultant/bestselling author who's often on the road, Lencioni said he tested out his model in his own home. After all, if your family is the most important organization in your life, why wouldn't a business executive apply the tools they use at work to improve the way his/her family functions?

"Family chaos is just a part of life, and so we accept levels of confusion and disorganization and craziness at home that we would not tolerate at work," Lencioni states in the book's introduction. Less chaos, for most families, including a few extremely busy young families I know, would be good.

Lencioni said he and his wife have found benefits to applying a few simple strategic concepts to managing his own family.

"The vast majority of families I know - including my own - wold admit that one or more of the following adjectives apply to them: reactive, scattered, frantic chaotic, stressed," he writes. "And if you were to ask them if they were living their lives with the sense of purpose and intentionality that they want, every last one of them would look at you like you were mocking them and say 'Are you kidding?'"

And so Lencioni has come up with this easy-to-understand fable about a couple who are struggling to keep on top of three kids, school and church obligations, sports and other extracurriculars, and simply finding time to hang out as a family.

The book opens with a frustrated husband, Jude making the following (rather loaded) statement to his stay-at-home wife, Theresa: "If my clients ran their companies the way we run this family, they'd be out of business!" After taking some time to get over her initial indignation, the wife proceeds to investigate that claim.

It all boils down to these three questions a family can live by to restore sanity and clarity. I'll tell you the questions, but it will be in very simplistic and out-of-context form. They're better illustrated by reading this little fable, which you could easily do in a night or two (no matter how busy you are).

1) What makes your family unique? Basically, what makes you you and differentiates you from everyone else on the block.

2) What's your family's top priority (aka rallying cry) right now? That would be your main goal over the next 2 to 6 months, and it could be something like carve out more family time or it could be something like moving to a bigger house. It's the main thing that drives you as a family at this time.

3) How do you talk about and use the answers to these questions? What are you doing to implement the first two questions. Holding weekly family meetings? Keeping a spreadsheet?

How did Theresa and Jude answer these questions and implement the answers? They're "rallying cry" was to spend more time together as a family. That meant Theresa had to said no to taking on a time-consuming post at church. Jude and Theresa decided to cut back on their kids' extracurriculars. They cut back on social activities as well as TV-watching. They made family vacations a priority. And, lastly, Jude decided to cut back in his business travel for the overall benefit of the family.

Then they met weekly for 10 minutes to keep up with it all and adjust as needed. They kept a whiteboard in the kitchen as a reminder of the "rallying cry" and what was needed to achieve it. And, lo and behold, it worked. And they were on to their next "rallying cry," which had to do with helping one of their kids with an attention deficit.

To further illustrate the concept, Lencioni goes through several other "families" and their experiences with the "three big questions." He also notes that his own family is far from picture perfect:

"Well, I have to tell you that the Lencioni family continues to experience its fair share of stress, and we don't expect that to go away anytime soon. But I am glad to report that by answering the questions laid out here, we have begun to channel that stress in a general direction and obtain a sense of progress," he writes.

A good deal of chaos remains, he admits, but "we're being more purposeful now about which chaos to tolerate and which to squash."

I really like his wife's comment at the end of the book:

"When something is part of a bigger goal that I know we're going to be talking about every week, it's harder for me to let it get pushed aside by those pesky, tactical, and artificially urgent things that distract us from what really matters. Now I can let some things go that I would have felt guilty about ignoring in the past when everything was equally important."

Working together toward a pre-determined common goal: Not a novel concept, but one that might help some stressed out family-type folks I know.

Summer reading

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:51:00 +0000

We don't get sent home with summer reading lists anymore. But if you're like me, you have a running list all year round.

Well, it's always a hoot to see what other people are reading, which is why I joined the booklovers' site Goodreads.com a few years ago (want to be my Goodreads reading buddy, click here) at the urging of my friend Sarah.

Here is a list of what some Philadelphia-area authors have on their summer reading lists by Philadelphia Literary Scene Examiner Kathye Petrie: Philadelphia authors talk about their summer reading.

My summer reading list, which is evolving and is largely based on a) what books my well-read sister in Colorado sends me and b)what books people bring into work and recommend, currently includes "The Gathering" by Anne Enright, and "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown (to be read before I see the movie).

I just finished "A Walk in the Woods," by Bill Bryson, which made me not only want to find some way to become a better, funnier writer, but also to hop on the Appalachian Trail as soon as possible and see a little bit of the sites he was talking about. Except for the incessant rain, blisters and body odor and lack of food other than raisins and Snickers.

Hmmm. I may be headed to the Delaware Water Gap this weekend...

Philly book-signing event this saturday

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Acclaimed chef Marc Vetri, a James Beard Award winner, will be stopping at the Anthropologie store in his hometown of Philadelphia for a special book signing this Saturday, June 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Customers will have a chance to chat with Vetri about recipes, techniques and his debut cookbook, Il Viaggio di Vetri (Ten Speed Press, 2008). The book was co-authored by David Joachim and features photographs by Douglas Takeshi Wolfe.

Anthropologie is located at 1801 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.

Vetri is the owner of Philadelphia restaurants Vetri and Osteria.

Vetri is known for his rustic Italian cooking. This from Osteria's website: "Trained in Bergamo, Italy, by some of the region's most noted chefs, Marc Vetri brings a bold, contemporary sensibility to classic Italian cooking. Within two years of opening his eponymous Philadelphia restaurant, Vetri was named one of Food & Wine’s Ten Best New Chefs and received the Philadelphia Inquirer's highest restaurant rating. In 2005, Vetri won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef Mid-Atlantic."

Too bad he won't be cooking...

Three more new biz books that I haven't read

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:41:00 +0000

I don't know anyone who still uses a "live for today" attitude when it comes to finance.

Heck, I even, after mulling it over for about 30 min., put back a cute purse in T.J. Maxx the other day and decided to just go home and use one of the thousand other purses I already have (How's that for thrift?). Why did I have this moment of wallet consciousness? Because the $49.99 I could've laid down on that accessory will buy a few days of meals. And I think more about every single purchase I make now than I did, say, a couple of years ago, before my retirement savings got cut in half just like everyone else's ... But enough about me!

These three books, reviewed in brief by The Associated Press Personal Finance Team, take a look at a new attitude toward wealth.

Bookshelf: Is the richest man in town thrifty?

By The AP Personal Finance Team

The "live for today" attitude that helped run up credit card balances and drive down savings accounts is getting a new look these days as Americans struggle through the recession.
Two new book releases present arguments about how to change that attitude, while one offers insight into the tactics wealthy people across the country used to reach their goals.
__________
TITLE: Whatever Happened to Thrift: Why Americans Don't Save and What to Do About It
AUTHOR: Ronald T. Wilcox
PUBLISHER: Yale University Press
PRICE: $20 (paperback)
SUMMARY: Wilcox, a business professor at the University of Virginia, examines the rational and irrational reasons underlying Americans' failure to adequately save, particularly among the poor. Coming amid a recession, the book isn't uplifting — it shows how many of us are ill-prepared to support ourselves in retirement. Wilcox also demonstrates that our shortcomings pose national challenges, arguing that savings are essential to economic growth. Rather then dwelling solely on doom and gloom, Wilcox offers public policy proposals to encourage thrift, as well as tips for boosting household savings. He also presents suggestions for corporate executives to improve employee savings plans. And while he argues the credit card industry and corporate America share plenty of blame for our collective savings failures, he advises to look at ourselves first.
QUOTE: "Truthfully, we are at the root of the problem; for the most part, it is not the companies, the government, or some evil spirit that possesses us and causes us to spend too much. We are just fallible human beings operating in the world we live in as Americans."
— Mark Jewell
__________
TITLE: The Elephant in the Room: Sharing the Secrets for Pursuing Real Financial Success
AUTHOR: Barry Bridger
PUBLISHER: Wiley
PRICE: $19.95 (hardcover)
SUMMARY: Bridger takes an unusual approach by creating a fictional narrative involving a man named Michael Davidson and his wife, Jennifer, talking with his wise, prosperous aunt about their financial troubles. This short book details the characteristics needed for financial security.
Unlike most personal finance books, there are no charts, graphs or worksheets, and no specific advice for budgeting, money management or paying down debt. Rather, the author focuses on the attitudes, values and behaviors needed to transform a financial life from month-to-month anxiety to well-planned security.
Bridger's aim is to get readers thinking beyond the numbers and focusing on their goals, and to understand that the key is not how much they earn, but how they spend it.
QUOTE: "Everything we do affects the way we earn money, save money and spend money. Everything we believe and feel affects the way we act. Those behaviors, the way we act, the things we do, affect our financial future."
— Eileen AJ Connelly
__________
TITLE: The Richest Man In Town: The Twelve Commandments of Wealth
AUTHOR: W. Randall Jones
PUBLISHER: Business Plus, an imprint of Hatchette Book Group
PRICE: $25.95 (hardcover)
SUMMARY: Worth magazine founder Randy Jones set out to learn the secret to becoming rich. So he interviewed 100 self-made business people prominent in communities large and small across the U.S.
Some, such as Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Carl Icahn, are well known, while others are not quite household names. But Jones found they all share certain traits.
Jones uses an easy-to-read style to present those traits as 12 commandments readers should follow to build their own fortunes. Sprinkling in quotes and insights from his interview subjects, philosophers and famous writers, he directs readers to do things like "Get addicted to ambition" and "Moor yourself to morals," and above all, not to pursue money for the sake of money.
Borrowing his title from the toast at the end of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," he maintains that a rich life is one that includes personal fulfillment and contributing real value to the world, not just the accumulation of dollars.
QUOTE: "There are people who have loads of money, and there are people who are rich. There is a decided difference between them."
—Eileen AJ Connelly

Josh The Baby Otter

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:06:00 +0000

It's not often ... OK, it's never happened before ... that someone sends me a children's book to review. So when "Josh The Baby Otter: A tale promoting water safety for children" by Blake Collingsworth, and adorably illustrated by Ashley Spitsnogle, arrived in the mail, I didn't want to just ignore it.

"Josh The Baby Otter" (published by Blake Collingsworth, 2009, $8.95) is the tale of, well, a baby otter named Josh who is urged by his mommy otter to learn to float before he can go off and swim with his buddies. And, young Josh is told by his mom, he must never, EVER, swim alone.

"It's time we started talking to children about the dangers of water. Yes, water is fun, but ONLY WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER," the author writes on a release that accompanied the book.

The book includes a sing-a-long CD, along with words and music, to a song called "Learn to Float" that hammers the message home.

At the end of the tiny little book is when you learn that it's dedicated to the author's son, Josh, who died at the age of 2 and a half in the family's backyard pool, presumably trying to fill his water gun. The family's mission is to spread the news that drowning is the No. 1 cause of death to kids ages 1 to 4. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to drowning prevention education, instruction and the development of new innovative safety equipment through the Joshua Collingsworth memorial Foundation (http://www.joshuamemorial.org/).

It is obviously a labor of love and tragic loss. The book is dedicated to Joshua Collingsworth, with a small photo of the gorgeous toddler on the dedication page, and the back cover includes a photo and memorium.

My hesitation is that the book, however inviting with cute otters throughout, will scare the bejesus out of young children. I would like to pass this along to three of my nieces, ages 3, 7 and 9, who love all creatures furry, enjoy singing along of any type and continue to excel at their swimming lessons, but am concerned the oldest two will fixate on the child and his tragic death.

I feel for the author and his family. They have obviously been through hell. Maybe a little bit of scary is worth a whole lot of caution.

I will give the book the ultimate test of sending it to my sister. She will know within seconds whether she feels it is acceptable to be passed along to the girls.

Notably, the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation has, as of May 1, donated a copy of this book to every elementary school in the Collingsworths' home state of Nebraska with a "plea to teachers and administrators to please read this book and talk to your young students before school recesses for the summer break."

Three new biz books I haven't read

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:35:00 +0000

The reviewing, and even the pleasure reading, has been slow-going lately. In typical fashion I have about 4 books going, strewn about my bedroom floor, but none of them has really caught my full attention yet.

So, if I'm not reading (finishing) many books, not watching TV, have cut back on my movie habit and haven't mowed my lawn in days (weeks? Sorry, neighbors), what could I possibly be doing with my time?

One word: Facebook. Aka the time-suck where I run into old pals and stay up into the wee hours.

It's also the time of year: I can stay out later neglecting my lawn and not buying the tomato plants I need to buy.

Below are three new business books the AP has taken the time to capsulize. I guess the "personal finance team" is not too busy friending their former elementary school best friends to review some books... (P.S. You are looking at The Mercury's "personal finance team.")

Bookshelf: Things they won't tell you
The AP Personal Finance Team

"It all sounds good, but what aren't they telling me?" As a consumer that's a question you might ask about your plumber, auto mechanic or any other service-provider. If you're intrigued, that's the concept behind the new compilation of SmartMoney's collection of its regular "10 Things They Won't Tell You" feature.

While investors with a bit of an appetite for risk may want to learn more about emerging markets in Riches Among the Ruins. These are just a few of new personal finance titles that might help you sort out your money questions.

_____________________

TITLE: 1,001 Things They Won't Tell You: An Insider's Guide to Spending, Saving, and Living Wisely

AUTHOR: Jonathan Dahl and the editors of SmartMoney, The Wall Street Journal magazine

PUBLISHER: Workman Publishing

PRICE: $16.95 (paperback)

SUMMARY: If you're a fan of lists, you're in for a treat. This book compiles 100 updated installments of SmartMoney's popular monthly feature, "10 Things They Won't Tell You" into more than 500 pages.

The lists are intended to give readers an insider look into a variety of topics, such as using ticket brokers and going to the eye doctor. The book is divided into chapters such as family, education, home, food and drink, and health.

The lists often impart interesting research and are written in a playful tone that make them fun to flip through, if not carefully study. Under "Alternative Healers," for instance, categories include, "I'm not a doctor but I play one in my office" and "Hypochondriacs are my specialty."

Topics aren't always obviously related to personal finance, such as the lists on campus security and yoga instructors. But the implications for the consumer are always kept in mind. As Dahl writes in the introduction, "Who doesn't love a list?"

QUOTE: "It's what you aren't told by the experts that is almost as important as what they do say."

__________

TITLE: Riches Among the Ruins: Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy

AUTHOR: Robert P. Smith

PUBLISHER: AMACOM

PRICE: $24.95 (hardcover)

SUMMARY: If you think playing the markets in the U.S. isn't for the faint of heart, try trading in the debt of emerging market governments. Fortunes can be made or lost on an overnight currency fluctuation, corruption, or an outbreak of disease — think Mexico and swine flu.

Robert P. Smith is an American who has made and lost tens of millions of dollars trading debt in downtrodden economies. He started in the late 1970s, when such deals were virtually nonexistent. In "Riches Among the Ruins," Smith recounts adventures such as ducking shakedown artists in Nigeria, and racing through the streets of Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein. In post-communist Russia, he lost more than $15 million in a single day when the ruble collapsed.

Beyond the war stories, Smith offers lessons relevant for U.S. investors seeking opportunity overseas. Smith also shares his take on the importance of narrowing the gap between rich and poor; the U.S. role in the global economy; and an increasingly integrated world trade system.

QUOTE: "At the end of the day, a country has to rescue itself, because outside sources — the IMF, the World Bank, investment banks, and other nations — often have secondary motives that may not align with the country's national interest."

__________

TITLE: Bank on Yourself

AUTHOR: Pamela Yellen

PUBLISHER: Vanguard Press

PRICE: $25.95 (hardcover)

SUMMARY: Former financial consultant Pamela Yellen maintains that you can't rely on mutual funds, stocks or real estate to provide long-term financial security. She says you can buy cars, fund your child's college, take vacations and make major purchases by using her "Spend and Grow Wealthy" program, which she promises will also enable you to fund your retirement nest egg.

Her secret is a dividend-paying whole life insurance policy offered by a handful of companies, plus a "paid up additions rider." After paying premiums for a few years, the policy is used to fund loans to yourself. You then pay back those loans, with the interest you would have paid to banks or credit card companies, helping to build up your reserves.

The book is filled with anecdotes and personal stories of people who have used the plan. But there are few worksheets or specific details on exactly how it works, and Yellen warns readers that discussing the plan with most finance or insurance professionals will yield criticisms of her advice, because they are not trained in the specialized program. Throughout the book there are references to the related Web site, www.bankonyourself.com, which is where readers are directed to go for a referral to a "Bank on Yourself Certified Advisor."

QUOTE: "Your retirement plan investments are typically subject to market risk and volatility. However, your principal in a B.O.Y. plan won't vanish due to a stock or real estate market correction. And your growth, as soon as it's credited to your plan, is locked in."

Author to speak at Valley Forge park May 21

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:13:00 +0000

Book event in our area...and it's in the gorgeous Valley Forge Park. (Click here to read my recent post about another book that involves the park). What could be better? (Well, if it wasn't happening at 4 p.m. on a workday...) But for those of you who can go, enjoy a little historial fiction.

Below is from the press release sent by Valley Forge:

Best-Selling Author Ray Raphael to speak at Valley Forge National Park

VALLEY FORGE – Renowned author, Ray Raphael, launches his newest book, “Founders: The People Who Brought You a Nation” with a lecture at Valley Forge National Historical Park next Thursday, May 21, at 4:00 p.m.

Raphael examines how to call back a distant time, to view it more fully and accurately. “The reality of our nation’s founding has narrowed in the decades and centuries since. Actual events have been simplified, and the truth diminished,” says Raphael.

In this new book, Raphael examines seven lead characters:

General George Washington
Joseph Plumb Martin, a private in his army
Mercy Otis Warren, the most political woman of the Revolutionary generation
Robert Morris, the most powerful civilian in Revolutionary America who was strangely forgotten
Timothy Bigelow, a small-town blacksmith who helped engineer the first overthrow of British authority in 1774
Henry Laurens, South Carolina’s most unlikely rebel
Thomas Young, a country doctor turned revolutionary

Using each of these unique stories, Raphael leapfrogs past centuries of mythology and filtrations of the historical record to explore the American Revolution as it was known by those who lived it. His previous award-winning works include “A People’s History of the American Revolution,” “The First Revolution – Before Lexington and Concord,” and “Founding Myths.”

Copies of “Founders” will be available for sale in the Encampment Store. The author will be available to sign copies after the lecture. This free, public event is sponsored by Valley Forge National Historical Park, The Friends of Valley Forge Park, The Encampment Store at Valley Forge and The New Press. Call 610-783-1006 or e-mail maher@valleyforge.org for more information or to register.

Idlewild Books

mkaras@pottsmerc.com (Michelle Karas) — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Associated Press article about a cool Manhattan bookstore that I, a self-confessed bookstore addict, would love to visit:

Click here.

Or copy and paste: http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2009/05/15/business/doc4a0c1f65afc0a130790777.txt