Spotlight
I was lucky enough to hear Lee Child speak recently. His Jack Reacher thrillers are my number one guilty pleasure. Nobody writes suspense as well. I have blogged about him before, even wondering aloud which other fictional tough guys could defeat Reacher in a fist fight (answer none). Child's talk was wonderful, engaging and hilarious.
Spotlight
Self-help books have been around for a long time. Readers of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice will remember Mr. Collins reading aloud from Fordyce’s Sermons to Young Women. It was a late 18th and early 19th century book that advises women on how to conduct their lives.
Since then the self-help book industry has grown exponentially. When someone asks me to recommend a self-help book, I try to consider what they are really looking for? Inspiration, healing, self-improvement or general guidance of personal conduct? Here is the way I think about self-help books. First, by the background of the author and second by the focus of the book.
Continue Reading "Help Yourself with these 8 Classic Self-Help Books" →
Spotlight
For about a year now, through Hoopla, the Des Plaines library has offered patrons digital access to more than 300,000 movies, TV shows, music albums, and audiobooks. Now Hoopla has comic books and ebooks too.
Continue Reading "New! Digital Comics Free at Your Library" →
Spotlight
When I was a kid my father would take me on drives in our car. We lived in the suburbs and he would takeme through the seediest places in Chicago, Uptown, Downtown, ghettos on the west and south sides of Chicago. He'd tell me stories about growing up in the city and show me places where notorious crimes took place.
Spotlight
Some traits or habits can be traced relatively easily to one parent or another. Such as a loathing of broccoli or a bent for staying up way too late.
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