2010 August - Better World Books Blog - Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Community Outreach & more

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Better World Books Podcast: Eric Jerome Dickey

Posted by Dana on 08.31.2010 at 3:24 pm

NY Times Bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey and I are kindred spirits. While I am not a NY Times Bestselling author, we both started out in IT and ended up in books and we both had stops along the way that included acting and stand-up comedy. A couple of years ago I actually interviewed Eric on the phone for the radio show I was doing at the time, but this was the first time I was going to meet Eric in person, so I was pretty excited to meet him.

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And I was not the only one. Eric had some adoring fans in our office who were happy to get to meet him too (and unhappy with me – because I gave them no advance warning so they didn’t have their books with them to get an autograph!)

From Left: Kimeke Armstrong, Eric Jerome Dickey and Curtis Hoosier

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, Author Podcast, Curtis Hoosier, dana barrett, Eric Jerome Dickey, Kimeke Armstrong, Tempted by Trouble

BWB @Lilith: Up close and personal with Sarah McLachlan

Posted by admin on 08.27.2010 at 7:30 am

While on tour this summer with Lilith – everyone got to know everyone quite well. We spent many days in our [i4c] Campaign tent with Pema Teeter from Alter-Eco Fair Trade and Organic Foods. Pema had the amazing opportunity to sit down and chat with Lilith founder Sarah McLachlan about life and music and giving back. Enjoy!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Stay tuned for the rest of the interview… coming soon!

Have your say » | Tagged Company News, Our Partners, Alter-Eco, Lilith i4c Campaign, Pema Teeter, Sarah McLachlan

Women’s Equality Day 2010

Posted by admin on 08.26.2010 at 7:30 am

Here at Better World Books we’re celebrating Women’s Equality Day 2010 and the 90th anniversary of 19th amendment which gave women in the US the right to vote. Enjoy this list of books by and about powerful women. You may love ‘em, you may hate ‘em – but either way, you’ve got to admit they’ve each changed the political landscape in their own way!

Notes from the Cracked Ceiling by Anne E. Kornblut

Pearls, Politics and Power by Madeleine Kunin

Bella Azbug by Suzanne Braun Levine

A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Carl Bernstein

Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box by Madeleine Albright

Condi: The Life of a Steel Magnolia by Mary Beth Brown

Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized

BWB @Lilith: Get to know Worldfund

Posted by admin on 08.25.2010 at 7:29 am

Meet Luanne Zurlo, president of Worldfund one of our premier literacy partners. Our Lilith tour guru Abbey Frick sat down for a chat with Luanne at the Boston show to talk about how Worldfund got started and what it’s all about.

Have your say » | Tagged Our Partners, Abbey Frick, Liltih, luanne zurlo, worldfund

Top 10 Books for Sending the Little Ones Off to School

Posted by admin on 08.23.2010 at 11:42 am

Not sure who the first day of school is harder for… Mom or the little ones, but if your little one has the “school is scaries” here’s a list of books to help them board the big yellow bus:

The Berenstain Bears Go to School by Stan & Jan Berenstain
The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily Ordinary First Day of School by Albert Lorenz
Junie B., First Grader (at Last!) by Barbara Park
If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff
First Day Jitters by Julie Dannenberg
First Grade Stinks! by Mary Ann Rodman
Miss Mingo and the First Day of School by Jamie Harper
On My Very First Day of School I Met… by Norman Stiles
I Love You All Day Long by Francesca Rusackas
Maisy Goes to Preschool by Lucy Cousins

2 Comments » | Tagged Uncategorized

Can’t find time to read the classics? How ’bout listening to them?

Posted by Dana on 08.19.2010 at 9:25 am

When was the last time you read a classic? If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a list of classics you’ve been meaning to read. Maybe you read the Cliff Notes in high school or skimmed Proust in college or maybe you’ve just been meaning to get around to WAR AND PEACE one of these days.

I’ve got a list longer than my arm of books I plan to read… yet somehow I can’t quite get to the classics. Alas, as it turns out, I have plenty of time in the car. So I finally decided to tackle a classic audio style – and I’m glad I did! At the moment I’m about 1/5th of the way through Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED and I’m totally into it. Kind of don’t want to get out of the car when I get to my destination.

If the idea of listening doesn’t seem as pure to as reading, well, I totally understand that… but if you weren’t going to get around to it for another 10 years anyway, audio is a great alternative.

Here are a couple you may not have realized you could get your hands on: Read more…

2 Comments » | Tagged Book Lists, Atlas Shrugged, Audiobooks, Ayn Rand, Classics, Fahrenheit 451, Harper Lee, Jeremy Irons, Leo Tolstoy, Lolita, Ray Bradbury, Sissy Spacek, To Kill a Mockingbird, Vladimir Nabokov, War and Peace

Where there’s a book, there’s a way…

Posted by admin on 08.13.2010 at 12:19 pm

Books Help Change Lives in Somaliland

About a year ago our co-founder Xavier Helgesen was reading the New York Times as he often does and came across a story by reporter Nicholas Kristof that he could not ignore. It was a pretty powerful piece about the severe lack of maternal and child health care in many parts of the world and one woman who was working to change that in the breakaway Somaliland region of Somalia in East Africa.

Her name is Edna Adan Ismail and she is an incredible woman who chose not to retire but instead to work tirelessly to save and improve the lives of women and children. After a successful career working for the World Health Organization, Ms. Edna used her pension and sold her Mercedes to build the The Edna Adan Maternity and Teaching Hospital in Hargeisa, Somaliland where she works every day doing everything from delivering babies to teaching to rounding up surgical masks and supplies.

While this may seem impressive, it is even more impressive to note that Ms. Edna was the first midwife in Somaliland and that she was determined that there be more. She was just unable to accept conditions in which the most dangerous thing a woman could do was to get pregnant.

As Xavier read the story of Ms. Edna and her teaching hospital and her strength and will, he knew Better World Books had to get involved and do something to help.

And where there’s a book, there’s a way. We had the books and Ms. Edna had a teaching hospital that he was sure could benefit from having them. Now to make the connection and figure out the logistics. Read more…

7 Comments » | Tagged Company News, Impact, Our Partners, Edna Adan Maternity and Teacing Hospital, Healthcare, Nicholas Kristof, Somaliland, Xavier Helgesen

Top 10 Reasons ‘Back to School’ Time is Awesome

Posted by admin on 08.12.2010 at 9:16 am

Okay, okay I know for many kids (and parents) the end of the summer can be a downer. Time to trade your scuba gear for a protractor and pencil and get on the big yellow bus back to school (or drive yourself to campus – but stay with me). But there is cause for celebration this time of year as well – and if you can’t quite get your head around why, I’m here to help with the Top 10 Reasons ‘Back to School’ Time is Awesome list:

It’s hard to get sand kicked in your face in a classroom.
Fall = Football.
That cutie you had a crush on last year just might be in your algebra class this year.
New clothes and a new backpack. Lookin’ snazzy.
Swimming pools are overrated.
New fall TV lineup. Of course you will study and read books first, but then… Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged Uncategorized

BWB @Lilith: On the Jumbotron

Posted by admin on 08.10.2010 at 4:40 pm

If you were at any of the Lilith tour stops this summer, you may have seen our fearless leader (along with the founders of some of the other i4c companies) on the Jumbotron! Yup… we hit the big time… and the big screen. If you missed it – don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for. Check out the video, learn about the campaign and meet the other i4c companies:

1 Comment » | Tagged Uncategorized

Discussing MENNONITE IN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS

Posted by admin on 08.06.2010 at 4:51 pm

Last night my chapter of the Better World Book Club got together to discuss MENNONITE IN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS at the Whole Foods on Ponce de Leon Ave in Atlanta.

I personally liked the book, but overall the group’s reviews were lukewarm.

The book, a memoir by Rhoda Janzen, is about her returning to her Mennonite family after her husband leaves her for a man he met on gay.com. If that wasn’t enough, she can’t afford the mortgage on her house and she ends up with a nice collection of broken bones from a pretty bad car wreck.

We all agreed that the premise was good, but generally the feeling was that Rhoda didn’t really give us the truth. Either that or she somehow doesn’t feel pain. We enjoyed her humor and loved her Mom, but wondered how she really felt.

She generally seemed pretty nonplussed by things that would’ve sent most women into years of therapy or to the bottom of big box of wine.

And as for the title, though she did go back to her Mennonite family – her Mennonite-ness wasn’t really an issue. Going back didn’t seem to bother her and no one really seemed bothered that she had left the fold in the first place. Janzen did include a really good primer on the religion at the end of the book but we would have liked to have seen more of that woven throughout. And while we’re talking about the title, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a black dress at all. I know I’m being literal here, but I think the point is that what could’ve and maybe should’ve been something like a clash of cultures was more like a dull thud of cultures.

Alas Rhoda really does have impeccable comic timing in her writing along with a biting wit and I really did enjoy getting to know her through the book.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Wondering what the heck the Better World Book Club is? Check it out at http://www.betterworldbooks.com/bookclub. Join us. Next month we’re reading SOUTH OF BROAD by Pat Conroy. (Want 10% off and free shipping, use the code BOOKCLUB10 at checkout and save!)