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Secrets To REALLY Making Money Selling Books!
2008-03-11 22:30:00
If you've read this blog, you'll know that I joined Bookwise a few months ago. Bookwise is a home-based business where, supposedly, members can make money by selling books. It is called the "most intelligent home-based business in the world!" However, I'm going to tell you a secret which the Bookwise people would probably be a little aggravated if they knew I was telling it. I've been a little disillusioned with the whole thing! I love to read, and I wanted to make money selling books! However, it soon became clear that the real intention of Bookwise is to get you to sign up more members... sort of like a pyramid scheme.I loved the idea of selling books so much, though, I was determined to make it work for me. Then I figured out a solution to at least get myself started making money actually selling books! Here's what I did!1.) The way Bookwise works is, each month you have to pay a membership fee of $39.00. But that fee includes your choice of any book, DVD or CD on the site! ...
More About: Selling , Books , Money , Secrets

PostSecret: My Secret, by Frank Warren
2008-03-11 21:13:00
Several years ago, my best friend told me about the website, PostSecret , created by Frank Warren . Frank Warren had originally passed out blank postcards to strangers, as an experiment, asking them to anonymously write down their deepest secrets and send them to him. The experiment exploded, as people everywhere caught onto the idea and started sending in their secrets. It seemed like everyone had a secret, and everyone was relieved to be able to tell their secret to the world, without having to reveal their identity and face the consequences. Frank Warren started posting the artistic postcards on the PostSecret website, and now each week viewers can log on and view the latest secrets. It is quite easy to get addicted to this site!It is also quite easy to get addicted to Frank Warren's books, in which he publishes even more secret postcards, ones that have never made it to the site. The latest one I read, My Secret, is devoted to secrets sent in by high school and college-aged stude...
More About: Postsecret

Creating Moments of Joy, by Joline Brackey
2008-02-20 21:30:00
I used to work in a senior living community, which was recently renovated to include a special wing for people with Alzheimer's and dementia. Before moving to the new wing, the people with Alzheimer's and dementia just lived in the Skilled Nursing wing, where they basically sat around and did nothing all day. Supposedly, in the new wing, their lives would be enhanced with activities!While working at that senior living community, I became very attached to several people with Alzheimer's and Dementia. I couldn't stand the thought of them just sitting around in the Skilled Nursing wing doing nothing all day, and I tried my best to talk to them and engage them whenever I was working. So, I was glad when I read this book, Creating Moments of Joy, which is all about finding ways to allow people with Alzheimer's and Dementia to have the highest quality of life possible.While most of us are able to reflect back on the past, including what we did an hour ago or a week ago, and also look...

Answers To Autism Book Giveaway!
2008-02-18 02:03:00
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Autism Book Giveaway! (Actually, only two people participated, so those two people will each win one of the books!) The winners are Diana B. and Hannah B, from Gather.com.And now, here are the answers! 1. People with autism do not want friends. FALSE! People with autism often want to make friends, but because they have trouble with social skills and language, it can be hard for them to make friends. 2. Every child with autism is actually a genius, like the guy in "Rain Man." FALSE! Many people with autism do have a skill that they are extremely good at. But for someone to be able to do something like, say, drop a box of toothpicks on the floor and count them in one glance, is VERY rare!3. People with autism can feel and express love, although they may not always express it in ways that other people typically do. TRUE! People with autism can definitely feel and express love. Because of sensory issues, some people with autism might not enjoy...
More About: Answers

Two Great Books About Autism! (Plus, a GIVEAWAY!)
2008-02-14 22:34:00
Chances are, you know somebody with autism, know someone who has a child with autism, or have someone with autism in your family.When you have a child with autism, I suppose you learn very quickly what its all about. You want to find out how to best help your child, so you read books, browse websites, join support groups, speak with teachers, go to conferences, and learn everything you can. But what about the rest of us? The neighbors, the aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins, the family friends, the parents of schoolmates? When circumstances haven't forced us to need to learn everything you can about autism, it is easy to be left in the dark. We may look at our friend's eight-year-old with autism and think, "If they would just treat him like a normal kid, he would be fine!" or "they spoil that boy too much," or "Is that child dangerous?" or even "They must not have held him enough when he was a baby."But always remember, knowledge is power, and knowledge also leads to ...
More About: Books , Autism , Great

Finding Grace: The Face of America's Homeless
2008-02-12 22:44:00
Finding Grace is a coffee-table book about homelessness. Photographer Lynn Blodgett has traveled all over the United States, photographing homeless people.A lot of times, when we see homeless people in our community, we avoid looking at them. We may feel uncomfortable, but also, we feel it is rude to stare at people and make them uncomfortable! But how many of us have glanced at a homeless person and thought, "Who is this person?"My perspective is a little different from the perspectives of most people, because I have been homeless. As a teenager and young adult, I spent several years staying in homeless shelters and on the streets. I grew to know many other homeless people very well. Homeless people often create their own communities and makeshift families, while the rest of the world shuts them out. This book allows you to stare right into the faces of homeless men, women and children. You may be surprised by what you see there! Toddlers smile into the camera, mothers and fathers...
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How Your Book Club Can Use Bookwise To Save Money!
2008-02-04 21:32:00
Do you belong to a book club? Book clubs are awesome, but one hard thing about them is making sure that every person in the club is able to acquire and read the book. Often book clubs choose very popular books that are hard to find in libraries... and even if you do find it in the library, you may not be able to keep it long enough to bring it with you to the next book club meeting! I have a simple and convenient solution to this problem. The solution is Bookwise! Here's how it works. 1. One person in your book club joins Bookwise as a Preferred Customer. There is no membership fee, so if you want to do it a different way, all of your members can sign up individually!2. Choose a book that your book club would like to discuss. There are many ways to do this... either at each meeting the whole group can browse Bookwise together to find a book, or individual members can take turns browsing at home and finding a book they'd like everyone to read.3. The person who is a member orders th...
More About: Money , Save Money , Club , Book Club

Between Sundays, by Karen Kingsbury
2008-02-02 02:41:00
I don't usually enjoy reading Christian fiction. Probably because I'm not Christian. But I have to admit, I enjoyed Between Sundays ! It can be considered as a general inspirational novel, as well as a specifically Christian novel.The story follows the lives of four individuals. In the center of the story is eight-year-old Cory. Two years ago, he watched his mother die of pneumonia in front of them. He then went to live with his mother's good friend, Megan, who has dedicated her life to raising him. Cory has never met his father, but when she was alive, his mother told Cory who his father was, and promised the boy would meet him someday. And Cory knows his mother never lies! Megan, Cory's foster mother, wants nothing more than to adopt Cory. A former foster child, she is sure she was put into Cory's mother's life specifically so she could be there to save Cory from growing up in foster care. Megan has made many sacrifices in order to give Cory the best life possible... not easy...
More About: Karen , Kingsbury

Rules, by Cynthia Lord
2008-02-01 00:01:00
This is actually considered a juvenile or young adult book, but because it involves a topic I'm interested in, I decided to read it anyway. And I'm glad I did!Rules is the story of Catherine, a twelve-year-old girl who wants very much to be just like other twelve-year-old girls. She longs to be able to hang out with her friends, go to the mall, and even spend some quality time with her parents. But Catherine isn't exactly like other girls. Although, actually, its her little brother David who's different.Eight-year-old David has autism. Catherine loves her brother, but he often embarrasses her in public... like running through her friends' houses demanding to know if they have a cellar, carrying a red umbrella with him even when its sunny out, and saying what others might think of as nonsense things. To try to make David blend in a little better, Catherine is always giving him rules to follow, such as "When someone says hello to you, you say hello back," and "No toys in the fish...
More About: Lord , Cynthia

The Emergency Teacher, by Christina Asquith
2008-01-31 23:56:00
I posted this review on my children's issues blog, They're All Our Children, but I thought I'd post it here too!I just finished reading The Emergency Teacher , by Christina Asquith. and I think its a book that everyone who cares about children should read... especially people who are, or who aspire to be, teachers.This autobiography is set in a rough neighborhood in Philadelphia, where a severe shortage of teachers has left entire classrooms of children to fend for themselves. The city has devised a plan to staff their schools as quickly as possible. They will allow anyone with any sort of degree to become a teacher, and the people can start teaching right away while taking night classes towards an actual teaching degree.Christina is a twenty-five-year-old reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, who has often reported on the state of schools. When she hears about the opportunity, she decides this is her chance to actually get into a school and make a difference. And so Christina b...

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
2008-01-31 23:54:00
Here is a novel that has practically become a classic, and is being turned into a movie that apparently will come out next year. I have to admit, it is sort of a disturbing story, because it is told from the point of view of a child who is dead.The main character, fourteen-year-old Susie, is lured into a secret “clubhouse” by a neighbor, who then rapes and murders her. From her place in Heaven, Susie watches her family and friends continue their lives, while they try to figure out what happened to her. At first, of course, her family holds onto hope that Susie is just lost, that she is alive somewhere, and that she will return safely to them. But of course Susie is not safe, and as her family comes to terms with it, Susie watches them fall apart.The strangest thing I found about this book is the description of Heaven. When I think of Heaven, I think of it as a joyful place where a person is instantly reunited with his departed loved ones, begins to understand why everything in h...
More About: Bones , Alice , Lovely

Angel Loves To Read!
2008-01-31 23:46:00
My mom claims that I learned to read when I was not even two years old. She says she taught me to read herself, during our long days together when she was a stay-at-home mom cooped up in our little apartment in Chicago. This may very well be true... I don't have any memory of ever not knowing how to read!When I was in kindergarten, my mom had a talk with the school librarian and my teacher, so that when it was the day for my class to visit the school library, I would be taken over to the section with thick books like the Happy Hollisters and the Bobbsey Twins, while the other kids were still looking at the books for beginning readers. When I was in first grade, I was sent to a second grade class for reading groups. By the time I was ten, I was reading the classics!I still love to read, and when I was a kid I often dreamed of opening my own used bookstore. As I got older I decided I wanted to be a special education teacher instead, so I could pass along my passion for reading. I am ...
More About: Angel , Read