Category Archives: books

And the decision is…..

We had our second admitted student day last week at Knox college.  Beautiful campus – small to the eyes of this Big Ten girl, but full of trees, green areas, and old, history-infused buildings.   Stand out moments:

  1. We toured campus and saw the spot where one of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates took place, as well as a chair that Lincoln (and more recently Obama) sat in – available for prospective students to sit in as well.    Very cool piece of history in that.
  2. The library at Knox is my personal idea of heaven.  Large comfortable furniture, wooden paneling and built in bookcases and glass fronted cabinets.  Enough modern conveniences to be useful.  And a special collection of rare books including Carl Sandburg, Ernest Hemingway and F.Scott Fitzgerald.  I want to know if they need a professor of entrepreneurism.
  3. The students are quirky.  In a good way, but clearly, marching to the beat of your own drum is not only accepted but encouraged here.  Clothing styles from early American hippie to modern punk, buttoned-up preppie to relaxed casual – we saw it all, and not in clumps but rather mix and matched.

We were impressed with much of what we heard and saw.  So, we were down to decision time.  Drake or Knox?  Really….no bad choice here.  We felt comfortable with the quality of education and life at either school.

  • While there seems to be somewhat less of a focus on internships at Knox than at Drake, there is a very high focus on interaction between Professors and students.
  • Drake is larger, Knox is closer.
  • Drake is blue, Knox is purple.

Final choice – Knox.  Why?  Just felt right.

Good as any other reason when weighing two equal options.

Smiles.

Lise

 

Spring Cleaning

table

Table of books and containers to go away

I’m not a big one for spring cleaning.

Let’s be real.  I’m not a big one for cleaning, period.   However, several things have come together to make spring cleaning a thing around here this year.

I need to get rid of the moving pod that has been taking up space in my driveway – so I need to sort through everything in there.  And then I need to make a place to put anything I am keeping, so I need to sort and clean out other spaces.  Sandi asked me for a list of all the books I have from my favorite author – so I cleaned out the bookshelves and got rid of 20 or so books (this is a major accomplishment for me….).  And I found a bunch of fun new items at the Housewares show that I want to bring in, but I need space, so I am listing excess inventory on Amazon. (check that out here).

Neat & Tidy bookshelf

Neat & Tidy bookshelf

Now that all said, what it means in practice is that everything is a bit more of a disaster.  While the bookshelves are a thing of beauty, there are several stacks of books waiting for a new home.  There is a stack of stuff to be listed on Amazon or Etsy, stuff waiting for me to sort…..stacks everywhere.   Slowly but surely I am working my way through everything, and that does feel good.

So if you are looking for a deal, check out my Amazon, Etsy or Clearance page – generally there are different things on each page.   I hope you see things you love.  If you see many things you love, I am happy to combine shipping for you.

Now….if only it would FEEL like spring.

Smiles

Lise

 

Books, books, books

I am a serious book geek.   If you have ever met me, that is probably not news.  I read probably 3-4 books a month – sometimes more. And I am all over the map in what I read- science fiction, general business, history, mystery, teen lit, marketing, literature….pretty wide variety.  I love a good chat about a book – and if you have read something esoteric that I have enjoyed, I am tickled beyond belief.

I do both Kindle and paper books.  For years I was a paper book purist, until I found that having 2-3 books on my all the time had some serious benefits (sitting in waiting rooms on short notice….oy!)  So one of the sites I am sharing is print based and one is Kindle based.

l admit to being terrible about getting to the library, as much as I love it.  I find that my universe happens and I am paying large fines for late books.   I am also always looking for recommendations for good books.  So to keep the stream of books and reviews flowing without breaking the bank, I have had to cast a wide net.  I have found some amazing websites that help me with that.   Here are two of my current favorites.

My favorite book site is www.Bookcrossing.com.   I’ve been a bookcrosser for years, at various levels of activity.  The website encourages people to Read, Register and Release books “into the wild” and then track where they go.  I have mailed books across the country and I have left books in assorted public places and had them found and shared by other book lovers.   I keep a wishlist that includes out of print books – and I have had folks send me some of those books.  It is a true community of book lovers.

A new site that I have recently found is OneHundredFreeBooks.com.  I am a new comer to this site, but have found an assortment of free kindle books on this site that I have downloaded and enjoyed a great deal.  I am reading things outside of my usual choices, and having current options dropped into my email box daily is a pleasure.

Going forward, I’ll probably share some of my favorite books as well as book websites – hope that is useful to you!

Smiles!

Lise