About: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits Passion and Purpose by Tony Hsieh is a shortened, graphic version of the famous book by the successful entrepreneur. Tony is the CEO of Zappos, an online shoe seller. 80 pages Publisher: Writers Of The Round Table Press (April 16, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1610660242 My rating for Delivering Happiness – 5 Buy this book in paper format or the full length book in electronic format Thoughts: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits Passion and Purpose by Tony Hsieh is a wonderful graphic adaptation of the book and certainly brings out the main points across. As with many good business books, this one also left me with ideas on how to implement what I learned at my job. Tony is an entrepreneur by blood. He started his own earthworm farm at 9, moved on to newspaper routes and made custom buttons and more. As Tony discovered computers he became a tester for video games, a programmer and worked for Oracle while creating LinkExchange. Tony’s company was sold to Microsoft for $265 million. Always looking for the next great opportunity, Tony started a venture capital company and got involved with Zappos.com. Along the way…

RJ Smith is a journalist and an author. I recently read his wonderful biography of James Brown called The One which I enjoyed very much. I was pleased when he agreed for a short Q&A. Q. You have written several biographies and non-fiction books. How do you decide on the subject? A. I write about stuff to learn about stuff. Researching and then writing gives you a chance to focus your attention on something you are obsessed with and wonder about as you live your life, it lets you peer into other people’s lives and ask questions you would NEVER dream of asking if you were just meeting them at a party or in a line somewhere. You also have to ask the question, Do I want to have this subject living inside me for the next few years or more? If it’s a dark story, you have to consider what you will be living with until you are done. Q. How do you go about starting your research? A. I am big on timelines, writing huge long chronologies that grow like bamboo. I assemble subject folders on people and ideas connected to the topic. I try to read everything,…

About: Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall is a fictional book taking place in an insane asylum during the American Civil War. The lines between insanity and sanity are always blurred and this is especially true during war time. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the form at the end of the post to enter. 288 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 10, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0547712073 My rating for Blue Asylum – 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format. More book by Kathy Hepinstall Thoughts: Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall (website | blog) is a solid story which blurs the lines between what’s real & imaginary, sane & insane and right and wrong. The novel is short and fast paced with clear writing and excellent characterization. I could vividly see the characters, scenery and settings in my mind’s eye. This is an intriguing book with compelling writing. Ms. Hepinstall has a wonderful linguistic gift which makes her work enjoyable to read. There are many themes to the book sanity, slavery, love, and more. What is it like being sane in an insane world and being insane in an insane world are some of the subjects that are being touched on. The…

Werner Goering, a United States B-17 pilot during World War II for the Mighty 8th Air Force, had a hurdle to overcome – his uncle is Reich Marshal Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe and Hitler’s second in command. Unbeknown to him, Goering’s co-pilot, Jack Rencher had a standing order from J. Edgar Hoover to kill Werner in-case they got shot down or if he was trying to commit an act of treason.

Jean Naggar writes her childhood spent in Cairo and England as we all remember our childhood – a magical time in an enchanted world. Surrounded by a large, protective family members of the Cairo elites

Tomorrow is the birthday of English poet William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850). Wordsworth’s semi-autobiographical poem The Prelude (buy in paperback or electronic format for $1) is considered his masterpiece among poetry scholars.

Article first published as Book Review: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon on Blogcritics. About: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a non-fiction book which tells the story of a woman who started a successful dress making business under the Taliban in Afghanistan. Not only did Kamila Sadiqi provide honorable employment to her family and female community, but also a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak existence. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the form at the end of the post to enter. 288 pages Publisher: Harper (March 15, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 0061732370 My rat­ing for The Dressmaker of Khair Khana — 5 Buy this book in from Amazon.com through the Man of la Book Affil­i­ate Account Thoughts: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (website | Facebook | Twitter) is a quick read, interesting and heartwarming book. While short, the book packages a strong story of perseverance, fighting against the odds, helping the community and entrepreneurship combined. This is an inspiring story of courageous women who are in a dangerous…

About: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is a Pulitzer Prize winning historical fiction masterpiece. The book takes place over three days during the Battle of Gettysburg. 355 pages Publisher: Ballantine Books Language: English ISBN-10: 0345348109 My rating for The Killer Angels – 5 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format. More book by Michael Shaara Thoughts: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is a wonderful portrayal of the horrors, honor and thinking which goes into a battle. The novel delves into the minds of General Robert E. Lee, General James Longstreet, General George Pickett, General John Buford, General Winfield Scott Hancock and Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain whom I found to be the most interesting character in the book. The author uses both historical accounts and pure fiction in his storytelling. The internal thoughts are pure fiction even though they are based on written documents. The story centers around the Battle of Gettysburg and specifically the battle of Little Roundtop and Pickett’s Charge. The actions is written in a very coherent and readable fashion, I could sense the excitement, anxiety and fear. Each day of the battle is told through the eyes of the commanders, Robert E. Lee & James Longstreet of the Confederacy while opposing them are the eyes of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and John Buford for the…

I posted about a graphic adaptation of the U.S. Constitution a few days ago. When I got a chance to send some questions to Nadja Baer, the adapter, I jumped on it, as an added bonus Mr. Cohen chimed in as well to make it a very interesting and unique post.

Welcome to another edition of Tightwad Tuesday. If you follow this blog you know I read many books on World War II – so here are some selections I found for the Kindle and the nook on this topic. For the Kindle: The Miracle of Stalag 8A (Stalag VIII-A) – Beauty Beyond the Horror: Olivier Messiaen and the Quartet for the End of Time by John William McMullen The Miracle of Stalag 8A is a retelling of the fascinating story of Olivier Messiaen’s composition of his Quartet for the End of Time. Set in France & Germany from 1939 to 1941, Messiaen served in the French army, was captured at Verdun, and sent to Stalag 8A in Gorlitz, Germany, where he composed the great work, The Quartet for the End of Time. The enigmatic Messiaen, an avant-garde composer and also a devout Catholic, along with Etienne Pasquier, an agnostic cellist, Henri Akoka, a Jewish Trotskyite Clarinetist, and Jean le Boulaire, an atheistic violinist, become the famous quartet of Stalag 8A. These four very different men collaborated to create musical history in the most unlikely of places. Messiaen’s Quartet, composed in a Stalag, transforms man’s inhumanity to man with hope. Yet…