20 Below: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

| Leave a Reply

We just finished a long weekend here in Canada and I used a lot of my free time to catch up on some reading.

I am just about finished Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In and I highly recommend it. Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook, shares her experiences as a woman in the business world and gives advice to readers about going for what you want, valuing your skills, and taking initiative to explore new opportunities. She urges women to recognize their potential and to speak up. Instead of holding back, as many women do (and studies suggest as much), Sheryl Sandberg encourages us to “lean in”.

Lean-In-Sheryl-Sandberg-book

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, $15.92, Indigo

I’m curious to know if any of you have read it. What did you think?

Books: Blurb + Giveaway

| 11 Commentaries

I have been raving to my friends about Blurb ever since I wrote my first book for my nephew’s second birthday. For that book, I illustrated pictures of fruit, scanned them to my computer, and then uploaded them to a Blurb template. I then wrote the vocabulary to match (in three languages of course – that’s my academic side coming through!), finalized a few details, and pressed publish. In a matter of weeks, my first Blurb book arrived in my mailbox and I spent quite a bit of time showing it off before I handed it over to my nephew.

a preview of my first Blurb book – a multilingual book about fruit

It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that I have since published a few other books for each of my nephew’s birthdays. I am pleased with how each of them has turned out (and I think my nephews are too) and Blurb has been an easy company to work with.

customizable copyright & dedication pages

sssshh…this one still hasn’t been opened…it’s for Reef’s second birthday next week

here are my nephews reading Duke’s third birthday book about shapes

While I have not made my books available to the public, this is definitely a possibility with Blurb and something to pursue if you have written something that you want to share with others. On the other hand, if you’re at a loss for words but you want to compile photos from your last vacation, then consider Blurb the place to do so. The company offers quite a few design options, page templates, and bounding possibilities.

Want to get started? Well, look no further! Blurb is offering one lucky reader a $35 promo code to use toward a Blurb book. To enter this giveaway simply leave a comment and tell us what type of Blurb book you would like to create. And do it quick – this contest ends on Thursday June 7th, 2012. Winner will be chosen at random.

Note: Contest is open to Canadian residents only.

Photos and books by Jordana.

20 Below: The Public Library

| 3 Commentaries

It has been one year since Nonno, my grandfather, passed away after living a very long and healthy life. One of Nonno’s favourite things to do was to go the library (St. Clair branch) to pick up the latest issues of Oggi and Gente. He always spoke so proudly of the librarians who helped him and of the things he got to read for free.

Today I’m encouraging you all to get a library card (or renew yours), to visit the library, to take a child to the library, and/or to donate $20 (or more) to your local public library.

membership to your local public library, free

It makes me so angry when I learn about libraries shutting down, denied funding, and being inaccessible. This is one resource that I don’t think we can afford to lose.

To donate:

London Public Library

Toronto Public Library

Kingston Frontenac Public Library

New York Public Library

Please leave direct links to your local public library in the comments section. Thank you.

Books: What Are You Reading?

| 6 Commentaries

I’m one of those people who has about five (or more) books on the go at once (both fiction & non-fiction). Who’s with me? Over the last few days I finished reading three books: Sophie Kinsella’s I’ve Got Your Number, Seth Godin’s Poke the Box, and Steig Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It’s gratifying to come to the end of a book because it feels like I’ve learned something new. It’s also exciting because coming to the end of one book means that I’ll get to go to the beginning of another one.

via Patyclau

What are you reading at the moment?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7