We're on Day 6 of our Women of Vision Video creation. By Day 6 I mean that this is the 6th dayI have spent sitting in a small editing studio in South San Francisco with the video editor. The editor and our producer have actually spent even more time doing this since in between they implement all the changes, adjust the soundtrack, etc. And I spent my time interviewing winners, writing scripts, getting approvals and gathering photos from our winners.
So why do I love making videos? There is something about literally having nothing and creating a fully rendered piece that will be shown to an audience that I find thrilling. It's also a little anxiety inducing since you have so many different people in the audience: the winner, her family members, members of her organization, my co-workers and the general audience members. And there are high expectations of the videos - that they will inspire the students to go on to amazing technical careers, that it will refresh and inspire the women in the audience to pursue their technical careers; that the men in the audience will be reminded once again how valuable the women's contributions are to technology and that the family and that they will please the winner.
With the creation of the videos themselves - it's all about the details. As those who know me are aware - I'm all about the details. We are constantly making edits to the video script to make the words flow with the photographs we use. We endlessly debate what photos to incorporate and hunt for disconnects between the text and the image. And occasionally we put in a photo that doesn't fit but is needed to help tell the story when the words do not. And we call the winners when we have doubts about how names and places are pronounced. And we're always looking for ways to enhance the visual image. I've posted on facebook about our challenges with some of the Universities who have not been responsive to our requests for logos and photographs. I find myself stymied when that happens since in this case - all the publicity is good.
The videos will be up on Youtube after the event in May. I'll post links then so you can see them. Back to editing.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sympathy Letter to a Celebrity Flack
Dear Celebrity PR Flack;
I wanted to extend my great sympathies to you in this time of great turmoil. The endless spewing of celebrity scandal has certainly made life difficult for all the PR people in the celebrity world. My sympathy goes out to both the reps of the good and the twisted.
To those who do PR for the good, the celebrities who have stable loving faithful marriages who are perhaps just trying to promote a new movie or tv show, I sympathize with your struggles. Read the cover of any and all celebrity magazines and all you see is Sandra and Jesse or Elin and Tiger. Two People magazines in a row featured such similar photos of Sandra that I thought I'd been sent the same magazine twice. Pity the poor PR person who is out representing someone who is organizing a big fundraiser. You have to compete with the celebrity mistresses of the world - whose PR people are doing an excellent job of parlaying their scandals into fortunes by the way. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse Larry King and Tiki Barber jumped into the mix. While certainly not worthy of A-list caliber coverage they are sucking up all the B roll time on E and Entertainment Tonight. All I can say is keep on trying, eventually you'll catch a break. Perhaps they'll all end up in rehab together so they can be covered in a single story and you can catch a break with your pitch on whatever sequel your client is starring in this summer.
To the PR flacks of the twisted, my goodness you do have your hands full. It's hard to imagine what life must be like when your client is caught then keeps trying to lie to cover the truth. Hard to believe that one of the worst cheaters, David Letterman, is actually doing quite well. He cheated for years, with his employees no less, yet because he told the truth and took his lumps he's doing just fine. Seems he got good PR advice and actually listened and implemented it. And he didn't even have to go to rehab. Not like Jesse James who seems very upset about his marriage being destroyed but unaware that he is the one who is responsible for the whole mess. Run Sandra Run.
The saddest thing of all is that you know more scandals are coming. The PR folks can't stop it because of course they are being kept in the dark. I can virtually guarantee that none of the celebs are saying to their PR person - you know I think I'm going to cheat on my wife this week. And even if they did, none of them would listen when the PR person tries to point out that nobody gets away with that behavior these days.
Nope, the PR people find out months later - usually about 10 minutes before the story breaks. Then they scramble to help their client weather the storm as best they can, knowing that most of the time the client will ignore their advice anyway. Celebs pay 1000's of dollars to experts that they then ignore. It's sad really.
So good luck all you celebrity PR folks. Maybe George Clooney will change girlfriends again and take the heat off everyone.
I wanted to extend my great sympathies to you in this time of great turmoil. The endless spewing of celebrity scandal has certainly made life difficult for all the PR people in the celebrity world. My sympathy goes out to both the reps of the good and the twisted.
To those who do PR for the good, the celebrities who have stable loving faithful marriages who are perhaps just trying to promote a new movie or tv show, I sympathize with your struggles. Read the cover of any and all celebrity magazines and all you see is Sandra and Jesse or Elin and Tiger. Two People magazines in a row featured such similar photos of Sandra that I thought I'd been sent the same magazine twice. Pity the poor PR person who is out representing someone who is organizing a big fundraiser. You have to compete with the celebrity mistresses of the world - whose PR people are doing an excellent job of parlaying their scandals into fortunes by the way. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse Larry King and Tiki Barber jumped into the mix. While certainly not worthy of A-list caliber coverage they are sucking up all the B roll time on E and Entertainment Tonight. All I can say is keep on trying, eventually you'll catch a break. Perhaps they'll all end up in rehab together so they can be covered in a single story and you can catch a break with your pitch on whatever sequel your client is starring in this summer.
To the PR flacks of the twisted, my goodness you do have your hands full. It's hard to imagine what life must be like when your client is caught then keeps trying to lie to cover the truth. Hard to believe that one of the worst cheaters, David Letterman, is actually doing quite well. He cheated for years, with his employees no less, yet because he told the truth and took his lumps he's doing just fine. Seems he got good PR advice and actually listened and implemented it. And he didn't even have to go to rehab. Not like Jesse James who seems very upset about his marriage being destroyed but unaware that he is the one who is responsible for the whole mess. Run Sandra Run.
The saddest thing of all is that you know more scandals are coming. The PR folks can't stop it because of course they are being kept in the dark. I can virtually guarantee that none of the celebs are saying to their PR person - you know I think I'm going to cheat on my wife this week. And even if they did, none of them would listen when the PR person tries to point out that nobody gets away with that behavior these days.
Nope, the PR people find out months later - usually about 10 minutes before the story breaks. Then they scramble to help their client weather the storm as best they can, knowing that most of the time the client will ignore their advice anyway. Celebs pay 1000's of dollars to experts that they then ignore. It's sad really.
So good luck all you celebrity PR folks. Maybe George Clooney will change girlfriends again and take the heat off everyone.
Monday, March 29, 2010
No Limits on what women can achieve.
I don't know how many of you know this but I was a Biology major in college and worked as a research biochemist for two years afterward. The significance of this was brought home to me today when a friend (and fellow alum of Mount Holyoke College) forwarded me this link of letters to the editor in the New York Times . President Joanne Creighton of Mount Holyoke talks about why women's colleges turn out so many scientists. She writes that the keys to success are having role models, a lack of gender stereotyping and a hospitable institutional culture that sets no limits on what women can achieve.
I firmly agree with this. I was lucky enough growing up that my sister had gone to Mount Holyoke before me and that I had a women biology teacher in high school who believed in me. When I got to my junior year in high school the long time guidance counselor had retired and they hired a new guy who had zero experience. I went in to talk to him about my college plans - I intended to apply to Mount Holyoke early decision, major in biology and become a doctor. He told me that he thought it was a mistake, even with a 4.0 average, that I really should limit myself to local colleges so I could live at home. ACK. Not even an option. Then he suggested I go to a teachers college in Mississippi because really that's what women should be doing - teaching.
While I think teaching is a wonderful profession, at the time I had zero interest in that and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't listening to what I wanted to do. The fact that he had so stereotyped women into a single role was horrifying to me. Without my sister and teacher as role models I could very easily have listened to that guidance counselor (who yes I think was an incompetent fool) and my life would have been very different. He was creating an institutional culture that very much set limits on what a woman could achieve.
Mount Holyoke was a revelation, women ran everything - including the college itself. Role models were everywhere and there were never any limits set. I knew women who were training for the Olympics while studying economics, a woman who was a german/econ/dance major; and one who's goal was to work in Antarctica (and she did). The professors were fabulous - encouraging, supportive and who created opportunities for me to try new things. Because I saw so many women working in biology, I chose to work after graduation for a few years to decide where I wanted to go next.
My work led me to change directions and get an MBA in Marketing but I never doubted I could do it because that's what Mount Holyoke taught me - No limits.
This is why I am so passionate about the work of the organization I am in today. We all know that there are no limits on what women can achieve and we also know that we need to be telling this to our daughters, granddaughters, nieces and any young women we enounter. So just a reminder - tell a girl, young woman today that there are no limits.
I firmly agree with this. I was lucky enough growing up that my sister had gone to Mount Holyoke before me and that I had a women biology teacher in high school who believed in me. When I got to my junior year in high school the long time guidance counselor had retired and they hired a new guy who had zero experience. I went in to talk to him about my college plans - I intended to apply to Mount Holyoke early decision, major in biology and become a doctor. He told me that he thought it was a mistake, even with a 4.0 average, that I really should limit myself to local colleges so I could live at home. ACK. Not even an option. Then he suggested I go to a teachers college in Mississippi because really that's what women should be doing - teaching.
While I think teaching is a wonderful profession, at the time I had zero interest in that and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't listening to what I wanted to do. The fact that he had so stereotyped women into a single role was horrifying to me. Without my sister and teacher as role models I could very easily have listened to that guidance counselor (who yes I think was an incompetent fool) and my life would have been very different. He was creating an institutional culture that very much set limits on what a woman could achieve.
Mount Holyoke was a revelation, women ran everything - including the college itself. Role models were everywhere and there were never any limits set. I knew women who were training for the Olympics while studying economics, a woman who was a german/econ/dance major; and one who's goal was to work in Antarctica (and she did). The professors were fabulous - encouraging, supportive and who created opportunities for me to try new things. Because I saw so many women working in biology, I chose to work after graduation for a few years to decide where I wanted to go next.
My work led me to change directions and get an MBA in Marketing but I never doubted I could do it because that's what Mount Holyoke taught me - No limits.
This is why I am so passionate about the work of the organization I am in today. We all know that there are no limits on what women can achieve and we also know that we need to be telling this to our daughters, granddaughters, nieces and any young women we enounter. So just a reminder - tell a girl, young woman today that there are no limits.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Research - A Visibility Plan
Part of my job at the Anita Borg Institute is to work with Caroline Simard, our VP of Research and Executive Programs to package and release the research that she does. We published our newest research this week: Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success. So what role does marketing play in this process? It all started last year when we were setting our annual goals. We had identified two potential studies to put out this year. Once we had decided a general timeframe I started contemplating how we could promote this specific research paper.
First among the considerations is what is the content and how do we want to attract the attention of the news media? For this particular research I decided that instead of just the standard single press release we would actually publish two. The first described the research and some of its general findings. The second is a list of the Top Six Attributes of High Ranking Technical Women. Someone asked me why two releases. My answer was simple - the media really do like publishing lists. People in general love lists - hence the success of David Letterman's Top 10 list, The lists of Oscar nominees, and many magazines have a list of some sort featured on the cover. Our attributes list was perfect - the attributes are listed in the reseach and they have statistical data to back them up.
Doing the two press releases give the media options - they can pursue the more indepth findings of the research or if they want something that's very accessible they could publish the list.
Once we had the plan in place we had to finish off the research. From Marketing this means working with our graphic designer to create a cover that fits in with both the theme of the paper and also fits in with our general look and feel. We wanted to convey the concept of women on top. We found a number of silhouettes of people on a mountain top but they were all attired (or not attired) appropriately. So we had Alex use on of the visuals but modify it so it fit in with our overall desired outcome.
Throughout the entire process there is proofreading, at least a dozen rounds. The major challenge is that sometimes you do one fix and create a new problem elsewhere.
Once that was finished we counted down to launch. We did a media embargo with our PR firm, the fabulous Ventana Public Relations, who took our list of target media and for the 10 days before launch actively promoted the research. They did a great job and we did press briefings last week so reporters could write articles and publish them the day the research went public. We also responded to press requests this week from people who wanted to write about research post publication.
We have received a great deal of coverage - people really responded to both the research and the attributes. The media coverage includes Network World, Forbes, Businessweek, and San Jose Mercury News. I'm including a link to the Mercury News Article as an example of our coverage.
So what are our next steps? Well, we're still waiting to see if some of the interviews/briefings we did will become articles. I won't publish those names until we know. Caroline will continue blogging on her Fast Company Blog about the research. And I've signed up to write articles from some websites I know on the research. Stay tuned...
First among the considerations is what is the content and how do we want to attract the attention of the news media? For this particular research I decided that instead of just the standard single press release we would actually publish two. The first described the research and some of its general findings. The second is a list of the Top Six Attributes of High Ranking Technical Women. Someone asked me why two releases. My answer was simple - the media really do like publishing lists. People in general love lists - hence the success of David Letterman's Top 10 list, The lists of Oscar nominees, and many magazines have a list of some sort featured on the cover. Our attributes list was perfect - the attributes are listed in the reseach and they have statistical data to back them up.
Doing the two press releases give the media options - they can pursue the more indepth findings of the research or if they want something that's very accessible they could publish the list.
Once we had the plan in place we had to finish off the research. From Marketing this means working with our graphic designer to create a cover that fits in with both the theme of the paper and also fits in with our general look and feel. We wanted to convey the concept of women on top. We found a number of silhouettes of people on a mountain top but they were all attired (or not attired) appropriately. So we had Alex use on of the visuals but modify it so it fit in with our overall desired outcome.
Throughout the entire process there is proofreading, at least a dozen rounds. The major challenge is that sometimes you do one fix and create a new problem elsewhere.
Once that was finished we counted down to launch. We did a media embargo with our PR firm, the fabulous Ventana Public Relations, who took our list of target media and for the 10 days before launch actively promoted the research. They did a great job and we did press briefings last week so reporters could write articles and publish them the day the research went public. We also responded to press requests this week from people who wanted to write about research post publication.
We have received a great deal of coverage - people really responded to both the research and the attributes. The media coverage includes Network World, Forbes, Businessweek, and San Jose Mercury News. I'm including a link to the Mercury News Article as an example of our coverage.
So what are our next steps? Well, we're still waiting to see if some of the interviews/briefings we did will become articles. I won't publish those names until we know. Caroline will continue blogging on her Fast Company Blog about the research. And I've signed up to write articles from some websites I know on the research. Stay tuned...
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A week of great advice
Last week was unique for me- I actually attended 3 different non ABI events during the week. The first was on Wednesday night. I went to the Women of Color Action Network meeting that we co-sponsored in our building here at HP. The women who presented were amazing. The lead presenter from Catalyst presented on their new study Unwritten Rules: What you don't know can hurt your career. Be sure to go to their website and download the study- it's a great read on all the things that you need to be aware of in your company and includes a great list of rules for advancement.
The next night I went with Rachelle to see Arianna Huffington speak at the Churchill Club, hosted by Microsoft. This was a very political talk, she was interviewed by a media person who asked questions about what's going on with the government, etc. Arianna was brilliant. I am so excited to hear her speak in May at the Women of Vision awards where her keynote will be tailored towards women. Her talk last week also addressed how she was able to very quickly build the Huffington post into a recognizable brand that clearly competes with traditional media. Some great quotes (and I may be slightly paraphrasing):
The next night I went with Rachelle to see Arianna Huffington speak at the Churchill Club, hosted by Microsoft. This was a very political talk, she was interviewed by a media person who asked questions about what's going on with the government, etc. Arianna was brilliant. I am so excited to hear her speak in May at the Women of Vision awards where her keynote will be tailored towards women. Her talk last week also addressed how she was able to very quickly build the Huffington post into a recognizable brand that clearly competes with traditional media. Some great quotes (and I may be slightly paraphrasing):
- Self Expression is the New entertainment (this refers to all the blogging, tweeting, etc that everyone is doing).
- The president needs to remember to encourage people to be part of the solution to the economic crisis.
- "People with accents need to stick together"
- Must remember Opportunity Cost (something I think of constantly from my grad school days) What we do, forgoes something else.
Saturday I spent the day at SWE's regional conference. I got to speak to an audience of about 45 on our research. I attended several sessions including one on finding a job that had a ton of great ideas come out of it. I'll share some of those in future blogs.
All in all a hectic and busy week last week but one that introduced me to a wide array of terrific women.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Movie Review: Valentine's Day
It is not often I completely disregard every movie review and go see a movie anyway. But I was in the need this weekend for a light and fluffy movie so I emailed my friend and off we went to see Valentine's Day. Now I did want to say that we did agree to go to the Camera 7 theatre's because they recently announced that if you show a San Jose Library card you get a $3 discount off your movie tickets. So the three of us went off to the movies feeling good that we'd already gotten a discount.
Valentine's Day the movie is pure fluff. The interconnected stories of a wide array of pretty people are presented. Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts meet on a plane; Jennifer Garner(a teacher) and Aston Kutcher(a florist) are best friends each involved in relationships with other people. A small boy is intent on getting his gift of flowers to a special someone. And dozens of others.
I am not sure if any other movie in years has had this many underutilized Oscar winners. Jamie Foxx as a cranky sportcaster forced to report on V-Day; Shirley Maclaine as an ex movie star grandmother; Julia Roberts, a soldier coming home from Iraq; and Kathy Bates in a blink and you'll miss her minor part as a news show producer.
However, the movie did make me smile throughout - Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift are perfectly adorable as the embodiment of airheaded teens in love; Eric Dane really should spend all movies just wrapped in a towel; pink, red and white flowers really do make pretty arrangements. And the ending did have two really great twists that Marina and I failed to see coming. One twist in fact elicited a shout from the guy behind us that just cracked us up.
So if you want a light fluffy movie that is almost impossible to describe go see Valentine's Day. Going in with low expectations would be a good thing.
Valentine's Day the movie is pure fluff. The interconnected stories of a wide array of pretty people are presented. Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts meet on a plane; Jennifer Garner(a teacher) and Aston Kutcher(a florist) are best friends each involved in relationships with other people. A small boy is intent on getting his gift of flowers to a special someone. And dozens of others.
I am not sure if any other movie in years has had this many underutilized Oscar winners. Jamie Foxx as a cranky sportcaster forced to report on V-Day; Shirley Maclaine as an ex movie star grandmother; Julia Roberts, a soldier coming home from Iraq; and Kathy Bates in a blink and you'll miss her minor part as a news show producer.
However, the movie did make me smile throughout - Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift are perfectly adorable as the embodiment of airheaded teens in love; Eric Dane really should spend all movies just wrapped in a towel; pink, red and white flowers really do make pretty arrangements. And the ending did have two really great twists that Marina and I failed to see coming. One twist in fact elicited a shout from the guy behind us that just cracked us up.
So if you want a light fluffy movie that is almost impossible to describe go see Valentine's Day. Going in with low expectations would be a good thing.
2009: My Year in Books
I've been contemplating writing this blog ever since New Year's Day, but perhaps even as far back as Jan 1, 2009. I do love making resolutions every New Year, but I've tried to learn to parse them out as shorter term goals. The only year long resolution I made in 2009 was to write down every book I read. I knew I was reading a lot of books during the year but I had a habit of forgetting what I had read so I wanted to find a way to capture them. I did create just 2 rules for myself:
- I could only write down books I read cover to cover - no writing down books that I punted on. Did this change my reading habits? Yes, I found I punted on books I was not enjoying much earlier. I also found that I had a habit of putting books aside and going back to them months later. I stopped doing that - if I got half way I would finish the book so I could add it to the list.
- I had to write down all the books - that included the periodic trashy romance novels that I indulge in as mind candy. It also included all the books that I revisit every year. These include some of the novels of Louisa May Alcott - one of my all time favorite authors, Stephen King's The Stand (the original not his revised unabridged version); and some Emma Lathen mystery novels (if Wall Street was still in the hands of her characters my how different things would be) and the Amanda Cross mysteries - her James Joyce Murders is read almost every year at the start of the summer. I recommend all these books to everyone.
I sat down this morning, a somewhat dreary rainy day, and flipped through the small Moleskin calendar book that I had tracked my reading in and pulled out some of my favorites from the 222 books that I read last year. I realized as I read the list that I had a lot of trends in my reading - So hear are some of my top books and reading trends in 2009):
1. All things Vampire. I will be honest - I have always enjoyed a good scary story - I've been reading Stephen King since high school. The first of his books I read was Salem's Lot. It was a lovely scary book, and one I enjoy rereading even today. In 2009 I have discovered I read a lot of vampire novel series. Most are humorous takes on vampires though they all contain some great action. I've been a fan of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books (Dead and Gone)- the source material for the True Blood series on HBO - for a long time. I got to meet Charlaine in person when I lived in Texas and I enjoy her deft mixture of comedy and horror. I read not only her books but the books in the vampire series of Michelle Bardsley(Wait till Your Vampire Gets Home), Mary Janice Davidson(Undead and Unworthy, Dead over Heels) and finally I read the Twilight series. I resisted the Twilight books until this year when my co-worker Kim convinced me that I should take a shot at them. I wasn't impressed but I will admit the books were readable and a bit like chips - you read one and you had to read them all. And yes, I confess - I'm team Jacob.
2. Travel Memoirs - I developed a fondness this year for travel memoirs. The one that started me on these was Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The one that made me laugh the most was Honeymoon with my Brother by Franz Wisner. Both are great reads with terrific characters and wonderful scenery.
3. Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen. I read 3 Cups of Tea with my book group, perhaps a bit later than many others. I adored it. Greg Mortensen is an inspiration as he tells his story of building schools in the mountains of Pakistan and how he overcame incredible odds. I was lucky enough to close out 2009 by seeing him speak in December at Foothill College. He retold the story of the book and from the first schools in his book his impact has grown as he has built 70 schools now. I think that everyone who works for a non profit should read his book and recognize the incredible impact an individual with a vision can have on making the world a better place to live.
4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. This novel is a moving story of what takes place during and after the World War II Nazi occupation of the island of Guernsey. I loved this book so much I gave it to several friends and family members as a holiday gift. I recommend it for anyone who loves a great read. My thanks to Deanna for lending it to me.
5. Cozy Mysteries - I am a long time mystery reader - from Nancy Drew on. The cozy mystery genre is engages me because often the characters are working in an interesting field in addition to solving a mystery. They all have the Jessica Fletcher problem - if I wasn't a police officer and that many people were dying around me there should definitely be concerns about whether I was a serial killer or not. Several of the series writers I continue to enjoy were Laura Childs (Eggs in Purgatory, Tragic Magic); Donna Andrews (Swan for the Money); & Maggie Barbieri (Murder 101).
6. Knitting Mysteries and Novels - yes, I love to knit. And I've found a number of authors who blend in their love of knitting into their novels. I find the murder mysteries especially entertaining that have knitting wrapped in - amazing how many people will confess over a skein of fine yarn. Some of the my favorite knitting series in 2009 were - Meggie Sefton (Dyer Consequences, Dropped Dead Stitch) & Monica Ferris (Thai Silk). Great knitting books included Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Series; Ann Hood (The Knitting Circle) and Gil McNeil (Beach Street Knitting). I've tried a crocheting novel or two but they aren't among my favorites.
7. Michael Connelley - if you like a great serial killer story there is no one better than Michael Connelley. I especially love reading his books on airplanes - don't ask me why but a whole plane ride can pass and I won't even notice when I'm reading his books. I read The Poet, City of Bones, Lost Light, The Narrows in 2009.
8. Robert Parker - I must admit my heart broke when I learned that Robert Parker had passed away this year. I have been a fan of his from the very beginning. I read all three of his series - Sunny Randall, Jessie Stone and the amazing Spencer series. Robert Parker's writing is clear, and direct, his stories compelling and his heros flawed but stalwart. I understand there are three yet to be published Robert Parker books, I cannot wait to read them but will miss him greatly. The books I read in 2009 included Night and Day; Stranger in Paradies
9. Jane Haddam Living Witness - The Gregor Demarkian mysteries deliver an entertaining mix of serial killer, neighborhood folksy charm and Catholic church politics in ways that never fail to entertain.
10. Henning Mankell - I adored all the books in Henning Mankell's terrific series of Swedish Kurt Wallender books. I was lucky to read his book of short stories on Kurt Wallender as well as his non series book Italian Shoes. If you want a great series read start the Kurt Wallender series from the very beginning.
11. Cooking Memoirs - I started by reading Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone Memoir then Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. But my favorite this year was Julia Child's My Life in France. While I loved the movie Julie and Julia, the book is even better. Julia Robert's celebration of food and her incredible life in France makes for great reading. Bon Appetit.
12. For Kids - my friend Caroline recommended to me the Rick Riordan Percy Jackson books. I read the first two books in the series and heartily recommend them all for children and adults alike- The Lightning Thief & The Sea of Monsters. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series sometime this year.
13. Not a Genuine Blackman, Brian Copeland - the Silicon Valley Reads book for 2009 was terrific. I was lucky enough to get to see Brian Copeland speak twice last year. His story of growing up in San Leandro and what happened to him and his family is both laugh out loud funny and heartbreaking. I love being in a place where great books and authors are
14. Under the Dome - Stephen King - the last book of 2009. I think the book was a bit too long but it was an engrossing read. Very much like the Stand - the very best and worst of human nature is brought out by an unimagineable horror.
15. A few extra treats. If you like novels with big scary sharks go for the Steve Alten Meg Series. Meg: Hell's Aquarium is a treat. Seriously after 4 books you think people would learn to stay out of the water. Fire and Ice by JA Jance - a mixture of her two great series - JP Beaumont and Joanne Brady. The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn is an entertaining read about the competitive world of New York Private School Admissions. All things by Bill Bryson (The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid). The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - a truly great read and a book that was recommended to me by my friend Ellen.
So that's it - some of the most enjoyable books I read in 2009. As I keep flipping through the book I keep finding more and more books to recommend but these give you a good start. And yes, I have another small Calendar book that I'm recording all my books in again this year.
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