The Geek's Guide to Dating by Eric Smith (+ giveaway)

There seems to be a mix-up with a book giveway and I received this one instead. I couldn't figure out at first why I would enter a contest for a dating book but I thought that maybe I thought it was a novel. It turns out that, no, it was just a mix-up. No problem. But this looked fun and so I flipped through it. I find dating guides interesting. I clearly not their target audience since I have been with my husband since we were 20 and we have 2 kids together and all. But I guess some people need help or advice. I know a lot of people who have trouble getting relationships off the ground. I, myself, can be pretty awkward around new people. I am terrible at small talk. So I found the advice in here pretty useful for someone trying to establish a rapport with another person. The main message is basically don't be overzealous, be respectable of the other person's wants, needs, and feelings and don't try to rush into anything. I can co-sign that. Plus it is filled with many, many, many nerd references. I was pretty proud of myself for recognizing the majority of them. So this was a pretty fun read for a mix-up and it didn't take me long to skim through it. And I'm sure someone else will enjoy it as much as I did.

Giveaway! Book + a nifty poster
Giveaway ends August 4, 2013.  US or Canada only.  Winner will be chosen randomly and e-mailed for mailing address.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson

Jenny Lawson is best known as The Bloggess, a super funny, pretty inappropriate blog writer. I love her style and how she writes about her health struggles, both mentally and physically. I use to love to read biographies and I thought hers would be a good one to read. Let me say it is a hilarious read and I loved it. A lot of her childhood explains her love of taxidermy animals and also her sense of humor. Because when you grow up with a dad whose idea of funny is a dead squirrel puppet, yeah, that's going to leave a mark. Luckily she grew up to use her sense of humor for good.  She tells a few anecdotal stories about her upbringing and then talks about meeting her husband and having their daughter. She also talks about her anxiety disorders and her battle with rheumatoid arthritis, some of which I already knew from reading her blog.

I read this book at the reference desk during my shift and let me tell you that was a mistake because I kept laughing out loud. I also kept hoping someone would recognize the book and then want to talk about it. But no one did. And that was pretty much the most disappointing aspect of this book. I can only blame the youth of today. If you haven't read The Bloggess, I suggest that you do. But only if you have a healthy sense of humor.

Walt Disney World Guides

We are going on vacation soon to Walt Disney World so I've been checking out some guidebooks because it is always fun to read up before I can. This is going to be my third trip to Disney World. The first was on my honeymoon in 2004, the second was a family trip with my family in 2010 and now we are going with my husband's parents. We are pretty excited about taking our kids, especially the 6 year old since he will be able to ride almost all the rides this time.

 I like this one the best. It has a lot of the information and they include a "scare factor" and a recommended age for each ride. It also has useful packing tips and tips for dealing with all age range of kids. There is even a section on projects kids can do for school if they are missing for vacation.

This one is also good. Most guides provide basically the same information. I found this one to be a little more negative than the others. It almost seemed like they didn't really like anything. But then it includes readers' letters so that accounts for more of the bad reviews. Good tips and it includes touring plans if you like that sort of thing.

This one has lots of color pictures and is a good overview of Disney World. I like this guide for those reasons.