Daily Thoughts 11/20/2012
I finished reading The Start-up of You by Reid Hoffman. This book is about a different approach to careers focused on networking, preparing for constant change, and being prepared for a variety of opportunities. Each chapter has a set of suggestions at the end for networking, building up job opportunities, and being prepared for change. The book is very much focused on new media and the new economy. Reid Hoffman is one of the co-founders of Linkedin. There are many suggestions on how to use Linkedin in this book.
The book, Help the Helper Building A Culture of Extreme Teamwork by Kevin Pritchard and John Eliot, Ph.D. has come in for me to read. There are a lot of sports metaphors in this book about teamwork in business.
This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library, looked over the displays, and checked the gift books.
I brought up all of the holiday books from the mezzanine today for a display. There are a lot of song books, short story books, and arts and crafts books.
On the way home, I read Sailor Twain or The Mermaid on the Hudson by Mark Siegel. This is a graphic novel drawn with charcoal in shades of black and white. It makes for dark shadows and mysteries. Sailor Twain is the captain of a steamship during Victorian times plying the Hudson river in New York.
This tale has touches of gothic in it with a mermaid, curses, and magic. It also has a touch of gothic romance in it and a bit of sex. One of the characters, Lafayette, is a bit of a rake in the French Victorian style. I rather like how Lafayette has a very big nose almost like Cyrano De Bergerac. Many of the characters are quirky and odd.
The story centers around Sailor Twain rescuing a wounded mermaid from the Hudson and nursing her back to health. This is the old fashioned mermaid with the sirens call that lures sailors to their doom. There are numerous literary allusions throughout the story. Sailor Twains wife is crippled and in a wheelchair for example. This adds dramatic tension.
The book itself is 399 pages long. There are no textboxes, and the dialog is short in length, but fits well with the pictures. Some of the characters have big eyes which shows a bit of manga influence. The book is a very smooth read.
I like that there is a mysterious made up book called Secrets and Mysteries of the River Hudson by C.G. Beaverton in the story. It makes the story even better. Also there are letters and diaries added to the plot. Sailor Twain was worth reading.
Web Bits
A Librarians Worth Infographic
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