Ravenous Readers Blog

I love serendipity in the library. When I first started using libraries, there was the joy of the card catalog (yes I'm showing my age here) and as you looked up your favorite author or topic your eye might catch another card describing a book that looked intriguing. As much as I rely on computers, I just don't run into that same level of randomness. That's where browsing the shelves comes in. I have my paper with all the call numbers written down, but once I get to the shelves, the sky's the limit in terms of what I might find. This month I think I was looking for books about volunteering and community organizing but somehow found
Awful First Dates: Hysterical, True and Heartbreakingly Bad by Sarah Wexler in my hands - and what a treat it is!
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This is a book about an

assassin nun.
Oh, yes, you read that right.
Assassin. Nun.
That's the character at the heart of the romantic, complex, and action-packed novel
Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers. Ismae had a fairly bad early life. Born in 15th century Brittany (a tiny European country, now part of France) to an abusive father and a mother who never wanted her, she was married very young to an equally abusive husband. When she ran away, she discovered the convent of Saint Mortain, where nuns live in service to their patron saint and, by the way, also learn the arts of murder. That's because Saint Mortain is the new name for the old god of death, and he helpfully marks the people that he wants his nuns to kill.
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"Woulda, Coulda Shoulda" - that expression of regret over previous decisions may become happily relegated to your past life after you check out
Decisive: How To Make Better Choices in Life and Work. Decisive is co-authored by bicoastal brothers, Chip and Dan Heath. Chip is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business and teaches courses on business strategy and organizations. Dan is a Senior Fellow at Duke University?s CASE Center for Social Entrepreneurs. The duo capably translate academic jargon into highly readable prose to answer the essential question - how can you triumph over bias, irrationality and overconfidence and make better decisions?
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