Shopping Spree at Coles

My incredible staff gave me a wonderful card as congratulations for winning the Wood Buffalo Big Spirit Ambassador Gold Star Award. Inside the card was a gift certificate for Coles. I cannot think of a nicer thing to receive than a chance to do a shopping spree in a bookstore.

So, last night Dylan, Ben and I piled into the Ford Escape and ducked into the very busy Peter Pond Mall for some Friday evening indulgence. Not only was I able to get something for Ben (UFO's & Aliens) and Dylan (The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary), I managed to grab four outstanding selections without going over the amount on the gift card.

What did I get?

My first selection was a suggestion from David Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic, one of the keynote speakers at last week's NCMPR conference. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath offers insights into why some ideas survive and others die. Published a couple of years ago, this is a book that cruised off the book shelves of the world, at a time when good ideas were in hot demand. Serendipitously, Chip and Dan just released their follow-up called Switch - how to change things when change is hard. That was my second selection.

The third book I chose emerged mid-decade and explores the hidden side of everything. Freakonomics has been printed over 4 million times in 35 languages and was the brainchild of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.

Finally, my friends Claude Giroux and Graham Johnson can't stop talking about the audio book called Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. The inside story of Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the race of a lifetime, Game Change takes no prisoners and holds a looking glass up to one of the most dynamic periods in US political history.

As a side note, I succumbed to buying one of those irewards cards that gives me 40% off bestsellers and 10% all books. What a difference that ended up making in my buying power. I got home and went immediately to their online store to try and buy all the books the local store didn't have.

My library of professional reading is getting robust, I just need to find some time to dive in and read them.

March 20, 2010 - 191.8 pounds, 27.4% body fat