New Zealand Book Council

Who are these amazing people?

* Thankful *

I hope everybody has a Happy Thanksgiving and travels safely!!

I was talking to a friend yesterday and she invited Shaun to a Turkey Bowl. Guess what I said? "What's a Turkey Bowl? Is that where you bowl with Turkeys?" ....... (Pause for raucous laughter)

I KNOW that people get together and play football on Thanksgiving I just wasn't thinking. I've been in the YW program too long and I was thinking of Turkey Bowling that we used to do when I was a youth. The Clark kids are NOT sporty. The End.

Here's what I looked out my window to this morning

LOTS of Turkey Bowls

Happy Thanksgiving

P.S. I am thankful for books, turkey, hot chocolate, my home, and my family.

* Good Reads *

My sister called the other day to recommend a great book to me. I proceeded to then tell her I'd already read it and rambled off a list of books I think SHE should read. So I decided I'd post some of my recent favorites.

Does it bother you when you forget everything you've read? I can't tell you the number of times I've started book journals and logs and accounts and younameit! So, I know this is not all of my reads over the last few months, but these are some that stand out in my non-organized sort of life.

1. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak: Not your average WWII novel. When the story is narrated by death you know you're in for a treat. The addition of a book-loving main character never hurts either. What I loved most about the book was the way death viewed the world through colors. It's beautifully written. Tears were shed.

2. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel- Susanna Clarke: Move over Harry Potter, this English wizarding world is just as twisted and dark and less juvenile. I loved this book! Warning, it was a bit slow for me initially, but pieces fall together brilliantly toward the end of the book. It's also quite thick, only because Clarke fills the book with witty footnotes that create an alternate history. If you're a 19th Century English literature fan you'll enjoy this. Please Read. It's definitely got a following, with blogs like

The Friends of English Magic.

Oh...and it doesn't hurt that there will be a MOVIE made from this book. IMDB it.

3. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins: Book two in the Hunger Games series. I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of or read this book due to recommendation on a certain website from a certain Twilight saga author. I'm a little upset that I picked up the first book when it was new, unaware that it was going to be a series. So now I have to wait each year for the next book to come out. Despite my impatience, they're worth the wait.

4. North and South- Elisabeth Gaskell: Recommended to me by several people, a friend at work let me borrow this one. It was good! If you're an Austen fan you'll probably enjoy this. More 19th Century English literature, minus a lot of Austen's satire, but a good romance.

And I've heard the movie's great too!

* Clients From Hell *

Just found this website. makes me laugh because Shaun's a designer and he deals with this kind of stuff all day.

As a rare book conservator I also deal with clients who don't value the work we do and aren't willing to pay for our time. So this website is good for a few " Yeah, I've been there" laughs.

Clients From Hell

Here's my favorite:

Business as Usual

1. CLIENT: We’d like to go ahead and book you to handle this year’s edition but, of course, we’re in the middle of a tough recession. So we’ll only be able to offer you about 50% of what we paid last year.
2. ME: I gave you a heavily discounted price last year as an introductory deal. I said at the time it was a one-off and included a quote at the full price to illustrate.
3. CLIENT: Yeah… Anyway, we’d like you to get to work immediately, since the deadline is
4. this time next week.
5. ME: You had a three-month lead last time.
6. CLIENT: Uh-huh… Moving forward, we want you to treat this as urgent. Oh, and we’ll be paying you when the project comes into profit, of course.
7. ME: So, you want me to do three months graft in a week, on the promise that when or if you make money out of my work you’ll pay me less than half what my time is worth.
8. CLIENT: To be honest, we thought you’d be more grateful.