Bring in Your Parents Day

Maryl likes this new LinkedIn program

Think of it as the reverse of Career Day at your school when parents would describe their careers to your class mates.  I would liked to have had Bring in Your Parents Day, which debuted last month, with my parents although I did bring them to my workplace once or twice. Even though I worked for a few major American corporations, I always had more nontraditional job titles that didn't automatically make clear what I actually did. Titles like General Manager-Media Centers, Director-Brand Web Experience, Cultural Arts Marketing Manager don't exactly conjure up images of someone being productive like a lawyer, teacher or firefighter. Know what the three most misunderstood job titles are today?

Looking For A Good Read? Look No Further Than Canada.

Caryl lists 7 Best Books from 2013--all with a surprising connection

Five-time  Agatha award winner Louise Penny may be reading one of her mysteries.  Who knows?
Maybe Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. 

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas gaining on us, we need a moment to relax, unwind, catch our collective breath. And what better way to return to our calmer selves than settling in with a good book. But what to read? Lately, I’ve become addicted to author Louise Penny (pictured above). She’s a mystery writer who sets her stories in the remote outreaches of Quebec.  Surprisingly, I have never read this genre before, and geography doesn't ordinarily influence my book choices (okay, occasionally India) but I’m smitten. Actually, another Canadian author is my book club's selection for December. Next Monday, we will be discussing Dear Life, the latest and reportedly last book by a “shy housewife” who began writing short stories in the 1960s at her kitchen table in Western Canada while her three daughters napped or were at school. This year, Alice Munro, now 82 and with 14  short-story collections behind her, won the Nobel Prize for literature. Another Canadian-born writer 54 years her junior, just snagged the Man-Booker prize for her second novel.

What’s the story with these Canadian women who have stealthily entered our literary canon? I found the answer at Publishers Weekly where associate reviews editor (and coincidentally—ha!—my daughter) Annie Coreno considers her own conspiracy theory in (if I do say so) a brilliant post.