Yesterday was one of those warm sunny days so I wandered over to the nature park. I have been trying to walk at least one mile a day as part of my stay-fit plan. The paths were mostly clear, the creek was flowing and there was still a light cover of icy snow. It was actually pretty.

I noticed a group of Robins kicking around in the leaf litter. This one was looking in the water. I don’t know if he was contemplating a drink or looking at his reflection. Robins hang out in groups during the winter and some will stay in the area as long as they can find food. There are a lot of trees with berries in this park so I usually see Robins here.

I like the look of the bare trees against the winter sky. Something about the texture of the bark, it’s as if we can see the bones of the trees.

Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publish Date: December 22, 2011
Format: Audio CD | 12 hours
Rating: 4 of 5

I didn’t realize that The Devil’s Elixir was book three in the Templar series, probably because it didn’t have ‘templar’ in the title like the previous two books. The only connection it seems to have to the first two are the same main characters, FBI agent Sean Reilly and his girlfriend Tess Chaykin. It is not necessary to have read the first two books to enjoy this novel. It works well as a stand alone. The author sets the stage and gives us the necessary background information.

The story opens with a few brief vignettes, one in 1700s Mexico, and the second, a drug bust Sean was a part of 5 years ago. Eventually we will understand the connection to these events. Fast forward to the present and Sean had just received a phone call from an old girlfriend. Someone has broken into her home. She escaped with her young son but knows they are still after her and she doesn’t know why. Events quickly escalate and we encounter drug dealers, nasty bad guys and some violence.

Although I read a fair amount of crime novels and had heard of the previous Templer books, this was the first book I’ve read by Raymond Khoury. What I found was an entertaining, action-packed thriller with complex interesting characters. It was fast-paced with a lot of plot twists, including one towards the end of the story that I didn’t see coming. Always more enjoyable when I am unable to accurately predict the outcome.

Richard Ferrone demonstrates what a versatile narrator he is. He does a great job with the voice of Sean Reilly. I had no trouble imagining him as a hardened FBI Agent who thought he’d seen it all. His voices for the other characters were distinct and the female and child characters were very good. (That is one of my annoyances in audio, when the narrator cannot vocalize a believable version of the opposite sex.)

Fans of crime fiction will enjoy this one and anyone new to the genre or the author will find this is a good place to jump in with a likeable main character and exciting plot.

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Source: Review copy.

Genre: Business
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publish Date: January 4, 2012
Format: Hardback | 304 pages

Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google? guides readers through the surprising solutions to dozens of the most challenging interview questions. The book covers the importance of creative thinking, ways to get a leg up on the competition, what your Facebook page says about you, and much more. Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google? is a must read for anyone who wants to succeed in today’s job market.

The first part of the book is an entertaining, inside look at how many of today’s major companies go about choosing new hires. The author delves into their background and hiring practices and examines what information the interviewer is seeking from job candidates. Actual questions are discussed and analyzed, and some of them are real doozies. Companies may be looking for creativity or logic or common sense, but often the questions seem completely unrelated.

One of my favorites was how Nordstroms screens female applicants. A simple three-part test:

• Is the applicant wearing black?
• Is she wearing heels?
• Is she wearing a watch?

The answer to all three should be yes. This screens out 90% of the applicants. It’s arbitrary, but since there are so many applicants they feel there is little reason to hire anyone who doesn’t know their secret dress code. Moral of that story, research the company before you go on your interview.

At the end of each chapter are some sample questions. The second half of the book are the answers to each of these questions by chapter. The author points out what would be a good answer, a bad answer, and why there’s a difference. Tips and advice are offered on how to answer questions and how to salvage an interview that appears to be doomed to failure.

This is much more than a guide on interviewing techniques. It was a fun read and now I know I’m not smart enough to work at Google.

About the Author

William Poundstone is the author of twelve books, including How Would You Move Mount Fuji? and Fortune’s Formula, which was Amazon Editors’ pick for the #1 nonfiction book of the year in 2005. He has written for the New York Times, Harper’s, Harvard Business Review, and the Village Voice, among other publications. He lives in Los Angeles.

Giveaway Information

The publisher has generously offered two copies for giveaway. If there are more than 30 entries I will add another copy.

• Contest is open to those with an address in the US or Canada.
• To enter leave a comment. It is not necessary to be a subscriber or follower to enter but new subscribers are always welcome.
• The deadline for entry is Sunday, February 12th. Winners will be chosen by a random drawing, contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.

Almost Wordless: I have an endless fascination with Milkweed. I took this in a prairie near my house a few weeks ago.

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More Wordless Wednesday.

Genre: Self-Help, Computer
Publisher: Wiley Books
Publish Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Paperbackback | 512 pages
Rating: 4 of 5

From the Back Cover

Whether you want to design and build websites from scratch or take more control over an existing site, this book will help you create attractive, user-friendly web content. We understand that code can be intimidating, but take a look inside and you will see how this guide differs from many traditional programming books.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the book was how it looked. It is visually stunning with full color, glossy pages and large, easy to read type. Examples of code are placed next to a picture of what it will look like when viewed in a web browser making it easy for the reader to visualize.

The book begins at an introductory level and is targeted at the beginner or user who has some basic knowledge and wants to learn to build a website from scratch using a text editor such as notepad. (Although, if you are serious about writing code I would use one of the notepad replacement editors such as NoteTab or UltraEdit as notepad does not have the features needed to make coding easy.)

The first section is an introduction to HTML and the basic structure of a web page. The presentation is clear and the instruction is easy to understand. In the first half of the book the reader goes through the process of creating a page using HTML. The second half of the book introduces CSS, what it does and how it works. CSS controls the design of the web page, makes it more attractive and visually appealing.

This book is also a great reference manual for those who already know a little HTML and want to have more control over the appearance of their webpage or blog. This is what I want to learn from this book. I’ve taken a few online tutorials and know enough to make basic changes but I would like to do more with design and create my own stylesheets.

I am also learning more about making some simple modifications in appearance here on my blog. I am using a standard template and there are some things I would like to change. For example, I am able to increase and decrease font sizes and change border colors or remove them altogether by using the “style” attribute. I used the ‘abbr’ element to add a definition of CSS. Hover over it and you will see the words “Cascading Style Sheets”. All this is done using the HTML Editor instead of the visual editor and the book shows you how to do it.

Online support is available and examples of code can be downloaded. There are also video demos, tutorials, and reference tools. Whether you are a beginner or already have a blog or webpage and want to change or update its appearance, this book would be a useful resource.
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Source: Review copy.

Serena and Darlene
are the winners of

American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and entered the contest.

No new books last week but I will be hosting a giveaway for two copies of Are You Smart Enough To Work For Google? later this week.

I saw this pair at my favorite bird watching site, Cantigny Gardens. The male is on the right and the female on the left. They don’t seem to mind the snow or the cold. Their layer of down feathers provide good insulation.

Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publish Date: December 20, 2011
Format: Paperbackback | 336 pages
Rating: 4 of 5

When Rachel Bertsche first moved to Chicago with her boyfriend, now husband, she left her good friends behind in New York. She made a few new friends but no one that she felt comfortable calling at the last minute for girl talk over brunch or a reality-TV marathon over a bottle of wine. So she decided to set out on a mission to go on fifty-two friend-dates over the next year. What began as a blog to track her year-long progress resulted in this entertaining memoir.

Rachel writes in a witty, engaging style. In addition to her humorous accounts of 52 friend dates she sprinkles in her findings on research she did on adult friendship and friendlessness. She employed every option she coud think of to meet new people and, literally, ask for their friendship. When you’re young and a high school or college student, friends come easy and naturally. But something happens when we get older and it’s not so easy anymore. Won’t people think you are weird if you ask strangers to go to lunch or shopping with you? No, it turns out they won’t.

What did I learn from her friend-date project?
• By actively seeking friends you dramatically speed up the process
• People are friendlier than we think, most are flattered to be approached
• Most people won’t follow up on a ‘let’s get together’ unless you contact them
• Most people prefer email, txt or IM to set up a friend date
• Be a better listener than a talker
• As an adult you won’t find the same kind of friend you had when you were 15.

In addition to being a captivating story, I found the book to be thought provoking and, in a way, inspiring. I don’t have as many friends as I used to have. Some moved away, some drifted away as we aged and our interests changed, some didn’t have time as their priorities changed. Things happen. And with a busy schedule, I didn’t actively try to replace them with new ones.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have more friends? I can say with certainty that I couldn’t do a lot of the things Rachel did, such as renting a friend, or putting an ad in the paper. But joining some new groups and meetups in my community is a possibility I might explore. Studies show that people are happier and healthier when they have a strong social network and varied circle of friends.
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More information about Rachel on her blog.
Follow Rachel on twitter or Facebook.
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Source: Copy provided by the publisher for review.