As someone who’s used the old 2003 program for years, I picked up a copy of this book to better understand Word 2010. Although it was created for 2013 programs, it’s still really helpful for us luddites who are still adapting from pull-down menus to the ribbon system. Now that I’ve used the newer programs for a few weeks, I like it. Word 2010 is a big improvement, especially if you work with it and Excel regularly. The 2013 updates offer more flexibility without mind-boggling changes.

Office 2013 for Dummies is an easy, comprehensive read with plenty of excellent tips and useful screen shots for those of us who appreciate visual aides. The book works best if you’re actually trying some of new options while reading the how-to steps, especially when working with Excel. I’ve never had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation, and although I can’t say I’m ready to do one just by reading the PowerPoint chapters, it definitely takes the mystery out of how it works. The tips on controlling junk mail are great as well. Whether you have a new home PC or are returning to the work force, keep this book by your side for quick reference. It will really help!

When the mayor’s wife decides to host a golf tournament in the tiny town of Maggody, Arkansas to raise money for golf widows, the townsfolk have mixed feelings. While it will draw in tourist dollars, the town doesn’t actually half a golf course or any locals who know how to play. That doesn’t stop the enthusiastic Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon from bullying her way into rounding up volunteers, a patch of land to fix up, and a $40,000 bass boat to offer as a prize for the first person to hit a hole-in-one. When the winner is found beaten to death in the boat later that night, Mrs. Jim Bob’s already controversial tournament takes an even nastier turn.

The Merry Wives of Maggody is a funny book filled with eccentric characters like the Buchanon clan who are saddled with names like Bopeep, Bony (for Bonaparte), Falutin, Chikeeta, and Middlin. The protagonist, thirty-year-old Sheriff Arly Hanks, is ambivalent about the tournament as she has her own personal issues to deal with. Needless to say, Arly has more suspects than she needs, and even more attitude from arrogant, demanding players, never mind the Buchanons. Smart-mouthed Arly is an endearing character, though, who gives as good as she gets.

The large number of characters (I think there were at least a dozen in chap. one) made it difficult to keep them straight at first, however, author Joan Hess does a good job of developing each of the major players. If you love golf and humorous mysteries, then this book would be a great choice.

When Bobby Waite is shot to death behind Suzanne Dietz’s café, Suzanne is shocked. Bobby was not only her lawyer, but her friend. Suzanne’s discovery of a second body, however, has some of the townsfolk, not to mention Sheriff Doogie, wondering about her. But this is not Suzanne’s only worry. The town council is accusing her late husband of taking a $4 million kickback on a construction project, and a badly beaten young woman shows up on her doorstep begging for help.

Eggs in Purgatory includes many of the cozy elements I enjoy: baking, book club, knitting circle, and a family pet, yet I was a little disappointed in this one. The straightforward plot and subplots had no real surprises and readers didn’t get to meet what should have been a key suspect. I appreciate that cozies are tricky when it comes to crime detection. A busy business woman like Suzanne wouldn’t have time to run around questioning suspects, yet there were definitely some missed opportunities here to develop a more intricate story.

The use of words like “bared teeth” to describe an angry man, “opening the driver’s side door” (what other door does a driver leave from?) and “laying helter skelter on the floor” are examples of words and phrases that diminish the quality of writing for me. Still, if you’re looking for a light read filled with female camaraderie and recipes then you’ll likely enjoy the book.

I’m a fan of personal essays. The form allow writers to connect with readers in ways that articles and fiction don’t often do. The topics are so wide-ranging that there is pretty well something for everyone, whether your preference is serious social issues or light, humorous pieces. As someone who’s written a few personal essays, I wanted to learn more, and this book was a great choice.

Author Sheila Bender spends several chapters explaining the eight different essays styles (I had no idea there were so many). She also provides three major tips for analyzing essays, which is a crucial element of the writing process. To help readers’ develop analytical skills, she provides samples of first drafts in every chapter for discussion. She then provides some of the contributors’ second draft so readers can see the difference. It’s a really useful teaching tool.

The last chapter discusses how to publish an essay, emphasizing the importance of thorough research. Since the book was published in 1995, however, many of the research guides may no longer exist. Google searches would be a good starting point today, but definitely not the only resource. For those of you who aspire to write personal essays, this book is a useful reference.

This book is a useful guide for those who are compelled to write, but might not have achieved publication. It’s also helpful for those with two or three novels under their belts, but who still struggle with things like characterization, plot, and pacing. Carr’s opening chapter on getting started will be especially interesting for those who want to write but aren’t sure they have what it takes. She doesn’t pull any punches when she repeats throughout the book that writing is hard work, and she explains why.

Because the book was published in 1992, in some ways the quest for publication is a little dated as we now know how easily technology has made it to self-publish. However, this book is for writers who want to excel at the craft and continue learning throughout their careers. She offers some great tips, including choosing the right novel to study, and how to assess the author’s techniques.

The subtitle of this book says A guide to the special demands of writing genre fiction, including romance, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, westerns, suspense… and so on. I was hoping to find more detail about specific techniques required for each genre, however, she only describes the different genres in a couple of pages. Still, I did learn some new things and found inspiration which helped with my own novel plotting. Since Carr’s writing tips still apply today, the book is definitely a worthwhile read.

Criminal psychologist Cait Morgan, is looking forward to a weekend of wine, food, and a little investigative snooping in British Columbia’s wine country. Her love interest, retired homicide detective Bud Anderson, however, isn’t so sure about this weekend. In fact, he wouldn’t be going if he hadn’t been invited by Ellen Newman, owner of a winery and B & B.

Although Bud hasn’t met Ellen in person, she has been his “grief buddy” for several months to help Bud comes to terms with the death of his wife a year earlier. Ellen has been mourning the loss of her sister Annette who committed suicide, or did she? Ellen doesn’t think so, and she’s frantically trying to get someone to believe her. The situation intrigues Cait, and given her specialty in victim profiling, she’s more than willing to meet Ellen and the suspects. It’s a decision she quickly comes to regret.

The Corpse with the Golden Nose is the second Cait Morgan adventure and a sheer delight for traditional whodunit mystery lovers. Since wine tasting is one of my favorite holiday pastimes, I was happy to read the wonderful descriptions while trying to figure out the killer’s identity. I liked the somewhat uncertain and edgy relationship between Cait and Bud, who often have differing viewpoints and lots of baggage from the past. The tension that comes and goes between them is compelling, and it will be interesting to see what happens to their relationship in future books. If you love traditional whodunits about wine, food, and lots of colorful characters, then you’ll really love this one.

Author Christina Baldwin says in her introduction that “The spiritual journey is what the soul is up to while we attend to daily living.” In this fast-paced McWorld, daily living tends to take precedence over spiritual reflection. In fact, it almost seems a guilty pleasure to read a quiet, thoughtful book about how to get in touch with one’s spiritual life; to peel down the layers and really ponder choices, goals, and fantasies. But this is exactly what this book does in an elegant, thoughtful way.

Divided into six sections, each containing four chapters, Baldwin shares her personal experiences, but also offers journal entries from other contributors on the left side of every page. It’s an interesting way to explore an issue, but it’s also annoying when both left and right hand pages don’t finish a sentence at the bottom. For me it became a question of which page to read first, and whenever I put the book down for a while I couldn’t remember where I’d left off. Still, there are plenty of journaling exercises and meditations, which I didn’t have time to try in my McWorld. If you do, though, then this book is a terrific guide through the process.

Every once in a while, it’s a good idea for writers to stop and reflect about what they’re writing, and why. Writing is often a difficult, lonely profession driven by fear and insecurity frequently exacerbated by frustration and disillusionment. This book demonstrates how these feelings, and many more, come with the territory. For Writers Only is not a how-to book, but rather a book about the emotional side of the writer’s life. Author Sophy Burnham writes candidly about her own experiences, and shares the thoughts of many famous writers who’ve faced incredible challenges and plenty of rejection.

Burnham divided the book into chapters with provocative titles such as Walking-Around Time, Waiting, Spinning, Drifting, and Letting Go. The sensitive, insightful chapters about loneliness, money, drug, alcohol and mental health issues, as well as jealousy, are topics not often covered in other books.

I liked the simple format: quotations from famous authors on the left page; thoughts and reflections on the right. It made me realize that many of the things I’ve fretted about or experienced are practically everyday occurrences for people deeply committed to writing. Some of the chapters had more depth than others, however I found the reflection of the authors’ struggles inspiring and totally relatable. This is one of those books that will be great to refer back to during those insecure moments when dreams feel like they’re about to derail.

It’s never been easy for anyone to juggle careers, marriage, volunteer commitments, child rearing, friendships, and other family responsibilities. From time to time, most of us fail at our attempts and become deeply disillusioned. Many will argue that women, in particular, have had a tough road balancing real life expectations with personal aspirations. In this book, (the 1989 version) however, Mary Catherine Bateson takes a candid look at her life and the lives of four women to provide insights as to how they manage, and why. These women include Joan Erickson, dancer, writer and jewelry designer, Ellen Bassuk, psychiatrist and researcher on homelessness, Johnnetta Cole, anthropologist and college president, and Alice d’Entremont, electrical engineer and entrepreneur.

Bateson discusses their challenges, obstacles, successes and failures, and how each woman had to redefine priorities, aspirations, and self-image through numerous career and personal changes. Their issues are thoughtfully represented, highly reflective, and embracing. Although my life is ordinary, compared to these women, I related to the frequent distractions and struggles to balance goals with the needs of others.

As the daughter of famous parents Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and a professor in her own right, Bateson is a natural to tackle this topic, as she’s spent her life studying the human condition. At the end of the book, Bateson realizes that putting all of this down on paper has been an eye-opener for her. Once disillusioned by the discontinuity and draining interruptions in her life, she now understands how they offered an opportunity to provide fresh starts with renewed wisdom and knowledge. She says that every change, every new way of composing our lives, is filled with possibility. Wise words indeed from an author well worth reading.

I’ve always been a fan of the personal essay, and agree with editor Joseph Epstein’s statement that the personal essay (or familiar essay) is a form of discovery; a way of sharing where one stands on complex issues, questions, and subjects. Personal essays can also be poignant reflections about love, regret and loss, or on something fun such as how to eat an ice cream cone.

The collection includes a wide range of topics from a fondly remembered general store, to turning forty, to reminisces of family members, friends, or a discussion of societal issues. The essays start with the oldest contributor, Mark Twain, born in 1835 and end with the youngest contributor, Amy Tan, born in 1952. It’s an interesting way to present a collection because while the decades and topics differ greatly, the authors’ skill in sharing thoughts so eloquently is a common thread.

I was delighted to come across stunning essays from writers I’d never read before. For instance, Willa Cather’s “A Chance Meeting” is a gorgeous piece about a chance encounter with an older woman at a hotel, which turns into something quite special. Dorothy Parker’s essay on turning forty is hilarious, as is L. Rust Hills’ piece on eating an ice cream cone. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, Doris Lessing, Eudora Welty, and many others are also well worth reading. In fact, out of the 53 essays encompassing 468 pages, only two or three didn’t interest me. If you’re a fan of personal essays, this book is a must-read. You’ll learn a lot from the greats.