I’m always excited to read the Massey Lectures. It’s an intellectual treat, to which I always look forward. Topics have ranged from human development to economics, to imagination, to libraries.

Right now, I’m reading Margaret Atwood’s Payback. In five chapters, Atwood discusses the concept of debt, and how its deeply embedded place in our consciousness ensures that it constantly figures in our religions, our literature, and our culture at large.

This is not a book about the mortgage crisis or about debt in this decade. Rather, it’s a broad examination of debt as a cognitive construct, and a psychological motivator.

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys non-fiction, and for those who are particularly interested in psychology or religion.

Although I typically don’t read biographies, there was something about the title of this book that made me very curious. After all, how many 10 year old divorcees do you know?

I read the book (with teary eyes) in only a few short hours, and I was riveted.

Right off the hop, I’ll admit that I was skeptical about the authorship. While reading, I continually wondered which words, thoughts and ideas actually sprang from the heart of little Nujood, and which were the creations or recreations of co-author Delphine Minoui. However, the truth is that for me, it ultimately didn’t matter.

Nujood’s is a wrenching, heartbreaking story. Although the divorce that she so badly wants is eventually granted, there is no justice in this story’s end. How could there be? Though Nujood has been hailed as a hero, and has won international acclaim since her ordeal, I can’t help but think that children like her may never wholly recover from the traumas that they suffer - no matter whether they eventually claim to be happy or not.

Nevertheless, Nujood is a reminder of all that can be achieved with steadfast determination. What an impression this little girl has made on me!

For a tale you won’t soon forget, I recommend I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced.

How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? Have you – like most - veered off course? If you need a source of motivation, check out One Year to an Organized Financial Life, by Regina Leeds.

There are some books that pepper good advice with hokey anecdotes. This isn’t one of them. Instead, every page – really, every page! – includes several sensible, practical tips. One could certainly follow it week by week, but there’s no need. It’s organized so that anyone can readily find relevant information, whether it’s as basic as evaluating your relationship with money, or as complex as playing the stock market.

One Year to an Organized Financial Life is simple, straightforward, and packed (and I use that term deliberately!) with useful information. No pictures, anecdotes, or “filler” material. Check it out today!

There are two practicing dieticians in my family. Over the years, they’ve seen every diet plan under the sun, and eschewed them all. Instead, they recommend a common sense approach to eating and exercising. Calories in and calories out. Everything in moderation, and nothing off-limits.

I thought of those relatives when I came across The Mayo Clinic Diet on our shelf of new books.

If you’re looking for simple, straightforward advice to help you feel better and lose weight, then check out this book. There are no gimmicks; the advice is sound and practical.

The idea is this: by breaking 5 bad habits and establishing 5 good ones, you’re bound to feel better and lose weight.

If you’ve resolved to be healthier in 2010, then pick up The Mayo Clinic Diet today!

I don’t have a television, so when I visit family who do, I’m always eager to indulge in guilty pleasures. One such pleasure is the Slice channel, which has a constant flow of programming dedicated to saving money and marriages, training unruly dogs, and losing weight.

So, I was instantly drawn to Debt Free Forever, when it appeared on our shelf of new books. Debt Free Forever is written by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, a tough talking advisor who whips indebted couples into financial shape through a series of budgeting challenges, and a common sense approach to saving and spending. You can watch her in action on the Slice channel, on Til Debt do us Part.

I read this book with great interest! Even though I don’t have the crippling student and consumer debt that a lot of young individuals and couples do, I still found that the book had plenty of practical advice.

No matter how indebted you may be, Vaz-Oxlade will convince you that you can start to remedy your situation today. Not only that, but she lays out a simple, easy-to-follow strategy for getting it done. But it’s not only those who struggle with debt and repayment who can benefit from her advice. This book is full of tips that are easy to implement, and lays out sensible financial routines that can be adopted by anyone.

Check our Debt Free Forever and turn a new page in 2010!

Working at the library allows me to see a constant stream of new books. I love browsing through the ever shifting array of interesting titles, and what’s not to love about this one:

The Tyranny of e-mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to your Inbox, by John Freeman.

Of course I had to check it out!

The content of this book wasn’t really what I expected it to be, and yet I enjoyed it nonetheless – perhaps even more than if it had turned out to be what I expected. I thought it would be a tirade against the dominance of the inbox. Tyranny certainly makes no bones about email onslaught being a negative thing, however, instead of devoting time to complaining about it, Freeman devotes about a third of the book to discussing the rise of written communication – all the way from the first etchings on stone tablets, to the incredible growth of the internet. He then describes the current state of email tyranny, before going on to make a series of recommendations about how to free ourselves.

I would definitely recommend this book to those who are interested in communications. It would be an excellent addition or supplement to a Communications Studies 101 or General Studies 101 type of class.

Read Tyranny over the Christmas holidays, and return to work with new strategies for coping with deluges of e-mail!