Personal Librarian

I just found this awesome story at Bookriot.com (excellent source of all things bookish) and I think that's the job I need to have. It's like having a personal shopper, but better because a personal librarian can bring you actual happiness. I would even hand deliver the books if this was a profitable enough business.

So who wants to pay me to pick out books for them now and forevermore? It's my dream job.

Also, I wanted to share this little mentalfloss tidbit! I love going to mentalfloss.com because it always makes me smile and this article is no different.

There are so many words we don't have in English that we should have! I love the French phrase "l'esprit de l'escalier" which mentalfloss translates as "a too-late retort thought of only after departure".   I also loved "Koi No Yokan" the Japanese phrase for "the sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love." Who knew the Japanese were so romantic?

Bringing Up Bébé, aka Learn From the French

I am certainly not having kids anytime soon, but I still enjoyed this book. An American woman who lives in Paris with her husband becomes pregnant and takes the reader step-by-step through being pregnant in France, daycare, how to make friends with your child's friend's parents, and everything in between. The French way of raising children is thoroughly explained and quite frankly I'm siding with the Europeans on this one. 

Maybe I'm biased because I adore France already (since I was a French major in college and studied abroad in Rennes for a semester).  Honestly, the ideas that the French have towards children are really so much simpler than the American way. 

For instance, Pamela Druckerman discusses how French babies will sleep through the night at three months! How can that possibly be? The French parents simply don't get up every single time the baby cries. During the first few months, yes, but after two and a half months or so, they let their baby cry for five to ten minutes before picking him/her up. It's the same during the day - give them a few minutes so they can learn to self-soothe. 

Give this one a try - it's fascinating.