Predictably Irrational!

One of the fun benefits of working at the library is that Carla, our selection librarian, puts many of the advance reader copies she receives down in our staff room for employees to read and share. I make a pretty regular visit to the book shelves because if it great fun to read books before they are available to the public, they are often the books that the publishers are really pushing, many times the writers are going to be on book tour, and best of all, the books are free. Because they are advance reader copies, they often have typos so we are not allowed to add them to the collection, so, best of all, they are free!

Recently I picked up a book called Predictably Irrational by Dan Arielly. It's a great book for anyone that is into consumer behavior, marketing, or that just likes to read about how people think. The basic premise of the book is that humans are often very irrational but that they often they they are making rational decisions based on past history. Great book, quick read, fascinating.

Mysteries by Laura Lippman

Sometimes I like to read for an escape. Considering the weather we have had these past few days, escape sounds pretty good. So I have been enjoying a couple of mysteries by Laura Lippman. Laura is one of our AViD authors and I always like to read several books by each of our authors so that I have a better handle on what they've written. It's always fun to talk books with the authors while I am driving them from the airport, to dinner, and such.

Laura's books are all set in Baltimore and although I have been there once a long time ago, I don't know much about the city. Laura writes in great detail and makes the city sound so interesting. The book I am reading right now is based on the tradition of a visitor that leaves a half bottle of Cognac and some roses on the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. It's a fun read. Tess Monaghan is quite a character. Reminds me alot of Stephanie Plum in the Janet Evanovich mysteries.