DIARY OF A JOB SEARCH: One Man's Journey from Unemployment to a New Career by Tim Johnston

Amazon | Goodreads

Diary of a Job Search: One Man's Journey from Unemployment to a New Career

by Tim Johnston

Ever read an old manual? My dad owned a lot of old textbooks from the 1970s and 1980s, and as a kid, I'd flip through them whenever I was bored. One of the books was a guide on how to save money on your car, and the author spoke about driving beneath the speed limit, 55 mph. "Wow, cars were slow back then," the ten-year-old me would remark.

The technology of job hunting, while it is a constant phenomenon and necessity, is constantly changing, especially in the Internet Age. This book, like so many others, was a product of its time, and it reveals a lot of insight into the anxious mindset of the post-9/11 American job hunter.

Perhaps the economic chaos after 9/11 was the beginning of the end to the idea of one stable, lifelong career, the expectation that the same company will take care of its employees for life. The beginning of job hunting and company-hopping as employees realized that they were on their own in terms of securing their financial future. Along with new circumstances comes a new "game", new rules, and new tools to use in the job hunt. It's the reason Richard Bolle comes out with a new edition of What Color Is Your Parachute? every year (A thorough book of advice on the job hunting process. I recommend it).

Diary of a Job Search by Tim Johnston goes back to the pre-LinkedIn days of 2003. Tim the Job Hunter's journey is fun (and occasionally hilarious) to read.

I'd like to compare the experience of reading this to staring into a time capsule of what it was like to search for jobs around the time the Internet was starting to take off in popularity. Lots of references were made to the 9/11 attacks and their catastrophic effects on the job market. Tim regarded the use of the pre-LinkedIn Internet for job hunting with skepticism, and partly because job sites were already being spammed with resumes and sketchy sales opportunities.

Some lessons Tim learned along the way remain relevant in 2015: "feeding and watering" your network, interviews, negotiating one's salary, being likable/showing value in an interview, and being persistent in the job search despite the challenges of morale and unemployment.

I hope Tim is doing well today. He was a likable job hunting protagonist in this book, and even though our life circumstances are completely different, it was easy to identify with him and his concerns and aspirations.

My rating: 5/5 stars by 2003 standards

Thanks for reading! Find out more about Diary of a Job Search by Tim Johnston:

Amazon | Goodreads

Front Roe: How to Be the Leading Lady in Your Own Life by Louise Roe

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

“My granny was never rich, but boy was she glamorous,” says Louise Roe in the introduction to her book, Front Roe - How to Be the Leading Lady in Your Own Life. “Elegant, ladylike, impeccably mannered, and dressed to the nines at all times…”

Louise Roe, fashion journalist and television host of makeover shows such as Plain Jane, Style by Jury, and Fit for Fashion, shares her style smarts with working women in Front Roe - How to Be the Leading Lady in Your Own Life. Front Roe offers lifestyle advice to women on how to live stylishly and to their fullest potential.

While the book focuses a lot on style, there is also a lot of great advice on etiquette and navigating tricky situations at work. I found this book inspirational, with its beautiful photos and down-to-earth advice. The wisdom shared in Front Roe reads like advice from a street-smart and well-dressed older sister--relatable, practical, and kind. Along with more advanced tips for the sophisticated reader, Front Roe also contains practical knowledge on life that is quite handy to the clueless folks (like me) who are interested in learning how to present themselves better in order to further their career and social lives.

I’ve read a lot of lifestyle books on living the chic life, and Front Roe stands out because of its breadth and depth in the topics that covers, as well as its delivery. The layout is easy to navigate: Front Roe is organized beautifully into sections and subsections of topics regarding style, fashion, work, beauty, lifestyle, and more. Louise Roe goes over the basics of each topic first (wardrobe basics, beauty regimen basics, etc) before going in-depth into related topics.

There’s a lot of advice in here, and you don’t have to read it all in one sitting. It’s fun to flip through. Front Roe is the sort of book that you can come back to anytime for a specific piece of advice. Louise is gorgeous, and the photos make her beauty and lifestyle shine. One of my fave photos from the book is the one with her bright tangerine lipstick.

Some of my favorite tidbits in this book are the parts about how to network and be successful in the workplace under “How to Dress for Work”. I also appreciated and applied Louise Roe’s tips on washing one’s face with a towel. Throughout high school, I was using a horrid technique with my towel and sans cleanser. No wonder my skin broke out so much despite me “washing” it. Now I know!

Front Roe - How to Be the Leading Lady in Your Own Life by Louise Roe is arranged beautifully and gives a lot of straightforward and useful advice to women in terms of channeling their “inner style goddess” into multiple aspects of their lives. Real-life wisdom on navigating through social and work situations makes this book so much more relatable to the everyday working woman.

My rating: 5/5 stars

You can find out more about Front Roe - How to Be the Leading Lady in Your Own Life by Louise Roe on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads. It comes out April 7, 2015.

College Poor No More! 100 $avings Tips for College Students by Michelle Perry Higgins

Amazon | Goodreads

College Poor No More! 100 $avings Tips for College Students 

by Michelle Perry Higgins

Genres: Non-Fiction / Self-Help / Money / Finance

I went to K-Mart during the beginning of my freshman year to buy a bike for campus. There were other students who were standing outside the discount department store with Huffy bikes. "We're poor college students," one of them remarked as she popped up the bike stand with her foot.

At about $70 a pop, Huffy bikes were still an investment. She was quoting an archetype of the college student, and she was not referring to the trust fund baby.

College students have the reputation of being broke (or buried in debt), but does it always have to be this way?

College Poor No More contains 100 different ways to save money, making it a great introduction and overview to saving money for the college student. 100% of Michelle's profits from this book will go to providing scholarships for deserving students.

The money-saving tips are divided into sections:

• Managing Your Money (banking, credit)
• Hitting the Shops  
• Cooking, Eating, and Drinking 
• Social Life
• Day-to-Day Living
• Housing
• Travel
• Life Hacks
• Professional Matters (getting a job/internship)
• Welcome to the Real World

Each tip takes up only one or two pages, so the book is overall a fast and easy read. I can flip through it whenever I have a few moments to myself. Every few pages, there is a comic or two about saving money. They're cute and the info is easy to digest, especially when so many budget books out there can come across as intimidating to the novice.

There are also genius tips that I wish I had come across while I was in college, especially #22: "Purchase School Supplies on an 'As Needed' Basis". I took an art class in which varying (and expensive) art supplies were listed on the syllabus. Ultimately, I ended up using about 30% of them and was stuck with a bunch of unused art supplies by the end of the quarter. 

Throughout the book, there are other resourceful tips that are brilliant and useful to a college student, such as ideas for saving money on printer ink and dorm decorations. 

College Poor No More would make a great gift to any college student. Even people who are normally can use a reminder every now and then, especially in the middle of so much advertisement and overpriced goods on campus. I have succumbed countless times to the overpriced temptations of convenience drinks and snacks. 

The book comes out on May 1st, but you can pre-order it online on Amazon.  

My Rating: 5/5

Find out more about College Poor No More! 100 $aving Tips for College Students by Michelle Perry Higgins on:

Amazon | Goodreads

Book Review: WRITING ABOUT WORLD LITERATURE By Karen Gocsik

Published 2012
Genre: Nonfiction / Academic Writing / Guide

Goodreads | Amazon

My first reaction while reading the book was: where was this when I was a freshman?! Writing About World Literature is a tiny book in a small trade paperback form. Spanning only 132 pages, it gives you the basic guidelines on how to organize your thought process and come up with ideas for an academic paper. There are five types of papers that she covers in the book:

Book Review: ECCENTRIC GLAMOUR by Simon Doonan

Goodreads | Amazon

Title: Eccentric Glamour: Creating an Insanely More Fabulous You
Author: Simon Doonan
Genre: Non-Fiction / Fashion / Guide
Published: 2008

A charming style guide written by a charismatic gay man. While his love of drama, bad advice, and loud cell phone conversations may make me recoil in fear should I ever meet him in real life, I am in love with Simon Doonan's sharp-witted writing persona. His warm personality oozes out from the ink squiggles. On top of everything that I love about Doonan, he is also the husband of Jonathan Adler, one of the coolest stationery designers out there. What does being husbands with Jonathan Adler say about him? That he has great taste in men, of course. 

2013 Holiday Gift Guide for the Bookish Friend

Photo Credit: LiteratiClub

(Okay, I lied about the hiatus. I might not be able to participate in all the bookish memes, but I can still post my own material. But it will be sporadic until December 13. Hello again. :))

When it comes to book lovers, we can never go wrong with gift cards to their favorite bookstore. But if you're looking for something more tangible, try this list of gift ideas. 

2013 Holiday Gift Guide for the World of Warcraft Fan

Are you acquainted with an hardcore WoW fan in your life? Maybe they talk about the game all the time, or you just know that they play and love it. Or, maybe you're a fellow WoW player. Here are some awesome Azerothian goodies that would make great gifts. 

This is the first gift guide of a bunch that I'm planning to make. 

(Disclaimer: This is an educational guide. This is not my wish list!)