For women looking for a good man or a good business plan, two authors have written pep-talk books intended to inspire the right course of action.
The goal of Gwen Jimmere's dating handbook If It Walks Like a Duck and Other Truths My Mother Taught Me is to encourage confidence and a positive attitude. She advises against trying to change men who aren't good enough, and provides guidance for recognizing emotional abuse.
There is little new in this purse-size book, and Jimmere's casual style may stray toward the overly breezy, but there is solid advice about personal integrity and self-respect. If It Walks Like a Duck . . . (129 pages, softcover) costs $12.99 from http://www.theduckwalk.com.
Lipstick Ghetto: The Girls' Guide to Escaping the 9 to 5 Rat Race by Akron native Stacey Smith is the first e-book to be covered in this column. With a strong Christian emphasis, it is a workbook for the user to evaluate herself, asking questions like, ''Do I like the woman I am becoming? Why or why not?'' and providing inspirational quotes from sources such as Norman Vincent Peale and Mary J. Blige.
Smith advocates a healthy lifestyle and writing a personal commitment statement to stay focused. Lipstick Ghetto ($7.99 as an e-book, $13.95 in 120-page softcover) can be ordered from http://www.lipstickghetto.com. Tully biography
is in the works
Jim Tully was a famous author, but it's probably safe to say you've never heard of him. Born in St. Marys, Ohio, in 1886, Tully was a boxer and hobo who lived in Kent for about five years, working for Davey Tree Co. and briefly at the Beacon Journal; he later went west and became one of the first Hollywood reporters.
Writers Mark Dawidziak of Cuyahoga Falls and Paul J. Bauer of Kent are working on a biography of Tully, to be published in 2010. They've been paving the way by reissuing, through Kent State University Press, two of Tully's seminal 1920s works, Circus Parade and the memoir Shanty Irish.
Circus Parade is an episodic look at a shabby troupe, based on Tully's days as a circus worker. It shows his remarkable descriptive talents and the balance between brutality and delicacy. He is an expert in vernacular, including tossing off racial slurs, but his narrator is broad-minded about the black and gay members of the circus (which may have contributed to the book's being banned in Boston).
Circus Parade (312 pages, $19.95) has an introduction by Harvey ''American Splendor'' Pekar and Shanty Irish (328 pages, $21.95) has an introduction by film director John Sayles. They are both in softcover. Dawidziak is the television writer at the Cleveland Plain Dealer; Bauer is a book dealer.
Events
Cuyahoga Falls Library (2015 Third St.) — Akron writer Floriana Hall will sign her new book, Select Sands of Rhyme and Reason, and other works, 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens (714 N. Portage Path) — Authors from the Akron Manuscript Club will sign their works at the Countryside Farmers Market from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Admission to the market is free; there is a charge to enter the museum.
Mac's Backs Books on Coventry (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland) — Former Medina resident Kate St. Vincent Vogl signs Lost & Found: A Memoir of Mothers, 7 p.m. Thursday.
Cali Juice (105 First St., Hudson) — Dublin, Ohio, author Linda Gerber will discuss her mystery series for young adults, including the latest, Death by Denim. 8 p.m. Friday.
Borders (4927 Grande Shoppes Blvd., Medina) — Hinckley author Robert Spirko will sign his spy thriller The Palestine Conspiracy from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday.
Borders (335 Howe Ave., Cuyahoga Falls) — Beacon Journal sports writer David Lee Morgan Jr. signs More Than a Coach: What It Means to Play for Coach, Mentor and Friend Jim Tressel, 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Legacy Village, Lyndhurst) — Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson sign Winds of Dune, latest in the Dune series begun by Herbert's father, Frank Herbert, in 1965. Line tickets are required. 2 p.m. Saturday.
Fireside Book Shop (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls ) — Kate St. Vincent Vogl signs Lost & Found from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.
