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How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years Younger, 10 Pounds Lighter, 10 Times Better, by Charla Krupp.

Ok, so I'm not 40 yet, but I am starting to think about these things. What I liked about this book is that she separates her advice into "high-", "medium-" and "low-maintenance" levels, so that there is still hope for those of us who can't fly to New York for haircuts and spa treatments.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip Heath & Dan Heath.

When I first picked up this book, it reminded me a lot of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I don't know if it was the trompe-l'œil duct tape on the front cover, or just the overall tone of the book. Then immediately after having that thought, I encounter this in the introduction:

We adopted the "what sticks" terminology from one of our favorite authors, Malcom Gladwell. In 2000, Gladwell wrote a brilliant book called The Tipping Point, which examined the forces that cause social phenomena to "tip", or make the leap from small groups to big groups, the way contagious diseases spread rapidly once they infect a certain critical mass of people... This book is a complement to The Tipping Point in the sense that we will identify the traits that make ideas sticky, a subject that was beyond the scope of Gladwell's book. Gladwell was interested in what makes social epidemics epidemic. Our interest is in how effective ideas are constructed - what makes some ideas stick and others disappear.
The authors identify six key qualities of a "sticky" idea. These are:
1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotional
6. Stories
(or: SUCCESs - Simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional stories.)

This book is a must-read for anyone with a message. Anyone in marketing or advertising; anyone who teaches; anyone promoting a cause; anyone who wants to change the world.

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's, by John Elder Robison.

This is a very interesting story of a man who did not know "what was wrong with him" until he was forty and read a description of Asperger's syndrome. Robinson is the brother of Augusten Burroughs, who wrote Running with Scissors: A Memoir, and at times Look Me in the Eye feels like half of a story.

Add to the list of books on home staging and decorating:

Home Therapy: Fast, Easy, Affordable Makeovers, by Lauri Ward. By the author of Use What You Have, this book is something of a case study, without a whole lot of guidance. Lots of photos.

Building a Successful Home Staging Business: Proven Strategies from the Creator of Home Staging, by Barb Schwarz. This book has some useful information for anyone staging their own home, but it is more for the professional.

Dress Your House for Success: 5 Fast, Easy Steps to Selling Your House, Apartment, or Condo for the Highest Possible Price!, by Martha Webb and Sarah Parsons Zackheim. You wouldn't think that such a small book with no photos, only a few black and white illustrations, would be so helpful, but it really stands out from all the books I've read recently.

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