What have you been reading this week-end?

I bought this ebook yesterday and read it within the day, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative.  I loved it. I found it inspirational. There is nothing wrong with stealing ideas and crediting them or stealing ideas and transforming them. Those are all good and completely different from plagiarizing which, of course, is bad. This book has given me some ideas.  I just have to put them in action.

I have also started reading the fourth book in the Matthew Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom, Revelation.  I have not reached very far but it sounds as if this is going to have more about the religious conflict that was prevalent during King Henry V111's reign; the reformers versus the traditional Papists.  The setting is London and the time frame is 1543, 6 years after the events of the first book,  Dissolution,which we read for a past book club discussion.  King Henry is courting wife number 6. Barak and his wife Tamasin and also Guy are recurring characters from the previous books in the series.   In this story, Guy is allowed to practice as a Physician, in the last book his race was a deterrent in his being allowed to practice.  Madness, possibly from religious guilt, seems to be one of the themes in this story. I am on page 74 and a murder has already taken place.

A Culture of Creativity

I came across this list of ebooks on creativity.  This one titled, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod, reminded me of a video from the Jamaica Gleaner of a man who created what he calls a "ground plane" when everyone including his wife thought he had lost his mind.  He ignored everybody and kept on creating. Video.   One reviewer on amazon said this is one thing he or she learned from the book, the more original your idea the less good advice you will receive.  This morning I read this quick guide to licensing your ideas. Did you know that before filing for a patent, you can file for a PPA for $125 to protect your idea for 12 months?

Check these links

I've been getting some really interesting links from social networking: bloggers, and twitter and facebook friends.

For those of you who dream of writing a novel, today is 11/1/11 and it's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I found a list of book bloggers, on Joy's Book Blog, who will be participating by writing a 50,000 word novel

Here is a link I found on twitter: Infographics on reading habits, check it out. One in six readers use an e-reader or is likely to purchase one in the next 6 months. Interesting response to the question, What type of books have you read in the past year?

I got this very interesting TED Talk link from facebook featuring David Brooks, writer of The Social Animal:the Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement. Watch the video clip.

The Cure for Online Addiction

Do you have an online addiction? Are you playing too many online games and checking in on social media all the time? It's time to read a book, says Randy Murray.  He advises that you should have at least 6 books in your queue.  What is he reading?  A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare:1599. 

I am reading this article on online addiction the same day that I am reading about the new cheaper Kindle Fire that's here to compete with the IPad and the Nook: $199.00 for the Kindle Fire, $139 for Nook Touch.

By the way, other ways listed to fight online addiction are gardening and cleaning.