We asked author Kristy Kiernan, whose latest novel is Catching Genius, about books that inspire her writing. She graciously sent us these picks: (Thanks, Kristy!)

1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose. "This is non-fiction from a journalist in New Orleans. It's a compilation of his columns from right after Katrina. The introduction gave me chills because I'm a writer; the rest of the book gave me chills because I'm human."

A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander. "Okay, I'm cheating on this one a little. I was lucky enough to get an Advance Reading Copy and the book isn't available until Feb. 1, 2008. However, this gives you time to pick up her first two books, And Only to Deceive and A Poisoned Season, and get hooked on these historical suspense novels set in Victorian England, featuring the most likable heroine I've ever read in a series, Lady Emily Ashton."

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Journalist Amy Gahran of the blog Contentious shares her secret for getting people to read your blog: "Strategic commenting." As Amy explains, "If you view your blog as part of a public conversation, rather than a mere publication, then an easy way to attract more interest and interaction becomes obvious." Read her post here.

In a dark and gloomy pit, deep in the bowels of the earth, a large and strongly muscled man rolls a heavy boulder up a steep hill. The task takes him the entire day. But when he gets to the top, ooophhhh, the stone escapes his grasp and rolls right back down to the bottom. So the next day he must begin all over again.

If you received a classical education, or if you simply enjoy mythology, you will recognize this story as the myth of Sisyphus from the Greeks. Poor Sisyphus never catches a break. The same damn stone rolls down the same hill every night and he must push it right back up again the next day. For eternity. So, my question to writers: Why are you behaving like Sisyphus?

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Cowboy talk above your huckleberry? Stop barkin' at the knot and check out these websites that decode the singular language of the American cowboy:

Texian Cowboy

Cowboy Term Dictionary

Carved Eggs

Cowboy and Rodeo Glossary

In this lesson, small groups of students will compete in a "shades of meaning" contest to see which group can use the VT to help them match words with similar definitions but different connotations in the shortest amount of time.  Continue reading...

We asked Shannon Reed, who contributed a recent "Teachers at Work" column on choosing colleges, to recommend books about the college admissions process. Here are her picks: (Thanks, Shannon!)

Fishing For a Major: What You Need to Know Before You Declare "I confess, I've never read this, but my students tell me it truly helped them. They like that it's written in a student-to-student style, which uses language they understand."

Profiles of American Colleges with CD-ROM "I do not believe the results of any survey, ever. And that includes all of those college ranking books. Plus, I don't need my students to mope through the rest of their senior year because their future university ranks only 38th on the "party schools" list. This guide suits my style far better, with detailed information on over 1600 schools in book and CD-ROM format. Hey, remember CD-ROMs? Never mind, we'll save that discussion for another day."

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