Today's post will include two more entries for the nonfiction part of my Dewey challenge. The first is Can I See Your ID? True Stories of False Identities by Chris Barton. The call number for this one is 001.9 BAR. As the title indicates, this book is a collection of true short stories about impostors who pulled off some pretty unbelievable things. In this book, I learned about 10 people who successfully pretended to be someone they were not... apparently, confidence can go a long way in convincing others of your qualifications for a job (such as subway train operator or ship's surgeon) or even your race or gender!

As a devoted iPhone user and Apple fan, I had to read Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal. Of course, this book will go in the Biography part of my Dewey (if you want to check it out, the call # is B JOB). I suppose this was not really a surprise, but I learned that like many of our "best and brightest" high achievers, Steve Jobs was often a very difficult person to be around. I do thank him, though, for the computer innovations I enjoy (my first home computer purchase was an original Mac back in 1992 when they had 9" monochrome screens- boy,

Ok, I am pretty far behind in my posts, but I have been reading the books and making good progress on my Dewey project. The first book summary I will post fits into the 500 section of my Dewey form. It's Black Gold:The Story of Oil in Our Lives by Albert Marrin (Call # 553.2 MAR). This book outlines man's history with oil and how it has influenced just about everything about our lives and our world. It starts out with a brief explanation of how petroleum and its related substances were formed and discovered by man, then brings us through the discoveries, conflicts and uses of oil and the various products derived from it. I was not aware of the role oil and the race to control it has influenced international events from as far back as the World Wars! Also, we keep hearing that if we don't reduce our dependency on oil, we will be in trouble- this book really makes that need clear and discusses where we are with developing energy sources of the future.

This is it! Mrs. Mathews and I are committing to reach the finish line of the Dewey Decathlon by the end of the year along with our JMS students and colleagues. Admittedly, we are both avid readers (so we have that part going for us) but like everyone else, we have a tendency to stick with certain types of books that are our favorites. Since I believe that "branching out" is good- as I tell the students, and a challenge can be inspiring, here we go... I am picking up my blank Dewey form, and you will hear from me when I review the first book!