The book is a hefty 445 pages (not counting the front and back matter) and covers Oprah’s life up to Obama’s election win. Kelley’s style made for a good read. My eyes didn’t glaze over once, which is quite amazing for such a long biography.

The media implied that Kelley would be hard on Oprah, and it’s not acceptable to criticize Oprah in some circles. Given the rather shrill advance press, I opened the book expecting all sorts of unsubstantiated gossip and mud-slinging, but Kelley’s book is well researched. She cites 50 pages of sources, including Oprah’s relatives; in fact, the book contains several photos of Kelley with Oprah’s father and aunt.

Most of her assertions are based on articles and TV appearances that anyone can obtain and view, so she’s not making stuff up. Rather than doing a hatchet job on Oprah, Kelley’s book came across as, “Here’s what Oprah has said and done. Draw your own conclusions.”

After reading the book, the worst conclusion I can draw about Oprah is that her fame and money has apparently led to a loss of perspective and a bit of a messiah complex. Otherwise she sounds like a human being filled with contradictions. Nothing remarkable there. She can be generous and selfish, kind and bitchy. If you’re in her good books, she’ll shower you with gifts, but one perceived snub and she’ll ruthlessly cut you out of her life.

Sadly, she seems incapable of trusting more than a few people, so she obsessively controls her image and demands that everyone sign overly-restrictive confidentiality agreements. But in this day and age, who can blame her? People are willing to say anything about anyone for their five minutes of fame, even when whatever they’re dishing reflects badly on them.

If you’re curious about how Oprah behaves when the cameras are turned off, you’ll find Kelley’s book an interesting read.

I never know what to expect with autobiographies (as opposed to biographies). Sometimes the subject dwells on details that were obviously important to him or her, but bore the stuffing out of everyone else. Branson doesn’t do that. The book is easy to get into and offers interesting details about how Branson became an entrepreneur; in fact, he’s never been anything else. While still in high school, he started a magazine called Student.

While working on the magazine and still a teenager, he noticed how much teenagers listen to music and recognized the demand for mail order records (we’re talking vinyl here, folks). He founded a mail order record company that he ran by the seat of his pants. From there, he opened record stores, and from there, built a recording studio. The rest, as they say, is history.

The most surprising thing I learned from the book was how Branson mainly winged his way to success (and before Virgin airlines!). There was never a master plan. Branson seized opportunities whenever they came along, sometimes pulling financing together at the final hour. On several occasions in its early life, Virgin was on the brink of collapse, but Branson’s gift for pulling people together and navigating his way out of tight spots always saved the day. Sometimes the book read like a suspense novel as Branson negotiated his way out of yet another potential catastrophe.

I also agree with his assertion that what he does can’t be taught. It’s one of those things that you can either do, or you can’t. Virgin wouldn’t exist without Richard Branson. He made it happen. He keeps it going. And like him or not, he’s an astute businessman who built an empire through sheer persistence and an absolute belief in himself. He also knows how to surround himself with good people. You could argue that he might not have been as successful without them, but he was astute enough to choose them.

I have a confession to make. I skimmed the last ~150 pages, starting around the time Branson sold Virgin Music. After that point, the book sort of deteriorated into a laundry list of accomplishments, business initiatives, and humanitarian efforts. I also came away wishing that Branson had offered more of a glimpse of Branson, the man, to balance Branson, the businessman. But on reflection, it might be hard to separate the two.

You can’t help but admire the man’s confidence and zest for life. If you enjoy autobiographies, or want to read about someone who really does seize the day, pick up the book.

A few months later, I was shopping at Amazon and wanted one more book to round out my order so I could get free shipping. I stumbled across Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise and decided to buy it.

Since it’s a collection of personal ramblings and anecdotes, many of which first appeared on Wheaton’s blog and are still there, I can’t discuss the book in depth without getting personal, something I don’t want to do. What I can say is that it’s a breezy read that starts out well but quickly becomes repetitive. Much of it focuses on Wheaton’s regret over leaving ST:TNG before the series ended.

I found it difficult to sympathize with Wheaton’s struggles, so I didn’t relate well to most of the book. But I enjoyed the anecdotes about the ST:TNG cast, and some of the convention stories were also a good read.

The way I see it, you have to be a Wil Wheaton or ST:TNG fan to enjoy the book. If you’re neither, you probably won’t get much out of it.

The title irks me. The back cover says, “… has created the ultimate guide to cool Canadian women…” No, it hasn’t. Too many of the women featured in the book weren’t Canadian. In fact, given the book’s title and back cover copy, one non-Canadian woman is too many.

The following groups are covered in the book:

1. Those born in Canada and who accomplished much here.
2. Those born outside of Canada, but they came to Canada at a young age and accomplished much here.
3. Those who lived in Canada for a few years and accomplished much while here, but weren’t Canadian.
4. Those who were born in Canada, but left at a young age. Their major accomplishments took place in other countries and they are usually associated with those countries.

I would have expected the book to cover only groups 1 and 2. Groups 3 and 4, while noteworthy in their own right, shouldn’t have made the cut, not when the book is supposed to be about Canadian heroines. Don’t include women who weren’t Canadian in a book titled “100 Canadian Heroines.”

The quality of the profiles is uneven. They sometimes include speculation that, if false, would mean the woman wasn’t a heroine at all. Some profiles contain a good amount of detail; others, not so much. I regard the book as a starting point, an overview that will introduce you to women (not necessarily Canadian women!) whose accomplishments may have been ignored by history.

In fact, one thing the book does very well is to once again highlight the fact that history really is HIStory. Women’s accomplishments have all too often been ignored by the history books. Sometimes recorded firsts weren’t firsts at all. A woman beat the man history chose to remember.

Some of the profiles are perhaps about accomplishments that some wouldn’t consider heroic, but in this day and age, we sometimes forget how difficult it was for women who wanted to pursue vocations or embark on journeys that weren’t considered “feminine.” It took an incredible amount of courage and sacrifice. It’s one of the reasons I cringe whenever a modern woman distances herself from feminism, especially when it’s a professional woman.

There are some profiles about women with accomplishments that I don’t see as heroic from any angle. They’re more of historical interest, which is fine. But again, that darn title.

Would I recommend the book? Sort of. It does offer more than you’ll find by surfing the net, but barely. I’ll definitely hop online and learn more about the women who caught my interest, but I suspect that a search for historical Canadian women would also have offered just enough to wet my appetite, which is mainly what this book does. Having said that, reading it will probably introduce you to some women you might not stumble across yourself, so it could be worth picking up.

Many regular employees always work from home, or only go into the office on specific days of the week. They still have a boss; they still collect a paycheque. But they can do their jobs remotely from a home office. I’ll call these folks telecommuters.

Others work for themselves. They take on as much or as little work as they desire. They can work on a single contract for months, accept only short-term gigs, or juggle several contracts or revenue streams at once. I’ll call these folks freelancers.

I recently read two great work at home books. Both books are by the same authors, Christine Durst and Michael Haaren, who are quite well known in work at home circles. Their Rat Race Rebellion website, while not pretty to look at, is packed with useful information, including daily, screened work at home opportunities.

Work at Home Now: The No-nonsense Guide to Finding Your Perfect Home-based Job, Avoiding Scams, and Making a Great Living
is their newest book and is a great resource for telecommuters and freelancers. It contains a quiz to help you determine if working at home is good fit for your personality and skills, lists tons of real work at home opportunities in a range of fields (including adult phone worker!), and provides tips on how to avoid scams. It also describes how to best search for work at home opportunities using search engines and on job sites like Monster. They provide concrete information about most of the opportunities they discuss, meaning you can hop online and apply if you’re so inclined.

If you’re a regular employee who prefers to work within the rat race, but you would like to work from home part of the week, you might like the chapter on how to convince your boss that allowing you to work from home is a good idea.

My only niggle with the book is that if you’re not American, some of the information won’t apply to you—not enough to pass on the book, but enough to irritate. If you’re American, this book is as good as it gets.

The 2-Second Commute: Join the Exploding Ranks of Freelance Virtual Assistants is aimed at those who are considering freelancing. The cheeky cover illustration has a map with a dotted line going from the bedroom to the home office. Yeah, that’s the commute. This book is particularly helpful if you’re wondering whether freelancing is a good fit for you, or if you’ve already decided that you want to freelance but don’t know how to start or what services to offer. Topics include self-assessments, setting up your freelance business, marketing, and tips on how to balance freelancing with home life.

I read a lot of non-fiction. Because getting a non-fiction book out there is so much easier now, I’m coming across more and more books that don’t offer much beyond what you could find by surfing the net. Durst and Haaren’s books are old-school. Both books are well worth their cover prices and will save you a lot of time and headaches. If “work from home” is on your radar, check them out.